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When We Come Together
He smiled as he pushed the doors open. There was no sound but soon they would be celebrating. He looked around and froze. His smile faded from his face. They were lying there, dead. The blood was flowing from their bodies. Above them, the red eyes gleamed lethally in the darkness. He reached out only to step away as the figure reached for him as well. He stepped back as the figure reached out for him again and then cocked his head. He bent over and transformed. Suddenly the figure was shorter, slighter. The figure stepped forward. He stepped back as he saw himself step out of the shadows. His reflection smiled at him sinisterly before ghosting away as if in the wind. He turned around and saw them. They were looking at him and at the ground. He looked down and saw bodies piled around him. He knew them. They were his friends and yet his friends were standing there staring at him. They saw a monster. He shook his head as he felt tears gathering behind him. He didn't mean for this. He didn't want this. He never wanted this. The front friend, the best one reached forward. He stepped forward, reaching out. His friend stopped a moment looking at him. Then he continued to reach out. A moment before they touched, he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked to see himself as his glowing red eyes pulled him back to race forward and attack. He struggled to scream, anything. Nothing. He never did anything.
He sat up, breathing heavily. He glanced around the dark room frantically a moment before his bearings started coming back to him. He looked to the side and saw him. His friend, the best. He looked so real. He just gave him a smile before vanishing. He reached for his friend as the figment vanished. He felt him, though, like he was surrounded in his chakra. That bright, bubbly, never-back-down chakra. He decided now would be a good time to train.
On his way out he looked back at the bed and scoffed about needing his friends. Still, he felt strangely relaxed and relieved seeing him. Even if it only a figment.
....Naruto.....
000
Naruto bent near the edge of the water. He glanced back at his companion.
"You sure this is the place where Yuuki lives?" The female blonde gave him a level look for doubting her abilities.
"It is where Seiryu is. whether it is where your friend is is not something I can tell, having never even met to person." Haruka suppressed a growl of impatience. She wanted to get out of the open, but to do that, they had to put their plan into motion. She had reconnected with her spies in the last few months and the Akatsuki's plans had solidified. She wanted them out of sight and mind while they finished their training. The less the Akatsuki heard of Naruto the better. For the moment he was traveling with an unknown shinobi that was a friend of Jiraiya. Her identity was safe, but she was infinitely more worried about the blonde goof who was leaning over the pond and yelling at the water.
Yuuki popped her head out of the water a few minutes later. She had thought she sensed Naruto, but she also sensed another so she had wanted to wait and see. When Seiryu informed her that not one but two jinchuuriki were up there she decided to go on up. She smiled at Naruto when he spotted her.
"Hey Bushin! What's up?" Naruto smiled at the the bouncy response. He was glad she was all right.
"By the way I met your mate. She's a pretty good kunoichi." Naruto smiled huge and waved her over. She gave a hop, skip and jump and landed gracefully next to the blonde jinchuuriki. She gave him a great big hug in tandem with the hug she received. He spun her once and set her down. Her hair had grown longer, now down to her waist, it flowed naturally behind her in the wind. She now wore loose, light teal T with blue capri instead of the standard shinobi wear from her village. Her hitae was gone, but just as well. She had a gold bracelet from Hiroto and his hair ornament in her hair, and her bare feet were decorated with a scaly anklet. Since Naruto had grown, she now reached his eyes, barely.
"Yeah, thanks for helping her out." Yuuki waved her hand in dismissal.
"She's your mate and she contains Mui, whom my bijuu is indebted to. It was nothing. So what brings you to this area?" Naruto smiled before growing more serious.
"We were looking for you. Have you heard of the Akatsuki?" She nodded. She was well aware of the danger to her personally they represented. "News is they're moving. The should be ready to start their little jinchuuriki hunt in a few months." He turned so she could see Haruka beyond him. "Onee-sensei and I are heading out of the area. But we plan to return to Konoha in three and a half months. We want the jinchuuriki to meet and fight together. We're all stronger together." His determination and ferocity in what he believed in hadn't dimmed in the time since she had seen him last. That was part of him charm.
"Do you have the rest of the nine?" Naruto smiled, catching that she was agreeing. He nodded eagerly as Haruka spoke up at this point.
"Shibi, the Ichibi, and Suzuka the Yonbi are both in Suna and will be joining us. I can guarantee Genbu the Nibi. As you know Mui, the Gobi is already in Konoha, I have Byaka, the Nanabi and Naruto has Youko, the Kyuubi. Isonade, the Sanbi and Orochi, the Hachibi are already our enemies. Isonade works with the Akatsuki at this point, thus telling her would be suicide. Orochi's current host is also an enemy of Konoha and Orochi is Kyuubi's enemy regardless so he will also not be joining us." Haruka finished, mentally ticking off the tails to make sure she didn't miss anyone. Yuuki nodded. Seiryu had informed her of Byaka's presense so that hadn't been a surprise. She turned to Naruto.
"When I get to Konoha, what do I do?" Haruka looked to Naruto as he answered. He was the major planner in all this.
"Give whatever name you wish at the gate, but when they ask for you reason tell them you're there to work with Group 9. They'll let you in. Hopefully, we'll be there. If not, find Tsunade, our hokage and explain who you are to her. You can also trust Hina-chan to know what is going on." Haruka spoke up at this point.
"Don't trust anyone else with this plan unless either of those two gives the okay." Just in case old bandage breath was still around to cause trouble for Tsunade. Yuuki smiled and gave him a thumbs up. She sighed and stretched.
"Three and a half months, eh? Where are you guys heading where you think you'll be safe for three whole months?" Haurka smiled slightly as Naruto turned towards her. She hadn't told him yet where they were heading.
"North, I'm taking Naruto to his second home." Naruto looked as confused as Yuuki felt. Haruka looked in the Northern direction. They had one more stop and then a meet with Jiraiya and they were off.
"We're going to the birthplace of Naruto's mother."
000
Hinata panted lightly. They were having a practice spar. Actually they were bored. Tsunade had all their jounin instructors out, so not only were the missions taken except the D-ranked, which they happily gave to the genin, but they didn't even have their usual instructors. They were bored out of their skulls. So they found something to do. It turns out that Hinata's original idea that understanding your allies attacks was a common thought. The Konoha 12, minus two, were out learning each others basic moves. Right now it was Hinata's team and Chouji against Lee's team. Shikamaru was just watching with Sakura and Ino. Actually they were supposed to be referees but all they really did was say 'start'.
