The world was silent.
For a long, humming moment, there was nothing but the aftershock of their own impossible power. The air, stripped of moisture and life, tasted of scorched earth. Where the plant-like creature had been, a shallow, glassy crater now radiated a heat. The ground fused into a dark ugly scar. Wisps of superheated steam hissed from the bedrock. The sheer, unified force of nine shinobi unleashing their ultimate techniques had temporarily erased a piece of the world.
A collective, ragged breath was the first sound to return. Every shinobi present felt the crushing weight of exhaustion settle into their bones. It was a deep fatigue, the price for pushing their bodies and chakra systems so far past their limits.
Tenten was the first to break the fragile silence, her voice a reedy, breathless thing. "Did… did we get it?" she asked, her hands still trembling slightly as she lowered them.
Hinata felt the drain acutely, a hollow ache in the core of her being. The Stellar Cloak and the subsequent plasma cannon had siphoned an immense amount of energy. But the machine inside her, the perfect engine that was her fused body, was already working to correct the deficit. She took a deep, shuddering breath, a sound that was not entirely human. A faint, high-pitched hiss accompanied the rush of air into her lungs as a series of nearly invisible, slit-like spiracles along her ribcage and just below her clavicles flared open, their inner membranes pulsing with a soft cerulean light. Her entire torso seemed to expand, drawing in the very atmosphere, feeling the thrum of the world's own life, the ambient natural energy left scattered and wild by the battle. She took a sip of it, just enough to quell the immediate exhaustion and bring the world back into sharp, predatory focus.
Instantly, she was back online. Every sense flared to its absolute maximum. Her Byakugan pierced the veil of distance and dust, mapping every grain of sand, every trembling insect for miles. Venom's own senses tasted the chemical composition of the air, felt the faint bio-electric hum of her allies, and searched for the cold, alien wrongness of their foe. Her long, midnight-blue hair, freed from its combat bun by the violence of her final attack, whipped around her face in the sudden breeze.
Her gaze snapped to Naruto. He was stock-still, his eyes no longer their familiar cerulean but a blazing gold with horizontal, toad-like pupils. A faint, reddish pigmentation framed his eyes. He was a statue of focused intent, his head slowly scanning the horizon, sensing the world in a way she was only just beginning to understand herself. A few meters away, Neji's own Byakugan was active, the veins around his temples bulging with the strain of his own deep search. Kakashi, his single Sharingan spinning. The best sensors in their assembled force were all in agreement: it wasn't over until they said it was.
The tense silence stretched for another minute.
"I don't feel anything," Naruto finally declared, his voice rough. The golden glow in his eyes faded, returning them to their normal, vibrant blue as he finally relaxed his stance.
"The area is clear," Neji confirmed a moment later, the strain leaving his face as he deactivated his dōjutsu.
Hinata completed her own final, comprehensive sweep. Venom's cold, analytical consciousness filtered through a billion points of data and found nothing. No spiritual tethers. No displaced biomass. No alien bio-signatures. Nothing.
…The specimen has either been completely atomized, or it has retreated beyond our current sensory range… Venom concluded. …If it survived, it is grievously wounded. It is no longer an immediate threat.
She allowed the brilliant cerulean glow in her own eyes to soften. "The hostile presence is gone."
A shared wave of relief washed over the group. Shoulders slumped. Weapons were lowered. Guy gave a shaky thumbs-up. The first battle against the true monsters of the Akatsuki was over.
"Okay, seriously," Sakura said, her voice a mixture of exhaustion and sheer disbelief as she stared at the crater. "What in the hell was that thing?"
"Looked like a plant-man to me," Naruto grunted, already turning his attention away from the obscure threat and toward the immediate one. His focus snapped back to the reason they were all here. "Gaara!" he yelled, his voice filled with as renewed worry. He sprinted across the scarred battlefield toward the small huddle where Sakura and Chiyo were already kneeling beside the Kazekage's still form.
Hinata let the sound of Naruto's frantic, caring voice wash over her as she walked slowly toward the epicenter of the blast. Guy and Kakashi were having a hushed, serious conversation behind her. Her own mind, however, was piecing together the fragments of data she had collected.
It was not a single person. That much was certain. The pale, green-white half had a bio-signature that was disturbingly familiar. She couldn't place it, but it resonated with a faint, genetic echo she had felt before. It was the feeling one gets when meeting a stranger who shares an unmistakable family resemblance with a close friend. A biological cousin, impossibly ancient.
Then there was the black half. That was something else entirely. It was alien. Ancient. And yet… it too felt familiar. The material it was made of, the very texture of its non-life, was a perfect match for the colossal, dormant Husk she had seen inside the Akatsuki's cave. It was a piece of that dead thing, somehow given a semblance of life, puppeteering its greener half.
…Two entities, she thought, her internal monologue a seamless blend of her own voice and Venom's cold logic, one a strange, terrestrial offshoot, the other a fragment of an alien abyss. Fused. Parasitically…
She heard Neji's voice from nearby, his tone clinical as he reported to Guy. "I couldn't see its chakra network clearly until it was separated. Before that… it was like it was part of the landscape itself. My eyes saw through it as if it were just another rock or tree."
Hinata filed that critical piece of data away. So, the separation was the key. The black half was the true controller, the one with the visible will.
Her gaze drifted across the blasted ground, her vision scanning for any clue, any fragment they might have missed. Then she saw it. Lying half-buried in the fused sand was a single, dark ring, miraculously intact. The symbol carved into it was for the Boar, 亥. He had lost it. The creature, had lost its mark of membership.
She bent down, her armored fingers plucking it from the dust. It felt cold, made of the same strange, bio-crystalline material as the others. She looked at the symbol for a moment, then pocketed it with the rings of Sasori and Deidara. Three down. A grim collection of trophies.
Her scan of the area was complete. The threat was gone, for now. The questions it left behind were a far greater problem, one for another day. Right now, there was only one thing that mattered. She turned, her midnight-blue armor gleaming in the sun, and walked back towards the sound of Naruto's voice.
Naruto's rapid-fire questions were a torrent of joyous concern, each one tumbling over the last as Gaara, looking pale but undeniably alive, gave quiet, one-word answers. Sakura's hands, glowing with a soft, emerald light, hovered over the Kazekage's chest, her brow furrowed in concentration as she performed a deep diagnostic scan. Further away, Elder Chiyo stood with her arms crossed, her small frame exuding a weary but sense of relief.
"—and then your sand just stopped, and I thought, 'Oh no, he's a goner for sure!' but then Sakura-chan said you were just out of chakra, and I knew you'd be okay, because you're tough, you know? Not as tough as me, obviously, but still pretty tough for a guy who carries a giant gourd around all the—"
His waterfall of words stopped. A vast shadow, had fallen over them, eclipsing the sun. Sakura's glowing hands froze mid-scan. Chiyo's relaxed posture snapped back to attention. Four heads tilted back, and then further back, their eyes tracing the impossible height of the figure that now stood before them.
It was Hinata.
