A/N: That is my drawing of Hotaru in her new outfit, and I hope you like it! It's pretty awful as I'm not the best at drawing, but I'm proud of it ^_^ This drawing belongs to ME and cannot be distributed by others. I was thinking about scanning it and making a digital version. Comment what you think! If any of you guys are better artists, know how to draw it on the computer, and of course want to draw Hotaru, please PM me so I can add it to the story and possibly make it the cover!
Now onto the story!
As we ran through the forest and passed through thick trees, a booming sound was heard. I furrowed my eyebrows and activated my Hoshigan. My eyes widened as I saw an explosion.
"They're trip-wire traps, and they aren't making Sasuke's job easy for him," Pakkun explained and I nodded.
"You don't think he, you know..." Sakura began to ask, a sad expression on her face.
"Oh, don't worry about Sasuke, he'll be fine," Naruto reassured and I slightly smiled. Naruto trusted Sasuke, he always has. I used my heightened vision to look for Sasuke and I saw him running again. I closed my eyes and sighed in reassurance.
"Naruto's right. For now, he's fine," I told the group and Naruto grinned. We continued chasing Sasuke for a while, until Pakkun informed us that he stopped. I furrowed my eyebrows. Did he catch up to Gaara already?
Pakkun suddenly stopped. "Wait, this scent, I can't believe I didn't notice it before," he said and I blinked in confusion. What's going on? Are we being trailed or something?
"Sakura, did you know we use the same shampoo, Minty Rainforest Mist, with extra body? But why does my coat look glossier than yours?" he declared and Sakura paled.
"Knock it off, we don't have time to talk about hair products!" Naruto yelled, scolding the little ninja hound. I looked over to Sakura who started mumbling something.
"I smell like a dog, I smell like a dog, I smell like a dog," she repeated and Naruto huffed in frustration.
"Look what you've done!" he whined and went over to comfort her. I had the urge to burst into a fit of laughter, but an image of Sasuke appeared in my head, snapping me out of my previous thoughts. Seriousness overcame my expression and I followed after the two.
"Hey, wait for me. You're not going anywhere without me," Pakkun said from behind and I smirked.
Actually, with my eyesight, we don't need you at all, but I'm not rude. You are kind of useful, you can detect things from farther away.
We heard another explosion, but this time it was smaller, and Sasuke
was on the move again. We continued following him, and I was surprised when Pakkun told us 5 scents had stopped. This made me very confused.
"Five? That means someone else was following them too and caught up to them first. Damn!" I cursed under my breath and Pakkun stopped moving.
"Sasuke and two others have started moving again, but two have stayed and aren't moving. I smell that they're about to fight. I suggest we detour around them so we don't get caught in their battle, even if it wastes some time," he suggested and I ran my fingers through my hair in frustration. Upon doing this, I realized I had let my hair down again. Before Team 7, I never had my hair down. All of a sudden, it always is.
My thoughts were interrupted by Naruto's yelling. "We don't have time to waste time, we should go through them to get to Sasuke!" I shook my head.
"Naruto, we can't do that. What if we get caught in battle just because we go straight? We'd be wasting even more time, so going around would be for the best," I explained and Naruto huffed. I sighed as well and we started jumping around the area were the fighting was taking place. As we were running, I sensed a huge amount of dark, ominous chakra full of blood lust.
This made my frown and activate my Hoshigan. What I saw made my eyes widen. Gaara was no longer a human, half of his body was some kind of...monster. Sasuke was up against a wall and looked exhausted. He made familiar hand signs and grabbed his arm. I blinked rapidly and started running faster.
"He's going to use Chidori?!" I asked myself incredulously and cursed under my breath. We were definitely close since I could hear the chirping sound of the Jutsu and could even see the blue chakra with normal vision. With my Hoshigan, I was able to see Sasuke penetrate Gaara's arm, but black marks appeared on his skin. My eyes widened.
The curse mark?! I thought it was contained? Did Kakashi lie or is Sasuke's will that weak? I shook my head, eliminating all negative thoughts and ran faster at the sight of Sasuke collapsing on the ground. As Gaara was charging at Sasuke, we made our entrance.
I arrived first, standing in front of Sasuke protectively, may hair creating a shield around us. While I did this, Naruto kicked Gaara in the jaw. I hovered over Sasuke.
"You okay?" I asked and he grunted. I placed my hand over his mark and performed medical ninjutsu. Even with my Hoshigan activated and my medical chakra being blue (thanks to strength), I was only able to ease some of the pain.
"Just, sit back against the tree and relax. We'll help you, okay? Don't think you have to do everything alone. That's why we have teammates," I told him and gave him a closed eyed smile.
