Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Living Shrine ❯ Love and Death ( Chapter 5 )

Tears were overflowing from the kunoichi's eyes as she slowly walked towards the braided shinobi. She approached him slowly as his face lost his smile. His eyes became downcast and his face took an air of seriousness that she felt a sense of dread creep up her spine.

 

She extended her arms, her hands reaching for his face. Slowly she touched his face and she smiled between sniffles at the feeling of his warm skin against her hands. Naruto's own reached to Ino's hands and placed them over hers. A slight breeze that moved in some rain clouds over the village and Ino's sniffling was all that could be heard on the empty road in front of the Kazama Estate. It was Naruto who broke the silence.

 

“Ino-san…I have come back…” he said. “…but I do not know if I can be the person you asked me….for I found someone else in the years that I had left this village…I…I have been raised in ways that may be conflicting with the marriage licenses in Konoha…if you can accept the fact that there is someone else in my life beside you….” Her eyes grew with every word he spoke. `He found someone else? But why is he telling me this…I waited for him for so long…but…he's not rejecting me…? What does this mean…?' Her thought pattern began to loose a sense of direction. “…lways thought about you when…” `He still thinks about me? So there's still hope that I can do something about it….' “…dn't be my only partner…”

 

“…partner?...as in…a wife….?” Ino immediately removed her hands from his and retracted them to her chest. She placed them over her heart, as in cluthcing at an invisible kunai that was now a source of pain that was threatning to make her burst into an uncontrollable fit of tears. “…you…you're married….?....I've waited for you all this time….you…you promised to come back as my knight…my own knight…he who would always be by my side….” her voice started to loose strength, the last part of her sentence coming out as a whisper. She started trembling for a moment before her legs gave away and she fell to her knees; all the while, grasping at the fabric of her clothes over her heart.

 

“…you…you…promised…didn't you….Na..Naruto-kun….?” She whispered.

 

Strong arms hugged her waist from behind as she was on the ground. Naruto sat down with his legs opened behind Ino while she had her eyes closed and embraced her, pulling her close to him. His chin rested on her right shoulder as his arms tightened around her. His head leaned against hers, touching his cheek with her own. She gasped at the sudden contact and tried to get away, but she knew that she didn't want to leave his side. Her struggle was in vain, as Naruto wouldn't let her move.

 

Ino stopped her ineffective struggling when she felt a wet sensation from her shoulder. She moved her head away from his and turned slowly to the source only to have her heart stopped for a second when she saw the tears falling from Naruto's eyes. “Gomen…Ino-chan…I…I want to be the person that you want me to be….yet I can't at the same time….unless you choose to be my other partner and be able to live with me and someone else….”

 

“Naruto…”

 

“Ever since that day, when I protected you from that bully that wanted to hurt you, I knew I should always be by your side, yet, I had to go away. I hated myself for it, and I asked the Hokage to keep an eye out for you until you could defend yourself….” His tears started flowing more and more. His body started shaking uncontrolably, and yet, he held on to her, not showing signs of letting go anytime soon. “…I wanted to give you something on the day that I left, yet I couldn't because of a certain situation that happened in my appartment the day before I left.” Hesitantly, his left hand released Ino's waist and made it's way, slowly to his scroll pouches on his vest. He pulled a worn looking scroll from the pocket and placed it on Ino's lap. “That scroll contains that which kept reminding me of you. It was something that I wanted to give you the day after I made that promise…” The same hand that retrieved the scroll reached back to his kunai holster on his leg and pricked himself with one of his blades, drawing blood on the palm of his hand. Ino's eyes widened on the action but wasn't surprised. She had seen blood seals in action before, so she assumed that it was a blood seal.

 

Naruto held the palm of his hand upwards, closing it just a bit so he could let the blood pool there for just a moment. Steam started to emanate from the blood and it was when Naruto turned his hand around and let it drip onto the scroll, which in turn, glowed red and the bindings on it burned away to ash. Ino's hands immediately flashed through a few seals and green chakra glowed around her left hand. She reached for Naruto's hand, but noticed that the blood had stopped flowing. She cancelled her jutsu and took his hand and inspected it more closely and realized that there was no cut, no gash, not even a scar!

 

“Na..Naruto…how? Your hand….it's fine….?”

