'The best preparation for tomorrow is doing your best today'
-H, Jackson Brown, Jr.
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As Hinata and I leapt towards the Eshabea mountains I couldn't stop thinking about Naoki.
Is it because I have a soft spot for cats?
I know she's a fox and not a cat, but I still feel so connected to her for some reason. I just can't explain it; it's like I've know her my whole life. I exhaled deeply and cleared the image of Naoki from my mind.
I have to focus! How can I expect to save her and I'm in lala land?!
"Hey Ruka" Hinata said quietly "I think we've got company."
My eyes widened and I tilted my head slightly to the side as I sensed the Chakra presence of at least five people. Hinata and I exchanged a glance and we both nodded as we continued forward.
"What should we do" Hinata said.
"Well" replied slowly "they might have been the mercenaries that kidnapped Naoki so we don't want them to know we're heading toward the Eshabea mountains."
Hinata nodded her head in understanding and opened her mouth to speak when I heard the thud of what sounded like a Kunai stuck in a tree. We both stopped and held onto the branches as we looked around for the source of the thud.
"Look" Hinata said pointing at a tree right next to us "it was just a Kunai, they missed us."
I stared at the Kunai suspiciously for a long time and my eyes widened when I heard a faint hissing sound.
"BOMB!"
BOOM!!
The force of the explosions sent us both flying backwards in different locations as my back slammed hard into a tree and I winced in pain.
~Naruto's POV~
I winced slightly as I felt a indescribable pain in my back and Pervy Sage glanced over at me.
"You okay" he said curiously.
"Yeah" I said simply "I got a painful feeling just now. I can't describe it though."
"I could heal that for you" Tsunade offered.
"DON'T TRY TO ACT NICE NOW YOU OLD LADY!" I yelled standing on the table "YOU'RE NOT GOOD ENOUGH TO BE HOKAGE!"
Shizune gasped and remained quiet as Tsunade got an irk mark on her forehead and TonTon made little noises.
"I DON'T WANT TO BE HOKAGE! YOU INSOLENT BRAT!" She yelled standing on the table as well and glaring at me.
I glared back at her but I couldn't shake off what had just happened.
I hope....I hope Ruka's okay.
~Ruka's POV~
I hurriedly stood up and took out my Kunai as the dust from the explosion blew around me; whipping my hair back.
Damn it, where's Hinata?!
Is she okay?!
She was closer to the blast then I was. A loud sound of something uncoiling brought me to my senses and before I knew it Chakra wire wrapped tightly around my whole body and fastened me to a tree as my Kuani fell from my grip. I grunted and struggled as I heard footsteps begin to approach me and I looked up. From the dust in the air I made out around 5 figures standing in front of me. The exact number my Chakra senses had picked up earlier.
"Well, well, well" one of them said as the dust finally cleared "so this is the girl Lord Kuro wants."
Lord Kuro?
I glared at him and gritted my teeth as he laughed, unfazed by it. The man that had spoken was holding the end of the Chakra wire in his hand and when he pulled on it the wire began digging into my skin and I cried out in pain.
"What are the reports on the other girl" the man said, turning to one of his comrades.
"Dead, sir. There's no way she could have survived that explosion."
My eyes widened and I felt anger boiling in my gut as the man laughed again.
"Perfect" he said "now....GRAB HER!"
Two man took out Kunai's and charged at me as I gasped.
"Eight trigrams, 64 palms!"
I looked up in surprise and watched as Hinata jumped in front of me and began using the same technique Neji had used on Naruto during the Chūnin exams.
"Hinata!"
She struck the last man directly in his chest and the two men that had charged me slumped to the ground in pain. Hinata took out a Kunai and cut the Chakra wire off of me as I hurriedly took out a Kunai and stood beside her.
"You know" Hinata said smirking "it's not nice to tie up girls like that. Much less, blow them up."
"How the hell did you survive that blast?!" One of the man said in disbelief "it should have killed you!"
"Byakugan!"
Veins appeared around Hinata's eyes and her once purplish eyes were now white.
"CHARGE!" Hinata yelled running towards the men.
'She calls that a battle strategy?' Kinase said as I sweat dropped and followed after her.
One of the man came at me and I threw my Kunai at him as he dodged it and made hand signs.