The tension that had coiled in Naruto's shoulders for days, simply evaporated. He was safe. Gaara was safe. They had won. And now, she was here. His eyes wide, ran over her form with a hungry speed. They started at the base of her armored sabatons, traveled up the long, powerful columns of her legs, across the dramatic flare of her hips cinched by the dark armor, paused for a fraction of a second on the armored swell of her chest, and finally, met her luminous, cerulean gaze.
"Hinata!" The name burst from him, bright and full of a joy. He took a half-step forward, his arms beginning to lift, his entire body language screaming the need to close the distance, to crash into her, to hold her. Then, he froze. His eyes darted to Sakura, to Gaara, to the distant forms of their teammates. They were on a mission. They were surrounded. His arms dropped awkwardly to his sides.
She saw the aborted motion, felt the desperate need radiating from him. She wanted it. She wanted it more than she wanted her next breath. Had they been alone, truly alone in this place, she would have already been on him, her armored form pinning him to the ground, her hips slamming against his, driving home the reality of their victory, of her claim. A low, pleased hum resonated from Venom in the back of her mind, a purr of absolute agreement.
But they were not alone. They were shinobi. They need to remain professional.
"You did well, Naruto-kun," she said, her stereophonic voice a calm and reassuring, that cut through his awkwardness. "I am glad it all worked out." Around them, the others had not noticed their charged, silent exchange. Their focus returning to their own tasks. Her gaze flickered to Gaara. Her senses, took a swift, clinical reading. He was strained, his chakra reserves scraped clean to the bedrock, but the monstrous, dormant power of the Tailed Beast within him had already begun its slow work of repair. He would be fine.
It was then that she and Neji looked up at the same time, their senses detecting the same phenomenon. A tremor in the earth. A shift in the air. A great wave of chakra signatures crested from a far distance.
"Company," Neji stated, his voice sharp.
A moment later, the first figures appeared. It was a massive force of Sand shinobi, moving with desperate speed. At their head were two familiar figures. Temari, her giant fan strapped to her back, her face a mask of frantic hope. Beside her was Kankuro, his face pale and his movements still stiff, but undeniably alive and on his feet.
When they saw Gaara, standing, the entire army came to a halt. A single, choked cry of "Gaara!" from Temari broke the silence. And then, a roar of pure joy and relief washed over them, a thunderous cheer that shook the very air.
The grim aftermath of battle transformed into a scene of chaotic, joyful reunion. Sand shinobi swarmed their returned leader, their professionalism giving way to a celebration of survival.
After the initial wave of emotion passed, the grim work began. The mangled, headless corpse of Deidara was located, a proof of his end. It was carefully wrapped in sealing cloths by a Suna forensics team, destined for an autopsy that might shed some light on the Akatsuki's monstrous biology.
Then, Hinata, with Sakura and Chiyo at her side, led Kankuro and a squad of elite puppeteers back toward the dark maw of the Akatsuki hideout. The Sand-nin stared openly at Hinata, their gazes a mixture of disbelief and awe. Whispers followed in her wake. "Is she… real?" "I've never seen a woman that tall."
Clearing the cave was a slow process. Even inert, Sasori's abandoned puppets were laced with poisons and hidden traps. Kankuro directed his team with a professional expertise, his puppeteers carefully dismantling and neutralizing each threat. When they reached the chamber where Sasori's core had been captured, Baki, the Suna Jounin Commander, asked what had become of the Akatsuki puppeteer.
"He is our prisoner," Hinata stated simply. At their confused looks, she held out her hand. A cylinder of pulsating, black-and-red biomass, veined with sickly purple light and containing a single, struggling spark of chakra, materialized in her palm. "This is all that is left of Sasori's true body."
A wave of horror and disgust rippled through the Sand shinobi. They had never conceived of such a thing. After a tense discussion with a now-recovered Gaara, and with Chiyo's solemn approval, a pact was made. Sasori would remain a prisoner of Konoha, a prize of war, on the condition that any and all intelligence gleaned from his interrogation would be shared immediately and completely with Sunagakure.
Finally, the work was done. As the sun began to dip below the horizon, the combined forces of Konoha and Suna began their long march back to the village. The journey was filled with a low hum of conversation. The Konoha shinobi recounted the battle with the bizarre, plant-like creature in vivid detail, their shared theory being that it had been a spy, watching Gaara for weeks, perhaps months, to coordinate the precise timing of the Akatsuki's devastatingly successful attack.
The sky was a pattern of deep purple and bruised orange when the great walls of Sunagakure finally came into view. Gaara, in a quiet display of his authority as Kazekage, had already arranged for the finest guest quarters to be prepared for his Konoha allies.
"Rest," he said, his voice quiet but firm. "You have earned it."
Kakashi gave a tired nod. "I've already sent a full report to the Hokage via message hawk. She'll know of our victory by the morning."
As the weary shinobi were led to their quarters, the first sounds of a celebration began to drift from the village center. The rhythmic beat of drums, the joyful cries of children, the lighting of lanterns. The Kazekage had returned. A victory had been won. And tonight, the village of the Sand would feast.
The joyous noise from the streets of Sunagakure was a distant, muffled thing, a backdrop of celebration that didn't quite penetrate the thick walls of the Kazekage's administrative hall. Here, the mood was more subdued, more akin to a debriefing with refreshments than a true party. Tables laden with picked-over platters of food and half-empty carafes of drink lined one wall. Shinobi from both villages stood in small groups, their voices a low murmur. Sand Village guards, stoic and alert, stood watch at the perimeter.
Hinata's significant size and complete stillness stood out against the room's restless energy. She stood near the food tables, a small mountain of empty ceramic plates before her. She could have eaten more, much more, but a calculated sense of decorum held her back. For now. While her teammates were basking in the glow of a hard-won victory, her mind was a running with thoughts, replaying the last several days on a relentless loop.
Three confirmed Akatsuki members were now out of commission. Sasori, a captive. Deidara, terminated. The two-in-one creature… questionable. It was a massive hit to their operational capacity. What would they do? Recruiting new S-rank criminals was not a simple matter. There were only so many monsters in the world willing to work under a shared banner. Orochimaru had been one of them, and he had defected. Would the Akatsuki, in their desperation, attempt to re-establish contact? Forgive his transgressions in the name of expediency?
Then there was the true nightmare. The plant-creature. Its ability to blend so perfectly with the environment, to remain invisible to even a Byakugan until its components were forcibly separated, was a threat of the highest order. She was certain it, or others like it, had been watching them for months, gathering data, waiting for the perfect moment of weakness. Had their attack truly destroyed it, or merely forced a tactical retreat? Did the Akatsuki have more such spies? Would they lay low, regrouping after their losses, or would the pressure make them reckless?
Her gaze swept the room. Sakura was laughing at something Rock Lee was saying, her posture relaxed. Tenten nodded along, her hands never straying far from the Kiba blades now strapped to her back. Neji stood slightly apart from them, his eyes closed, likely processing the mission with the same analytical intensity she was. A few of the younger Suna shinobi had joined their group, drawn in by the easy camaraderie of the Konoha-nins. Further away, Kakashi and Guy stood together, their expressions casual, but the subtle, focused energy between them spoke of a conversation that was anything but. They were running their own simulations, just as she was.
Her train of thought was shattered by a sound.
