Chapter Eighteen

Awakening of a Beast

It's eyes flashed open, a blank, mindless look in it's blue eyes as the beast's jaw flew open, unleashing an earth shattering howl. Miles away, Hinata turned her head back, glimpsing the massive creature that was Naruto, her Naruto, her kind, caring, loving Naruto. Now, all that stood there was...

"The Jūbi has awoken."

The howl rippled through the air, tearing leaves from the trees, and birds from the sky. Around the party, small creatures fell past the branches they were standing on, either stunned or dead from shock. The group themselves nearly fell, the shear power embedded within the howl had whipped the air currents into a fury, a visible wall of pressure flying past. The Jinchūriki stood strong, though a shiver ran up their spines as their Bijū, old though they may be, cried out in an urge to join their other halves within the massive frame. Fūryu and Hinata, steeled against yōkai as they may have become over the past year, still found themselves gasping for air against the pure power of the force as it made itself clear.

"Damn. We've got no choice now. We have to do that." Jiraiya murmured, as B nodded with him, the strongest available jinchūriki acting as leader for the moment, rhymes left in the wayside of the chaos to come.

"Yo, Fū."

"What's up?"

"Think you can get me and Rōshi up there?"

"Easy. Want air support? 'Cause your options are me and Gaara at the moment."

"Both of you, get in the air. Jiraiya, how much time you need?"

"Given our distance to the nearest village, I'll take anything I can get. Twenty minutes would be preferable, but I can make it in fifteen."

"Got it. Fū!" With a nod, Fū flung out her tails, as they rapidly took the form of immense, iridescent green wings, her arms reaching out to grasp the outstretched hands of B and Rōshi, as her tails began to move with such speed that the branch they stood on began to crack. Achieving lift off, the trio took off toward the giant wolf, Gaara following suit aboard a platform of sand, a fair portion of sand remaining behind to gather more if he so needed it. Grabbing up the slightly shell shocked teens, Yugito took off toward the wolf, Utakata and Han rushing close behind. Yagura nodded to Jiraiya, before partially transforming into his own form, wrapping his tails around him and proceeding to rotate with great speed, finally rolling out at high speed, bouncing off of trees and crashing through rocks as he went. Jiraiya sighed at the slightly over the top travel methods of the jinchūriki, before turning to his own work, rolling out a giant scroll and pulling up a brush and ink, flowing some chakra through it as he began.

Pain. Pain was all he felt, all he was capable of feeling. The pain, coursing through his veins, now flooding through his head. He let out a scream, but as it left his mouth, it changed, not into a louder scream, but into a yet louder, more powerful howl, the long, low notes hanging in the air as he closed his jaw. A loud hum buzzed by his ear, causing him to growl in irritation as the noise echoed, growing louder still. The noise cut out at that, followed by three distinct pinpricks of weight between his shoulders, with three energy signatures that almost seemed... Familiar. The pain came again, bursting through his torso as waves of energy ripped up, slamming into the weights on his shoulders. There was a pause, as a moment of almost bliss passed, before the signatures from before became amplified, the weights landing on his back again, before growing rapidly, the feeling of bone and flesh washing over his skin as the signatures solidified, with roars of effort from each of his 'children'. Tentacles began to wrap around him, attempting to lock his limbs into place, before more waves of energy began to rip them apart. They kept coming however, the speed being to advance beyond what the energy could destroy. As his limbs locked into place, he let out a roar, a shockwave of energy slamming into the largest of the three aboard him, flinging the massive ox-topus off of him. The tentacles melted away into ink as their creator fell away, but were soon replaced by coils of lava, the burning heat attempting to melt into his hide. A shudder ran through his body as the energy running through him underwent a change, shifting it's very essence as it grew more fluid, and less chaotic.

With a growl of effort, the new energy came forth with a swish of one of his tails, a small flood taking form as it moved, before rushing over his body, steam flying off of the lava. Another swish, and the comparatively small ape found itself head over heels toward a nearby mountain, the form flickering out as it approached impact nearby the large ox-topus shaped hole. A blast of wind hit his face, feeling as if it were a gnat against a tree for all the good it did. He rose his head, massive eyes seeking out a target, latching onto the view that was an enormous beetle. A swish of a tail, and a blast of wind twice as strong flew forth, narrowly missing the insectoid. A volley began, he firing on repeat, the bug dodging as best it could. All for naught, however, when a double shot slammed into it, knocking it clear out of the sky. It slammed to the ground, pain screeching from it as several of it's wings were impaled by trees. He slammed a tail into the ground, a pulse of chakra bursting forth, scanning the area for miles around. Finding a location of proper population, he began to turn, only to be stopped in his tracks. A glance down would reveal his feet to be swarmed in sand and earth, swirling masses of the material barely holding him down. A growl began to grow in his throat, as the energy rose again, tails slamming down, washing away the earth beneath him. He moved forward, only for a gnat of a being appear before one of his eyes, hovering on a platform made of the same as had held him down. A voice began to speak, barely reaching his ears. He snorted, the gust throwing the being back, and earthward. Again, it came, and this time, with more. Two other beings were aboard. Before he could force them back as well, something, deep within, began to push. Small, at first, but gradually growing, pushing with all it's might. He pushed back, attempting to force this new issue back where it had come, only for it to return with twice the strength, as the smallest of the three aboard the platform fell to it's knees, a voice finally burrowing through, at long last succeeding in breaking the trance that had come over him. All with one word. A name. His name.

