Chapter 11: Rescue I

Beta'ed by Cookie-chi

She blocked and dodged mostly, forced to be put on the defense, but she tried to attack as often as she could. The odds were against her, but that did not deter her. It was not the first time she was put up against such enormous odds, however she was making little headway. There was just so many of them, and from the looks in their Byakugan-activated eyes, they would not stop until she was dead.

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"Are you serious?" Neji asked, his usually stoic voice dripping with incredulity. Lee was standing so far away from him, at a distance where he would never be able to reach with his attacks. But Lee was claiming otherwise.

"Yes Neji, this is the furthest point in your current range. And I must say that I am proud of the hard work and dedication you had to get here!" Lee yelled with glistening tears in his eyes. "The Springtime of Youth burns brightly within you my eternal rival!"

"I'm afraid to actually say that he's right." Tenten laughed watching the two. "You progressed every year, pushing the limit of your range, till you got this." She said with a proud smile. Neji still found it difficult to believe, could his technique actually reach such a range? A sense of accomplishment rose within him knowing that his teammates would not lie about his abilities.

"Very well, but let's start with half that distance. That point is still out of my range from the time I remember, but it shouldn't be a problem now. That is, if you two are correct." Neji supplied sinking into position as he waited for Lee to go where he indicated. As soon as Lee did, Neji wasted no time and started immediately. With a speed that amazed even himself; he reached Lee in less than a second and quickly closed one chakra point after another. But just as he was about to close the third one, Neji suddenly stopped. Lee, flung backwards by the force of Neji's attack, got up immediately, confused as to why he stopped. They had agreed earlier that it would be best to just test the range before actual sparring, but Lee knew that Neji had no intention at stopping after only closing two chakra points.

"Neji, is something wrong?" Lee asked, concerned and confused.

"I…don't know." Neji said, standing still. He couldn't explain why he had suddenly stopped; he had planned on closing at least three more points before stopping.

"Something feels…I don't know…not…right." Neji said, trying to explain. Tenten slowly jogged over to the guys, watching the whole thing as she felt just as confused as Lee as to why Neji stopped.

"Everything alright Neji?" she asked concerned. Maybe they started too much too soon for him as she had feared. As much as Neji would deny it, she knew his condition was delicate. Having twelve years worth of memory loss was not normal and therefore must be met with caution. But Neji remained silent, unsure of what he was feeling or how to describe it to them.

"I'm fine but…something feels…just…off. I can't describe it." Neji explained to her as best he could. He finally looked up from the ground to Lee; who looked as clueless as Neji felt, but when his eyes turned towards Tenten she looked even more worried.

"About the attack or just in general?" she asked him anxiously.

"In general…why?" Neji looked at her with suspicion.

"Well…" Tenten hesitated, "last time I felt like that was when one of my students was in danger." She explained. What he had described, she had previously chalked up to woman's intuition. Neji turned his head trying to think. Both of his teammates were here; who else was close to him that could be in danger? Suddenly the compound flashed in his mind. Without saying a word to either of them, Neji sprinted home. It was someone at home that was in danger!

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Hinata was moving as fast as she could, frantic to stay alive. After double-teaming her, she was put solely on defense. Unfortunately she couldn't rely on a rescue; no one knew where she was or whom she was with. And living with a family that could see through things, it was a major law not to use the Byakugan within the compound, for obvious privacy reasons. She could only rely on herself and she knew she was rapidly losing ground. Her injured left arm was slower than her right, causing more openings for them to attack. She tried blocking all of them, but her strength was starting to leave her and her endurance was starting to wean.

She noticed that once her attackers would start to tire, another set would take their place, never giving her a rest. Moving quickly back to dodge a blow, her eyes busy on her attackers, she did not keep track of the slippery blood on the floor. She gasped as she suddenly found herself falling backwards; one of her attackers rushed forward and slammed his chakra-charged hand into her chest. Landing on the floor with a loud thud, Hinata cried in pain as blood spurted from her mouth. A woman who was standing within the circle rapidly moved forward and kicked her swiftly in her head, deactivating Hinata's Byakugan. Pouncing on her, Hinata could feel herself being lifted, her arms yanked behind her. Out of breath and out of strength, Hinata weakly lifted her throbbing head up, blood trickling out of her mouth and arm. Hidemi moved forward, clapping his hands.

"Very good Hinata-sama, we did not expect you to last this long." He said with mocking admiration.

"What…is the meaning of this?" Hinata demanded tiredly.

"Hahaha still stupid and naïve as ever I see." He laughed in her face before backhanding her. Hinata clenched her teeth to prevent from crying out in pain, she did not want to give him the satisfaction of that.

"Frankly, we are sick and tired of your rebellious ways. You are leading our clan to ruin with your changes." He spat at her, anger etched in every part of his face. "It's people like you that degrade our name." The person or persons holding her arms suddenly tugged harder, panting from the pain of her joints coming apart, Hinata struggled to reply back.