It was a bright bark of a laugh that cut through the low hum of conversation. Hinata's head turned toward the source. There was Naruto, standing with Gaara, Kankuro, and Temari. He was in the middle of a story, his arms waving in wide, exaggerated arcs, his face alight with energy. The Sand Siblings were captivated, their usually stoic faces softened with genuine amusement. Gaara even had the ghost of a smile on his lips.
Seeing him like that, so completely relaxed and happy after the days of coiled tension and life-or-death stakes, struck a chord deep within her. The memory of their last night in Konoha flooded her senses. The slick heat of his skin under her hands, the sharp, clean scent of his sweat, the frantic, desperate way he had clung to her hips as she took him, the ragged gasp that was half pleasure and half surrender.
A different kind of hunger began to awaken, coiling low in her gut. It was a slow, insistent thrum. Venom purred in the back of her mind, a lazy hum of approval and shared desire. After all this, after the battles and the blood and the fear, she needed it. And he… he had more than earned his reward. The intricate silver patterns of the Klyntar Weave, normally a soft, placid cerulean beneath her skin, began to bleed from their edges, shifting into a deep, sensual violet.
She took one sweeping glance around the hall. Everyone was occupied. Perfect.
With a liquid grace that belied her size, she pushed off from the tables began to move with a clear destination.
She glided past the group where Sakura and Team Guy were talking. Her passage created a faint gust of displaced air, a subtle shift in pressure that ruffled the edges of Sakura's pink hair and made her shiver. Sakura paused mid-sentence, a curious frown on her face. She turned, her green eyes catching the retreating view of Hinata's broad, powerful back as she moved toward the Kazekage and his most important guest. Sakura blinked, a flicker of confusion crossing her features, before she turned back to her friends, dismissing it.
Naruto was in his element, recounting the final, chaotic moments of the battle. "and his whole body was made of, like, wood and leaves and junk, and then Neji said he couldn't even see him right, so we all just went BLAM! at the same time, and"
His story died in his throat. A presence had settled beside their small group, a quiet weight that commanded attention without a single word. He stopped, turning with the others.
Hinata stood there, a towering monument in the warm light of the hall. Her sheer height cast a long shadow over them.
Naruto's brain took a moment to reboot. "Hinata!" he finally managed, his face splitting into a wide grin. "Hey! You wanna join us? We were just talking about how we totally kicked that plant-guy's butt!"
Her luminous eyes, swept over them. She saw Naruto, his face alight with an infectious, boyish pride. She saw Gaara, his expression one of calm. Kankuro and Temari, however, had already turned their heads, their attention caught by a passing Sand Jounin. Her enhanced hearing picked up their hushed exchange, some trivial matter about guard rotations for the eastern wall, and she filtered it out as irrelevant noise. Her focus was here.
After a deliberate pause, she gave a small, graceful nod. "I wanted to join the discussion," she said, her voice a low, resonant harmony.
"Awesome!" Naruto declared, completely oblivious to the double meaning in her gaze. He immediately launched back into his tale, turning to Gaara. "So anyway, my Rasenshuriken was all like fwoooosh, and her lightning was like bzzzzzzzt—"
While from the outside Hinata was a picture of eerie calm, a storm was brewing within her. The hunger was growing, a demanding, insistent pulse. Suddenly, Gaara's attention shifted. Temari had leaned in, whispering a few quick, subtle sentences into his ear. Hinata's senses caught it all, something about the supply requisitions for the medical corps needing his seal before morning. Another triviality. Good.
Gaara turned back to them, his expression unchanged but his focus clearly elsewhere. "Excuse me," he said politely. "A matter requires my attention. I will return shortly." He gave a short bow and moved away, Temari following in his wake.
And then, there were two.
The ambient noise of the hall seemed to rush in to fill the sudden vacuum between them. Naruto rocked back on his heels, a faint blush creeping up his neck as he looked up at her.
"Man, that plant-guy… he was super weird, believe it!" he started, his voice a little too loud. "But our big boom-pow at the end? We totally smoked him! Your lightning and my rasenshuriken, all mixed up… it was the coolest!"
A deep, stirring happiness welled up inside her as she watched him, his face so open and full of life. He was great when he was determined, a force of nature tearing down the monsters. He was just as great when he was like this, a goofy, happy man basking in a shared victory.
And that was it.
She needed it. She needed him. She needed to reward him. Now.
A faint, terrified whisper of her old self tried to surface, screaming about propriety, about being in a foreign village, about the dozens of eyes in the room. But it was drowned out by a powerful, purring wave of agreement from Venom, and an even more powerful surge of her own predatory will. The glowing Klyntar weave under the skin of her hands and tracing the lines around of her eyes shifted, the cool cerulean bleeding into a deep, hungry purple. Naruto, lost in his own happy recollection, didn't notice.
She reached out, her fingers lightly brushing his arm. "Naruto-kun."
He stopped mid-gesture. "Yeah?"
"It is… a little crowded in here. And noisy," she said, her voice a low, hypnotic thrum. "Perhaps we could find somewhere quieter to talk?"
Naruto blinked, then grinned. "Yeah, you're right! It's kinda stuffy. Good idea, Hinata!"
He suspected nothing. He was a moth drawn to a otherworldly flame. She turned, and he fell into step beside her. Together, they walked towards a large, arched doorway that led out of the main hall and into the long, silent corridors of the Kazekage's residence. The Sand Village guards at the door watched them pass, their expressions unreadable, as the two heroes of the hour disappeared from the celebration.
The muffled sounds of the celebration in the main hall followed them down the long, quiet corridor, a distant echo of music and laughter. Naruto glanced up at the high, vaulted ceilings, a common feature in Sunagakure architecture that he hadn't paid much attention to before. Now, walking beside Hinata, he realized how convenient it was. She didn't have to duck at all.
As they walked, her large hand, found his. Her fingers, intertwined with his gently firmness. A pleasant jolt went through him. He grinned. Man, she was really eager to talk. He wondered what was on her mind.
She led him through a series of intersecting hallways until they reached a quieter section of the residence. Carved wooden doors lined the corridor, each bearing a small, tasteful plaque. Gaara had been incredibly generous, giving each of the Konoha shinobi their own private suite. Hinata stopped before one of the doors, produced a key, and unlocked it. Still holding his hand, she pulled him into the room.
The moment he was across the threshold, she let go of his hand and shut the heavy door behind them.
CLICK.
The sound was sharp and final. Naruto found himself in the middle of a spacious, well-appointed room. A massive bed with a thick, quilted comforter sat against the right wall. Directly in front of him was a large window, its heavy curtains drawn shut. A plush, three-person sofa faced the bed, and the floor was covered by a soft, intricately woven carpet. It was nicer, bigger, and cleaner than his entire apartment. He was alone here. With Hinata. The bed. The sofa. The closed door. Her.
Just like that night.
The realization hit him only now. This wasn't just about talking. Oh, Gods, he was so stupid. He was alone, in a bedroom, with the girl he had… In a foreign village, surrounded by people who could walk in at any second.
"Hinata, maybe we shouldn't"
He never finished the thought. He felt her move behind him, a silent shift of mass and warmth. Her shadow eclipsed the light from the ceiling, plunging him into a sudden twilight. Then, her arms wrapped around him from behind, and a wall of impossible softness and warmth pressed into the back of his head, muffling his hearing and flooding his senses with her scent. Her large, magnificent breasts, unconstrained by armor, squished against him with a gentle pressure.
