Author's note: Attention all my readers as I promised here is a new chapter of my story at greater speed than before. I was asked in a previous review if I planned to bring more adult situations (lemon and lime) scenes into this story. To be blunt I made this story a mature so I can give it my full creative spirit without hindrance. That being said if I am going to put sexual or graphic depictions into the present chapter I will place a warning at the beginning. Thank you for reading and enjoy.
The sounds outside had woken him from slumber. The high pitched chirps of the birds at the border of Wind country cut through the silent countryside like a kunai through flesh. With a deep sigh he turned his head to find both of his teammates peacefully asleep. He closed his eyes in a futile attempt to return to his dreams, but the pressure from his bladder demanded otherwise.
"Got to go," he whined as he unzipped his bag and ventured into the abnormally cold weather.
The cool morning wind spurred every hair on his body to stand on end and made the vapor of his breath visible. There seemed to have been some bizarre alteration to their environment.
'How can it be cold near the border of a desert,' He pondered as he took notice of the thin sheet of frost on landscape.
He shook the cold from his bones and ventured beyond view to complete his morning habit. It wasn't wise going out of view of one's teammates for any given amount of time. He knew that for a fact, since that mistake made him land inside a snake's belly at the Chunin exam. However, it felt safer to take that risk given on one mission he had accidentally been too close by and Sakura happened to find him while in search of water. Needless to say the memory just reminded him of pain.
"Kami its freezing," He whispered due to the exposure of his lower extremity.
'That's better,' he murmured as he finished his morning routine.
He returned to camp and to his relief no one else had woken, which meant if he was lucky he could catch a few more hours of sleep. He reached for the tent flap, but halted when he narrowly collided face to face with Hinata. Hinata's eyes widened as she tried to yelp from embarrassment due to the food bar still partially in the wrapper between her teeth. However, it sounded more like a controlled gurgle due to the obstruction.
"Uh, morning," Naruto whispered out confused to why the females face was slowly darkening in shades of red.
"Good morning, Naruto-kun," she stuttered out with a bow. The position permitted her to remove the food item, but it didn't help the hunger cramp she felt in her gut.
"Guess there isn't any hope to get back to sleep huh," he realized if Hinata was awake then Sakura would've been as well.
Hinata raised a finger to her lips that hinted for him to be quiet. Naruto listened carefully and heard slow deep breaths that indicated Sakura was still at rest. It was unusual for him to be awake before Sakura-chan. Although she appeared to have trouble in dry dusty climates that is what he figured always made her seem extra cranky and tired. He had wanted to ask her if she was allergic or something, but he always figured it was best to accept his squad mate for her good points in hopes to avoid the bad.
Naruto shook his head around to wake his brain up from the morning daze.
"Why are you up Hinata," he inquired, since to his eternal dread it was Sakura who was in charge of breakfast.
Hinata scanned her brain for the quickest and most believable response. She didn't have the courage to explain she needed to eat so her stomach didn't wake everyone.
"Um...I wanted to cook so Sakura-san would have less to worry about when we separate," she said and maneuvered around the blonde to get some relief as she hadn't eaten enough yet to prevent fainting.
Hinata Hyuuga felt her blush intensify when she realized they were going to be alone before they arrived at the Daimyo's palace. Her thoughts began to wander too far for her own good as she imagined how the sleep arrangement would've been if Sakura hadn't come with them.
'Is there a chance I could sleep beside him? What if he wants to simply stay up and speak with me? Will he actually want to learn more about me? Will I act weird and mess everything up? What would we even talk about,' she wondered in a state of terror and excitement.
"Hinata? Hinata," Naruto asked when her eyes started to twirl in their sockets and steam lightly sprayed from her tomato shaded face.
Naruto squinted his face in confusion when she hadn't come out of her daze. He decided to go and wet his face at the nearby river and hopefully Hinata would be aware when he returned.
Hinata gasped when her brain's thought trail ended and her crush had vanished. It was a terrible low to start the day with; another failure to make a positive impression on him. However, as a small reward she noticed she hadn't fainted and that gave her hope that she could talk with him alone and be okay.
'I better start cooking,' she thought and continued to devour her calorie bar.
Sakura was in a perfect paradise. No that description was an understatement of the heaven she found herself engulfed in. Her tired feet were gifted with a tender massage and a warm bath, which was all done by a rather attractive black haired male. Her mind diverted elsewhere on her body as another pair of muscular hands worked each and every inch of muscle on her back. She purred lightly and felt like her very being was soon to melt into a puddle if the activities progressed.
"What more do you wish, Mistress Sakura," a third voiced asked as he offered a tray of freshly peeled fruit.
"Nothing," she sighed and savored the position of power.
She opened her mouth in a wordless plea for a piece of peeled fruit to be fed to her.
"It's delicious," rang throughout the crevices of her mind.
The illusion brought on from her sleep dissipated into nothing. The food, luxury, and men vanished from her grasp.
She grunted as she opened her eyes to the light of day. More wonderful dreams destroyed before she got to the best part.
'Dammit,' thundered her inner persona.
It wasn't a huge inconvenience being woken up from getting the rest she needed. As a medic Nin you learned quickly how to function on miniscule amounts of sleep; it was required to adequately do ones job. But, there was another physical requirement she possessed that needed to be relieved.
It had only been about eight months since she last been physically satisfied. Although, it wasn't in the way most figured. Sakura wasn't someone to sleep around, because of morals and the lack of suitable male ninja in Konoha.
She in the past asked Kakashi to merely hypnotize her with his Sharingan, since it could create rather realistic scenarios. It had definitely been awkward to ask her sensei to help her sate her lust. Although, the man himself read porn whenever he got the chance so he probably figured everyone had different needs and ways to resolve them.
