The Huntress
Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews. Sorry, that I haven't updated this one in awhile. I was finishing up Our Son. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter.
Chapter 11
A short while later, Hinata limps into the section of the cave that she now essentially shared with Sasuke. She smiles when she sees him. The other lion neko sees her and immediately tries to get up to go to her.
That didn't work out too well for him. He was still stunned from the fake fang. Hinata did appreciate that he was trying, but he was only going to hurt himself more.
"Sasuke! Stop! It's okay. I'll be okay. Just lay down and rest!" She pleads.
The black lion neko grumbles and shifts back to his animal form. He'd heal faster this way. Well at least that was his hope anyway.
"I'm sorry that I couldn't help you." He whispers.
"It's not you fault. You don't always have to save me. I saved myself this time. That's all." Hinata assures him as she limps over to her future Mate and curls up against him.
Ah that was better. He was always so nice and warm. She also loved the feeling of his fur. It was so nice and silky.
"Still I should have done something. I really hate the big eyed humans. I can smell leopards nearby. Since when are leopards allowed here?" Sasuke asks as he begins attentively grooming her.
"Well I don't think father is happy about it, but Gaara is too easily recognizable. His siblings wanted to come with him and Mei did as well for some reason. I think she might like him." Hinata says as she sighs in contentment at the grooming and begins returning the gesture.
"Oh. I see. That makes sense. Yeah. Gaara's fur is pretty exotic. That's better. Just relax. It's a good thing that you killed that traitor. Otherwise, I would have made him suffer a lot more." Sasuke growls.
Hinata's tail swishes. She really did have such a protective Mate. Well almost Mate. Once they were sure that the big eyed humans weren't going to bother them anymore, she was sure that he'd protect their cubs viciously.
"I know you would have. It's alright though. It's over. I'm not proud that I killed him. I wish that it hadn't happened. It shouldn't have come to that." She whispers.
Sasuke sighs. He knew that Hinata likely felt guilty. In his mind, she had absolutely no reason to feel that way. She did though.
"If it wasn't you, it would have been someone else. That or he would have killed Hiashi eventually. He was a coward. Aoki probably would have pulled something like that. You did the right thing. Don't lose any sleep over it." Sasuke tells her as he licks her cheek.
Hinata nods. She wasn't as convinced. She had killed another Pride member. That meant something. She might have done it in self-defense, but it still counted.
"Maybe." She mumbles as she licks Sasuke's fur coat clean.
"There's no maybe about it. You did the right thing. Sometimes you have to act. I know that you didn't want to do it, but it had to be done. My only regret is that I wasn't the one to do it. You're kind, Hinata. Sometimes people don't deserve your kindness." Sasuke says.
Hinata nods as she curls up closer to him. There was something really comforting about having a massive lion laying next to you. She shivers as she imagines how close they were going to be once they were better and she went into Heat.
"You cold?" He asks as he drapes the zebra blanket over her more.
"No. I'm not cold, but thank you." She tells him as she rubs noses with him.
That was the closest that lions nekos could come to kissing in their animal forms. Sasuke smiles and returns the nose rub. It was nice to see his tail swishing happily at the gesture.
"Oh. Good. I saw you shiver though." He says.
"It wasn't that kind of shiver." She admits.
"Ohhh. Good." Sasuke says smugly at that response.
Meanwhile Danzo was waiting for a response to the government. It was the strangest sensation. He was on the precipice of achieving all his dreams. The elderly man was so close and yet so far.
He was waiting for the call that would determine everything. Would his dreams go up in smoke or would they all come true? He honestly didn't know and that scared him.
"There is a chance that they might think it's a hoax." He mutters to himself.
Danzo just had to hope that wouldn't happen. He didn't know what he'd do, if that was the case. The scientist would have to do something crazy like capturing the leopard again.
"But the creatures have already proven that they will try to rescue him. Strange. It appears like they actually care for their own. They care about other creatures like them, even if they aren't the same type. Lions rescued a leopard." He muses.
That was certainly a touching sentiment. It was also a valuable scientific discovery. That wasn't just an instance of a herd banding together to intimidate a predator. Clearly, that rescue had been PLANNED.
That implied that these creatures had human intelligence or something very close to it. That explained why they had avoided detection for so long. The implications were fascinating.
"Danzo, someone wants to speak with you. I assume it's about our funding. It's a bigwig." Jirayia says as he walks over to his colleague and hands him the phone.
"Thank you, Jirayia." Danzo says as he takes the phone and heads back to his room to get some privacy.
