*Ichiraku*
Applause washed through the business, making Hinata blush in embarrassment. It only became worse when Naruto grabbed her hand and stood up to absorb all the admiration. They didn't just complete the challenge; they did so with record time. Their ramen bowl sat empty, with twenty minutes to spare. It was a new record, beating the old one by fifteen minutes.
While the crowd couldn't control itself, Ayame and Teuchi paled in fear. Knowing they would be giving away two free bowls of ramen daily for the foreseeable future.
It was an obscene amount of money lost each year, but Teuchi wasn't too worried. Every festival people would come to challenge the old record. The new benchmark made by their best customer was bound to attract more attention. Meaning, more customers, and income as several new challengers would arise.
Naruto took a bow, grabbing Hinata in a congratulatory hug after. Steam shot out her ears, which he hoped was due to the amount of broth she drank and how tightness of the hug. It took a moment for her mind to recover, proving that she'd never get used to his touch. Though, without the hindrance of fainting she wanted to try to.
They gathered their pet fishes and walked to the counter to collect their reward. The path was suddenly blocked by a ninja wrapped in a blue scarf.
"Boss, I have to tell you something."
"Sorry Konohamaru, I'm on a date and can't hang out with your squad," he said, feeling shy at the fact he was on a date.
"No, it's not that."
"What is it?"
Konohamaru clamped his jaw. If he spoke the message in public, there'd be panic caused by the fear of another invasion. Not to mention, if any shinobi heard they'd go and investigate, dooming Hanabi. He realized there was a place they could speak "privately", tilting his head toward the bathroom. Naruto wondered what Konohamaru wanted, since there was a lack of his usual carefree nature. They went to the bathroom, while Hinata went to collect their prize bag.
Naruto's jaw fell when Konohamaru whispered the information. Hensa managed to sneak into the village, lured them to a secluded location, and took a hostage onto the Masahiro estate.
"She said if anyone besides the two of you shows up, she'll eat Hanabi."
Naruto wanted to go fight, but was hindered by a lack of knowledge. Masahiro wasn't a common clan name in conversation.
"Alright, we need to go alone."
Naruto walked out of the bathroom and straight toward Hinata. He enveloped her in another hug, making her teeter close to fainting.
"Hensa is here," he whispered, certain she was the only one to hear.
"What," she gulped, scanning the crowd in fear of an ambush.
"The Masahiro clan compound, she has a hostage, Hanabi."
Hinata felt the sweat on her body turn cold. How? Hanabi was a superior fighter, though possibly weakened from their previous battle. It was horrible to think that she could've been to blame for this, leaving Hanabi in a weak enough state to be captured. Though, Hensa undoubtedly used the element of surprise. Not to mention, she was probably stronger than their initial skirmish suggested.
"We need to tell Tsunade-sama," she stated, trying to move out of his hold, yet found his grip unrelenting.
"We can't, she'll kill Hanabi if we raise an alarm."
"Then what?"
Naruto held her tighter, trying to build a viable plan. They couldn't inform anyone of the problem, although they couldn't just walk to their destination. Baa-chan had them under surveillance for their safety, and Neji planned to sniff them out to continue the double date. He had a moment of inspiration, which hopefully ended in an escape.
*Masahiro Clan grounds*
"This place is a shit hole, you'd think a clan would take better care of their home," Hensa said, stepping over a hole in the brick walkway.
Hanabi rested on her right shoulder, quietly attempting an escape from the silk bag. She could only predict their present location using scents and sounds, since her eyes were literally sealed. The liquefied silk blast seeped into every crevice of skin, leaving the sensation of being soaked in glue. Thankfully, the palms of her hands were facing outward; making it possible to cut through a single strand at a time. It was hell on the chakra system, since the webbing blocked chakra. Making it feel like trying to cut through steel with a chop stick. Though, large bursts were able to snap the material apart.
"We walked for ten minutes north, no sounds of other people and the scent of roses?" Hanabi thought, already working on an escape plan.
Hensa tossed the sack to the ground without care. She was baggage, nothing more than a bargaining chip. Besides, she owed the girl a few wounds with the internal bruising those strikes caused. It wasn't like anything she encountered before. Most punches and kicks glanced off the exoskeleton, though the palm hits felt like they were intended to cause hemorrhages.
The walkway came to an abrupt stop. Starting a dirt path, which was surrounded by white rose bushes and two ancient trees that reached over seventy feet into the air. They beautifully framed the massive white mansion. She huffed derisively at the clan openly burning money.
"Someone is clearly compensating for something," she mocked, finding the structure to be an eyesore.
The building wouldn't be an optimum location, though the two trees did provide the perfect supports. Her hands ran through the summoning seals, calling forth cloud of smoke and a ten foot long spider that stood three feet tall. It had dark green skin and six bright yellow eyeballs that rested on the front of its' face.
"Spin a web Ikua, you have a guest."
The creature made a clicking sound and rapidly sprinted to the nearest tree to begin the process of building a web. Hensa admired the work of her friend. Ikua was palm size when they first met, but would continually grow with enough feeding and molting. A rustling from the hostage drew her attention. The girl's breathing was slow, which hinted to something requiring a large amount of concentration. She couldn't have the bait of the trap escaping.
Hensa grabbed Hanabi with two claws and skillfully climbed up the framework of the moderately complete web. It was a twenty foot drop from the center of the web, making it far from ideal to fall. A nail of her human hand was enough to slice open a section covering the eyes, revealing a pair of pale eyes that spoke of defiance.
"I'd recommend not struggling," Hensa stated.
"Now," Hanabi thought, breaking enough threads to free her right arm.
The cocoon tore, allowing a charged juken strike to travel to Hensa's face. The attack wasn't fast enough, her limb slowed by the adhesive properties of the webbing. The blow stopped an inch from Hensa's forehead, causing a ferocity within the yellow eyes of the spider nin.
One of Hensa's claws excreted a drop of green fluid and held it in front of Hanabi's eye. Her movement went upward, making contact at the eyebrow. An audible hiss was made as it ate through a layer of skin and hair. Hanabi grit her teeth and growled in response to the pain.
"Something to think about if struggling comes to mind," Hensa stated, watching Hanabi swing her arm again. The commotion caused vibrations on the web, making the large spider lose its' footing and fall.
Hensa felt an internal panic as Ikua bungeed from a line of webbing and began to crawl back up to where it was anchored. A series of clicks were heard, as the spider nin became irked.
"I agree Ikua; the best bait is the kind that doesn't move."
"Grotesque Monster," Hanabi mumbled, though the sounds were ceased with a stream of poisonous fluid into her eye.
She felt the liquid fire enter her bloodstream, slithering deeper into skeletal muscle, and synaptic junctions. She tried to focus around the head to restrict the flow of poison, but it failed as her chakra network became unresponsive.
Hensa laughed at seeing the girls' face and arm go limp from the poison dosage. It would keep her docile for the time being, but now she needed to be repackaged. A plentiful supply of silk poured from her mouth, this time being weaved into heavier threading. She wrapped the girls' arms to her side and made certain to wrap a few extra times around the throat as a failsafe should she need to be dropped to a quick death.
The work required a steady hand, though hunger started to get the best of her; causing an involuntary predator reaction. A small bit of saliva dripped from her mouth as she maintained a distance close enough to feel the cooling skin of the Hyuuga. Hanabi couldn't move anything; she was conscious, but locked inside her body. The creature moved closer and she was powerless to do anything about it. Repressed emotions flooded to the surface, fear, sorrow, anger, and regret overtook normal calm thought. Tears began to flow freely as the beast got closer.
