The Huntress

Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews. I hope you all enjoy this chapter.

Chapter 10

A short while later, the Hyugas and leopards arrive back at the Hyuga Caves. Hiashi leads the leopards into the back of them. This would be much easier on everyone, if the leopards kept to themselves.

"You are free to stay here. If we need you, someone will come for you. For now, the very back of the caves will be yours. I will put antelope fur over their entrances. That way, everyone will know that they are now being used by the four of you. The most important rule while you stay here is you are not permitted to be around any cubs without supervision. Have I made myself clear?" Hiashi asks.

"Very clear." Temari says and the other two conscious leopards not their heads in agreement.

"Excellent. I shall leave you to get settled in then." The Hyuga Patriarch says as he strides off.

Mei frowns. She couldn't believe that she was staying inside a lion's den. She never thought that she would see the day when she did something that crazy. Unfortunately, it looked like they would be here for awhile and it was the only way to keep them all safe.

"I know what you're thinking. Don't. What you did was smart. We're all better off here than out there. You're right. Gaara is too easily identifiable." Kankuro says to her.

She nods in agreement. Gaara stood out with his beautiful fur. The big eyed humans would find him too easily. Until the humans lost interest, this was his only real chance at survival.

"Oh I fully realize that. It just doesn't make things any easier." She murmurs.

"Thank you. You may have saved my brother's life and perhaps all of the hybrids on the Savannah by asking the lions this. It can't have been easy. At best, lions tend to ignore leopards. At worst, they consider us enemies. We hunt some of the same prey, after all." Temari reasons.

"Yes, that's what makes this such a difficult situation. Hopefully, he will wake soon. The two of you should get some sleep. I will take the first watch." Mei assures them.

Temari and Kankuro look at Mei gratefully as they curl up next to each other. It didn't take long for the other two big cats to fall asleep. Mei sighs and wraps a blanket around Gaara.

"Poor thing was forced to transform." She mutters.

If nothing else, he could at least be warm when he woke up. He was a handsome little thing. Probably barely old enough to be considered an adult leopard. He was brave though.

She had to give him that much. From what she had heard, he had stalled for time while his siblings escaped. That took courage. Courage was very sexy. He'd make strong cubs.

A few minutes later, Gaara's eyes flutter open in confusion. He immediately tries to sit up and growls in pain. Mei kindly pushes him back down.

"I wouldn't move. The big eyed human did something to you. You need recover first. I'm Mei. Don't worry. You're safe. Your siblings are also safe." She tells him.

Gaara blinks when he saw a beautiful leopard push him down. A female leopard judging by the scent and the voice. They were safe, but how?

"What happened? Where are we? Were are Temari and Kankuro?" He demands.

"We are in the back of the Hyuga Caves. I spoke with them and they agreed to allow us to stay here. Well as long as we met their conditions. I shall explain those later. As for your siblings, they're in the same cave as us. Look to your right." She tells him.

The red head does as instructed and breathes a sigh of relief. Kankuro and Temari were only a few feet away from him and they were unharmed. It was a miracle!

"Thank you." He whispers.

"You're welcome. You were kidnapped by the big eyed humans. The Savannah Hybrids split into two teams. One stayed back to watch the young and the other went on the rescue mission. We were able to retrieve you and bring you back here." Mei explains.

The young leopard blinks. They had managed to rescue him from the cruel big eyed human? It wasn't just a miracle. That was two miracles. It must be his lucky day.

"Good. What are we going to do now though? We can't stay here indefinitely." He murmurs.

"We are still working on that part. The rules are simple. If the cave has an antelope pelt hanging over the entrance, that is our new territory. Those are leopard areas. It's also VERY important that you NEVER be alone with any of their cubs. Always have a lion neko present, if you're going to be at your own around cubs. If they need us, they will come to find us." Mei continues.

Gaara nods. He didn't like it, but that was only fair. If positions were reversed, he definitely wouldn't have let any lion near leopard cubs. Not that he would have won a fight against a pride of lions, but he would have tried to get the cubs out of there.

"That's understandable. Thank you, Mei. I will forever be in your debt. It seems that you may very well have saved my life." The red head replies.

"I probably did and you're welcome. I'll hold you to that." She tells him with a sly smile and kisses his forehead, causing the red head to blush.

Meanwhile Hinata had taken Sasuke into one of the caves and laid him down on the zebra blanket he got her. Itachi sighs and watches his semi coconscious baby brother groan. This wasn't good.

"He'll be okay, Hinata. He's in pain, but he's safe now." Itachi assures her.

"I hope so. He did it to protect me." She mumbles sadly.

"Yes, he did. I'm sure that he would do it again in a heartbeat. I'll leave you to care for him. He's in good paws now." Itachi says as he fluffs Hinata.