 

Naruto let out a long drawn out sigh as he continued to talk. “A truth was revealed to me, and at the same time, a curse was set upon my shoulders…” Ino stayed quiet as Naruto spoke. His shaking body, his sobs and his tone of voice let her know that his pain was real, so she let him continue speaking, only moving her hands from her shirt's fabric to over his, on her waist. “...Kin'iro Hana-chan(1), there is something that I must tell you, but only if you can promise me that you will keep this secret under penalty of death…or until I can finally come to terms with it….”

 

Ino gasped at the sentence and turned around quickly to see him in his eyes. His warm sapphire eyes were now as cold as ice. As hurt as his voice sounded, the seriousness of the situation were reflected through his sight. She nodded slowly as the overcast sky started to release the thunderous roars of lightning in the environment. The air started to pick up speed and the wind commenced howling.

 

Breaking eye contact and letting out a sigh, Naruto blinked once; blinked twice and re-made eye contact with Ino as he opened his mouth to speak:

 

“…Ino-chan…my name, my birthname in Konoha is Uzumaki Naruto of the Leaf…but…I am also known as Heaven's Bolt, Yosugi Yashiro of the Cloud…”

 

This day had made Ino gasp more times than she can remember. It was just full of surprises, as she finds the person she learned to love throughout the years, back and her being between his arms; but know knowing that the same person is a legend in the Land of Lightning, a S-Rank Shinobi in several other countries' Bingo Books was a bit over the top. Her hands made their way to his and gave them a comforting squeeze as her head dropped, letting her chin touch her chest. Her eyes were closed as Naruto kept speaking.

 

As he felt her hands over his, he felt his courage building once again, and his resolve strengthening. Naruto spoke once again. “…Ino…not only am I Uzumaki Naruto, nor Yosugi Yashiro…the name that was given to me centuries ago…” `Centuries? What is he saying?' she thought.

 

“…is…”

 

Naruto was about to reveal his real name, when a blade of lightning ran through the sky towards the ground. As the roar of thunder once again reached the ears of the sitting couple, Naruto immediately released Ino and with a chakra enhanced boost, he jumped towards the sky in the path of the lightning bolt. Ino could only stare to what was happening. She sensed the enormous amount of chakra that surged from Naruto, and she looked up to the sky as the searing blade struck the blond ninja. She felt her tears well up, a knot in her throat form and a scream that she let out in pain of seeing Naruto once again take her place, protecting her from harm; but unfortunately, the thundering roar overcame her own vocal chords and drowned the scream in its wake. The flash of light upon impact went unnoticed by her as she would not look away from the point of impact just above her. She kept her eyes open for Naruto. If he had survived; then she had to help him and she didn't want to lose where he would land…if he landed at all…

 

If….

 

The blinding light passed away. The wind's howl started to pick up once again. A few sparks from the bold could be seen falling into the surroundings and causing it to light on fire a few stray dead leaves, twigs, branches, and dead tree stumps in the area. All the while, Ino stared at the figure of a man standing on a current of air and electricity that was emanating from under him, a few feet to the side of where she was. A blonde haired shinobi with his right arm and hand extended to the heavens; with no sign of damage caused by the bolt, just steam emanating from his body, stood unmoving. She stared as she focused more and more on him, noticing the slight changes on his physique. His hair was loose and it obtained an electrical look to it, like lightning that was coming from his head and down to his waist. His eyes slitted and were glowing a serene gold. His hands grew claws and his teeth looked like fangs. The cheek marks, the three whiskers on each side became more alive and deep. All in all, feral; like a wild beast that was ready to kill someone or something.

 

“…Na...Naruto…how? How are you ok?...” asked Ino, as she instinctively grabbed the unsealed scroll and held on to it as her single lifeline.

 

“Ino…” His voice was off. Along his own, she could hear a second and third voice that mixed with his. “…you are not safe here…I shall explain everything once I handle the threat that has tried to harm us…”

 

As Naruto spoke, an earthquake struck Konoha. The winds picked up more and more and tornados formed on the outskirts. The ponds, lakes and rivers inside the village dropped their temperatures to impossible degrees and froze in a matter of seconds, while making spikes from the rumbling of the earth. The fires that started because of the sparks of the bolt raged into full fires that were slowly going out of control. Rain started to fall in patches, only in certain parts of town, leaving the uncontrolled fires untouched to keep the arson up.