"Yes, just stay still, stay deliciously still," Hensa instructed, as her tongue licked the salty fluid off the girl's cheek.
The soft flesh against her tongue made a shiver of ecstasy rush throughout all eight limbs. This morsel was well fed, with tasty muscle even in her face. She had to shake her head to recover from the euphoria that accompanied drinking the sweet nectar of liquefied human intestines. It was difficult battling the spider like tendencies that amplified in this transformed state. She retreated away, knowing that it'd be idiotic to devour her target. Besides, the other two snacks she had coming were bound to be tastier.
She jumped from the web, slamming her palm to the ground after more summoning seals; this time sprouting forth four egg sacks. They ruptured to reveal more palm sized brown and red eyed spiders.
"Secure the perimeter," she ordered, watching them scurry away in haste.
*Ichiraku*
Naruto had whispered his plan to his date, surprised when she agreed with the plan. Hinata used the Byakugan to locate their protection. Yaguo was doing her best to blend in with the crowd, but it was impossible to hide from the Hyuuga's doujutsu. It was simple to locate her, since she had more chakra than anyone in the immediate area. Save for Naruto. Finding their body guard was the easy part, sneaking past wasn't.
They decided to maintain the illusion of being carefree, getting their picture taken and shirts to commemorate the accomplishment. The shirts reading: I survived ten pounds of the best ramen in the world.
It was easy to pretend things were fine, the pair having experience in putting on a brave face when things were horrible. They each knew what the next stage of the plan was. After excusing themselves to the restroom, each entered a stall, waited until they were alone, created a clone, and had it exit. Naruto was forced to wait for Hinata's signal that Yugao had taken the bait.
It took longer than expected for the Anbu to leave her position, but eventually she left. Hinata waited extra time, ensuring that their guard wasn't hanging around. She left the stall and went across to the men's room door, knocking six times on the door. Naruto walked out and they left for the Masahiro clan grounds with Konohamaru in tow. Their approach was a walk, until the crowd dwindled enough for them to run. Konohamaru told them about the transformation the female underwent and the newfound strength it provided. The ability to transform further emphasized the disadvantages their lack of knowledge created.
Hensa had a hostage, which shorten the already dismal list of options they had. Not to mention, the fact neither of them had stepped foot onto the Masahiro clan grounds. It was foreign territory, meaning there could be anything over the walls.
Their expedition came to stop when a corner wall came into view. It was an unknown over the white masonry. Though, there would be plenty of cover; made obvious by the overgrowth creeping over the stone walls and enveloping rusty signs.
Hinata began a preliminary sweep of the area with her Byakugan, thankful that it was a cooler night. The lower temperature made it easier to discern creatures that were warmer than the inanimate objects. Though, it made it obvious how prepared their opponent was. The wall was staggered with eight legged guards, all of them making certain no one got over the wall.
"There are spiders, hundreds of them," Hinata stated, believing there no route inside.
Naruto scratched his head, in a vain attempt to make his brain work harder. If there were spiders everywhere to spot them, jumping over the wall was out of the question.
"Maybe we could go under it," he thought, though digging up the ground would be far too loud.
Naruto looked like his brain was about to overload with the ideas he was coming up with; ranging from logical to ridiculous.
Hinata searched for any chinks in the armor of the fortress wall, but there weren't any cracks or holes.
The walls were fifteen feet tall and the standard two feet thick. Breaking in would require B rank or higher jutsus to smash apart the masonry, because of a steel frame reinforcement that made it absorb blows like a net.
"The sound alone would give us away," she thought, continuing to check the wall for an opening to leap through.
Hinata finally noticed a spot on the wall that looked to have fewer spiders than the rest. There were five spiders guarding the corner, their attention distracted by some unknown source. The range of her vision expanded and gasped at seeing a small hive of kika beetles. They looked to be relatives to the Aburame's insects, but these ones were larger and far more aggressive.
They made a racket and attacked the foreign invaders, seeing them as viable nutrition to feed the hive. A single one of the spiders was shoved off the wall and two beetles pinned it, before feeding off its' chakra supply and flesh.
She watched the interaction with indifference, but something caught her eye.
"Why aren't the others helping it?"
Summoned creatures weren't loners; they would protect each other if the need arose. This was an anomaly as the other spiders didn't flinch in their duty of protecting the wall. It was possible that the draining of chakra prevented it from communicating with the others, but it still didn't help. Those beetles wouldn't discriminate if provoked, which would put them in danger. Though, what alternatives did they possess?
"Naruto-kun, there's an opening about ten feet from the corner," she informed him.
"Huh?"
"But, we need to anger a kika hive?"
Naruto's eyes expanded. He didn't enjoy the little beetles when Shino controlled them, making the idea of messing with a wild nest far less appealing.
"How are we going to do that?"
Hinata looked over at Konohamaru who had a fully stocked leg holster.
"Konohamaru, we need to borrow your ninja tools."
The male frowned at having to give away his things, but handed over his equipment.
Hinata emptied the content on the ground. Konohamaru was well equipped for a night out. 8 kunai, ten shuriken, a flash bomb, two smoke bombs, and three explosive notes.
Naruto took half of the gear and the flash bomb, letting Hinata have the majority of the explosive notes.
"Alright, we're going over,"
"Naruto ni-san, what should I do?"
Naruto thought about it for a second, while it would be beneficial to have the back-up. The village couldn't be placed in danger, someone had to be informed.
"Give us thirty minutes, after that, inform the Hokage." Naruto ordered.
"What if you haven't save Hanabi by then," Konohamaru asked, but their sustained silence affirmed how serious the situation was.
Naruto produced two clones, henging one to look like Hinata. He sent them to the front gate and prepared to make the run.
Konohamaru felt disappointed in being left to go and inform the Hokage. He wanted to help rescue Hanabi, she was technically part of his squad now. The need passed as he took off toward the Hokage's mansion.
Hinata eyed the location of the nest and threw a kunai with her left hand before tossing another with the right. The second sent the first on a new trajectory and it chopped the kika nest away from the tree branch. They waited a second to allow the angered insects to swarm all the creatures in the immediate area.
"Go," Hinata whispered, being the first to start scaling the wall.
Naruto outpaced her, jumping off the top and absorbing the distance of the fall with minimal strain. The first thing he noticed was the state of the clan grounds.
When he thought of clan grounds, the spotless and ordered nature of the Hyuuga came to mind. The state of disarray proved that the person in charge of the place definitely needed to talk with the grounds keeper. He didn't have time to further criticize as a kika beetle bit his neck, making an itchy and swollen purple mark on his skin.
He swatted the thing, but instantly regretted that decision as the beetle released a pheromone on death that attracted others. Hinata noticed his moment of panic and ran over to lead him by the hand. They sprinted as far as they could from the hive's location, yet somehow the insects continued to follow them. They were chased for about a minute before they were able to stop. It was a relief to be safe and over the wall, but they definitely had wounds to show for it.
The beetles weren't able to pierce their clothing, but the exposed skin on their necks and hands swelled from the nasty bites. Hinata fared better than Naruto, sending out pulses of chakra around her body to knock off any that landed prior to biting.
"What kind of creepy clan lived here," Naruto demanded, doing his best to ignore the itchiness.