To my surprise, he screamed and pushed my hand away. "No! What are you doing here? Leave!" I frowned and put down my barrier. Sakura and Pukkun ran towards Sasuke and crouched beside him. I stood up and looked towards Gaara who was staring directly at Sasuke. Naruto turned and yelled.
"Guys! We need to go, now!" he screamed, but in the speed of light, Gaara was charging at Sasuke. My eyes widened and I instinctively wrapped my hair around Sasuke while Sakura jumped in front of him protectively, kunai in hand.
There was pure determination to protect him in her eyes. This angered Gaara, and he grabbed her frail body with his transformed arm. He attached her to a tree. I grabbed Sasuke's body and jumped back to another branch with Naruto following behind me.
Gaara held his head and grunted in pain. It seemed more like emotional pain to me, but I stood quietly and watched to analyze what would happen next. Naruto, on the other hand, stared at Gaara in complete fear, and he was shaking.
"What's wrong, aren't you going to escape?" Gaara asked and Naruto growled in anger. I narrowed my eyes and stayed quiet.
"Sasuke, Naruto, Hotaru," Sakura whispered. Naruto continued growling.
"Who are these two? Who are they to you?" Gaara asked, referring to Sasuke and Sakura. Drool was dripping down his chin and his breathing was very loud, like a beast. His question made Naruto's eyes widen and my eyebrows furrow.
Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto. They are all a part of my team, Team 7, but who are they specifically to me? Sakura...what is she to me? Naruto, what about him? Those are silly questions, I know who they are. They're my friends. And Sasuke? He...
"Who are they to me? They're my friends is who they are! And if you try to lay a finger on the two of them, I will pulverize you!" Naruto yelled in response and Gaara's eyes widened in anger and surprise.
"And to me...they're more than just teammates! Naruto and Sakura are like the family I never had! And Sasuke...well, he's very special to me, something I can't explain. But the same goes for me, if you hurt them, I will not hesitate to kill you," I replied, happy with my answer.
This made both Naruto and Gaara surprised, but angered Gaara even more. He growled and his grip on Sakura tightened, causing her to scream in pain. Pakkun whimpered and Naruto flinched. I frowned and closed my eyes.
"What's wrong? Weren't you going to "pulverize" and "not hesitate to kill" me?" he asked and Naruto growled. "Well, come on then."
My eyes snapped opened, my Hoshinagan activated. (The Hoshinagan is like the Mangekyo Sharingan, but for the Hoshigan. This is where she can read minds and perform various genjutsu. Like the Mangekyo Sharingan's Amaterasu and Susano'o, the Hoshigan has special Jutsus, but that will be revealed later on. It is activated when you want to protect the person you love most.)
"Damnit!" Naruto yelled and jumped towards Gaara, but was slapped away. I glared at Gaara as he started cackling madly.
"And that's exactly why you can't win," he said, making Naruto gasp. "As long as you fight for the sake of others, you'll never advance beyond this level. Only one can remain undefeated, and only he will feel what's it's like to truly exist. Forget your friends, and fight for yourself!"
His words made my eyes widen. "You're insane. Forget my friends?" Naruto said clenching his fist. I nodded in agreement.
"You must be out of your mind! Thanks to them, I've never been stronger, and I will continue to grow!" I screamed.
"The trivial feelings of friendship and loyalty only cloud your focus and open the way for death," Gaara replied.
"Yeah, yeah, keep talking while you can, cos I'm about to shut you up once and for all!" Naruto yelled, making Gaara growl in anger. Naruto pulled out a kunai and went to jump towards Gaara, but I had already made hand signs for star shuriken.
"Star Style: Star Shuriken Jutsu!" I said and shot out the blue shuriken from my hands, cutting off Gaara's transformed arm. Gaara screamed in pain and held his head. Naruto stood there, thinking, and I furrowed my eyebrows. Naruto...what are you thinking?
Unexpectedly, he made hand signs and bit his thumb. My eyes widened. "Summoning Jutsu!" he yelled. Once the smoke cleared, a little toad was revealed, making me blink.
"Naruto, this is no time for games!" I scolded, making him grunt. He ignored me as the little toad started speaking.
"Hey, kid, what do ya want? I don't have a lot of time, but we can work something out if you have some snacks," the little toad spoke, annoying me further.
"Oh give me a break, I'm really starting to hate you stinking frogs!" Naruto screamed and I face palmed. The toad stuck his tongue out and I felt like slapping Naruto upside the head, but Gaara stopped screaming, making me turn my attention to him.