"Wood style: Tree attack Jutsu!"
Some of the mans Chakra flowed into a nearby tree and it began to rumble as I prepared myself. The tree slowly began to stand up and its roots ripped out of the ground completely as I stared in disbelief.
"You won't be able to defeat me" the man said.
I didn't reply and I simply glared at the man as he smirked. The tree let out a monstrous roar and ripped another tree from its roots before flinging it at me. I gasped and leapt to the side as the tree landed inches away from me causing to to break in two and have wood chips fly everyone.
"Water Style: Water dragon Jutsu!"
A dragon made of water appeared and charged at the tree. The tree, however, grabbed at the dragon and began to....eat it?! I watched in disbelief as my dragon wailed in fury and the tree continued to guzzle it down until it was gone.
"I told you" the man said laughing "Lord Kuro told us you were good at water Jutsu and since my tree is part of the Earth, water just makes him stronger!"
As if on cue, the tree let out another roar and it began to expand in size as I took a step back.
"Just admit defeat Princess Kiyomizu" he said "we are the strongest clan you will ever meet! The Dark Moore!"
I clenched my hands tightly into fist and cursed under my breath. He called me Princess Kiyomizu. He's one of those people that know something about me that I don't.
Am I really a princess; what does Lord Kuro want with me?!
'Hey Ruka' Kinase said.
'What?!' I said, slightly annoyed.
'Just thought I'd let you know that each tailed beast has a special power' she said 'for example Kurama is fire, and you know Shukaku is sand, but I'm water and lightning.'
Water and lightning?
I thought about that for a long time when a brilliant idea popped into my head. I clenched my Kunai tightly in my hand and smiled. The man looked at me and shook his head.
"You really don't knew when to give up" he said "attack!"
The tree charged towards me as its hand turned into a sharp, long root and I exhaled deeply. This is going to take a lot of Chakra.
"Water style: Water Tsunami Jutsu!"
A giant wave passed directly over my head and slammed into the tree as it buckled and began to suck the water up.
"I told you" the man said as the water went up to his knees "it's futile!"
"Well then you're in for quite a big shock."
His eyes widened as I began making hand signs.
"Lightning style: Rain of terror Jutsu!"
The sky began to rumble and gray clouds covered the sky as the booming of thunder could be heard and flashes of light went off in the sky like thousands of flashlights. A faint, large skull appeared in the sky and when it opened its mouth thousands of strands of lightning shot out of it and hit the water as the man and tree began to electrocute. The sky which had been filled with colors of green for trees and brown for dirt were now gone and the only thing that could be seen was the bright white flash of the lightning.
Finally, the grey clouds blew away and the lightning ceased as the tree disappeared and the man fell to the ground, unmoving.
'He's dead' Kinase said slowly 'you probably didn't mean to do that.'
'No' I said simply as I stared at the dead man 'what happened with Yuri was an accident, and shouldn't have been done. My ninja way is to protect the people I care about. For some reason, I care about Naoki and killing this man to save her doesn't affect me.'
Kinase remained silent as Hinata came over and smiled before we turned towards the last man. The one that had restrained me with the Chakra strings. He whimpered in fear and tried to run, but Hinata raced over and kicked him back as he went flying and landed by my feet. I grabbed him by his collar and held a Kunai to his throat as the hand that gripped his collar began to crackle with lightning.
"Now" I said as my eyes turned red "TAKE ME TO NAOKI!"
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Me: Hey guys! That's the of chapter. 78! I hope you enjoyed it.
Happy: Ay sir!
Me: Oh hey Happy....HAPPY?! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!
Natsu: We we're bored and decided to come check out all this stuff
Me: WHAT STUFF?!
*Beats them with broom*
GO BACK TO YOUR OWN ANIME!
Natsu: Ow! Okay! We're leaving!
*Natsu and Happy leave*
Me: *Sighs in relief* That was weird....anyways I don't own Naruto guys so, later!
Lucy: What's in this drawer Ezra?
*Opens drawer*
Ezra: *Holds up my lingerie* Interesting....Lucy! It's better then yours! I must wear it!
Me: WHAT THE HELL?!?!
Ezra: *Shoves lingerie in my face*
Let me wear this!
Me: GET OUT!!!!!!!