Chapter 8. Hope you enjoy it. Read the Author's note at the end!
…...
Silence reigned the atmosphere as Sasuke, Naruto and Hinata tried to catch their breaths.
"This was fucking close." Sasuke finally broke the silence. He tried to move but was unable due to his broken rips. He locked his eyes at the crouching girl in front of him.
"Thanks." He said and closed his eyes after that. Hinata blushed a bit and looked down at the man she struck down. Naruto got up and made his way over to Sasuke. His stomach area and his hands were drenched in blood. He knelt next to Sasuke and took a look at his condition.
"At least you have no open wounds." the blonde remarked.
"Still this hurts like a bitch." Sasuke groaned in pain as he once again unsuccessfully tried to move. He then checked Naruto's condition.
"You sure you should be moving with that injury?"
"It's healing already." Naruto answered. Sasuke looked at him confused. "Kyuubi, I guess." Sasuke only nodded in understanding. Naruto then turned his head to Hinata.
"Great job, Hinata. Without you we would have probably died." her face took on a deep red shade. Naruto stood up and pushed the body of the bald guy with his foot.
"Did you, you know, kill him?" He asked the girl. Hinata's eyes widened at that.
"N-no. I c-closed his Tenketsu, w-what k-knocked h-him out." she answered.
"So he's not dead yet." Naruto said thoughtfully. "Should I finish it?" he asked the other two. Hinata didn't answer. Sasuke spoke:
"If we leave him alive, he will either follow us for revenge or tell anyone anything. We can't take the risk." Naruto nodded in understanding and took a kunai from his pouch. He knelt next to the body and positioned his knife at the throat. Hinata stared at Naruto. He hesitated a moment before he cut it open, making blood flow out of the wound. It formed a puddle. Naruto watched the blood for a second before standing up again.
"We should get going. Sasuke needs medical attention. I hope someone can help us at the village." he made his way to Sasuke and helped the Uchiha stand up. Naruto put one of Sasuke's arms over his shoulder.
"Hinata, can you carry the scrolls, I'll help this guy." Hinata nodded and walked to where she had left the scrolls behind. Slowly they began heading for the village.
…...
It was a usual day so far in Konoha. The Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi watched from the window of his office as the citizens of Konoha did their everyday activities. He was disturbed by his secretary knocking on his door.
"Hokage-sama, Hiashi Hyuuga would like to speak with you."
"Send him in." The hokage said and took place behind his desk. The secretary disappeared and seconds later the leader of the Hyuuga clan came into the room.
"What can I do for you today, Tsimshian."
"My first born daughter, Hinata Hyuuga has been kidnapped." The leader of the Hyuuga clan said not caring about properly greeting the village leader. Sarutobi's eyes widened.
"Are you sure?" The village leader arose from his seat.
"She is nowhere to be found. Neither with in the Hyuuga clan territory or with her genin team. I had a few people search for her, but unsuccessful." Hiashi answered the question.
"I send out a few anbu to assist in a second search. We have to make sure before we jump to conclusions."
"As you wish. I have Hyuugas assist them. I will come back this evening then." Hiashi calmly said and exited the office. Sarutobi signaled the present anbu to appear.
"Organize a few units to search for Hinata Hyuuga." The leader ordered and the anbu vanished as fast as he appeared.
'Did Kumo finally retry to steal the Byakugan by kidnapping a Hyuuga? Especially young Hinata again.'
The Hokage's thoughts were interrupted when his secretary entered the room again.
"Hokage-sama, Hatake Kakashi and Kurenai Yuhi are here to speak with you."
'I can see why Kurenai wants to speak with me, but why Kakashi.'
"Send them in." Sarutobi said and once again sat down in his seat. Kakashi and Kurenai entered the room.
"Before you say something, Kurenai-san, Hinata's father was here a second ago to talk with me about Hinata's disappearance. I've sent a team of anbu out to search for." Kurenai nodded in understanding.
"We better increase that team, Hokage-sama." Kakashi said. Sarutobi and Kurenai turned to the masked man in confusion.
"And why is that, Kakashi-san?" Sarutobi asked.
"Naruto and Sasuke are nowhere to be found either." The Hokage went up in shock.
"WHAT?"
"They didn't come to the team meeting so I asked Sakura to check on Sasuke and I went to Naruto's apartment, which is abandoned. Sakura then reported to me that Sasuke wasn't at the Uchiha mansion or any training ground. Since they both are important to the village, no matter how, I thought it would be best to inform you about this."
"It was." Sarutobi said as he turned to the window of his office and sighed. He then turned around to look at the two teachers.
"You and your teams will search for them individually. Take team 10 with you. Since they are from the same graduating class, they maybe have an idea where the three of them are. I will organize another team of anbu to search for them. Gather here this evening,whether you are successful or not." He ordered.
"Yes, Hokage-sama." Kurenai and Kakashi said in unison and left the room to execute the orders.
'Naruto, please let my foreboding be wrong and you did not leave Konoha!' The village leader thought to himself as he once more stared outside.
…...
Naruto and Hinata finally reached their destination after Sasuke lost consciousness a while ago.
