Chapter 12: Time with the Family 1/2

AN: Hey everyone here is chapter 12! Currently working on the Five Great Games chapters coming in the near future. Hope you all are doing well and as always, thanks for your reading!

Chapter 12

Izaya took a deep breath as he stared outside at the night sky. The stars and the moon illuminated the dark and painted a serene picture of the Hyuga residence of which in a room by the courtyard of the compound sat Naruto and Izaya with a pot of tea between them in peaceful silence. After taking a moment to collect his thoughts Izaya began to narrate his journey throughout the Tengu dimension to Naruto as he recalled the events that took place.

FLASH BACK

Ting! Cling! Ting!

Bang! Boom! Bam!

Fwish! Crrrrsssh!

The sounds of a fierce battle raged on in a now barren wasteland which was once a rich grassland just several months ago. Two sides clashed in a fearsome war. One side Human and the other Tengu. Their swords drawn and bloody. The stench of iron and death reeked and lingered across the battlefield. Over the past several months the direction of the war was constantly shifting sometimes in the favor of the Human faction, other times in favor of the Tengu faction, however at this very moment the end of the war was close in sight. The Human faction had finally gained the advantage over the long and arduous war. The two giant Tailed Beasts shook the earth, no, the very core of the world in their destructive battle. Aseiyo, the leader of the Human faction fought alongside his Ten Tails against Zaiforan, the leader of the Tengu faction and his Ten Tails. Izaya simply continued to monitor the situation whilst in the center of the battlefield himself. They had currently been fighting for the past 7 hours non-stop, however it wasn't a problem for him. He had yet to meet anyone in the Tengu dimension that could fight on even grounds with him. Although there were a few in both the Human and Tengu factions that he would classify as S-rank combatants in shinobi standards he still wasn't all that impressed. On top of that he never fought the S-rank combatants because he continued to hide his true strength leaving him fighting as just an ordinary soldier in the war. He also didn't utilize Muramasa as the weapon would definitely draw eyes. He was still waiting for the opportune moment to make his move.

Just as he dodged several blade strikes he took note that Aseiyo had finally backed Zaiforan into a corner. Zaiforan left with no other choice formed a single hand seal and began to absorb the power of the Ten Tails into himself as Aseiyo did the same. Izaya frowned and knew that he had to make his move. If he waited any longer then the power boost that the Ten Tails would give to both of them would be enormous. It would be even greater than the power boost that Madara received as Madara didn't collect all of the chakra from the Tailed Beasts during the 4th Great Ninja War. He was missing at least half of the Nine Tails back then and a small portion of each of the other Tailed Beasts, but both of the Ten Tails in this world weren't split up into different Tailed Beasts and hence they retained the majority of their power.

Before Zaiforan could complete his transformation a giant wooden snake erupted from beneath him and sunk its fangs into his body slightly disrupting his flow of chakra. While it wasn't enough to prevent Zaiforan from continuing his transformation it was successful in slowing down the process. Before Zaiforan could perform any counter measures Izaya teleported to his wooden snake that was marked with his Flying Thunder God Seal. He then opened a scroll that he had designed years ago to help reduce the time it would take to perform the complicated Four Fiend Symbols Seal and the Four Divine Symbols Seal that Senko had taught him to defeat Muramasa. The moment the scroll was opened a giant seal appeared beneath Zaiforan. Izaya quickly performed the 16 hand signs required to activate the technique and shouted, "Four Fiend Symbols Seal!"

Zaiforan could only widen his eyes in shock as he felt the strength leave his body. A brilliant purple light erupted from the seal beneath him and began to flood his body imprinting the mark of the Four Fiend Symbols Seal on his abdomen. Not only did the seal suppress Zaiforan's chakra, but since the absorption of the Ten Tails was still incomplete the seal rejected its power and expelled it from his body preventing his transformation into the Ten Tails Jinchuriki. This play of events shocked not only Zaiforan, but Aseiyo as well. Zaiforan's Ten Tails screeched with anger as it was forced back into its Tailed Beast state, however Izaya didn't stop in his actions as he quickly entered Sage Mode and shouted, "Sage Art: Catastrophic Planetary Devastation!" In mere moments a powerful black gravitational sphere dragged in Zaiforan and his Ten Tails into the sky as well as the surrounding earth forming a giant moon-like object trapping them inside.