"Masahiro, Naruto-kun,"
"Who?"
"They were one of a few clans that were narrowly wiped out by the Kyubbi attack"
"If they weren't wiped out, why does it look abandoned," Naruto asked, but immediately recalled why.
Sasuke could've lived in the Uchiha compound, but the memories of everyone who died wouldn't do anyone any good.
They decided to cut the chatter when a nearby rustle in the grass made them freeze. Hinata lowered in preparation for an attack, but relaxed when the cause ran out and snarled at them.
"A fox," They both gasped.
Foxes in Konoha were rare, since the Kyubbi attack left the general population with a sore spot toward the animal. The same night after the village mourned their losses, the animal was hunted to extinction within the immediate area. They were hunted relentlessly, making the fact that it found a hiding place within the village all the more impressive.
The orange quadruped decided to retreat, taking a peculiar path to do so. Hinata noted the twist and turns it made, and it jumping over small bumps on the ground.
The pair had little time to contemplate, as the snap of a twig drew their attention. To their surprise, nothing happened. Hinata caught something from the corner of her eye and tackled Naruto to the ground. A log swung by their heads and came to a locked position before completing the full oscillation of the pendulum.
"Thanks," Naruto said to break the silence.
He would've stood back up if Hinata didn't continue to hold him down.
She did a thorough search with her Byakugan, unaware of what broke. She checked where they were previously standing and something was off. There were tuffs of grass tilted in a single direction and at the same angle.
She focused her vision and barely made out a wire, which wasn't made out of metal. It was hair, green human hair reinforced by being braided and shaped like a blade of grass.
"We're in a mine field" Hinata warned, carefully choosing where to place her feet before standing up.
Naruto stared at her confused.
"A mine field, why is there a mine field on a clan's ground," he asked, rage barely contained at the obstacles placed before them.
"It's probably a practice area."
"That log didn't seem at all like practice, any idea where we should head?"
Hinata didn't respond and went about her search in a calm manner. She expanded her vision out as far as she could manage. Looking out to the full extent her doujutsu would allow. The overgrown foliage was in every direction, save for the east, where they hopped over the wall.
The Masahiro clan ground was gigantic, having another square mile of space than the Hyuuga compound. A brick path made her stop her sweep and follow it to both ends. She saw a rather grotesque looking Hensa, being larger than she remembered at one end. The opposite direction led to their primary objective.
The large web stuck out like a sore thumb, but the abundance of webbing blocked her vision. At the center there appeared to be a body that was Hanabi's size. The blue glow of the female's chakra system was barely shining.
A gigantic spider arrived at the web sac and rested with its' body covering her up.
"Hanabi is about a mile and a half north west, and being guarded by a gargantuan spider, we'll move that way through the mine field."
Naruto continued to rub the bites on his neck, which already began to recede thanks to his nine tailed tenet.
"Damn bugs," he whispered.
Hensa kept all eight eyes open. Not wanting to miss a single bit of information the collective eyes of the spiders saw. So far, nothing had arrived.
"I wondered if the male truly understood how imperative it was to deliver that message," she thought.
The idiot could've gone and told some higher ranking ninja, but she had a perfect escape plan set. If someone other than the intended arrived, she'd ride Ikua up the west wall and climb out. There'd be some resistance here and there, but once she reached her tunnels it'd be an easy escape.
A warning from a single spider felt like a red hot twinge to the frontal brain lobe. That one's vision became the primary source of the collective eyes. The image of two people walking down the road toward the front door made a smile grace her spider like features.
Hensa decided on whether or not to have fun with her prey. Though, time dictated she make it quick.
"I'll poison them and transport the bodies to a location secure enough to have fun. Now, should I kill the male first, or the female," she pondered, waiting for them to approach the gate.
They wondered exactly how they managed to sneak through the insane traps they came across. From what they observed, the Masahiro clan must've been a collective group of sadists. One trap in particular grabbed a shrub when it deployed, slicing the plant into fist size chunks.
Hinata was able to guide them through, but felt they were wasting time. Naruto sent clones to the front gate to provide Hensa with a false sense of security. Sending those twenty minutes after clearing the wall, thinking that'd be enough time to be save Hanabi. Hinata was nervous for a multitude of reasons, since they had little information about what the spiders Hensa summoned could do.
They waited in some shrubs as the web came into normal eyesight. The spider wasn't any bigger than the wasp Hinata took down in her younger years, but in this case the creature had a hostage to use as leverage.
"Think we should just attack," Naruto asked, forming a seal with his hands in preparation.
"Naruto-kun, we don't know what that spider can do, and if we're seen it could just kill Hanabi."
Naruto's face faltered as he wasn't well trained in hostage situations.
"Think we could set the web on fire," Hinata asked.
Setting a fire would serve the dual purpose of not only scaring the beast off, but also act as a beacon to any nearby shinobi. Though, fire would put Hanabi in danger. Not to mention, the damage it would do to the surrounding area.
Attacking the spider was another option, since the size of it proved it was a summoned creature. It could be sent back to its place of origin. However, it took a severe amount of damage to make summons dispel. They had to come up with an idea swiftly, since neither knew if Hensa was occupied by the diversion. Hinata took a glance with her Byakugan and Hensa was within running distance of their location. Making the use of any loud items, explosives and jutsus were out of the question.
"The absolute worse way to attack a spider is when it is in its web." Hinata said, remembering Masahiro's comment when they first caught a spider.
"We need to get it to leave the web, how can we do that when it's surely under orders to guard Hanabi," she asked, still having few ideas on how to proceed.
Naruto smirked as he popped his fingers. He formed his favorite seal and created a number of clones, which went unnoticed by the large arachnid. They all formed a henge seal and before Hinata could blink there was a cuddly group of foxes.
"What will those do Naruto-kun," Hinata asked, with a small squeak at how quietly they scattered.
"Just watch," Naruto said, with a confident smile.
The foxes all ran toward an anchor on the ground that was stuck to the base of a tree. They all took turns biting at the five inch thick cord of silk. Naruto and Hinata held their breath as the green abomination opened all six of its' yellow eyes. It located the fox pack, but didn't see them as a threat. However, it was when the bites became more constant and caused some of the structural integrity of the web to fail that it began to inch toward them.
Hinata smiled as the beast became irritable, when a small group of the pack broke off and began to tear apart another anchor. A loud hiss was heard as the creature ventured down to one point causing the foxes to retreat, allowing it time to replace the broken cord.
Naruto tapped Hinata on the shoulder and pointed to one of the trees the web was anchored to. They waited until the creature turned to the other damaged cord and dashed from cover and up to some foliage on one side of the tree. The process of repairing continued for a few minutes, causing the creature to become irate and scramble about as the web was damaged again and again. Hinata could only guess what the plan entailed from here, but knew that they were going to merely snatch Hanabi and make a run for it.
The arachnid finally lost what patience it had, charging off its' web and trying to catch the animals that were surprisingly swift on their paws. Naruto and Hinata could make out Hanabi and figured now was their chance. They both took a kunai and aimed at the cords that supported her. Both hit their mark, causing Hanabi to fall to the ground. Hinata gasped as her family member plummeted, but thankfully a fox on the ground returned to its human form and caught her.
"Got her," Shouted the clone, but filled with dread as it turned and noticed a spider that looked even more furious with him now stealing a meal from the web.
The beast charged, making the clone freak out while carrying the occupied web sac.
