Chapter 14: The End of Tyranny
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Hinata and Shino were, for the most part, managing to hold their own against the woman that had attacked them. She was a strange shinobi with seemingly no pattern or form to her style. Luckily for Hinata she had practice fighting against Naruto's more unpredictable styles. Despite being so far behind his classmates Shino seemed to be doing a fairly good job of keeping pace with the battle as well. However, they were wearing down faster than she was and that was a problem.
"Shino, I need a favor." Hinata whispered to her comrade.
"I'm listening."
"I have been experimenting with my juken style. I haven't perfected it but since she seems to be a close range fighter it seems to be the best choice. However, it is not perfected yet and as a result I will need to be covered and have a few minutes to gather the chakra necessary for this particular variation." She said to her mostly silent friend.
"I'll do what I can but try not to take to long." He said standing. He knew that at best he could buy her a minute or two with his current level. How hurt he would be at the end would be another story. Nodding Hinata moved out of sight and began to focus her chakra. She really hated to ask Shino for such a dangerous favor but at the same time she truly needed some time. If she could pull the new variation off she would give them a fighting chance. She had to force all other thoughts from her mind as hard as it was for her. 'Naruto-kun we could really use some help right now.' She thought to herself.
With Naruto...
The battle with Ryusuke had been one-sided ever since the traitor had mentioned that Hiyari was in the mansion. Naruto had left Ryusuke no time to counter attack at all. It was all the older Uzumaki could do to prevent a fatal wound. Somehow the boy had tripled his speed and strength with no warning. Jumping back to put some distance between them he tried to think of a way to create an opening to change the tide of the battle. It was then that the mansion shook violently as a loud explosion could be heard. Naruto raised an eyebrow and smirked.
"It was Maro fighting the teme down below right?"
"Yeah so what of it?"
"I hate to tell you but he is dead. That explosion could only have been caused by one technique. No one has ever survived that technique." Naruto informed the man. 'Well, except for Itachi.' he thought to himself.
"To think that he would fall to a genin. Pathetic."
"In case you hadn't noticed we aren't exactly genin." Naruto said sweat dropping at his uncle. Ryusuke just glared and smirked. He had managed to gather the necessary chakra for the technique he had created while training under his dragon summons.
"Nephew or not I think that it is time to die." Ryusuke said as his body became encased in a silver sheen of chakra. The force that was being released from it was immense and Naruto gritted his teeth. The last time he had felt anything like this was when the Jubi had been revived. Before he could blink his uncle was in front of him. The force of the blow to his face sent him flying through the wall and outside of the mansion with little to no resistance from the walls. As he crashed to the ground and skidded for a few feet he cursed. That had hurt, a lot.
'So that was his phantom dragon armor. Similar to A's lightening armor he can increase his speed astronomically while increasing the force of his attacks. Most likely it will have some effect on his ninjutsu as well.' Naruto thought to himself as he stood shakily. Looking up he saw his uncle smirking at him.
"Do you like it?"
"Phantom Dragon Armor. That actually hurt." Naruto said sheathing his sword. It would no longer help in this fight.
'Kurama is there anyway to use your chakra the way I used to yet?'
'A minute at most. You have a long time to go before you can use it freely like before. If you use the Rasenshuriken I would say thirty seconds.' The fox replied making Naruto groan. He didn't know if he could finish this that quickly. He also knew that the five minutes to gather Senjutsu was also impossible. He had no other choice, he had to try. As Ryusuke took a step forward he paused to see the blonde suddenly encase himself in a golden chakra similar to his armor. However, while his was refined and barely visible Naruto's was nearly pouring off of his body. Without warning the blonde was before him and he was the one that was sent sailing. As he managed to catch himself and land on his feet skidding back a few feet he growled looking at his blood relation only for his eyes to widen comically. There was no way anyone but an Uzumaki could have created that.
Kakashi...
