Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Ghostly Eyes ❯ The New Hinata ( Chapter 5 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

NARUTO
GHOSTLY EYES
By
Sgamer82

      The Konoha ninja looked at the group of Nimmori assembled outside the village limits. The apparent leader was none other than Hyuga Hinata. She stood at the front of the group of just under twenty men and women of varying age. She was clad in the animal skin sleeveless vest, short pants, and boots that the Nimmori favored. She was also adorned with small bits of jewelry. Bracelets and a necklace that had small fangs on them. Beads strewed about her blue-black hair. Her exposed skin was painted in colors of the forest, providing camouflage in the woods. In the middle of her forehead was a black mark resembling a tree that Kurenai suspected wasn’t simply paint. In her right hand was a wooden spear with a stone point.

     Kurenai didn’t waste time. She went to a pad of paper on a desk and wrote something out. She handed the paper to the doctor and whispered something to him. When that was done, she motioned for the boys to come with her, stopping Naruto before he left.

     “Naruto, create some Kage Bunshin and send them around the perimeter of the village. Have them keep hidden until I tell you otherwise.”

     Naruto nodded and did as Kurenai asked, creating a dozen Shadow Doubles of himself and sending them out. They used a window facing away from the Nimmori so the primitives wouldn’t see them. The real Naruto followed behind Kurenai and her team. They approached the group cautiously. Kurenai looked carefully to either side, spotting some of Naruto’s Bunshin hiding themselves nearby.

     The path the ninja tread was flat and had little or no vegetation other than a few bushes and some small hills. In spite of this, Naruto’s clones were doing their job well enough that Kurenai didn’t believe any of them had been seen. As they approached the Nimmori, Akamaru leaped ahead and ran to Hinata, barking cheerfully. However, a glare from the girl brought the dog running back to his master. Hinata leveled her spear, pointing it at her teacher.

     “You are the shee’nobie of the Fire Shadow?”

     Kurenai was a little stunned. Hinata had just spoken with a heavy accent, as though she were speaking an until recently unknown language. Yet, she was speaking her native tongue.

     “We are. I am Yuhi Kurenai.” Kurenai said, introducing herself and trying to sound as if she’d never met Hinata before now. She thought it likely that acting familiar would only anger the girl. Especially if she’d been conditioned to answer to another name.

      “I” Hinata began, “am Kashghyu N’Ga, of the Blessed Line of the Nimmori.”

     Again, Kurenai was a bit stunned. Hinata was speaking with a confidence the Jônin had never heard from the girl before. She felt tension beside her and saw Shino looking at Hinata intently. He was clearly having thoughts along the same line. However, Naruto and Kiba…

     “What’s the matter with you?! You’re Hinata!” Naruto yelled.

     “Hyuga Hinata!” Kiba shouted. Kiba tried to move towards Hinata, but the other Nimmori pointed their own weapons at the boy, forcing him to step back.

     “You’ve interfered in our affairs several times now.” Hinata said to Kurenai, ignoring Kiba and Naruto.

     “Your people have interfered in the affairs of these lands.” Kurenai countered. She was stalling. This was too good a chance to miss, but the timing had to be right. Some of Naruto’s Bunshin were slowing, they had trouble moving about the terrain without being seen.

     “Mm?” Hinata arched an eyebrow at Kurenai. Kurenai cursed to herself. Could Hinata have noticed her glancing to the sides? With the Hyugas’ skill for reading body language, it wasn’t unlikely.

     Hinata handed her spear to one of her companions and brought her hands up to her chest. As she began weaving the signs necessary to activate the Byakugan Kurenai knew it was now or never.

     “Naruto! Now!” she yelled as loud as she could.

     The doubles Naruto created leapt out of their hiding places, surrounding the band of Nimmori. The odds were considerably more in the shinobis’ favor now. The Narutos pulled out and threw shuriken at the Nimmori, many were able to dodge but injury hadn’t been the intent. Instead, the primitives had scattered. Not much, but enough. They were no longer a cohesive unit they were now eighteen separate people who happened to be on the same side.

     Hinata, whose forehead veins now pulsed out with the activation of her Kekkei Genkai began issuing orders. Once again surprising Kurenai by giving them in the Nimmori tongue. Fluently and with confidence, by the sound of it. The scattered Nimmori began to regroup, but Kurenai wasn’t about to give them the necessary time. Her Genin students right behind her, she charged into the group.

     If their actions were any indication, Hinata’s orders to the Nimmori had been to split up and go one-on-one with their opponents. Each of them went after one of their enemies, except Hinata. She, along with two others, a boy and a girl slightly older than Hinata herself, focused on Kurenai, the biggest danger of the Konoha-nin.

