Chapter 3-Unmasked
The group of female Shinobi of the Leaf rushed after the masked hunter using his scent mixed with Hinata's own to follow the bizarre trail the man was taking to get away. As they reached the preverbal fork in the road with many paths ahead of them, Hana cursed at the problem before her, as Hinata's scent went in multiple different directions, which confused her since it should be possible, and each woman broke off towards each path Hinata pointed to.
When Kurenai went down her path, she prayed to Kami that Hinata was all right, and was thinking up various ways to torture this monster before putting him out of his soon to be misery. There was even a ray of hope in her mind, as the masked hunter had more then enough time to kill them all, but chose not to, and that meant there may be some truth to the idea that this monster doesn't kill women.
'If that is true, he'll soon change his mind when I get through with him, and wished he had tried to kill me,' thought Kurenai, as she saw Hinata being carried away by the uncloaked form of the masked hunter.
The said masked figure however, stopped on a tree branch before turning around to face Kurenai, as he put the girl down, and then looked the Hyuuga's former sensei right in her crimson eyes. Kurenai for the most part kept her guard up, and kunai drawn in both hands to give him twice the pain for his troubles.
"Dangerous behavior you are showing Yuhi Kurenai. I thought Leaf Shinobi attacked in pairs?" said the masked Shinobi in a mocking voice, as he saw Kurenai glare at him even harder, and was trying to figure out a way around him to get to Hinata.
"Give Hinata back monster or I'll show you what the pair of kunai in my hands can do when I'm angry," said Kurenai, as she waited for an opening to make her move, and grab Hinata before running off with the unconscious girl.
"Really? Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I don't have Hinata, and neither do the other versions of myself your comrades are chasing!" said the masked hunter, as the Hinata turned into a Shadow Clone of him, and was holding Hinata's thick jacket.
"What?!" said Kurenai, as she saw the Shadow Clone go "poof", and dispel before her eyes.
"You should be commended for trying to save Hinata from me Yuhi Kurenai, but it was all for not, and you along with the others will have to report to your Hokage that you've lost someone you hold dear to your heart," said the masked hunter, as he also went "poof" to indicate that he was a Shadow Clone, and saw the shocked look on the woman's face before the memory went to the original.
All Kurenai could do was fall to her knees and cry out in horror at losing her favorite student to the likes of her kidnapper.
(Unknown Location-Time Later Unknown)
Hinata groaned in minor agony, as she was struggling to awaken from the forced slumber her capture put her in, and when she opened her eyes found herself on a bed in a mildly dark room. As her senses came back to her, Hinata realized what happened before sitting up, and checking her body to see that it was still whole with the exception of one thing.
She was lacking clothing.
She wasn't naked by any means, as she still had her dark grey shirt, bra, and panties on though Hinata was wondering how he came to be like this. So, the young Hyuuga girl got off the surprisingly comfy bed before slowly letting her feet touch the cold floor that made her jump slightly, and walked towards the exit of the room that strangely enough had no door to it. When Hinata walked out of the room, she found herself walking along a dark corridor with little lighting to guide her path, as she touched the rough walls with the strange glyph designs on them, and made her way what she felt was the heart of this place.
And she was right.
What Hinata saw was a large circular room covered from the knees up in a dense fog with four stone like pillars covered with strange designs near the center, on a wall closest to her right was a wide variety of strange exotic weapons never before seen by possibly anyone in the Elemental Countries, and across the room was what made her let out an almost inaudible gasp. Across from her, Hinata saw a wall filled various skulls mounted there like trophies, as well as various other items that signified that these people that once held them were dead, and were taken instead of the skulls in the event such part of the physical body was damaged.
For reasons unknown to her, Hinata walked towards the wall filled with "trophies" that had been collected from the victims of the masked hunter, and read some of the names listed beneath the skulls with the headband of the Shinobi to prove where they were from. Some of these people she knew, as they were from the Leaf, but also those that had in one point hurt Naruto when he was a kid, and had been let go without punishment with orders to take posts outside of the village until they no longer hated the blonde.
They eventually came back some time later, but never lost their hate, and everyone who knew these now dead Shinobi knew it too.
Hinata's musing over the trophy wall were cut short when she heard a growling noise of sorts and had a bad feeling growing in the back of her stomach before turning around to see the source of the noise. Sure enough, a few feet from Hinata was the ever tall, and imposing form of the masked hunter staring at her with his face being unreadable due to the mask he wore. He wasn't armed, as far as she could see, with the small exception of his armor, and his clawed hands that currently looked sharp enough to cut through steel.
