Kurenai attached a request for back up to a small dove, hoping help would get there quickly.
She looked over her students, noting the general happiness and hope they wore on their sleeves. I shouldn't have chosen this mission, I want them to hold onto their innocence a while longer...please Hokage-sama, send someone strong. She thought to herself.
Naruto sat down in front of Hinata and Shikamaru. "Alright, I promised to tell you guys, and I never go back on my word. To understand my story I need to tell you everything. Twelve years ago a great and powerful beast attacked Konoha and the fourth hokage defeated it. That's not the whole story. A man wielding the sharingan forced the Kyuubi from my mother and stole his free will. The man ordered the Kyuubi to destroy Konoha but my father fought this man. The man took a serious wound and was forced to flee, leaving the kyuubi. My father then brought me to the battlefield and with my mother, they sealed the Kyuubi into the seal on my stomach."
Shikamaru nodded. "I suspected as much, you could easily pass for a younger version of the fourth hokage. So that red chakra was the ninetails...it's a powerful tool, but it'd be a drag for everyone to hate you."
"Not everyone... jiji, old man Teuchi, Ayame, Hinata-chan, Arashi-nii, Kurenai-sensei, Hiashi Hyuuga and a couple more of our class mates." Naruto looked away, fully expecting them to hate him.
Shikamaru sighed. "The villagers are stupid. If you throw a dangerous criminal behind bars, do you hate the bars? Or the criminal? Do they even know how sealing works? Troublesome bastards..."
Naruto turned back, only to be enveloped in a teary hug from Hinata. "It's alright Naruto... you are you, not the fox. Even if you were him reincarnated, he was forced to do those terrible things... no matter what you are, you are a great person...a hero."
Naruto returned the hug hesitantly. Hold onto this girl forever, boy. She's special, and will likely stand beside you through anything. A soul like that is a rare find, indeed.
Naruto didn't flinch at the Kyuubi's words but he would ponder them for a while.
The other voice in his head was forced silent.
"Alright, I wanna teach you all a new jutsu. I brought a scroll from each of your elements and picked ones I think you'll like." Kurenai walked over with two clones, each holding a scroll. "Me and my clones will take each of you a good distance from each other so until you learn to control how much power the jutsu has."
She didn't have to say it, Naruto could turn a C rank jutsu into an A rank by overcharging it.
They each followed their sensei, or a clone, into three different directions.
_____________________________
"Okay Naruto the jutsu I've found you is a powergul jutsu called Air Bullet. It compresses air into your palm until you can feel it, then you blast the ball of compressed air and when it hits something the air is released so rapidly it's like a bomb going off."
"What happens if I over charge it?" Naruto asked.
She grinned evily. "It could detonate prematurely. This jutsu is a way to improve your control."
_______one week of training later__
Naruto peered around the bridge, the fog was slowly thickening. Somethings not right...
Kurenai placed a few genjutsu around herself and her students to make them much harder to notice, feeling the danger approaching.
Hinata was systematically activating her byakugan and peering into the fog.
Shikamaru had a stern look of concentration over his face.
Then it happened. "Hehehe....she's kinda hot, Kakuzu. Can I skull fuck her after we kill her?"
Another voice replied annoyedly. "I honestly don't care, as long as we get paid."
A man appeared with a long red, tri-bladed scythe. "Good! Shit just got real!!!" He made a horizontal swipe at Kurenai that she barely dodged.
Naruto tried to run forward, only to be yanked backwards by a strong grip around his right ankle.
Then was slammed into the bridge roughly.
"Not so fast, Jinchuriki. I'm your opponent." The older man stalked forward, menacingly. He knew he could kill this brat at any time.
Naruto struggled to his feet, two red chakra tails forming behind him.
"Not today." Kakuzu delivered a powerful kick to Naruto's ribs, sending him flying off the side and into the water.