"I'm glad you enjoy it," she heard a softer voice though it was still an annoyance to her sharpened senses.
Sakura left the protective warmth of her sleeping bag to retrieve her allergy meds. She knew it was necessary to alleviate her antipathy before everyone ventured out into the dust trap. Her allergic reaction wasn't anything drastic; it was just a made it difficult to breathe due to excessive dryness in her throat.
She found her pills inside her equipment pouch and was glad to see her canteen of water was left in the tent corner.
'Wonderful morning routine,' she sighed with sarcasm as she self medicated. A few moments later she joined her companions outside for breakfast. The flavor of the soup was wonderful enough to make her forget the pot had been cleaned by Naruto's mouth.
"What's the plan of travel for today," Naruto asked suddenly interested in was ahead of them. That and he wanted to know if he should exchange his orange and black jumpsuit for; orange shorts and a black and orange vest.
"We're going to head through the desert for about four hours. Once we reach Yamata Lake we'll separate and it's only a day's walk to the Daimyo's palace and the village of Tengu," Sakura confirmed as she pointed at the red line Hinata had drawn on her map the previous day.
"When will you be separate from us Sakura-san," Hinata asked a bit impatiently, since she had from the day before prayed to get some alone time with Naruto-kun.
"Once we resupply our water at the lake," Sakura responded with a grunt as she put the pack of medicine on.
"Where will we meet you once you deliver the medicine," Naruto wondered if the plan was to regroup after or to remain separated for the return trip.
He personally didn't worry about Sakura being alone, since she was a superior medic Nin and had Tsunade's insane strength. What he was worried about was the Daimyo; he had only met with a few noble individuals while he traveled with Jiraiya. He wasn't even sure if he was allowed to speak or only if spoken to.
"I'll join you both at the Daimyo's palace once I've administered medical treatment to the villagers," she responded as they began their journey again.
"Sounds like a plan," Naruto smiled as they headed out into the dry heat of the desert valley.
'I'll be alone with you soon Naruto-kun,' Hinata smiled as she hurried to the front of the line.
Business had taken a turn for the better. There may have been a small depression in the Konoha economy, but people refused to cut back on everything. Taro forgot the pain in his neck muscles as a small green haired female stood on his back and expertly popped his bones back into place.
"Anzu, whatever I pay you it's not enough," he moaned at the pleasure his physical therapist brought him.
She giggled slightly as she exerted more pressure along the upper vertebra of his spine with her foot.
"Taro, I have the figures of the last month's profits," echoed a softer female voice from the shadows.
A middle aged woman with long red hair wrapped up in a bun walked into the light. She wore a formal black kimono with a scarlet obi about her waist. She had a small black booklet in her arms with gold letters along its cover, which read "Rising Sun Cathouse."
"Anzu, don't stop. What is our profit margin so far," he asked to prevent his relaxation from being cut short.
"Twenty-three percent over last month, though several men have started to 'grab' attention recently. This includes that white haired pervert Jiraiya," she snarled, since Jiraiya on his last visit had pinched her rear so many times she had developed a bruise.
"You're all former Kunoichi. I would figure you were able to defend yourselves," he shot back well assured.
It was a secret to many of the village inhabitants, as well as the regular foreign visitors they got on a usual basis, but more than ninety percent of the females that were employed at his business were former Kunoichi.
Every village had the dreadful problem of ninja returning from missions injured. Although, the worse was to have them return with a career ending wound. This was a punishment worse than death for most. The change from deadly missions to a day of repetitive activity with customers was far more then difficult.
The other dilemma was that no village offered assistance to their injured Shinobi. This meant once you were disabled there were two choices: get another job that you could physically do or have someone else take care of you.
"I figured if word traveled around about our employee's harmful natures, the need for services would dramatically fall," she spoke and double checked the numbers for next month's income.
"Alright issue extra charges against offenders," he cut off when Anzu stepped firmly on his abdomen to show she wasn't satisfied with his course of action.
"Hire a few more bouncers, and give them a few free 'pleasures' as a way to avoid payment to them," he sighed when the painful pressure reverted to euphoric bliss.
"That's right, I forgot you were trained to kill by hitting nerve points," he grunted out through the pain.
"Hai," Anzu replied as she licked her lips at the sight of the pain she inflicted
"I'll speak with some when they come in and act like you aren't here," Mist laughed as she took her leave from the private room.
Naruto raised the canteen to his mouth again in a futile attempt to salvage any residual drops of water from the crevices around the cap. The heat from the sun was one of the harsh things of the current environment while the desiccated breeze that sandblasted their skin was the second. He had done the best he could to cool himself off and stripped down to his black and orange vest and his orange and white shorts.
Sakura hadn't needed to change her wardrobe much, since her outfit was actually suited for hot environments. Hinata was the only one who hadn't removed any clothes. The Hyuuga worried what reaction she would get if she displayed her body for Naruto. That and she already felt flushed due to the combination of the heat and the sight of the blonde's toned legs.
"I'm out," Naruto shouted as he closed one eye and starred into the empty container.
"I have about half left," Sakura groaned as she handed it back to Naruto.
"Mine is nearly empty as well," Hinata kept her byakugan active to see if they were anywhere near the edge of the arid region. That and it gave her the ability to watch her crush without him being aware.
"It's so hot," Naruto shouted due to his low tolerance to dry climates.
"Complaints won't make it any better," Sakura shouted worse off than the other two to, due to heavy pack full of medical supplies.
"Dammit, I think I'm melting," inner Sakura groaned as the heat started to bake her from the inside out.
