Chapter four: Run while you still can

Hinata was basically at her limit in every way possible. She was physically exhausted, and the mental breakdown she was having while running away from the people who were most likely going to kill her wasn't exactly ideal either. She'd been running for hours on end and the sad few hours of sleep she'd gotten didn't really help when faced with everything that was going on.

Her lungs were burning, her body was aching and her feet were so blistered that she was afraid to even look at what was hidden inside her boots. She felt like she couldn't breathe, but she still kept going. Even with her body being pushed to it's absolute limit, it didn't help that the stress she was under was making her feel like she could have a heart attack at any given moment. Her body was filled with adrenaline, which was the only thing keeping her from completely passing out.

The blue-haired princess was in an obscure way actually quite amazed with herself and how far she'd gotten with her friends and even on her own. For her, it was a big thing. The fact that she was able to push herself beyond all these limits she thought she had just with her own willpower was mindblowing. She really embraced the fact that her boundaries only existed in her imagination. But now wasn't the time for Hinata to praise herself for a job well-done. She was basically running away from imminent death and knew that she was most likely going to die any second now.

Being killed by dark siders while trespassing on their lands because she was a fugitive from her own kingdom was never really the way she thought she'd die. Wow, what a situation had she gotten herself into.

Hinata wanted to slap herself so bad, but this wasn't the place or the time to beat herself up for decisions that were made in a group. Of course she could regret ever leaving her kingdom to join this group of runaway princesses, but when she thought about it she didn't regret her decision to leave one bit. Thinking clearly with this much adrenaline running through her body was nearly impossible, but getting out was the best thing for her. Even when faced with the possibility of dying.

Well at least she'd die trying.

The black cloak she had on flowed behind her as she ran. It was a difficult length for her and caused her to constantly fumble and trip on the damn thing. It didn't take long for her to get enough of the stupid garment. While running for your life you really don't have time to fall flat on your face with every other step you take. With a grunt of annoyance she swiftly untied the knot and felt the heavy weight of the fabric lift off of shoulders. In the corner of her eye she saw the black material fall to the ground, but honestly she was slightly jealous of the inanimate object. When she frantically continued to run in a random direction with her lungs burning, her feet aching and scared for her goddamn life, the cloak she'd thrown away just gracefully floated onto the ground.

Hinata heard her heart banging inside her head and she had a hard time breathing while running. She knew that she wanted to stop and that her running away wasn't exactly a solution to the situation she was in, but stopping wasn't an option anymore. She didn't see any of her friends around her, and they were now all running in a different direction than her, probably far away from where she was. She was alone in this. For the first time in her life she was actually alone with nobody there to help her.

There wasn't a lot of sunlight coming through the thick tree branches, but Hinata was able to deduct that it was about midday. She could feel the scarce sun rays coming from right above her, but she was too scared to look up. She just wanted to run and not turn her head, because otherwise it would mean that she'd lose sight of where she was going. Despite of her not wanting to move her gaze anywhere, there was curiosity bubbling in Hinata's stomach that was urging her to see if anyone was even following her.

Suddenly the princess could feel something inside of her. If was like a tingle somewhere very deep inside that was slowly taking over her whole body. It started out very subtle, but slowly it started to feel like she was connecting with the deepest and most hidden part of herself that she didn't know even existed. And then it happened.

Hinata felt a pulsation run through her and she felt something click inside of her. With the next blink she could see everything around her, full 360 degrees. Her body was going on full defensive mode and Hinata didn't even realize it. Honestly she didn't even know how to do it, but surprisingly she didn't feel scared at all. Hinata didn't mind her body being autopiloted at all while her emotions were taking the best of her and clouding her concentration.

Figuring out how her heightened awareness of her surroundings worked wasn't a fast process, but it did seem to come naturally for her. When she focused enough she could see it all come together as a single and clear picture in her mind. And that's when she saw it. Something getting closer and closer to her in an insanely fast velocity. She immediately saw and knew that there was no going back if it reached her. There was no way she was getting out of this just by running with her own little two feet, she could never outrun whatever was soon going to be reaching her.

"I can't do it.." Hinata whispered to herself.

She could see it coming closer. She felt it's presence near her.

And with that she felt another tingling pulse run through her body and energy pulsed out her body. It didn't hurt, it was almost a pleasure like sensation filling her. She felt everything from the bottom of her feet to the crown of her head to the tips of her fingers just aligning and flowing together in harmony, vibrating in a strangely familiar way. With all this newfound energy running through her veins, in that moment Hinata felt invincible. Like she had all the power in the world inside of her slender little body.

But then she freaked out when she felt something suddenly grab her wrist. And like that, all of the floodgates burst open. Hinata wasn't exactly sure if she was screaming and crying out of pain or exctasy, but the feeling of all the built up power leaving her closed off body was overwhelming her. Soon enough she came down from her high, not really knowing what had happened just moments before. It was all a blur. And then she saw him on the ground, trying to get back on his feet, soaking wet.