They had found out very fast that having Neji and Hinata on the same side was suicidal. Since the two cousins had started to train together they were completely in sync, making them completely impossible to beat. Therefore, it was Team Shizen against Team Gai and Chouji. Chouji routinely switched sides, giving an added sense of surprise to the game. It was actually kind of fun.
Hinata had Shino behind her while she faced off against Neji and Chouji. He was trying to distract their opponents in a non lethal fashion. Kiba was bouncing around Lee and Ten Ten was doing a similar thing to Shino. The two Chunnin pushed Hinata back when Kiba noticed she could use some help. Akamaru gave a bark and they started their Gatsuuga (Fang over fang). Hinata had flipped away from her opponents at the bark and summoned her wind. She knew what Kiba was planning and she was going to help him out.
As Kiba and Akamaru started to spin a cyclone of wind formed around them. It followed them as they knocked Lee into Ten Ten. Kiba then headed for Neji before the Hyuuga could send another attack that Hinata would have to dodge her way. She had a hard time concentrating on the wind still and dodging a Juuken would not help matters. The wind split from Kiba and went with Akamaru to hit Chouji, knocking the chunni over. Neji avoided Kiba barely, leaping back for a brief moment before attacking in earnest. Kiba gave him a wild grin and returned the attacks blow for blow. Hinata sighed as she watched with her Byakugan. Kiba was still edgy with her cousin. She had hoped that in time he would grow to understand her cousin and give him a chance, but his mistrust ran pretty deep.
She was sufficiently distracted when a mine went off under her feet. She quelled her shriek of surprise as she scanned for more. She hadn't expected Ten Ten to have time to plant mines. She actually was unaware the weapon's mistress used them, but no one really was aware of Ten Ten's most recent jutsus. She had told the girls she was working on them, but so far she refuse to explain any more. She glanced back at the battle to make sure her teammates were fine. Chouji had changed sides again, giving er team a slight advantage. As her kekkei genkai'ed gaze glanced towards Neji, he landed on a mine as well. She did a double-take. She couldn't see the mines with her Byakugan. She glanced towards Shino. Quickly getting the water in her bottle to keep Lee busy she flipped back to Shino.
"There are mines under ground that I can't see." Shino understood the request and sent out his chakra, linking with any insects in the area that could help him. He opened his eyes and nodded to Hinata.
"56" Her eyes widened. How the hell had Ten Ten managed that. Better question: 'Why?'. She would take out her own team!
Wait a second, Hina. This place isn't that big. Hinata agreed with Mui. What were the odds that no one was stepping on them constantly. Why weren't more going off? Remote controlled? Hinata glanced over at Shino.
"Is there a way to make the mines visible to me?" Shino nodded and the number of bugs near the mines suddenly increased enough to where there was a faint charka signature that Hinata, with her precise Byakugan, could barely see. She watched as Kiba landed squarely on one and it didn't do anything. She knew Shino's bugs would be fine. Most explosions simply knocked them about a bit. She deactivated her Byakugan and landed on the mine, prepared to jump away if it went off. It didn't. She activated her Byakugan again and the dirt blew up in her face. She shook herself as she let her mind spin. It had reacted to her Byakugan. Shino appeared behind her.
"A few are quite a bit larger. They could take out a small house." Hinata saw some of the chakra clusters become more pronounced. She assumed Shino was adding more insects to the larger mines. Worse she saw one was right in the middle of the fight between Kiba and Chouji and Lee and Neji. Her cousin was using his Byakugan.
"Tell Shikamaru to stop the match. Our friends wouldn't use this in a sparring round. Plus, no one should know how to target the byakugan specifically in this fashion." She dashed towards her cousin. He was dangerously close to a large one.
"Neji! Deactivate your byakugan!" Neji glanced her way, but was distracted when Kiba charged him. He gave her a look that clearly said "yeah right." He thought she was still sparring, as he spun away from everyone. He was coming down on the large one though. He posture, his balance wouldn't be right to leap away.
Neji! Hinata raced towards him, shouting as she gathered the water that had been attacking Lee. Neji!! She felt the wind swirl around her as Naruto became aware of her panic and tried to contact Neji. She felt Neji's confusion from Naruto, but he hadn't deactivated his Byakugan. NEJI!
The explosion blew them all back some as the Hyuuga came down on it.
"NEJI!" The name was screamed across the field as the dust settled. Hinata kept screaming his name in her mind as she felt for him.
Suddenly she got two dual feelings. Neji was fine. She could feel Naruto relaying the message,but she felt it from somewhere else.
Neji? His confusion and relief spread through her body from him. She had formed a link with him. Her new seal allowed for them just like Naruto's but she hadn't formed any. She sighed in relief as the dust cleared and the rest of the chunnin's saw the focal of the blast.
The crater was impressive, a good four feet deep at least. The mine must have set off a smaller one as well. In the center, floating about three feet above the ground was a sphere of wind and water that encased Neji. Hinata sighed and let her anxiety flow away so she could actively control the water and wind. Since they reacted to her emotions much stronger then to her wishes, they had remained intact even though she didn't know what they were doing. Neji dropped to the ground to be swept up in a hug from Ten Ten. Which continued for half a second before she backed up and started shaking him.
"Don't you ever scare us like that again! You! You jerk! I was worried! You said you wouldn't do that again! Do you have any idea what that looked liked?!? You big, stupid, scary, black haired, purple eyed, clever, sadistic, strong,..." She kind of petered off as she started to cry. Neji had stared at her when she had started, but his arms came up to hold her as she dissolved into tears. He knew she was remembering when he had first contacted Naruto and they thought he was dead. He glanced at Lee to see his teammate equally upset, though with some more composure. He knelt down as Ten Ten's legs seemed to have enough of standing as she settled down.
He smiled slightly when she glanced up at him, wiping her eyes. She smiled back and nodded. He then turned to look for his cousin. Hinata looked to be in a state of shock to some extent. She was just staring at him as Shino placed a hand on her shoulder. Kiba was also talking to her, but she wasn't responding to either of them. Neji sighed mentally, how exactly did he go from cursing his destiny to having so many people worrying over him. It felt good.
