A/N: Hooray, chaptah...! Uh...what chapter is this? Oh yeah! It's fourteen! Chaptah Fourteen! XD Yeah I'm stupid...-sniff- leave me alone! Anyway, here's the next installment of Dark Angel, and yes, this'll be the second to last Uma flashback chapter (the final one will be later on, because...well, if I TELL you, that'll just ruin the story, sorry ^^") SO please enjoy, and OH! There's a little tidbit of DeiHinaIta in the end, since I know you guys have missed that :) Again, enjoy.
Warning: HOLY $%&#! THERE ARE OVER 7,000 WORDS FOR THIS CHAPTER O.O Geez, no wonder it took me so long...this has got to be my longest chapter yet in my whole fanfiction-writing career...so you guys better appreciate it, k? Cuz if you don't, weh-hell then! (XD)
Disclaimer: Naruto does not own Ina-chanz. Oh wait, it does -.-
-:|:-
"Hmm..?" Uma fluttered her eyes open. She turned her head left and right, her vision still in a haze. It seemed to be mid-day, judging from the light around her, but it was still hard to tell exactly. As she could just be able to see clearly, a loud, cranky voice made her eyes snap wide open as it yelled in her ear.
"'Ey! 'Ey, Gamo! My brat's awake!" it said. It sounded like a woman's. Uma noticed that her chin was rested on this woman's shoulder, her arms interlaced around her neck as her legs. She was being given a piggyback ride. Uma, frightened out of her mind at being this close to a stranger, snapped up and tried to get her hands apart. They wouldn't budge, neither would her feet.
Wh-What? Uma shouted inside. She couldn't even separate her lips. She was powerless. She rested her head back on the woman's shoulder, trying to formulate some sort of way out of this.
"Well, that makes both 'a them awake!" replied this "Gamo". Uma poked her head up again. Both...? Uma looked to her side, to where Gamo was walking next to her and the woman. She gasped at who she saw.
Fugaku? her eyes widened. Fugaku seemed to of been staring at her this entire time, scowling. He further narrowed his eyes at her. Uma blinked, before swishing her face away from him. Why is he mad at me? she asked herself. Did I do something...?
-:|:-
"...And also THIS!" Tsunade yelled, bonking Akihiko on the head again.
"OW!" Akihiko yelled, holding another bruise on his head already as the next one emerged. "Will you stop, lady?"
"...And this for talking back to a woman!" Tsunade swat at his head again.
"ACKY!"
"Tsunade-san, aren't you going to go find them? You've been at this with the boy for a while..." Deidara said quietly.
"Yes I am, right now as a matter of fact! Akihiko, use your famous clan's nose in order to sniff out Fugaku and Uma's whereabouts!"
"Fine! As long as you don't hit me again..." Akihiko muttered. He scurried up to the side of the forest, away from the other two, and sniffed the air around it. "Hmm!" Akihiko pondered aloud, stroking his chin. Tsunade and Deidara walked up to him from behind, watching. He took another whiff. "Hmm!" he uttered again, stroking his chin again as well. He did this repetitively until Tsunade lost her patience and smacked him on the head once more, another bump appearing right after.
"OWIE!" Akihiko yelped, tumbling frontward. "I'm sniffing them out like you said, dang it!"
"Well could you do it a little less stupidly?" Tsunade spat. Akihiko puckered out his bottom lip while looking at her before spinning away from her.
"Whatever! I already got there scent! It's weird...they seem to be going on our route, back to Iwagakure..."
"Oh good!" Tsunade said, punching out her fist. "We won't be delayed by this kidnapping of our teammates by very much then! Let's move out team!" Tsunade and Akihiko jumped up into the trees above, going from branch to branch towards the lost chunnin.
"Wait!" Deidara yelled from below, trying to run after them. Tsunade looked over her shoulder and sighed. She quickly went back to him, landing right in front of her client. She stared at him. Deidara smiled and sighed in relief.
"Thank you," he said. "I thought you guys were going to abando-AHH!" Tsunade picked him up, threw him high in the air, and made him land on her back. She carried him up to the trees and sped up quickly to catch up to Akihiko, who was already way ahead of her.
"Whoa!" Deidara shouted. He almost dropped his suitcase as Tsunade went even faster to catch Akihiko.
"Akihiko, wait up!" Tsunade called. Akihiko ignored her. He went off into the forest determinedly, Uma's scent filling his nostrils.
-:|:-
"Uma, aren't you going to come in now?" Fugaku asked, back still turned. Hearing no answer, or even the smallest breath, Fugaku snapped his head over his shoulder. "Uma?" he asked. She was nowhere to be seen.
"What?" Fugaku spun around completely. He ran towards the spot she was just at moments ago, his eyes looking towards the forest in front of him. He called out to her again, wondering if she just left to relief herself.
"Uma?" he yelled into the forest. Nothing gave a reply. It was dead silent. He growled before heading off into the darkness.
"Wha? Umaaa?" Akihiko yawned, poking his head out of the tent. His vision was blurred from just waking up. "I...oh Fugaku, you and Uma-chan...I ummm...ahhhh..."Akihiko plopped back to the ground, head still out of the tent, falling straight back to sleep.