Hinata fluffs Itachi back. It wasn't like Sasuke's fluffs. There was no promise of more. Itachi was just giving her the neko version of a comfort hug.

"Thank you, Itachi. I'll take good care of him." Hinata whispers.

"I know you will." The elder lion says as he strides off to join the rest of the pride.

Hinata shifts to her human form and lays down by Sasuke. He'd probably feel better, if he could feel her near him. Damn big eyed humans. Why couldn't they just leave them alone?

It didn't take long for Sasuke's eyes to open and for him to let out a small groan of pain. He immediately looks around in confusion and then relaxes when he sees Hinata. He manages to give her a weak smile.

"We got home?" He asks softly.

"Yes, we're home. You should rest. They hurt you. I'm not sure what the big eyed humans did to you, but it was bad. You shouldn't have jumped in front of me like that. You could have been killed." She mumbles as she snuggles against him.

"You could have been killed as well. I would rather have it be me than you." He says as he runs his fingers through his hair.

It still hurt. It hurt a lot, but this was nice. Curling up next to the beautiful neko was always nice. Sasuke smiles, despite the pain.

"You're crazy." Hinata informs him with a giggle.

"Maybe a little, but mostly I'm just in love. I'm in love with you." Sasuke says as he kisses her hand.

She blushes and snuggles further into him with a smile. He was a good lion. A little crazy, but a good lion.

"My first season is coming up. Do you want to pair off? After you get better and we deal with the humans, of course." She asks shyly.

"I'd like that. Trust me, no big eyed humans are going to keep me away from you. That goes double for those damn hyenas." He says with a smile and kisses her.

Hinata smiles and kisses back. She was really going to have train him not to jump into dangerous situations like that. He was making a habit of it really. She didn't want his luck to run out.

"No more jump in front of humans or hyenas unless it absolutely necessary. I want you to be around to see our cubs grow up." She tells him.

Sasuke's interest was definitely perked when she said the word cubs. He knew EXACTLY what cubs meant. Damn humans. He wished the ringing would stop in his head and that his body didn't hurt as much as it did.

"I'll be more careful. I promise." Sasuke assures her.

"Good. I prefer having you in one piece. It's a very nice piece." She compliments him.

"I feel the same way about you. You are a very nice piece." Sasuke says with a sly smile and Hinata feels her face burn bright red.

She couldn't believe that he had actually said that! Honestly! Males! He almost got killed by the big eyed humans and was still being a pervert!

"You're impossible." She mumbles.

"I have a beautiful and naked lioness laying next to me. I'm going to comment on it. It's only natural. I'd do a lot more than comment, if it wasn't for that damn fake fang." He grumbles.

Hinata shakes her head in amusement and wraps the blanket around him tighter, as she leans over to get the gourd. The water gourd. It was their version of a bottle or canteen.

"Here. Maybe some water will make you feel better." She says as she holds it to his lips.

"Thanks." He murmurs as he sucks on the gourd.

That did help a bit, but he was still angry. Stupid humans. They had to go and ruin everything. When he got his paws on that human that attacked him, he was going to shred him to pieces. He'd turn him into his scratching post!

Elsewhere, Danzo smirks. He finally had his proof. He immediately calls the government that was funding their research because he couldn't wait to make his announcement.

Finally, he would receive the recognition that he should have received years ago. He was going to be famous. Oh and he'd likely also be rich. That would be a nice bonus.

"Yes, I have made an amazing discovery! A new species! I caught it on camera. I would like to send you the tape. That way you can verify it and we can make the announcement. This is going to change everything!" He says happily.

"That does sound very interesting. Send us the tape. Please tell me that it isn't some new species of tapeworm or something. Such things are worth noting, but not particularly exciting to the public." Came the reply.

"Oh believe me. This will be a lot more exciting than any tapeworm! I'll send the tape immediately." Danzo says happily as he hangs up.

Not long after he hangs up, Kakashi walks over to him. Uh oh. Damn it. He knew what the other man wanted. He was likely going to ask about all of the noise.

"Danzo, I'm so glad that you are alright. Can you believe what happened last night?" The silver haired man asks.

"Yes, I'm fine. I saw it. I got lucky. I think the animals were as afraid of me as I was of them. I got it all on tape and I'm sending it back to the government. Should be worth something. I've never seen anything like it." The elderly man replies.

He wasn't lying. Danzo just wasn't telling him the full truth. He felt no guilt over this whatsoever. In his mind, he didn't owe his colleagues anything. They were an annoyance to be tolerated at best. He wasn't going to share the glory with them.

"Oh good. I'm sure that ought to get their attention. That really was something. That's amazing that you caught it on tape. That had to be a once in a lifetime event. You're lucky to be alive and to have caught it all on camera." The masked man says.

