The Power of Youth... and Love

(You know, I bet that first part make you wonder what else I have planned. What other tricks do I have up my sleeve for the Shichibi or the Kyuubi? What limits does Hotaru have? Does Naruto have any hidden surprises left? Is Hina-chan making ramen for dinner tonight? Well, let’s find out, shall we?)
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Chapter 20: When Jinchuriki and Tailed-Beasts Team Up

Hotaru removed his upper boy robes and looked at his sword and made a simple hand seal, “Fire Release: Energy Transferal: Inanimate Object Transformation,” He said, pushing large amounts of the Shichibi’s power into his blade, turning it into what looked like a scimitar made of dragon scales and bones. “Now boy, feel the true might of the Dragon,” he yelled, flying at his opponent with his newly formed wings. Naruto ducked as Hotaru flew over him, thinking to himself *Damnit, now I have to fight a even stronger and faster version of him, and he can fly.* Naruto didn’t know what to do as he crawled on the ground, trying to dodge the lightning fast dives of the flying old man. “Come on boy, don’t tell me the Kyuubi will not be your ally as the Shichibi is mine,” Hotaru laughed, his many years of being the container of the wise old dragon taught him the value of partnerships. Naruto huffed, looking at the old man and yelling back, “why would I want to be allies with a self-centered monster like that?” Hotaru dived at him again and said, “Because, that may be the only way you’ll remotely stand a chance against me.” He dove again, and Naruto rolled behind a tree, *shit, he’s right, if I don’t get help soon, he’s gonna kill me,* he thought, slowly closing his eyes to meditate for a minute.

The Kyuubi was not pleased to see him again, as he lunged at his gate in order to attack the ninja. “WHY ARE YOU HERE?!” The Nine-Tailed Fox roared, glaring at Naruto with thoughts of ripping his insides out. “Have you ever heard of the Shichibi?” he sighed, standing just out of the massive Kitsune’s reach. “HOTARU, YES I HAVE… WHAT ABOUT HIM?” the Kyuubi was rather interested in what this whelp had to say. Naruto grinned a bit, “well, I was thinking you and I could team up and take him down, sound interesting enough?” Naruto nodded and smiled as brightly as he could, and the Kyuubi nodded as well, “BUT WHAT WOULD I GET IN RETURN?” Naruto just shrugged, “well, I mean if you don’t want to get your ass beaten again like you did last time, then I think you would want to help, right?” The Kyuubi grunted and said, “FINE, BUT IT’S ONLY BECAUSE I DON’T WANT TO DIE ANY MORE THEN YOU DO!” and with that, the Kyuubi decided to give Naruto all the strength he wanted, at least for a little while.

Tsunade was impressed when she saw what happened just after Naruto’s eyes closed. Hotaru lunged at the tree he was hiding behind, preparing to kill him in one blow. He cut through the tree and was suddenly stopped when a burning red claw blocked the attack. Hotaru was lifted into the air and throw through the tree and onto the ground in front of the blonde. The ground shook as the half-dragon made contact, and he howled in pain from the force of the blow. *Holy Fucking Asscrackers, I don’t think I’ve ever seen Hotaru get attacked or blocked so easily,* she thought, eagerly waiting to see more of the epic battle.
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Hotaru leaped up and flew out of the way, trying to dodge and block the speedy ninja, empowered by the powers of the Kyuubi. *Damn, I didn’t think he’d be this powerful,” Hotaru groaned, swinging his sword to evade Naruto’s hyper speed and strength. Naruto lunged at the dragon man, swinging his claws and even trying to bite the older man, “I’m gonna beat you Hotaru, I swear to it,” Naruto growled, digging a claw into Hotaru’s shoulder. “Feh, is that all you’ve got boy?” Hotaru grunted, as scales started to form over his shoulders and back. Naruto continued his assault, missing and clawing at air as the elder warrior flew high above him and smirked. “Fire Release: Dragon Arc,” He yelled, unleashing a wave of flames from one swing of his sword, driving it right into the Jounin’s face and knocking him into the woods. Hotaru smirked and descended, *all too easy,* he thought, holding his weapon steady just in case that wasn’t enough.

*GET UP BOY,* the Kyuubi scowled, as Naruto stood up, *THAT BLOW WASN’T EVEN STRONG ENOUGH TO SINGE YOUR FUR!* Naruto knew the fox demon was right, that move felt more like a punch in the face then an actual attack. He saw Hotaru lower himself down, still preparing to fight the boy to the end, *NOW’S OUR CHANCE, ATTACK!* As the Kyuubi screamed that, Naruto moved, tackling the dragon man out of the air and knocking him into a nearby tree. Hotaru looked shocked as the boy started to form a red Rasengan in his hands, “now how did that go again, forcing a tailed beast’s energy into your own Rasengan and….” The powered up Rasengan fully formed, but started to grow in size, and Hotaru started to form scales on his chest, knowing what was about to happen. “Fire Release: Greater Dragon Missile Rasengan,” bellowed Naruto, ramming the massive sphere into the elder man’s chest, knocking him threw the tree he was forced into, as well as several others that were ‘cut down’ by the fast moving man. *KEEP GOING BOY, THAT MOVE WASN’T ENOUGH TO KNOCK HIM OUT, BELIEVE ME, I HAVE THE SCARS TO PROVE IT! GO NOW!* the Kyuubi howled, and Naruto chased after the trail of broken down trees.