A strangled noise caught in his throat. Before he could process it, her strong hands were on his shoulders, turning him around to face her. He had to crane his neck back to see her face, his own nose now just inches from the warm, fabric-covered valley between her breasts.
He saw it then. The reason for the sudden, primal jolt of recognition. The intricate patterns under the skin around of her eyes and tracing down her neck were not their usual serene blue. They pulsed with a deep, hungry violet. Just like that night.
Her face descended, and her lips captured his. He responded eagerly, his own hands coming up to grip her powerful back, then sliding down the impossibly narrow curve of her waist. He felt a surge of boldness, a memory of her perfection. His hands slid further, finding the powerful, dramatic swell of her buttocks. The fabric of her pants was stretched taut over two high, perfectly round globes of dense muscle. He gripped them, a possessive, almost desperate act, and was met with a satisfying firmness that yielded only slightly before pushing back with the power of a coiled spring. He kneaded the solid flesh, his mind reeling at the sheer density and power contained in that perfect, statuesque curve. A low growl of approval rumbled in her chest, and he felt the hard ridge of his own arousal pressing against the soft plane of her stomach.
SMACK.
The kiss ended with a wet sound. She pulled back just enough for him to see her face. His own was flushed crimson, his breathing coming in ragged, shallow gasps.
"Whoa…" he panted. "That was… awesome. But, Hinata, we're… I mean, this whole place is full of people! Someone could hear us, or come looking for us!"
Just then, as if to prove his point, a wave of louder cheering and laughter drifted in from the streets outside.
Her gaze was eerie, alien, and breathtakingly beautiful. Her luminous eyes held the serene depth of a midnight ocean and the colds. A slow, knowing smile spread across her lips. But as he looked, something new and hypnotic caught his eye. Within the violet glow of the intricate patterns around her eyes, he could see something moving. Thin, black lines, like veins of liquid shadow, pulsed and shifted just beneath her porcelain-white skin, a living network of her alien part responding to her arousal.
"The mission was very tense for you, Naruto-kun," she purred, her voice a hypnotic, doubled harmony. "I think… you have earned a reward."
Before he could form a reply, she placed a hand on his chest and pushed. It was a gentle pressure, but it had an inexorable force. He stumbled back, his legs hitting the edge of the plush sofa, and he sat down with a soft whoomph.
Naruto opened his mouth to say something, to try and inject some semblance of normalcy into a situation that was rapidly accelerating past his ability to comprehend, but the words never came.
With a fluid, shockingly fast series of movements, Hinata shucked off her lavender jacket, letting it fall to the carpet. Then, with a single, efficient motion, she unfastened her trousers and slid them down her long, powerful legs, kicking them aside. She now stood before him clad in a seamless, matte-black garment that hugged every single curve and plane of her body like a second skin of liquid midnight.
Naruto's breath caught in his throat. He'd never seen anything like it. It wasn't fabric, not really. It was a high-tensile microweave that clung to the powerful swell of her bust, the impossible taper of her waist, and the athletic flare of her hips without a single wrinkle. His trained shinobi eyes immediately caught the details: intricate, swirling patterns of silver ink, sealing formulas, covered its surface. A large, complex seal sat directly in the hollow between her breasts, from which smaller, auxiliary lines branched out across her torso.
"What… what is that?" he finally managed, his voice a dry rasp.
A slow, pleased smile touched her lips. "This is my Under-Suit," she explained, her voice a low purr. She began a slow, deliberate turn, a sensual display for an audience of one. Her movements were liquid grace, the black suit highlighting the powerful curve of her back, the solid globes of her buttocks, and the long, sculpted columns of her legs. "It helps me deploy my armor. All of it is sealed inside the primary matrix." She completed her turn, facing him once more, her glowing eyes locking onto his. "Do you like it?"
He was mesmerized, his mind struggling to process the fusion of lethal technology and femininity. "It's… a great piece of work," he said, the words feeling inadequate.
"I am glad," she murmured, with a warmth in her tone. "Thank you, Naruto-kun."
Then, something impossible happened. The silver seals on the black suit began to flicker with a soft, internal light. The light intensified for a moment, and then the seals, along with the entire under-suit, began to dissolve. They unraveled like threads of moonlight, retracting into the central seal between her breasts before winking out of existence entirely.
She was left standing in a simple, practical set of black bra and panties. But the sight was anything but simple. Her now-bare skin now pput on display. The intricate, tribal filigree of the Klyntar Weave was on full display, a network of living silver that pulsed with a deep, sensual violet light. And beneath the surface of her moon-white skin, he could see them: faint, dark lines of the symbiote's biomass, swimming like veins of liquid shadow, a constant, subtle motion that made her skin seem alive.
Naruto's blush deepened, but he forced himself to stay composed, to not look like the gawking idiot he felt like. "That's… that's a really cool idea," he stammered, pointing vaguely at her chest. "Sealing your clothes like that. Super practical."
Her response was a melodic giggle that seemed to vibrate in the very air between them. The sound was so warm, it sent a feeling of happiness straight to his chest. "Thank you," she said, and he knew she meant it.
Without another word, she closed the remaining distance. She didn't get on the sofa with him. Instead, she sank down onto the soft carpet, settling gracefully on her knees between his legs. Even sitting, her taller frame meant her head was still slightly higher than his, her face just a few inches away. The world narrowed to the space between them. He could hear her soft, even breathing, and he was sure she could hear the frantic, hammering beat of his own heart. He was completely overwhelmed.
He had to say something. Anything. But his train of thought derailed, crashed, and burned when he felt a warm, firm pressure against his groin. Her hand had settled over the front of his pants, her long fingers gently cupping the hard, straining length of his erection.
"You are so eager," she purred, her violet eyes gleaming with a predatory delight. "This is good."
Without a word, her hands went to the waistband of his pants. With a single, powerful tug, she pulled them down to the carpet, taking his boxers with them. His thick erection, sprang free, pulsing in the cool air of the room. She reached out and wrapped her hand around the throbbing length, her grip firm and warm. It jumped in her grasp, a live thing.
"Hnnh." A soft, quiet inhale hitched in Naruto's throat.
Her eyes remained locked on his, but her thoughts were on the memory of this impressive cock burying itself deep inside her, touching places she hadn't known existed. She was eager to feel it again. She began to stroke him, a slow, deliberate rhythm, up and down. Naruto's breathing deepened, his chest rising and falling in time with her hand, the first waves of pleasure washing over him.
There was something she wanted to try. She kept her hand wrapped around the glans of his penis, holding it steady. Then, she leaned forward and gently, slowly, rubbed her cheek against the hard, smooth length of his shaft. The texture was hot, alive. "Do you like this, Naruto-kun?" she purred.
His only answer was a sharp, hitching sound, a strangled noise of approval that she accepted completely. His eyes were focused, his jaw tight, fighting the rising tide. Poor thing. She was going to make it so much harder for him.