"I can see something, there are a few trees and I think water," Hinata focused her eyes a bit further to confirm it wasn't a mirage. She smirked with relief that they had found an unmarked oasis in their path.
Sakura halted and pulled out a map and compass. She hoped the constant spray of sand and the tedious landscape of sand dunes hadn't thrown them off course.
"This doesn't seem right. This place was supposed to be nearly three miles east of here," she thought and attempted to calculate out their exact location by the duration of their travel and direction.
"Can't we stop and just enjoy a place to cool off," Naruto pleaded with them to help save his sanity, which was going to break if he didn't get some water, or at the very least some shade.
Sakura and Hinata both nodded in agreement to a small stop.
They increased their pace from a leisure walk to a full dash to the safe haven. It took several minutes for them to arrive and once they did the majestic atmosphere of the spot blossomed. There were palm trees that screened them from the sun and a ten foot wide spring.
"I'm wondering how a new oasis appeared since the last time this area was mapped," Sakura asked, but wouldn't overlook a respite as she soaked a bit of cloth and wrapped her forehead.
"It wouldn't be out of the question for a ninja village to create an oasis for their ninja or traveling merchants," Hinata offered her thoughts.
"Naruto-kun," she gulped when she noticed Naruto had merely shoved his head beneath the water's surface to drink to his heart's content.
"I suppose it is possible. Either way we should gather what we need and continue," Sakura ordered as she filled her canteen.
"AH," Naruto exclaimed as he surfaced for air.
The trio all refilled themselves with water and Naruto went a step further and soaked his shirt and put it back on. They all enjoyed themselves and relished the chilled fluid.
Everything came to a stop when Hinata was the first to notice that there was no longer any wind. In fact, the entire region seemed to have fallen onto deaf ears. There was nothing, not even a buzzard's caw. The landscape had gone eerily quiet and that made them all go on edge.
"Something's out there," Naruto whispered.
The earth itself started to vibrate. It felt like a massive earthquake as the tremors knocked all of them off balance.
"Byakugan," the Hyuuga female spoke as she tried her best to spot whatever had caused the havoc underground. The world faded to black and white, yet there wasn't a single thing that she saw that could have caused the seismic event.
A shower of sand poured down upon all of them as a shock wave of sound deafened the region.
A colossal worm tore up from the desert sand and had several seconds of hang time before it crashed back to the ground. The quake tossed them all into the air and left them to flop into the sand in awkward positions. Sakura and Hinata had been lucky enough to land on their bottoms. Naruto had been unfortunate enough to land on his face and the residual moisture from his face dunk left him caked in sandy mud.
"Yuck," Naruto yelled as he crawled back toward the water and dunked his head so he could see again.
Sakura grabbed a hold of his leg and yanked him behind the cover of a small palm tree. Each of them decided to get fully hidden before any attempt to do recon on the situation.
"Where the hell did that thing come from," Sakura whispered to Hinata
"I'm not sure, I didn't believe that any living creature that wasn't summoned could grow to such a size," she responded while she examined the thing from head to tail or what she believed was the head and tail.
It wasn't the usual type of worm, since it had almost a plate like skin that covered its entirety. One end appeared to have some retractable plates and almost limitless rows of teeth underneath. She peered along its body to locate anything suspicious, but she couldn't look into it. It seemed almost impossible for her not to be able to, yet she knew her clan's bloodline had limits. The Byakugan couldn't see through things that were saturated with chakra, or if it were incredibly dense.
"Do you think it's dangerous," Naruto asked, noticed the thing slithered about without purpose, as if just out for a stroll.
A loud boom followed as an eruption of water gushed from the hole the invertebrate had created.
"It must be the reason all of these oases have shown up. It must have burrowed down into an underground water reservoir and made pools when it surfaced," Sakura postulated.
"Something's coming out of its mouth," the Hyuuga warned just as a series of different voices carried over the silent sandy area.
"Stupid, damn thing missed the fucking spot again!"
"I can't believe we have to travel in that damn carcass eater. It smells like death, vomit, and ass."
"You'd figure that a Chunin would be able to get his damn monsters to listen to him."
The last man's comment was cut short by a palm strike that crippled his throat and narrowly crushed his air pipe. The sounds returned to silence as a group of thirty individuals exited the mouth of the sand worm and began to approach the trio of Leaf ninja.
"All of you may keep your damn comments to yourself or be buried amongst the other mutineers and renegades that crossed me," a man with red hair shouted as he brought his hands together and made the giant animal vanish in a cloud of smoke.
He was the best dressed of the group. He wore a pair of white pants stained brown from the desert breeze. The rest of his outfit was a sleeveless tan shirt, a silver bracelet on each wrist, and a red scarf covering his mouth and nose with.
Hinata examined the group and made a quick analysis of the problem at hand. There were twenty-eight men and two women. Twenty five of them were common thugs that didn't even have developed chakra systems. The other five were ninja, but she couldn't make any designation on their rank based on their chakra systems.
"Five of them are ninja," she stated prepared for the worse as the mob approached.
"Why would they have just normal bandits along with them? Wouldn't it make more sense to have trained Shinobi in a desert gang," Naruto whispered confused as to what would be the best action.
"They're just helping hands, but that doesn't matter we weren't assigned to confront any hooligans and we could probably escape if we just made a dash for the lake," Sakura instructed and pulled out a set of flash bombs and another odd looking ball wrapped in pink and purple stripped ribbons.
The mob was merely a thirty feet away before a sudden explosion and flash of light caught most of them off guard. The five ninja covered their eyes and took off in three different directions. Their eyesight only just began to return when another barrage of bombs found its way to a pair of them. A cloud of black enveloped them, which left a pair of them in a coma like state.