Internally, Hinata was terrified at seeing such an imposing warrior before her, as she had never seen anything like him, and even the first time seeing him paled in comparison to now. However, at the same time Hinata knew she had to find out just who she thought was behind that masked, and if it was who she thought it was. Even if she died afterwards at his hands, Hinata didn't care since it would be without regret, and know the one simple truth that mattered to her now over all others.
"Enjoying the small sample collection I take it?" said the masked hunter, as he saw the section of trophies she was looking at, and saw it was skulls collected from the Shinobi of the Leaf.
'S-Small sample?' thought Hinata, as she now recalled the Bingo Book stating that the masked hunter in front of her had killed hundreds of people, and there were only dozen or so skulls (some with spines still attached) on the wall.
"Do you know why I spared you Hyuuga Hinata?" said the masked hunter, as he saw her looking from the wall to him, and saw how scared she was right now.
"N-No," said Hinata though it was partly a lie, as she did have a clue, but was afraid to speak it, and be wrong like she feared she would be.
"Your lying," said the masked hunter in an almost amused voice, as he saw Hinata jump a little in fright at the fact he knew she lied, red in the face, and began spilling out one apology after another in the hopes she wouldn't be his next trophy.
'Father was right, I was never really good at lying, and too innocent for my own good when it comes to talking to others,' thought Hinata, as she had never really lied in her life, and tried to avoid it altogether.
"I always thought it was cute how you blushed Hinata-chan," said the masked hunter, as he saw her look up at him, and eyes widening with the look of realization in them.
"N-Naruto-kun? Is that...you?" said Hinata with hope in her voice and in her eyes before he began to raise his hand to his mask.
"I'll let you judge for yourself Hinata-chan, but you may not like what you see, and you may come to hate me," said the man, as he removed the various tubes connected to his mask, and wrapped both hands slowly over it before pausing to take it off when the girl in front of him grabbed his wrists.
"Let me be the judge of that Naruto-kun," said Hinata, as she knew now without a doubt in her mind it was him, and that he feared what she thought of him.
So after a long pause, the two removed his mask together, and Hinata cam face to face with the man that so many people feared in the Elemental Countries.
Naruto's face had a more reptilian appearance to it now, as it was smoother, shiner like a snakes, but nowhere near the appearance of Orochimaru's pale face. As for the face itself in terms of features, the "whisker marks" on Naruto's face were more noticeable now, his teeth were more animistic, and his once blues eyes were now a demonic red. It was then, Hinata notice that his hair was spiky, but at the same time were not, and looked like the strange hairstyle known as "dreadlocks" that were red while the spiky part was blonde. On his face were little spikes of what looked like hair, but they gave him a fierce warrior look and felt that anyone seeing Naruto's face would think twice in trying to fight him.
"So...what do you think of me?" said Naruto, as he dropped the mask into the swamp of fog that covered the floor of the room, and let Hinata run her hand over his face while she eyed every inch of him.
"I think...I think that you are still Naruto-kun to me despite the changes you have made to yourself," said Hinata, as she felt a shiver run down her spine when touching his face, and being so close to him now after so many years.
"And you are not the same girl I knew years ago Hinata-chan. You've changed. You've grown stronger not only as a Shinobi, but...into a beautiful woman, and I have kicked myself everyday since I realized your affection for me. I should have focused more on you, then that pink haired fan girl banshee, and shown you the affection worthy of a Goddess," said Naruto, as he eyed her up, and down with a hint of amusement in his voice while Hinata blushed a new shade of red.
'G-Goddess? Me?! Why is he looking at me like that I...OH KAMI I'M HALF NAKED!' thought Hinata, as she immediately realized that this entire time talking to Naruto, she was in little to no clothing, and tried to cover herself up while blushing from head to toe in red.
"Don't be shy now Hinata-chan. You have nothing to be embarrassed about," said Naruto, as he smiled down at her, and took a full step closer so their bodies were mere inches apart.
"W-What about my teammates that were with me?" said Hinata, as she tried to not focus on Naruto's body, the fact they were so close right now, and he was looking at her with eyes that seemed to be seeing through what clothing she had on.
"They were unable to follow after I took you away. They tried to find me through your scent, but after removing a few articles of your clothing, and using a few of my Shadow Clones henged into you with them on...," said Naruto, as he let the implication of how he deceived the female Inuzuka enter Hinata's mind, and make her blush further knowing what he had done to put her in this state of being half naked.
"By now, they've reported me captured, if not dead by your hands, and Tsunade-sama will call for your head," said Hinata, as she felt his hand on her face, and leaned into it in full belief he would never hurt her.