Danzo nods in agreement. He knew that he was damn fortunate to be alive. Those lions could have killed him with ease. The only question left to answer was why didn't they?

"That I am. Where are Tsunade and Jirayia?" He asks.

"Oh they went into town to pick up a few things. They should be back soon. Did you need them for something?" Kakashi inquires.

"No. I was just wondering. I can't wait to tell them about what happened last night." He says.

In reality, he didn't want to tell them anything. Danzo knew that Kakashi would mention the incident to them though. So it was important that he at least play his part.

"Of course, that's completely understandable." Kakashi says good-naturedly.

Danzo nods in agreement. Good. Good. It looked like the other man had bought it. Now he just had to convince Jirayia and Tsunade. That was easier said than done, but he was confident that he could manage.

Back at the Hyuga Caves, Aoi twitches. This was getting ridiculous. First, they had allowed the Uchiha Brothers to join them. Now, they were letting LEOPARDS into their sacred caves?! It was an outage!

Hiashi must have lost his mind. That was the only logical explanation. What was next? Were they going to take Hyenas in too?!

"Calm yourself, Aoi." Izumi informs him.

"Calm myself?! Do you not see what is going on?! Our very way of life is under threat. I do not think that Lord Hiashi understands what is going on here." He says.

Izumi raises an eyebrow. Oh boy. She could tell that this was going to get annoying and quickly. Aoi had always been a bit too big for his furs, really.

"And what do you think is going on?" Itachi demands as he strides over towards Aoi and Izumi.

He didn't like the other lion being that close to Izumi. She was going to be his Mate. Itachi wasn't completely adverse to driving that point home through Aoi's thick skull if necessary, but it would make the pride dynamics awkward.

"Hiashi isn't fit to lead anymore. He's letting in strange lions and leopards! We need someone with a clear head. If this keeps up, we are all doomed." Aoi groans.

SMACK! Itachi smacks Aoi into the cave's walls with one wave of his mighty paws. That was it. The other lion had gone too far.

"I suggest you act like a lion instead of a mouse if you truly feel that way and challenge him directly. Sulking around and whispering in other people's ears is a rather cowardly tactic. Do you not agree?" He growls.

"How dare you strike me?! You aren't even a real member of this pride." Aoi roars furiously, once he gets up.

"I might not have been born into this pride, but I'm more loyal than you are." Itachi snaps right back at him.

That was when more lions tip toed out to see what was going on. The sounds of the commotion alerted even Hinata. She tells Sasuke to stay there and shifts into her lioness form, before darting off to investigate.

"What's going on?" Hinata whispers to her sister.

"I'm not sure really. I know that Itachi and Aoi are having some sort of disagreement. That's all though." Her younger sister whispers back.

Hinata frowns. She didn't like the sound of that. They had to all stick together. The big eyed humans were their enemies, not each other. Lion against lion just wasn't right.

That's when Aoi lunged at Itachi with his fangs bared. Hinata darts between them and slams him to the ground. She wasn't going to let the other lion start a war.

"Aoi! Stop this! You can't fight other pride members like this! We all need to stay together!" She yells at him.

"Hinata, stay out of this. That Uchiha has been asking for this for a long time. I know that you are throwing yourself at his brother, but get out of my way. You're a Hyuga Lioness. Have some pride. Have some loyalty to your family." He growls.

The lavender eyed lioness snarls at him. She had never been more furious in her entire life. How DARE he imply that she wasn't loyal to their pride?! She was the one defending a pride mate while he was picking fights.

"You are the one who needs to show more loyalty!" She snaps at him.

"Excuse me? Just because they have dark fur, doesn't make them special. We are family. They are just strays that we took in. You'd do well to remember that." The other neko growls at her.

"You'd do well to back away from my daughter." Hiashi says as he prowls over to them.

Aoi blinks. Damn it. This was going to get ugly now. Hinata was a skilled huntress and strong, but he had a hundred pounds of muscle on her in his animal form. That wasn't the case with Hiashi.

"Lord Hiashi, this isn't what it looks like. I swear that I had no intention of harming Hinata. I was only dealing with this trash." He grumbles as he glares hatefully at Itachi.

Hiashi raises an eyebrow. Perhaps that was true. Maybe Aoi was only targeting Itachi. That was better than him attacking Hinata, but still not something that he was going to tolerate.

He was the leader of the pride. His word was law. He wasn't going to allow his lions and lionesses to fight each other, especially not when they were facing threats from the big eyed humans.

"Perhaps you were attacking Itachi and Hinata stepped in. Either way, your behavior is unacceptable." Hiashi states simply.