They made a break from their cover with Sakura upfront and Hinata and Naruto behind her. The plan appeared to have been executed flawlessly. At least it had been until the ground shuddered once more and a thirty by hundred foot wall proved a reasonable obstacle before them.
"Blossom thrust," Sakura shouted as she struck the roadblock with all her strength. The rock exploded outward in a ten foot circular hole for them to escape through before the entire object came crashing down.
"SHA," Sakura yelled as she turned to no longer see Hinata and Naruto behind her.
The rock wall had formed a void between the squad and it wasn't any better as the two last Nin engaged them. The genin level Nin had fully exhausted his chakra to form such a massive barrier in an instant.
"Shadow Clone Technique," Naruto made his favorite seal and seven clones came to help him as the red haired leader came right at him.
"Ami," the man whispered and made a direct assault against the blonde. His combat skills were evidently far superior as instantly evidenced when he blocked and countered all of Naruto's clones and sent them back to clouds of smoke. Naruto grunted and made more clones and continued his counter to the man's fighting style.
"Eat this," Naruto laughed as all his clones extracted kunai and shuriken for their leg holsters and rained down metal death upon the red head.
The steel weapons all connected to their intended target, but there stood the red head without a single injury on him. His skin showed a series of cracks and chips that slowly sealed back together.
"Why the hell does Konoha want to eliminate us," The red head asked as he began to form seals in slow progression.
"Konoha doesn't care about a bunch of missing nin in the dessert we don't even know who the hell you are," said one of the clones, since Naruto didn't want to give away his location.
"My name is Kelgan though it doesn't matter if you know it or not. I've needed to kill something lately anyways," he spoke as his bracelets slipped off his wrists and seemed to hover a few inches away from his hands.
Naruto gathered his clones and soon there were several rasengan spheres being spun in massive numbers.
Hinata was confused about what type of strength the female she was fighting against had. She had waited and expected the blue haired girl to take an offensive just like the red head had, but she hadn't made any attempt to attack short of the kunai and shuriken she tossed at her.
"She hasn't attacked yet, either she knows about the Hyuuga fighting style or just wants to draw me in," she thought and lowered into her stance with no sense of urgency. That was until she checked on Naruto and saw a massive cloud of smoke accumulated around that red head.
"Naruto-kun," she thought and her strategy immediately went out the window.
She rushed the girl in desperation to finish her fight fast enough to help Naruto. The female jumped backwards a series of steps before she disappeared in a mini sand storm. Hinata smiled confident in her blood limit as she closed her eyes and was still able to view everything. Against a normal opponent the kunoichi's plan probably would've worked, but she obviously had never fought a Hyuuga before.
"You can't hide," she thought as she dashed through the haze and found her target's chest with a palm strike. The female grabbed her chest and buckled to her knees. Her face went from a cringe to a smirk as she exploded into a barrage of kunai and shuriken. The female Shinobi erupted from her real position fifty feet back hidden under the sand.
"Another body to the pile," echoed the girl to Kelgan and took off to help him.
She froze in her tracks when a kunai flew by her face. There stood a pale eyed girl with a series of cuts and tears all over her body. Hinata had luckily saved herself with a sudden pulse of her chakra to reduce the lethality of the projectiles. However, her attempt wasn't powerful enough to stop them all. She even had a kunai stuck in left her arm and she removed it with a quick jerk.
"I need to stay calm. Naruto-kun needs me to be a reliable teammate. I can't fail him," she thought and took a moment to see if any of her body parts couldn't function properly.
"Gentle step: twin lion fists," she spoke and lowered her stance as blue chakra formed into the shape of lion heads about her hands.
"I'm strong enough to do this, I promised that I wouldn't be a burden to Naruto-kun," she thought and took an offensive again.
The blue haired girl once again brought her hands up to form a seal to produce her sandstorm again. That was until a kunai flew from the Hyuuga's hand, aimed right at her heart.
"Shit that damn technique obscured her hands enough to hide a kunai," she thought and grabbed the kunai out of the air and used it to attack.
Hinata was on her the next second. The female swung with the kunai, but she didn't expect the pale eyed girl to move so fluidly. She slid underneath the slice and brought both of her hands upward and struck the coils underneath the lungs.
Her mind came to a stop when an enormous pain overwhelmed her entire nervous system and put her into shock. Hinata had made the girl vulnerable for the one second that she needed and incapacitated her in a single blow. The girl couldn't tell what damage was done to her, but Hinata could easily see that her attack had successfully ruptured both chakra coils.
Hinata felt it was gratuitous to harm her opponent further when the female collapsed to her knees in unimaginable pain. She hadn't wanted to use an attack like that, yet she had done so in order to help Naruto-kun.
"Hinata," echoed loud enough for her to return from her thoughts.
An object suddenly caught her off guard as some weird disc had entered into her blind spot. She turned and braced herself, since she didn't have the necessary time to dodge. The next second she found herself tackled to the ground by Naruto the disc had just passed through her hair
*CRACK*
The weapon had missed its designated target, but showed it was deadly when it caved the blue haired girl's forehead inward.
"Naruto-kun," Hinata questioned though was a bit embarrassed still to have him on top of her.
"Are you alright," he asked, his teethed clinched at the situation they had just avoided.
"Hai," she answered with disappointment, since she needed to be saved again. Although, she had to admit she didn't mind the feel of his embrace around her.
"Think you can fight still," he asked, finally back to his own feet.