She removed her hand and quickly undid her bra. Naruto blinked, pulled from his concentration by the sudden loss of contact. She rose slightly on her knees, her hands coming up to cup the heavy undersides of her own breasts. She lifted them, and then descended, engulfing his rigid cock between the soft globes.
"Nngh…" A low, guttural groan of pure pleasure was ripped from his throat. The sound was music to her ears.
There was a brief pause. She looked directly into his eyes, her own glowing with a predatory light. She could feel the frantic, powerful pulse of his trapped penis, hot and hard between the soft, yielding weight of her flesh. Then, the assault began.
She moved her breasts up and down, her hands guiding the motion, creating a perfect, slick friction. She started slow, a languid, teasing pace, then sped up, then slowed again, a sweet torture that had him gasping, his sounds turning from low groans to short, sharp pants. As she moved, the black biomass of the symbiote rippled across the surface of her breasts, shimmering like oil on water. Where the biomass touched his skin, short, almost invisible connections formed and broke with each stroke. A psychic echo, faint at first, began to bleed into her senses. It was a wave of warmth, of spiking pleasure, a raw feed of his sensations that fed directly into her own arousal.
She loved this. The feeling of absolute control, of complete dominance. She was the one dictating his pleasure, and she could feel every rising crest of it as if it were her own. She needed to push him further, to completely destroy his composure. Looking down, she found the perfect tool.
As she massaged him, she noticed that with each downward press of her breasts, the engorged, purple head of his cock would peek out from between the top of her cleavage. It was impressive, really, that he had the length to manage that, considering her own substantial size.
"Do you like it when I do this?" she purred.
A short, sharp grunt was his only reply.
"How about… this?" she asked, her voice taking on a mischievous, almost evil tone. The next time she moved her breasts down, revealing the slick, wet head, she leaned forward and pressed a short, searingly hot kiss directly onto the tip.
SCHLICK.
"Gah—!" Naruto jjolted as if struck by lightning, his back arching off the sofa as a louder, sharper groan of pleasure tore from his lips. The psychic echo of that jolt was a tidal wave in her mind, a flash of white-hot bliss that made her grin widen. The black biomass rippled more intensely now, the connection strengthening. She felt a new wave of wetness between her own legs. Her grin widened, taking on an almost evil tone as she repeated the motion.
Mwah.
"Ngh!"
Another slow, deliberate slide down.
Slup.
"Hah-!"
Each press was now punctuated by a soft, wet sound and a corresponding, ragged grunt from him.
She pressed down, holding her breasts firmly against the base of his shaft, keeping the glistening tip exposed. Then, she released her tongue. The long, prehensile appendage, uncoiled and began to roll and swirl around the head of his cock with an alien dexterity.
Naruto's head lolled back against the sofa cushions, his eyes rolling back. His hands, which had been clutching his own thighs, shot out to grip the fabric of the sofa with white-knuckled desperation. He was close. The psychic feedback was a roaring inferno in her mind. She increased the speed of her tongue, laving and teasing with a merciless rhythm. That was the final straw.
A louder, deeper groan rumbled in his chest, a clear sign of his imminent eruption. She was ready. Just as he was about to climax, she moved her mouth over him, her lips puckering and sealing tightly around the head of his cock, sucking it into a firm, wet seal.
"HNNNNGGGGGGGHHH!"
He erupted. It was a violent, convulsive flood, but it had nowhere to go. His hot, thick semen shot straight into her waiting mouth, the force of it hitting the roof of her mouth. His body jerked and spasmed, his hips bucking uselessly against her as he emptied himself completely into her. After a final, shuddering jerk, he went limp, collapsing back into the sofa, his eyes half-closed, his chest heaving with rapid, shallow breaths.
PLOP.
With a loud, wet sound, she released him. His penis, slick and clean, slapped softly against his stomach.
"Good boy," she praised, her voice a low, satisfied hum. She let his now-throbbing penis go and began to rise to her feet. Dazed and adrift in a sea of blissful exhaustion, Naruto didn't even notice the massive, powerful shadow that had once again fallen over him.
Hinata looked down at the dazed, panting form of her chosen mate. A slow, predatory smile spread across her lips. Her eyes drifted lower, past the sweat-sheened plane of his stomach, to the base of his shaft. His erection remained, thick and hard and defiant, slick with her saliva. Good. He was ready for more. She could feel the hot, insistent drip of her own arousal between her legs. It was time.
With a fluid, deliberate motion, she hooked her thumbs into the waistband of her black panties and slid them down her powerful legs, letting them fall in a small, dark pool on the carpet. Then, she turned her back to him.
Naruto's mind was a fog of bliss, his body a tingling, overstimulated mess. He was just beginning to regain some semblance of coherent thought when a sudden, immense weight settled onto his lap, pinning his thighs and knees to the sofa cushions.
WHOOMPH.
His concentration snapped back into a sharp focus.
Hinata had sat down on him, her back to his chest. His view was now completely filled with the landscape of her powerful, statuesque form. Her long, midnight-blue hair cascaded down the elegant, V-taper of her muscular back. And below that, pinning him to his seat, was her ass. It was magnificent, two high, perfectly round, solid globes of dense muscle, the source of her speed and power. The sheer weight and density of it was a declaration of dominance.
He was hypnotized. The glowing violet filigree of the Klyntar Weave was even more intricate here, a spinal pattern that ran the length of her back before flaring out in a final, breathtakingly complex knot of predatory lace just above the deep, perfect cleft of her buttocks. The pattern was a work of alien art, a living tattoo. His throbbing cock was trapped between those two perfect, powerful cheeks, a hot pressure.
His hands moved on their own, his instincts taking over. He placed them on the powerful curve of her hips, his thumbs pressing into the solid, yielding flesh of her lower back, his fingers tracing the dramatic line where her impossibly narrow waist flared out. He began to massage her, his hands exploring the sheer, unbelievable reality of her.
She turned her head, looking back at him over a broad shoulder. A slow, knowing smile played on her lips, and her luminous eyes glowed with a hungry light. "Do you like the view, Naruto-kun?" she purred.
Before he could answer, she began to move. She rose upwards, just enough to free his cock from its fleshy prison. Her hand shot back, her fingers wrapping around his shaft with an ease. She guided him to her entrance, the wet, hot folds already slick and waiting. Then, looking forward, she began to lower herself, slowly, deliberately.
The thick, blunt head of his penis breached her entrance.
"Nngh!" A short, sharp groan escaped his lips.
"Haaaaah…" A long, contented sigh of pure pleasure hissed from hers. She could feel him filling her, stretching her, hitting those deep, sweet spots inside her even when he was only halfway in. The violet light of her markings pulsed, growing brighter with each inch she took.
Then, with a final, decisive motion, she sank down completely, impaling herself fully on his length.
"Nnnhhh…!"
"Ahhhnnn…~"
A simultaneous, shuddering moan ripped from both of them as the jolt of pleasure shot through their connected bodies. Her entire frame shuddered with the intensity of it. A wave of black, symbiotic biomass rippled up her spine, a visible shockwave of ecstasy. A small, pearlescent stream of her arousal squirted from between her legs, landing on the soft carpet with a soft splat.
His length was a perfect, glorious fit. She could feel the blunt, hard pressure of his cock's head kissing her cervix. Just like before. Just like it should be.