Red eyes burned through the darkness of the night in search. He jumped from tree to tree, looking constantly. It felt like hours passed by as he looked for her, and maybe they were, maybe they weren't. He didn't know. Every now and then, Fugaku called out her name, but every time, nothing answered. Eventually, Fugaku started to tire, slowing down as he reached the middle of the huge forest. He was at a small patch of land in the forest. He panted as he looked up, the moon hanging directly at the
center of the dark sky. He sat himself down, looking down at his feet before closing his eyes, feeling them burn from not blinking enough. He tried to catch his breath, mouth opened.
"Tired already?" a voice ventured. Fugaku's eyes snapped open angrily at this strange voice that he had never heard before. His Sharingan pierced through the blackness, finding the speaker. Fugaku smirked, for whoever it was, they had a low reserve of chakra. He untensed his body.
"Well?" the voice asked. "You really call yourself a chunnin? The three of you, actually. You and your two teammates. You're more like beginning gennin from my point."
"You're one to talk," Fugaku threw back, ignoring how did this person know about him and his squad. "Because judging from your chakra, you're no more than a gennin yourself, aren't you?" The voice chuckled.
"Ever heard of HIDING your chakra, boy?" the person's small chakra suddenly erupted into a large burst of chakra flames, the aura surrounding him completely as Fugaku's eyes had shown him. Fugaku raised his eyebrows, a little startled. Somehow, the stranger saw his expression, because it laughed at him, making its chakras die down to small, weak state it appeared to be only a moment ago.
"...whatever," Fugaku muttered. "Just tell me what you did with that girl, my teammate. I know you did it, and I know you know where she is, now tell me."
"I won't tell you," the voice oozed. "Because I'm going to bring you right to her."
Suddenly, right from behind Fugaku, before his eyes could detect the person from switching to that very spot so quickly, hands popped out from towards him, long and clawed fingers reaching. Fugaku was quick too. He whirled around, pulling a kunai from his pouch, slashing at the attacker. Fugaku heard a screech. The hands retracted from him, disappearing into the bushes. Fugaku watched them do so, his eyes glowing red still. Fugaku looked down ahead of himself. Whoever it was, they weren't very agile. He had just cut off one of their fingers. It lay on the grass, staining the ground with its blood.
"How...how dare you!" the voice hissed. The next moment, Fugaku came face to face with this ninja. He stood a few feet higher than him, staring down at him. The moon just barely lit his face. Fugaku stared up at him. Before Fugaku could look up at him, the stranger swept his wrist at Fugaku's neck, making him go unconscious moments later...
...and that was all Fugaku had remembered. The next thing he knew, he woke up, on Gamo's back.
Fugaku continued to stare at Uma, a little angrily. Because of you, I got caught... he thought. How could I let her make me do that...going off alone...just for her...
Uma was looking back at him. She looked at him worriedly. What is it? She asked him in her thoughts.
"'Ey kid!" the woman's voice rang into her ears again. "Don't even try to get out of this with you stupid ninja's escape jutsus! Cuz they don't work of these types of invisible chakra bindings boss made for you! Just look at your boyfriend over there! See what it did?" Uma went a little red at the word "boyfriend", but then she immediately looked at Fugaku to see what she meant. It took her a moment before she realized it. She tried to gasp, but her mouth still wouldn't open.
Fugaku's wrists were slashed, the blood staining his skin and Gamo's shirt. He seemed to of done an escape jutsu multiple times, because there were multiple different cuts and they were deep. Fugaku looked away from Uma, scowling. Uma felt tears dwell up in her eyes.
"...so don't try ANYTHING, got it missy?" the woman asked.
"Yeah, wouldn't want your pretty little hands hurt," Gamo said. Gamo and the woman laughed. Uma hid her face in the woman's bushy hair. She felt a tear slip out. It dripped onto the woman's neck.
"Ah!" the woman said.
"What, Zenny?" Gamo asked.
"Eh, nothin'. They girl's CRYING, is all!" Zenny smirked.
"Poor baby," Gamo mused.
Fugaku blinked. He stopped turning away and looked at Uma. She still had her face hidden, but he could tell she was still sobbing, her shoulders bouncing up slightly each time she breathed. Fugaku stared. Uma...? he asked inside.
"Oh, does the baby want her mommy? Her little blanky too?" Gamo sneered at Uma.
"And what about her wittle drinky too? Huh?" Zenny added. Fugaku continued to stare at Uma's head. Uma... he thought. He noticed her shoulders starting to tremble.
"?" Fugaku continued to watch her.
"Oh, is okay! Zenny gots you yo dwinky wight he-ah!" Zenny pulled out a water bottle from her side and stuffed it into Uma's mouth. Her mouth, being forced open against the jutsu, started to receive multiple cuts from an unknown force. Uma snapped. Out of no where, she looked up, her eyes with the Byakugan. She fiercely closed them, a sudden burst of energy flying out of her from all sides of her body. She was separated from Zenny as she fell to the ground. She spit out the water bottle.
"WHAT?" Zenny yelled, pluming right into Gamo, who still had Fugaku on his back. Fugaku stared at her with amazement. She forced herself up, bringing a bloody hand to her face with a handsign as cuts continued to appear on her body.
