Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto nor do I own Zelda or Bleach.

Triforce Legend

Chapter25: Explanations

Spring Country: Dock

Naruto backed off clutching his now missing right arm; he fought back the sting of pain he felt from the wound before he glared up at the man he had been fight. Pain flooded the right side of his body but the adrenaline in his body stopped it from taking any effect on him.

"Damn it," Naruto grunted as he grabbed the handle of his sword with his left hand and made to slash at the Blood Howler.

Kyusei saw it coming and brought up his shadow-blade/arm to intercept. Just then Tenten dropped down from above and slashed her katana across the shadow user's protected chest. Kyusei was knocked back from the attack but recovered quickly and stopped to see who had attacked him.

"Are you alright?" Tenten asked her team leader.

Naruto nodded with a wince, "it's just a flesh wound".

Tenten just shook her head at that, "I'll bet...how do we take this guy down?"

"I have an idea; cover me," Naruto said as he brought out his good hand and started channelling chakra.

Tenten nodded and charged forward towards Kyusei.

'What are they planning?' thought the shadow user as he saw the girl with buns in her hair make a hand-seal.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu," she whispered as five clones appeared at her side. "Konoha Ryū: Mikazuki no Mai!" she called out as she executed the complicated sword attack.

'Impressive,' Kyusei grinned under his mask before his eyes caught sight of a small ball with spike coming out of it right in front of his face.

"Boom," Tenten smirked as the bomb detonated in his face with a mighty roar of flames and thunder.

Suddenly six shadow-like spears burst from the smoke and made to stab her. She dodged with the help of her clones and skidded further away trying to put some distance between them.

'This guy is no joke; no wonder Naruto-taicho had so much trouble with him,' Tenten thought grimly as she readied her katana again.

It wasn't needed however...

"Cho Oodama Rasengan!" Naruto called out as he attacked with the monstrous ball of spinning chakra.

'I didn't sense even him!' Kyusei thought it shock as he was hit by the attack...

Let's just say the landscape around them was suddenly redecorated...

"Damn this girl," Sakura gritted out as another crystal shuriken grazed her shoulder. 'She's fast,' Kanako appeared behind the pink-haired Jonin with what appeared to be a crystal blade attached to the woman's wrist.

"Shōton: Suishō Tō," the howler declared with a smirk as she slashed Sakura's unprotected back.

Acting on reflex Sakura did a backwards summersault over Kanako just as the strike came within range. Once back on solid ground Sakura threw her fist forward charged with chakra at her full power.

"Ōkashō!" she called out as she struck Kanako dead center in the back with a monstrous impacted. However instead of collapsing into a pile of bones like she expected 'Kanako' appeared to shatter into millions of crystal shards the size of a finger, 'what is this?'

"Do you like my Suishō Bunshin no Jutsu? It works wonders...come now don't looks so upset that you didn't get me; it's not very lady-like," Kanako said appeared from what looked like a mirror made of her crystals.

Sakura turned swiftly to face her and held out her hammer towards the older woman, "I don't know who you are but I can tell you came here for something; what is it?"

Kanako shook her head in response, "it is the will of my mistress to collect a valuable item from inside the palace. That is all I will say on the matter".

Sakura nodded, "that's all I needed to know".

"Let's see if you can face the power granted to me," the veins on the woman's body could be seen through the cloak but now they glowed with such an eerie blue that her skin had turned completely white.

"Chōjū Giga!" a voice called out before the woman found herself being assaulted by what appeared to be five lions made out of ink.

Sakura caught sight of Sai standing atop one of his flying birds and she shouted up at him, "thanks Sai".

"My pleasure ugly," Sai said with a smile. Sakura just shook her head; of course he would go and use one of his nicknames at a time like this.

It didn't mean she liked it...

Suddenly there was a large spike of chakra and the ink lions were instantly vanquished by what appeared to be a shockwave of some kind originating from where the Blood Howler had been standing. The she stood...or at least it was her; her skin had become completely blue and her eyes were empty. There were to pupils in them and they were now pure white giving off a comforting yet vile aura that sent shivers down Sakura's spine.

Hell it sent shivers down Sai's spine...

Sakura clutched her hammer and charged forward a moment later...

"You're too slow princess!" Maria said laughing as she deflected the hail of arrows coming at her with her sword.

"Raikyu!" Yugito called out as she threw a ball of electricity.

"You're such a child!" said the woman still laughing as she swung her sword round to strike the oncoming jutsu. "Your mother was the same way," her sword connected with it and the lightning ball was suddenly sent back towards its user.

'She's reflecting my jutsu back at me?!' Yugito's eyes widened as she saw the lightning ball approach her. "Nayru Ai!" she called out as a large blue crystal appeared around her.

With a thunderous (pun is so intended) explosion of light and sound the ball of electricity slammed against the barrier technique and discharged. Yugito gave off a sigh of relief but she quickly gasped when Maria burst through the cloud of smoke. With her crystal now deactivated Yugito was powerless as Maria struck her with a clenched fist covered in lightning chakra.