"Worrying about the others? That's your biggest mistake. When I fight, I fight only for myself," he said, his face completely transformed. The rest of his body was transforming and his missing arm was substituted with sand. His human form was completely gone except his red hair. He was a complete monster.
"Sand Shuriken!" Gaara yelled and sand was launched at us. I tried to protect us by creating a hair shield, but since the attack was so strong, my hair wasn't strong enough to protect me from the impact, so I was kicked off of my feet.
I fell back around 20 feet, my back landing harshly on the ground. I winced in pain, knowing a bruise would form on my back shortly. Thankfully, Naruto grabbed the little toad and jumped, shielding himself from the attack. I dragged myself over to the bark and leaned against the tree. I moved my shaky hands over to my back and started using medical ninjutsu to ease the pain.
I need to stand and go held Naruto. Damn! I can't move! I need to save Sasuke and Sakura!
"Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu!" I heard Naruto yelled, and for a split second I thought everything would be alright until I heard a following voice.
"Wind Style: Sand Storm Devastation!" Gaara yelled. I could hear the poofs of all the clones, making them disappear. I heard Naruto grunt making me slowly stand up. I need to stand, I need to help!
I managed to stand shakily and jump up to where Naruto was. Before Gaara could shoot another barrage of sand shuriken, I created a crystal barrier. I was panting heavily, my back hurting like a bitch. Gaara was squeezing Sakura tighter with his detached arm.
I put down the barrier and dropped to my knees. Naruto created more Shadow Clones and jumped at Gaara. He created two more sets of Shadow Clones before landing behind him. Finally, he stuck two fingers into Gaara's ass.
"A Thousand Years of Death!" I sweat dropped at the move Kakashi used on him a few months prior. Gaara swung him back with his tail, making me panic. However, a kunai with a paper bomb wrapped around it was penetrated into Gaara.
"Boom," Naruto muttered and the kunai exploded. Yes! I mentally cheered for Naruto's hit, but panicked when I saw him fall against a tree. Thankfully, Sasuke was there and acted like a cushion for Naruto. I stood back up and jumped over to where Sasuke and Naruto were.
"You two okay?" I asked and Sasuke grunted.
"I'm fine," he growled and Naruto nodded in agreement. He sat up and looked straight at Gaara whose arm was a mess of drooping sand.
"Naruto, Hotaru, listen to me. You have to save Sakura if it's the last thing you do. Once you've got her, I want you to take her and flee from here. I can hold him here a little longer. If it ends here, it just means this was as far as I was meant to go. I lost everything once, I never want to see that ever again. My trusted comrades falling right in front of me..." Sasuke said and grunted as he stood up.
I growled and stood up. I faced him directly. I slapped him right in the face. Tears brimmed my eyes. "You idiot! Do you think I'm going to leave you to die here? I'm going to protect you to the end. Don't think you're going to die, because I won't let that happen!" I screamed as he stared wide eyed holding his red cheek.
Naruto stood up and put his hands together. A mass amount of blue chakra surrounded him. My eyes widened slightly, but I was going to help as well.
"As Hotaru said...no matter what happens, I will protect you!" Naruto declared, and I slightly smiled. "Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
"Naruto, how did you do this?" Sasuke asked and Naruto smiled.
"Don't worry about it, Sasuke. Just take a break, you deserve it. Leave the rest to Naruto Uzumaki!" he said and charged at Gaara. I smirked at Sasuke's surprised look.
"And by the way, I'll make sure that you'll be safe and won't try to interfere," I said, which confused Sasuke. I made hand signs.
"Star Style: Crystal Barrier!" I yelled and created a shield that was made of thick blue crystal. Sasuke's eyes widened.
"Now if you'll excuse me...I have a fight to watch," I said and simply walked through the barrier. I watched as multiple Naruto's kicked, punched, and threw shuriken at Gaara. I nodded in approval at his sudden power. However, this didn't last long.
"I won't lose to a guy like him!" Gaara screamed and suddenly grew to a larger form. My eyes widened drastically. He really was a monster.
Sand surrounded Naruto and was about to kill him, but Naruto was quick. I quickly made hand signs as well.
"This is the end for you. Sand Bur-" Gaara began, but was interrupted by our cries.
"Summoning Jutsu!" Naruto and I yelled, and puffs of smoke appeared. He had summoned a giant toad with a pipe in his mouth, while I summoned Momo.
"Momo, I need you to grow to about that size!" I commanded and pointed at both the toad and Gaara. She nodded. "Yes, Lady Hotaru."
As Momo grew, Naruto and the toad were having some kind of conversation. The toad unsheathed a katana and stood in front of Gaara. Momo blinked at the sight of the toad.