Unfortunately this won't hold them forever. I'll have to fortify the seal to keep them trapped as long as possible.

Izaya threw a scroll in the air causing it to stick right into the giant moon-like object trapping Zaiforan and his Ten Tails and once again activated the power of the Four Fiend Symbols Seal. It created a large seal over the giant moon-like object restraining the Ten Tails and Zaiforan within. With that he let out a sigh of relief as everything went more smoothly than he anticipated.

I've placed a seal over Zaiforan so he can't utilize the power of his Rinnegan or mold his chakra to use his abilities. I've restrained them inside the Catastrophic Planetary Devastation and enhanced its binding even further with Senjutsu. And with another Four Fiend Symbols Seal over their cage it'll completely suppress the Ten Tails from being able to break free. At least for now. I'll have to drain its chakra at some point. But first...I have to deal with Aseiyo.

Just as Izaya finished his thoughts he shifted his head to the side avoiding a deadly sword strike. Before Aseiyo could continue his attack he was forced to fly high above in the air to avoid the giant wooden dragon that erupted beneath him in an attempt to bind him in place. Aseiyo frowned and stared down at Izaya as he spoke in a loud and commanding tone.

"What is the meaning of this? The power you just used belongs to only those with the Rinnegan! How dare you steal my prize from me! You came to me asking to join the war effort and I allowed you! I gave you purpose! I am your leader! I am your creator! I am your master! I am your god! Tell me, for you to possess a similar power, what and who are you?!"

Izaya simply listened to Aseiyo's loud shouts of confusion as he took a moment to analyze Aseiyo's new form.

So he completed the process of fusing with his Ten Tails. He possesses the Rinnegan in both eyes and thanks to becoming the Ten Tails Jinchuriki he has gained a third eye with the Rinne Sharingan. He has also obtained several black Truth Seeker Orbs. After observing him all this time I've come to understand a bit about the power of his Rinnegan. It allows him to create multiple spatial pockets within an area of 30 meters with him at the epicenter. Those spatial pockets don't link to another dimension, but rather they remain within the same dimension and it allows him to travel through those pocket portals as a form of teleportation. The portals are invisible except to those who possess the Rinnegan. He can also send his attacks through those portals and only he can enter those portals. The problem is that I'm not sure whether his Rinnegan has granted him another unique ability or not. Well, guess I can only test out his strength. With him absorbing the Ten Tails I'll have to rely on Senjutsu, Taijutsu, and Kenjutsu to deal damage to him as well as non-aura based attacks to prevent him from absorbing my Jutsus. If he's anything like Madara was then he probably has ridiculous regenerative abilities on top of his now massive chakra reserves. If I want any chance at beating him then I'll have to end this fast before he can get accustomed to his newfound power.

Aseiyo continued to float in the air with fury, anger, frustration, and annoyance at the fact that Izaya hadn't answered him yet. Before he could speak again Izaya simply replied, "No need to be in such a rush. Angry because you're confused?" Izaya then removed his blindfold revealing his own Rinnegan. "Now that I've revealed to you my Rinnegan perhaps you can understand a little more, then again I reckon you've even more questions now than answers. Unfortunately I don't plan to enlighten you on the matter. You and Zaiforan have abused your power and continue to sacrifice the lives of so many simply to keep your Ten Tails fed. You both hunger for power and disregard the lives of your people. While I have not come here for them I don't mind doing them a favor and ridding them of the Ten Tails that continue to drain the very life of this planet and you along with it."

Aseiyo simply frowned. "Impudent human. Very well. If you will not tell me what I wish to know then I shall simply obtain it from you by force."

FWISH!

With incredible speed Aseiyo arrived before Izaya with a Truth Seeker Orb shaped into a sword and struck out with a series of ferocious attacks. Izaya narrowed his eyes in focus as he finally unsheathed Muramasa from its hilt and expertly defended every strike from Aseiyo.

Boom! Bang! Bam! Boom!