 

“Naruto! What's going on!? What's happening to you!?” she yelled. The winds almost drowned Ino's voice. The odd weather patterns that were assaulting Konoha were totally unheard of. It was about this moment when civilians and shinobi alike started coming out of their houses, looking for the source of the disasters and trying to evacuate into the mountain shelters, while others who were in range, were staring in awe at the yellow glowing figure over the Yondaime's former living quarters.

 

Naruto looked around, searching for the source of the erratic weather conditions. He had a gut feeling, but he wasn't sure, so he had to find out, and fast.

 

`Hey kit…' a cackling voice in Naruto's head made itself present.

 

--

 

Naruto's Mindscape (*)…

 

`Yea, Raijuu…do you feel that?' responded Naruto as he entered his mindscape. The wet sewers had long been replaced by a sphere like world, where a meadow, filled with untamed grass, wild flowers growing on it spread for a couple of miles. At the end of the meadow, a dark and untamed forest started. The forest itself looked like it had been left undisturbed for many a milennia, as the trees and plants looked ancient. As the forest came to an end, a large body of water would engulf the next section of the land, with a couple of islands in the middle and a large active volcano as the main island. And finally after the large lake came to a stop, a large body of sand became the last part of the spheric world. It would extend for a couple of miles before coming in contact with the meadow once more. All in all, Naruto made his inner mindscape his own little planet. Gravity would pull down towards where the ground or the water would be. It had approximately a twenty mile diameter.

 

In the center of the meadow where Naruto had manifested himself, stood a weasel, towering twenty feet high and a hundred feet long. Golden was the color of its fur and six lightning-shaped tails wagged at his back. “Naruto…” it spoke. Naruto stopped and waited as the giant weasel named Raijuu lowered himself to eye level. “…I believe that what you are about to face is another one of our kind…by the looks of it, the elements that it's controlling it can be no other than…”

 

--

 

Outside Naruto's Mindscape

 

“GOBI!” Naruto roared as he yelled the tailed beast's name. Many that had approached the area with most damage near the Yondaime's house that were within earshot range heard the roar. Most of them panicked when the name was yelled. Many ran away, yet many stayed to watch what would happen.

 

Ino had a small idea of what Naruto was talking about. She had learned little about the tailed beasts when she was asked to do some research by the Godaime Hokage to try and figure out the reason's for Akatsuki's involvement with them. The name of Houkou, the Five Tailed Demon Dog, or Gobi were known to her, but why was the Gobi here? And why was it attacking Naruto?

 

“Ino! Run away! Get everyone away from this place!” Yelled Naruto. Ino snapped her attention once more to the surroundings and realized that she wasn't the only shinobi in the area. Many had shown up and had their weapons drawn, ready to attack anything and everything. She placed the scroll inside her shirt and started to try and convice people to leave but they would ignore her. She started hearing the screams of several, yelling things like `Demon Spawn' or `Monster', but she was too distracted to pay attention to who they were directed.

 

Her effort was in vain. As much as she tried, the crowd refused to leave. She backed up into the place where she was sitting originally and reached into her supply pouch and pulled three soldier pills. Immediately she ate them and felt her chakra grow eightfold. She started running through a familiar set of seals; snake, rabbit, boar, snake, dragon, rat; and by the time she finished she voiced a name that got lost among the winds… “Shingan no Jutsu…(2)” The raw emotions that flooded Ino's mind were what she expected, fear, survival, curiosity, anger, hatred. When the Human Mind is at it's worse, her Shingan no Jutsu, or Mind's Eye Technique would allow her to percieve anyone and everyone around her. She had developed this technique one day as a chuunin, and by combining it with her Shinranshin no Jutsu and a few Soldier Pills, the number of targets that she could affect and control made her an excellent Battlefield Control/Support Nin.

 

`I can now sense them all…except Naruto? Why is his mind unavailable to me?' she thought. `It matters not. I'll ask him later. For fow, to make THEM leave…' “Tajuu Shinranshin no Jutsu! (3)”

 

Upon settling on the unique hand seal, blond kunoichi felt the strain of her jutsus take effect, draining almost all of her chakra. All those that she could percieve started to move out of their own control and began to run away, not understanding what was going on. She stayed immobile for a few seconds and after making sure that most of the population were scared and trying to run away from whatever was trying to control them, she lowered her control little by little; giving them the sensation that they could try and break free of the control; and once their thought were only for survival, she released her jutsu, allowing them to flee for dear life.