The trip through the halls was silent as the jonin pushed himself towards Hinata and Shino's last known location. Neither were ready to face any of the remaining three. However, he also knew that it was possible with their teamwork that they could stall and overpower two of the three. 'Hiyari, what is she doing here? How is she still alive? Why now?' He thought to himself. Another explosion caught his attention but he forced himself to keep moving. If the first one had been Sasuke then that was without a doubt Naruto. Hopefully that meant that there was only one left. With his luck though it was her. He could only hope that the two genin could protect themselves against the woman known as the mistress of torture.
Back with Hinata and Shino...
Shino gritted his teeth as he was knocked back once more and summoned his kikai back to him. She was even stronger than he had thought. He was at his limit and hoped that the minute and a half that he had bought Hinata was enough. Just as the woman appeared in front of him she was knocked back, howling in pain. She had no time to recover as Hinata followed through with her initial attack. Shino was actually impressed. Her fingertips were not only filled with chakra but with both of her elemental natures. Each juken strike was sending fire and lightening chakra through the woman's tenketsu most likely causing irreparable damage to each point that was being struck. She had somehow taken the style her family was best known for and made it even more dangerous.
Hinata, on the other hand was gritting her teeth as she continued to assail her opponent. The chakra natures alone were hard enough to maintain at the same time and she was attempting to use the 128 palms before mastering the technique. She had been making immense progress with her family's style with Naruto's assistance and as a result she was already learning the advanced techniques of her clan. Of course she had kept this progress from her family as she wanted to surprise them once she had mastered it. The fire and lightening combination was not only damaging the tenketsu it was causing damage to the nerve endings in the general vicinity of each tenketsu. If performed correctly the victim would be unable to do much of anything for a short while after the technique connects and would never be able to use chakra again. It was a last resort technique she had made for this precise moment. For when she wouldn't have the back up of her team or the luxury of fighting long distance. Landing the last strike she jumped back next to Shino panting with exertion.
"Sorry that took so long. I still have trouble combining the two elements in the same place." She apologized. Shino just shook his head in amusement.
"Only you would apologize for using an impressive technique to buy us some breathing room at the least and end the battle at most." He replied making the girl blush. Glancing down the hallway she looked at the fallen girl and winced.
"Do you think it is over?"
"I hope so. I don't think that we can last fighting her for any longer." Shino whispered. They were both exhausted and injured. Neither of them would be able to hold her back if she got up. In addition, despite the appearance of the technique being simple and easy on the chakra reserves, it wasn't. Hinata wouldn't be able to do it again and the only reason she could in the first place was because she had used her lightening element to make herself move faster.
"That hurt...you bitch..." the woman snarled as she struggled to her feet. Hinata flinched slightly as the enraged woman actually succeeded.
"Why can't I move right?" The snarl had seemed to increase in viciousness.
"How are you still moving?!" Hinata squeaked.
"I am a ninja. This is nothing...I'm going to kill you and I am going to enjoy it..." She singsonged. "I think that I'll start by plucking your eyes out little bird...Then I'll chop off your fingers..." She giggled insanely. Hinata and Shino flinched at the tone and started trying to come up with a plan. The woman was clearly insane and obviously dangerous but to think that she was that unstable. As she took a step forward the wall next to her exploded and she was engulfed in a massive stream of fire. The screams that she released were unsettling and both genin knew that they would be having nightmares. As the fire died down Hinata breathed a sigh of relief as the figures that stepped through the hole.
"Naruto-kun! Sasuke-san!"
"You okay Hinata, Shino?" Naruto said in a slight panic. Nodding to their concerned comrade Hinata felt herself tear up as Naruto wrapped his arms around her.
"It's okay Hina-hime." He whispered not even noticing that he had slip and used the pet name that he had given her when they started dating. Rubbing her back soothingly he let her whimper into his shoulder.
"Who was she?" Shino asked quietly.
"Hiyari, the Mistress of torture. She was a nuke nin of Sunagakure who specialized in torture. Unfortunately she was also unstable and soon began to torture civilians as well. When the Kazekage caught wind of her crimes he ordered her to be 'dealt with' believing her to be to dangerous to even send to prison. Somehow she managed to evade the ninja after her and disappeared from the world. This is the first I have heard of her in awhile." Kakashi said coming up from the other side. Shino felt himself flinch. A shinobi had been able to hide mental instability for that long and only got caught because of the victims that they chose. It was terrifying to know that someone like that existed.