"Oh crap."

"WHAT THE FUCK?!"

Hinata couldn't run. She couldn't move. She could hardly breathe when watching the blonde rider from before yell at her. The only way possible to describe her being was frozen. One touch and she could break -kind of frozen. She was exhausted, it was like all power was drained out of her slender body. With wide eyes she just stared at him. She just couldn't get herself to move away.

"HOW DID YOU DO THAT?! WAS THAT YOU!?" He screamed more, his face reddened and hands vigorously pointing at her. Now, if there was something to be known about her, Hinata wasn't someone who liked confrontation. Not that it was in any way relevant to the situation, she just didn't think there was any need to scream at her. The situation was just making her uncomfortable in so many weird ways that she didn't even want to think about it.

What came to answering his question, if that even was a question, she didn't want to. She wasn't obligated to, not that she could get even a single word out of her mouth. And even if she could've answered, it was better to not speak at all at this point. If she was in her sane mind and NOT a fugitive, she could've somehow wiggled her way out of this with speaking, but the situation she was in was waay past that option.

So she did the one thing she could and should've done way sooner - she ran. She just ran as fast as she could in a random direction, not really thinking much about it. It was a desperate action from a desperate girl and she knew it, but maybe this was the one time that it actually worked. And maybe it could have if it wasn't for the fact that she was exhausted and didn't really have anywhere to run since she was being cornered by a large rock formation in one direction and a steep uphill in another.

And then it hit her.

The blue-haired princess felt herself being knocked over and fell down to the ground with a loud thump. Hinata let out an uncontrollable squeal when she felt the huge weight falling right on top her, pinning her hard against the cold ground. The slightly wet moss, stones and tree roots that she was being pushed against weren't exactly making the experience more pleasurable. She heard ringing in her ears, there was no way she wouldn't be bruised after all this.

"Get off me." Hinata grunted. She knew exactly who was responsible for knocking her to the ground and she was not happy about it. But before she could even register what happened she was pulled to her feet and pushed against a treetrunk. He was pinning her wrists right next to her head, towering over her and he wasn't being too careful with his actions either. But before Hinata managed to get a word of objection out of her mouth, she realized that she could finally see his face up close.

His spiky blonde hair was now drenched and droplets of water were still falling down from it to his face, but Hinata felt herself mesmerized by this stranger. She carefully watched his perfect complexion and noted the small whisker-like markings on the sides of his face. She noted the smallest detail, but lastly found herself lost in his striking caribbean blue eyes. She didn't realize that time was actually going by, but the blonde boy sure noticed that she wasn't exactly focusing.

His grip on her wrists loosened. "Uh, hello?"

He was clearly very confused, his eyes softening and his movements beginning to loosen up. Why was he completely drenched from head to toe? Was it her fault? Who was this girl? Who were her friends? Why were they hiding and running away? There were a lot of questions that he wanted answers to, but the girl she wanted them from was completely out of it.

"Are you feeling alright?" Naruto carefully tried to connect with the girl. He was in total confusion and she was completely out of it. Why was he wet? Who was this girl? He then proceeded to let go of her wrist, which then instantly dropped down next to her side. Naruto then brushed a few locks of hair out of the way of the pearlish eyes of the girl and waved his hand in front of them, seeing if it had any effect on her.

Hinata watched his lips, his face. Everything seemed so far away for just a moment. She watched him just be. His lips were slightly open, words coming out of his mouth. His eyes were worried, she could tell. She could in a way feel his aura change from hostile to something more calm, more concerned. And then his words finally reached her, registering into her mind.

And that snapped Hinata back to reality. It was like she had been in flowing on top of clouds in dreamland and missed everything that had really happened in the real world. Everything had been so far away and now it was just there. Suddenly there was a face in front of her and she did the only thing humanly possible.

She punched him.

The hardest she ever could.

Hinata didn't stick around to see the guy stumble back. She was still pretty freaked out by what had just happened and what was presently happening to her. But now she was slightly smarter than before and had enough time to make her grand escape, so she took off running to a completely different direction hoping that this time she could just hide, disappear and never be found.

Tenten didn't run far, she was smarter than that. She was tactical and intelligent, she was raised that way, so she knew that running forever wasn't an option. If the options were to run or hide, she would proceed straight to the second option. She would not get caught that easily. So the brunette concocted a plan. She would hide and ambush anyone that would come after her or her friends. She would make it out of this forest alive, that she was absolutely sure of. If all four of them would was what she was afraid to think about.

The brunette reached into a small leather case she'd carried around and felt the cool metal against her fingertips. Tenten's lips curved into a small smile. They were still there, she hadn't lost them. She was known for never leaving anywhere ever without at least one of her precious blades. She was definitely a force to be reckoned with, even without the magical powers she was supposed to have.

Tenten started browsing the surrounding terrain and found the perfect hiding place, a tree. A very tall fir to be exact, which she chose because they were usually thick and had branches all the way to the ground. That made them easily accessible and good places to hide overall.

