"Menma, Sasuke, Shino, Choji, you boys go on!" said Hinata. "Leave him to me."

Menma nodded. "We're counting on you to beat this guy and catch up to us with Shikamaru."

"If that's our plan, then it's time to move," said Choji.

Sasuke waved and grinned. "Come back to us in one piece; death won't do your beauty much good."

"Shut the hell up," said Hinata. Sasuke shrugged, and the boys resumed their pursuit through the forest.

"Oh no you don't!" As the boys were about to head deeper into the forest, Kidomaru puffed his cheeks, his mouth full of web, and blew it out.

A massive web chased after the boys, but Hinata had no trouble the cutting the web with her hands. She started down the spider man, the Sound symbol on his forehead protector nothing but a grisly reminder from the Leaf Village's recent civil war.

"Damn spider, your opponent is me!" She cut another web he blew out.

"Tch. I don't have time for this."

"Then you better make time."

"Fine. Three minutes. Three minutes to get rid of a pest." He sneered. "I guess killing you would save time down the road anyway."

Kidomaru took a spot on the branch across the girl and began blowing some webbing at Hinata. She dodged and/or cut several web, but it only took one web in one minute to pin her against the tree. Her best efforts to struggle were no more than a caught fly.

"Gotcha. You're pretty good at handling chakra aren't you? And those eyes are pretty sharp. You fire chakra from the chakra points in your hands like a sharp needle, targeting the thin part of my threads. Yes, I heard this from Lord Kabuto, this technique called Gentle Fist. But if you and your hands are pinned up against that tree, then you can't cut through my silk. It's already been one minute, but it feels like I wasted an hour."

Hinata closed her eyes as Kidomaru puffed his cheeks and blew out a golden spear at high speed, aiming for her heart.

The webs disintegrated; Hinata escaped just before the spear stabbed the trunk and started running along the length of the spear and landed in front of a baffled Kidomaru.

"I'll let you in on a little secret. It's not just the tip of my fingers-I can emit chakra from every point in my body! And now…you're in range." She took up a stance.

He cut the golden spear from his mouth and tried to step back, but Kidomaru might as well have stood still.

"Eight Trigrams, Two Palms!" She jutted her fingers into his body twice. "Four palms! Eight palms! Sixteen palms! Thirty-two palms! Sixty-four palms!"

The last barrage sent him through a tree and crashing onto the forest floor, kicking up a cloud of dust. Hinata landed on her feet several meters away.

"Huh?"

His skin was covered in the same golden web as the spear. It began cracking and breaking to the ground like porcelain

"Well, well, that was too close," he said. "I know that if I take just one hit from that Gentle Fist of yours, my whole chakra network goes out of whack."

"That material…where does it come from, you monster?"

"Impressive, yes? My sticky spider webs are actually a type of metal that hardens the instant it leaves my body. It's impervious to chakra. And what's more, not only can I secrete it from my mouth as you can see, but from every sweat gland in my body.

So that's why my attack on his chakra points had no effect…

After a bit of contemplation, Kidomaru jumped into the foliage while Hinata tried to watch and listen for his movements.

Hinata looked up and skidded away from the falling kunai. It's a decoy! As golden kunai began flying towards her in all directions, she began emitting chakra while spinning-"Rotation!"

The defense deflected the barrage, and at the end, she picked up the kunai and threw it back towards Kidomaru's position.

"I know you're there," she said. "Come out!"

"Okay then." He jumped off to hang upside down using his webs, his body covered in black marking. "Fighting like this was wasting time anyway."

The chakra circulating through his body increased! And what are those strange marks?

Kidomaru bit his thumb to draw blood and began weaving hand signs. "Summoning Jutsu!" A monstrous orange-black spider, about the size of a small room, appeared and began producing a thick cocoon.

Ugh.

"I warn you, kid: I'll find the most efficient way around your defenses." Kidomaru slashed the cocoon with a golden kunai. "Scatter!"

The sky was raining spiders, all of them leaving a trail of thread from behind.

"Rotation!" The defense was an initial success, but her rotation slowed down faster than she anticipated.

The moment the webbing forced her to stop, a gold kunai was already flying towards Hinata; Kidomaru had no intention of letting her reflexes recover in time. In the end, she managed to emit a little chakra to deflect his attack.

He scowled and returned to the foliage.

His chakra-filled webbing completely canceled my Rotation; I'll have to strike the spiders one by one, by hand.

The spider barrage and kunai attacks repeated. Hinata could feel the webs sticking to her body, but she managed to see the kunai coming from behind and move a little to dodge.

However, she winced from pain and surprise. The kunai she missed managed to slice open part of her upper arm. Hinata covered the wound with a hand.

Another spider barrage started raining, but before Hinata could do anything, she grunted and coughed blood as another kunai struck her from behind. It was invisible to her perfect eyes.

Then yet another barrage started hailing, and although Hinata, she groaned from the pain of two more kunai piercing her back. She sank to her knees and collapsed forward onto the ground.

"That took way too long," said Kidomaru. "But congratulations on wasting my time. All those fancy moves of yours, they're nothing more than an effort to distract me from your blind spot. Those eyes don't quite see everything!"

Hinata clenched one of her hands before forcing herself to stand up, her hands resting on her knees to keep standing, struggling to maintain a steady breath.

"Am I supposed to be impressed? Why bother? Stop wasting my time and just die already; you can't beat me!"

Why am I even doing this? Between breaths, Hinata began reflecting on this mission. I'm not even fond of the girl anyway. If Sakura wants to defect so badly, then let her!

Thoughts of Menma drifted into her mind. If it made him happy, then even if she hated doing this, then everything was worth it. But stupid Menma, I bet he'll just thank me after all this is over and squirm away from me again. Oh well… A couple tears formed in her eyes.

