AND BACK AGAIN [ NARUTO ]

[ 08 ] hyuuga goes boom

Naruto, once again, cursed himself for being so blind. The man he'd engaged in combat with first was, indeed, a Hyuuga. His byakugan wasn't active, but it didn't have to be for his eyes to be recognizable.

But why? Why was he acting so strange, and attacking innocent people in the Leaf?

Naruto knew for a fact that Hinata's father was no pushover. He was strict, and therefore, strictly loyal to the Leaf. Hiashi couldn't be behind this.

There was no time to discuss the new revelation -- the zombie-ninja hadn't acknowledged a word Hinata said, and their attack wasn't going to pause for them to collect their thoughts. Naruto caught sight of a white flap of paper hanging off of his opponent's waist, laced with chakra.

He managed to swipe it and deactivate it all in one swift move, bringing his leg around in a chakra enhanced kick to the head. The zombie-ninja crumpled at his feet.

Kakashi was already standing with a useless paper bomb in his hand by the time Naruto turned to the rogue Hyuuga, and Asuma was just finishing his fight as well.

The Hyuuga's face remained a mask, and they had him cornered. He glanced left, then right, then forward. His white eyes seemed to be looking straight into Naruto's, communicating a silent message.

Naruto realized much too late that the message was one of death.

Kakashi's hands slammed into the ground as he called out, "Doton: Doryūheki!"

But a simple, one-way mud wall wasn't going to cover it. Naruto, in his time, had learned that a single paper bomb could do a lot more damage than one would think -- and depending on how much chakra was infused in each bomb and what seal was engraved in the material, one could easily level a football field.

As the chakra began to glow and smoke on the Hyuuga's body, Naruto called on Kurama's power and wrapped it around himself, jumping into action. He grabbed the Hyuuga by the torso and leapt onto the roof to their left, launching off of the clay tiles from there into mid-air, hoping to absorb the blow.

What would you do with me?

Dimly, Naruto recognized Kurama's voice in his mind over the commotion below him, and a smirk set into his features. Just help me out here.

Kurama snorted.

///\

"What the heck just happened?!"

Team 7, Team 8, and Team 10 gathered beneath the remnants of the explosion, watching the sky for any sign of survivors. Past Naruto had been the first to speak, as the entirety of the three teams and the civilians in the area had been silenced by the sudden explosion. Even the usually obnoxious Kiba and loud Ino had been rendered speechless with their thoughts -- had that really just happened? And who stopped it? They could've easily been barbecue right then.

The cloud of dust that had been stirred up during the fight settled now, and murmurs rippled throughout the crowd. As the smoke began to clear from the sky, curiosity bloomed further -- nothing was there.

With two sharingans and a single byakugan trained on the sky, scouring the blue overhead for a sign, no one was quick to notice the glowing shinobi approaching from their rear.

Naruto cleared his throat awkwardly, his eyebrows raised. "Uh, guys? What're we looking at?"

Kakashi, Asuma, Kurenai, and each of their genin (plus one chuunin) turned at his voice. The majority had unhinged jaws, staring at the blond, whiskered, glowing teen. The rest (Kakashi, Sasuke, Shikamaru, Shino) simply stared.

Naruto laughed nervously, eyeing each of his younger comrades. He looked from left to right, ensuring nothing was going to explode suddenly, and let Kurama's cloak of chakra drop.

"Kakashi?" Asuma asked loudly. "Who the heck is this kid?"

The jounin in question opened his mouth to answer, but one of his genin had stayed silent long enough. Past Naruto jumped forward, his hands on the sides of his head.

"How did you do that? That was epic! Can I do that?"

"Naruto, apparently," Kakashi finally answered, speaking over his student. "Not our Naruto, though."

"That cleared up absolutely nothing."

"Why are there two Narutos?" Kiba asked incredulously. "And why was one of them on fire?"

"It wasn't fire, Kiba." Shino watched the scene play out, his hands in his pockets. "Couldn't you feel the chakra levels?"

"They were unbelievable," Shikamaru agreed, his eyes narrowed.

"Wait--are you telling me we have to deal with two idiots now?" Ino's mouth was still hanging open. "I don't care if it's possible, I think we're all going to die!"

Sakura crossed her arms. "I would agree, but. . .he's a lot different from our Naruto, as far as I can see."

"Same old dobe," Sasuke muttered.

Somehow, Past Naruto heard his teammate, and paused mid-exclamation. He left his future self and stomped over, hollering insults.

Naruto was slightly more focused on what had just happened. He spotted Hinata watching him with wide eyes, and a thought struck him. He pushed past astonished shinobi and villagers alike to stand in front of her.

"Hinata-chan," he called.

The young kunoichi jumped, inching a step back. "Y-yes, Naruto-san?"

Naruto wrinkled his nose at the honorific. "None of that. I'm just Naruto." He forced himself back on topic. "I just wanted to apologize for not saving your. . .friend? Cousin? Actually, who was that guy?"

Hinata, face flushed, unintentionally glanced at the sky. "He was called Haruhi. My--my father's advisor, I think."

Naruto brought a hand to his chin in thought as the jounin-senseis made their way over, two of which still uneasy at the idea of another Naruto.

"Tsunade-baachan mentioned something about people going missing lately," the blond said thoughtfully. "But nothing about a Hyuuga."

"Well now we have evidence," Kakashi said, gesturing to the fallen shinobi. "Let's get it to Tsunade-sama as soon as we can."

"Hai!" Naruto moved forward to help carry the former zombie-ninja, but someone -- a few someones -- grabbed his arm from behind.

"Wait a minute," Ino said.

"You can't just claim to be Naruto -- really, what does that even mean? -- and then leave us hanging!" Kiba added.

"He's me from the future!" Young Naruto exclaimed, still in awe of his future self's performance. He may have been wary of this strange person's identity before, but now he was more than willing to accept it.

"What is going on?" Kurenai muttered.

"Did anyone bring a snack?" Chouji asked randomly, simultaneously shoving chips into his mouth.

Kakashi shared a look with Naruto, and a silent agreement was formed.

They weren't going to be able to leave without giving a full explanation, even if it was official business.