"Thank you Hinata-sama, for saving my life." He gave her a bow when he stopped in front of her. He looked up when she hiccuped. She wiped tears from her eyes as she sniffed.
"Ten Ten was right. You are a big stupid idiot!" She rushed at him, giving him one of the fiercest hugs he had ever received from his cousin. He smiled down at the top of her head.
"I don't think she used the word 'idiot'." He teased her, hoping to lighten the mood. She let go of him.
"Hush." She smiled through her tears.
Sakura sniffed some and then suddenly Neji found himself the center of a group hug fostered by Lee, Sakura and Ino, with the grudging participation of Chouji, Shikamaru, Shino and Kiba. Ten Ten, Neji and Hinata were in the center.
The hug broke the tableau and everyone relaxed. Hinata turned to Shikamaru and Neji.
"Those mines could detect the Byakugan. That is a secret no one should know outside the clan." Shikamaru nodded as the others turned serious. Hinata glanced at Neji. "Itoko, you and your team report to father. He needs to know. We have that council meeting today and I think they might be related." She no longer kept the council's agenda from her friends. "Shikamaru, will you and your team find out everything you can about these mines and take them to the appropriate shinobi before making a more thorough report to the Hokage. Kiba, Shino, we are going to give a preliminary report to Lady Tsunade now, before the council meeting." They all nodded, following Hinata's lead on this. It was soon to be her clan. She glanced at the crater in disgust, before her team leaped away.
Someone had sold them out.
000
Haruka frowned as she encountered the barrier. Why on earth would he have a barrier up. Naruto was poking it a few feet away.
"Now what?" Haruka glanced at him a moment before placing her hand on the barrier and closing her eyes. She went into herself looking for the power of Byaka. Byaka answered her partner's call with a flair of power. Haruka shot the power through the shield. Rather then trying to break it, she was simply trying to get the maker's attention without drawing other's attention. Feeling a slight response she grabbed Naruto's arm before the shield engulfed her. The two of them found themselves on the inside of the shield. Haruka shook her head in exasperation. What was he up to?
Naruto shook his head. It felt fuzzy. He frowned, his links were slightly dampened by the shield. This was a really strong shield. Haruka described the links as being something that transcended space and distance. Making distance irrelevant in the communication. Therefore this shield must be something else for it have any real effect on his links. He sighed and went back to tracking where they were walking. They were going to meet up with Jiraiya in a few hours. That was going to be insanely close to Konoha. Haruka nearly blew a gasket when she read his message telling them where to meet him. They had a few hours and they were going to be within a few hours of Konoha. Close enough that they could stop on the cliff to glance at home before heading north.
Haruka was heading for a mountain, but suddenly she took a right turn. Naruto cocked his head and glanced around. He was about to ask why she turned when he saw the trail had wheel treads. She wanted to know who they were going to run into before they ran into them. Naruto jogged to catch up with her. He though to himself. The wheel treads were light probably a week or more old. Why did that concern her. They could have been passing through. He spread his senses in that direction and stopped dead when he felt a nice village-worth of people. How were their people here? This place was supposed to be wilderness. Haruka had pointed out where they were headed roughly on a map earlier and there were no villages here.
He looked ahead at his companion and decided that it was too quiet.
"What is the container for Genbu like?" Haruika glanced back at her student.
"Daichi? If he is still the jinchuuriki, he'll be up that mountain we were heading for. He's a bit odd. Like me he communicated with Genbu since he was a child. He's the one of the only Jinchuuriki I know of that didn't get his Bijuu because said bijuu was attacking." Naruto grunted in question.
"I don't know the story. Daichi is older then I am, by at least 20 years. He spends most of his time on his own. Studying. He enjoys knowledge. So does Genbu. I think he's content to just stay at home most of the time and explore around him. We'll have to see." Naruto frowned, but nodded. He was never good at the studying thing. Everyone told him he was slow.
Not slow, behind.
??? Kyuubi felt Naruto's confusion.
You weren't raised and taught. Most children are. You are learning now that there is a teacher. A year ago you wouldn't have recognized those wheel treads. Before this trip you wouldn't have even stopped to wonder you would have simply asked at the top of your lungs. You've grown, Kit.
Naruto felt himself become very self-conscious at Kyuubi's praise, as matter-of-fact as it was. He glanced up to see that they were at the base of the mountain on an overhang that over looked the village. Naruto looked down at the people working and smiled. They looked so happy. Haruka was smiling before she turned and headed up the mountain.
"Naruto, lets practice singing." Naruto smiled. He had learned the guitar part well, and while it would be a while before he was perfect he and Haruka were having fun learning song they had heard or making up new ones.
"How about Home on the Range?" Haruka smiled and started the song.
000
Hinata pursed her lips as she walked. She had left Kiba and Shino at the training area, they wanted to work off some steam. Also, she was heading to her Clan meeting in an hour and they couldn't really attend. They were allowed, but Hinata was worried Kiba especially wouldn't keep quiet. She was walking down the road towards home when she ran into Hyuuga Akiko. The girl was a few years older then Hinata, with the clan's signature coloring and a fairly well-off family. Hinata hadn't ever interacted with her, though she knew that her sister was fond of her for a while. Akiko married two years ago and since she was busy with her husband.
"Hinata-sama, Can we talk a moment?" Hinata regarded her a moment before nodded and they stepped off the path. She looked nervous. "I have something... Proof.... Proof that the council members were umm... Bad!" Her speech came out in spurts as she jittered. Her hands were twisting in nerves as she looked at Hinata. Hinata thought about it a moment.
"Alright, after the meeting we can meet." Akiko was shaking her head.
"No! No, it has to be now. They, they would know. You need to see it now." Hinata looked in the direction of her home, feeling the new bond with Neji in that direction. She sent him a brief thought of being a little late and nodded to the girl.
000
Naruto was bouncing behind Haruka as they played a complicated game of tag while they traveled towards their meeting place. They had to tag each other, but the one being chased couldn't land on anything the sunlight touched. Mid-afternoon, that was most of the forest. Haruka had tried the sunlight-couldn't-touch-the-one-being-chased, but Naruto proved not quite ready for that yet. This was a good step. She was slowly making him more and more aware of his surroundings.
Daichi had been an interesting conversation. He had agreed eventually on the condition that the village he protected below be welcomed in Konoha. If they would move there then he would be fine coming too. Haruka had a letter to write Tsunade about this, giving her direction of how to answer since Haruka would be out of communication range for a while.