Swiftly she started climbing from the ground up. With every branch she got higher. She could feel twigs and the needles of the tree grasping onto her clothes and getting stuck to her trademark two buns. But the princess didn't stop or care fr that matter. Her goal was to get as high as she could, so that way at at least she couldn't be ambushed. She had the higher ground, which was a tactical advantage that she wanted to have over anyone that would come for her.

Branch after branch she climbed higher and higher. Tenten started to feel that now was not the best time to be thinking about slipping or falling down. But despite starting to feel like she was getting pretty high, she felt confident. And even though she had nerves of steel, she couldn't help but worry that her friends were okay.

"Oh Sakura, where have we gotten ourselves int-" The brunette couldn't finish her reassuring mumbling after what felt like the earth's gravity just pulling her back. At least harder than normally. She felt her grip loosening and her body falling down uncontrollably. But Tenten pulled her knees to her chest and - somehow - managed to land smoothly on her feet, as if she was imitating a cat. She had feet wide and arms up, fists slowly clenching. There was something wrong with the situation. Tenten knew she wouldn't fall down just like that.

'I have a bad feeling about this. ' Tenten thought to herself as she continued to breathe in through the nose and out through the mouth.

And she was right.

Out of nowhere she saw a something in the corner of her eye coming from the side and it was coming fast. With a quick reaction, she managed to dodge it, but it came close. Tenten could feel the strength of that single blow in her whole body and it was giving her goosebumps. If one of those hit her in a critical spot, it could be over.

So she wouldn't let her enemies even touch her.

Suddenly there were blows coming from several directions all around her. Tenten just kept dodging and blocking the attacks. She never actually managed to catch a glimpse from her opponents, but it was like she was getting attacked by multiple people from all around her but still not at the same time. She knew that there was no giving up so she just continued on dodging and blocking the attacks - thank god she had martial arts training.

Tenten really had to tug at something deep inside of her and draw power from within herself, which would usually take immense concentration, but was especially difficult while under attack. She closed her eyes. She felt the air move around her and she started to see it unravel in her mind. It was like she could see everything, she saw a pattern. And before she even realized, she could feel where the attacks were coming from before they even happened. Suddenly she concentrated all her strength and grabbed something out of thin air. She opened her eyes and looked at what she had in her grip, which oddly seemed to resemble...an arm?

The princess stared at the body part in total confusion. Well, sure, it was attached to a body, but Tenten seemed to only realize it now. She turned her gaze into the translucent eyes of her attacker, one of the riders she'd seen before. He tried to pull away, but her grip only tightened. Her eyes were now filled with wrath and she felt a fire start deep within her. She felt power pulsing through her veins and she pushed that power into the hand that was gripping the rider's arm. The rider twitched and grunted in agony, which left Tenten confused. She didn't do anything, she was just angry and wouldn't let him go. But as the rider's face twitched in pain, Tenten decided to finally end it and punched him so hard that he fell back. Tenten's victory glory took a turn as she saw the hand shaped nasty looking burn she'd left on the man's arm. It wasn't looking good.

Tenten, confused and very scared of what had just happened, took a few steps back. She could feel her heart rate spiking, the pit in her stomach deepening. All of the hairs on her body bounced up and she was honestly scared. It took her all of her willpower not to flip out right then and there. She didn't have powers. What was happening to her was the impossible.

"Well, this can't be good." She was surprised at how nonchalant her voice sounded, but didn't exactly have time to think since the brown haired rider was back up on his feet and swung his fist at her, sinking it into her abdomen. Tenten felt herself pushed back and she managed to stay on her feet, but for multiple seconds it felt like she had no air in her lungs, like she couldn't breathe. And when she finally did, she felt a piercing pain and the punches continued. She didn't have time to block the attacks so she just had to take them, protecting her vital spots so she wouldn't die just there and then. Tenten wasn't prepared or in good condition to fight as she could barely hold air inside of her, and there was a limited amount of punches she could take. So there needed to be a change in the plan.

New tactic. Run.

And the princess sure did. She took off and started running as fast as she could, not really sure how it would work out with not really being able to breathe and having someone just beat the living shit out of you. But she felt like this was a risk she needed to take.

From far away she could see the familiar face of a blue-haired princess getting closer, her hair dancing in the air and pale face all red from running.

"Hinata get back!" Tenten screamed in absolute horror at the top of her lungs and motioned her to turn back. Tenten had to hold onto her stomach and support her left shoulder as she ran. She could feel her speed slowing down and tasted the familiar salty liquid on her tongue. She would be fine, she knew it. But she would need to get away first.

Only then did she feel her body being pushed down and crushed to the ground.

Hey! I decided to divide this into two chapters since it would've been a really long one. I'll post the other half soon though c:

Let me know about your opinions, since they are kinda supernatural. Any ideas or recommendations? Constructive criticism is always welcome

❧ Goddess of Glam