Hinata panicked as more foxes returned and took on their normal forms.
"Catch" the clone shouted, as it became a sudden game of human hot potato.
Naruto and Hinata sweat dropped for a second, but recovered quickly enough to take action. Hinata ran down the tree and assessed their situation. So far the spider had wiped out four clones and was swiftly knocking down the rest. If she didn't reach the sac soon, Hanabi would be more than likely killed.
"I need to get there," she shouted internally, jumping the remaining distance to the ground.
She took a path straight for the clone with her sister.
"Naruto-kun," she yelled, glad when the clone heard her and threw the prize.
Though, its' celebration was short lived as a fang pierced through it. Hinata gasped at the size of the fangs on that monster and immediately began to cut her sister out. She barely got the webbing off her sister's arms, but immediately saw that something was horribly wrong. Hanabi was still breathing, but it was slow and her face looked pale with a fever sweat.
"Was she bitten," Hinata thought with bone rattling fear.
"Move," shouted a clone that knocked her out of the way of the spider's leg that had a lethal claw that dispelled it.
Hinata was barely able to hold on to Hanabi, but managed; thanks to the adhesive property of the webbing. She hefted her sister into her arms and made a break for the nearby brush. Her progress ceased as the spider cut her off and brandished a set of foot long fangs that oozed with venom. Her attention turned up as the real Naruto jumped from his spot on the tree and landed on the creature's abdomen. He stabbed down with two kunai, driving them deep enough to provide himself an anchor.
"Save Hanabi, I got this," Naruto assured, as the beast tried to reach up on top of its rear with its legs.
Hinata was torn; she wanted to help Naruto-kun. Though, Hanabi could be in critical condition.
"I'll meet you at the mine field," she shouted, running off with her injured sibling.
Naruto had no idea where to go from here. He thought landing on the thing would help him to kill it, but it felt like he was riding a raging bull with how crazy it was acting. The beast turned and tried to roll on him a few times, but each time failed. Though, a particular roll through the nearby rose bushes left him covered in scratches. He wanted to let go so he could escape, yet he was honestly a bit too frightened to release his death grip.
"Stupid bug," Naruto shouted, a bolt of lightning striking his brain as he grabbed a single kunai to form a seal.
"Mass shadow clone technique," he shouted, as the eight legged monster was shrouded in smoke.
"Do it," he yelled to the army of him.
Dozens of Narutos clung to the spider's body, eventually six of them hanging on to each leg with another three on its face covering all the eyes. All the clones yanked at the same time making the beast lose its' footing and come to a crashing halt on its' belly.
"Pull," he ordered, remembering Shino's bugs taking one down.
The beast seemed to release a peculiar squeaking sound as they tried to pull all the legs off. There was an eruption of smoke as the spider tried to dispel to save itself from dying. However, it wasn't able to focus with all its' legs being severed. The abomination squeaked and hissed before it died. The clones all dropped the appendages, which squirmed and convulsed at the loss of neural signals, causing them to shiver in turn.
"Time to leave," Naruto thought, running from side to side due to all the shaking and rolling.
Hensa flinched as it felt like a part of her heart was ripped open. She turned about and dashed to the location of the web where her dearest friend was. Her face turned to one of horror and sadness, as the largest of her spider brood lied on the ground cold and still.
"Ikua," she asked, watching the yellow eyes remain unresponsive.
Her mouth went dry, realizing the trade wasn't worth it now. Her oldest companion's life was worth far more than petty revenge. Her rage manifested in a blood curdling shout, which caused Naruto to double the speed of his retreat.
"I'll kill you both for this," she roared, putting her extra appendages on the ground to feel vibrations of the retreating feet.
"Fucking murders," she yelled, signaling her family to fortify the eastern side of the compound wall.
Naruto breathed a sigh of relief, catching up with Hinata. She remembered the safe route with ease, but took time to turn her foot in the grass to make it obvious where to step. It was hard to make the venture through, but doing so carrying someone was near impossible; made only worse by Hanabi feeling like dead weight.
A chill passed through her spine at the thought of dead weight. Hanabi's condition was unknown at this point, meaning Hensa, or one of those spiders bit her. All the diagnostic jutsu confirmed was that there was a poison that dangerously lowered her heart rate and breathing.
"Hinata," Naruto called, doing the best he could to follow the foot prints she left.
They couldn't rush through the area they were in, unless they wanted to be hacked into tiny bits. Naruto was being hasty and trying to catch up with her, but narrowly lost his balance while going between a pair of near invisible wires.
"Careful Naruto-kun," Hinata chided, barely managing to reach the wall and slowly started to walk over.
"Found you my little flies," yelled through the silent atmosphere as Hensa stopped by a pair of trees.
She wanted to rip them to shreds, to drink their bodily fluids while making the other watch. Though, she was able to catch the weird way they seemed to be traversing the area. Her family already scouted the place and it was far too dangerous to walk through, but now it proved to be quite the advantage.
"They can't run away now," she thought with glee.
Hensa didn't have any ninja equipment to throw, but she learned to improvise living outside of a village for so many years. She noted the female already at the top of the wall, but wasn't going to make it so easy on the male. She channeled chakra into her throat and was able to release a jet of webbing that clung to the wall two hundred feet away.
Naruto didn't pay her any mind and continued, knowing he'd be safe with all the hazards behind him. He was wrong in that assumption. Hensa fully covered the wall and walked over to a small sapling that she pulled out by the roots with her new found strength. A small hock of sticky webbing on the end was all she needed, before forming a simple tiger seal to spark the webbing a blaze.
"You're not leaving," she shouted, tossing the burning spear onto the web covered wall.
The spark caused a blaze that forced Hinata to jump over, fearing the rising heat would ignite the silk cocoon in her arms. She landed on the ground and noted the number of brown spiders that jumped down after her. They were easy enough to deflect with precise bursts of chakra, but caused her to run from the compound.
"Naruto-kun," she thought with fear.
She bit her lip, unsure of what to do now. Her sister needed medical care, but neither Konohamaru nor Tsunade-sama had arrived. It didn't take her long to form a seal to make a water clone beside her.
She shrugged at the fluid loss, but didn't have a choice. Naruto-kun needed reinforcements. She handed the hostage over and tried to determine the easiest place to break through the spider net.
Naruto felt the heat of the situation, being trapped between a fire and a monster. Things only got worse as Hensa started to hack out chucks of nearby trees, toppling them in his direction. He side stepped the tree, but it was the impact that caused all hell to break loose.
Traps he couldn't even conceive of erupted. Nets that sliced were shot everywhere, explosive notes erupted, hanging ropes constricted, and a series of water balloons were flung. He found it childish why there would be balloons in a dangerous trap area, but they proved deadly hitting nearby rocks and dissolving holes straight through.
"Come into my web, said the spider to the fly," echoed through the area.
Naruto coughed at the amount of smoke now in the air, the intense heat ignited the desiccated tree line. It made a viable smoke screen to hide in, but effectively disabled the obstacles between them. Part of him hoped Hensa was having similar trouble with seeing and breathing.
"Come relax and rest...for you soon will...be...eaten!"
Naruto's eye saw movement and dove to the ground in reflex. A claw missed his head, but trimmed several blonde spikes. He rolled to his feet, but once again he saw nothing other than smoke. He formed a seal and made a ring of shadow clones facing every direction.
"Least she can't sneak up on me now," he thought.