He also mentioned something else to her. It made her think that Tsunade knew exactly where that village was. She frowned slightly. She trusted Daichi, but if he could figure it out, then others could too. She would have to work with that when she returned to Konoha. Sighing she ducked under a branch and evaded Naruto again. It was getting harder to become sidetracked while training with him. He was becoming too good.
000
Neji looked around the hall. The council members were still arriving and still no sign of Hinata. He had felt the feeling from Hinata but it had taken a moment to figure out what exactly she meant. His link with Naruto had prepared him to some extent, but the feeling of two bonds at once was bizarre and borderlined overwhelming. He looked at Ten Ten as she spoke with Hanabi. She had a large water bottle with her. Both of them carried one with them now. He knew all of Team Shizen had taken to it as well. Lee had decided to forgo the idea saying that Neji was just as powerful without the water and Neji understood. Besides, when was he going to need water when he wasn't really near a stream or lake unless they visit Suna.
He glanced around the hall again as the third to last council member came in. Still no Hinata. He caught his uncle's gaze and nodded. He turned and went looking for his cousin.
000
Hinata was getting agitated. They had been walking for an hour. The meeting was starting in a few minutes and they still weren't wherever they were heading.
"Akiko-san, I should head back and tell someone where we're going." Akiko looked at her a moment before Hinata knew something was wrong. She wasn't trembling, nervous, upset, in fact there was a small smile on her face. Hinata took a small step back as ropes shoot around her and she felt a painful sensation on her neck. Four guys came down around her as she struggled against the ropes. The pain on her neck was some sort of seal. It was powerful enough to block even Mui. Her bonds blinked out as well. She looked up at Akiko, panting.
"Akiko-san?" Though questioning, her voice was firm if not a little too sweet. Akiko smiled venomously.
"Don't worry Hinata-chan. The council knows what it's doing. Chayami-sama is a better leader then you could ever be. Orochimaru-sama understands us better then you do." Hinata snarled at that name for a moment then took a deep breath and screamed.
"AKAMARUUUUU-!" Tape slapped over her mouth. She tried to kick the person who got that close but he moved away and the four ropes were held taunt. Akiko nodded and turned. They continued down the path, dragging Hinata along by the ropes.
000
Haruka spun and caught Naruto by the back of his shirt as he froze. She felt his panic through their bond as he scrambled to regain his mental footing.
He's panicking slightly
He can't feel his mate.
Both Bijuu spoke in her head as she lowered him to the ground and tried to help him stabilize himself by grounding him in his body mentally. She let him look for her along their bond as she stayed here to pull him back when he needed her to.
000
Neji jerked at the loss of one bond and the other flaring in pain and panic.
He had found Kiba and Shino easily enough and asked where his cousin was. They had left her to head home well over an hour ago. He was frowning when this attack hit him like a sledge hammer. Shino caught him as he fell over under the onslaught of Naruto's worry, until another presence dampened it slightly. He silently thanked Kyuubi, he assumed was the other entity, and searched for Hinata in his own mind. She wasn't there either. He didn't know what to make of it. He looked at Shino, who was still supporting him.
"Please find Hinata-sama." Shino nodded. He had already sent out his insects the second he heard why Neji had sought them out. Suddenly Akamaru stood and growled. Hoshi was on his back, also trying to sense her mistress. She stopped going to the council meetings when her presence caused an uproar. Kiba spoke next as he took off.
"Akamaru heard her!" Shino was after him in a moment, with Neji barely a few seconds behind him.
000
Hinata was struggling as they exited the woods to a clearing next to a deep part of the river. She felt lost when she couldn't feel the water because of the seal. The two men behind her yanked her back against a good sized boulder then a good yank forward, causing her to fall on her face. A smaller rock sat next to her, already tied up. They attached it to her legs and picked her up. She struggled as she glared at Akiko.
"Your sister will be a fine figurehead for the council, Hinata-chan. She understands what it is to be a Hyuuga." Hinata wanted to snarl at her but instead she forced herself to take a deep breath before they tossed her and the rock in the center of the river. The river was only a few feet over her head, but it was enough. She waited until she was almost out of breath before pushing off the ground enough to break the surface. Another breath and she landed closer to the shore. She tried again, gaining another foot towards shore. On her third jump, she fell when she landed. She tried to get up and get her feet under her. She was running out of air. She looked around for help in the element that had brought her the most comfort all her lifetime. The water grew darker. She vaguely wondered if the sun was setting, not remembering that there was at least another three hours of daylight. She didn't remember the water being this dark.
She never felt the wet silt touch her face as she lost herself to darkness.
000
Akamaru entered the scene first, followed closely by Hoshi, knocking out two of the guys. Kiba followed, Shino and Neji bringing up the rear. Kiba and Shino also attacked, trusting Akamaru to know who was an enemy. Neji grabbed Akiko and shook her.
"Where?!?" Akiko looked at him speechless. How the heck did they get here so fast?
"Where is she!" Neji was shaking her as she started to smile.
"Dead." She glanced at the river. Neji let her go, nearly in panic, repeated by Naruto's bond in his head. Kiba dove in the water as Neji forced the water away, revealing Hinata on the bottom of the river. Kiba cradled her in his arms as he removed the tape from her mouth and leaped out. He landed next to Neji and Shino.
For a frightening moment Hinata was still as Kiba pumped on her back. Finally, she coughed and tried to roll over. Neji helped her, holding her in the easiest position to cough out the water. While he was doing that he saw the seal and removed it in anger. He felt Naruto's relief immediately, but his focus was on Hinata's bond that reappeared. She shivered and leaned back into him. Hoshi placed a paw on her arm as her breathing eased. She looked up and around hazily.
"Shino, Kiba...." She reached for them as she snuggled back into her cousin's protective grasp. Neji felt her need for him in his mind as well as her need for her teammates.
000
Haruka hung back slightly. Naruto was tearing towards Konoha. He knew their location from Neji. She couldn't be dead. No, not now, not before he had a chance. She just couldn't be...
Haruka nearly ran him over when he stopped dead. Regaining her balance, she knelt next to him.
"Naruto?" He was crying, and smiling. He was sobbing.
