This is my first attempt at a fanfic, so, if there are any complaints, keep in mind that the quality and length of each chapter will improve as I go. The main pairing will be Naru/Hina. I'm not sure if I'll include any other pairings, but that's because the fic will be Naruto-centric.
A big thanks to my betas, Margulis and PalookaLord, for proofreading my work. Without them, this story would be one giant mess of letters and words. So show your appreciation and go read their fics.
I own Naruto…….but only in my head. Are you happy now? (hides in corner and sulks)
"Regular Talk"
"Thoughts/Flashbacks"
"Inner Sakura"
Remnant of a Legacy
Ch. 1: The Tragic Consequence of the Decisive Battle
"Chidori Nagashi!"
"Rasenshuriken!"
One enormous explosion later, Uzumaki Naruto pulled himself out of the remains of a large boulder, now nothing more than a pile of rocks. "Dammit….that hurt like hell….though having to deal with Sakura after using that attack again will probably hurt a lot worse…...Oh crap…"
"Naruto, you IDIOT!!!" Naruto suddenly found himself implanted into the ground, courtesy of Sakura's fist. "What the hell did Kakashi-sensai and Tsunade-sama tell you about using that technique?!"
"What do you know, I was right….Yay for me…" Naruto murmured from the ground.
"N-Naruto-kun, are you al-alright?"
Naruto smiled to himself, in spite of the throbbing pain in his head. "Don't worry about it, Hinata-chan, I'm fine," he said, pulling himself off the ground and rubbing the back of his head. "Sakura-chan's hit me a lot harder than that before…"
Hinata slowly turned toward Sakura, Byakugan activating on instinct. Sakura backed up, hands up in a gesture of surrender. "N-now Hinata, I would n-never use enough f-force to actually hurt Naruto, so…" Inner Sakura was curled and cowering in a corner, rocking back and forth. "I won't do it again, I promise, just PLEASE DON'T KILL ME!!"
Naruto just blinked at the scene, not understanding what Hinata was so upset about. "Wow, Hinata's scarier than Sakura-chan when she's angry. It's kind of cool, actually…" he thought, smiling slightly. The three were soon joined by the rest of the Konoha 11, most just laughing at the sight of Sakura cowering in fear from Hinata. Neji, however, spoke up before things got too far.
"Perhaps we should check on the condition of the Uchiha before Hinata-sama decides to demonstrate the more advanced Jyuuken techniques on Haruno-san." Hinata suddenly remembered herself upon Neji's words, blushing profusely when she realized everyone was staring at her. "Go-Gomenasi, Sakura-san!" she breathed, bowing repeatedly.
Sakura managed to compose herself before Hinata got too far. "It's alright, Hinata," she said, leaning over to whisper to the still-blushing girl, "Although I think you impressed Naruto a little bit." Hinata's face suddenly resembled a tomato as she looked out of the corner of her eye at the blond as he talked with the rest of the team.
Damn, Neji, you ruin everything," Kiba whined, relaxing on Akamaru's back. "And just when it was getting good, too."
"Troublesome…" muttered Shikamaru, eyes closed as he leaned against an uprooted tree, Choji chuckling and eating next to him.
"Your sense of entertainment leaves much to be desired, Kiba." Kiba turned to growl at a stoic Shino. "Although I am happy to see Hinata is beginning to positively assert herself, I am in agreement with Neji-san on establishing the physical condition of Uchiha Sasuke."
"……Yeah, so….I'll just go check on Sasuke," Naruto said, eye twitching as he stared at Shino. "I'll be back," he said, turning around and walking toward where he and Sasuke's final attacks clashed. "Behave yourself, Sai."
"Enjoy looking for dickless," Sai called back, earning a blow to the back of the head.
"How DARE you talk that way in front of a lady!" Ino shrieked.
"Hmmm, you're about as bad as Ugly-Dog over there." Sai replied. Instantly, a killer intent rivaling that of Orochimaru start emulating from both Ino and Sakura, who had happened to overhear Sai's last comment. The others could only watch in shocked fear as both of the kuniochi launched themselves at the unfortunate boy, eyes blazing in fury. Apparently, Sai had yet to learn the most important rule of all: Never get Hanero Sakura pissed at you. The results are almost always painful.
"YOSH!! Sakura-san's and Ino-san's Flames of Youth are burning brighter than I have ever seen! Lee exclaimed, tears streaming down his face. "GAI-SENSEI!!! I have finally inspired others in their Springtime of Youth! I shall go compliment Sakura-san and Ino-san on their impressive Flames of Youth and then I shall ask Sakura-san on a date and-"
"Lee," interrupted TenTen, gaining the boy's attention, "Trust me when I say you do not want to do that." She stopped for a moment, watching as the dust cloud containing Sakura, Ino, and Sai slowly passed by. "And those aren't Flames of Youth, they're flames of rage." Before Lee could come up with an argument for that, Hinata gained everyone's attention.
"D-did anyone see where Naruto-kun went?" she asked, eyes frantically searching for any sign of the shinobi. Sakura and Ino looked up; halting in their effort to maim what was left of Sai.
"You know, I was wondering that myself. He shouldn't be able to even move after fighting like he did for over an hour," Sakura said, dusting herself off.