     If it were simply three Nimmori, Kurenai wouldn’t have had much trouble incapacitating them. At their best they seemed to be even with the Genin in one-on-one fights. The fact that most of the battles around her were about evenly matched confirmed this thought. However, Hinata’s presence was a hindrance. Kurenai didn’t want to harm her student, a sentiment her student didn’t currently share. Also, Hinata was making good use of her two teammates. Often two of the three would attack in a feint, hoping to leave Kurenai open from a hit from the third member of the party.

     To make matters worse, more of the Nimmori party began leaping into the fray. With a quick scan of the area she saw some of Naruto’s Kage-Bunshin had been defeated, those that had finished them were joining other fights. Two more were battling Kurenai, a third joined her partner in fighting with Kiba and Akamaru. Naruto and his other Bunshin were having better luck with their foes. She saw one of the Nimmori had even been defeated. Shino had one enemy surrounded by his Chakra-devouring insects.

     Before they could swarm the poor primitive, however, Hinata saw her comrade’s trouble and acted. She shouted commands to her teammates. They again repeated the patter of attacking Kurenai simultaneously, leaving an opening for Hinata. Hinata ran in and, with her right middle and index fingers, struck a point inches below Kurenai’s left breast, followed immediately by another shot to the right thigh. They were barely glancing blows, but they were enough. Kurenai suddenly felt her body get warm. Her Chakra had begun overflowing in her, beyond her control. She knew immediately why. Hinata had struck two Tenketsu points on her body to increase her body’s Chakra flow.

     She didn’t ponder the reason why for long, however, as Shino’s insects suddenly stopped short of crawling onto the Nimmori that was Shino’s opponent. The began leaving the young boy, Kurenai estimated he was seventeen, and began going to a new target.

     Kurenai herself. The insects fed off of Chakra. The massive amount Kurenai was putting out now thanks to Hinata had attracted the insects so strongly they were moving against Shino’s commands.

     “Surrender. Or you die.” Hinata said, cold as ice.

     “Won’t happen.” Kurenai said defiantly.

     Shino put all of his concentration into getting his insects under control. Too much concentration, it seemed, as his opponent was able to get the drop on him. Shino tried to fight back but found himself kicked and pinned to the ground, a stone spear at his throat.

     “Surrender. Or he dies.” Hinata said, equally cold. Kurenai hesitated, hoping Shino might solve his problem himself. She could handle the insects if need be.

     Elsewhere, Kurenai saw the last of Naruto’s Bunshin fall and Naruto himself surrounded by four Nimmori. Kiba and Akamaru were no better off. Their opponents had managed to separate the two, damaging greatly their ability to work as a team. Akamaru soon fell, and his attacker used threats to his life to make Kiba back down.

     “Surrender. Or they die.” Hinata said. Finally, seeing no other choice, Kurenai raised her hands. She didn’t dare risk her students’ lives. Especially since one of them wasn’t really her student to begin with. Hinata walked to Kurenai, warning her that if the Jônin attempted anything her comrades would be killed. Hinata put her fingers together and undid the Tenketsu hits she had inflicted earlier.

     Shino’s insects, no longer swayed by the enormous meal of Kurenai’s Chakra, responded to Shino’s mental commands once again. Shino took Kurenai’s lead, and didn’t attempt to use the insects to attack, knowing it would only lead to most (if not all) of the shinobi being killed.

     The shinobi were each bound hands tied behind their backs. Kurenai noted that their hands were bound very tightly together by the wrists. This made it difficult, if not impossible, to form jutsu seals. It was a somewhat standard method for dealing with captured ninja. But Kurenai couldn’t help but wonder if this were standard Nimmori practice, or if Hinata had something to do with the method. This whole incident disturbed Kurenai far more than she liked thinking about.

     What kind of Genjutsu can change someone so greatly that they speak their first language like a foreign tongue, yet let them keep battle skills they couldn’t have gotten anyplace but their homeland?

AUTHOR'S CONCERNS: I kind of hope I didn't make Kurenai & co. go down to easily. I tried to think of the most believable way to do it and, obviously, overpowering a Jônin is no easy task.

On a side note, I noticed this chapter that I'm using italics a lot. A bit more than I'd initially meant to. For what it's worth. I thought it would make a nice effect to do it with specific, obviously Japanese words (Byakugan, Kekkei Genkai, etc.) but I might slack off on that in later chapters. Keeping it only for certain words, techniques when they're called out, emphasis, and inner thoughts of characters.