"She's okay. She's alright." He was bent over trying to get his breath in the tree they had stopped in as Haruka placed a hand on his shoulder. He turned into the hand a brief moment before they simultaneously pulled each other into a much need hug. His breathing was ragged as he calmed down, listening to Kyuubi in his mind as the fox assured him that Hinata was fine, Mui was working on her already.
He finally took a deep breath and let himself relax in his sensei's grasp. In his aunt's hold.
000
Hinata took a deep breath. She needed to get back.
"Kiba-kun, I need you and Shino to take these five to the Hokage and inform her that more will follow soon from the Hyuuga estate." Hinata struggled to sit up. After a few grunt of protest, Neji finally helped her. He stood up with her, keeping a hand under her arm as she swayed. She did nearly drown. "We have to get back to the estate, now."
Neji glanced at her, not sure if she could make it, but she gave him a slight growl and Shino gave him a nod. Then he knew. She would make no matter what. She was determined to finish this.
They took off in the correct direction, Kiba and Shino would take a little longer, having more of a task in front of them.
Neji stayed as close to his cousin as he dared. Her eyes were on fire. Hoshi was equally grim as she easily kept pace with her mistress.
They arrived only 30 minutes late to the meeting. On the way, Hinata gave Neji some quick instructions. She entered the clan chambers, still completely soaked.
000
Kiba looked after the Hyuuga pair as they hurried away. He knew it hurt Hinata that he couldn't forgive Neji yet. The fact that Shino had so quickly was testamount to that. He sighed as he looked down at his captives. He knew at this point how much Neji seemed to cared about Hinata. That wasn't the problem. It never had been.
Shino looked up at Kiba as the chuunin sighed before picking up his three and leaping into the tree. Shino followed him. He was wondering what was in that head of his.
"Neji was really panicky." Shino glanced at his teammate before nodding. KIba sighed. "I'm being so stupid aren't I?" Shino looked at him in question as he elaborated, though it felt like the elaboration was more for Kiba's benefit then Shino's.
"He has apologized. He clearly cares for her. She has forgiven him. I'm even hurting HER by not forgiving him. I"m the one hurting her now." Shino glanced forward.
"Maybe in a small way she was hurting you." Kiba's head swiveled in Shino's direction. Shino sighed and continued. "She forgave him before you thought he had earned her care. She placed her friendship at a lower level of importance then you do. It might have seemed like she was saying that you aren't that special by being her friend." Kiba looked forward as he thought about. It did have the ring of truth behind it. Why though? Is that really what he was so upset about. Shino started speaking again.
"Of course, by thinking that, you are saying that you don't trust her judgment." Kiba nearly tripped at this. If there was one thing he wanted to make clear was that he trusted Hinata. If that's so then he couldn't be upset by Neji even though he didn't think Neji should be forgiven, Hinata did, and if he trusted Hinata with herself, then in this he should also trust her. Her only judgment flaw was that she was way too critical of herself and not critical enough of Naruto. He nodded.
"I guess I should try trusting him again, huh?" Shino smiled. He knew that Kiba's logic was a bit late, but that was alright. He had succeeded in getting Kiba to try.
Kiba gave a loud YAHOO! before he took off anew. Shino shook his head smiling and followed.
000
Hinata stood on the center floor as the room became a buzz of comments. Her father looked like he couldn't decide to be relieved or angry. She didn't blame him, though the anger still frightened her slightly. She walked to the center of the room and waited for someone to direct a comment towards her.
"Hinata-chan, explain yourself this instant!" Chayami was standing along with Shimabu and Noburu. She smiled. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Neji sit next to Hanabi and talk to Ten Ten.
"Gladly, Chayami-san." She had placed her voice just so to get the council's attention. As the 2-odd dozen member quieted slightly. She started speaking again, not glancing at her father.
"I am here as a shinobi of Konoha. I am here to arrest Chayami, Shimabu, Jihiro, Kiiechi, and Hanshu for the crimes of attempted murder and treason against Konoha." She stopped as the voices of outrage overpowered her's. She made a slight request of Mui and called on the water in the cups on the table. She drew the water and air around her, forming a cloak of a hawk behind her. Those who knew of Mui would recognize, but those who didn't would simply think it was impressive. The display quieted the room quickly.
"You five are arrested for conspiracy to drown a Konoha Shinobi and treason of conspiracy with Orochimaru." The five glanced at each other as the few council members with their wits still somewhat intact went for them.
Hinata saw the explosicve a second before it exploded.
000
Tsunade fumed as she gazed over the two chuunin in front of her as well as the four that stood next to her. She growled for them to take the prisoners to Ibiki. Ino went as well, thoroughly pissed and eager to learn what she could to help her friend. Tsunade turned to the other five and snarled at them and the two guards nearby.
"What are you waiting for? Get to the Hyuuga estate NOW!"
POOF
000
Hinata pushed herself up and out fo the rubble that used to be the council building. She could feel that Neji was alright and had her sister and Ten Ten. She sped to her father, who was also crawling out of the hole her water had made protectively around him. She had sent some his way in desperation.
"We must go after them before they reach Orochimaru. Can you fight?" She was all business at this point. Hiashi stood, shook himself a moment and nodded.
Neither notice the determined look on Neji's face as he watched them take off.
000
Sakura arrived on the scene with the rest of the chunin after the explosion. She started organizing people into a triage of sorts. Lee helped her out until Ten Ten staggered out with Hanabi in her arms. Lee's attention shifted while Sakura handed over control of the situation to Mednin who had just arrived. Large scale triage organizations wasn't quite something she could do yet.
Tsunade was on the scene with Ibiki and Ino seconds later. She tracked down Ten Ten as soon as she could and asked what happened.
She swore colorfully at the answer she received. Acting quickly, a group was sent out.
000
Hiashi looked at his daughters back as he kept up with her furious pace. He was trying to figure her out. Or rather, trying to figure his reaction to her out. When she hadn't shown up to the meeting he had sent Neji to go find her. Both knew the importance of this meeting. Nominations for the next council selections were up. He was angry that she would be late to this. As the minutes passed, he became more concerned that she wasn't present.
When she had arrived, his relief at seeing her all right was overshadowed by her attire. Her face was serene, blank with a small hint of amusement. Fury disguised, Hiashi knew now. But at the time his thougts had jumped to her failing. That had been a ruse, but he had, himself, started to believe his own ruse. He couldn't let himself do that.