"Release!" she yelled. The bond on her was broken, the cuts stopping. She ran up to Fugaku, Gamo and Zenny in a daze. She ignored all the horrible stinging sensations throughout her body with each step taken. All she thought of was Fugaku. Her hand, still dripping with blood, was placed on Fugaku's shoulder, bringing a hand to her face again.
"Release!" she shouted again. The jutsu disappeared from him. He stood up, looking into the eyes of his injured teammate, still not believing what he just saw. She weakly smiled at him. Gamo and Zenny got up too, spacing themselves from the two other shinobi.
"H-How? And what the hell's up with your eyes?" Gamo yelled at Uma.
"I'm a Hyuuga!" Uma shouted back at him. "A Hyuuga! My family possesses the Byakugan, a special eye trait that should stab fear into your hearts the next time you see it!" Fugaku glanced at her. She continued. "I refuse to ever back down again! Especially to lowly, sorry excuses for ninjas as yourselves! I will never let myself be pushed around ever again, do you hear me? I demand respect! I'm a shinobi of Konoha! Hyuuga Uma! Remember that!" after that she started to pant, catching her breath. Fugaku blinked.
"Whatever! Just get her Gamo!" Zenny yelled, charging towards the two, Gamo following. Fugaku reached for a kunai, but was beat to the punch. Uma thrusted both hands in front of herself, facing the two attackers.
"Hakke Kūshō! Air Palm!" She announced aloud. As soon as the words left her lips, a strong gust of intense air flew from her palms, sending Zenny and Gamo straight into the trees behind them.
"Argh!" they shouted. The trees almost snapping in half. Fugaku looked at Uma. She was glaring at the downed shinobi, breathing with such anger that Fugaku never knew she could bare.
"Er...Uma?" he asked. He touched her shoulder. She jumped, and then shivered. She quickly looked up at Fugaku.
"Umm...wh-what is it Fugaku-k-kun?" she trembled. Fugaku raised a brow. Uma averted her yes down to his wrists. She gasped. "Oh my!" she began. "You're st-still hurt aren't you? L-Let me help y-you..." She grabbed his wrists, sitting him down on the grass with her. She took out a wet cloth from her pouch and started to clean his wounds. As she focused solely on his wrists, Fugaku just stared straight at her, eyes eased, Sharingan retracted.
"You should probably heal yourself first, Uma," Fugaku suggested, still staring at her in the same way. Uma looked up at him for a second before looking down, a small blush written across her face.
"N-No, no, your wounds would be qui-quicker to heal than m-my own. You h-have few-fewer, so I should be done with you in just a mo-"
She was cut off.
He had kissed her.
"MMFF?" Uma screeched in a muffle as his lips pressed softly to hers. But because of this, Fugaku got confused and parted from her. As soon as he did, she fell backwards, fainting, and was out cold, even before she had hit the ground. He took a moment before he sighed, taking the cloth she was cleaning him with it to finish her job. Fugaku heard footsteps, right then. He glanced over his shoulder.
"I smell blood!" A familiar annoying voice barked. Fugaku rolled his eyes. Akihiko.
"Wha? U-Uma?" Akihiko breathed, rushing to her side. As she laid there on the grass, still unconscious, he scanned all the wounds all over her...multiple cuts. He gnashed his teeth. He snapped his head to face Fugaku, who was quietly cleaning his own wounds.
"Who did this to her?" he demanded.
"Those idiots," Fugaku replied, nodding towards the bent trees at the other side of the scene. Zenny and Gamo laid there, knocked out.
"Oh, so you took them out?" Akihiko asked, a little less angrily.
"No," Fugaku said plainly. He pointed his cleaning cloth at Uma, who's face was also still red from what he did to her moments ago. "She did."
"Wh-Wha?" Akihiko yelped. "Y-You're lying...Uma'd never hurt anyone! Even if they were enemies!"
"Not this time," Fugaku replied. Akihiko stared at Fugaku, his eyebrow twitching as Tsunade and Deidara finally ran in. Deidara jumped off of Tsunade's back, tumbling a little as he did. Tsunade immediately noticed Uma. Without a word, she went to her side, literally throwing Akihiko out of the way.
"WAH!" he yelled, landing next to Zenny and Gamo in the distance. Tsunade started to heal Uma's cuts, and, with her being a master healer and all, achieved this in only a few minutes flat. Uma woke up, sitting up.
"Um..wha?" she asked. She felt the pain gone, seeing the cuts left as well. She looked up at her sub-sensei.
"Tsu-Tsunade-sensei!" Uma gasped. Tsunade smiled at her. Uma blinked, looking over to Fugaku, sitting up a few inches away from her, looking at her still with calm black eyes. Uma felt her heart almost burst out of her chest as she gasped and fell backwards again, her eyes rolling upwards as she went unconscious. Fugaku rolled his eyes.
Geez Uma, it was just a peck...
Tsunade rolled her eyes as well. I don't think I'll be able to get to her any time soon, old man... Tsunade thought, thinking back to the Third Hokage's command before the mission. Tsunade turned to face Fugaku.
"So! I see that you've taken care of your captors?" she asked. Fugaku closed his eyes and shook his head.
"No. I take no credit at all. Uma finished them all by herself. I didn't help at all." Fugaku answered his sensei. Tsunade blinked.
"Wha?" Tsunade yelled, glancing at Uma. "You're lying!"