 

Her knees were wobbly and her hands were shaking from the strain. She looked up once more before she whispered something inaudible to the raging windstorm. A tear fell from Ino's eyes and was violently swept up to the heavens. She stepped backwards and was embraced by the person her eyes were locked on. “Ino-chan, my Kin'iro Hana-chan…I won't die here…thank you…and…”

 

A burst of chakra, a sense of nausea, and a moment to regain her composture later, she noticed that she was now on top of the Hokage monument, still held in the embrace of the blonde. She looked at the direction where she was and noticed the golden glow of Naruto's chakra. “…I love you too….” Her head snapped back to the person that was holding her, but only managed to get the whiff of chakra smoke that came from behind her. Tears flowed freely from her eyes and a sorrowful scream of his name invaded her throat as all she could do now was watch from a relatively safe distance….

 

--

 

Back with Naruto

 

As the memories of the clone invaded Naruto's mind, his focus returned once more to the problem at hand. The source of the demonic chakra was coming from his left, it was close…too close for him to be able to take it someplace else. The trong currents that were keeping him suspended in the air slowly decreased, allowing him to touch the ground once more. The demonic presence that was causing the weather inched iself litte by little, one foot at a time. Naruto looked in the direction and fell into a unique Taijutsu stance, one he had picked up a while back.

 

The towering beast, more than twenty stories high, possessed five tails, each one actively glowing a different color, Brown for Earth, Red for Fire, Green for Wind, Blue for Water, Yellow for Lightning. Walking on its four legs, the gigantic canine known as Houkou, the Five Tailed Demon Dog appeared with all it's demonic glory. His white fur glistened with every lightning bolt he commanded to strike the land and the flames of the raging fires were causing it to look a menacing golden orange. His eyes shone maliciously as he intently looked at the lone blonde figure that stood on a cobblestone road, staring back with anger in his eyes. The Gobi licked its lips with his tongue as he spoke.

 

“Kukukukuku…so…THIS is the container for the Kyuubi…kukukuku…I will enjoy ripping you to shreds boy.” He snarled as he bared his fangs. Naruto, on the other hand, grinned widely, bearing his own back at the Gobi before concentrating and pulling a strange orange chakra; and finally, unleashing a mixture of two Killer Intents, Kyuubi's and another one…one that Houkou hadn't felt in ages long past. A surprised look (as much surprised a dog would looke like) came to his features as his lips covered his fangs and his eyes narrowed whilst he stared intently into the blonde's eyes. “Rokubi…Rokubi no Raijuu…How is it possible that you too are present here…” The Gobi snarled. It was then that Naruto decided to speak, his own voice twisted and unnatural, with three different pitches to it. His own, Rokubi's and Kyuubi's.

 

“Gobi no Houkou. It seems that my vengance shall be able to be completed on behalf of that ill-suited loss ages ago…yet I do not understand why you would like to be in my presence after such a humilliating defeat with Nibi no Nekomata(4), but I assure you that after this battle, you will end up in a tree once more; hidden for everyone to try and find, yet deep within the bowels of my own body, mind, and spirit, will be forever held captive inside the of me, Uzumaki Naruto! I shall make you pay tor trying to harm my mate!”

 

Gobi tried to piece together what was just told to him. It made no sense dammned-Kami's sense! The boy had just referred to himself as Rokubi, then as the Kyuubi and finally as a man, Uzumaki Naruto.`What does this mean?' He asked himself. `I can feel two presences within the body if this mere child, yet the Rokubi's and the human's chakra are bonded as one, while the Kyuubi's chakra acts as an additional source for back up. What in the Nine Hells is going on here!?' Gobi's musings were cut short, as a wave of KI (a.k.a. Killer Intent from know on.) rushed at him and noticed that the vessel for what appears to be the Rokubi and the Kyuubi was now nearing him at a very, VERY fast pace.

