Temari and Kankurou were trembling in fear as they stared at the monster that had just brutalised their younger brother. Baki wasn't faring much better in that regard.
The potent bloodlust that Naruto was directing at them only further compounded their fear. It made Gaara's bloodlust seem like a passing breeze in comparison. They wanted to retrieve Gaara from his position next to the blonde, hoping that he can still fulfil his role in the invasion.
But they were terrified that any overture they make would result in Naruto tearing bloody chunks out of them.
Naruto, sensing their fear and hesitation, gave them a challenging smirk. Almost daring them to make a move. The sounds of kunai clashing and explosions rocking the village provided the background soundtrack for the stare down.
Naruto had no intention of letting them have their way though. Faster than they could react, he went through a series of three hand seals before slamming his palm on the ground in front of him.
"Gyaku Kuchiyose no Jutsu"
A spider-web pattern of kanji spread across Gaara's body before he vanished in a poof of smoke, Naruto's reverse summoning taking effect.
"Gaara!" Temari shouted in distress at seeing her little brother vanishing to who knows where.
"Sorry, Gaara can't come to the phone right now. Can I take a message?" Naruto taunted with an amused smile on his face.
Temari's body shook in fear and anger, both emotions warring inside of her. She wanted so badly to tear the bastard in front of her to ribbons, but she knew that she couldn't lose her cool right now. Gaara's safety was on the line. Nothing in this damn invasion of theirs was going to plan.
Their moves were being read and they were being perfectly countered. It seemed as though Konoha found out about their plans and put measures in place to foil them. So while she may want revenge on Naruto, she knew that they needed to find Gaara first. She wasn't sure where the blonde sent him, but their survival in this war depended on his participation.
She silently motioned towards Kankurou and Baki, signalling their need to retreat. Without ever taking their eyes off the blonde before them, who was still looking at them as if they were a particularly amusing side-show, the three of them rapidly retreated.
Naruto was highly amused as he watched them retreat. He knew what they were trying to achieve which was what made it funnier as he had sent Gaara to the summoning realm, more specifically, the territory of the Kitsune Clan. They could spend the rest of their lives looking and they would never find him. Not unless Naruto wanted them to find him.
Now that the biggest problem was taken care of, Naruto allowed his gaze to wonder, taking in the various scenes that were playing out throughout the stadium. The Jounin were holding their own against the flood of Oto-nin and Suna-nin. Most of the rookies seemed to have been ensnared by the Genjutsu, the exceptions being Sakura, Sasuke and Hinata.
He wasn't too worried about the previous two as Kakashi and Gai were in the immediate vicinity, but the latter was in a bad way. She was still injured from her fight with Neji and she had no protection as Kiba was knocked out. Naruto wouldn't let anything to happen to her though.
He had an invested interest in the young heiress and he would make sure she survives his war.
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu"
A large plume of smoke erupted from his position as hundreds of Naruto clones were created, each one itching for some action. He directed three of them to watch over and protect Hinata and Kiba.
The rest knew what they had to do as they broke off, each going in different directions to different points in the village.
The original Naruto remained in his spot as he gazed up at the translucent violet box that appeared on the roof of one of the buildings. He recognised the technique as the Shishi Enjin. Quite the tricky bit of barrier work. He was impressed that Orochimaru had the personnel to actually pull that off.
He wondered whether he should go help the old monkey, but he decided against it. He was the Hokage for a reason, regardless of his age. He knew the man could take his former student on with no problems. The fact that Naruto left a nasty little surprise for Orochimaru also helped his decision.
The old man would be fine.
For now though, there were a lot of moving targets here. Each one begging out to be eviscerated. A bloodthirsty smirk spread across his normally serenely smiling face. Some of the nearby Shinobi jerked back in fear at his expression and the accompanying bloodlust.
'Well Kyu-chan. There's a lot of fresh meat on offer. What's say we partake in this 'meal' and hopefully satisfy that enormous bloodlust of yours' Naruto quipped.
[Hmph, don't make it sound like I'm the only one who's getting excited at the prospect of shedding some blood. You're even worse than I am in that regard]. She shot back.
Naruto's grin widened at that, not disagreeing with her. He decided that he spent enough time giving the enemy a head start. It was time to hunt down his prey.
...
Hinata wasn't having a very fun time right now. Having been sharp enough to break out of the Genjutsu that tried to take a hold of her, she now wondered if she would have been better off allowing it to put her to sleep.