"Fucking finally. He's way heavier than you." Naruto mumbled while breathing hard. His injuries were pretty much healed up by now, with only the dried up blood showing that he was in a fight. Hinata blushed at Naruto's remark. The village was relatively small. One main road with a few smaller streets branching from there. You were able to see the exit from where the young ninja stood.
"Look, N-Naruto-kun. It l-looks like there i-is a small hospital there." Hinata said and pointed to a small wooden building that had a sign with a big red cross hanging on a post by it.
"Thank you god." Naruto said and made his way towards the building. An young woman dressed in brown clothes who stood outside the hospital saw Naruto carrying Sasuke and immediately rushed to them.
"Oh my, what happened?" She asked Naruto.
"We were ambushed by bandits in the forest." Naruto lied. "We were able to fight them off, but my friend here needs medical attention."
"Yes, yes he does. Come we bring him inside." She said and helped Naruto carry Sasuke inside with Hinata following them. The hospital consisted of a waiting room three rooms in which injured are treated. They went inside one and put Sasuke down on the bed.
"The doctor will be here in a second." The woman said.
"Thank you..." Naruto started to say but remembered that they never introduced each other.
"My name is Ayaka." She smiled and prepared bandages and similar medical stuff.
"I'm Naruto and this is Hinata." He pointed to the girl standing behind him.
"Like I said, thank you for your help."
"No problem." She said and went outside the room to get something. Naruto turned to Hinata.
"Could you stay with Sasuke here? I'll go outside and check if there's an inn or anything for us to stay at." Hinata nodded. Naruto took the two scrolls and left the place while Hinata took a seat next to the bed.
A few minutes later the door opened and Ayaka entered together with an elderly man wearing a white coat.
"Hello there, young lady." he greeted Hinata, before his eyes went to Sasuke. "What happened with him?" He said before putting on white gloves and starting to check him out.
"H-he g-got hurt w-while f-fighting o-off b-bandits." Hinata repeated Naruto's lie although blushing hard and avoiding eye contact.
"I see." The doctor mumbled as he felt Sasuke's rips. "It seems like a few rips are broken but nothing else." he moved his hand to Sasuke's jaw. "His jaw is a bit dislocated and his nose is broken, too." He pulled off his gloves and started to form hand seals. His hands started to glow green as he held them on Sasuke's rips, then his jaw and finally his nose.
"With this I speed up the healing process a bit. He should be fine within a week. If not you should come see me again." He said. Hinata nodded in understanding.
"T-Thank you. W-What do w-w-we own y-you?" She asked.
"Ayaka will take care of that when you'll leave." He answered her question. "Sadly, we can't keep him in here for long. Although this is a small village, many travelers cross through here and many of them are injured like your friend here." He said and exited the room together with Ayaka. Hinata leaned back on the chair and closed her eyes to get a few minutes of rest before Naruto returns.
…...
Having found the local inn and booked a room for three there Naruto made his way back to the hospital. Upon entering Ayaka greeted him.
"Hello, Naruto-san."
"Hello. Did the doctor check on Sasuke yet?" The blonde asked.
"He did. Your friend only has a few broken bones and the stress probably made him lose consciousness. He performed a healing jutsu which will speed up the healing process. Your friend should be fine in a week."
"That's good news." Naruto sighed. "What do we own you?" he asked as he pulled out a small wallet. Ayaka and he dealt with the paying process and Naruto went back into the room where Sasuke and Hinata were at. He saw Hinata sleeping at the chair next to the bed. He too took place at a chair and sat down. It didn't took long for him to fall asleep,too.
…...
Naruto was shaken awake. As he opened his eyes he was met with a blushing Hinata.
"So you're finally awake?" Sasuke remarked showing that he finally woke up.
"I should be the one asking that." Naruto answered as he grinned.
"So we reached our goal for the day?" Sasuke asked as he slowly moved himself into a sitting position."
"Y-You shouldn't b-be m-moving y-yet, S-Sasuke." Hinata scolded him. Sasuke winced in pain again.
"You're right." He said and stopped moving.
"No, you can stop moving at the inn room I booked." Naruto interfered and got up from his seat and went to one side of Sasuke. "Hinata help me here." Hinata nodded and got on the other side. Together they helped Sasuke sit up and then stand up. Together they helped Sasuke walk out of the room. They passed the waiting room where Ayaka said goodbye to them. They left the hospital.
"It's up ahead not far away from here." Naruto said and they slowly made their way to the inn. When they reached it the inn owner greeted Naruto and showed them their room which consisted of two beds and a wardrobe. They helped Sasuke on to one bed.
"How about we sleep before we do anything else. I'm still beaten up because of everything that happened today." Naruto said and Sasuke and Hinata agreed immediately. Sasuke slept almost instantly.
"You can take the second bed Hinata. I'll take a sleeping mat."
"B-But I-I..." Hinata tried to say but Naruto waved her off.
"I'm too tired to discuss." He smiled at her before laying down on a mat he had unrolled. "Talk to you later Hinata." Naruto said before drifting off to sleep, too. Hinata watched him a few seconds before making her way to the other bed. She laid down and closed her eyes, almost instantly falling asleep.
…...
This chapter felt a little bit rushed and kind of like a filler chapter. I still hope you were able to enjoy it. I'm working on the next one, but I want to make that one bigger and more story relevant, so it will take a few days. Until then, have fun reading!