"Not if you return to Konoha and tell them I wish to become a part of the village," said Naruto, as he saw Hinata look at him in shock, and then wrap her form around him before shaking her head no at the idea.
"No! You can't Naruto-kun! Officially, you are still banished, and if you return now even under a mask it could force Tsunade to order your execution. Not to mention you killed so many Leaf Shinobi that it would be political suicide to let you go without some kind of punishment involving physical pain," said Hinata, as she didn't want to imagine Naruto being put in a room filled with Shinobi, who hated Naruto before, and now after what he had done knowing full well they would attempt to destroy him.
"Just tell the old hag to make it a condition of me coming in. As far as Tsunade knows, we are two separate people, and she will gladly make it happen if it means that I am 'captured' within her walls," said Naruto, as he felt Hinata tighten the grip of her hug, and the scent of lavender filled his senses.
"She will want to know why you made such a strange request," said Hinata, as she knew Tsunade wasn't an idiot, and was going to wonder if the two were indeed not the same.
"Tell her...that I know all about Naruto's past and that I respect him too much to not seize this opportunity to bring him back to his home. With full immunity on all charges against him and full restitution to his person for past crimes done against him by the Leaf of course," said Naruto, as he knew Hinata could pulls this off, and that through this move could gain everything he wanted from the Leaf.
And more.
"I'm not very good at lying," said Hinata, as she heard his heart beating, and made her feel a tad sleepy.
"Still, I have faith in you Hinata-chan, and I know that you can pull this off if you believe in yourself," said Naruto smoothly into her ear and felt her body heat up when he did that.
"W-When do I go back? I don't want to leave you," said Hinata, as she held onto him, and wanted to ask him so many things.
"I know you don't Hinata-chan. As for when you go back? How does a few days sound to you?" said Naruto, as he growled into her ear, and Hinata lost herself in the moment with sleepy eyes.
"That sounds good Naruto-kun," said Hinata, as she felt herself falling asleep again, and collapsing into his form.
"Well it took over a decade to happen, but you finally got the girl of your dreams, and even I must admit you caught yourself quite the vixen," said Kyuubi, as he felt Naruto becoming irked by that, and mentally scowled at the fox.
'Shut up fox! Don't make me turn your cage pink and bring out Barney again!' thought Naruto, as he had done that when the fox teased him about this during the last 3 years, and had used it only once to make the Kyuubi think twice about the teasing.
"Okay! Okay! Geez, what a bitch!" said Kyuubi to himself.
'What was that?' thought Naruto with a look that dared Kyuubi to repeat what he said.
"I said 'what an itch' since I have an itch on my back!" said Kyuubi quickly, as he didn't want to face Barney, and the pink room.
'Right. Sure you do. I'll let it slide for now since I'm with Hinata-chan, but don't push your luck fur ball, and remember...'I love you. You love me. Piss me off again and I will just reintroduce you to Barney'' thought Naruto, as he felt the fox shiver at that, and keep to the darkness of his cell.
"Naruto-kun," said Hinata, as she was clearly sleeping now, and Naruto scooped her up in his arms before taking to her to a more appropriate bed then the one she was in earlier.
(Konoha-3 Days Later)
"I can't believe this has happened," said Tsunade, as she read the report given to her by Kurenai over, and over again while trying to read over the tear drop marks the Genjutsu Mistress made when writing it.
When the team came back, Tsunade could tell instantly by the lack of one member that something had gone wrong, and heard everything about the battle that led up to Hinata's capture. How each of the women broke off to follow Hinata's scent when they found it scattered, only to find the masked hunter had used Shadow Clones henged into Hinata while holding a single piece of clothing that she once had on. What was worse, was the meaning behind the lack of clothing, and how it could put the young Hyuuga Heiress in a situation many young female Shinobi shouldn't be in at that age.
Even now, Tsunade was debating to label Hinata MIA, or KIA since the latter was also a possibility if the masked hunter decided to end her life.
"Tsunade-sama! Tsunade-sama! Come quick!" said Shizune, as she rushed into the room, and panting from running all the way from the Konoha streets to the office.
Not being on the run for 3 years put her out of shape in that department.
"What? What is it Shizune?" said Tsunade, as saw the woman's face was filled with joy, and surprise.
"Its Hinata. She's back and she's alive!" said Shizune, as she saw Tsunade's eyes widen in disbelief, and ran out of the office to see the Hyuuga girl herself.