"So…because you disapprove…of my ways…you'll assassinate your own leader? I'm afraid…that it is you…that is tainting our…family name." she fought to say against the pain in her arms and the aching of her head.

"Shut up you stupid bitch!" cried the woman next to him as she ran forward with a kunai in hand, slashing upward, cutting Hinata's cheek. Then grabbing her hair roughly, the woman brought her kunai towards Hinata's eyes, pausing only temporarily.

"Hidemi-san will be the savoir to our family!" she screamed at her before brining her kunai down to Hinata's eyes.

"Halt!" Hidemi's harsh voice rang out. The woman stopped immediately and turned a disappointed face to him.

"But why Hidemi-san?" she whined, her taste for Hinata's blood apparent in her eyes. Hidemi's eyes softened as he stroked the woman's cheek.

"Soon." He said to her with a smile. She sighed deeply before letting Hianta go. Hidemi stepped forward and shot his arm out, his hand catching Hinata's throat and locking onto it. Hinata could feel her oxygen supply cut off as she struggled against her restraints.

"Never fear Hinata-sama, your death will not be so bad. We shall continue to honor you despite the fact that you have committed suicide." He said with an evil glint. Hinata's eyes widened with surprise and understanding, they were going to make her death look like she killed herself! They will go on living and no one would suspect! Her body jerked forcibly, desperately trying to get the air it needed. But darkness started to cloud around her vision, and her body grew weaker. However just before she was about to pass out, he suddenly released her throat. She drew a deep breath in but found her mouth suddenly filled with a bitter tasting liquid.

She coughed; spitting most of it back out, her lungs burning from the lack of air. The woman from before laughed hysterically as all of them watched their leader in a coughing fit, trying to get as much air in her lungs as possible. The woman roughly grasped Hinata's chin and smiled maliciously.

"That was a deadly poison of mine. One drop is fatal…how many drops did you consume?" she asked with false concern before slapping her in the face. Hinata's head was whipped to one side, fear and defeat growing in her heart.

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Just as Neji was reaching the compound he saw that Hizashi was just leaving to go meet his team. Stopping quickly, Neji grabbed the boy's shoulders tightly.

"Where are you sisters?!" Neji demanded harshly. Hizashi looked at him with shock and slightly feared at the worry on his father's face.

"With Jii-san, why? What's wrong?" Hizashi asked anxiously.

"Then where is your mother?" Neji demanded; if the girls were with Hiashi, they were safe. But what about Hinata?

"Last I saw her; she was with Hidemi-san." Hizashi supplied quickly. "Tou-san, what's going on?" Neji paused, that name 'Hidemi' it kept coming up in the reports as an instigator. Why would Hinata be with him? There was no meeting scheduled today and he knew that no good would come of Hidemi meeting with Hinata privately.

"Where were they?" Neji asked quickly.

"They were heading towards the side cottage." Hizashi asked, fear and worry for his mother creeping into his voice.

"Get to the Hokage quick and tell him your mother is in danger." Neji ordered him, already starting to head into the compound.

"But…" Hizashi hesitated.

"GO!" Neji yelled, before disappearing into the compound. Hizashi turned and sprinted towards the Hokage building, pumping chakra into his legs and feet like he recently learned, his father's words starting to sink in. His eyes widened with shock and fear for her, pushing himself faster. Hiashi paused his training with the girls as soon as he spotted Neji.

"Oi, Neji…" he called out.

"Hinata-sama is in danger." Neji cut him off as he ran passed him. Wasting no time, Hiashi quickly turned to his granddaughters and ordered them to find Hanabi as fast as they could. She would protect them from any harm, before he ran after Neji, following him.

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Hinata suddenly felt her arms being shoved forwards and her sleeves pushed up, exposing her pale forearms. Hidemi smiled and stepped back, allowing the woman to move forward. She chuckled as she pulled out her kunai and brought it down quickly to Hinata's forearm, creating a long deep cut lengthwise down her arm. Hinata cried softly from the pain, too exhausted to stop from making any noise. The stinging pain just wouldn't stop and she was forced to watch the woman cutting her over and over again. Hinata could feel her lifeforce draining from her arms, her blood saturating the floor beneath them. Tears built up in her eyes and slowly trickled down her cheeks, stinging her cut on her cheek with the salty liquid. She didn't truly understand their plan, Hizashi was still her heir, but she didn't want to bring up the subject of her children. She would protect them as best she could now, and hope that Neji would do a better job of it than she did. As her tears continued to flow, so did her despair. She was going to die…she was going to die and everyone was going to think that she had killed herself. She was never going to see her children again, she was never going to be able to hold them or kiss them again. She was never going to see Neji again.

Seeing that Hinata finally gave up struggling against them, they released her arms and she fell into the pool of her own blood. The smell of it was in her nose, the taste of it was on her lips, and the rest just soaked up into her clothes. Her mind and body, which were already exhausted, grew even more tired. The ever-constant pain was starting to numb, and she was growing sleepy. But her tears never stopped flowing, along with her blood. Neji, oh Neji…I'm so sorry. Her heart cried for him, wishing for him to hear though she knew it was futile. He was training; he was probably enjoying Lee and Tenten's company right now. She was probably the furthest thing from his mind. Her heart broke at her own hopeless thoughts. Closing her eyes, she sadly accepted death.