After a moment of savoring the deep, perfect fullness of him inside her, a new energy began to build. A low, tingling purr of approval echoed from the depths of her mind, a non-verbal command from Venom. It was time to move.
She gripped Naruto's kneecaps, her fingers digging slightly into the muscle. Leaning forward, she began to rise, her long, powerful legs tensing as she lifted herself into a semi-standing squat over his lap. She felt him slide lower inside her, almost out, a delicious, teasing friction. Then, with a grunt of exertion, she forcefully slammed her hips back down.
THWACK!
"Nnngh-!" A surprised, guttural moan was ripped from Naruto's throat.
The jolt of pleasure that shot through her was electric. "Hnnhhh…!" A breathy, soundful moan of her own escaped her lips as the violet light of her Klyntar Weave pulsed brightly for a second.
She found the rhythm. Rising up high, then slamming herself back down onto his lap, driving his full length deep inside her, feeling the blunt, hard pressure of his head impacting her cervix with each powerful, percussive thrust.
SLAP! SQUELCH! SLAP!
Her movements accelerated, the sounds of their flesh colliding echoing in the quiet room, punctuated by her low moans and his ragged, helpless gasps. He was desperately holding onto her hips, his hands gripping the powerful muscle of her ass as it jumped and clenched right in front of his face. The black symbiote biomass rippled across her skin, shimmering tendrils making and breaking contact with his thighs and stomach with every motion. The psychic echo was a roaring inferno now. She felt his pleasure as a searing heat in her own mind, while she simultaneously flooded his brain with her own overwhelming bliss, a feedback loop of ecstasy that kept her firmly in control. This was magnificent. She could ride them both into oblivion.
Then, everything changed.
Two strong, desperate hands wrapped around her waist, locking her in place. With a powerful, unexpected heave, Naruto pulled her back, breaking her rhythm. She gasped, her powerful back pressing flush against his chest, her movement halted. Instinct took over. Her right arm wrapped around his head in a loose hold, her left hand shooting out to grip the back of the sofa for balance. His head was now nestled in the crook of her arm, his wide, stunned eyes looking up at her face over her armpit. She was pleasantly surprised by his sudden move.
"Naruto-kun, what are you—"
"Not… letting you… do all the work!" he grunted, his voice strained. Gripping her wide, powerful hips, he began to thrust upwards from below.
His thrusts were deep, powerful strokes that drove him even deeper inside her. The sudden reversal of control, the new, intense angle, sent a fresh wave of pleasure through her. Her head lolled back against his shoulder. "Ahhh…!"
He thrust harder, faster, a desperate, powerful rhythm. "Hnnh… Nngh…"
He could see it. The glowing violet lines on her neck and shoulders were pulsing erratically, flashing brighter with each of his powerful strokes. He was doing it. He could win this.
She hadn't anticipated this. The pleasure was immense, but a faint, irritated flicker echoed from Venom. Their partner was taking the upper hand. The black biomass on her back rippled violently, spreading across her skin and making a more complete contact with his chest. Her own pleasure echoed back into him, a psychic shockwave that made him groan louder, his body shivering as he halted for a split second. The feedback jolted her as well, and a shuddering moan escaped her as her inner muscles clenched around him like a velvet vise.
He wouldn't be stopped. His free hand moved, sliding up her torso from behind, his fingers finding and closing over one of her heavy breasts. He squeezed, massaging the full, soft weight of it before his thumb and forefinger found her nipple and pinched, hard. His other hand was a desperate, sliding down her smooth stomach.
"I'm not… going down… that easily!" he panted, his fingers finally finding what they were searching for at the apex of her thighs. It was a hard, distinct nub of flesh, the core of her pleasure. He began to rub it, a frantic, circular motion.
"Nnnn-GAH!"
A strangled, alien noise tore from her throat. The new, direct stimulation was a bolt of lightning straight to her brain. Her entire body went rigid, convulsing for a moment as the Klyntar markings all over her body flared into a blinding, white-hot brilliance. She had never felt anything like it. The symbiote biomass writhed across her skin, its annoyance completely overwhelmed by a new wave of pleasure. The psychic echo of this new sensation slammed into Naruto's mind like a physical blow.
Somehow, clinging to the last vestiges of his will, he started moving again, a desperate, frantic bucking of his hips, his fingers still working her nipple and her clit with a merciless rhythm. He felt like he was drowning, not in water, but in an abyss of indescribable pleasure, a sensation so overwhelming it bordered on pain.
The feedback loop went critical.
It was a simultaneous, mind-shattering explosion of sensation for all three of them.
"""GGGRRRAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"""
An inhuman, doubled, tripled groan of absolute release tore from both their throats, a sound that was neither male nor female, but pure, primal ecstasy. Naruto's back arched, and he shot his entire load deep inside her, a hot, powerful flood that seemed to go on forever. Hinata's orgasm was a violent, convulsive wave. Her body seized, her back bowing as a long, gushing stream of pearlescent fluid shot from her, soaking the carpet below with a series of wet, splattering sounds.
For a long, humming moment, the world was nothing but the echo of their shared bliss. The mind-melding pleasure slowly, reluctantly, loosened its grip, leaving their tensed bodies to finally give way. Hinata's large, powerful frame lay heavy and boneless over Naruto's front, a warm, living blanket of sated muscle. Their breaths were a ragged in the quiet room, their bodies still riding the gentle aftershocks of bliss, marked by faint, involuntary twitches. The glowing violet lines under her skin had softened from their white-hot peak, but still pulsed with a deep light.
She savored the aftermath, drowning in it. That felt… The dazed, wondering corner of her mind that was still the shy girl from the Academy struggled to even form a word for what had just happened. It was joy. It was annihilation. It was perfect.
Then she felt it. An irritated stirring from Venom. The symbiote had shared in the orgasm, had reveled in the pure flood of sensation, she knew it had, but its pride was a stubborn thing.
…Unacceptable, the voice finally declared in her mind, its usual smooth resonance laced with a distinct note of petulance. The primary partner achieved a state of tactical superiority. We did not authorize this reversal of the command hierarchy.
Hinata felt a bubble of amusement rise in her chest.
However, Venom continued, a clear attempt to rationalize its own overwhelming pleasure, …it is occasionally necessary to allow a subordinate partner to explore new tactical approaches. To test their limits. This… was an acceptable field exercise. For data acquisition.
A soft, genuine giggle escaped Hinata's lips, shaking her entire frame and jostling the exhausted boy beneath her. Her mind shifted back to him. He really had surprised her. His desperation, his refusal to be a passive recipient… it was thrilling. They still had a whole night. She wondered, with a fresh jolt of anticipation, what other surprises he had in him.
A low groan rumbled from Naruto's chest as his own aftershocks finally subsided. "Whoa…" he breathed out, his voice a hoarse, wondering whisper. "That… Hinata, that was… I don't even have a word for that."
She turned her head, looking down at him from just under her armpit where his own head was nestled. She leaned in and pressed a soft, lingering kiss to his sweat-damp forehead. "You caught me off guard," she admitted, another happy giggle bubbling up. "That was a very good move."
An embarrassed proud grin spread across his face.