Every strike and clash made between the two swords caused the air to rumble and the ground to shake. Izaya continued to defend and parry every strike as he bided his time patiently waiting for an opening.

It's been several minutes into our exchange of swordplay. He's quite skilled. If he won't leave himself open for an attack then I guess I'll just create one.

Izaya focused his Yin nature into Muramasa before shouting, "Kenjutsu: Moonless!" As he swung his sword towards Aseiyo his one sword strike suddenly turned into eight coming from all separate directions and all at once instantly confusing and alarming Aseiyo.

What kind of sword technique is this?! He's been hiding his true skill all these months? His skill with the blade is even greater than that of Zaiforan?! And what sort of blade is it that it can contend against my Truth Seeker Sword? I should have been able to kill him by now, but even with the Ten Tails how is it that he is pressuring me?!

Aseiyo gritted his teeth and quickly activated the power of his Rinnegan slipping into a pocket dimension successfully escaping Izaya's attack. He quickly appeared behind Izaya in the distance and shot forth several of his Truth Seeker Orbs. Izaya simply gripped his blade and with a quick breath, shouted, "Kenjutsu: Ribbonless!" Just before the Orbs could hit him he sharply turned his body and infused his Wind nature into his blade slashing with incredible speed in multiple angles deflecting all the Orbs aimed at him causing them to fly off into the distance. Aseiyo didn't even have time to be impressed as Izaya simply went straight into his next attack thrusting out his blade in a stabbing motion and shouted, "Kenjutsu: Boundless!" Instantly his powerful Lightning nature mixed with the dense murderous aura leaking from him and Muramasa and condensed into a single point at the tip of his sword. The speed of Izaya's attack was so fast that not even light could beat it.

Aseiyo simply saw the world around him drain of color and turn into a landscape of nothing but the lifeless color of grey. Time seemed as if it was slowing down to a crawling stop. It was only thanks to his instincts and absorption of the Ten Tails that his muscles reacted fast enough to shift his body and successfully avoid being pierced through the heart from several tens of meters away, however although he avoided a critical strike he was unable to dodge the attack completely as his shoulder had a 10 centimeter hole in it. Even with his newfound powerful regeneration abilities his wound wouldn't close up all the way nor would it stop bleeding. Not only that but Izaya's attack was so powerful that the force of his sword thrust didn't stop until it reached 1km in the distance. Once again before Aseiyo could react Izaya simply said, "Universal Pull." Immediately Aseiyo's body was dragged through the air towards Izaya. Just as Izaya was about to slash out with his blade Aseiyo disappeared into one of his pocket portals and appeared high above in the air. He then grabbed his Truth Seeker Blade and shouted, "Kenjutsu: Splitting Void!"

Aseiyo's sword strike fueled by the strength of the Ten Tails was so powerful that it could even cut through a dimensional portal like Kamui, or even his own Rinnegan's ability to create portals, however Izaya responded by activating his Susanoo. Before Aseiyo's attack could reach him his Susanoo unsheathed Masamune and defended with the flat edge of the blade.

ZIIIINNNGG!

Even though Aseiyo's attack could cut through a dimensional portal it failed to break through Masamune's defensive block and was instead reflected right back at him. He widened his eyes in shock and utilized the second power of his Rinnegan to reflect the attack back at Izaya with twice the power it was originally. Izaya furrowed his brow in seriousness as he took note of Aseiyo's unexpected ability and utilized Masamune to reflect the attack into the distance. Before Aseiyo could follow up with another attack Izaya quickly activated the power of his Right eye and shouted, "Amaterasu!"

CRRRSSSHH!

The powerful black flames wreathed Aseiyo's body creating a giant veil momentarily distracting him from seeing Izaya's movements. Aseiyo was too busy attempting to absorb the black flames with the power of his Rinnegan to notice Izaya throw a special kunai by his side. Just as Aseiyo successfully absorbed the black flames Izaya flew to his kunai and activated the power of his right Rinnegan, Kannagara no Michi. Instantly Aseiyo was completely frozen in time for three seconds. And in those three seconds Izaya expertly performed the exact same ritual he did to Zaiforan. He placed a Four Fiend Symbols Seal over Aseiyo's body suppressing both the Ten Tails power and Aseiyo's own individual power. As Aseiyo had already become a Jinchuriki the Fiend Seal didn't expel the Ten Tails from his body as it did to Zaiforan.