The last thing that he needed was for his coworkers to realize what he was up to. No. He was not going to jinx this.
"Hello, Danzo. I am Hiruzen Sarutobi. We got your video. I must say that all of us are rather intrigued. I can't lie. There are concerns that this is an elaborate hoax. The fact that you have worked for decades in the field though, leads us to believe that you may have discovered something extraordinary." He begins.
Danzo's heart leapt with joy when he heard those words! Yes! It was really happening! They believed him! This was incredible news!
"Yes, it's real. I wouldn't risk my legacy over a hoax. I've been a scientist for my entire career. I live and breathe science." Danzo assures him.
"Yes, I imagined that was the case. It seems that we are in a bit of a dilemma though. Naturally, we would like to fly you out here to discuss it. On the other hand, you are the one that can most easily identify that leopard. It's a wild animal, it could die before you get back." Hiruzen replies.
Danzo frowns. That was an excellent point. Did he really trust someone else to correctly identify the leopard? No. He didn't.
"What are you suggesting?" He inquiries cautiously.
"We shall send a team out there to speak with you. If that video is accurate, these creatures have some sort of society. That can't have been a coincidence. There were too many different types of animals. Some of them are naturally each other's prey and predators. The odds of them all just happening to ambush you like that, are almost zero. Something strange is going on." The government official reasons.
"My thoughts, exactly." Danzo agrees.
He couldn't believe it! He had done it. Now all Danzo had to do was wait for the team to arrive and then they could track down that damn leopard.
"Very well. I shall send the team as I said. They'll be there within the week. It takes time to put together a quality team, even for something like this. Please do try to keep track of that leopard. I know that he escaped, but he can't have gone that far. Good day to you, Danzo." He says before hanging up.
"Oh I'll find him." Danzo says with a smirk.
One way or another, Danzo was going to find that leopard. There was no way that he was going to be denied his legacy because of one cat person!
Elsewhere Fugaku and Mikoto were back in Uchiha Territory. The two Mates were trying their best to explain the situation to their Pride mates. Needless to say, this was going to take awhile.
"It seems that a big eyed human captured a leopard neko. The leopard distracted the human while his siblings escaped. We had to mount a rescue mission. The mission was successful." The dark beauty assures their pride.
The other Uchihas looked a little less than convinced. None of them had ever doubted Mikoto's word before, but this was a stretch. They had saved a leopard from a big eyed human?
"And you think that is the end of the matter?" Another Uchiha asks.
"We aren't entirely certain. It would be a good idea for everyone to stay in their animal forms, until that can be confirmed. For now though, our mission was a success." Fugaku states.
Fugaku's word was law in that pride. Mikoto was like a beloved Queen. Fugaku was a very much respected (and even feared) King. No one was foolish enough to challenge him.
"Alright. We shall be sure to do that." The other Uchihas say as they retreat into their caves.
Mikoto sighs and fluffs her Mate. This was bad. She certainly didn't enjoy this cloud hanging over their head. No one really knew what was going to happen and that was frightening.
"It will be alright, my love." Fugaku assures her as he fluffs her back.
He hoped that he sounded more confident than he felt. In reality, he was far from certain. Fugaku didn't want to alarm the mother of his cubs though.
"Do you really believe that?" She whispers.
"Honestly, I don't know. Fretting about the matter won't help though." The proud lion neko replies.
Mikoto nods in agreement as she follows Fugaku inside the cave. She supposed that all they could do was wait and see. It had been good to see their cubs again though. So it wasn't all bad.
"Come. I think that we still have some giraffe left." She tells him.
"Oh good. I do love giraffe." Fugaku replies as they walk side by side further into their cave.
Maybe things would work out somehow. They had saved Gaara. Sasuke and Itachi were now part of a large pride and it looked like they had even found their Mates. Those were all good signs.
Back in the Hyuga Pride Lands, Itachi smiles as he watches Izumi cook. She was rather skilled at it. Mostly though, he just admired the view.
She was in her human form. That meant that he got to see her lovely backside as she scurried about. It was rather easy to forget your troubles when you were being distracted in such a wonderfully wicked way.
"Itachi, can you hand me that bowl, instead of standing around and looking pretty?" She asks.
"Of course, I can. Oh and I'm not the one standing around and looking pretty. That would be your job, not mine." He says with a smirk as he hands her the bowl.
"You're impossible." She says as she takes the bowl and then swats him.
Itachi just chuckles. He didn't the swat. He found it rather cute actually. It wasn't as if Izumi was a real threat to him.