"Hey, that's what I said!" Akihiko called, still in the spot he crashed in when Tsunade swatted him away from Uma. Tsunade ignored Akhiko as she stared at Fugaku.
"You have to be," Tsunade said.
"I'm not," he told her. "You should of seen her." There was a moment of silence. Uma woke up again' rubbing her head from hitting the ground again.
"Um...sorry about that..."she muttered. She looked at Fugaku before looking back to the ground, her face burning.
Another moment of silence.
"...Well then! If that's that, then I suppose we should get going to Iwagakure then," Tsunade said standing up. She looked to Deidara. He nodded.
"Yes. I'd like to get home now..." he smiled.
"Good, 'cause I wanna get home too! Let's move team! Oh yeah, Fugaku, would you like some help with those wrists of yours?"
"No, I'm fine," he said, tossing the bloody cloth to the side. He looked down at Uma, who was still sitting, her head lowered. He offered her his hand. She noticed it in front of her face. She blushed again, taking his gesture and standing up. He nodded at her with a small smile. She looked down, smiling too.
"Hey Uchiha, what's with the slashes on your wrists? Have you been emo-ing again?" Akihiko smirked, running up to the two. Fugaku scowled.
"Shut it, Inuzuka," he muttered, grabbing Uma's wrist, jumping up into the trees to follow Tsunade and Deidara who already left.
"Oh, no sly remark? No sarcastic insult? Huh? Huh?" Akihiko grinned. He watched how he held Uma's hand as he left. Akihiko smiled. Something else must of happened here. That's good... Akihiko thought to himself. He jumped up into trees to catch up with his team.
-:|:-
"Oh finally!" Tsunade yelled happily. "We're only five miles away from Iwagakure!"
"Yes!" Akihiko shouted.
"Thank God," Fugaku muttered, not holding Uma's hand anymore but was still traveling next to Uma. Uma smiled at him.
"Oh thank you!" Deidara said gratefully. "Thank you, all of you, for a safe trip from Kiri and back Iwa!"
"Your welcome!" replied Tsunade, Akihiko, and Uma in unison. Fugaku just stared onward.
Chink!
"Heh?" Tsunade looked on head. A kunai with a paper bomb attached to it flew into a tree a few feet ahead of them. It immediately exploded upon impacted.
"Ah!" Uma squeaked as the impact of the blast sent the group backwards.
"Oh great! We spoke too soon!" Tsunade growled, covering her face with her arm, Deidara clinging tightly to Tsunade.
Fugaku caught himself in the blast. He zoomed to Uma, catching her before she smashed into a boulder. The squad and client watched for who threw the kunai. Instead of hiding, he appeared right in front of them. Fugaku raised his eyebrows. It was the same man from last night. He could tell because he was missing a finger, freshly wounded on the man's hand. They couldn't tell who the man was, EVEN IN THE LIGHT for his chakra completely consumed his body, making him look like a tall, gruesome, fleshy monster. Uma gulped, having never seen this person before, even when he captured her.
"That's it," the man said, his mouth not visible. "Just give me Deidara Iwatoshi, and I'll leave."
"So that's who you wanted," Fugaku muttered.
"But of course," the stranger said.
"But why?" Uma asked meekly.
"We always need reasons, don't we," the man said. "Well. First off, do you even know why he was on a business trip?"
"No, that information isn't needed. He just needed an escort home," Tsunade said, glaring.
"Well it is to me and those of Kiri," the man went on. "He is no ordinary business man. He is a man who went to Kiri to represent Iwa. Would you like to know why? He wen there to stop all trading and negotiation with us, because they found better business partners with Konoha. Do you know how badly that would plummet our own economy? Our strongest partner of now is Iwa, so with them gone, we'll have nothing but the tiny island nations in the south, but what will they have to give? Kiri would crumble in only a few years. And you knew this, didn't you, Iwatoshi?"
Deidara glanced to the ground next to him. The man continued. "...but it didn't matter to you what happened to us. Kiri was going to agree with this, despite what it would do to us, since no other nation wanted to start a partnership, but it still tried to stop it. We know that YOU are the one who first proposed to abandon us for Konoha, and so if we killed you before you made it back to Iwa, the whole thing would stop. That's how government works in the Five Nations, doesn't it?"
"Yes, it is all true..." Deidara said blankly, staring at the ground. "But it doesn't matter now...the agreement's already been made. It's over."
"I just told you," the man said. "If you die before your return to your home village, then that makes the contract invalid. It goes void. And you're not technically back home yet, are you?" you could feel the man's smirk in his voice.
"Yeah, like we'd ever let you!" Akihiko yelled, throwing a shuriken at the man.
"Akihiko!" Tsunade screamed at him. The man dodged it, disappearing as he did. Tsunade ran up to Akihiko and slapped him before shouting, "Uma, activate Byakugan, now! Find him!"
"Y-Yes ma'am!" Uma brought a handsign to her face, her kekkei genkai showing. "He's behind us!" The five of them whirled around, seeing them man just start to reappear a few feet away from them. He took out a sword, looking at Deidara straight into the eyes. Before the man could attack Deidara, Tsunade jumped up into the air and slammed her heel into the earth right in front of the unknown shinobi. The ground split in two, the impact heading for the man. He jumped up, dodging it. Right above him, Fugaku appeared out of nowhere. The man looked up at him just as Fugaku smashed his foot into his face, the man crashing into the ground again. Fugaku landed in front of his team. Deidara was shivering, not use to battle at all.