Just as Izaya completed his technique time began to move again, but Aseiyo was greatly alarmed. He had no recollection of what had just transpired, he only knew that his power was drastically weakened. Due to having absorbed the Ten Tails the Fiend Seal couldn't completely suppress their combined might, however it was enough for Izaya to deem Aseiyo no longer a major threat. Aseiyo fell to the ground no longer able to fly as he stared at Izaya with rage, hatred, and confusion.

"WHAT. HAVE. YOU. DONE!"

Izaya simply ignored him as a giant wooden snake and wooden dragon bound Aseiyo in a tight hold preventing him from molding whatever chakra he had access to while also draining him of the last bit of strength he had. And just for extra measure Izaya pierced Aseiyo's body with multiple black receiver rods of his to truly ensure that Aseiyo wouldn't be able to mold chakra. It wasn't long before another gigantic moon-like object was floating in the sky with a Four Fiend Symbols Seal placed on it locking Aseiyo inside.

END FLASHBACK

Naruto stared at Izaya with a mix of emotions as he took in all the information of Izaya's narrative from his time in the Tengu dimension. "So...what happened after you sealed them both away?"

Izaya took a sip of his tea before responding. "I used the Four Divine Symbols Seal to extract all the chakra from the two faction leaders as well as from the two Ten Tails. This technique not only seals powerful chakra, but it can be used to extract powerful chakra as well. Without any chakra left they're only shells of what they were before. Most likely they'll end up dying within their prisons. The chakra I extracted from them condensed into two large chakra fruits. I sealed them away inside some containers and locked them within my most protective safe house."

Naruto let out a sigh. "Haaaa...sounds like you had it rough. What happened to the Tengu and Human factions of that planet?"

"Without their tyrannical leaders and with no more Divine Trees requiring the sacrifice of their people the inhabitants of that planet are better off. At the end of the war both factions were left with approximately an equal level of military power. They formed a truce and peace treaty and agreed that they should strive to live in harmony with one another. Most of their actions in society had been fueled by the twisted greed and abuse of power from Aseiyo and Zaiforan. With them out of the picture the remaining leaders of both factions are much more tolerant and are able to come to agreeable terms."

"I see...why the need to drain all the chakra from the two Ten Tails?"

"The first reason is because with all of their power they would eventually be able to break free of the seal and prison I placed them in. Even Hagoromo's Planetary Devastation Jutsu wouldn't hold the Ten Tails completely hence he drained it of its chakra before tossing it into a moon and eventually split its chakra into the Nine Tailed Beasts. The second reason is because I'm sure that the Otsutsuki clan would eventually take notice, if they haven't already, of the two sealed Ten Tails and simply steal their chakra for themselves. Who knows what sort of trouble they'll use it for. And the third reason is because with the chakra fruit it may eventually be possible to use their power to open a portal that leads to the Heavenly Plane. I'm not in a rush to reach that place or anything, however I think it'd be good for us to have a plan in the works behind the shadows in case things get out of hand with the Otsutsuki clan."

Naruto thought about what Izaya said for a moment before nodding his head in agreement. "Yeah. I suppose you're right. You're pretty cautious and meticulous about all of this. I haven't thought as far ahead about this yet as you have...Izaya...it may sound rude of me, but is there a reason you didn't consume the chakra fruit? I mean I'm actually glad you didn't because that'd just be like what Momoshiki and the other Otsutsuki's would do, but still I'm slightly curious. You weren't tempted?"

