Chapter 11 Frightened Fawns and A Kunoichi at Her Limit

Quote 11: "To have felt too much is to end in feeling nothing." -Dorothy Thompson

Time Rule 11: It is impossible for Travelers to travel together.
(This Rule does not apply to Chakra Beasts, or their companions. Travelers can arrive in the same Time and near the same place, but it is rare.)

Hinata sighed, then sighed again. The night was cold and dark, well she assumed it was dark, and Itachi was just beside her, while Rin was on the other side of him. The two shinobi who had Penny and Matatabi in them were sleeping across the fire they'd made and the whole camp was being normal, in regard to a war camp. Although Hinata was slightly confused as to how she knew how a normal war camp worked.

Truth be told, Hinata was slightly confused at a lot of things. Now that the chaos that had ensued since she'd woken in the hospital had died a little and she wasn't tired or on medication, she had a lot of time to think.

This brought her to her current situation. She had a lot of instincts that didn't make sense for the four-years she knew she had. Her byakugan was broken, that was a no-brainer. She had something, or things, inside her, as far as the colorful chakra circles were. The…she didn't know what to call them, but Matatabi, Kurama, and Penny. She didn't know what to call them, or how they were related to her, she didn't even know how she'd been with them and then suddenly not.

Hinata sighed for a third time, before glancing down at Itachi. He was sleeping soundly, and his chakra was undisturbed, though it still gathered around his wounds, where Rin had healed him. Reaching over, she placed a small palm on his forehead, then smiled when she felt no heat there.

Glancing across the fire; well, where she knew the fire was, at the two shinobi. They were peacefully sleeping. Whispering, Hinata leaned over Itachi. "Penny-san, Matatabi-san, can you not wake them up, please. We need to get Itachi-kun and Rin-chan back to their friends. Okay?"

There was a beat of silence and for a moment Hinata thought she'd made it all up and was simply losing her mind. Until the soft rumbling of a large cat purring filled her mind. Little Chickadee, Matatabi whispered in return, go south-east. Rely on Isobu's sense of direction. You will meet a lady with red-hair. She will have Kurama inside her, trust her, she will take you home.

Hinata paused with her hand poised over Rin's shoulder, ready to shake her awake. "Isobu?" She asked.

Anchor.

Hinata nodded and gently touching Rin's shoulder, she saw the teal chakra flare with alarm, but didn't feel Rin move a muscle under her little hand. Still, knowing she was awake, Hinata spoke softly, "Let's go, Rin-chan. They are sleeping."

The body was still, but her chakra was awake. Slowly and quietly she rose. She looked down at Itach, then felt his forehead. "Alright, Hinata-chan. Help me put Itachi on my back."

Hinata nodded and did so. Itachi woke, partway through, but remained silent as he clutched his arms, wrapped around Rin's shoulders. Hinata pressed a finder to her lips and gestured for them to follow.

Taking a leap and hoping it worked she asked in her mind, can you start us off, Matatabi-san?

There was no answer, but seemingly of its own accord, Hinata's head turned to the direction they needed to go in. Hinata began to walk as silently as she could, which was fearfully NOT silent.

Matatabi-san! Make me be quieter!

The rumbling chuckle was fainter as they drew away from the two sleeping shinobi, but Hinata shivered as her own lavender chakra suddenly moved to her feet, cushioning her coils there.

I have moved your chakra for you, now all you need to do is keep it there. When you reach home, have someone teach you how to do it properly.

Hinata nodded. Thank you, Matatabi-san. Good-bye, I'm sorry I can't stay.

That's alright, Little Chick. I'll handle things from here.

Afterward the silence was heavy and deafening as the three pushed on through the forested landscape, heading south-east in the darkest night that any of the three could remember, though Hinata couldn't help but feel like every night would be this dark from now on.

Hinata was tense enough to pee her pants, in fact, she didn't know what was stopping her from peeing her pants. What she did know was that if Rin didn't return soon, the shinobi scouring the landscape outside their thicket were going to find them.

Itachi knelt beside her, his head and hair damp with perspiration and his hand hot, where it clutched Hinata's. Both were smothering their chakra to the greatest depths of their abilities. They barely breathed as they both watched with their special eyes as the chakra signatures circled around and around and around; like a scavenger bird over prey not yet dead but coming close.

Their grip tightened as one shinobi passed by closer than the rest. At this point, their hands were white with tension. He passed, but neither were relieved. Rin was still gone, they were still near enough to find them, and their combined years didn't even equal ten.

Daring a whisper, Itachi breathed into Hinata's ear. "It's getting worse."

Hinata's eyes involuntarily filled with tears as she pressed closer to Itachi's side, letting go of his hand in favor of wrapping her arm around his waist, using her opposite hand to grab that one that hadn't return the gesture. She pressed his head to her shoulder, scared beyond reason at how hot he was.