"Oh great, MORE company," Tsunade groaned just as two familiar faces popped in.
"Hey boss!" Zenny yelled, Gamo next to her.
"I told you two not to come!" their bossed yelled at them from the ground.
"See? Told ya Zenny!" Gamo shouted at his teammate.
"Ah whatever, we're here now!" Zenny responded to the both of them. As her boss groaned in disapproval, Tsunade turned to her team and client.
"Akihiko, take care of those two," Tsunade said, swatting her hand towards Zenny and Gamo. "Fugaku, help me with this other one. Uma, protect Mr. Iwatoshi. All of you, make sure he is safe. If we don't, then this mission is a failure," Tsunade commanded.
"Yes!" Uma and Akihiko replied to her. Fugaku was watching the boss. Uma quickly ran in front of Deidara, bringing a handsign to herself. She summoned three more clones of herself, all surrounding her client. Just in case I'm too slow... Uma thought. They all got into the Hyuuga stance, Byakugan still activated.
"Don't worry sir, I-I'll protect y-you with my life!" the real Uma said aloud, none turning to face him (she didn't have to anyway, with the Byakugan and all). Deidara hesitantly nodded. Akihiko ran up to Zenny and Gamo.
"Bring it!" Akihiko yelled at them with a grin. As soon as he said that, they did indeed, lunging at him. While Akihiko fought them, Fugaku and Tusnade were now both watching their leader. He finally decided to stand up from the rubble, his eyes actually glowing as he watched the two. Fugaku unsheathed his sword, surprised that when he was kidnapped nobody took it from him. The man pointed his sword at Fugaku, before disappearing again. Uma noticed.
"Fugaku! Above you!" she called to him. Fugaku immediately looked up, finding the man coming down at him with his blade. He sliced Fugaku in half. Before any gasps or smirks could be made, his body turned into a log. As the man stared at the halved log, Tsunade came running in with her fist at the man, punching him in the side. Tsunade didn't smile or anything, knowing it was already a water clone right before it dissolved to the ground.
"Uma! Location!" Tsunade commanded.
"He's...!" Uma didn't finish, as she was surprised to find him appear right in front of her.
"You're in the way!" the man roared at her, about to slice her and Deidara at once with his sword. She quickly umped into Deidara, making both of them fall, the man missiing them by literally a hair. He made Uma's three clones poof away though, as he hit them instead. As soon as he realized he missed, the man, started to bring his sword down to finish them.
Chink!
"?" Uma saw Fugaku appear in front of her, trying to hold of the man with his own sword. Uma realized she wasn't even paying attention to him, even with her Byakugan. She supposed she was too scared to of done so. She shivered as the man started to edge Fugaku's own sword towards the boy, Fugaku forcing it back to him. He looked over his shoulder at her and Deidara, who were both still on the ground.
"Out of the way!" he growled at them. Uma obeyed, pushing Deidara out of Fugaku's away with herself. Fugaku then forced with all his might the man's sword away from himself, jumping a few feet away as made handsigns with one hand. As soon as he landed, he roared a huge ball of fire at the man just barely dodged it, getting burned only a little. Fugaku followed the man as he dodged, spitting out smaller puffs at him simultaneously. The man dodged them, but didn't pay attention to one that came at him from underneath one puff. It hit him, burning his face. The man fell to the ground, rubbing his face in the grass to put out the fire. Fugaku stared, smirking as bits of smoke came out his mouth.
"Man, you guys suck!" Akihiko yelled at Zenny and Gamo after hurling them into some boulders. "You're terrible! I can't believe you guys are ninja!" Zenny and Gamo went unconcious as soon as they collided with the stone. Akihiko looked over his shoulder to Fugaku and Tsunade's fight.
"Argh..." the man stood up wobbling, holding his burned face, clenching his teeth as he glared at Fugaku through his fingers. Fugaku glared back, a smile on his lips. Before the man could pick up his sword, Tsunade came flying out of nowhere, her heel diving down towards him. The man whirled around, and, amazingly, caught Tsunade's foot.
"What?" Tsuande yelled. He threw her into a tree. Before making impact Tsunade caught herself, making herself stand sideways on said thing. She stared at the man, charging her fist with chakra. The man ignored her, picking up his sword and pointing it at Fugaku.
"You, boy!" he growled. "Only you I would like to kill besides that Deidara over there!" Deidara trembled, Uma standing protectively in front of him. Fugaku just smiled again, eyes with determination.
"Sure," he said. "But I don't think I'll be needing this..." just then he retracted his Sharingan. The man snapped.
"What? You fear me so little that you take away your kekkei genkai?" the man barked. Fugaku shrugged. That made the man even more angry. He charged at Fugaku, sword still drawn, slashing at him. Fugaku dodged it smoothly, leaping into the air, landing on a tree branch. The man hurled himself at Fugaku, his sword stretched out. Again, Fugaku dodged it, going to the side. As he did, Fugaku stabbed the man's back. The enemy yelled in pain. Just as Fugaku was about to dodge him again, the man grabbed Fugaku's throat. Uma gasped, knowing that Fugaku wasn't a substitution nor a clone. Fugaku gagged before the shinobi threw him to the ground, Fugaku landing face first.