Naruto was tossed away, neglecting to look up. Hensa dropped down with explosive force, popping all of the shadow clones. She growled, frustrated by her efforts not killing the real one. However, a whirling noise from earlier caught her ear.
Two males with a Rasengan emerged from the smoke. She waited in anticipation before they collided. Naruto's jaw dropped as Hensa jumped over him and delivered a harsh strike to his back. Naruto thought that punches from lee hurt, Hensa felt like being hit by a block of steel. The blow popped one of them, encouraging her to pick up the second and bite down. Another burst of smoke was her only reward.
Naruto hid behind a nearby tree and continued to gain memories from his many clones. Hensa couldn't find him as long as he remained still, making sound and movement out of the question.
He formed a dozen more clones, making them take off in different directions. They tried several different things to learn more about his opponent. They threw kunai and shuriken at her, but all they did was bounce off the hard black exoskeleton that was her skin.
Hensa was shocked to see the chakra supply the male had, especially with how many clones continued to show up. He wasn't trying to fight her, given her superior strength. However, if you put enough ants against a spider; eventually the lone creature would fall.
Her human hands formed a dozen seals before sticking a limb out in every direction.
"Funnel Web," she said, as webbing erupted through several parts of her body.
It looked like a pulse of chakra, but it was a wall of webbing. Naruto could hear the shouts and groans of the clones that got stuck inside the webbing; enveloping them to the point of complete immobilization.
Hensa formed a ram seal at the end of six hand seals.
"Poisoned Cob web," she said, as the webbing took on an acidic property.
Naruto remained stationary, the collective memories of pain being little encouragement to do so. The tree thankfully served the dual purpose of being a hiding place and shield. However, a few strands of silk clung to the left arm of his kimono. The acid swiftly destroyed the silk and cotton fibers. A crunching noise of the tree trunk signaled the oak's inability to withstand the foreign jutsu, making it toppled to the side in defeat. Naruto slowly turned his neck, knowing the vibrations traveled up the web.
His eyes widened as Hensa crawled around the obstacle and shot him a predatory grin. Naruto reached into the leg pouch and produced the flash note, but wasn't fast enough as Hensa smacked him with a leg. He rolled for a few feet, producing another dozen clones as he finally stopped.
She ran at him, ignoring the thrown kunai that felt like bee stings on her skin. The mob was easily dispelled, allowing her to finally grab the real one by his throat. She pinned him against a tree, her superior strength and stature all the more apparent.
Hensa took a second to look him over, impressed and annoyed by his abilities.
"Venom won't kill you huh," she asked, shaking him vigorously when he refused to answer.
It wouldn't matter this time. She was going to use her strength to kill him, which while less time consuming then venom; was vastly more rewarding.
Ikua died in an agonizing way, she would just return the favor.
"Tell me something," Hensa asked, before catching something from her back left eye. A giant blue orb of twirling chakra was coming straight at her. She dug up a chuck of dirt from the ground and tossed it at the clones. Tripping one and causing the other to drop the orb.
She returned to her target, being certain that his arms and legs were pinned with her clawed limbs. Hensa delivered a solid blow to the left side of his face, which made his vision blur and ears ring.
"Does that hurt," she asked, before placing another pair of blows to both sets of ribs.
"Nope," Naruto smiled, as something shiny approached Hensa from behind.
Two of her claws moved and caught the item, seeing as it was a simple kunai.
"You don't learn do you," she asked, but didn't smell the burning explosive note over the blaze of the roaring forest fire.
The explosion made her shout in pain as smoke filled all her eyes, and tore off a sizable amount of her armor.
Naruto dropped to the ground and did his best to run with his eye sight spinning. He didn't expect the item, since he was certain all of his clones were dispelled. The smoke began to thicken even more, if possible. He was lost, but a soft hand found his and led him to a place where the air wasn't as polluted.
He wheezed and feverishly blinked to clear the soot from his eyes. Hinata looked down at him and smiled to see he was alright. The time it took to find a safe route to his position with all the fire, spiders, and traps took far longer than expected.
"Naruto-kun, are you alright," she asked, noticing the damage to his kimono.
"Yeah, thanks for the help," he replied, trying to clear more of the irritants from his eyes and throat.
"How can you s-."
Hinata's hand covered his mouth, due to the impending danger they were in.
Hensa stood only fifty feet away, placing all the grown appendages on the ground to detect them.
Hinata formed a seal, producing a pair of clones to deal with their assailant.
The vibration of a foot step drew the spider nin's attention, making a charge in its direction. Hensa contacted a body, surprisingly finding that it was the female of the pair.
"You should've run when you had the chance," she taunted, preparing to crush her against a tree.
The clone formed a seal and burst into a scalding hot spray of water.
Hensa shouted as the heat scalded the exposed eyes on her head that didn't have eye lids. The bombardment didn't cease, continuing with palm strikes to each leg joint and the spine. The force behind the strikes made her roll forward; she used the extra appendages to turn and fire a ball of chakra infused webbing. It stuck the female to the ground, the acidic properties making her splash into a puddle.
"Shit, more clones," Hensa said, feeling that rage wasn't enough to overcome the pain saturating each movement.
There wasn't anything wrong with the exoskeleton that grew during the transformation. So why did those recent hits feel like they caused internal bleeding? Her spinal column wasn't snapped in half, but it felt like it would've given if not for the reinforced muscle around it.
"Bitch," she gurgled, between jolts of agony.
Hinata watched the entire ordeal unfold. The plan was to immobilized, but all she managed to do was waste water and chakra. To make things worse, she felt dehydrated from the number of clones created. Not to mention, the residual heat from the now rampant fire made her feel like a dry leaf.
Naruto looked alright, which in itself was a miracle. Each hit looked like it could've knocked down a tree, and he took three of them without being mortally wounded. It spoke of his incredible durability, but also proved that she wouldn't survive similar abuse.
They had limited options in how to fight now. She hopefully disabled the female's extra eyes, but couldn't risk using anymore water.
"Any ideas," Hinata whispered.
Naruto was mostly quiet trying to save his air and the ability he had to see.
"I can still make clones." he whispered, getting back to his feet slowly.
Hensa finally felt the searing pain of the abuse dull, but that jutsu did incredible damage. She lost sight in six of her eyes and had second degree burns on parts of her face.
"Where are you," she wondered, as movement in the corner of her left eye made her spit a hard ball of silk that cracked part of a tree trunk.
Naruto broke from cover and made a run for the wall. Hensa fired two more silk balls and hit their mark, but he puffed into a cloud as well. She hissed as more clones began to pour from behind a tree. She hit the trunk with every appendage and shoved forward. The tree splintered and lost support as it came crashing down and released another eruption of traps.
Hensa smiled with certainty that she killed one of them, but wasn't about to lift a tree truck to find out. Her body felt spent from all the movement and expenditure of stamina it took to create silk and knock over trees.
She scanned the area that now was riddled with burning trees and spotted him. He stuck out like a sore thumb in that damn silver and blue kimono, but it didn't matter now. She slowly approached, deciding to be more cautious than previously. It was fitting that this goal drained so much energy. It wouldn't feel rewarding if it didn't require the need to sweat. Hensa poked one of his legs hard enough to see blood drip out.
"I got you," she thought,
Naruto looked unconscious, making her dig in the appendage to see if it was possible to rouse him to the world of the living. She wanted him to be awake, so he could experience the horror of having his appendages torn from their joints one at a time.