Then, with a low groan of her own, Hinata began to move. She leaned forward, placing her hands on his knees for support, and slowly, deliberately, pushed herself up. Her long, powerful legs, now trembling with a fine tremor, protested the movement, but she stood, a towering silhouette against the dim light of the room. She took two wobbly steps toward the massive bed and, with a playful, undignified exhaustion, let herself fall face-first onto it.
PLOOMPH.
The soft mattress bounced, sending a gentle ripple through her body. She rolled onto her back and looked over at him, a warm, inviting smile on her face. "Naruto-kun," she said, her voice soft and beckoning. "Come here."
That was all the invitation he needed. With a happy, determined grunt, he pushed himself off the sofa. His own legs were just as wobbly as hers, but he made his way to the bed and quickly, eagerly, joined her on the vast, quilted expanse.
While the people of the Sand sang songs of their returned Kazekage in the streets below, their own private, far more primal celebration was just beginning. Naruto, fueled by a new, desperate determination, set himself to a singular, joyful mission: to explore every inch of the goddess who had claimed him. He was surprised, and delighted, to find his own stamina had reached new heights. And Hinata, for her part, was more than happy to let him try, again and again, to win.
The early morning sun cast long, cool shadows across the sand as the Konoha shinobi stood before the great gates of Sunagakure. A large delegation had gathered to see them off. Gaara, now clad in the formal robes of the Kazekage, stood at the head, flanked by a recovered Kankuro and a composed Temari. Elder Chiyo and other high-ranking Jounin stood with them, their faces a mixture of gratitude and solemn respect.
Hinata stood near Naruto.
"Konoha," Gaara began, his voice clear and steady, carrying the new weight of his office. "On behalf of Sunagakure, I offer our deepest gratitude. You have saved not only my life, but the honor of our village. We are in your debt."
Naruto beamed, rubbing the back of his neck. "Hey, no problem! That's what friends are for, right?"
A faint, genuine smile touched Gaara's lips. "Right."
With a final exchange of formal nods, Kakashi raised a hand. "Team, move out."
With a whisper of displaced sand, the Konoha shinobi turned and began their long journey back, melting into the vast emptiness of the desert.
Hours passed. The pace was steady but unhurried, their mission complete. Guy and Kakashi led the way, their easy strides belying their constant vigilance. Lee, Tenten, and Neji followed. Bringing up the rear were Naruto, Sakura, and Hinata, walking in a loose, comfortable formation.
Sakura, her curiosity finally getting the better of her, fell into step between Naruto and Hinata. "Naruto," she began, her tone casual but her eyes sharp. "Last night, at the party? You disappeared pretty early. Everything okay?"
Naruto, who had been walking with a tired but happy bounce in his step, went instantly rigid. "Huh? Oh! Yeah, yeah, totally fine!" he said, a little too quickly. "Just, you know… super tired from the mission and everything. Yeah. Super tired. Went straight to bed."
Sakura's eyes narrowed. He looked tired, yes, but it was a deep, satisfied sort of exhaustion she'd never seen on him before. Her gaze flickered to Hinata, who was walking with her gaze fixed on the horizon, a serene, almost secret smile playing on her lips. Blinking a few times, Sakura decided to let it go. "Okay," she said, unconvinced. "Well, get your rest."
A few more moments of quiet trekking passed before Naruto's boredom surfaced. "Hey, Kakashi-sensei!" he yelled ahead. "Does Granny Tsunade know we're done yet?"
"The messenger hawk should have reached Konoha by now," Kakashi called back without turning. "I sent a full report. Everything. Especially our final encounter. That last Akatsuki member is… concerning."
A brief pause hung in the air.
"What was that thing?" Tenten asked, her voice cutting through the silence. "It was green on one side and pitch black on the other."
"Naruto was right, it was like a creepy plant-man," Sakura added with a shudder.
Then, Neji spoke, his voice low and analytical. "Whatever it was, I have never encountered a stealth ability like it. It felt like a part of the earth itself. My Byakugan could not perceive it until it was forcibly separated." He turned his head slightly, his pale eyes fixing on Naruto. "How were you able to detect it?"
Naruto, still wearing his tired grin, answered mysteriously. "I've gotten pretty good at feeling bad vibes, you know? And that plant-guy's vibes were super loud."
"An excellent result of your youthful spirit, Naruto-kun!" Lee declared, giving him a thumbs-up. "That fiend was no match for our combined passion!"
"There were two of them."
Hinata's voice, a calm, doubled harmony, cut through the chatter.
Everyone went silent. Even Kakashi and Guy slowed their pace, turning their heads to look back at her.
"What do you mean, Hinata?" Kakashi asked, his tone shifting from casual to serious.
"The creature was not a single entity," she explained, her voice carrying easily in the quiet desert air. "It was two separate living forms, fused together. The pale green half had a… familiar biological signature."
"Familiar? What does that mean?" Sakura asked, her medical instincts kicking in.
"It is difficult to describe," Hinata said, choosing her words carefully. "My senses can perceive a certain uniqueness in a living being's life force. Like a fingerprint. Close relatives share similarities. I have never seen that creature before, but it felt… related. As if I have met others who share a similar signature." A faint, assenting hum resonated from Venom in the back of her mind. "But the black half is the true concern. It felt ancient. Alien. And it was composed of the same material as the statue the Akatsuki used to try and extract the Tailed Beast from Gaara."
A heavy silence fell over the group. The implications of her words were staggering. A spy with a biological link to people they had already met, puppeteered by a living piece of the Akatsuki's ultimate weapon.
Kakashi's visible eye hardened. "Hinata," he said, his voice grim. "The moment we get back, you and I are reporting that directly to the Hokage. That changes things. A lot."
They continued their journey in a heavy, contemplative silence. Each shinobi was a world unto themselves, their minds racing with the grim implications of Hinata's discovery. While what she had said about the black creature was the unvarnished truth, there was a small, critical piece of data she had withheld.
The pale, green-white half felt familiar, like a distant cousin of people she had met. But the black half… the black half had felt familiar, too. It was a colder, more ancient familiarity, one that resonated not with the alien biology of Venom, but with something deeper. Something innate to her. At first, she had dismissed it as a phantom sensation, a byproduct of the symbiote's influence rewriting her own biology. But Venom had rejected the notion.
Negative, it had stated with cold certainty. The specimen's biological signature shares no common markers with our ancestral Klyntar lineage. The resonance you perceive… it is a partial match to your own baseline human genome. And the Hyuuga male's.
The implications were deeply concerning.
They finally crossed the border, leaving the scorched, open sky of the Land of Wind behind for the dappled green light and rich, loamy scent of the Land of Fire. The familiar territory should have been a comfort, but the silence of the forest was unnerving.
Their uninterrupted march came to an abrupt halt.
"Contact," Neji said, his voice a low, sharp warning.
"Multiple signatures," Hinata confirmed a split-second later, her own Byakugan flaring to life. "A large squad. Konoha shinobi. Approaching fast."
"Hold," Kakashi commanded, his single visible eye narrowing. The entire team melted into defensive positions, hands drifting towards weapon pouches.
