Thanks for the reviews so far. I don't enjoy killing off the characters like that, but it goes along with the storyline that I based if on ^_^;

Game of Death

Chapter 7

"Bullshit," Deidara scoffed. Other than him, there were only eight students remaining. Not only that, but only an hour and a half remained before the game ended. How the hell was he supposed to track all of them down before time ran out? Then again, there was a good chance that most of them would kill each other off in the meantime, so it wasn't like he had to take down eight people on his own. "Still, this is ridiculous, un..." He hadn't found anyone else since encountering Sasori's corpse, which made him that much more unnerved. Where the hell is everyone!? He only had one arrow in his arsenal, as the item he initially had in his possession wouldn't be utilized until closer towards the end.

The path seemed to get narrower, and it felt as though the trees were closing in little by little. Deidara couldn't help but feel claustrophobic, but as long as he had that bullet-proof vest on, he had better protection than the others. He'd eaten his food rations a little while ago, knowing that he'd need something in his system to keep him alert.

"Where are those bastards?" He grumbled, his eyes scanning the area cautiously. If he was correct, half of his remaining opponents were from Konoha High, so his chances of running into them next were about fifty-fifty. He just hoped that he didn't run into Hidan next. "Damn lunatic, un..." he muttered, dreading an encounter with his psychotic classmate.

Deidara paused for a moment, hearing what sounded like two voices within the close vicinity. With a rush of excitement, he stealthily moved in the direction that they were coming from, until he saw the owners of the voices in question. There was a male with spiky blond hair talking to a girl with long indigo-colored hair, both of their uniforms stained with dirt and blood. Luckily for him, they did not seem to notice his presence as he hid himself behind a thick tree. And even better, they were students from Konoha High.

"Where do you think we should go?" Naruto asked, the baseball bat clutched in his right hand.

Hinata sighed, surveying the area. "Hard to say... We don't know where anyone else is, other than Shikamaru and Temari. And we already agreed to stay out of their area so that we don't cause any attention to them."

"Right," Naruto mumbled, trying to think. "I feel like there really aren't any safe areas for us to go. So I guess it doesn't really matter where we head to."

Deidara positioned his only arrow into the crossbow and aimed it right at the blond guy's head. It would be easier to take him out first before moving on to the girl. Now all he had to do was wait for the idiot to stop shifting his weight from one foot to the other. "C'mon already, un..."

"Well, we should probably get going. Just standing here is making me ner-" Naruto was cut off by a sudden whoosh only inches away from where his head was. "W-what the hell was that!?" He gaped at horror at the arrow imbedded into a tree a few feet behind him.

"Shit," Deidara hissed angrily. He'd missed. And because of that, his intended targets now knew of his whereabouts.

Hinata's eyes widened and she took a step backwards. "I-it's one of those Akatsuki students," she gasped, recognizing the uniform.

Naruto glowered at Deidara. "Were you the one who shot at me!?"

Deidara snickered, finding it pointless to run. There'd be no fun in that. "Seeing how I'm the only one here, what the hell do you think?" He tossed the crossbow aside, having no need for it anymore.

"You're at a disadvantage now, though," Naruto pointed out with a smirk. "I see that you have some kind of protective vest on, but that won't do anything if I aim for your head." He raised the bat as Deidara boldly began to move closer. "Stay where you are!"

"Do you honestly think I'm going to take orders from some moron from Konoha? Hell, where do you think I got this vest from in the first place, un?" Deidara quipped. "Some weird kid with bushy eyebrows had this thing originally, but I killed him and took it for myself."

Realizing what he meant, Naruto wasted no time charging at the other blond male. So that bastard had been the one that killed Lee? He'd have to pay back the favor if that was the case. However, to his surprise, Deidara ducked away from the swinging bat and whipped his leg to trip Naruto.

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata watched as Naruto toppled to the ground, losing grip of the bat. She saw Deidara making a grab for it and she tackled him to the ground just as he wrapped his fingers around it. "Let go of it!" she exclaimed, trying to pry it from his grasp. Before she could wrench it from his grip, he swung his fist and hit her on the side of her head.

"No, you let go, ya bitch!" Deidara sneered as she fell away from him.

Furious, Naruto threw himself at Deidara and slammed the Akatsuki student into the ground. He tore the bat out of Deidara's grip with sudden monster-like strength and hit him over the head with it as hard as he could. His heart was pounding and he felt a rush of adrenaline as he struck a stunned Deidara a second time. That bastard had hurt Hinata, which was unforgivable in Naruto's eyes. He couldn't control his rage as he beat Deidara mercilessly, blood splattering all over him and the surrounding area. Even after the teenager had stopped twitching, half of his head caved in, Naruto continued to beat the dead Akatsuki student. Finally, after Deidara was no longer recognizable, Naruto ceased the brutal strikes.