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The door suddenly burst open; two enraged men entered the darkened room. Both Hiashi and Neji's eyes took in the entire scene. Thirteen men and women were standing around a large pool of blood with an unconscious body lying within it. Neji's heart lurched in his chest. No, not again. Not again! He rushed forward, powerfully shoving anyone out of his way. Dropping to his knees he gently picked up Hinata's limp body in his arms. There was blood all over her, her arms were mutilated, and small bruises dotted her neck. Neji's mind was thrown back to the last time he held her like this, the time when she died in his arms. He shook his head violently, trying to deny what was happening. No, this was supposed to be my second chance! Why can't I ever protect her?! He clutched her tightly to him, shutting his eyes tightly against the tears that threatened to fall from them.

Then he heard it; they all heard it. A single small soft cough slipped between her bloodied lips. Neji opened his shocked eyes and looked down at her, moving his hand to check her pulse. It was rapidly growing weaker, but it was still there. Hope surged into him as his hand trailed up slightly to cup her cheek. Hold on Hinata, hold on.

"Neji!" Hiashi barked, "Get Hinata out of here!" Neji looked back at Hiashi, then at the people surrounding him. Tensing his body, he slowly got up, cradling Hinata in his arms. As soon as he took a step, someone moved to intercept him.

"Don't move!" Hiashi yelled fiercely. After years of obeying him, the traitor automatically stopped as Neji raced forwards out of the room. He paused once he got to Hiashi.

"Hiashi-sama?"

"Don't let my daughter die." Hiashi ordered, not looking at Neji, keeping his eyes on his enemies. Without another word, Neji left him and hoped that help was on its way.

"Hiashi-sama, you don't understand, we just stumbled across Hinata-sama like this. We were too late to stop her from committing suicide." Hidemi said in a soothing voice, trying to placate the vividly enraged man before them. There may have been a point in time when Hiashi did not want Hinata to be the Heiress of their clan, but she was still his daughter. If he continued to think the way he had when she was twelve, he would have found a way to prevent her from becoming their leader, but death was never an option. He may be a hard man, but he was not heartless.

"I cannot believe you would go through such lengths Hidemi…Hayako…Hijikata…" and he continued until he voiced every single one of their names. Forcing them to the realization that he knew who they all were and that none would be safe from his wrath.

"Hiashi-sama please…" Hidemi pleaded, Hiashi was not a man he wanted to mess with. It was never his intention for Hiashi to figure out what they had done. "We are just trying to save our clan. That…woman…was going to destroy us all."

"Wrong!" Hiashi yelled with anger as he sunk into a fighting position, "You destroyed yourselves the moment you even thought of harming my daughter."

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"You don't understand it's an emergency!" Hizashi cried as he tried to get passed two guards.

"I'm sorry kid, but the Hokage is busy right now…"

"I don't care! Let me through!" Hizashi yelled angrily and he slipped between them and ran as fast as he could up the stairs to the Hokage's office. Shoving the door open, he ran up to Naruto's desk, frantic and out of breath.

"Hizashi-kun?" Naruto asked, surprised to suddenly find the boy in his office. Hizashi panted as he looked up to Naruto with worried and pleading eyes.

"Please…Hokage-sama…Kaa-san…she's in danger." He managed to get out. All playfulness suddenly flew out of Naruto as seriousness set in.

"Where is she?" Naruto asked Hizashi urgently.

"Hyuuga compound…side cottage…" Hizashi breathed. Naruto looked at the two others in the room that Hizashi had failed to notice earlier.

"Both of you come with me." Naruto said, worry and anger set in his voice. One of them clenched his teeth and fisted his hands as he nodded to Naruto. A low and threatening growl emitted from the huge dog next to him.

"Tsk, troublesome Hyuugas." Complained the other.

"Hizashi-kun, find your sensei and stay with him. Don't you dare go back home, do you understand me?" Naruto ordered the boy. Angry with not being able to help his mother, Hizashi nearly objected, but held his tongue. He knew why Naruto did not want him back at home, and though he didn't like it, he nodded his head. Naruto was the Hokage, Kiba was on ANBU, and Skikamaru was a Jounin…Hizashi knew he would only get in the way. Nodding silently, Hizashi agreed.

"Good. Now Shikamaru, Kiba, Akamaru…let's go kick some ass." Naruto said in a threatening manner before all four of them took off towards the Hyuuga compound.

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AN: Aww so sorry that it's been a long time since I last updated. I was feeling a little bitter earlier and then I totally forgot because it's my last year of college and I have more responsibilities at my internship. I've just been super busy. If it wasn't for Aki Kasumi, I wouldn't have gotten this to you guys till this weekend. I hope you guys like it. Please continue leaving me reviews, maybe then I won't feel so bitter, lol. Love ya'll. Ja!