"Naruto has gone in search of the Uchiha," Neji commented, staring off the direction that Naruto had disappeared to, "and it should be no surprise what he is capable of." Kiba sweatdropped.
"Says the guy who got his ass handed to him in the Chunin Exam because he underestimated him." Kiba remarked, hoping to get a rise out of the Hyuuga. Neji eye twitched, but as he turned to stare at the dog ninja, his face wore a very Naruto-like smirk. "You're one to talk, Inuzuka." responded Neji, causing Kiba to sputter like a madman.
"Why I oughta-"
"If you are both finished behaving like first year Ninja Academy students," called out Shikamaru, earning a glare from both Kiba and Neji, "we should probably go find Naruto." He grunted as he stood up fully. "I'm a little worried that we haven't heard anything from him yet…"
Hinata suddenly looked horrified at the thought of Naruto in trouble. "You d-don't think anything could have h-happ-"
"DAMN YOU SASUKE!!! HOW COULD YOU?! RASENGAN!!!"
Everyone shielded their faces as huge gusts of wind tore through the clearing they were standing in, uprooting the trees that managed to survive the initial battle and kicking up dirt and rocks everywhere. As the winds finally died down, the teens stood there, staring at each others, eyes wide.
"I would say something HAS happen," Shino stated, skin unusually pale, "and what ever it was…was definitely not good."
"Naruto-kun…" whispered Hinata, visibly shaking. Everyone else had similar looks of distress on their faces, save one.
"What are you all standing around for?" Neji shouted, his eyes filled with anger. "MOVE!!!" The ninja quickly sped off in the direction the scream of rage originated from.
When they finally found Naruto, they were instantly confused.
Naruto was standing with his back to the group, breathing heavily, his fist raised as if he was about to attack the unconscious body at his feet. That's not what was confusing them, however. What WAS confusing them was that the body on the ground that Naruto was facing was…Naruto.
"Naruto….What is…" Choji asked, too shocked to eat. "Why are….Where is…."
"Naruto, please explain what happen," Shino calmly inquired, though there was an undertone of worry in his voice.
"Orochimaru's technique …."
"Nani?" Sakura asked.
"He used Orochimaru's body-transfer technique …" Naruto said in a dead voice, still not turning to face everyone.
"Body-transfer…wha?" Kiba felt as if some sort of revelation was about to be revealed, and it was going to be extremely horrible.
"It's what Orochimaru used to keep himself alive for so long." Everyone turned in shock toward Sai, surprised to hear the anger in his voice. "He created a kinjutsu that allowed him to transport his soul into another person's body."
"It's also why he was so intent on having Sasuke-kun desire to leave Konoha and seek him out," Sakura said, eyes clouded over in sadness. "Orochimaru wanted his body to gain the power of the Sharingan."
"That's…..that's horrible!' Ino breathed, her face turning a light shade of green. "How could anyone even think of doing something like that?"
"Orochimaru did," Neji stated, disgust evident in his voice. "And apparently, so did the Uchiha."
"So….Sasuke attempted to steal your body and instead got a Kage Bunshin? And then you knocked him out with your Rasengan technique? …NARUTO-KUN, YOU ARE AMAZING!!! YOUR KAGE BUNSHIN BEING ABLE TO WISTAND SUCH A STRONG-"
"No Lee…"
"Nani?"
"No matter how much chakra that I push into a Bunshin, it can't get hit with a strong jutsu like Rasengan without being destroyed," Naruto forced out, his voice cracking slightly.
"Then…Oh Kami…Naruto-kun…" whispered Hinata, tears quickly running down her face.
Sakura kept turning to face either Hinata's horrified face or Naruto's back. "What, What is it? Naruto, what…"
"The kinjutsu worked, Sakura. Sasuke got my body." Naruto finally turned his head, a sad smile on his face and eyes closed to hold back the tears he felt building up.
"I'm the Bunshin."
Author Notes
Sad, isn't it? Bet you didn't see that coming, did you? All that humor just to throw a dramatic (and incredibly depressing, in my opinion) curve at the end. The rest of the Fic will more than likely not have as much humor as this chapter did, for obvious reasons, though there will still be a little bit to keep the story from becoming too depressing.
While this is definitely will stay a NaruHina fanfic, I may decide to add in a touch of Harem in the mix with the other girls developing or expressing some sort of feelings toward Naruto because of the situation, but Naruto not feeling the same way…I'm really not sure. This is sort of a work-in-progress. I got the basic idea for most of the scenes down, but the rest is out in the open for now. Based on your reviews, I may change some things, but the one thing I won't move on is the NaruHina pairing. Stubborn, ain't I? I will make sure that every chapter is at the very least 1,200 words. I really hate ultra-short chapters. Also, my updates may be a little sporadic (though at least twice a month), mostly due to the fact that I don't have the Internet at my home. I'm forced to go to a Whataburger with free Wi-Fi, so yippee for me……I know, it's sad.
Reviews and questions are welcomed, flames…..eehh, not so much.
Next chapter: The Fate of the Unpredictable. Also, whoever can guess the meaning of the title Remnant of a Legacy gets a special mention in the next chapter.