She was currently surrounded by five Oto-nin, each leering at her perversely. Kiba was of no use as he had succumb to the Genjutsu and was knocked out beside her. Akamaru was much the same as his owner.
There were no Konoho-nin near her position and her father and the rest of the Hyuuga Clan had disappeared, leaving her on her own. She would like to say that she was surprised, but this was expected. It just further solidified her resolve to follow the path she intended.
That was for the future though, if she even made it that far. Currently, her options were not looking good.
She could try to fight them off, but her body was still wracked with pain from her fight with Neji. A toddler could probably put up a better resistance than she could in her current condition. She could try and hold out for help to arrive but she had no weapons on her, having come from the hospital where no such things were allowed.
There didn't look to be anybody who could get to her either. The other option, and most preferable one at this point, was to take her own life. It may seem a bit extreme, but the way these men were eyeing her made her sure that she would prefer death over what they had planned.
Not to mention that she refused to allow her purity to be sullied by such filth. Her body belonged to her Naruto-sama. He was the only one allowed to have his way with her, as such, she would rather die than allow these pieces of trash to violate what belonged to him.
She raised her hand toward her temple, intent on using a Jyūken strike to shut down her brain, when one of the Oto-nin's head slid off his shoulders.
The other four looked on in shock at the occurrence and didn't have much time to launch a counter attack as they were picked off. One of them was split in half, right down the middle. The other had his neck snapped.
The fourth member had a kunai plunged into his brain and the final member felt an arm rip through his chest from behind. He remained alive for a few seconds, enough to see his beating heart in the hand that tore through his chest.
Hinata looked on in rapture as the three Naruto clones wiped off the blood they got in themselves. She felt herself shiver a little in pleasure at the lengths he went to…just to protect her. She was important to him. He cared for her. He wanted to protect her.
She felt her body heating up at those thoughts.
"N-Naruto-sama." She said softly, with a giddy look on her blushing face.
"Yo, Hinata-chan. The boss sent us to take care of you and make sure nothing happens." One of the clones said, confirming Hinata's hopes. She closed her eyes as her body shivered in pleasure just hearing his clone say the words.
The clones looked at each other dubiously, confused at the strange behaviour of the weird girl.
"He also wanted us to make sure the flea-ridden mutt didn't get killed." The same clone said, before he shrugged. "Of course, we'll take care of Akamaru as well."
Hinata just giggled at his jibe at Kiba. That seemed to be a common argument between the two of them. Hinata found it to be quite amusing. Especially how Akamaru would often agree with Naruto, who would complement him and buy him off with snacks, much to the vexation of Kiba.
"We should probably get moving. Do you want us to escort you to the Hyuuga compound, Hime?" The second clone asked. Hinata blushed at being addressed in such a way.
"Um…I would prefer not to. They sort of left me here and I'm not in the mood to be around them right now." Hinata answered, her eyes darkening as she spoke. She knew the consequences of saying that to Naruto, even if it was just his clones. It was a deliberate move on her part.
The way all three of them narrowed their eyes dangerously confirmed that they were displeased by the actions of her Clan. She knew that there was a good chance of him getting some silent and humiliating retribution for her. That thought alone filled her with untold bliss.
She wondered if there was something seriously wrong with her ... but looking at the handsome face of Naruto, all three of them, she decided that if feeling this way about him was wrong ... then she didn't want to be right. The clones gave each other a look before nodding.
"No problem. We'll take you to the boss's private training ground till the little temper tantrum from Suna is over. However, you have to promise not to reveal it to anyone. We are trusting you with this." The first Naruto clone said sternly.
The glassy look in her eyes and the way her body shuddered violently should have been an indication to the three that something wasn't right with her, but they decided that it wasn't their problem. They would leave it to the original to deal with her weirdness.
Seeing that all three of their targets weren't particularly mobile, they decided to swoop in. The third clone picked up Akamaru and gently cradled him in his arms. The second clone slung Kiba over his shoulders, intent on dropping the both of them off at the Inuzuka compound on the way.
The final clone swept Hinata off her feet, causing her to let out a cute 'eep', and held her bridal style, much to the girl's embarrassment and happiness.
"Okay, let's move out." He ordered as all three of them made their way to the main districts of Konoha.
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Sorry it's a bit shorter than usual, because I've been working on a new fanfic of DxD...
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read ahead of the public release in p@treon :
p@atreon.com/MoonLight18