"Nice work Sasuke, Naruto. Don't you think that was a little overboard though?" He asked his genin. Looking up at the cyclops they blinked at him.
"Huh? Did you say something?" They chorused. Kakashi sweat dropped as he fell on the receiving end of the response that he normally gave his friend, Gai.
"Never mind. Shino, Hinata are you two okay to continue?"
"Hai Kakashi-sensei." Shino whispered. Hinata just nodded from Naruto's arms and after a moment they continued through the mansion. Glancing at each other Naruto and Sasuke nodded, their minds made up. It didn't take long before they reached the office that Gato had holed himself up in. Kicking the door in, Naruto tried not to laugh as he heard it connect with several of the man's 'body guards'.
"Hey there! Mind if we come in?" Kakashi chirped.
Back at Tazuna's house...
Kurenai looked up from her watch position as she saw the forms of the other ninja step from the foliage around the bridge builder's house. Despite the fact that they had obviously met with an actual challenge they all seemed to be all right.
"What happened? I thought that there were no shinobi?" She asked in concern for her little sister.
"They either snuck in after Naruto's clone dispelled or managed to avoid detection." Kakashi informed the woman. "There were only four but unluckily Shino and Hinata wound up with the more unstable one."
"Unstable..o..ne..." Kurenai felt her eyes widen in fear. "HIYARI WAS THERE?!" She almost screamed at the top of her lungs. The whole team felt themselves flinch at the volume.
"Yeah she was. She is no more. She never will be anymore." Naruto growled his arm wrapped around Hinata protectively. This was not missed by Kurenai at all.
"On the plus side we accomplished what we wanted to get done and now we all want to sleep." Sasuke said tiredly. He hadn't expected the Kirin to take so much out of him. He still had a lot of work to do. 'More training when we get back I guess.' Kurenai just nodded and let the team head inside silently. She had no idea what to make of the fact that Shino and Hinata had managed to hold off and survive and attack by Hiyari herself. Somehow she was starting to think that there was some truth in the rumor that team seven was cursed.
The next morning Tazuna, Inari and Tsunami looked up in shock as the shinobi sat down to breakfast as if nothing had happened, albeit a little quieter. Inari had no idea what to think of them as he had been certain that they were going to die.
"Gato's mansion has been destroyed and Nami shouldn't be bothered by anyone under his employ again. We have Gato in a prisoner scroll if you would prefer that Nami deal with him instead." Kakashi informed his hosts making Tazuna choke on his breakfast.
"Furthermore, all of the food, medical supplies and money that Gato had that rightfully belonged to Nami are in separate scrolls. We have recovered twenty percent interest for all of the money that you were taxed from his personal savings and included it in a scroll with everyone's name on it. All you have to do is open the scroll to release it. We will leave it up to you to divide the supplies evenly among the villagers. All that is left is to defeat Zabuza." Sasuke informed their hosts. Tsunami felt her jaw drop in shock. In one night they had somehow undone nearly three years of Gato's tyranny and managed to return everything that the man had stolen.
"The females that Gato had kidnapped that we found in the mansion were left with the town's doctor for medical treatment and we will ask for the rest to be tracked down when we return to Konoha. Whether or not the Sandaime agrees is another story. We have recouped the fees for the false statements on the mission request as well as the difference in the mission cost so you don't have to worry about that. We have enough from what we took from Gato to pay for that mission to find the girls should you agree." Naruto whispered. He had not slept well. Images of what might have happened to Hinata had he and Sasuke not made it in time to save her had plagued his dreams. Memories of how he had lost her the first time filled the gaps between nightmares.
"Thank you so much!" Tazuna whispered in happiness. Nodding tiredly Naruto stood and headed for the door.
"I need to take a walk, I'm still tired." He whispered to Kakashi who nodded in understanding. He had heard Naruto talking in his sleep and understood that he hadn't slept well.
