Book one: Raised to be praised-Naruto FF

Chapter 46: "The true power of black blood...sorta?"

Omniscient POV:

Hit, after hit, after hit. Keiko refused to break. She was strong. Too strong for her own good. That's exactly what Danzo has feared since day one. The power.

"Enough," His dull voice rang out in the barren halls.

The ANBU operatives did just as he had commanded. They stopped. This make Keiko choke back some of her blood. The pain had felt so excruciatingly good, it had numbed most of her body. She was certain that at least an organ or two had been ruptured and a few bones were broken.

Nothing too serious, yet.

"When are you going to crack, Hoshigaki-hime?" He asks, stepping closer. "If you won't succumb to beatings, perhaps I may find another method to use."

She let out a dry chuckle. "Torture me all you want, old man. I'm not going to break." She said, her normally strong voice has been strained and weaker.

He stared down at her in mild amusement. "Are you sure that you are in the best position to disobey me? You know what happens to mutts," He muses.

"Mutts? I thought we were pawns. Must have changed after I left." She retorts. 'Hoji...please, hurry up!' She pleaded inwardly.

"Give me a bit more time, kid."

'Is there any way to speed this up?'

"Well, it would have been faster if you were still a kid. I'm not fully used to your adult body." 

'A kid...? Fuck! I forgot I was still in this form!'

"Release," She grunts, causing her body to morph back into her child body again. She easily slipped through the chakra-eating chains and grinned slightly as her chakra comes flowing back slowly.

"Ah~ That's much better..." Hoji bellowed.

"Fire style; Fire ball jutsu!"  She growled and let out a large ball of fire. They barely dodged. She jumped back a few feet and glared at Danzo.

"Impressive as always, Hoshigaki-hime..." Danzo mused, walking towards her slowly.

"Kid, I'll take over the rest from here..." Hoji said, making Keiko grin wildly as a burst of new, unfamiliar chakra coursed through her. Keiko's body was engulfed in a black bubble and no one dared take another step. They were too scared to do anything except wait and watch.

"Why are you just standing there?" Danzo asks, growing impatient. "Attack her!"

Following their masters orders, the ANBU operatives attacks  the bubble, but failed miserably. This only made Danzo irritated. "Come out and fight like a true ninja, Hoshigaki." He growled, approaching the unbreakable bubble. The bubble slowly shrunk down, until Keiko's small figure could be seen. All her skin was turned a sickly dark grey color with black marks all over her, her eyes were fully black except for the red of her sharingan. "I forgot how good it feels to be in control," Hoji bellowed, his voice mixing in with Keiko's.

The operatives stepped back in fear. "What is she?"

"What the hell happened!?"

"She transformed!"

This only made Keiko's grin grow wider. "Perhaps you'll like to see what a real monster can do?" Hoji-Keiko chuckled, take a step closer.

"Hn...I never imagined that you would be a carrier for one of Orochimaru's experiments. Just goes to show how low you've gone, hime." Danzo stated, causing Keiko to laugh loudly.

"It wasn't as low of a fall as you'd think, bastard. However, to go as far as go try to steal my hosts eyes and run away like a frightened mut, is lower." Hoji-Keiko cackles.

Danzo narrowed his eyes and darted towards Keiko. He swung at her with a kunai, but she just darted her forearm towards the direction he attacked in. The kunai hit her skin and bent at the tip, causing Danzo's eyes to widen. Her grin grew wider. "Don't think it'll be so easy," Hoji-Keiki snarl, disappearing from their position. The ANBU circled around Danzo in a protective position, ready to protect their Lord.

"Fire style; Phoenix flower."

Several large balls of fire were flung at the ANBU, hitting at least a fourth of them. The rest quickly spread out. Hoji-Keiko took in a deep breath. "Ah~ Nothing smells better than the fear of elite fighters!" Hoji-Keiko say, whipping out several kunai and aiming them at an Anbu charging towards her.

Danzo cursed under his breath. Never in all his time had he expected the girl to poses this much power.

"Pay attention to your opponent," Hoji-Keiko snarl as they lay a swift kick at Danzo's head, effectively making him fly across the catacombs.

"And to think, an old fool like you wants to become the Hokage! Might as well let a fucking Uchiha become Hokage as well," Hoji-Keiko snarl, throwing a bombardment of kunai and shurriken at him.

"Hoshigaki-hime...?" A low voice calls out softly, making the girl freeze.

"Ibik Morino, pleasure seeing you here." Keiko says softly, slowly letting Hoji retreat inside of her. 

Ibik glanced at Danzo, sighing when he saw the old mad had already vanished along with the rest of the Anbu. "Take the path through the Uchiha compound and then make a left from there. That should take you to the village gates...but be weary, after you and the Uchiha boy left they put up a protective guard barrier. It lets the Hokage know who's been in and out of the village, but if you hide your chakra well enough, it'll pass off as a stray hound." He whispers, pulling the red head out of the catacombs and swiftly leading her through the shadows.

"Oi, Ibik?" She whispers, slipping out from his grip as they reach the gravel paved road in front of the Anbu research facility.

"Yeah, kid?" He whispers, his dulled grey eyes clashing with her marbled blue and l black eyes.

"Thank you for everything, gramps." She whispers, a small ghost smile finding its way to her lips.

"Don't mention it, Hime. Just get a move on," He commands, making her stick out her tongue and dart off to the Uchiha compound.

The sound of crunching gravel under a set of slow and heavy footsteps makes Ibik spare a slight glance back. "That's the second time you let her run off, Morino-san. I'm beginning to think you've grown attached to my kin." A soft voice whispers.

Ibik sighs, "Of course not, miss."

"Best not be it. You should know what happens when someone does grow attached to a Hoshigaki like that." The same person repeats.

"Is that why you faked your death, Miss?" He asks, facing the woman.

A/N: I'll leave you at this, my little dreamers.

~DOYD