Then the impressive display wasn't just startling, it was terrifying. The power was one thing, he had seen that. But he remembered the scars from the last time Hinata had said the power was pushed through her seal. Was she alright? He was rooted to the spot so that he barely heard her words.
The next thing he knew there was an explosion and a veil of water was around him. He stared at it before shaking himself and started climbing his way out of the rubble. She had protected him. He could feel Hinata's chakra in that water. When she asked if he could fight he just looked at her a moment. Where had his meek daughter gone? This was a kunoichi, prime and confident.
He had a feeling he had a certain blonde to thank for this. He had Naruto were going to have a talk when that boy came home, in addition to a scolding for making his daughter wait so long.
He also need to talk to his nephew and get some more information about what she was up to.
Speaking of Neji.
"Hinata-chan, your second is a few minutes behind us." He caught up with her to see a grim line on her mouth.
"I know." Hiashi nearly shuddered at the aggrivation on his normally kind-hearted daughter.
"He won't be persuaded out easily." She sighed.
"I know." She bit her lip a moment before landing in a clearing.
"Tou-sama, do you trust me?" He was standing behind her, so he couldn't see her expression.
"I suppose I do now." She smiled at that answer.
"I have an idea. When I tell you to you will need to activate his seal though. My hands will be busy." Hiashi stared at his daughter as if she had just kissed Orochimaru. She hated the seals. For her to even think about activating one. "Trust me, Tou-sama."
Neji landed in the clearing before he could answer. Hinata was facing away from both of them. He set his mouth in a determined line.
"I'm coming." Hinata fisted her hands.
"Neji-"
"I'm your second, I can't help you if I run away from fights like this."
"They can use your seal."
"I know! But I'm your second and I'm your cousin. I'm coming Hinata-sama. Unless you're willing to use force to stop me." Hinata turned to him and walked until she was in front of him, within arms reach. She reached out and took off his hitae.
"Do you trust your cousin, Neji?" Neji looked at her confused. Hiashi saw her hand behind her back gather a small amount of chakra. All three had activated their byakugan when the chase began. Neji looked at her a moment, phased by her diction before nodding resolutely. She glanced at Hiashi, who understood and prepared to activate Neji's seal, praying his daughter knew what she was doing.
"Now!" Neji's eyes widened at the seal his uncle's hands formed. Immediately, he felt his head on fire. On top of the fire it felt like a sledge hammer hit him. He fell forward into Hinata's waiting arms as the pain receded. He breathed shakily. He didn't think Hinata would ever actually activate his seal. Hiashi came over as Hinata spoke.
"We need to go, they're getting further away." Hiashi was aggitated though.
"What did you do, Hinata?" An instant after he had activated Neji's seal Hinata had hit Neji's forehead where the seal was. "I can't activate his seal." Neji's breath caught at that statement. He looked up at his cousin in question as she stood. His seal was off?!? That was possible?
"I wasn't sure it would work and I don't know how long it'll work. Now we need to go!" She took off after the escaping Hyuuga. Neji glanced at Hiashi, who returned the favor before taking off after her.
000
They caught up to them a little bit later fighting a fog that appeared to fight back. Hiashi and Neji got separated for a moment before Hiashi flew past Neji haven taken a hit intended for his nephew. Neji saw the next one coming and barely moved out of the way. This fog blocked their Kekkei Genkai.
He was almost at his wits end, fighting five on two when he ran head long into a very familiar pair of blue eyes.
Naruto shushed him a moment before jumping back into the fray. A few moments later the fog cleared leaving Hinata on the ground next to her father. Naruto rouched on one side next to two foes. And a woman a little older than them was standing next to Neji. All their foes were on the ground.
The woman turned to Naruto and growled at him.
"I told you Taijutsu only, we don't want it spread around that we're here!" Naruto gave her his sheepish grin before standing and walking over to Hinata and Neji. Hinata had come over to Neji and was feeling his forehead. He had a raging headache. The woman walked over to Hiashi and bent over him, until Hinata called her attention.
"Could you also look at Itoko?" Naruto was looking at Neji concerned. She looked up and walked over. He took that moment to take her in. She was about Naruto's height, which was substantial at this point. Her long golden hair was in a high ponytail behind her as she glided towards them. What caught his attention most was her eyes. They were purple, much deeper then his family's eyes. They also had pupils that he swore looked like starbursts. She placed her hand on his forehead as his headache increased again.
"Neji-kun, may I see your seal?" He looked at her before glancing at his cousin and Naruto. The turn of his head made his headache worse as it jarred his perception. He looked back at her, slower this time. He nodded.
She smiled and reached behind his head and untied his hitae. As it slide down a familiar pang of hate attempted to crawl up his spine, pushed back down by Naruto's habitual care and Hinata's confused concern. Whenever this bubble of hate swelled in his chest, Naruto's bond would also swell, with care and encouragement. He wasn't sure the blonde was even aware of some of what he was doing.
"Hinata-chan, did you do this?" Hinata nodded, biting her lip. Neji felt her nerves but that was pushed aside when this woman lifted his chin to look at his forehead, frowning in concentration. "Hold still." her mutter was quiet as she raised her other hand and quickly poked his forehead with her fingertips. He felt some chakra enter his system and his headache almost immediately lifted. She stood back satisfied.
"How are you feeling now?" He placed his hand on his forehead in awe. She just nodded and turned to Hinata.
"How long have you been able to do that?" Hinata shook her head as Naruto held her. Naruto had placed an arm around her waist when he had joined her next to Neji. It was a subconscious action that brought them both comfort.
"This was my first attempt. I didn't think it would work." The woman shook her head, exasperated. But her voice was calm.
"You used too much chakra. It was giving him feedback and that was causing the headache." She stared at Hinata a moment. "You are one of the brightest Hyuuga I have ever met."
Hinata just stared at her a moment before slowly shaking her head in negation.
"No, no I'm not that good." Hinata was shaking her head now when the woman huffed in annoyance.
"You took a 2 minute explanation in the middle of a battle and turned it into an ability in under three months! If that isn't talent I'm not sure what is." She was panting as she tried to explain this to Hinata, who was still shaking her head slightly.
"Haruka-san, I'm not that talented-" She was cut off by the two boy's whining her name. Haruka frowned.