"Gamabunta. I haven't seen you in ages," she greeted and the giant toad stared at her.
"Momo, was it? I remember meeting you with Kyo. So you have your own brat?" he said and I sweat dropped.
"Correct. We should talk later, for we must deal with the opponent in front of us. Shukaku the Sand Spirit," Momo said and I nodded. I was standing on her head like Naruto was standing on Gamabunta's.
The toad nodded and jumped towards Gaara, cutting off one of his arms with his sword.
"Not bad, Naruto Uzumaki, not bad!" Gaara yelled and appeared on top of the beast's head. His eyes were rolled to the back of his head and Gamabunta started explaining about spiritual mediums and how they work. If Gaara is aslesp, then the Shukaku's full power is unleashed.
Gaara ended up using a Jutsu to make himself fall asleep, and the Sand Spirit was unleashed. Gamabunta and Shukaku shot liquid bullets (toad) and air bullets (shukaku) at each other. Momo didn't want to make any moves because she could end up hurting Gamabunta on accident, so we stayed in place and gathered chakra.
Gamabunta told us we had to wake up the medium, but he couldn't get a grip on Shukaku because he doesn't have fangs, claws, or horns. This is where we come in. Momo ran charged at Shukaku from behind and scratched him, making him fall forward slightly, but he created wind with his tail to push us away. We were attacked by multiple air bullets, but dodged most of them. Finally, we managed to grab a hold of the beast.
"Naruto, now!" I yelled and he jumped off Gamabunta. He punched Gaara straight in the jaw, waking him up. Although the Shukaku was no longer taking over, Gaara was still in his beast form. He grabbed a hold of Naruto and tried doing Sand Burial.
However, Naruto wasn't letting that happen. He closed his eyes and when he opened them again, his system was filled with the Nine Tails' chakra. Momo was whacked with the Shukaku's tail, making us fly backwards. Her back landed harshly against the ground, tearing off the trees and ruining the landscape.
"Lady Hotaru...I'm afraid I cannot go any further in this form. I will have to return to my normal size and I can take you back to your friends. It's as much as I can do," Momo panted and I shook my head.
"No, it's alright. You can return. I'll deal with the rest myself. Thank you for your help," I told her and she poofed away. I was plummeting to the ground and landed harshly on my already injured back.
Damn, that hurt...she couldn't have dropped me off before poofing away...
I was panting heavily, all my chakra was practically gone and my back was definitely injured this time. I tried to stand, but failed to do so. I grunted and started healing my back and neck. After I few seconds, I collapsed. I was completely drained of chakra. I squeezed my eyes shut as I tried standing up again.
My neck started burning, making my eyes open. I watched as my skin became covered with black star patterns. My eyes widened. No! I activated the curse mark! But...it's helping me stand and it's giving me power. Maybe this isn't so bad?
My thoughts were interrupted when pain shot through my neck. I'm going to have to do this as quick as possible. I have a limited amount of time left.
I made hand signs. "Star Style: Levitating Platform," I whispered to myself and crawled onto the platform. I was panting heavily and felt extremely weak, but I had to make it. I watched as Naruto slammed his head against Gaara's, and the Shukaku started cracking. It completely dissolved into sand and Gamabunta poofed away.
I watched as Gaara and Naruto landed on some trees, both panting heavily. They stood up and got into fighting stances. As Gamabunta's katana poofed away, the two charged at each other and Naruto punched Gaara in the face.
As they fell to the ground, my platform suddenly disappeared. Damn, I'm out of chakra, my platform even disappeared! My eyes widened as I also started falling to my doom. My back landed harshly on the ground, again, and I was completely immobile. I landed a few feet from the others. I was close enough to see them, but far enough that they didn't know where I was. My Hoshigan had long been deactivated and my vision was blurry, like the last time I overused it.
Although it was blurry, I could make out Sakura's unconscious figure fall from the tree she was hanging from, but Sasuke jumped in and caught her just in time. I guess my crystal barrier broke too, huh? I turned my head to see Naruto drag his body towards Gaara with his chin. This made my eyes widen. What was he trying to do?
Gaara's eyes widened at the sight of Naruto slowly getting closer. "No! Stay away!" he yelled, but Naruto kept going.
"It's almost unbearable, isn't it? The feeling of being all alone," Naruto said and stopped moving. He looked up at Gaara. "I know that feeling. I've been there, in that dark and lonely place. But now there are others who mean a lot to me. I care about them more than I do myself and I won't let anyone hurt them. That's why I will never give up, and that's why I will stop you, even if I have to kill you," Naruto continued and started standing up, making my eyes widen.