That perverted weakling Neji crossed her mind too, their encounter at the chunin exam.

"Neji, give up. You and your branch family are nothing more than servants and shields. And with weak abilities like yours, you can barely even do that much. Your existence is nothing but pointless."

After that, her fight with Menma crept close.

"Neji is worthless. No matter how you look at it, he's a weakling at battle. And he's not even part of the main branch."

Menma growled. "I could see it in Neji's eyes; all this time, he's been willing to lay down his life for you. What more could you possibly ask from someone!? But you! It's not enough! The only thing you care about is that he isn't a genius or that he's from a so-called 'lesser' branch. He sacrificed so much and tried so hard to gain your recognition! If the only thing that matters is how strong someone is, then what happens when you lose here? What does that make anyone who ever died for their comrades out on the battlefield!?"

Hinata sneered. "If you're saying I'm worthless, then just try and prove it!"

The spider's shadow was growing, and Hinata looked up to see the spider itself falling. Although she succeeded at repelling it with Gentle Fist, multiple golden kunai took advantage of her deadened reflexes, piercing her body everywhere. Hinata collapsed again.

Half conscious, Hinata stood up, her breathing irregular, her body sore and pained from all of the kunai. Just standing on her legs was so much effort. The mission returned to her mind. If he left, then everyone is screwed!

Emitting almost all her chakra, Hinata detected and managed to send off-course a sudden high-speed golden arrow. It ripped through her shoulder, and the next moment, all the pain returned as she clenched her teeth and covered the wound with a hand.

Hinata began panting. Just barely-that was close, but I was able to throw it off course a little. He makes no pointless attacks, culling information with every move! He's the strongest opponent I've ever fought, and he's caught on to the weakness of the Byakugan!

Hinata took out the golden kunai from prior attacks, and feeling it becoming heavy, her jacket. She began running away, her eyes frantic, trying to detect the next attack.

Sensing it, Hinata dodged behind a tree to cripple the arrow's movement. It was enough to miss her head by an inch. Then she noticed something-threads? I see, he's nngh….Hinata sank to her knees again, her body begging her to rest and recover stamina, but she forced herself to stand again, albeit panting.

He's strong, much stronger than I am. I'm almost out and chakra and can't dodge another attack. Is this it?

What was it that Menma said? "True strength is being able to protect those who are precious to you!" Hinata smiled.

I've had enough. It's not like I can dodge it anyways…she staggered into a clearing.

Hearing a third arrow shred the forest, Hinata turned in time to see and feel the arrow gore through her gut, the impact throwing her body against a tree. She grimaced and gripped the thread, pouring her chakra and goading it to the thread's source.

Hinata coughed and thought about her fight with Menma again. "Just stay down. If you insist on continuing, I'll pour so much strength into my next attack that you'll never be able to stand up again!"

"You can pour all your strength into ANY of those attacks and it still wouldn't matter." Menma looked into the audience where Sakura was sitting, Neji a few rows nearby. "No matter how many times you knock me down, I'm just gonna stand up again and again until I take you out. My friends and comrades are counting on me to never give up!"

Once the fight was over, it was Hinata on the ground."I was just a little careless."

Menma walked over. "You said that a person's strength is measured only by his physical ability or his ability to win. If that's true, then what did you just prove to the crowd here?"

Hinata looked away, her face red with embarrassment.

However, she blushed as he crouched and helped her sit up. "Don't hold this battle against yourself. I know you'll show everyone what you're truly worth!"

Cutting the thread and covering her gut wound, Hinata sprinted forward. Even if my enemy is far stronger, even if my body fails me I cannot lose. There is a reason I cannot lose!

Her eyes caught sight of Kidomaru swinging forward, his movements sluggish. When he turned past the tree, his eyes widened…Hinata already in the air and already in position to attack!

"Haaaaa-HA!" One final barrage of palms!

"AAAAAAaaaaaahhh!" The blows knocked him off the threads and sent him spinning over the ground. Hinata landed on her feet in front of him. "But how!? You should be dead!"

"I couldn't dodge, so I took the hit. And I knew my weakness before you. There is a blind spot, but if I know the direction you'll strike, I can release chakra there to detect the attack. Moving a little bit to avoid the worst was no great feat. I'm seriously hurt, but I'm still alive."

Kidomaru chuckled between his wheezing. "Heh, so you did it on purpose, knowing you'd die here anyway. Why go that far?"

"You are the strongest enemy I ever fought, but there is a reason I cannot lose. Once not so long ago, the one person who defeated me said, 'No matter how many times you knock me down, I'm just gonna stand up again and again until I take you out. My friends and comrades are counting on me to never give up!' Those were his words."

Kidomaru began coughing again.

"You said you didn't want to waste time dealing with me. Well, look where we are now. You can't cut corners on a strong opponent and expect to win." After that, she fell to her fours with a fit of coughing.

Chuckling, he said, "I dunno, you look like you're knocking on Death's door too, kid."

"I won't die this easily!"

"Go ahead and say what you want. But Sakura Haruno is heading to Lord Kabuto of her own free will. The promise that she'll be able to see her revived parents and escape a village that only treats her like a doll is stronger than anything you or your teammates can-"

"NO! There's someone who can save her!" Because if Menma could save me, then he can save Sakura, too!A violent rash of coughs overcame Hinata, and she fell to her side, clutching her wound with one hand and covering her mouth with the other.

"Heh, talking BS right up to the end." But after a couple more coughs from him and a groan, Hinata heard no more sound from him, not even his breathing.

Forgive me, Menma. Sakura doesn't mean anything to me, but I hope you and everyone else make it back with her.