"Only for you. Only for you." He assures her as he kisses the lioness neko's forehead.
"Good. It had better stay that way or else you are going to become quite a handsome throw rug." She warns him.
"Well I suppose when you put it that way, I had best stay on my best behavior." He muses.
A week later, Sasuke was feeling better and so was Hinata. He smiles as they slink off together to go hunting. Her Heat should be approaching soon and he wanted to have some food nearby. That way they wouldn't have any distractions.
"What shall we hunt today?" Hinata asks as she stretches and heads off with him.
"I'm not picky. Whatever you like is fine with me." Sasuke informs her.
"I think I saw some wildebeests by the watering hole." She says.
Sasuke nods in agreement and heads off with his lioness. Wildebeest sounded fine to him. It would be good to stretch his paws, after being cooped up for a week. Hunting would be a wonderfully productive way to do that.
"Do you want to be the pouncer or ambusher?" Hinata whispers as they get closer.
The two lions were now crouching low in the ground and moving very slowly. So far, so good. The beasts hadn't seen them yet.
"You're faster than I am. You can pounce. I'll ambush and snap its neck." Sasuke tells her as he gets into position.
Hinata nods. The lioness chases the wildebeest. The beast tries to escape and ends up running straight into Sasuke. Hinata jumped on the creatures back and tries to force him to the ground.
That was all the opening that Sasuke needed. He immediately clamps his mighty jaws around its neck. It didn't take long for the for their prey to stop struggling and to go lifeless.
"That's my huntress." Sasuke says proudly, after releasing their kill from his mouth.
"Always." Hinata says as her tail swishes happily.
"Mmm let's get this back to the cave and try to find some more." Sasuke tells her and Hinata nods in agreement.
The two lion nekos quickly drag the kill back to the cave. Sasuke places it in the corner and the two of them get some water, before heading out again. It'd probably be better to get more food before her Heat hit. One kill might be enough to get them though, but obviously more would be better.
Meanwhile the team sent by the government, arrives in Africa. All of them were curious about Danzo's discovery. Half of them thought it was a clever hoax and half of them thought Danzo had made an amazing discovery.
"Either way, I'm certain that this will be most entertaining." Tobirama says.
"That's right, brother. This could be the discovery of a lifetime. I hope that it's true. Can you imagine what this will mean for science and humanity at large?" Hashirama asks.
"I can scarcely imagine and I have a pretty good imagination." His brother replies.
Tobirama was aware of Danzo's reputation in the scientific community. It would have been harder to find a more credible person to make such a fantastical claim. That made him have some hope that this wouldn't be a hoax.
He didn't want to get his hopes up too much though. The odds of there actually being a race of cat people with human or near human intelligence seemed rather slim.
"Yeah! Let's go!" Hashirama says and there was a chorus of agreements.
He chuckles. Hashirama certainly had a way of inspiring people. Not that their team needed much encouragement on this one. Whether they thought this would end in an amazing discovery or comedy, everyone was eager to see what would happen.
A short while later, they arrived at the hotel. Hashirama quickly makes his way to the room that Danzo was said to be staying in and knocks on his door. That was hardly surprising. His brother had always been easily excitable and now he had ad damn good reason to be excited.
"Oh! You must be from the government." Danzo says, after opening the door.
"That's right. I'm Hashirama. That's my brother, Tobirama. We have an entire team of people that is eager to meet with you. Let's go find our cat." He tells him.
Danzo smirks. This was going to be perfect. Now he had a real team working for him. There was no way that he could fail.
"Excellent. We should leave as soon as possible." He replies.
"Shouldn't we inform the rest of your team that we are going after the cat?" Tobirama asks as he raises an eyebrow.
"That won't be necessary. They are already out in the field looking for the leopard." Danzo lies easily.
The brothers seem to take his word at face value. Why wouldn't they? He was a respected scientist, after all.
"Alright. Then I expect that you should get ready and we'll wait for you outside. Our team is quite excited to begin on this project." Tobirama explains.
"Of course. I'll be out in just a few moments. I can't tell you what this means to me. I greatly appreciate your help. I really think that we are on the verge of changing the world!" Danzo says as he closes his door and presumably begins to change into his field clothes.
The two brothers nod and head out of the hotel. They had to brief their team. It was exciting. They were about to potentially discover a new species! Incredible!
Elsewhere Sasuke and Hinata had had a rather productive hunting session. They now had the wildebeest, a zebra, and an antelope to tide them over.