"Oh well, I'm contented with this," she thought, creating some acid on the tip of a claw and stabbing for a vital organ.
Naruto opened his eye at the last second and contorted to dodge; he swung around and tossed his last kunai.
Hensa blocked it, but was blinded when a flash note erupted, crippling the remaining eyes that functioned.
The searing flash of light made her swear and cover her face as her clawed appendages swung erratically. She caught him with a lucky strike that tore open the front of his kimono.
Naruto formed his favorite seal, spewing out dozens of clones like a crushed ant hill. All of them piled onto the flailing spider, several of them dispelling before finally starting to gain the upper hand. The flash bomb was the signal, leaving few seconds before Hinata attacked
The group all held down a limb, despite the spiny hairs that covered the skin.
Hensa gasped, unable to move; due to the sheer power the mass of clones possessed. They held her limbs down. Among the clones she spotted a female who lowered into a stance she hadn't seen before.
"Eight Trigrams 64 palm," Hinata said, seeing the tetsu points and attacking them with as much chakra as she could muster.
Hensa screamed as the exoskeleton did little to protect against the chakra strikes that felt like spears to her nerve bundles.
Her body went numb from the blows, each one hitting like a bolt of lightning. Debilitating and sundering her body with each repetition. Hensa could barely keep conscious, the pain and drain of chakra now being too much. A whistling made her look up to see a blue orb being carried by two blondes to her body. A lingering spark in her body caught a second wind, finding the strength to stand up and take the blow to the chest.
She shouted as the compressed orb tore through her like a blade against a grinding stone, yet she wasn't surrendering yet.
"Recluse Spines," she gasped, as all the hairs on her body went ridged and erupted out
The Rasengan sent her flying for a few seconds, ending with a crash landing against a tree trunk.
Hinata blinked confused as to what happened. She saw several spines fly at her, but not one found its' mark. She felt warmth radiating against her, which turned out to be the body of her date holding her in his arms.
"Nicely done," Naruto complimented, feeling exhausted.
Hinata could see their opponents chakra system shut down, but also noted a number of spines resting in Naruto's left shoulder. There wasn't any internal damage, but she was still concerned.
"Naruto-kun, you're hurt," she gasped, feeling the wear on her body as the adrenaline in her veins thinned.
"I'll be alright, I heal quickly," he said, happy in knowing that everyone lived through the battle this time.
Hinata didn't like that comment, he wasn't alright. His kimono was proof of that. It was missing the left sleeve, the front was torn open and bloody, there were spines resting in his left shoulder, and she heard a distinct hissing sound. She noticed some white smoke come off his chest wound and the spines that rested in his arm, though it thankfully stopped after a few seconds. The overwhelming concern she had overpowered the shyness, encouraging her to return the embrace with shuddering arms.
"Thank you, Naruto-kun."
"Huh?"
"Thank you, for saving my sister," Hinata whispered, her voice breaking in knowing that she wouldn't lose someone special to her.
"You don't need to thank me Hinata."
"Yes I do Naruto-kun, you didn't have to place yourself in danger, or stay behind to give us a chance to escape,"
"You're wrong," Naruto stated.
Hinata went silent, uncertain of what he meant.
"I had to do those things, because it was protect you, you're one of my precious people Hinata-chan." he responded, feeling the grip of Hinata tighten.
"Arigato, Naruto-kun," she whispered, her voice breaking as she snuggled into his right shoulder.
*2 hours Konoha Festival Grounds*
A sneeze escaped his lips, forcing him to pull a handkerchief from his side bag. It was almost impossible to sneak away from the mob of men that wished to personally thank him for the invitation. The performance from Liliyan went off without any issue, which both impressed and worried him. It was successful and that meant karma was stalking every move he made.
To make matters worse, every wealthy person in attendance was requesting another performance. Several of them wanted physical intimacy. He made it clear that she wasn't "that" type of performer, which made quite a few faces slump. However, the fantasy nights for the next five months were entirely booked. There was a polling done after the event to see who they wanted to see next, but Tsunade was still the front runner with 70% of the votes. He'd need to do research on the other thrown in names to ensure preparations for the future.
He finished cleaning his nose, and examined the Ritsma Dango shop. Taro knew the plan: meet at a random place to make it appear like an "accident". The struggle his grandmother endured to merely converse with him was aggravating to no end. The Hyuuga clan needed to update their ethics and morals. Forcing people to bottle up their emotions wasn't good for their physical or mental health; hardships during the last war proved that. They lost more ninja to suicide than the enemy killed. The sad thing was the majority of people who snapped were Hyuugas.
A derisive snort rushed from his mouth, but brought his attention back as the shop keeper noticed him. She was an elderly purple haired female, well beyond the years of her prime. However, she could make a dango that would make even the shallowest male drop to his knees and propose. He didn't know how she did it, but there was a reason she stayed in business when other places failed.
She had been expecting him, as he dropped by every festival for a couple's package. It contained six pairs of assorted flavors. He was glad to see that he planned out his arrival perfectly, since his grandmother turned the corner only seconds after. She was wrapped in a silver grey kimono, which she accented with a black obi; a sign of respect to her deceased husband.
"Masahiro, what an unpleasant surprise to see you."
"No more unpleasant than the venom you spew from those lips."
"Come with me, there are more details we have to discuss"
*thirty minutes Earlier Hokage Estate*
The front of the estate was adored with several white tables and chairs. Konoha always tried to outdo the previous year's accommodations, but that was simple enough when you provided high end alcohol. Everyone had already finished their run through the buffet of delicious choices and moved on to the alcohol and niceties.
Tsunade grinned through clenched teeth as the many now inebriated investors continued to stare at her chest as they spoke. The sexual glares were so abundant, she wondered if the collective heat would burn a hole in the ceremonial robes. It was insulting to humor such vile males, but money unfortunately made it "acceptable" for them to behave in such a fashion. These people if they so chose could ruin Konoha by ending their businesses. That alone was enough incentive to not pummel every one of them into a bloody pulp.
"Just make it through tonight, then you can relax," she thought, struggling in suppress the rage she felt.
She wasn't drinking as she usually did on these nights. This was due to Shizune being gone with Masahiro. Tsunade tempered her tolerance to alcohol, but on occasion had trouble saying when. Ever since she left Konoha, Shizune had been there to persuade her into stopping before she made a poor drunken choice.
Shizune's absence proved to be an oversight, one that she was regretting with all her being. The investors weren't all horrible people, but they were boring with their constant concern for their trades. While the number of jokes and perverted stories appeared to rise with their blood alcohol content.
It was no surprise that Kakashi was making wonderful small talk, being enveloped by a group of older women and gentlemen alike. It was a good idea to choose him, but she worried he'd get a little too friendly. However, Kakashi knew how to leave women wanting more and it showed with how they seemed to claw at him.
She decided to take some time to relax from her stressing thoughts, taking a seat at a vacant table. Her hands cradled a tired skull, allowing a moment to take some prospective on the night. She was bored, but to make matters worse; there were few people to talk with. Despite being the Hokage and a powerful Sannin, she lacked much of a social life.
Tsunade blinked a few times, realizing the number of people she cared about could be counted on a single hand. Granted, she cared about all the people within the village, but there were few that maintained a special place in her heart. Shizune her only remaining family member, Jiraiya her perverted teammate, Sakura her star pupil, and Naruto…
"Naruto needs help," shouted over the crowd.