Izaya shook his head. "You recall Senko right? I told you and Sasuke about him after our spar last time. According to Senko in order to open a portal to the Heavenly Plane the chakra fruit needs to be kept in their pure physical form as it'll be completely consumed upon use for this action. Also, according to Senko the amount of power and chakra that's contained in the fruit is so overwhelming that it can't be contained in a human body. I suppose you can think of it as the human acting as a balloon and the fruit being air. You can fill the balloon with air, however the balloon can only take so much. If you fill the balloon with too much air then eventually it will burst. And that bursting means death. In essence the chakra fruit contains so much chakra that eventually it will cause the body to burst for being unable to contain it. Even if one absorbs the Ten Tails and becomes its Jinchuriki this phenomenon will still happen. It'll be delayed thanks to the powerful life force that the Ten Tails has, but in the end you can think of it as a slow acting poison. The human body just won't be able to take it and they'll die. The reason Aseiyo and Zaiforan didn't die after they ate the first chakra fruit of their world is because the chakra fruit they consumed only contained a fraction of the true power of the Ten Tails. The Ten Tails still kept a majority of the energy for itself. The chakra fruits I condensed, however, is the complete totality of the Ten Tails chakra as well as Aseiyo's and Zaiforan's. In essence the chakra fruits I condensed from them are simply too potent. It's not worth the trouble gaining that much massive power only for it to be a poison. Also, eating the fruit somehow influences the mind. I'm not clear on how yet but even a single bite could cause a change in the nature of one's personality. I believe Hagoromo once told you and Sasuke something similar when he narrated his story about Kaguya. Anyways, Senko tells me that the power contained in the chakra fruit is one of the reasons that the Otsutsuki clan continue to search for them. The Otsutsuki's have long lifespans compared to us, but compared to many other beings in the Heavenly Plane it isn't that great. Also, because they raided the powers of the Royal clan their lives were shortened. These fruits would be more poisonous to us, but to the Otsutsuki clan it can prolong their lives."

Naruto furrowed his brow in serious thought but simply let out a long drawn out sigh and drank some more tea. "Things are more complicated than they seem. Hey, Izaya, according to your story Aseiyo and Zaiforan killed their own sons. How did chakra spread in that world then? For us in our world it was Hagoromo and Hamura's descendants who spread chakra, but what about the Tengu dimension?"

"Great question Naruto. I wondered about this myself, however even though Aseiyo and Zaiforan killed their own sons and didn't have any descendants they still shared chakra with others. Just the same as how Hagoromo shared his chakra with others here on our planet. Not everyone on this planet is a descendant of Hagoromo's or Hamura's. Hagoromo shared his chakra with many others close to him in hopes that they would be able to understand each other through Ninshu. Asura also shared his chakra with others during his journey throughout the world. Those people who gained chakra had descendants and so chakra continued to proliferate. The same thing happened in the Tengu dimension. Aseiyo and Zaiforan shared a piece of their chakra to others in order to command subordinates for their own use. Those subordinates overtime had descendants and so on so forth. You get the idea. The only reason Aseiyo and Zaiforan survived so long was because the Ten Tails continued to share it's powerful life force with them. A small version of the chakra fruit wouldn't kill them and provided with the powerful life force of the Ten Tails, granted them near immortality."

"Ehhh...so that's how it is. It's certainly different from how Kaguya attempted to steal all chakra back for herself."

Izaya simply shrugged his shoulders. "Who knows how the chakra fruit influences the mind. It probably has a different effect on different individuals. And don't forget, Kaguya shared her chakra with her sons at first. It was only after they rebelled against her that she decided to take all chakra back for herself. I can't say that Aseiyo and Zaiforan thought the same. It may be that they wanted to increase their chances of stealing each other's Ten Tails so they saw a need to share their chakra with their kind in order to build an army."

Naruto nodded in agreement with Izaya's reasoning. "So, on a different note, compared to this Aseiyo guy, how do you think I compare?"

Izaya pondered for a moment before replying, "To be honest I'm quite certain you would have defeated him. He was powerful, but he wasn't yet used to controlling the power of the Ten Tails so if you fought him in that moment you'd stand a fairly good chance. Also, he has been ruling as a tyrant who abuses his powers for years and never truly had anyone to test his skills against except Zaiforan, but even then they rarely fought face to face until the war began, therefore he grew complacent with his powers and didn't know how to properly utilize them in battle to make full use of their capabilities."