Hinata nodded her head in affirmation and looked closely to see what it was those discs were. She noticed the metal ring returned to the redhead's hands in an arch. She checked closer with her eyes and saw strands of chakra between the items and his fingers.
Naruto smiled in the renewed confidence now that he had back-up and felt even better when Sakura showed up without the pack. No words needed to be exchanged as they all knew what they each needed to accomplish.
Kelgan found himself on the defensive. He tossed both bracelets outward from him and charged right for the pink haired girl.
He tossed a few punches and with perfected movement of his fingers eliminated numerous shadow clones. He spotted another one from the corner of his eye and navigated his bracelet to take it out. He couldn't restrain his smirk when another clone vanished; since he knew each one he eliminated made the user more exhausted.
Kelgan tugged on his chakra strings and worried when he didn't feel the resistance caused by moving the metal objects. He saw his discs veer off course and erupt sand clouds from the ground. He searched the mob of clones around him and noticed a sudden puff of smoke as one of the blonde clones turned back into that pale eyed female. She had used the smoke from the destroyed clones to disguise herself and then hid among them to take away the only thing that let him fight at a distance.
Sakura capitalized on the distraction and landed a punch directly on Kelgan. He raised his right arm to defend himself and expected the female to retract her fist in pain. He felt like he had tried to stop a boulder with his hand. He heard a sick crunch as the ulna and radius in his arm snapped and protruded from his skin.
The blow made him skip along the sand like a rock on a pond. When he finally came to a stop his arm shook from the immense pain. His arm swung limply as he worked back up to his feet.
"I won't end here I refuse to let these fucking children end my life," he thought as his rage drowned out his pain.
Kelgan bit into his left thumb and ran through the necessary hand seals.
"Summoning Technique," he roared and smashed his left hand to the ground. A cluster of colossal worms with armor plated skin erupted out of the sand all of them prepared to battle.
"I hope you don't mind. These worms usually are carrion eaters, but occasionally they do like to make their own instead," he laughed as he lay on the largest one's head to regain his strength.
Naruto bit his left thumb and ran through the familiar hand seals about to summon when it hit him. He couldn't; if he summoned a toad to a climate like this it would be a greater burden then benefit. That and the thought of an angry Gamabunta wasn't a thing that he wanted.
"Any ideas," Naruto asked, completely out of his own for once.
"Watch out," echoed prior to an explosive force that sent one of the large invertebrates into another and made them vanish in a puff of smoke.
Sakura landed next to the others and wondered why the hell it had taken them so long to react.
"Come on hurry," she yelled and tried to get them back on the original plan which was escape.
The squad was far too distracted to take action and didn't notice the large worm form a bulge near its stomach that began to head to its mouth.
"Crimson Blood Oil!"
A stream of black liquefied dead animal fat, blood, and bone poured out of the beast's body.
Naruto only took a moment to notice the tactic, which was to ignite that junk. It was normally a good thing to end up being right, but in this instance he would've preferred it if he hadn't been.
"Corpse Cremation," Kelgan roared as he spat a ball of fire into the black ooze.
"Kaiten," Hinata called over the roar of the flames that headed toward them.
Hinata hadn't needed anytime to think about it, she knew they wouldn't be able to dodge the attack. However, she wasn't about to let her teammates die without some attempt to protect them.
She spun as quickly as she could and got an unexpected side effect of the sand being lifted up with the whirl of chakra. The blaze struck the barrier of chakra and sand. A majority of the attack lost its intensity, since the sand both absorbed the oil and smothered the fire. The onslaught continued for only five seconds before the worm snapped its gullet shut, empty of all its internal contents.
"Nobody has ever survived that attack," Kelgan thought with a hardened stare, although he wasn't yet going to let his guard down. This batch of kids had been unpredictable thus far.
He couldn't say for sure if any of them escaped with the cloud of smoke nearly impenetrable. The sand particles took several moments to settle only to reveal a rather dirty trio caked in dirt and grime. The paled eyed girl from what he could see began to dance in a circle while she flailed her arms around.
His teeth had nearly turned to powder with the strain he put on them. That female hadn't only defeated a few of his companions, but now mocked him after she countered his attack.
"Fucking whore has the audacity to dance after that," he inwardly stabbed.
These three children had been a splinter in his side. But, with his chakra level low and his gang in disarray it was time to cut his losses.
"We'll meet again you little bastards," he shrieked with plenty of blood lust behind it before he disappeared into the sand as the worm suddenly dipped downward with its jaws into a new burrow.
The trio breathed a heavy sigh of relief, glad to see the monstrous worm gone. It allowed the adrenaline levels in their veins to lower, which was sublime.
Hinata was fully bent over to help catch her breath, which was all thanks to the exertion she undertook to stop that attack. She also had thanked Kami that the sand had helped to protect them. While it did help she hadn't expected it, which was evident in the amount of dirt she had gotten into her mouth.
"Hinata," resounded behind her as a certain blonde ran toward her at full speed and made her go stiff as a board when she looked up to come face to face with cerulean orbs.
She squeaked, startled by his proximity, and wasn't anymore comforted when he seemed to put his arms around her for a hug.
"I'm not ready for this," she yelped, but the astonishment was lost when he began to pat out the small patches of fire on her jacket.
"Anybody hurt," Sakura asked as she shook black sandy clods of muck out of her pink locks.
"Hinata is," Naruto answered for her and observed the wound in her left arm.
"It's not that bad," she replied in a soft voice.
Naruto examined the cut and wasn't too happy with what he had seen. He reached into his equipment pouch and pulled out a small wooden container. He took off the lid and inside was a white ointment that the Hyuuga recognized.
It was the same container of ointment that she gave to him after his battle with Kiba at the Chuunin exam.