"Why? Why would you do this for anyone but yourself?" Gaara asked, and my eyes shut closed from the pain in my neck. My skin burned everywhere from the curse mark and I started shaking rather violently.
"Because they saved me from myself. They rescued me from my loneliness. They were the first to accept me for who I am. They are my friends," Naruto replied and fell back to the ground. This made me open my eyes and stare at Naruto in awe. I didn't know he felt like that about us, and I didn't know he was so lonely before. He continued to drag himself until a voice stopped him.
"Naruto, that's enough," Sasuke's voice said, making my eyes widen completely. Sasuke... He was kneeling in front of Naruto, the curse mark still covering his body. "Look, Sakura's going to be alright. The sand crumbled away, she's free. This guy's chakra is all used up," he explained and I grunted, trying to stand and walk over to them. I felt my neck burn again, but a bit of chakra flowed into my system, allowing me to sit up.
"That's a relief," I heard Naruto mumble. I stood up as two figures jumped in front of Gaara.
"That's enough, it's over," he told them.
"Alright, Gaara," Kankuro said, picked up his brother, and jumped away. I started stumbling towards Naruto and Sasuke, but I felt a sharp pain in my back, making me fall back down. I winced in pain and squeezed my eyes shut. I placed a hand over my back and started performing medical ninjutsu.
"Naruto, where's Hotaru?" I heard Sasuke ask, making my eyes widen slightly and a minuscule smile appear on my face.
"I'm over here!" I tried to yell, but my throat was burning and I couldn't speak. This made me frown.
"I, I don't know," an almost unconscious Naruto replied. I forced myself to stand again while I healed my back and started limping towards them. I fell again, but this time I face planted onto the ground. I was completely exhausted and my back was not helping. I felt my eyes water, making my vision even more blurry.
What if they never find me and I just die here? I blinked my tears away and shook my head. I placed my hand over my neck and started healing my throat and vocal chords instead.
"Hotaru!" I heard Sasuke yelled from nearby.
"I, I'm o-over here," I replied in a soft, hoarse voice that was loud enough for Sasuke to hear. I heard footsteps that were coming towards me and at quick pace.
"Hotaru!" he said when he saw me. I felt his arms wrap around me, making me sit up, my back laying against his chest. I tried looking up at Sasuke's face, but was met with the sky instead, making me frown.
"I can't see your face," I whispered and he turned me so I was facing him. Although it was blurry, I could at least see his face, which made me smile.
"How are you feeling?" he asked and I looked down.
"Like shit," I mumbled, making him chuckle slightly at my profanity, but frown at my state.
"Your eyes...they're so dull, I thought you were dead," he said, making my eyes widen.
"They're dull? Well, everything is blurry so I'm not all that surprised," I replied and he shook his head. He placed his forehead against mine.
"Thank Kami you're not dead. I don't know what I would've done without you," he mumbled. I stared at him in disbelief, until his head jerked away. I looked down in disappointment. He realized what he was doing, saying, perhaps feeling, so he parted. I scooted away and kept my gaze on the grass.
"Can you stand?" he asked and I tried hoisting myself up. I was successful, even though my back hurt a lot. I nodded and he did the same. He started walking towards Naruto and I trailed behind him slightly. He jumped up to where Sakura was and brought her down.
"Are you strong enough to carry her? She's lighter than Naruto, so if you can't I guess I'll carry both of them," he said and shrugged. He handed her unconscious body to me, which I tried carrying, but my back made me fall down. Sasuke caught her before she could fall and slung her over his shoulder. He walked over to Naruto and picked him up as well while I stood up.
"Make sure to keep up. If you feel like you can't go on, stop and wait while I bring reinforcements," he said coldly and jumped in the trees. I frowned at his attitude. He went from sweet and worried to uncaring and bitter.
I jumped after the bipolar, emo duckbutt. Halfway back, black spots filled my vision. I stopped on a branch and leaned on the bark. I bit my thumb, formed hand signs, and placed my hand on the ground.
"Summoning Jutsu," I whispered and saw a slightly tired Momo. "Take me back to the village, please," I mumbled and fell limp on her back. Her eyes widened.
"Lady Hotaru! Your skin...it's covered in black stars. You have a curse mark? Are you alright?" she asked all at once and I chuckled.
"I'll tell you everything once we're safe in the village. For now, please carry me back because I'm too weak. If you have enough chakra, please grow so you can carry my friends," I commanded. Momo nodded firmly.
"Yes, Milady," she replied and closed her eyes. The star on her forehead glowed and she grew to about my height. I sat on her back, my head laying on the back of her head. She started jumping towards the others as I drifted into a deep slumber.