Tsunade could not believe what she was witnessing, and started to eat the bad of trail mix she had brought with her. *Man, I almost feel like that Choji kid,* she though, stuffing another mouthful in as she saw the orange-red streak fly though the air, moving much closer to Hotaru. *The truth was, for someone as old as Hotaru, you would think he’d be, well…. Dead,* she thought, looking at him regain his composure and spreading his wings, *he looks almost as old as me, but he’s almost 500.* The properties of the Seven Tailed dragon were amazing speed and strength, and a 1000 year longevity, for someone with the Shichibi inside of them, a year seems to go by like a day, *it makes him appear as a middle aged man, when he was probably alive IN the middle ages…* she thought, pulling out a small bottle of water and taking a few gulps. She looked on, as the fight was probably going to become the stuff of legends.
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Hotaru threw his sword to the ground as he dove down; he needed both hands for what he wanted to do. “There’s a good one,” he said, grabbing a large log that was made from when he was hit by the powerful Rasengan no more then 5 minutes ago. He lifted it off of the ground as the demon fox’s container ran at him, “Batter up,” he said, swinging the log and hitting Naruto square in the chest, sending him deep into a tree. Naruto grunted as his body slowly recovered from the massive damage from being hit with the large slab of wood, but Hotaru quickly grabbed his sword and charged up to him, his blade seeping with Chakra. “Fire Release: 7 Swords of the Dragon,” the old man said, as six identical blades formed around him, but they were made of pure energy, so you could clearly see through them. Hotaru swung with the real sword, but Naruto quickly pulled out a kunai and blocked it. This gave the dragon man enough of an opening to do the real damage, as he grabbed 2 of the chakra blades and swung them, creating a burning red “X” from the boys shoulders to his hips. Those blades disappeared, and he grabbed 2 more, spinning to cleave Naruto across the chest, then Hotaru turned and moved his arm up, slashing from the Jounin’s crotch to his forehead. Now there were only 2 energy blades left, and Hotaru quickly grabbed them and cut Naruto horizontally both times against his mid section.

*DAMNIT, I FORGOT HE COULD DO THAT,* the Kyuubi roared, as Naruto sunk to the ground, writhing in pain from the 6 potentially fatal cuts on his body. The Kyuubi forced his energy into healing the wounds, making sure both of them didn’t die, then he said *LISTEN KIT, THIS IS GOING TO DRAIN A LOT OF MY POWER, IF YOU’RE GOING TO FINISH THIS, I STRONGLY SUGGEST YOU DO IT NOW, OR WE’RE BOTH GOING TO DIE.* Hotaru took his sword and held the blade against Naruto’s throat, “Had enough boy?” he grinned, knowing that his last attack was enough to bring down even the strongest tailed beast. Naruto responded by grabbing the blade, and seemed like he was taking the energy from it, “I’m not done yet old man, I still have a few more tricks up my sleeve,” Naruto formed another ‘Dragon Missile Rasengan,’ as Hotaru’s weapon reverted back to its original form. *Damnit, this kid is unreal,* thought the 500 year old warrior, as he took the powerful ball of energy straight to the face, as he landed on his feet a good 20 yards away. “ENOUGH, IT’S TIME THIS DRAGON TOOK FLIGHT!” Hotaru screamed, making a few more very unique hand seals and using his ultimate technique, “Fire Release: Form of the Seven-Tailed Dragon.” Naruto clearly knew what was going to happen, so he bit his thumb enough to draw blood and made a few hand seals of his own, “Summoning Technique: Gamabunta.” The 2 very large and powerful beings formed above the trees, as the final part of the battle begun.

Tsunade was standing on Katsuyu, praying that she and her longtime friend would be alright, “Not to mention what would happen if they got too close to any villages,” Tsunade said, and her giant slug nodded in it’s own special way. “What shall we do, Lady Tsunade?” Katsuyu asked, she was prepared to do anything for Tsunade, as they had been friends for so long and were very close. “Kastsu-chan, relax, I sure everything will be ok…” Tsunade paused for a second then said, “… or at least for Kami’s sake, I hope everything will be.”
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Sakura and Ino were looking through all of the books that were found in and around the former Akatsuki base, hoping to find out more about the mission Naruto was on. “Why would Tsunade ask a Jinchuriki for assistance like this?” Ino asked, and Sakura shrugged as she was reading through an old journal. “I don’t know Ino-chan,” She replied, stopping and reading a particular page. Sakura turned to show Ino, having a very horrified look on her face, “but whatever she has in mind, I just hope Naruto will come home safe from it.” Ino gave her the same terrified look back, this ‘Hotaru’ guy was not one to mess with, as it read quite clearly on the top ‘target: Zetsu (may need all Akatsuki to fight it).’
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(The end is near, and the final curtain is about to lower on our cast of players. But how will the greatest fight ever know end? Will Naruto, the Kyuubi, and Gamabunta be enough to fight the legendary Seven-Tails? Will Hotaru be having “Frog Legs and Charred Naruto on a Stick?” And seriously, what will Hinata and the girls be making for supper tonight? Well, I think I know what I’m going to be serving, a big hearty helping of stay tuned.)