Tsunade focused, realizing that sound hadn't come from her head. She turned to see a familiar brown haired teen dodging the many guards on the grounds. Konohamaru had been sure to let nothing stop him in finding Tsunade, regardless of how many Chunin and Anbu he was forced to escape. Though, it was difficult as there were ten of him rushing crashing the party. He got within twenty feet of Tsunade, suddenly being held by a powerful grip around his neck.
Kakashi saw the disturbance, initially refusing to act. That was until he noticed the perpetrator heading right for the Hokage. He assessed the danger to be minimal, detaining the real male with ease.
"There are easier ways to celebrate the festival than crashing parties," Kakashi informed, lightly scratching the side of his face.
Konohamaru struggled against the grip, but knew he'd been captured.
"Naruto-nii-san, spider lady, Hanabi," he spat out, pausing when the Hokage grabbed him by the chin and held his face directly toward her.
"Where," Tsunade demanded, partly happy she'd get to take her anger out on someone else.
"The Masahiro clan grounds," Konohamaru said, amazed at just how swift the Hokage was.
*Outside the Masahiro Clan Grounds*
The water clone had placed Hanabi down and removed the webbing with a kunai, but now had no idea of what to do. Hanabi was still alive, that much was obvious. The proper way to treat her wasn't.
Unlike Naruto's incident, there wasn't any clear indication of where a venom injection took place. There wasn't any necrotic tissue, but that could've been hidden. The clone would've used the Byakugan, but that was a steady drain on its' limited chakra supply. It wasn't worth the risk of dispelling and leaving Hanabi unprotected.
"Hanabi," she said, softly nudging the female to wake her up.
She noticed the slow breathing pattern maintain, though feared it would abruptly halt like Naruto's. Hinata remained on standby to perform CPR, all the while trying to keep the female comfortable. She flinched when there was a sudden presence beside her.
Her hand instinctively darted out to protect herself, stopping at the sight the Hokage in full festival regalia.
"Tsunade-sama," she gasped
Tsunade's hands instantly went through the seals of a diagnostic jutsu, but with a few altered seals. Her hands glowed with a green aura, sensing something foreign in the body. It was venom, but it wasn't localized to the blood stream. She smirked, finding the mixture located within the nerve bundles of the spine.
Her hands glided over the chest of the young female. Hinata felt her eyes widen. It was incredible the ease lady Tsunade had in using her chakra to isolate the source of the toxin, excising a brown glob. She let the fluid splash to the ground and placed a hand on the female's forehead. Hinata didn't even see a hand seal performed, yet witnessed Hanabi begin to breath at a normal rate and return to a natural pink skin tone.
"Amazing," Hinata whispered.
"Hinata, where is Naruto," Tsunade ordered, fully prepared to smash through every obstacle in her way.
"We're inside the estate."
"We're?"
"Hai, I'm a clone," it responded, leaving Tsunade surprised to see a Hyuuga using ninjutsu.
"Baa-chan," shouted a voice that they both recognized.
Their attention turned to the top of the compound wall, where Naruto stood in an outfit that looked worse for wear.
"We'll meet ya at the front gate," yelled before it popped.
Tsunade picked up the smaller Hyuuga and walked toward the rally point.
*Konoha Festival Grounds*
"So, Hiashi actually sent a branch house member to play chaperon?"
"Yes, it would appear that the events of recent have made him more lenient."
"Lenient, Overbearing and overprotective would be more accurate."
"Now now, when you're a parent you'll understand there is a difference between being protective and paranoid," Chiaki chastised, knowing that Hiashi wasn't the only one who sent someone to do surveillance on a relative.
"Yeah, Protective: you give someone a weapon and teach them to use it, Paranoid: You threaten to kill anyone who dares ask for a date," Taro responded.
They had continued their walk down the vacant path, filling the void with relaxed conversation. It was one of the few nights they were able to speak privately, without the constraints of clan ethics and reputation.
"Speaking of parenting."
"No, I've decided I'll live in my clan house so we can have more of these "fun" conversations."
"Aww, and here I was hoping my little Saki would've conspired a way to woo Mitarashi."
"Yeah right, there is no way to satisfy that woman," Taro spat, having tried in his earlier years, with only scars and painful memories to show for it.
"You could always try being sweeter, you do get more flies with honey Saki."
"That's a poor analogy; first you're comparing women to insects that eat garbage, also by that fact being a total sack of shit would attract more women."
"My point being, you should be kind to her, do something romantic and caring, it takes time for a seed to turn into a tree."
"Trust me Baa-chan, you need fertile soil to make a plant grow, it's pointless to plant a flower in a desert."
"Don't be so sure, every woman has a soft spot in her heart, you just need to know how to find it."
Taro rolled his eyes, Baa-chan always tried to push him into pursing Anko. It wasn't that he didn't try, it was merely too difficult. It was sad to think he could relate all his romantic relationships to his first time attempting a C ranked trap. It took time and dedication to get things set and to finally have the item prepared, but one screw up and he ended up with a powder bomb in his face. All of which left him crying and broken hearted at the failure. He sighed, catching the scent of something acrid on the air. The smell wasn't foreign, but for it to be so far from the festival. Taro panicked as he hurried with his wheelchair down the path, worried that some idiot genin was practicing fire jutsus in an abandoned area.
*Masahiro Clan Compound Front Gate*
Naruto couldn't keep from blushing as Hinata continued to keep their hands interlocked. She refused to let go, overjoyed to hear that she was precious to him.
They were finally out of danger, but she was still nervous for him. There had been twenty of those spines in his shoulder, making her worried that some lingering venom would make him collapse. The clone he sent to find Hanabi had ensured they were safe. With Hensa unconscious, all the summoned spiders vanished to their place of origin. Though, it would take some time before either of them felt comfortable around any type of creepy crawlies.
Naruto's clones were carrying their attacker, thankfully reverted back to a normal appearance. It made the matter of transport uncomfortable, since she was entirely nude. Naruto wrapped her in the destroyed kimono top, making it less embarrassing to transport.
It was a relief to know that it was over, but it left a lingering sadness in his heart. The history of his festival celebrations continued to repeat. Only this time it was an enemy ninja attacking instead of an angry mob of villagers. The front gate creaked open, where they saw Tsunade holding a still sleeping Hanabi and a group of Anbu surrounding her.
The pair felt a wash of ease overtake them, feeling safer in the presence of a sannin.
"Hey baa-chan."
Tsunade's expression was unreadable. On one hand, she was glad they were both alive. However, there was one thing that ate at her.
"Naruto, Hinata, where is the Yugao," she asked, curious as to why their guardian wasn't around.
Naruto chuckled nervously, while Hinata turned her attention downward.
"We sort of lost her." Naruto said, flustered by the pulsating artery in the Hokage's forehead.
"What," Tsunade shouted, furious at the fact they were under protection and they intentionally ditched their protector.
"Hanabi would've been killed if we hadn't come alone."
Naruto wondered if his ears weren't working, since that outburst came from Hinata.
Hinata didn't know why her voice rose up, but the thought of Naruto being punished for his actions wasn't acceptable. It wasn't anyone's fault; they did what was necessary to complete the rescue.
Tsunade's rage was stifled by the quiet female interjecting. In addition, there were aspects of the situation she wasn't privy to. Despite that, they should've informed her sooner and been less reckless.