"You kept it," she thought with amazement as to what it must have meant that he kept it after all that time.
"I can't reach it," he said as he noted her jacket was in the way.
"I…I," she began and felt her face redden as he stood by and waited for her to remove the obstruction.
"I…know I shouldn't but," she wanted to think of a possible way out of the removal of her clothes. But when she looked into his azure eyes and they plead to let him help her she gave in.
"Hai," she whispered as she unzipped her jacket and removed the entire cover from her body.
Naruto felt his eyes expend when he noticed the two sizable items of the Hyuuga female's chest. He was caught off guard by the small tight fitting black shirt she had on and fishnet cover on top of that. He lost himself as he stared, yet he managed to force air down his throat to clear his mind and continued in his original plan.
He moved to her left side and lightly dipped his fingers into the pearl colored cream. He slowly made several passes along the gash in her arm and made sure not to leave a single bit of red uncovered. He continued in his work and circled around her with a keen eye for any other cuts.
"He's touching me," she thought with rosy cheeks that darkened each time she felt his soft touch. Words couldn't describe how incredible it was. His hands were rough from all the exercise he did, yet she couldn't tell with how gentle he was with her.
"That's about it," he confirmed to himself as he closed up the empty container.
"That was different," he thought, glad that the experience was over. He didn't want to admit it, but he couldn't keep his stare off of the chakra reserves on Hinata's chest. He had offered to fix up her wounds, since she was a precious person to him. However, when he actually started to apply the ointment it felt strange in a good way to him.
Hinata held back a grumble when he said he was finished. She for one would've enjoyed him continuing to treat her.
Sakura wiped some of the dirt off her body and didn't seem to have much luck with the grime that had been caked into her hair.
"Alright, let's keep going," she said and they all continued on the path to Yamata Lake.
Hinata tried to wear her jacket, but found that the item had more holes in it then she first thought. She released a deep sigh and wrapped the item around her waist.
"I don't have any choice," she reassured herself and felt some relief in the knowledge that her current state couldn't be helped.
Naruto looked around and noticed Hinata was now revealed for him to view. His mind ceased all function when he savored the rare sight. He couldn't help himself as he examined her features. She had slender arms, an hourglass shape to her body, and her skin was a light cream color.
Hinata felt Naruto's eyes wander over her body once more, which made her feel hot all over. The attention made her feel awkward, scared, and a bit flattered that she appeared desirable. She turned and caught his stare toward her breasts, which made him blush and turn his attention elsewhere. It felt so strange to her, because she had never really been sized up in that fashion before.
"I need to eat, but what would Naruto think of me," she wondered with dread as the usual stomach pain popped up. She couldn't fight the tide however, and pulled out a calorie bar from her equipment pouch and began to consume it.
Naruto didn't know why he blushed when she noticed his stare, but when she started to eat a sudden conclusion dawned on him.
"So that is where all Hinata's weight is going. I wonder if Sakura-chan would benefit in the same way if she started on the same diet," he pondered and couldn't help but imagine larger breasts on his pink haired friend, which made him drool slightly.
Hinata took a second to look back at him and nearly gagged when she noticed the hungry look from the blonde.
"Did I grab his attention by showing more of my body," she thought. The idea inspired her on how to further grab his attention. However, she couldn't bring herself to seduce and entice men as other women did. She just had too much modesty and too little self-confidence.
"I will make sure you notice me, Naruto-kun," she assured herself as they continued.
They reached the edge of the wasteland shortly and were all overjoyed to see the lake. What they hadn't expected was for there to be a nearby inn with a sizable number of travelers outside of it. The majority of them appeared rather aggravated by something.
"Why are there so many travelers here," Sakura asked, since it didn't bode well for her further travel plans.
Sakura decided to investigate further and went into the business without her companions to figure things out.
Hinata took a second to try and gather herself enough to talk with Naruto. She had planned for so long on what she would talk to him about, yet no matter how many times the opportunity presented itself her brain refused to translate thoughts into words.
She was about to speak before a shout engulfed all the other noises of the area. A demonic looking pink haired female stomped out.
Sakura couldn't believe the bad luck she had. The bridge that normally joined the two sides of the chasm was closed due to repairs. However, that wasn't the worse news. She had figured that all she needed to do was wait until no one was around and sneak across. The only problem with that was that the workers had destroyed the entire bridge and began reconstruction from the other side.
"Looks like I'll just go with you until the bridge is repaired," Sakura laughed out a bit nervous at the integrity of the medical supplies if she needed to wait.
Hinata wanted to shout at the sky to demand to know what she had done to deserve such a fate. She knew if she made a scene it would just make her feel worse than she already did, but couldn't it be anyone besides Sakura? She swallowed the little hope to be alone with Naruto and kept her face pointed down as they took off once more.
"Excuse me, miss," said a soft male voice.
The group stopped and saw a small child make a bee line toward Sakura with a piece of paper in hand.
"Mother wanted…you to know…there is a detour…a few miles up the road," he said between gasps for air.
"A detour," Sakura questioned as she took the parchment and looked at the information.
Travelers and merchants heading to Tengu and neighbor areas:
We apologize for any inconvenience on your craft or trade. Harsh winds of the valley have made travel conditions across the bridge dangerous. All merchants are advised to avoid said area and take alternative 5 day route around mountains.
Sakura licked her lips and gave the child an expression that stated louder than words she didn't like the time frame. The child appeared unaffected and returned an expression that urged her to read the rest.
At this time a line system is in place to carry individuals to the other side. We thank you and may Kami guide you along any path you choose.
Sakura smirked and sighed. She knew she had no choice other than to use the line system and reach the village.