The birds chirping in the morning and the sun shining down made the morning seem so much more peaceful. As the sounds of nature surrounded her, a lone girl gathered herbs for her injured comrade. The sight that met her as she made her way to another spot was not one that she had expected. One of the ninja from before was sound asleep under a tree with a rabbit next to his head and birds using him as a perch. She should kill him but at the same time she wasn't sure if she could after what had happened to Zabuza.
"Morning..." Naruto whispered startling her. "I'm a light sleeper. I heard your footsteps." He said making her eyebrows raise.
"I see...Why are you sleeping out here?"
"Couldn't sleep all night so I took a walk and fell asleep here after sitting down for a moment." He answered honestly. He had honestly forgotten about this meeting.
"I see...Want to help me gather herbs?" Naruto stood stretching and, as he had before, helped Haku gather the herbs that she needed to heal Zabuza. For the most part the conversation was the same as well. As she was standing to leave she smiled at the boy.
"I'm a boy." She lied. Naruto smirked in amusement.
"No you're not. I have a good sense of smell and I can tell that you are a girl. As it is you just finished your menstrual cycle. Anyway do me a favor would you? Tell Zabuza that Naruto is looking forward to fighting him again, this time one on one." He said shun shining out of the clearing. Haku's eyes widened and she herself raced back to the hideout. How had he known?
"Zabuza will be ready and at the bridge in two days." Naruto informed his team. Everyone looked up startled.
"I thought that you went for a walk?!" Kurenai nearly yelled. Rolling his eyes Naruto sat down.
"I did. I ran into his partner in the woods. Given the herbs that were being gathered and the damage we did to him he will be fighting fit in two days." Naruto said with a knowing smile. Sasuke nodded to himself. He had always wanted a rematch with the Yuki.
'Sasuke, Haku is a girl this time.' He whispered to his friend making Sasuke blink in confusion.
'Wasn't Haku a boy though?'
'Perhaps. That was what Haku said but I didn't have nearly as much training with my sense of smell back then to tell if it was the truth. I know for a fact this time.' He replied making Sasuke hum mentally.
"I see. Kurenai will escort Tazuna to the bridge just in case today and we will rest up some more for Zabuza." Kakashi said knowing that they would need at least another day of rest before they were fighting fit.
"Kakashi-sensei, we need to talk. Shino can come to. In private." Naruto said as soon as the bridge builder and Kurenai left. Kakashi nodded and they headed upstairs. As soon as the door was closed security seals were applied and everyone turned to look at Naruto expectantly.
"Sasuke and I decided that you and Shino would be told the truth last night. You earned it. I am not Naruto Uzumaki." He said and motioned for Kakashi to sit back down. "I am Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze, the thirty-one year old Rokudaime Hokage. Sasuke and I are the only two survivor's of Konohagakure no Sato." The room was dead silent as the two who didn't know were trying to assimilate what they had just been told.
"What?" Kakashi managed to say.
"The dobe and I are the only survivors of the hidden leaf as a direct result of the fifth shinobi war. Unfortunately Konoha stood alone in the end because of nearly a century worth of bad decisions and nuke nin." Sasuke continued. Not even Shino knew what to think of what was being said.
"I spent years working on a seal that would allow me to travel back in time and change the past. In the end though after a very painful incident I asked Sasuke to come with me. I needed the support and as my oldest friend I knew that he would be able to help."
"That and I was the only one with the reserves to do the seal with you." Sasuke added making Naruto stick his tongue out.
"In the original timeline team seven was composed of Kakashi-sensei, Sasuke, Sakura and myself. Team eight was comprised of Kurenai, Hinata, Shino and Kiba. Team seven was the one that originally got the Nami mission and in that mission...well things didn't go so well. No one died from our team but Zabuza and Haku did. Unfortunately had they lived they would have been an asset to the fourth war. Unfortunately they didn't and as a result wound up as the enemy thanks to the Edo Tensei being used." Naruto informed the group. He was giving them more information than he had given Hinata the first time.
"We need to gather as many shinobi as we can to stop the Jubi from being resurrected. That means that we can't allow potential allies to die until we discern whether or not they will be able and willing to help." Sasuke picked up. After a few minutes of silence and awkwardness Kakashi finally found his voice.
"What?"
: To Be Continued: