227. Naruko’s determination
“Tomoka?~” A sleepy Nozomi asked while rubbing her eyes. Last night had been a lot of fun and all the stress she had accumulated through the year was now gone, replaced by a satisfying soreness in her muscles.
“Did I wake you up? Sorry. I was just checking up on what has changed.” Not being able to resist the call for intimacy, Tomoka placed a soft kiss on Nozomi’s lips. The kiss didn’t remain soft though as Nozomi went on the offensive turning the chaste kiss into an impromptu make out session.
“I missed this.” To Tomoka’s other side Hinata mumbled as she stretched, having been woken up by the other two’s aggressive kissing. She waited a bit longer before pulling Tomoka away from Nozomi so she could get her own good morning kiss.
A while later the trio cuddled on the bed as they watched the holo screen Tomoka had been using to watch Kagami’s and Itachi’s fight. Afterall, there was a bit more to see.
“Is it true that Itachi has come back?... And that he is looking for Naruko.” Seeing how the random jounin came barging into Kagami’s room while saying that made everyone cringe. Not only the ones on the screen but also the trio watching.
“He’s an idiot.” Hinata shook her head while agreeing with Kurenai’s comment. The other two were nodding along. It was laughable how such information leaked to the wrong person. Afterall, Satsuki was in the same room.
Before anybody could do anything about it Satsuki disappeared from the room running with all her might in search of her girlfriend and her brother. Afterall, her thirst for vengeance was still there. Fueled even further by the love she felt for Naruko.
~Flash back no jutsu~
Satsuki ran at her maximum speed towards the frontier town near Konoha. Afterall, she had known that Naruko would be leaving with Jiraya in search of Tsunade as well as to train. She only hoped to get there in time. She didn’t know what Itachi wanted with Naruko but it could be nothing good. She had already lost everyone she cared about to that man. She wouldn’t let her take Naruko away from her as well.
Soon enough she reached the town but there was a problem, she had no idea where Naruko and Jiraiya were staying. Naruko for her part was feeling annoyed towards Jiraiya as she meditated in her room. The old pervert had opted to run away with some random hussy instead of training her.
As time went by Naruko felt more and more bored as she meditated to try and improve her chakra control. At some point she decided to start making shadow clones and have them meditate as well. It was by the time she had made around twenty of said clones that someone knocked on her door.
Hearing the door, the closest one to the door went to see who it was. What it saw from beyond the door made her freeze instantly. A pair of red eyes, with three black tomoe, just like those of her girlfriend. There was only one possible answer to the sigh. The man who held those eyes could be none other than Itachi Uchiha.
The clone instantly dispelled itself, sharing the information with the rest in the room. A few quick thoughts flew through Naruko’s mind. First and foremost, she needed to avoid direct eye contact. She had sparred with Satsuki enough times to know how dangerous those eyes could be. Second, she needed to flee and find Jiraiya, there was no chance in hell she could fight Itachi and win.
It was just a moment but as soon as the first clone dispelled itself all others quickly got to work. Instantly a rush of clones came towards Itachi with one sole intention. To slow him for long enough so the real one could flee. Out of the room came a flood of Naruko's, a few instantly popping into smoke as Itachi punched or kicked them. Out of the window another group fled.
Itachi had to admit that he was impressed. Naruko had reacted in the best way possible. He didn’t know why the girl, and wasn’t that a surprise as well, had so many clones ready. Even so, he wouldn’t let his target flee. With a quick flicker of his wrist a barrage of shuriken flew out the window hitting each Naruko straight in the back.
Naruko couldn’t help but cringe seeing her plan fail. She had wanted to distract them using the clones that fled out the window. Unfortunately Itachi had dispelled them all before they could get far enough. At least this bought her enough time to run through the hallway, away from him and the shark man besides him.
Before she could reach the corner someone she didn’t expect to see came running out of it. Satsuki had a frantic look in her blood red eyes. Seeing Naruko safe and sound seemed to help her relax a little until her eyes landed on the man she hated the most. It took but a moment for Kisame and Itachi to finish up the rest of the clones. However neither moved just yet seeing who had just appeared.
“I won’t let you.” Satsuki’s eyes were tinged by hatred like no other. She wanted nothing more than to kill Itachi right here, right now. She had seen how Itachi dispatched Naruko’s clones; she didn’t want to think about what the man, no, the monster, wanted with her girlfriend.
Instantly Satsuki gathered as much chakra as she could on her hand. The chidori took form as she dashed full speed towards her brother. She couldn’t help but notice how Itachi was favoring his right arm, so she aimed for the right side of his body.
Itachi for his part was having whiplash. Sure, seeing Kagami had confused him. Seeing Naruko made him wonder what was going on. In the few days since the fight with Kagami he had gathered some information and what he had heard made his head spin a little. Now, seeing his brother, no, his sister was a bit too much.
He had always thought of his little brother as cute, someone he had to protect at all costs. Now seeing the same little brother as a girl, a little sister was too much. She was too cute for him to react. It’s because of this that he was late to react. Thankfully, the memory of being struck by the same technique kicked his instincts into gear.
Trying to move his still hurt right arm out of habit made him waste a few valuable moments. Enough so that when his left hand caught the wrist of his sister the attack had already pierced a bit through his skin. The wound was just superficial, yet it was still painful.
“You have become stronger… just not strong enough.” With those words Itachi proceeds to kick Satsuki in the gut while still holding her wrist. After this the girl lost strength on her legs falling to her knees. As much as it hurt him, Itachi needed to take Satsuki out of commission for now. His end wasn’t here, not now. It would come by the hand of his beloved sister. Just not today.
Now that Satsuki was on her knees. Itachi forced her to look into his eyes, placing her in his genjutsu, Tsukuyomi. He opted for showing her the scene of him murdering the clan again. This time however, he added a new made up bit where he killed Naruko. Afterall, he had noticed how much she cared about the blond.
“Satsuki!” Instantly both Kisame and Itachi felt pressure coming from the nine tailed jinchuuriki. A coat of red bubbling chakra covered the girl in the form of a fox with one tail. Her nails grew sharper like claws while her eyes became red and slited. The whisker marks on her cheeks grew more pronounced as her hair began to float erratically.
Itachi had to quickly dodge out of the way as Naruko attacked him and Kisame with her clawed hands and chakra. The blond girl landed in front of Satsuki in a protective manner. Kisame for his part opted for using samehada to counter the chakra cloack’s attack. He was about to attack Naruko when a toad appeared blocking the sword's path with its arm guard.
“Sorry for being late but Naruko, you need to calm down.” Jiraiya was sweating internally. He knew who the two were. He still believed himself strong enough to deal with them. However, adding to the mix an out of control nine tails would be beyond him. If he had to deal with Naruko as well then things would become troublesome.
“They hurt satsuki.” Naruko didn’t want to back down. The moment when Itachi hit Satsuki was imprinted in her mind, feeding the burning rage she felt. It was more than that though. It was the thought that Itachi could have easily killed Satsuki that enraged her the most. Instead of a kick Itachi had opted for a kunai to the chest. Then…
“Naruko, calm down. Let me deal with this.” This time Jiraiya’s tone was stern. He really didn’t want to deal with Naruko and the nine tails right now. He was somewhat thankful for the enemy duo’s lack of action at the moment.
“I am calm enough.” It wasn’t a lie. Although she was really pissed off, she didn’t feel like she would lose control.
“Well, I’ll trust you then. As for the two of you, this is kind of convenient. I will get to kill the two of you now.” With that said Jiraiya began making hand signs at a fast speed. A moment later a clone appeared beside him alongside a toad. Seeing where this was going Kisame made a set of hand signs of his own.
It was a moment later that Jiraiya’s combination jutsu of fire, wind and toad’s oil clashed against Kisame’s thick water wall. As expected the corridor exploded in a thick blanket of scalding steam. However, this was precisely what Jiraya had wanted to happen. Not wasting any time he made a new set of hand signs.
Unfortunately, Itachi had predicted what would happen. A set of shuriken were flying towards Jiraiya which would force him to cancel his jutsu. That didn’t happen as Naruko quickly deflected the shuriken using the chakra cloak. She had to admit that the thing was quite useful. The only problem being the heightened rage she felt while using it.
“Good job Naruko!” With Naurko’s help Jiraiya managed to finish his jutsu which quickly covered the entire corridor and beyond in the summoned stomach of the great mountain toad. Which gave the walls a fleshy rosy color with pulsing flesh.
~Flash back pause~
“I have seen enough hentai to know where this is going.” Hearing Tomok’s comment both Nozomi and Hinata giggled since they knew what she was talking about.
“Here, I can even name the tags: Tentacles, gender bend, rape, incest-” By this point the other two’s cheeks had turned red. In her embarrassment Hinata smacked the back of Tomoka’s head to make her shut up.
“Sorry, sorry, I couldn't help myself. Anyway, let's continue watching.”
~flash back continue~
“You are now trapped. Say your last prayers.” As Jiraiya said, the walls began moving trying to trap Itachi and Kisame.
“Kisame, let's retreat.” With that Itachi ran away with Kisami following close behind as they dodged and cut the fleshy tentacles that tried to capture them. Past the bend Jiraya and Naruko lost sight of the duo before hearing an explosion.
The only downside of this jutsu was that Jiraiya couldn’t control the place while on the move. Now that he heard the explosion he also felt like the stomach had been damaged. Not only that but it seemed that the duo somehow escaped as well.
Running to the location of the explosion, Jiraiya and Naruko were met with the sight of a broken wall with black fire burning some of the flesh. This made Jiraiya’s eyes widen. He knew how tough the toad’s stomach is. Not only that but it's even more resistant to fire than normal.
Not wasting any time Jiraiya opted for sealing the black fire for study later. With that done, he turned back to where Satsuki laid as he undid his jutsu. Naruko was there even before him, holding Satsuki with care. The chakra cloak that had covered her before was now gone.
“Lets go Naruko, we should take her to the hospital.” With a small depressed nod Naruko stood up while carrying Satsuki in a princess's carry with all the care in the world.
“I know I’m not strong enough yet.” Jiraiya turned slightly to see the grim determination in Naruko’s eyes. The girl’s blue eyes were flashing red as she contained the burning anger she felt. She blamed herself for what happened to Satsuki.
“I will grow stronger.” Jiraiya decided to remain silent. He just nodded to acknowledge the girl’s determination. After all, Naruko had been forced to mature faster. Ever since the attack on the village by Orochimaru and the betrayal of some of her friends she hadn’t been the same.
It didn’t take long for them to reach Konoha’s hospital where Satsuki was taken away to be cared for. It was a while later when the duo had been informed about the girl’s current state. Physically she was fine, just some bruises on her abdominal area. The problem however, was with her mind.
“Her mind is unstable right now. It’s better to let her rest for as long as she needs.” At that Naruko just nodded afterall, what else could she do? She felt frustrated, she wanted to scream and lash out but knew it wouldn’t help. Her frustration was so great she didn’t realize her hand had tightened into a fist to the point where her nails drew blood. She would become stronger, strong enough to never feel like this ever again.
~Flash back end~