"You know of Hyuuga Keishi right?" She received nods from the Hyuuga pair. Both knew the current strategist of the Hyuuga. Naruto just looked confused but, he figured that was fine. "It took him four months of talking and explaining before he understood the concept and another three before he could put it to practical use. Hina-chan, trust me, you are something else." Hinata was glowing at the praise. She was getting more praise at home, but this was the first time that someone had praise her above others, as opposed to keeping up with them.
Neji glanced back and forth between Haruka and Hinata and then Naruto. He finally decided that he wanted a little more of an explanation.
"Naruto, Hianta-sama, who is this?" He tried to sound polite, but it wasn't a polite question so he felt a little uncomfortable. Haruka looked at him, her currently blue eyes assessing.
"Itoko, this is Haruka. She is Naruto-kun's sensei right now." Haruka raised an eyebrow.
"Naruto-kun's dead sensei please, Neji-kun." Haruka's dry response was startling, though slightly expected. Neji rasied his eyebrow now.
"I "died" 16 years ago. I would prefer that the shinobi community still think I'm dead. That's why I didn't wake Hiashi." She glanced at the clanhead. "He'll wake up in five or ten minutes." She shook her head. Neji was confused by the shake but his attention moved to Hinata and Naruto. He was un-used to feeling Hinata's emotions and the urgency of her devotion to Naruto overwhelmed him. Naruto's equally determined care was also pounding in his head.
The two had faded Haruka out a few sentences ago as Naruto started to assess Hinata after the last incident. The fact that he had lost all contact with her scared him badly. Hinata was trying to calm him down. Still, Neji could feel that he was barely restraining his desire to simply hug her to pieces, hold on and never let go. Hinata's need for him was similarily strong, though, she was better at hiding it from Neji. Neji could vaguely fell Naruto questioning Hinata on how she was as she let him look her over for injuries from her earlier close call. Neji felt her gentle answer as Naruto finally gave in a little and placed his nose again her neck.
Neji jumped a foot when a hand landed on his shoulder. He turned, wide-eyed to face Haruka. She was smiling.
"Distracting, isn't it?" She glanced at the pair again and then he felt his connection with Naruto soften. "It'll be better when he isn't away from her so much." Neji looked at her, eyes widening even further. She sighed as a bird call caught her attention.
"That's Taka." Neji looked back to Naruto at the sound of his voice. He was looking up at the bird as well. Hinata was resting her head on his shoulder as he rocked back and forth, still standing. Neji could feel that she did that more for Naruto's peace of mind then hers. Haruka sighed.
"Neji-kun, I need you to listen to your cousin. I don't have time to explain much to you. One thing though, you cannot mention me to anyone. Not my looks, my style, Naruto, and certainly not my name. Do you understand?" Neji nodded, still slightly in a daze. She glanced at Naruto.
"We have to go. We will catch up to Jiraiya. Naruto will you go get that bird's attention before he grabs someone else's" Naruto nodded. He hugged Hinata to himself and handed her a scroll. She looked at it a moment and nodded, knowing what it was. She glanced at Haruka as Naruto leaped up to snag the hawk and head out.
"Take care of him." Haruka smiled and nodded.
"And you take care of your family." Hinata noded firmly. Neji turned to Haruka.
"And we will do our best to take care of her." Haruka smiled brightly, looking much like she was with-holding laughter.
"You do that." She glanced up to where Naruto was talking to the bird as he came down. He nodded to Haruka and she returned the gesture. "Time to go." She reached into her pack before placing it on her back. Naruto had stopped to pat Neji on the back and hug Hinata and was already off. From what Neji felt from him, he probably thought that if he didn't leave now, he wouldn't be able to. Naruto wanted to be home.
Haruka also gave Hinata a quick pat and then stopped in front of Neji.
"Tsunade is coming fast, remember do not mention Naruto or myself. Let Hinata do that talking." Neji nodded. She smiled. "Here" She handed him the paper she had taken from her pack.
"I think they would like you to have this." She leaped off, hurrying to catch up to Naruto. Hinata stared after them. Neji could feel the longing inside her, but she turned to her father.
"I think the others will be here shortly." She glanced at her cousin, once she had her father's head situated on her lap. "What did she give you?"
Neji walked over to her as he flipped the paper over. He froze when he saw the other side. Hinata looked up at him as he fell to his knees. He had seen them both but never together. Never so...
"Itoko?" Neji just kept staring at it. Hinata became worried and reached for him.
Both jumped slightly as a group of Konoha shinobi landed in the clearing, including their sensei. Neji hurriedly hid the paper in his shirt and looked up at his sensei as Guy and Lee bounded over. Ten Ten was right behind them. He nodded to them, but simply placed his hand in his cousin's hand. Hinata glanced at him but didn't stop from the explanation she was giving Ibiki and Ino. Kakashi was glancing around as Asuma and Chouji gathered the unconscious enemy. Shikamaru came over and stood near Kakashi.
"Do you notice what I see?" Kakashi was looking at the damage to the trees and ground.
"Not Juuken, got that." Shikamaru glanced at it again. Then did a double take. "It can't be..." Kakashi had never seen the Nara stunned before.
"Not a mistake." He glanced at Hinata, who was helping her father sit up with his headache. "Looks like Hinata-chan saw our favorite blonde." Shikamaru snorted.
"No she didn't. She saw nothing." He nodded to Kakashi as he went over to talk to Ibiki. Kakashi nodded. For safety, she didn't see him, but Kakashi had trained Naruto. These were his footsteps. The movements had changed, but the way he walked around the clearing had not.
Hinata let Asuma take over helping her father back to the village. Neji's insecurity was pacing in the back of her mind. She wanted to know what was on that paper that had him scrambling so for her presence.
He had moved to stand with his team when she helped Asuma with her father, who as far as she could tell was having a hard time waving off whatever Haruka did to keep him under. Ten Ten was throughing Neji concerned looks, followed by Lee and Gai. All three noticed something off with the usually composed member of their group.
Tsunade called the attention of everyone left in the clearing and got them moving towards the village.
000
Naruto was following his sensei. She wanted them to travel by night and sleep and train during the day. He was fine with that. He was still getting the hang of not using his eyes. He was also trying to calm Hinata down. She was worried about Neji, but Naruto could guess what Haruka had given him, and he was fine. Upset, but fine.