"Well guess this is where we part. We'll meet back here at the inn and start back tomorrow morning," she said as she took off across the lake to cut the distance to the bridge.
Naruto smiled wide and waved his friend a quick bye. It shocked him how quickly she took off, but he knew the sooner she went and administered the medicine the sooner she would return to the inn and rest.
Hinata felt like she could cry with how wonderfully things had altered. She took back all the terrible thoughts she had that Kami was against her. Now was her chance to take a step in the right direction.
*At the Palace Gates*
Hinata had tried the entire walk to get a conversation going with Naruto. However, she was so worried about what to speak to him about that she spent the whole time in thought. This combined with the small glances Naruto took of her when he thought she wasn't aware made her heart race so fast she lost her train of thought.
"Identify yourself," shouted a female soldier dressed in green and blue battle armor with a rather fearsome looking halberd in her right hand.
"Were ninja from the hidden Leaf village with an urgent message for the Fire Daimyo," Hinata shouted her voice suddenly capable to make noise.
Hinata removed the scroll from her weapon pouch and displayed the seal for inspection.
The soldier looked over said item and noted the green seal used for a vital message that required the Daimyo's attention.
"Open the Gate," she screamed and the large wooden doors folded inward and gave access to the two.
The inside was truly fit for a king, well a lord to be accurate. The walkway was flanked with golden pillars that supported the sculpted roof. The floor was covered in fine high thread count red carpet with exotic plants, art sculptures were every so many dozen feet and the pleasant sound of string instruments carried throughout the main hall. The pair felt at ease. The trip so far hadn't been an easy one and the walk to the main audience chamber spanned on for hundreds of feet.
They eventually arrived to a rather plentiful mountain of stairs, which came to an apex with a throne covered in red velvet cloth.
The Lord was a man with rather hard features. He had short black hair, a few wrinkles under his eyes, and looked like he was possibly well into his forties. He was clad in a dark blue formal robe and even had his hat with the kanji symbol for fire in a red circle upon it. He looked down with a sense of superiority and seemed like he didn't wish to use his energy and time to talk with ragged ninja. He turned to an assistant nearby who merely leaned in enough to inform him of the appointment since he did have many things to oversee within his area of influence.
"Shinobi of Konoha what is the significance of the document you have brought for me," he questioned in a low yet powerful voice.
Naruto's facial expression turned sour, since he never liked people who looked down on others whether due to skill, clan, or financial standing. He knew from his travels with the pervert sage that he couldn't just shout to his heart's content around lords. Mainly due to the influence many of them possessed in country and even in ninja villages.
He started to grumble only to have Hinata cut him off and be the first speak.
"A message of urgent importance was asked to be delivered to you, Daimyo-sama," Hinata responded and offered up the document.
The male assistant ran down the steps with ease clearly used to doing so several times a day. He acquired the sealed parchment and returned it with most haste to his master.
The Daimyo eyed the seal, and something seemed to change in his expression. His eyes widened, and an almost joyful smile of anticipation rose from the depths of his soul. He ripped the seal and unraveled it and abruptly rose to his feet with a smile.
"Bring me a bottle of Sake, there is much to celebrate," he proclaimed and handed the document off to his subordinate.
The pair gave perplexed stares as to what news could alter the stone statue that was the Daimyo.
"You have my thanks Shinobi; I am glad that the answer to my proposal was a positive one."
They both felt their blood pressures rise at this. They had been dehydrated, bruised, burned, and exhausted for nothing more than a "yes" to a marriage proposal? Between them Naruto wished to scream his head off and let out all his anger. However, Hinata was thankfully taking the initiative and was the first to reply.
"We are glad to have delivered you good news Daimyo-sama. You have our best wishes and we shall now return to our village," she spoke with a low bow and took their leave until another surprise left them speechless.
"It is obvious to see that this endeavor was quite laborious," he made certain to halt his sentence as both of them became self-conscious as to their current physical garb.
"Please remain here until morning and partake of my hospitality as payment for the magnificent announcement."
They felt like their eyeballs were nearly going to pop out of their heads. They were to stay at the palace?
*At the Bath*
Hinata couldn't believe her eyes as she found herself in an enormous bath. The ground was made of smooth tile and the walls were covered with beautiful paintings of plants and landscapes. The room was filled with steam from the spring water; it figured the Daimyo would have a bath with water pulled from a natural hot spring in the mountainside.
She went and undressed and found the towels she wrapped herself with to be incredibly soft on the skin. Hinata never knew that cotton could be so soft, even the Hyuuga clan couldn't get something so plush.
She entered the chest high water and sat down with sigh as her tired muscles finally felt safe enough to relax fully. She decided to let it all out and dunked her entire head below the water and surfaced back up with a gasping sigh.
"This is blissful, " Hinata thought as she eased further under the fluid until it covered up to her neck.
She closed her eyes and relaxed for a while in the therapeutic hot spring water. She exited the water once her skin started to ache from the continuous heat. She checked her cuts and was glad to see they had already sealed up thanks to the balm Naruto had applied to her.
"Thank you, Naruto-kun," she whispered and sat nearby to get actually clean.
She started to wash with the soaps provided, which smelled of wild flowers and vanilla. She felt a bit guilty when the clear soap bubbles took on a brown hue as the caked on layers of dust from the desert and that worm spray was washed away.
"Best mission ever," she barely whispered as she cherished the momentary silence.
"Cannonball," rang an all too familiar voice as a massive splash sound came later followed by the sound of many other Naruto voices angry with the diver.
Hinata felt a small sweat drop run down her head at the antics of her crush, but still found it pleasant enough to laugh at his playful nature.