Naruto hit the water and began sinking slowly. He'd been beaten easily, even while channeling the fox's power. He couldn't move, his ribs were in pieces and had pierced several organs, on top of the internal bleeding from being slammed into the bridge. His vision began to fade but a thought hit him that made his body go cold.
That man would probably do the same thing to his precious people... Kurenai-sensei, Shikamaru....Hinata-chan...No. I refuse, this won't be how I die! I WILL PROTECT THEM!!!!!
The water around Naruto was blasted away as his pupils vanished and his eyes took on a slight glow. Red chakra surged instinctively trying to protect the boy but all it did was make him stronger and faster.
The fox breathed out in shock, realizing what his jailer had just unlocked.
Naruto moved towards Hidan, who was in the middle of swinging his scythe towards Kurenai. Kakazu was almost able to see him but Naruto jumped, spinning at speeds that would shame the shunshin. Then he threw his foot around, catching Hidan in the cheek.
The sheer force and speed spun Hidan's head around with a sickening crunch.
"Shit! Kakazu, he's faster than a mother fucker!" The grey headed man yelled as he pushed himself to his feet, head still light from spinning around.
"You two. In thanks for allowing me to control the idiot's body for a moment, I'll allow you to die painlessly." Naruto blasted forward, punching and kicking Hidan mercilessly with enough speed and power to easily break his bones and destroy his internal organs. The shockwaves from Naruto's movements stopped as Naruto backed up, smiling at his bloodied knuckles. His broken and bruised knuckles mended themselves in seconds, the kyuubi tried pulling his power back because he could see that what was fighting wasn't Naruto.
"Dammit, we can't fight him like he is now. He's got too much power for the price we've been paid for this mission..." Kakuzu then shunshined, along with a bloody Hidan, away from the bridge.
Naruto walked towards Hinata, like a lion stalking it's prey. "You're the one he cares so much about. It's nice to finally meet you." His smile was off to Hinata, so unlike the Naruto she knew.
She tried to back away, only for him to forcefully grab her wrist. "L-let go Na-Naruto...." she stuttered quietly.
He scoffed. "Naruto? I'm not that weakling, I'm what he should've been, the apex predator. My name is..." Then he gripped his forehead, painfully. "Stop it!"
Naruto pushed the darkness clouding his mind away, stopping himself from hitting Hinata.
Buzzkill...
Kit be careful drawing on my power, it amplifies anger and this other creature seems to fees on any negative emotion.
Naruto nodded at the Fox. "What happened to me?"
You are now the second Uzumaki to attain self regeneration. Your ancestor can give you better details I'm sure, for now talk to your team.
Naruto grimaced and turned to see Hinata hugging Kurenai tightly and Shikamru staring at him skeptically.
"Naruto, that thing just now... That wasn't the kyuubi was it?" Shikamaru asked, seducing the answer in his head.
Naruto shook his head. "No... It wasn't. You three know how I grew up, right? It was hard enough that my mind couldn't take it...so it basically created a version of me that could."
"Split personality disorder. I'm guessing it feeding on the Fox's chakra is giving it better control." Shikamaru kneels in front of Naruto. "That means we need to get you to the point where you won't need it." The smile made Naruto feel a bit better but Hinata ran over and buried her face into his shoulder, crying and squeezing his body against her own.
Naruto tentatively wrapped his arms around her and smiled as tears fell from his eyes.
"You ain't outta my sight five minutes and you go crazy, what am I gonna do with you, brat?" Arashi stepped had shunshined next to Kurenai, nearly giving the genjutsu mistress a heart attack in the process.
Naruto smiled wearily at Arashi. "I got my kekkei-genkai. I can heal like you." Naruto actually looked happy but Arashi didn't. Arashi looked down.
"I'm sorry kid. I'm sorry you've got the same curse as me..." He walked over. "Kurenai, I gotta borrow him for a bit. We need to talk."
She nodded and the two Uzumaki shunshined a few hundred yards away. "This is good. Out of war shot but they know we're nearby. I gotta tell you, kid. You got the worst luck when it came to bloodlines."