"NARUTO!"

The trance shattered like a frozen pond, one moment he was looking down at them, the next, he was being caught by a bed of sand and lowered to the ground, no longer towering over the forest, but instead falling into sleep like the mountains of old. The moment he felt the bed catch him, all went dark.

The party of eleven gathered around the sleeping body of the boy who had just nearly slaughtered them all, peaceful rest only interrupted by the occasional snore, garnering a chuckle out of them. When Gaara and Fūryu had caught him, he had been surrounded by a burst of energy as black as night, which then evaporated seconds later to unveil Naruto in a new outfit, a long, purple and gold cloak with ten magatama embroidered on the back, and a headband with horns that went back and over his forehead, reaching a little behind his hair line, and rising up about an inch above his head, the emblem on which, however, had caught all of their attentions. The symbol was for Shinobi, no affilitation, just Shinobi. Speculation was traded back and forth, but none of the group could come to a clear answer.

The next morning, Hinata awoke to the sound of exertion. She almost went back to sleep for a moment, before listening a little closer. That pitch, that cadence, it could only be one person. He was back. Her Naruto. She rose, walking steadily towards the noise as she pulled at the edge of her shirt. She carefully avoided branches, twigs, and other debris, silently making her way across the forest floor, before coming upon the clearing where they had trained previously. She sidled up behind a tree at the edge, watching on as hundreds upon thousands of clones, with varying degrees of energy flowing about and between them, charging a solitary Naruto, his swords held loosely at his side. As she activated her byakugan, he eyes ached at the sheer power emanating from the teen, as the wave slammed into him.

At the forefront, a swords using clone and a sand user both attempted to break through, but he dodged, almost effortlessly as he swung left and right, attacks barely missing before he twirled, bringing the full force of his considerable strength to bear, the air igniting with the speed as the blades slashed forward, tearing through the reinforced clones like paper, before a wave of energy continued on, crackling forth as it ripped through the wall of clones, eventually stopping after cutting out a vast swath. A twitch of his head, and he ducked, a sneak attack missing terribly as yet more felt the wrath of a rasenshuriken, shimmering all the colors of the rainbow. A grin, and a rev of his blades, and the air itself gave way, the world itself seeming to crack around where he stood, reality growing tears as the blades swayed, left, right, left, right, and then... Nothing. The ground where once stood a fair third of the force was gone, the trench nearly twenty meters long, and almost ten deep. Not even the smoke of dispersing clones escaped the attack.

With renewed vigor, the remainder advanced, blades a-twirl as an almost solid wall of jutsu and weaponry filled the sky. As it moved, he blinked. He blinked again. He lifted his hand, and with the least bit of effort... Pushed. The ground rippled again as what could only be described as a wave of shear force bit forward, returning both attacks and defenses on their makers, bowling over what little had escaped the wrath. She gasped at the power, raw and utter that her friend could exhibit. With such strength, and such power, how could she, a tiny person, do anything to help. She began to turn to leave, when a hand fell on her shoulder. She shrieked, a sound quickly muffled by the hand covering her mouth.

"Hinata! It's okay! It's just me!" She breathed a sigh of relief as the hand fell away, the familiar sun-kissed face of Naruto filling her vision.

"Naruto, what are you doing up so early? After what happened yesterday-"

"I know, I know, I should be in bed, but after that change... You saw how much I can do. I need to be able to control this or I could crush everyone whenever I pull put a stronger jutsu than a clone. But, now that you're here, there's someone I want you to meet. Here, hold my hand." She blushed, before taking it, allowing Naruto to guide her to a meditative position. "Alright, this is where it gets a bit weird." He closed his eyes, as a feeling of falling overcame here, she closed her's as well, only to reopen them to find herself looking at... Herself. There were some differences, such as a bit different hair style, and the version of her before her seemed to be a bit older, but it was almost as if it was...

"That's you, Alpha you, I mean. She was pretty much everything to me. I did what i could to protect her, but in the end, it all meant nothing. I failed. This is all that remains of her, trapped here in my memories. I can show them to you, if you like. Before she and the others were captured, Ino was able to use one last jutsu. It triggered on death, pulling their memories from their dying minds and shoving them into the nearest friendly brain. Hinata... Hinata was the last of them to die, the last in a chain of memory transfers that ended in her holding all of her friends memories being held in her head, before she died. As she died, I felt it. It resonated through me, and their memories hit me, almost breaking me as I took in every event all of them had ever experienced at once. You're the only one I want to offer this to, but if any of them ask, I'll tell them the same thing I'm about to tell you. I can give you your counterpart's memories, but it will hurt. Like nothing has ever hurt before. This won't be like with Jiraiya or Tsunade, where they could pick up their past memories from the world itself, or the jinchūriki getting them from their Bijū, this will hurt, body, soul, and mind. Once it begins, there's nothing I can do to stop it. Will you take this burden, or will you pass?"

"I'll take it. I need to know what happened, what we were, everything."

End Chapter Eighteen

AN: Yea, I know guys. Late late late. I had a really busy summer, and a muse as fickle as a cat. Hopefully, I can get her under control, but for now it seems I've got a bit left in the tank, so be prepared for a few other updates on my other stuff.

~Lux Out