*In their rooms*
They couldn't believe how wonderful the Daimyo had been to them. Each of them had been given a room located near each other, but the guest rooms were larger than most of the houses in Konoha.
Each room was decorated with a different color scheme. The walls were covered in exotic paintings and flowers that neither of them had seen before. The beds were extravagant beyond measure and were covered with as many as five silk blankets in an assortment of colors.
Not to mention, the food they were provided had been wonderful. Both had been asked what they wished to consume and each had it made by a personal chef. Naruto had still decided to eat ramen, yet he wasn't going to tell anyone that it still wasn't as good as Ichiraku ramen. Hinata felt embarrassed to order a near three course meal for dinner. However, if the Daimyo had offered his hospitality it would be an insult to him not to partake of it.
She felt completely full and prepared herself for bed; garbed in a different black top and some black cotton shorts. She crawled into the comfortable sheets and was overjoyed to feel that despite the several blankets she felt warm not hot. She found a comfy spot in the center of the oversized mattress.
"I can't sleep," echoed a male voice.
Hinata opened her eyes and wondered how and why she heard Naruto-kun.
"Naruto-kun," she responded in partial wonder and worry she imagined the voice.
"Hinata is that you, can you hear me?"
"Um, hai," she responded with a bit of a yelp to her voice since she was actually getting to talk with him.
"I wonder why that is…did the Daimyo make the walls extra thin so the guards can hear everything?"
Hinata activated her eyes and scanned the wall between their rooms. There appeared to be a recirculation vent in the walls that connected both rooms. It was more than likely meant to re-circulate hot air and keep the entire palace a specific temperature.
"It's part of the heating system so no one outside of these rooms can possibly hear us."
"Heh, well that's good. I can't sleep anyways. I have way too much energy and there isn't anywhere to train, and the bed is so soft I feel like I'm being swallowed."
"I thought this would be more comfortable given we frequently sleep on the ground," Hinata said being able to speak freely since she didn't have to be face to face with the male. However, she had watched him so much in her life she could already see his patent pouty face when he was uncomfortable.
"Yeah but the bed is way too soft for my taste. I couldn't get used to it even when I traveled with Ero-sennin for two years."
"You stayed at palaces while you traveled," Hinata asked with real enthusiasm to learn more about the time they were separated. That and she really didn't want the conversation to move to the subject of "Ero-sennin."
"There weren't any palaces, but there were plenty of lords and political officials that seemed to actually know and respect Ero-sennin," he said with a bit of confusion behind his words.
"Well he is one of the legendary sannin so he's well respected for his strength."
"Yeah, but he never acts like a legendary sannin. Half the time he ran off to avoid training me and the rest of the time he spent in brothels and outside bathhouses," he complained to get his pent up frustration and energy out.
"But he did still train you when he was with you right?"
"Yeah, but he didn't teach me many jutsus. He kept trying to work on taijutsu and sealing."
"What did you learn about sealing," she asked and couldn't help but smile as he talked about his training, the places he saw, and some of the situations Jiraiya had gotten him into.
The pair lost track of time as they discussed the experiences they had in the two years that he was gone. Naruto stopped to actually check the time when he felt a heavy yawn sap him of more of his energy.
"Whoa, we've been talking for nearly three hours," he thought and felt the fatigue in his throat after they talked so much.
"We should probably get some rest Naruto-kun," Hinata said as she struggled to keep her eyes open to continue their conversation.
"Alright," he groaned and found a comfy spot on the floor with a few of the blankets and pillows from the bed.
Naruto closed his eyes and felt the urge for sleep nearly take him over. He kept his consciousness long enough to say what had been on the tip of his tongue.
"Hey, Hinata?"
"Hai?"
"You're a great listener…good night."
Hinata felt her entire face blush and had to take some blankets off to prevent boiling.
"Thank you, Naruto-kun…good night," she stuttered a bit and poked her index fingers together for several minutes before she too found sleep.
*Tengu Village*
Sakura felt both frustrated and tired at the distance she had just traveled to reach the small village. The system that took her across the chasm had been a zip line system that had a hook in and sent you across. The issue she had was the belt system wasn't meant for supporting someone with a heavy bag. She had made it across, but the extra weight had forced all the pressure from the harness between her legs. The other problem was that the sudden stop had caused a small friction burn around her private area that she was far from pleased with.
" When I get back I am taking a week to myself," she grumbled as she finally entered into the village and saw the wave of people clamor around her due to the sight of medical treatment.
It was already late, but she needed to administer the medicine and meet back with the others otherwise she was would be headed back to Konoha without sleep.
The medical situation of the village was easy enough to deal with, because all of the infected had been packed into a single home to avoid further contamination. Sakura quickly administered the medicine among the population with relative ease. The treatment was a simple injection of an antibiotic and steroid for the infected individuals, and a vaccine to the healthy ones. She finished all the treatments within a few hours and went back to her pack only to find it still heavy.
"What the hell is in this thing," she wondered and started to scavenge through the pockets.
The inside should have been lighter since she had administered all the medication. She tapped the bag with her fist and felt something hard in the inside layer. She found a spot at the bottom of the main bag that looked like it had a patch sewn into it. She looked inside and found a note taped to a series of metal plates that all fitted nicely together.
Hope the trip takes you extra long, Haruno.
That was all that was written on the note along with a picture of a face with its tongue out; that and a single hand, which gave the finger to whoever read it.
Sakura felt her rage manifest into a hurricane inside her. However, she took a deep breath and knew tomorrow would be better for her. This was, because tomorrow she would be one step closer to Konoha and that meant sweet revenge on Taro.