A sudden shout tore through the silence as they all turned to see Taro Masahiro coming up the road in his wheel chair.
"My estate," he shouted, concerned as to why no one was doing anything to extinguish the growing flames.
Tsunade didn't want to deal with this right now, especially when Taro could turn the slightest twinge into a throbbing headache.
"Extinguish the flames and take the prisoner to a holding cell at the hospital under heavy guard" she ordered, watching Taro speechless at the destruction he saw.
"I wouldn't worry Masahiro," stated the voice of Chiaki, slowly walking up in her practiced demeanor. "I'd honestly call it an improvement."
Naruto couldn't believe the hell fire that erupted after that older Hyuuga made that comment about the compounds state.
Tsunade handed Hanabi to Naruto and had to do her best to play referee with the feud between the two shinobi. It was all too evident, since the shouts were discernible from quite a distance away.
There wasn't too much conversation on the way back to the Hyuuga compound. Though, both of their minds were focused on Naruto's well being. Hinata couldn't shake the fear that he'd drop dead any moment, still carrying the scars from their previous mission. Naruto's worry was manifesting as a fast pace walk. He was far past the time Hiashi "asked" to have Hinata returned. Only further multiplying the discomfort he was already suffering when the wounds started to burn and ache.
"Are you alright Naruto-kun," Hinata asked as he flinched in pain.
"Yeah, I don't think I was poisoned so I should be fine this time," he smiled, in spite of Hinata's sad smile.
"I'm glad, and I'm sorry that our date turned out like this."
"It's alright Hinata, I'm sure the next one will be better."
Hinata stopped breathing as her heart skipped a beat.
"Naruto-kun wants to have another date with me," she thought, a tremble of joy flowing through every cell of her body.
"Hai," she gasped, looking forward to the next time.
They finally arrived at the compound front gates, the guards for some reason being off duty.
"Thank you for saving Hanabi, Naruto-kun."
"Of course, I'd do anything to help you Hinata."
"I'm certain Hanabi will be appreciative as well, when she wakes up," Hinata said, taking the younger Hyuuga out of Naruto's sore arms.
"Well, I guess things will be going back to normal."
Hinata frowned at that, but knew their time in close proximity to one another had to come to an end. She was disappointed by the attack, not only did it ruin their date, but also separated them again.
"What training ground should we meet at tomorrow?"
"Training ground?"
"Yeah, we need to keep working on your taijutsu and other techniques," Naruto whispered the last part, knowing it was their secret.
"Yes, which one would you like to meet at?"
"Training ground 7 has a small pond so that will be perfect."
The doors of the clan compound opened and made them both sweat drop to see Hiashi Hyuuga waiting on his knees with a Katana resting on his lap. Naruto felt his heart sink into the pit of his stomach and sweat soaked his exposed chest. It was bad enough to show up late, but to do so without some of his clothing only made matters worse.
The male vanished from his kneeling position and Naruto felt cold metal pressed against his chest. Hiashi was only feet away from him, resting the tip of the sword against his solar plexus, causing Naruto to freeze.
Hiashi looked the male up and down, unsurprised by what he saw. Part of him knew that Uzumaki would try something so grotesque. He didn't even choose to redress after his perverted endeavors with his daughter. However, he was interested to know why there was a gash on his chest. In addition, to why Hinata was carrying her unconscious younger sister.
He noted that Hinata and Hanabi were fine, except they were all stained with soot and ash. Uzumaki had kept the agreement of returning Hinata in the same condition, but the time frame wasn't acceptable. He couldn't allow this break to go unpunished, nor could he condone him in bringing back two daughters in a similar state.
"Hinata, take Hanabi to her room and return to yours' after," he ordered.
"Hai," Hinata said with a bow to her father. "Have a pleasant night Uzumaki-san," she said, bowing to Naruto as well.
Naruto smirked, unable to bow with the blade threatening his vital organs.
"Have a pleasant evening, Hinata-chan."
"Chan." she thought, boiling on the inside from the way that little word made her feel.
Her face flashed to red and she narrowly went to the floor unconscious, but through a sheer force of willpower righted her leaning body.
Naruto rubbed the back of his head at the reaction he had on her. Though, the demon like presence of the older male made the sunshine become shrouded by clouds.
"Uzumaki," Hiashi began "We had a verbal agreement of my daughters' return at 11pm."
Naruto flinched at the fact he screwed up, but kept quiet as he knew this verbal lashing wasn't done.
"Shinobi are required to complete contracts within a specific time frame and parameters, I don't know what you experienced tonight, but I will."
"Hai, Hiashi-sama, is the sword really necessary," he asked, feeling the tip test the flexibility of his skin.
"It assists in my ability to get my point across, and if necessary, another point."
Naruto recognized the glare in the male's eyes; he was prepared to kill to protect his family.
"That being said, I know you have a habit of changing people's hearts, I trust it won't be used to persuade my eldest daughter into doing things that aren't dignified of her station."
"I'd never make Hinata-chan do anything she didn't want to."
Hiashi examined the male's eyes. He was sincere in that response, but even those with the highest morals could be tempted by base desires.
"Given the breaking of our agreement I can't fully trust your word, in addition, I'll expect all of our future arrangements to be honored to the letter, do I make myself clear," Hiashi questioned, pushing the blade further as if trying to dig out an answer.
"Hai, Hiashi-sama."
"Good, have a pleasant evening Uzumaki," he said, returning the deadly instrument to its sheath.
Naruto knew that they no longer had to look over their shoulders, but he had the suspicion that he still needed to.
*Hokage Monument*
Exhaustion was setting upon them. They had been holding themselves together as long as possible. However, they were approaching their limit. The clones knew that Yugao was still keeping an eye on them, yet weren't aware of the situation with their real selves. They had been sitting on the 4th's head for nearly two hours, talking about their likes and dislikes. It was like a normal date, but with a few down sides. They would've played other games, or gone to a show. The problem was being a clone, since their money would vanish when they did. Effectively robbing owners of income they would pay for admission.
Hinata's clone leaned in close, clearly not as experienced in clone techniques as Naruto. The clone could feel water seeping out of the chakra structure at the contact.
"I'm at my limit," it whispered, just about ready to break down.
Naruto's clone looked at his tired companion and wasn't about to let this date end prematurely. That and Kakashi had informed him that a first date was usually ended with a kiss to show both parties where things were going. He hadn't ever given anyone a kiss, well anyone that he wanted to think about. Those first two instances didn't count, and he was going to make sure this was with someone he wanted.
His hand lightly went under her chin, causing a mountain of confusion. He didn't think it was possible for a clone to blush, but somehow the water one did. He drew her in with the other arm and kept his eyes open to prevent missing the mark. Time felt like it stopped for them, as soft lips met in an innocent gesture. Hinata froze like a statue, wondering what encouraged him to do such an act. The warmth of his breath made her melt, along with the thick forest scent of his skin. A light squeak escaped her lips before she exploded in a wash of hot water. Naruto shouted, as the explosion caused him dispel as well.
Yugao swallowed, knowing that she was definitely in trouble for this.
He started his walk home, unsure of how to qualify the day. However, the memory that came to his mind made the entire world seem perfect.
Hinata returned to her bedroom and started to disrobe when the memory hit her. The blush on her face felt like a conjoined effort of all the ones that came before. She went limp, landing face first on her bed.
"What a wonderful night," they thought, amazed by the perfect evening they had