Broken Hearts, Shattered Dreams

[21]

Naruto whipped around to face Ino and the look of utter sadness and anger nearly drove him over the edge of his own over boiling emotions.

"Ino, I want you to take this filth and return to Konoha as quickly as possible. Shin, Gin, Genmaki, let the kids ride on your backs, full transformation. Stop for nothing. I'm sure there are enemies between here and there. Kill them, slaughter them, MASSACRE THEM! Let nothing stand in your way."

Ino nodded her head furiously as she stepped toward Kakashi, who had slumped submissively to the floor. She didn't bother looking back as she asked her question.

"What about you?"

Naruto's growls of frustration were growing in volume as he tried to calm himself. He needed his head clear for the task ahead of him.

"I'm making a quick stop over into the fox realm to gather reinforcements. If it's just Sasuke behind this, we won't need them. But…if it's Konoha as a whole…"

He left the question hanging for a moment before his eyes turned blood red and his fangs became more pronounced.

We'll burn the village to the ground. None shall oppose us. For their sakes, they better hope it's the Uchiha's idea.

Juugo and Karin were terrified of Naruto's transformation. They'd seen his fox form and they liked it, but this amalgamation of animal and man before them was truly terrifying. Naruto could smell their fear and turned to them with his red eyes as gentle as he could make them.

Juugo, Karin, do not fear me. I'm still Naruto. Mikomi has been threatened as is probably in the clutches of your father at the moment. I can only guess what he intends to do to her. I need the two of you to be strong and help Ino and Hikaru through this. Understand?

Juugo and Karin nodded their heads in agreement; utterly awash with relief that Naruto wasn't going to kill them. Unbeknownst to him, his killing intent had been climbing higher and higher, only not affecting Ino, Hikaru, and the foxes. Suddenly, they felt another spike in killing intent and all eyes turned to Hikaru, who had his head down and his hair covering his eyes, was leaking killing intent like someone was wringing out a sponge. Naruto walked over and knelt in front of his son, putting his hands on the boy's shoulders.

"Son?"

Hikaru slowly raised his head and Naruto recoiled from shock. Hikaru was…truly his son. The boys normally limp pink and blonde hair had become shaggier and coarser, his canines had become more pronounced and his eyes had taken on a golden quality.

"Hikaru?"

The boy snapped his head up and stared at his father. He didn't know what to make of the expression on his dad's face but one word came to mind.

Fear.

Naruto was afraid that a bit of the old Kyuubi's presence had leaked into his son and was now manifesting itself. Hikaru's voice was somewhat ragged as he spoke.

"Don't worry dad, this is something that Kiba-sensei and I came up with a while back. He called it 'berserker mode'. It brings out my more animalistic qualities and enhances my senses somewhat. My baby sister is in danger and I can't think of a better time to show it to the world."

Naruto sighed in relief and stood up, patting his son on the head.

"That's good son. We'll talk later. Now you three head back to Konoha. I'll meet you there. Be prepared for war."

He disappeared in a flash of flames as Team Ino bolted outside and four huge foxes fled toward the hidden village of Konoha.

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