Wincing, Hinata sat up to see Naruto drop the bloody bat, his breathing rapid and heavy. He looked shocked at what he had done, the horror slowly sinking in. However, he felt a warm embrace from behind as Hinata wrapped her arms around him, her cheek against his back.

"It's okay," she gently soothed, trying to calm him down.

Naruto did relax after a few moments, his breathing slowing down and returning back to normal. He pulled away from her long enough to spin around and wrap his arms around her, hugging her close.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Konan!" Pein stared with horror as blood dripped down Konan's abdomen, the blade of a machete protruding from her chest.

Laughing, Tayuya yanked the weapon out and watched as Konan collapsed onto the ground. The blue-haired female shuddered and closed her eyes, succumbing to her wound as blood slowly surrounded her body. Pein was frozen in shock, his ringed eyes locked on Konan's limp form. There was no doubt in his mind that she was dead, and at that moment he lost all control. Enraged, he lunged forward to attack Tayuya, his spike raised to stab her anywhere he could hit. He didn't care if she managed to stab him at that same time. As long as that bitch was dead, it wouldn't matter to him whether or not he himself died as well. However, before he could even get close enough to her, a sharp, curved blade sliced directly through his neck.

Tayuya's eyes widened in surprise as the sickle decapitated Pein, his head cut clean off from his neck. The redhead crumpled onto the dirt, his head landing a few feet away from the rest of him.

Hidan snickered to himself, his face and bare chest splattered with blood that was both old and fresh. "I was hoping that I'd be the one to finish these two off." He poked at Pein's head with the tip of his blade, a satisfied smirk on his face. "Looks like you got to Konan first, though. But that's fine, I guess. I'll just have to make due with you."

Tayuya snorted in contempt, holding up her machete. "You sound pretty confident, you asshole. Try me."

"I don't even have to try with a crazy little bitch like you," Hidan scoffed indignantly.

"You're calling me crazy?" Tayuya said with a laugh. "That's fucking funny. C'mon, you dick. If you really think you can take me on, go for it."

The silver-haired teen rolled his eyes at that. "You act as though it'll be a challenge. But that's fine. I'll just enjoy killing you that much more," he growled, lunging forward.

Tayuya jumped back to avoid his attack, narrowly missing the blade. She ducked down and used her short stature to her advantage, slicing upward with her machete. She managed to cut into his side, but it was not a deep wound. Cursing under her breath, she quickly moved away from the much taller male. Hidan hissed softly, grinning through the pain as he felt his own blood trickle down his side and soak into the top of his pants. He swung the sickle at Tayuya, forcing the girl to retreat back and dodge his moves. He had to admit that the brat was quick, but he was fast, too. And his weapon had a further range since it was longer. She couldn't do anything with that machete unless she got close enough to him, something which Hidan was well aware of.

"You fucker!" Tayuya snarled, ducking under the sickle as he swung it again. She attempted to slice his leg with her machete, only for him to brutally kick her in the stomach. The pink-haired female gasped and doubled over, temporarily stunned.

Hidan used this opportunity to grab a handful of her hair and yank her up. He tore the machete out of her grip and threw it aside, chuckling to himself as she tried to get away, kicking and screaming. He slammed her back against a tree, literally holding her up by the hair and lifting her off the ground.

"LET ME GO, YOU FUCKER!" Tayuya shrieked, struggling as he painfully held onto her.

"Stupid little bitch," Hidan sneered, his grin widening as he dragged the blade diagonally from her right shoulder down to her left hip. He repeated it to the opposite, forming an X on her body.

Tayuya continued to scream and tried to squirm away as he continued to slice up. The cuts were not exceedingly deep, and she realized that he was leisurely taking his time. Blood dripped down her torso and legs, and soon her clothes were nothing but shreds of fabric matted onto her body.

"This is even more fun than I imagined it would be," Hidan remarked with a laugh, enjoying her agonized screams. "If you hadn't been such a smug bitch, then maybe I would've finished you off sooner. Too fucking bad for you."

The tip of the blade now found its way to her face, where it began carving into it as Hidan pinned her tightly against the tree with his other hand. Blood splattered from her face onto his, and the more she struggled, the more vicious he was to her. After a few more minutes, he slit her throat and let her fall onto the ground in a disgusting heap. Her face had become unrecognizable, and she'd lost her eyes during his assault as well.