As Naruto and Izaya continued their conversation Hanabi and Hinata were in the kitchen and had just finished cleaning up the mess from when everyone had dinner earlier. Hanabi glanced at Hinata and noticed her sister let out a soft sigh while staring out the window at the night sky lost in her own thoughts. Hanabi smiled mischievously and quietly snuck up behind Hinata tickling her sides. This elicited a laugh from Hinata and snapped her out of her thoughts.

"Hanabi! What was that for?"

Hanabi just snickered. "You had this look in your eyes like you were struggling with something."

"Eh? W-Was I?"

Hanabi simply nodded. "So, tell me sister, what's on your mind?"

At Hanabi's question a thought did cross Hinata's mind...but her cheeks instantly turned red so she quickly faced away from Hanabi. Hanabi, however didn't miss the fact that her sister's cheeks became flushed and embarrassed. She raised her eyebrow in curiosity. "Your cheeks are red. Is it something embarrassing that you can't talk about?"

Hinata tried to change the subject as she commented, "O-Oh, will you look at that. The moon and the stars are so pretty tonight. I think father had a great birthday today, don't you agree?"

Hanabi simply smirked mischievously at Hinata's terrible attempt to change the subject. "Let me guess. Is it about Naruto?"

Hinata slightly flinched as her entire being turned red in embarrassment. Hanabi just smiled triumphantly as she knew she guessed correctly.

"Alright sis I guessed right. No need to be shy or anything, besides it's only you and me here right now. So, what's going on?"

Hinata let out a sigh in defeat. "N-Nothing is going on...really...it's just…"

"It's just what? Go on."

Hinata twiddled her fingers and fidgeted in place as she continued speaking with a soft whisper, "It's just that we haven't...I mean...you know...that...in awhile..." She then quickly followed up with a louder and hasty voice, "Of course I mean I know Naruto is busy and everything. After all, he's the Hokage. It's not like he neglects me. He's been getting better at coming home more often, b-but...but...AH! I can't say it. It's too embarrassing."

Hanabi just stared at her sister dumbfoudedly as she took in everything Hinata said and finally pieced everything together.

"Then...Hinata, correct me if I'm wrong but...what you're trying to say is that you and Naruto haven't had se-"

Before Hanabi could finish her sentence Hinata quickly shouted and interjected, "YES! Okay! You don't have to say it. I-I feel ashamed if you put it so bluntly."

Hanabi smiled at how innocent and cute her sister was being but let out a sigh. "Hinata, remember it's just you and me. You can be honest with me. I'm your sister after all. AND, don't forget, my husband is the 6th Hokage so I suppose I'm the closest person who has gone through something similar to you. if you can't talk to me about this then who can you talk to?"

Hinata just nodded her head in silence. "So...then how do you handle something like this Hanabi? I mean...I...I love Naruto with all my heart, but I still have...urges you know…"

"Then...when was the last time you and Naruto had se-"

Once again before Hanabi could finish her sentence Hinata quickly interjected, "A year! I think...It's been about that long…"

Hanabi widened her eyes in shock. "A year?! What does Naruto think you are? A machine? Don't tell me he's lost all his drive?"

Hinata twirled her thumbs awkwardly and continued, "When Naruto comes home he's always very tired so I don't want to disturb him or anything. And like you said, Izaya is the 6th Hokage so you probably experienced something similar before right? I mean, when was the last time you and Izaya had done it?"

It was now Hanabi's turn to have her face flush completely red as she was faced with Hinata's question. Her heart pounded loudly in her chest as she recalled the memory...the feel...the...Hanabi quickly snapped out of her thoughts and coughed aloud before responding. "Ahem...the last time for Izaya and I was...t-this morning…"

Hinata widened her eyes in shock, surprise, and embarrassment as her face turned completely tomato red at hearing Hanabi's answer.

"T-Then...so...I guess...then this isn't an issue for you two?"

Hanabi stared out at the night sky and smiled as the image of Izaya appeared in her mind. "Sorry Hinata."

Hinata simply let out a sigh and stared at the night sky like Hanabi. "There's nothing for you to be sorry about Hanabi. In fact I'm glad that this isn't an issue for you and Izaya. I wouldn't want my little sister to feel...ahem...frustrated."