 

Gobi opened his mouth and his tails swayed in the background. Blood Red and Icy Blue shined behind him as chakra started to congeal in Houkou's mouth. The sealless jutsu was completed as soon as it was started and a skeletal dragon made of blue fire left Gobi's mouth targeting Naruto as he roared the technique's name: “Maton: Nigyou Yuukai,HyokajiRyu! (4)” The demonic jutsu flew towards the intended target, it's azure flames freezing the air and the ground as it neared it. The sudden chakra spike caught many onlooker's attention, as they were staring in awe at the raw display of power of one of the legendary tailed beasts; and what was more amusing, watching a single shinobi face him off. Naruto's face contorted to that of surprise and then into that of anger.

 

He couldn't evade.

 

Something was preventing him from doing it. No, not something. More like someone. He mentally frowned as his body was wracked in pain from the jutsus' force of impact on himself and on the ground he was standing.

 

The jutsu struck true. A large formation of ice spikes and pools of lava formed at impact, all the while a large curtain of dust was raised to cover the turbulent heavens. Time stood still for everyone as Gobi stood waiting for any sort of movement coming from the general location. Finding none, he snorted as he thought that all of this was too easy; but let's not be irrational. If he had waited for many a milennia for a fight vs. Kyuubi, he could wait a couple of minutes, not wanting to be caught by surprise.

 

A few minutes and a raised eyebrow later; Gobi channelled his chakra onto the air, getting rid of the dust cloud that still polluted the air. What he saw was a half-beaten, half-mangled body that was surrounded by a reddish-looking chakra. Several chunks of ice were embedded in his body and you could clearly see that he was badly charred. The smell of burned flesh polluted the air, which only made the Gobu smirk. By channelling a bit more of his youki(5) into the ground, he brought a small piece of land that was directly touching the body, near his nose; he sniffed and licked the dirt and rocks for the scent of the body. It in fact, reeked of Kyuubi's youki, along with Raijuu's and the human's. Letting the chunk of earth fall to the ground, a huge grin adorned his façade. “So…this is all the Great Bringer of Lightning and vessel of the Kyuubi can do?Kukukukuku…I should have gone a bit less hard, seeing how you can't seem to handle an Elemental Fusion…” The Gobi started to step forward, slowly moving towards Naruto's body.

 

Those who were watching the battle from afar were trembling at the display of raw power that had emanated from the five-tailed demon, and now, they were becoming afraid of the demonic pulsing that came from the prone human. By this point, all the chuunin, jounin, anbu, and Hokage had reached the perimeter of the fight. They were about to commence a defensive sweep against what appeared to be, two threats, but as the Gobi roared and allowed his KI to flow freely, many lost the control of their hands, letting their weapons fall to the ground and others lost control of their bladders, loosing fluids rather freely.

 

“Kukukukuku…mortals…this is naught something you wish to partake of. I am not here for you, but for him. Raise a weapon as a signal that you are willing to interfere and this village will be considered forsaken by your own hand…” Calmly spoke the demon. Many shinobi looked at their respective captains, as they looked at theirs and so on. It wasn't until all eyes were on Tsunade, that she gave the order to back away to a safe distance, and plan in case of retaliation from the Gobi.

 

“Damn…if the brat dies…that's going to be even more paperwork…he had just become a citizen AND instated as a shinobi…talk about more work for me…” The busty blonde thought. She called for her strategist, a pineapple headed shinobi that was continuosly mumbling “..troublesome…” while she pulled a small sake bottle and took a swig at it while listening to the new battle plan.

 

--

 

Naruto's Mindscape

 

“WHAT THE EFF WAS THAT!” yelled the blonde nin. “I KNEW I SHOULD HAVE EVADED THAT ATTACK! NOW I'M DYING OUT THERE AND HE'S GOING TO KILL INO AND DESTROY THE VILLAGE! WHY DID YOU STOP ME FROM EVADING! ANSWER ME, RAIJUU!”

 

Naruto continued yelling to the environment. The normal sunny day environment was replaced with dark clouds that had lightning coursing through them and thunder roaring through the heavens. It was when one of the bolts hit the ground that Raijuu manifested himself. The Golden Fur of the weasel was covered in blood and torn in multiple places, just like Naruto's body looks physically. The electric-haired nin stopped his rant upon looking at the conditions his alter ego was, and respectfully bowed, while looking away.

 

“Calm your emotions, Container.” Responded a calm Raijuu. “Remember that this is my body too. The pain you feel, I feel. We are bound by the flesh, though three different souls happen to inhabit these grounds…” He said with a hint of pain and exhaustion in his voice.