Holding her had felt so complete to him. When he thought she was dead a large part of him was ready to go find the Akatsuki and take as many of them as he could with him to the afterlife. He didn't want a life without her in it. He didn't know when that had become an important part of desiring to live, but it was now. He could remember the shape of her waist, the weight of her arm, the color of her cheek, and, most of all, her scent. It permeated his senses and relaxed him, and yet it energized him. Just what he need for a long trip. He gulped as other thoughts started swirling in his head with these. The shape of her lips and depth of her eyes had done funny things to his stomach. The swell of her breast against his chest and the delicate hand on his collarbone. These thoughts brought him up short. What was he thinking?
"If you are going to get horny, you might want to tone it out of your bonds." Haruka's voice broke through his thoughts. He looked over at her to find her sitting on the side of a camp they had just set up without him noticing. She sighed. "At least you're not tripping now when you think this hard." He shook his heads and retreated from all his bonds while he reviewed his thoughts on Hinata. She let him retreat. Neji wasn't even noticing and Haruka had retreated herself. He was alone in his head for the moment. The furball was asleep.
He loved her. He had known that already. It had taken him a while to realize just how encompassing that emotion was. He had never loved anyone before. Well, maybe Iruka. He cared for others; Sasuke, Sakura, Jiraiya, Tsunade, Konohamaru, the rest of his class, but he had never loved them. Not yet his cynical side let in. He smiled goofily. He couldn't wait.
He felt a warmth overcome him from one of his bonds. He looked across the clearing at his sensei. She was reading in the low light. He sat back. She was his father's sister. Family. But his love for her and Iruka wasn't what he felt for Hinata. He felt something more possessive, encompassing, something fierce. He also felt himself blushing slightly as he recalled some of the things he had seen in some recent dreams, some things that definitely belonged in those books Jiraiya wrote.
"Onee-sensei?" She looked up at him. "Those books...that Pervy-sage writes. They- ... Are perverts the only ones... who think of that kind of...stuff?" His blush was nuclear. Haruka smiled and sat back.
"No, perverts are people who think that stuff without caring about the personality attached to those images." Naruto looked down as he thought, blush still high on his face.
"S-s-s-so normal people think about that s-stuff too?" Haruka chuckled.
"Yes, but only with a few people, not everyone." Naruto was still looking down. Haruka chuckled again.
"Do you think I'm a pervert?" Naruto looked at her and shook his head quickly with wide eyes. "With my mate, I could be more creative then Jiraiya in his wildest, wettest dreams." Naruto's eyes looked big enough to pop out of their sockets. "With your mate you will enjoy a wide breadth of sensations and emotions and this happens to be one of them. One of the better ones, trust me." She went back to her reading, satisfied as the blush started to decrease off his face.
He laid upon his blanket. He knew he loved her. So it was a little okay then.
000
Hinata had returned to a madhouse at the Hyuuga estate. Hanabi was doing an exemplary job of keeping track of the chaos, but it was still a sight to behold. She could see some of the council members milling about trying to help but not knowing what to do, the branch members were looking dead on their feet as they continued to work and the injured were still trying to calm down. It was a bit of a mess.
Hinata gave her sister a quick hug and sent her on to their father. She surveyed the clearing and looked over at her friends. She looked at Sakura and Ino and motioned them over. After a quick whisper the two best friends smiled to each other and placed their fingers in their mouths.
The dual whistles stopped everyone. They all turned to look in Hinata's direction. She was standing on a chair. She raised her hands and spoke to them all. When she had been under cover for a month she had learned to pitch her voice over a crowd. She called on that experience now.
"We need everyone to calm down this instant! We need to help the injured, we need to take care of the wreckage and recover what we can. We need to begin rebuilding. For this to happen everyone needs to pitch in and help out." She turned to her left. "You 10, start moving the injured over to the sparring area, it's flat for care. I want you three in charge of that." She pointed out a council member and two branch members that she knew would work well together. She looked to her right. "You men start to move all the rubble over to the far corner; wood on the left and other on the right. You kids work on getting the nails out of the wood as it is piled up. You three, locate your staff and get dinner started for everyone, assume twice the normal mouths. The group in back, you start recovering all the papers and files from the wreckage and place them on a box over by the small offices. You eight, start sorting them. Let's go! if you don't have a job yet come over here!" She turned to each group as she assigned jobs with authority in her voice. She saw looks of surprise and skepticism, but also relief. Many who weren't sure what to do could now helping out. She leaped lightly down from the chair.
Turning she saw that Sakura and Ino had already joined the Medical side. She directed the rest of the shinobi to help out and turned to delegate the rest of her family that had crowded around her. Slowly the area looked less like a disaster zone and more like a campsite of organized activity. Her father showed up eventually and began helping organize the files found in the remains of the building. Hinata smiled as she placed another board on the pile of wood and looked over the family. Everyone was working together. It felt right. She glanced at Neji and frowned slightly. He was still off somehow.
As the night drew to a close and everyone wandered home, Hinata found herself leaving Hanabi's room with her father as the child fell asleep. Neji had walked his teammates home and would be back soon. Hiashi bid Hinata pleasant dreams and left for bed himself. he sensed that Hinata wanted to talk to Neji.
When Neji walked into the compound 30 minutes later, Hinata had his favorite tea all set out on the back porch. He smiled weakly and took the cup as he sat down. Hinata smiled slightly before relaxing into the tea.
"It was a busy day." Neji nodded. "His sensei can be trusted, Itoko." She wouldn't tell him much else here. Maybe when they ewre out of the village's prying ears. Neji looked down. He pulled out the paper. He placed it on the table in front of Hinata. She looked at it curiously as he started talking.
"I've seen them before, but never together. They are so happy-" He trailed off, holding himself back by biting his lip. Hinata placed an arm around his shoulders and pulled on him slightly. He finally let himself fall into her, shaking.
He fell asleep with his head on her lap that night.
The paper was in her hands. It was a beautiful picture of two people. Hyuuga Hizashi was smiling and had his hand on the stomach of a very pregnant, very happy Hyuuga Ai.
As life weaves thread into canvas
The pattern will bring threads together again and again
As the blanket of the universe weaves into the future
Hi guys, that took me a while. I bet you all have forgotten about me by now. Anywho, please read and if you have it in your heart, review. X)
Title quote:"Problems Become Opportunities When We Come Together" byRobert South
Home on the Range-american folk song, about how living free is so pleasant
I made up the end three lines this time, completely on my own :)
Ja Ne