"Dumb whore," Hidan muttered, admiring his work one last time before setting off again.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Attention all players," Madara spoke through the intercom. "Although it hasn't been long since our last update, there have already been four more casualties during that short amount of time. The following students are no longer participating in our game in order of their deaths. Deidara. Konan. Pein. Tayuya. Only five of you are left, and less than an hour remains. Use that time well to finish off the others if you have any hope of making it out alive. You've already come this far. Just a little more to go until you're free again. I will make one last announcement when four of the five remaining players are eliminated. Until then, good luck to all of you."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Only five of us are left..." Hinata trailed off, a somber look on her face. "I can't believe it. I-I don't want to believe it."

"But which ones are left?" Naruto mumbled, trying his best to remember. Thankfully, that last group of students had been from other schools, and not any of his friends. It's because most of your friends are already dead, an ominous voice in his head reminded him. He growled and shoved that thought aside, not wanting to get even more worked up than he already was. He couldn't afford to make that mistake.

Hinata thought for a moment, mentally keeping track of the names that had already been called. "There are five left, with you and I making up two. The three other students are... Shikamaru, Temari, and... Hidan."

"Damn, you have a pretty good memory," Naruto mused, realizing that she was correct. "That means that Shikamaru must still be working on hacking into the system. Unless he gave up on that already, since almost everyone is dead."

"I don't see Shikamaru giving up, regardless of how many are left. If he says he's going to do something, he means it," Hinata murmured.

"Unless that Hidan bastard shows up and ruins everything," the blond growled. "I won't let him. I'll kill him before he gets that chance."

Hinata looked around the area, making sure that the psychotic Akatsuki student was not lurking around nearby. "If that's the case, then maybe we should head back to Shikamaru and Temari so that we can help them if he shows up."

Naruto nodded in agreement, praying that Hidan hadn't already found their friends. There wasn't much time left at all, but with any luck, Shikamaru was almost finished. There wasn't much else he had left to hope for at that point. Judging by the crestfallen expression on Hinata's face, she felt the same. He reached over and wordlessly took her hand into his, squeezing it reassuringly. Hinata looked up at him and flashed him a brief, yet grateful smile.

The two of them walked in silence for a few minutes, both of them continually scanning their surroundings for Hidan. So far there was no sign of him, but that did not ease their tension. They continued through the forest towards the small shack that Shikamaru and Temari were at, walking at a brisk pace. Their heartbeats grew more rapid as their anxiety increased. It was as if they expected Hidan to jump out and attack them out of nowhere. Instead, they found Neji and Tenten lying dead on the ground, their bodies in close proximity of one another.

Hinata immediately turned her back on the disturbing sight, not wishing to look at her deceased cousin and friend. She closed her eyes and tried to shut out the image she'd just seen. There had been so much blood, and although she hadn't looked for very long, she had seen where both of them had been impaled.

"Wait there," Naruto whispered to her sympathetically as he walked over to their bodies. He swallowed the bile in the back of his throat and shakily picked up the hand axe that had belonged to Neji. It was stained with blood, but he would just have to get over that little factor. An axe would prove to be deadlier than a baseball bat, and if he didn't want to get wiped out by Hidan, then taking it would be his best option.

"W-what are you doing?" Hinata asked meekly, though she didn't dare open her eyes or turn around. She was still trying to keep herself from breaking down all over again.

Naruto tucked the axe into the back of his belt and covered it with his jacket. "Just taking something that will be more useful than this bat."

The indigo-haired girl didn't need any further explanation, but whimpered when Naruto took her hand again. She kept her eyes closed while he tugged her away from the area until the bodies were out of sight.

"Are you okay?" Naruto asked after a little while, not caring just how stupid that question sounded. Obviously she wasn't okay. Neither was he.

Nevertheless, Hinata nodded. "I-I'll be fine..."

"We're almost there" he told her. "I can see the shack in the distance."

Hinata was about to respond, but saw movement from the corner of her eye. Without thinking, she shoved Naruto out of the way just as the tip of a sharp blade sank deep into her side. She gasped and turned her head to come face-to-face with Hidan, whom looked somewhat annoyed.

Naruto's eyes were wide with horror, and he watched as Hidan yanked the sickle from Hinata's body. The girl fell to the ground, pressing her left hand over the gushing wound. Hinata tried to block out the agonizing pain, feeling the warm blood trickle through between her fingers.

"Hinata!"