 

“I know, Raijuu, I know.” Sighed Naruto. “I still don't understand why I had to deliberately take that hit. I could have used Hiraishin(6) to get away and closer to Gobi…” Naruto started to feel strained. The damage done to his body was being repaired by Kyuubi's own youki, but that attack still felt like hell.

 

“Naruto…” spoke Raijuu. “Do you remember when I explained the reason for your code name?” Naruto's face hardened at the mention of the topic. He slowly nodded, his eyes covered by his loose, electric-like hair. “Well, the time has come for you to use the technique that we developed. Even though I don't approve of it, it is a quick and easy solution to punish my brothers and sisters for their wrong doings…though beware, your body may not be able to cope with the strain of it…”

 

“Hehehehehe, I agree with baka Rokubi here, brat…” An omnious voice, malicious and sarcastic roared over the environment. From the forest, past the plains, a fox, not larger than Raijuu, sporting nine tails along with it's orange fur covered in blood, limped its way to the two that just looked at the source of the voice. The Rokubi just shot him a stare that had a `don't-call-me-by-that-name-or-you'll-pay' look to it. “…I don't like the fact that you have to use that on Houkou-dobe, but then again, I wouldn't mind ripping him a new one either when I see him again…” he said, finishing with a fang-showing grin. His yellow eyes glowed in anticipation for the following moments in the physical world. “Our body will be mended in exactly fourteen more seconds…” the fox said. “…and within one second before the mutt reaches you, I calculate he'll be within the range of the technique. Go prepared, for you only have one shot at it.” His snout lowered itself a bit and started to lick off the blood from his paws and legs, as he started chuckling.

 

“Be careful, Yashiro. Wehave to live up to the expectations that I have of us. Complete thistask, and you'll beone step closer to realizing your goal…” spoke Raijuu.

 

Naruto simply nodded to both and faded out of his mindscape, leaving a concerned-looking Raijuu and a Kyuubi that was laughing like a madman.

 

--

 

Outside Naruto's Mindscape

 

The reddish-orange chakra that was enveloping Naruto exploded into a pillar of fire. The expelled chakra held inmense power, as the heavens cleared a space surrounding the battlefield, letting the midday sun bathe the frozen-scorched earth. The wounds on the young container's body were being mended at a very fast rate. Slowly, the mangled body moved, little by little. An arm extended itself to grab a hold of a piece of ice, a hand flexed itself; finding feeling in all its digits. Both legs retracted and slowly pushed the beaten body up; with a red-eyed Naruto stared back at the Gobi, eyes full of hatred, fangs enlongating, claws appearing, chakra flaring.

 

“Ne, Houkou-dobe…” sneered the chakra flaring Jinchuuriki. “…when you fought Kyuubi, you had Nibi with you, didn't you?” The five-tails stopped at his tracks upon hearing the name of his fellow Biju. His memories of the disastrous battle many a millenia past still brought shivers to his demon hide. He had never experienced such a pathetic loss, and that was still with the Kyuubi being outnumbered two to one. Nibi had to retreat back to the Shinigami to heal her wounds and himself retreated to his secret lair and into his tree to plan his revenge. “So what if I did, boy? You are nothing except the container for one of us…you cannot wield the power of the Kyuubi to its highest potential. Kukukukuku…all you do is use the chakra of the demon you host as yours. You'll never be able to do what WE do…”

Houkou stopped his speech as the blond ninja dissappeared in front of him and reappeared suddenly on his back, between his shoulder blades, leaving a golden-orange afterline behind him. Many older generation shinobi recognized the technique, and the name of the Yondaime began to circulate through the battlefield onlookers. Naruto wasted no time, and by when he was on the Gobi's nose, his arms were extended to his sides, his hands running through several one handed seals, each doing a different one at the same time, molding chakra as fast as he could. Naruto's eyes were closed during the couple of seconds that he needed to complete the dozen one handed seals (24 if it had been two handed), only to open with a flash of red, yellow, and blue chakra that started to condense over the shinobi's right forearm, forming a ring of spinning symbols. “Gobi…” Naruto's voice came as the thunder in the skies. The red and yellow chakra that was enveloping him had now finished healing the wounds caused by Houkou's attack. The blonde's hand impaled the demon's back as it let out a horrible wail of pain. “...I, Uzumaki Naruto, claim your chakra as my own. You shall forever live sealed in me, who is destined to walk this world. I am Yosugi Yashiro, the Living Shrine of Konoha.”