"Sandā Saberu!" the woman called out as she landed the blow. After the dust cleared she smirked when she saw Yugito's now motionless form on the ground before her, 'too easy'. Suddenly however it disappeared in a poof of smoke causing Maria's eyes to widen in surprise, 'that was a clone?' A searing pain spread out from her back, 'what?'

"Hi no Ya," the arrow in her back suddenly exploded in a ball of flames at the sound. "That has to kill you," Yugito growled as she lowered her bow. Maria just stood up a moment later as if the attack hadn't effected her at all, "how are you still standing? That was an S-Rank Jutsu I just hit you with; you should be dead".

Maria chuckled as the hole in her side visibly closed in moments, "it should have but it didn't. I was careless; I should have expected such a tactic from the daughter of Yotsuki Usagi. She was always a sneaky little bitch too".

"Shut up! Who the hell are you anyway? No, I don't care; you will die for talking that way about my mother," Yugito growled at her.

Maria laughed at her opponent, "You're welcome to try princess".

Yugito didn't say a word before she disappeared in a burst of speed and reappeared in front of the howler almost instantly. Maria smirk broke into a full blown grin as Yugito slashed a monstrous claw of purple chakra—or flames—across her face. The howler woman was blown hurled across the countryside at high speeds; crashing through grass and trees. She was blown through a boulder before finally coming to a stop on its other side as Yugito touched back down on the ground where Maria had once stood a moment ago.

The Princess of Lightning however was different then she was a second ago; now she was covered from head to toe in flame augmented purple chakra cloak. The chakra had taken the shape of a cat with a single swishing tail at the back; she was crouched down on all fours with the pupils of her blue eyes now vertical slits.

There was an echoing laugh as Maria stood seemingly disregarding the fact that her face now had five claw marks across her face. She licked her lips once to taste the blood that was running down from them before the pupils in her eyes vanished leaving her eyes empty. The claw marks healed in a matter of seconds as the blue 'veins' on her body branched out and covered her skin making her look like she had blue skin.

"Not bad Demon Princess; you've turned into quite the Jinchuuriki...little kitten," Maria taunted as she drew her blade.

"I said shut up!" Yugito snarled at her before disappearing in a burst of speed.

Maria smirked and jumped back just as Yugito slammed down on where she had been standing from above. An instant later the Kumo Jonin was already upon her again trying to slash her with her claws. Maria skillfully dodged the strikes that came at her but was unprepared for the claw of flames that shot out of the girl's chakra cloak and slashed at her. Maria was slashed across her stomach and sent crashing back through the nearby tree though she stood back up still grinning as she stared at the Youki covered girl before her.

"Impressive demon; I will admit that but...that's useless against me," Maria told her as the wound on her stomach closed in a matter of seconds. The Blood Howler smirked again started forming hand-seals, "now I do believe I've had enough of this farce. Raiton: Rairyudan no Jutsu," she held up her hand towards the girl and suddenly a dragon made of lightning burst forth from it. Yugito suddenly started concentrating a large amount of chakra her mouth and it began to glow, "kindly die".

"Nekomata Endan!" a wide stream of pure heat was unleashed from the Kumo nin's mouth in one focussed blast. It hit the lightning dragon in midflight and both attacks exploded in a blast of lightning and fire.

"You actually survived that?" Maria chuckled when she saw Yugito still crouched on all fours glaring at her. Yugito jumped at her faster than the eye could see but Maria was already in moment and narrowly dodged to the right as shockwaves rippled across where she was standing moments ago, "meow". Her sword started to glow blue as she slashed downwards on her, "Raijingu Sanda!"

There was a resounding explosion as the large blue stream of chakra erupted from the blade and splashed across Yugito's Youki-covered body. Dust was blown upwards by the force of the impact and when it cleared Yugito's form could be seen struggling to stand with the Youki still covering her.

"Still hanging in there huh princess? Not that it matters," Maria mused and turned. "Kanako-Chan, Kyusei-kun! Fallback; we're pulling out!" she called to the other two howlers.

"Yes milady," Kanako nodded in understanding as she jumped back towards her mistress.

"Oh do we have too? I was having fun here," Kyusei whined as he appeared at her side also.

"I will not let you escape," Lee called out as he dropped down from above them and leapt at them with his legs spinning towards Maria's face. "Konoha Daisenpu!" the blow connected with her face but she appeared to not even flinch from it.

"You're an amusing little child," Maria said as she planted her hand firmly on his chest before he could get away. "My turn now; Raiton: Sanda," Lee yelled in pain as he was blown back from what looked like a bolt of pure lightning.

"Lee-kun!" Sakura shouted in worry as she ran over to him. After taking a look at him she saw that the skin on his chest looked like it had been melted off, "what the hell was that?"

"I-I think it was pure lightning manipulation," Lee grunted out with a wince.

"Hold still; I'll be done in a moment," Sakura said quickly as her hands glowed green.

"Come Kanako-Chan, Kyusei-kun. We're leaving," Maria said and the three disappeared in a bolt of lightning.