A moment later, a dozen figures dropped from the canopy, surrounding them in a practiced, professional formation. At their head was a Jounin with a stern face Hinata didn't recognize, but she saw several familiar faces from the Chuunin ranks among the squad, shinobi from the Aburame and Inuzuka clans. It was a team built for tracking.
The leader's gaze was hard, sweeping over them. "The leaves are quiet today," he said, his tone flat, a clear challenge.
Kakashi's posture relaxed infinitesimally. "But the wind still blows," he replied, his own voice just as level.
In a single, fluid motion almost too fast to see, all four Jounin, Kakashi, Guy, Neji, and Hinata, flashed a complex, non-standard hand sign. The patrol leader made his own hand sign, confirming the password.
The tension broke instantly. "Hatake-san, Guy-san, Hyuuga-san" the Jounin said, his voice now respectful. "We weren't expecting to run into you. We're on a full-spectrum border sweep."
"A sweep this large?" Guy asked, his usual boisterousness tempered by the serious atmosphere.
"Orders from the Hokage," the Jounin confirmed. "The entire border is being locked down. The village is on high alert."
Kakashi's eye curved into a weary smile. "Looks like my report made an impression."
After a brief exchange of intelligence, the patrol moved on, disappearing back into the trees as silently as they had arrived. The team resumed their journey, but the atmosphere had changed.
They moved deeper into the Land of Fire, their path now intersecting with the results of that alert. They met another large squad near a river crossing, this one led by a Hyuuga branch member who gave Neji and Hinata a grim, respectful nod. Further on, a flicker of movement in the trees resolved into a four-man ANBU team, their porcelain masks cold and impassive. They paused only long enough to confirm the team's identity before melting back into the shadows.
"What's their objective?" Sakura asked, unnerved by the sheer number of elite shinobi they were encountering.
"They are searching for spies," Neji answered, his voice tight. "For any anomaly that doesn't belong."
When the great walls of Konoha finally came into view, they could see the village was a hornet's nest that had been poked. Shinobi moved with a brisk, purposeful energy along the ramparts. The usual civilian traffic at the gates was sparse, replaced by organized patrols. The air itself seemed to hum with a coiled, ready tension. Kakashi's report had made an impression indeed.
They were stopped at the main gate, then again at a secondary checkpoint inside the walls. Their identities were confirmed and reconfirmed before they were finally cleared to proceed. The path to the Hokage tower, usually a bustling thoroughfare, was now a river of shinobi on high-priority errands.
Finally, they stood before the familiar, heavy doors of the Hokage's office. The journey was over. The debriefing was about to begin.
The debriefing was an affair that stretched for hours. The air in the Hokage's office grew thick with the weight of their reports, each testimony painting a darker, more complex picture of the enemy they faced. They recounted every detail.
When it was her turn, Hinata placed a cylindrical, sealed container on Tsunade's desk. With a flick of her chakra, the seal dissolved, revealing the pulsating, grotesque core of Sasori. It was a writhing mass of raw biomass, veined with chakra pathways and mechanical filaments, the last vestige of a man who had traded his humanity for a twisted existence. Tsunade and Shizune, as medics, recoiled with a shared look of professional disgust. This was a perversion of life itself. The core was summarily handed over to a waiting ANBU operative, destined for the grim, windowless rooms of the T&I department. Any intelligence they could extract would be shared with Suna, as promised.
Hinata then gave her clinical, detailed analysis of the colossal statue, the alien Husk, and confirmed the termination of the Akatsuki operative known as Deidara. Finally, their conversation turned to the last, most troubling encounter.
Three dark rings sat on the polished surface of the Hokage's desk. Tsunade picked one up, the character for "Boar" facing her, and turned it over in her fingers. "And you're certain?" she asked, her voice low and serious. "This final operative, the spy. You're sure he was eliminated?"
"We hit him with a coordinated assault from the nine shinobi," Kakashi stated, his tone leaving no room for doubt. "I watched Naruto's Rasenshuriken connect. Hinata's final attack left nothing but a glassy crater. If he survived that, he is severely wounded and no longer an immediate operational threat."
"An operative who can merge with the environment, who is invisible to a Byakugan…" Tsunade mused, placing the ring back down with a soft click. "The abilities you described are concerning."
"We suspect they were watching the Kazekage for some time," Hinata added, her doubled voice a calm, steady anchor in the room. "To learn his patterns. To find the perfect moment to strike."
Tsunade's gaze hardened. "We suspect they were watching Konoha, as well. Specifically, you, Naruto."
Naruto, who had been listening with a grim intensity, shifted uneasily. The thought of that creature slithering unseen through his own village sent a cold spike of dread through him.
"There's a very real possibility the Akatsuki possess other spies with similar capabilities," Tsunade continued. "That's why the village is on high alert."
"Granny, you don't get it," Naruto interjected, his voice earnest. "That plant-freak was like, part of the ground. No normal sensor would ever find him. It's impossible! I only noticed 'cause I can feel… icky feelings now. And his was super icky."
As the others processed Naruto's crude but accurate assessment, Hinata's mind was racing, Venom assisting as a silent co-processor. The familiarity of the green creature's signature… it was a persistent, nagging itch in her brain. She looked at Tsunade, at the immense, life-giving power that radiated from the Senju descendant, the scent of ancient, powerful wood in her chakra. And it clicked. It was a faint, verdant echo, but it was there. The creature's signature was a distant, corrupted relative of the First Hokage's own legendary power. A speculation so wild, so treasonous, she couldn't possibly voice it without proof.
"Hokage-sama," Hinata said, drawing the room's attention. "The nature of the black half of the creature, the statue it was connected to, and these rings… they are all composed of the same unknown, bio-crystalline material." She paused, gathering her thoughts. "I have several theories, but I require a deeper analysis. I request permission to reverse-summon myself to my summoning realm. My partners there may be able to help process this data. They may even possess knowledge of these things. It could be vital to understanding the Akatsuki's true nature and objectives."
A heavy silence descended on the office. Tsunade stared at her, her sharp, intelligent eyes weighing the immense risk against the potential reward.
Finally, she made her decision. "You are all dismissed for today. Rest. Naruto, report to the sensor division at 0600 tomorrow. You'll be leading a village-wide sweep with that 'icky feeling' of yours." Her gaze snapped back to Hinata. "When can you do it?"
Hinata could feel the urgent, impatient thrum of Venom inside her, a predator eager to hunt for answers. "I can go now."
"Then you have your orders. Proceed," Tsunade commanded. She looked at the rest of the weary shinobi. "The rest of you are dismissed. Tomorrow, you'll be assigned to your own search teams."
Hinata nodded once. She walked to the desk and collected the three Akatsuki rings, their cold weight a heavy promise in her palm. She began to flash through a series of complex, one-handed seals.
"Hinata," Naruto said, his voice soft but clear. "Good luck."
She paused, turning her head just enough to give him a small, genuine smile. Then, she finished the sequence. She slammed her open palm onto the wooden floor. Seals of swirling black ink exploded outwards from her hand, covering the floor in a complex, alien geometry. The air in the center of the circle began to shimmer, to warp, and then to collapse inward, forming a small, silent distortion, a miniature black hole that drank the light from the room.
Without a sound, she vanished.