"Do you want some help, skinning them?" Sasuke asks as he watches his soon to be Mate begin doing so.
"That'd be nice." Hinata says with a smile.
Saske nods and he shifts to his human form. He swiftly begins the process of skinning their kills and salting the meat. That would preserve it longer.
"The first time that I saw you, I knew that you were a skilled huntress and you had such beautiful eyes. I think that I knew from that moment that you were the lioness that I wanted." Sasuke tells her as he kisses her shoulder.
"That's so sweet. I love you too." Hinata says with a smile as she leans back into the affectionate gesture.
If Sasuke had been in his lion form, he was sure that his tail would have been wagging. She had said it. Hinata loved him. He smiles and nuzzles her. His huntress loved him.
"Do you think that Izumi and Itachi are going to Mate as well?" She asks curiously as she turns around and snuggles into his arms.
"I think so. I'm sure that we'll have cubs before them though." Sasuke says with a smirk.
"Mmm. It's not a competition, Sasuke." She tells him with a giggle.
Sasuke tries his best to look innocent. He knew that. Mostly. He couldn't lie though. He was never going to let Itachi live it down, if they had cubs before Itachi and Izumi did.
His brother could be rather smug sometimes. Sasuke pawned it off to the fact that he was the elder brother. He was supposed to be that way. So it would be really nice to get one over on him.
"Oh I know that. I'm just saying that it would be nice, if we did." Sasuke says slyly.
"You can be so silly sometimes. The cubs will have lots of fun playing with you." Hinata muses.
"Good because I KNOW that I'll have lots of fun playing with you while we sire them." The lion neko whispers seductively into her ear as he traces his hand over the curve of her hip, suggestively.
Hinata laughs and leans into him. He could be such a silly AND naughty lion at times. She doubted that it would take them very many tries before she was pregnant with their first litter.
"That's good to know." She whispers as she kisses him.
Sasuke smiles and kisses back. For the moment, he had completely forgotten about everything else. He wasn't thinking about the leopards, his birth pride, or the big eyed humans. The only thing that he could think about was the beautiful lioness in his arms.
"I thought so. How big of a litter were you hoping for?" Sasuke asks as he kisses her neck.
"I h-adn't really thought about it. You don't get to pick your litter size." She sighs softly in pleasure.
"I know that. Most people have a preference though." Sasuke says as he playfully nips at her neck.
Hinata felt herself shiver. Sasuke was a natural seducer it seemed. It was nice to know that she had a good Mate lined up for her seasons. A very, very affectionate one at that.
"Mmm maybe two or three. A small litter is usually best for the first time." She reasons.
"I guess that's a good point." Sasuke admits.
Sasuke idly wonders if the cubs would look more like him or her. Would they have her beautiful lavender eyes or his ruby red ones? Light fur like their mother or dark like his? Maybe they would be a mix.
Elsewhere in the Hyuga Caves, Gaara was also feeling better. The red head wasn't sure that he felt entirely safe in the lion's den. Sometimes though, it didn't bother him too much.
Mei could be very distracting. He had no idea how to respond to her. The older leopard was very affectionate towards him. He might be young, but he wasn't completely naïve. It seemed like she wanted to be his Mate.
"Gaara, are you hungry?" Temari asks as she trots in carrying an impala in her jaws.
"Yes, a little bit. Thank you, sister." Gaara replies.
Thankfully, his siblings were there as well. They usually showed up before things got too awkward. He was worried that he'd end up making a fool out of himself.
"Impala, my favorite. I'll prepare it." Mei tells Temari.
"Oh thank you. That's very kind." The feisty blonde informs her, while still in her leopard form.
Kankuro snickers at Mei's offer. Gaara rolls his eyes. Sometimes, his brother really did ask to be beaten up.
"What are you laughing at?!" The female Sabaku Sibling demands.
"It's a good thing that she's offering to cook. Otherwise, we'd just have to eat it raw. Safer to eat it raw than to eat anything you make." The male leopard replies.
SMACK! Temari swats Kankuro with her mighty paw. Soon enough the brother and sister were locked in an epic "play fight."
Gaara wisely takes a few steps back. He didn't want to get pulled into the middle of that. Apparently, neither did Mei. She was now standing right beside him in her human form.
"Are they always like this?" She whispers.
"Always. Kankuro can't resist trying to get underneath her fur." Gaara admits.
"Well I suppose one thing is for sure. I'm not going to be bored again, anytime soon. Not with the three of you here." She says with a smile.