"Fugaku!" Akihiko yelled. Akihiko sniffed the air. He whirled around, noticing Zenny and Gamo wake up and stand. Akihiko rolled his eyes and practically flew at them.
Fugaku carefully stood himself up. "Dammit, carelessness..." he muttered under his breath. "!" Fugaku fell down. "What?" Fugaku yelled at himself. My leg... he said, rubbing it. It appeared to be broken from the fall. "This can't be happening..." he said to himself, sighing. Before he could anything about it, the man jumped down, walking towards Fugaku with his sword.
Well, shit! Fugaku yelled inside. He had dropped his sword during the fall, the weapon being maybe ten feet away. He started to limp towards it. The man walked a little faster. Uma gasped.
"Fugaku!" she called, knees trembling, fist to face. The man walked right up to him, brought his sword up, smirking. After he did, he thrusted it down towards the Uchiha. Fugaku, expecting the worst, closed his eyes tightly, accepting defeat.
BAM!
"Ugh?" the man flew backwards a couple of feet. Fugaku opened his eyes, looking in front of himself.
Little Uma stood there, hands in front herself, facing opposite of the shinobi.
The man got up, looking at her. "Don't tell me you did that," the man said. Uma said nothing. Uma bowed her body, making a stance. Fugaku raised a brow.
"...and stay down!" Akhiko yelled as he threw Zenny and Gamo at the same boulder again. They were, once again, unconscious. Akihiko growled. "Oh my god!" he yelled. "You two can't be THIS pathetic! It's impossible!" he suddenly sniffed out an increase in chakra. He turned around again, seeing Uma in front of an injured Fugaku, the man a couple of feet away. He breathed.
"That stance!" he exclaimed, grinning. The man glanced at him.
"?" the man looked back to Uma. Uma closed her eyes, Byakugan still activated as well.
"You are within my eight trigrams..." she stated quietly. The man just stared.
"What?" he asked. Uma snapped open her eyes, spinning towards him. He took a step back.
"Hakke Rokujūyon Shō! Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!" she hit the man with her palms numerously. "Two palms!" she called. "Four palms! Eight palms! Sixteen palms!" the man was coughing up blood already, unable to get away. Fugaku, Akihiko, and even Tsunade stared in disbelief. "...Thirty-two palms!...Sixty-four palms!" she squeaked, the final hit sending the man flying into Zenny and Gamo, who were trying to get up, but failed once their boss hit them. Akihiko blinked.
Uma panted, sitting on the ground, knowing she did a job well done. Tsunade just stared, still n the tree sideways.
Well then, no need for this, she thought, flipping away the focused chakra out of her fist. Their boss, trembled looking up, before falling down again, coughing up blood, and was dead the next moment, the black chakra that covered himself disappearing. No one bothered to look who he was. Uma didn't notice (thankfully she didn't because if she did she'd probably have a heart attack at the thought of herself actually killing someone). She wiped her brow. Fugaku fell to the ground too, tired of standing on his leg. Tsunade swooped down, running up to Fugaku and starting to heal his leg. She looked at Uma.
"Uma!" she yelled. Uma squeaked, her head bolting to look at her sub-sensei.
"Wha?" she asked. Tsunade stared at her for a moment before smiling determinedly and nodding once. Uma weakly smiled back.
-:|:-
"Thank you! Thank oyou!" Deidara panted, bowing each time he said so. A woman firmly grabbed his shoulder, making him stop bowing to the team. Deidara glanced at her.
"I think they get it, sweetheart," she said, looking at him. Deidara smiled sheepishly at her.
"I guess you're right," he said, looking down. Tsunade looked at the woman.
"It was a pleasure meeting you, Mrs. Iwatoshi," Tsunade said. The lady smiled and nodded, a fringe of her long blonde hair almost covering one of her soft, ocean blue eyes. Tsunade looked to Deidara, who was still looking down. "And of course, you as well, Mr. Iwatoshi," Tsunade added. Deidara looked up and nodded. Tsunade turned around. "Goodbye! We'll be sure to visit again one day! Come on, team!" she started to walk off, expecting her team to follow, which they did, except for one.
"Wait," Uma started, looking at Deidara. "So, is what tha-that man said was true? You're going to ruin Kiri's ec-economy from this?" Deidara sighed.
"What the man said was only kind of true," Deidara said. "You see, we were going to part with Kiri, and yes, that would of happened to it when we did, since they only have relation with us at the moment, but we were going to propose to other nations like the Sand or Cloud to help them out. Well, I'm not sure about Cloud, because they're pretty independent...but the point is, we wouldn't just leave them to die. We were still going to help them one last time, since Kiri sadly doesn't have anything but fish to offer, and not many nations want fish, since they already have enough ports and routes of their own," Deidara explained.
"O-Oh..." Uma said. "That's g-good..." Deidara nodded. He waved at her and her team goodbye before leaving into the village with his wife. Uma quickly ran up to her team.
"Ready now?" Tsunade asked. Uma nodded. As soon as she did, the four of them jumped off into the trees, and left.