"Hiashi, I only say this because I care about our pride. Can you not see that these lions and leopards are a threat to the safety of our family?!" Aoi demands.

"At the moment, the only threat that I see is you. You are the one who is going around and attacking pride mates. I accepted Sasuke and Itachi into this pride on a probationary basis. Both of them have more than proved their loyalty and worth since then. If you have an issue with them being part of this pride, you are questioning my judgment." The Hyuga Patriarch replies.

Aoi frowns. He knew that he was on thin ice. He had now entered dangerous territory. No matter what he said, Hiashi was never going to trust him in the same way that he had before. Damn it.

"I regret to say that in this matter, I am questioning your judgment. I do not know why you have this blind spot when it comes to them, but you do." He says.

"Are you challenging my right to lead this pride? If so, we can have our battle right now. If not, I suggest you hold your tongue." The older male says.

The rest of the pride was watching with wide eyes. This might not end well. Actually, there was a very good chance that this would end in disaster. No one had ever thought that someone would be crazy enough to challenge Hiashi, but it looked like Aoi might be.

"I have no wish to challenge you. I just wish that you would come to your senses. How can you not see the real danger that they pose to us?" The younger male asks.

"The big eyed humans are still out there. While that is the case, we can not afford to cast aside anyone. The humans might find you, if we were to exile you. Once the threat has passed though, you are no longer going to be a member of this pride. I will not tolerate disloyalty." Hiashi decrees.

Aoi openly gapes at Hiashi. He couldn't believe it! Hiashi was choosing the Uchiha Brothers and some fucking leopards over him! It was unbelievable.

He was overcome with rage and lunges at the pride leader. He just couldn't take it anymore. It was all too much.

"FATHER!" Hinata cries out in terror as Aoi sneak attacks Hiashi and tries to wrap his jaws around the older lion's throat.

Thankfully, he was having a hard time getting in a lethal bite because of Hiashi's thick mane. Hinata barrels towards Aoi and knocks him off of her sire. She wasn't going to let Aoi kill her father!

"Oh so you want to play princess? Let's see what you got!" Aoi roars at her.

The rest of the Hyuga Pride was watching with horror. If they intervened, there was a good chance that they might hurt Hinata accidentally. All of them were frozen with fear.

"I don't want to fight you, but I won't let you kill any of our pride members!" Hinata says.

"The feeling isn't mutual. Uchiha lover!" He growls as he lunges at Hinata and pins her to the ground.

The two lions grapple with each other. It was a blur of fur, fangs, and claws. They were moving around so quickly, that it was impossible to tell who was truly winning the fight.

"Big sister!" Hanabi calls out fearfully.

This couldn't be the end. Hinata wasn't going to die because Aoi was jealous of the Uchihas and worried about the leopards. No. This couldn't be happening!

"It's alright, Hanabi. I got this." Hinata replies.

Snarls and growls of pain can be heard throughout the cave, as the fur goes flying. Teeth and claws were clashing in a furious battle. Hinata was trying desperately to protect her neck from the other lion's massive jaws.

Finally, she manages to pin him. Aoi gets his teeth around her throat. Hinata didn't have any choice. She slashes at his eyes. Aoi snarls in pain and jumps off her, desperately trying to stop the bleeding.

Hinata growls when she gets up. The young lioness mistakenly though that the fight was over. It wasn't though.

"DIE TRAITOR!" He screams at Hinata as he makes one final attack.

As Aoi goes flying at her, Hinata ducks. He goes slamming into the cave wall. The force of impact crushed his skull. He was killed instantly.

His body slumps to the floor and everyone stares in horror. Aoi would never get up again. They all instinctively knew this.

"Oh God. What have I done?" Hinata whispers.

"It wasn't your fault, Hinata. You were just protecting your pride Mates. You have nothing to feel guilty over. Sadly, this might have been the kindest end to him. How badly is your throat injured?" Hiashi asks.

Hinata examines herself. She was bleeding, but not too badly. The cuts were mostly superficial at this point.

"I should probably see a healer, but I think I'll be alright." She whispers sadly and Hiashi fluffs her.

"You did the right thing. You defended our pride from a threat. You possibly saved a lot of lives by unintentionally ending his. Go and see the healer. Do not dwell on this unpleasantness." He murmurs soothingly.

"Yes, father." Hinata says as she heads off to see the healer.

She couldn't believe that she had killed someone. It had been self-defense. It wasn't as though she had planned on doing it, but she had killed someone.

She whimpers a few minutes later, when the healer tends to her injuries. It wasn't from pain, but guilt. The young lioness wanted nothing more to go and find Sasuke. She'd curl up next to her future Mate and try her best to forget what had just happened. Yes, that was exactly what she was going to do as soon as she was patched up.