"It's okay," she whispered. "Close your eyes, don't use the red ones anymore."

Itachi nodded and his red chakra returned to the pit of his stomach, as far as Hinata could see. He was far from relaxed though, as they continued to hold each other. This was not good for him, Hinata knew, and it made her furious that these adults were hunting them, two children, like a wolf would hunt a pair of fawns.

"We're not animals," she accidentally murmured aloud, not guilty in the least at the tears that had broken loose and flowed down her cheeks.

Itachi looked up at her, then nodded after a moment, reaching the same conclusion she had. "But maybe they are." He whispered back.

Hinata didn't answer. She simply pulled him closer and buried her head in his hair, it was soft and long, and even though she didn't know what color it was, she still thought it was pretty. Itachi easily returned the embrace, grateful for what little comfort he could find in his tense fevered state.

Rin clutched her side, panting. Her vision blurred, and her blood pounded in her ears like a thousand hooves. She had practically no chakra and she no longer had any doubt that the wound she had received from the damn Sand ANBU, she just happened to run into, was poisoned.

"Fuck this!" She snapped to herself. "Fuck all of it! Fuck the war! Fuck Konoha! FUCK BEING A FUCKING SHINOBI!"

She hadn't really meant to scream it, but in the end, she was quite stressed and needed to get it out.

"Rin! Are you alright?"

Despite being immensely glad to hear her broody teammate, Rin was also in a terrible mood. "NO!" she spun around to face Kakashi, where his was crouched in a tree about six feet from her. "No, I'm not fucking alright! I'm twelve!" she snapped. "I'm twelve years old and I'm getting attacked by psychopathic masked men with a penchant for poison! I haven't even fucking hit puberty yet and had to hide two four-year-olds in a thicket like a couple of fawn as I lead them on a merry fucking hunt, like a mama deer to a bunch of winter-starved wolves!"

She cut off as she ran out of breath, her head feeling too light and far away. She stumbled to her knees, clutching her side still, her other hand holding the bark of the tree until her knuckles were white.

"Am I alright?" She asked in a whisper, her eyes misted with hot-tears. "Am I alright? Am I alright?"

A soft hand touched her shoulder. "Of course, you are, Rin-chan," the gentle voice of her mentor said into her ear. "You have shown great strength, now why don't you rest, and let the adults handle it."

Rin looked up into his cerulean blues and the dam broke. She crumbled into his hold sobbing, clutching the pockets of his chunin flak jacket like a life-line. He wrapped his arms around her, shushing her gently as he rubbed her back comfortingly. "We'll handle it now, Rin-chan. You'll be fine."

Rin nodded. "They're in a thicket about fifty kilometers to the east," she murmured, her voice surprisingly clear despite her shivers and the sobs from before. "Lightning shinobi are everywhere, and Sand knows I'm in the area."

Minato nodded, giving her a tight squeeze. "Kakashi, Obito, Yumi-san, the three of you are to escort Rin back to Konoha, as soon as the poison is out of her system." The three nodded.

He then looked into the violet eyes of his wife. "Ready for chaos?"

She smirked, sharing a sadistic look with Hizashi. "Oh, yeah. I'm ready to break some heads."

The group of them consisted of Kushina, Minato, Yumi Hyuga, Fugaku, Shisui, an Inuzuka sent by Tsume, an Akamichi sent by Choza, Tsunade, Orochimaru, and Jiraiya.

They started out in the designated direction. "Alright, spread out in pairs of two," Minato instructed. "Cause whatever kind of chaos you want. Your goal is to get as many shinobi on your tail as possible. Kushina, you and I are going to track down those kids. Ask you tenant for an exact location and we'll head there."

The others nodded and pared off; Kushina and Minato, Fugaku, Shisui, and the Akamichi, the Inuzuka with Jiraiya, and Orochimaru and Tsunade.

They jumped away spreading out like a hoard of insects. The hunt was on and there was more than one individual in the various groups itching for some vengeance for the stress caused to everyone involved in the situation.

A/N: Here's the next chapter, I hoped you enjoyed it. I know Rin just flips her shit, but honestly, she's a twelve-year-old girl probably starting puberty and she's in the middle of a war trying to take care of two really weird four-year-olds. I don't care about being raised in a shinobi community, she was bound to loose her shit at some point. I mean, kidnapping, torture, escape, fighting someone double your age, being poisoned, lost, in charge. Yeah, she reached her limit and freaked out. She'll be okay after a little R&R and with some TLC from her team.

Regarding the quote: When I found it, it reminded me so much of Canon Kakashi and Canon Itachi it was freaking ridiculous. It felt so fitting, especially with Rin's reaction to all the stress.