-:|:-
"Okay," Tsunade said. "NOW we can divide tents among the sexes. So go on, Fugaku, Akihiko. Make your tent. Uma, come help me with ours."
"O-Okay..." Uma replied, trotting away from Fugaku's side. Fugaku turned to Akihiko as the sun continued to set over the mountains again, the sky darkening. Akihiko stared.
"What?" he asked.
"What?" Fugaku repeated. "Get to work, mutt. Assemble the tent." Akihiko gave him a look.
"I ain't no mutt!" Akihiko barked. "Besides, why aren't you helping me?"
"I want to speak with Uma," Fugaku said, narrowing his eyes.
"WELL YOU'RE- oh..." Akihiko stared. "...okay then. I'll make it faster without your stinkin' help anyway!" Akihiko immediately went to work as Fugaku left to the girls' tent.
"I'm proud of you, Uma," Tsunade said, fixing up the beams of the tent. Uma looked at Tsunade as she helped hold up the tent.
"H-Huh?" Uma asked.
"Well, first off, old man Third asked me to help you out in the beginning of all this."
"W-With what?"
"Your self esteem. He said if it continued, you'd get yourself killed one day."
"..."
"...but you proved him wrong. Somehow, someway, you toughened up all by yourself, not needing my help at all. You've grown up so much over this one day, that it's unbelievable. I'm very proud of you, Uma. Really." Uma blushed with pride in herself, looking down sheepishly as well.
"Th-Thank you, Tsunade-sensei..." she muttered, smiling. Tsunade reached over to her, punching her shoulder softly, which was still hard since it came from the one and only Tsunade. Uma flinched.
"Ow!" she moused, rubbing her arm. Tsunade ignored her.
"And besides, you also won yourself a boyfriend, didn't you?" she asked quietly, grinning. Uma squeaked a yell, going red. She looked down again.
"I g-gue-"
"Oh, and here he comes now!" Tsunade said, strangling ecstatically. Uma looked over her shoulder, seeing Tsunade was right. Fugaku came waltzing up to the two of them. Uma looked away, her eyes still looking to the side towards his direction anyway.
"Hey, Uma, I want to talk to you," Fugaku said. Uma was still trying to hide herself, besides her being right in front him, plain as day. Tsunade grabbed Uma's shoulder, edging her towards him. Uma looked at Tsunade, who was smiling at her, and then Fugaku, who just stared.
"Alright..." she answered him. The two then left to the forest to speak in private. Once far enough away from Tsunade and Akihiko, Fugaku turned around to face Uma, telling her with his eyes to stop here. She did so as if he actually did say that.
"Uma," he began. "You...confuse me."
"?" Uma looked at him. He went on.
"Today, in battle, you've saved me. Twice. And you did so with such power that no one here ever thought of you having. It's a little odd, especially when you switch back to your timid self the next minute, almost acting as if it didn't happen. Do you have a split personality that I should know about?" Uma giggled softly.
"No," she answered. "I...just f-felt...that I needed to be str-stronger I guess, esp-especially when those two ninjas were m-making fun of m-me..." she furrowed her brow at the ground. Fugaku looked down at her.
"Yeah, I wanted to punch them in face when I heard them saying those things too," Fugaku said.
"And that's an-another thing..." Uma started, looking up at him. "Wh-Why did you suddenly accept me? I m-mean, so quickly...it's a bit str-strange."
"That's one thing you should know about me," Fugaku responded. "Most people, when they realize they care about someone more than just a friend, spend days, weeks, months, or even years contemplating whether to express how they feel for them, leaving hints here and there are watching them as time goes by, until they feel enough time has passed in order for them to finally get the guts to ask the person. To me, all of that's just a waste of time." "?" Uma blinked. Fugaku continued. "If I see that a potential girl does love me, and I'm sure that I like them too, then I'll take her as soon as I have the chance. I'm not gonna wait around and just see if they can prove it to me. They've already proven it to me in my eyes. Those fangirls back home don't count, because one, I do not love them at all, and two, they don't really love me. They lust me. No fangirl loves the person they fan about, and if they do, it's very rare, but I doubt any of mine do, and even if they do, I don't really care, because I have you to care about instead. That's why I kissed you. I'm just skipping all that useless stuff that happens in between the realization of love and the actual start of it. Do you understand, Uma?" Uma blinked, absorbing all of what he just said, before nodding. He took a step closer to her, easing his eyes. "Good," he said quietly, right before kissing her again. Uma jumped at contact, shivering as she turned a dark shade of red again. She took a moment before closing her own eyes and kissing him back. As they did, two ninja stared at them from the woods a far distance away, but they were not Tsunade and Akihiko. Fugaku knew this, opening one eye to look. He could clearly see none other than Zenny and Gamo, glaring at them. Fugaku glared back. Instead of approaching, Zenny and Gamo looked at them for one more moment before turning away, walking off slowly into the forest, never coming back. Fugaku stared, before focusing back on Uma, closing his eye, deepening the kiss as night completely fell over the forest.
-:|:-
Uma sighed in her bedroom at the fond memory. Those were the first kisses she ever received. Although he was dead now, Uma knew she'd never forget Fugaku. She turned in her bed carefully, her back hurting horribly, just to see the moon that was barely visible through the curtains. She stared at it until she drifted to sleep.