 

Naruto's chakra ring that was surrounding his forearms glowed and multiple kanji started emanating from it. The seals began to cover the body of the Gobi as it tried to struggle with the pain and the jutsu. He thrashed and wailed, he called upon the elements to do his bidding. His body became hard as stones, his hairs impaling the young Jinchuuriki; only to melt into magma and seriously damage the boy. The molten rock then flash freezed inside of the shinobi's body and exploded into razor wind blades. All the while, Naruto was focused on the technique, for he only had one shot at it. The Yellow and Red chakra was emanating more and more, healing almost instantly the damage that the Gobi was causing, but even then, it didn't reduce the pain that the boy would receive. Tears were streaming down Naruto's face as the pain was incredible, but the technique was almost completed. “…just…a bit….more….” he muttered, trying to keep his concentration.

 

The blades of wind that had erupted outwards from the Gobi's body shimmered and glowed a yellow glow and rushed back towards Naruto in the forms of bolts of lightning, ready to impale and cauterize the wounds that they would inflict. Naruto only smiled as he sensed the jutsu being completed and cried out to the heavens only moments before the bolts reached his hurting body…

 

“Yashiro Fuuin Ninpo: Ruzai, Kaisekibaku no Jutsu! (7)”

 

A blinding flash of white light burst out of Naruto's arm as sound was nullified and time seemed to come to a halt. The Gobi stood there, his head towards the skies, his back arching, covered in seals. The light continued to emanate from Naruto's arm and started to trail the thousands of kanji that were wrapped around the Gobi's body. The brightness engulfed both demon and shinobi, causing every spectator to look away as the glow expanded more and more, till there was nothing left but a giant sphere of white chakra around them.

 

--

 

Inside the Chakra Sphere

 

The Gobi looked around, perplexed. He had never heard of the Yashiro Fuuin Ninpo: Ruzai, Kaisekibaku no Jutsu and he had roamed the world for a good three millennia or so. The white environment around him was something he had only experienced when he meditated just like when one leaves their mind blank.

 

He immediately noticed that at a distance, a small red speck could be seen. He instinctively walked towards that direction, his chakra flaring as a warning sign to the incoming being. It wasn't until he felt a massive KI respond back to him, a KI that he had experienced before; one that had left him on the verge of death, that froze him where he stood.

 

A second wave of intent approached him from the rear and when he turned around, he saw a yellow shape approach to where he was. He knew that youki. He knew both youki well.

 

He had won against one, and lost against the other one.

 

Kyuubi and Raijuu approached Houkou, flanking him, both with a fang bearing grin on their snouts. The two snarled at him and lunged forwards, open snouts and claws ready to tear him apart. Gobi was paralyzed, he realized. He looked down to his feet and saw shackles that were keeping him in place. He tried thrashing, making them break, but it was to no avail. The chakra fetters were not going to give away. Gobi looked at the oncoming attack and tried to summon the elements, but that was to no avail. Where he was, was devoid of elements. He noticed that there was no air circulating in the environment, he couldn't feel the earth either. He molded his youki, but the moment it started to congeal, the chakra binds sapped it away from him. He tried again and again, only to fail every time.

 

The Kitsune and the Weasel slashed at him with all their might. Houkou felt his flesh being ripped off his body and yelped in pain as the attacks continued. He couldn't defend himself and he couldn't use his youki, he was pretty much defenseless.

 

A few minutes went by, and both Kyuubi and Raijuu stopped their attacks. They proceeded to approach the defenseless dog demon and snicker at his weakened form. “Hehehehehe, look what we have here. If it isn't Houkou-dobe.” Said Kyuubi. “I thought that you'd learn a lesson after the last time I mopped the ground with you. I guess you can't teach old dogs new tricks, hehehehehe….” He laughed as he started to walk away. The environment by this moment, started changing into Naruto's Mindscape. The spherical world manifested itself and Kyuubi could be seen walking into the forest. “Don't think that I'm done having fun with you, puppy, but our host here wants some payback for what you did to our body…oh! Before I forget to tell you…” he said with a thick sarcasm and faking surprise. “…I hope you like your new home, because you'll be sharing it with me and Raijuu-teme over there for the rest of Naruto's natural life…that is, if he dies….” He finished saying as his last tail swayed into the dense foliage of the forest.