(Konoha Streets-Sometime Later)
Hinata smiled, as she walked into Konoha with glow about her that you wouldn't expect from a girl, who went on a failed mission to track down a notorious S-ranked criminal, and getting captured in the process. Naruto had provided clothes for her to wear when she left, as he couldn't send her back the way he took since it would make many a men come after her for lust filled purposes, and he the former Leaf Shinobi now hunter couldn't let that happen.
"Hinata!" said Kurenai, as she heard about her former students return, and hugged the girl with all her strength.
"Kurenai-sensei, its all right. I'm fine. Really!" said Hinata, as she saw Kurenai looking her over with careful eyes, and knew that the woman suspected something had happened to her.
"Are you really? Did that monster do anything to you? Rape you? Torture you?" said Kurenai, as she looked for any signs of Hinata hiding those facts by staring into the girl's eyes, and found nothing so far to indicate the Jounin's worst fears.
"Kurenai-sensei! I said I'm fine. The masked hunter only kidnapped me so we could talk and deliver a message to the Hokage," said Hinata, as she saw Kurenai frown at that, but then again it might make some form of sense, and wondered if that was really true.
"All right let's take you to the Hokage, who will...," said Kurenai, who stopped when the Hokage came, and appeared before them instantly looking at Hinata with careful eyes.
"I'm glad you are alive Hinata, but we need to talk privately in my office, and tell me about what it is you saw while with that monster," said Tsunade, as she saw Hinata nod her head, but had a look of seriousness on it that surprised the female Fire Shadow, and wondered what changed in the younger woman.
"Yes. We have much to talk about Hokage-sama and about Naruto-kun coming home," said Hinata, as she saw the Hokage, and Kurenai frown at that since this was always on the forefront of the younger girl's mind from day one of the banishment.
"How is that related to what you went through with the masked hunter Hinata?" said Kurenai, as she saw her former student look at her, and wondered if the masked hunter had offered her something the Hokage couldn't regarding the blonde.
"It is related for the deal he wants to make with the Hokage. The masked hunter told me he is offering himself up upon entering Konoha's walls, and in exchange for Naruto-kun's banishment from Konoha being lifted. He also wants Naruto-kun to have full immunity on whatever crimes the two Councils claim he's committed in the past, and restitution be paid out to Naruto for the crimes Konoha committed against him for the Kyuubi," said Hinata, as she saw Tsunade's eyes budge out of their sockets, and jaw drop with Kurenai doing the same.
"Why would the masked hunter do this now? The two haven't even met each other. Have they?" said Kurenai, as she felt something was off about this, and knew the Hokage did too.
"No, but the masked hunter knows of Naruto-kun's past here in Konoha, and the injustice the Leaf has done to him. He respects Naruto-kun for putting up with us and wishes him to return here to get what was denied by the Leaf," said Hinata, as she looked at the two women looking back at her with suspicion, and wondered if that was really the case.
"And he's willing to surrender himself to the Leaf in exchange for Naruto returning and getting everything that is rightfully his?" said Tsunade, as she looked Hinata square in the eye, and saw the Hyuuga girl nod her head yes.
"Yes," said Hinata, as she saw Tsunade thinking about this, and Kurenai was also looking at the Hokage for her answer to this deal too.
"What do you think? Is it some kind of trap?" said Kurenai in a whisper to the Hokage, as she looked back at Hinata, and then at the Hokage again.
"Maybe. We'll agree to the terms for now, but if there is any sign of trouble from this guy, I want him dead at the hands of our ANBU, and within the span of single second," said Tsunade, as she looked at Hinata, and saw the girl waiting for the response.
"How is he even going to know we agreed to the deal?" said Kurenai, as they now had no means of contacting the masked hunter, and made things very troublesome.
"He knows. The masked hunter is using a Shadow Clone to hear everything on the wall of Konoha," said Hinata, as she pointed to the spot where the two older women saw the figure look at them with flashing red eyes before he went "poof".
"Well that solves that problem, but you still need to tell me what happened while you were his captive Hinata," said Tsunade, as she looked at the girl with stern eyes, and saw the girl was not afraid to answer her questions.
"I understand Hokage-sama," said Hinata, as she walked with the Hokage, and Kurenai to the tower to tell them everything they needed to know about the masked hunter.
(A/N: YAY! I updated. This is all my brain could produce at the moment. I'm tired from play nearly 6 hours worth of Assassin's Creed 2. THAT GAME IS THE SHIT! Picks up right where the other one left off. Having problems finding the glyphs though and some of the puzzles really baffle you. Until next time...PEACE!!!)