-:|:-
Shut...up... Itachi groaned in his mind for the twentieth time. He could handle one snorer in the organization, but TWO? No, he couldn't. As Hidan snored in his room across from him, Deidara snored even LOUDER down the hallway. Itachi looked at his clock. 4:25AM. He sighed, turning in bed, trying to ignore the annoying snores that rung through that underground floor's walls. Itachi wondered if he was the only one woken up by this. He gt out of bed, throwing on his cloak and leaving his room.
He couldn't believe it, but the snoring was even louder in the hallway. He pretended he couldn't hear it as he made his way towards the small spiral staircase, heading off to the main room upstairs. He made it, wanting to sleep on the couch, but found someone else occupying it.
Hinata was there, sprawled on the couch, sound asleep. Or, well, she appeared to be.
Itachi highly doubted this as he went to the chair next to her, sitting on it, making himself comfortable.
"Why are you here?" Hinata asked quietly before opening her eyes. Itachi had his own eyes closed.
"Your love is terribly loud with his snoring. You can barely hear Hidan's," Itachi answered her, folding his arms. Hinata sighed. He opened his eyes, glowing red in the darkness as he did.
"May I ask you that same question, Hinata-sama?" Itachi pondered. Hinata sighed, sitting up.
"I couldn't sleep in my own room," Hinata answered. "I...have a lot of things on my mind." Itachi stared before getting up, sitting himself next to her on the couch.
"Like what," Itachi said, not asking, but just stating, rather.
"...Deidara's mission is in two days," Hinata responded. "I'm not sure if he'll be okay. He seems like the reckless type of fighter." Itachi scoffed inwardly.
"Oh come on, that fool's bound to make it back. Is he not Akatsuki?" Itachi said, a bit emotionlessly. Hinata turned her head slightly towards Itachi, who was just staring forward. She faced forward again a moment later. Itachi glanced at her. "Odd," he said. You weren't too different the night I left with Sasori and Kisame to go fetch your lover-boy, were you not? Hinata, if I know one thing about you, that is that you care about everyone here, deep inside. You may not admit it, but despite what you show everyone, including your mercilessness on the battlefield...you have a kind heart." Hinata threw Itachi a glare.
"Same to you," she said. Itachi gave her a fake smile. So did she. They usually did this when angry with each other. Hinata looked away. What actually scared Hinata is that Itachi leaned close to her, giving her a peck on the cheek. She stared at him when he parted, her pupils dilating. Itachi wasn't looking at her; he went back to staring at nothing but darkness. "That...was completely unexpect-ted..." she stuttered out. Itachi glanced at her.
"I know, which is why I did it. You never would of expected that from me," he told her. After that, he stood up, walking to the door.
"Where are you going?" she asked.
"Out," was all that came from him as he closed the door behind him. Hinata suddenly heard a loud yawn from behind her. Hinata looked over her shoulder, seeing Deidara, holding his pillow against the side of his leg. Hinata raised an eyebrow at him. He rubbed his eye with the other hand, which was balled up n a fist. He slumped over to Hinata's side, sitting next to her, regaining his composure.
"I heard you've been snoring pretty loudly," Hinata said simply, not looking at him. Deidara looked at her.
"Not exactly, hmmm," he said to her. "I've only been sleeping a hour really. I cant sleep in that crooked bed. Hurts my back, hmmm." he looked into space for a minute before turning back to Hinata with a smirk. "Mind if I share your bed, hmmm? I'm pretty sure the Princess's bed is much softer."
"Well, you have been on it once," Hinata replied. "I think you should know then." Deidara narrowed his eyes at her, not angrily, but...
Hinata looked up at him, the light from outside the window shining dimly on both of them. Deidara looked back to the door, leaning back on the couch, Hinata scooting closer to him, laying her head on his shoulder. She closed her eyes as she snuggled her head into his neck. She averted her eyes downwards, finding his hand on his lap. She squeezed it. He chuckled at her. She glanced at him.
"Worried, are we? Don't, Princess, I'll be just find with the Shukaku when I leave the day after tomorrow, hmmm."
"Oh, so you're smart enough to know when you're leaving?" she asked.
"Yeah, and also, I'm smart enough that I have a very cute girlfriend, hmmm," he said, more quietly, his lips an inch away from hers.
"Yes, your pillow is very cute," Hinata said with a sly smile. Deidara grinned before pressing his lips to hers, she responding the same way. Itachi watched quietly from outside as Deidara pushed her down on the couch, giving her his pillow to lay down on.
-:|:-
A/N: Yay, finally out of the Uma-thingy! ^^ Again though, the Uma thingy is IMPORTANTE...that is spanish for important XD anyway, heheheheh...DeiHinaIta (kinda), see? Anyway, that'll continue next chapter before Deidara and Sasori head off to Suna, k? Yes, finally getting back to the main plot...and no, I'm not an expert on government, so I made up one for the Five Nations, alright? SO, don't get all snooty and say "omg you know nothing about gov do you?" because I'll just say "No! No I dont! Get over it! Geez!" ok? As always, I am hoping you leave me a nice (or not so nice, maybe O. o" I hope not...I break easy )': Sad, but true.) review, and stick around for next chapter, which will hopefully be out by the end of this week! Toodles! (heh, that word's french...kinda...uh...just look it up! See for yourself!)