 

Raijuu stared down at the Gobi's torn body. He smirked at the broken frame as he walked away. “Know this, Houkou. In here, in OURbody, you are nothing…” he said as he disappeared into the tall grass. It was then when Houkou's chakra binds were lifted and he could move freely once again. He tried molding his youki, yet nothing happened. He looked around and above, locating the shores where the large lake began and trotted there to lick his wounds.

 

--

 

Outside the Chakra Sphere

 

The blinding sphere of light began shrinking, and it continued to do so until it revealed a balled up Naruto floating in the air. Many shinobi and kunoichi began to approach as the sphere began to retract. They noticed that the Gobi's presence was gone and all that was left of him was the destruction that had caused a few minutes ago. Many more civilians and ninja approached the frozen-scorched battlefield and stared in awe as the floating boy lost whatever was keeping him afloat and plummeted him to the ground. The impact was heard through the dead silence that had encompassed the village and soon, the body of the blonde ninja was surrounded by almost all of Konoha's population. No one dared to come near him. The Hokage, Tsunade, was fearful of the fifteen year old who had managed to defeat the Gobi. No one, dared, excluding one kunoichi. She made her way through the multitude of people and fell on her knees, examining the blonde with basic medic nin jutsus. She released a breath she didn't knew she was holding when she felt a weak pulse, yet a pulse non the less, and after a few hand seals, she channeled healing chakra to help the fallen shinobi. Yet as she placed her hands on his chest to help with a heart massage, her own blood froze.

 

Yamanaka Ino released a painful scream as she felt Naruto's heart stop.

 

--

 

Somewhere in Fire Country

 

A blindingly fast figure that resembled a two tailed cat could be seen running at an incredible pace. As she ran, a green fire would sear whatever her body touched. At the moment, only one thing was on her mind, one place was her destination and, one man was who she wanted to see. Ever since she felt the wave of demonic youki in the air, Yugito's heart raced a hundred miles an hour, for it was heading towards Konoha. The Nibi had informed her that the youki she had sensed was non other than the Gobi's, but what scared them the most, was that Kyuubi's and Raijuu's chakra emerged a half an hour later. She was afraid for his life. Yugito had called onto the powers of the Nibi no Nekomata and was now half way towards her destination. She would soon be next to the man she loved, and Kami forbid that something had happened to him.

 

--

 

 

 

 

A/N

1 - Kin'iro Hana: Golden Flower

2 - Shingan *no Jutsu: Mind's Eye *Technique

3 - Tajuu Shinranshin *no Jutsu: Mass Mind Body Disturbance *Technique

4 - Maton: Nigyou Yuukai, Hyokaji Ryu: Demonic Release: Two Element Fusion, Frozen Fire Dragon

5 - Youki: Demonic Energy

6 - Hiraishin *no Jutsu: Flying Thunder God *Technique

7 - Yashiro Fuuin Ninpo: Ruzai, Kaisekibaku *no Jutsu: Living Seal, Ninja Art: Banishment, Land of Desolation *Technique

 

 

Yo! Well, it's time for the Author's Notes again. Another Chapter done, and this is by far the longest one I've written, over 6500 words long. I kinda like this chapter, though there are some things that could've been better (but hey, I need a Beta for that).

 

I placed a few original jutsu's and their translation here, that way you have an Idea of what they do.

 

Now, for the polls regarding the story:

 

Harem: 4

Naruto + 2 girls 1

 

Character Deaths:

 

*Sasuke 3

*Danzo 2

*Lee 1

*Sakura 1

*Neji 1

 

Regarding the question of Neji being an asshole, yes, he still is. Naruto wasn't there to help him realize that Fate isn't all in life. Hinata had to learn from her father the hard way. She actually is as arrogant as any Main Branch Hyuuga, except that she still has her sensitive side (which she rarely shows to anyone).

 

Keep those votes coming, and don't forget to post them in a review, that way people can see them also, tho' there's nothing wrong in the PM's also.

 

Oh yea! Naruto's Mindscape looks like Halo (the world), the X-BOX game, except it's a sphere; not a ring.