"Dammit, that was supposed to get him," Hidan remarked with a sigh. "Ah, whatever. Not like it makes that much of a fucking difference. I'll take care of you in a minute, after I deal with this bastard." He turned and focused his attention on Naruto, whom was momentarily stunned from what had just happened. If Hinata hadn't pushed him out of the way...

Hidan moved to attack the blond male, only to feel a blade slice into the back of his ankle. "SHIT!" He glanced back at Hinata, noticing the small butterfly knife in her right hand. She'd cut right through his Achillies tendon, and he couldn't keep himself from falling to his knees. Furious, he raised the sickle and prepared to swing it down towards her. "You fucking little-!"

Naruto had snapped out of his daze and pulled the hand axe out, slamming the blade directly down through the top of Hidan's skull. The silver-haired male gaped in shock, the axe buried deep in his head. Blood oozed down his face and he let out a wet cough just as he toppled over onto his side. Naruto didn't waste any time and quickly tore the blade out of Hidan's head and hacked into the older teen's throat. He tore it out of the stunned-looking Akatsuki student and repeated the motion, this time decapitating Hidan. Panting heavily, Naruto stared at Hidan's severed head with disgust, almost wishing he'd killed the bastard more slowly.

The sound of an explosion suddenly thundered throughout the area, and in the distance amongst the mass of trees, Naruto realized that the shack Shikamaru and Temari had been hiding in was what had blown up. His heart sank, and he watched as flames swallowed up the remainder of what hadn't flown off during the explosion. Hidan was dead. But so was Shikamaru and Temari. Everyone else too for that matter, leaving only himself and Hinata. Hinata! He suddenly remembered in a panic.

"Hinata, are you okay!?" Naruto dropped to his knees beside her, gently gathering her into his arms. "Sh-shit," he choked out, realizing how much blood there was. Not again. He'd almost lost her once already.

"N-Naruto-kun," she murmured, gazing up at him. Her hand continued to cover her wound, but blood seeped around it nonetheless. Time's almost up, she thought to herself. If more than one person remained by the time the game ended, they would both be killed.

Naruto felt her blood soak into his clothes, but he didn't care about that. "We've gotta get you outta here." However, before he could pick her up, Hinata reached up and lightly grabbed hold of his sleeve. He stared down at her, confused. "What are you-"

"O-only one of us c-can get out of here," Hinata softly cut him off.

"What the hell do you mean by that?" Naruto demanded, getting angry. "Do you really expect me to just leave you here and let you die!?"

She flinched at his harsh tone, but continued nonetheless. "There's...n-not enough time for that. The only way for you to get out of here is if you finish me off before time runs out."

"What...did you just say?" He felt his body go numb, but his heart pounded in his chest harder and faster than ever. Hinata wanted him to kill her?

As if reading his mind, Hinata spoke up again. "I-if I don't d-die soon, the collars will e-explode and we'll both be k-killed," she whimpered. "I'm going t-to die from this a-anyway, and I w-want you to get out of here."

"How could you expect me to do that?" he asked with a horrified expression on his. "I-I won't do it!"

"B-but-" Hinata tried to protest, only to be silenced by his kiss.

Naruto embraced her tightly against his chest, his body trembling as he held her. Everyone else was dead. He couldn't lose Hinata, too. At that point, he might as well die, too.

But he still has a chance, Hinata thought to herself as they broke the kiss. She weakly reached over and grabbed hold of the butterfly knife she'd dropped, which was now stained with Hidan's blood. "Please..." she begged him, trying to give it to him. "I-it hurts," she added painfully. Even if there was plenty of time left, slowly bleeding to death was not the way she wanted to die.

Naruto looked at the knife warily, wanting to throw up. "Hinata..."

"Please, Naruto-kun," she begged.

He could tell that she was suffering, and he wondered just how deep the wound was. Some of her internal organs could have been damaged, which would make it that much more agonizing. But still, there was no way he could bring himself to kill her like that. Then again, watching her slowly die would be much worse than just putting her out of her misery. Naruto took the knife from her, his hand trembling as his fingers wrapped around the handle. Tears slid down his cheeks and he brought the blade up against where the exposed part of her neck was.

"I...I love you, Hinata," he choked out.

Hinata gazed up at him with a warm smile. "I love you, too, Naruto-kun." She could feel the cold, sticky metal against her skin. "And promise me...you'll get out of here alive."

He leaned down, his forehead lightly pressing up against her. "I will. I promise..."

Only one chapter left! Please don't kill me for killing everyone else off. Even if you hate the story, what've you got to lose by reading one more chapter? :p On that note, please review!