"Rai Shunshin no Jutsu," Yamato commented upon seeing the technique.

"Yugito; power down...now," Naruto said as an order and she turned to look at him. "Yugito," he warned.

The Kumo Jonin nodded in understanding and after slumping to the ground her chakra shroud receded.

"It's one of those days," Naruto muttered and looked down at his missing arm.

--

Later in the conference room of the palace Yugito took a deep breath as Tenten helped her over to Sakura; Naruto was already there getting his arm attended to by her.

"Hold still Naruto; you're lucky it was a clean cut or I wouldn't be able to reattach it," Sakura told him as she tried to reconnect the arm.

"Luck had nothing to do with it; that guy I was fighting knew exactly what he was doing. I couldn't even get a decent hit in," Naruto told her.

"I can believe that," Sakura nodded knowing the kind of strength it would take to do this to him. "It's done but don't use any chakra with it for at least another three days," she said as an order.

"Technically I outrank you so..." he trailed off.

Sakura just smirked at him, "don't push it. Unlike everyone else on the team I can actually give you an order since I'm the senior medical-ninja on this team".

"Who were those people anyways?" Tenten asked from her position. She was leaning on the wall with her arms crossed as she spoke, "they're no ordinary Shinobi that's for sure. We could barely even scratch them; at least with Akatsuki we know who were dealing with but this...it feels like we're blind at the moment".

Yamato nodded as he sat down in one of the chairs, "I agree. I've never seen them before but I know for a fact that those three we fought are on the Kage level".

Yugito clenched her fists tightly and spoke up, "they're called Blood Howlers". Everyone (minus Naruto) looked over at her as she continued, "they used to be a section of Kumo's Anbu but they betrayed the village eighteen years ago. I don't know the details but they actively despise my entire family; I don't know why...they just do".

"Have you ran into them before?" Yamato asked with a raised eyebrow.

When he saw that she couldn't answer Naruto decided to interrupt, "we ran into them two years ago...it wasn't a pleasant experience. I have to be honest; if I didn't get the drop on them back then they would have killed us both easily judging by how those three were fighting out there".

"I see," Yamato mused as he rested his hands under his chin.

"So what do we do now?" Lee asked from one of the seats. His chest had been healed though he would have to lay off the training for a week, "just sit around and wait for them to come back?"

"They wanted something here," Sakura said simply. "Whatever it is must be important; we should find it," she continued.

"I agree," a voice came from the doorway and the team turned to see who it was.

"Koyuki-sama," Sakura greeted remembering her manners.

Koyuki just waved her dismissively, "don't start that Sakura-Chan. Just call me Koyuki; Koyuki-sama makes me feel old". Sakura nodded at that as she turned to Naruto, "you've grown".

"So have you...more beautiful I mean," Naruto shot back with a grin.

"And you've become quite the charmer," Koyuki took note of that detail.

Of course Yugito decided to smack him at that moment, "Idiot".

"Hey now that was uncalled for," he clutching his arm.

Koyuki looked amused at the display, "don't tell me...girlfriend?"

"Fiancé actually," Naruto corrected.

"Really?" she was actually surprised at that.

Naruto just nodded and laughed nervously, "A lot has happened".

"Tell me about it...where are Sasuke and Kakashi? I thought they would be here with you," Koyuki asked not seeing the two.

Sakura didn't want to answer so Naruto spoke up, "Sasuke...he turned traitor three years ago and betrayed us all. He's now with another traitor who killed one of our former leaders". Koyuki's eyes widened at that and he continued, "as for Kakashi-sensei...he...passed on three months ago".

"...I see; so that's why they're not here," the Spring Daimyo nodded sadly in understanding.

After a moment of silence Tenten spoke up, "if I may ask? Do you by any chance know what those...Blood Howlers...wanted from you?"

Koyuki looked over at her and nodded solemnly, "yes as a matter of fact I do know. Its located directly below this palace...we call Marcrim".

Author's Notes:

And I'm ending it here; I seriously couldn't write this chapter. It really didn't want to be written; seriously. Anyway if you haven't already check out my new Naruto fic (its getting updated with this one) and please review.

Translation

Kage Bunshin no Jutsu = Shadow Clone Technique

Konoha Ryū: Mikazuki no Mai = Leaf Style: Dance of the Crescent Moon

Cho Oodama Rasengan = Super Great Ball Spiralling Sphere

Raikyu = Lightning Ball

Nayru Ai = Nayru Love

Sandā Saberu = Thunder Saber

Shōton: Suishō Tō = Crystal Release: Jade Crystal Blade

Chōjū Giga = Super Beast Imitation Picture

Hi no Ya = Arrow of Fire

Raiton: Rairyudan no Jutsu = Lightning Release: Lightning Dragon Bullet Technique

Nekomata Endan = Forked Cat Flame Bullet

Raijingu Sanda = Raging Thunder

Konoha Daisenpu = Leaf Great Whirlwind

Raiton: Sanda = Lightning Release: Thunder

Rai Shunshin no Jutsu = Lightning Body Flicker Technique

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See Ya Later…