Three hours ago...
Ino arrived in front of the six assembled ninja. Chouji, Shikamaru, Lee, Ten-ten, Gai, and Temari. She paced the line of personnel, staring each in the eyes as she moved about. Each gave his or her own perplexed or annoyed look in response to her stare. After sizing up everyone present she stepped back to a position where all eyes would be fixated on her.
"Listen up people, and listen well. Our brand new Hokage-sama is missing, most likely biding his time and luring a dangerous enemy to an isolated area in order to fight the enemy to the death. Under the suggestion of the village elders, the new advisers have issued the order to support Naruto-sama with all the power we have available. A scouting team has already been dispatched to find Hyuuga Hinata, who most likely is under the protection of the Hokage himself. We are to follow their trail at top speed and ensure that Naruto-sama does not attempt to fight the enemy alone. We are authorized to use any means necessary to delay the battle until the main body of our army ca reach the scene. Any questions?"
Shikamaru lazily raised his hand then pointed to the person on his left. "Why is she coming with us?"
Temari smacked the Chuunin on the back. "Who else is going to keep your butt alive and kicking?" Shikamaru shot her a quizzical look, one eyebrow raised, the other dipping. "That and the Hidden Village of Sand has a debt to repay. I've already dispatched a message to Gaara. I'm sure he'll want to repay Naruto for rescuing him from Akatsuki."
Ino plied her question once again to make certain everyone understood his task and was ready to leave. "Any other questions? Good, just remember we are to delay the battle at all costs. Naruto-kun's death is an unacceptable outcome."
Temari's head turned quickly at the change in honorific reference. "Naruto-kun?" she asked. Shikamaru cupped his hand over his mouth, pretending to explain in a secretive manner; it was rather obvious he was being sarcastic considering the volume he spoke at wasn't hushed at all. "She has a big crush on him because he's the Hokage."
"Shikamaru! This is a mission from here on out and I expect you to treat it as such!" Ino barked, unsuccessfully attempting to divert the conversation.
"Hai hai, he'll do his best, harlot-san." Temari crowed, resting a hand on her hip. Shikamaru waved her off, his eyes gleaming with determination. "You can bet you ass I'll carry this mission out perfectly."
Without waiting for order or confirmation from Ino, Shikamaru quickly drew out a "V" formation, which he decided would be best for quick travel and allowed for instant action from every squad member, upon reaching their target.
After explaining, he followed up with a few complaints. "It'd be much safer with Neji, Sasuke, Kiba, or Kakashi to lead the way, but since they're otherwise indisposed, we'll make due with what we have. You'll have to be extra watchful taking point, Ten-ten. Chances are we won't arrive before the battle begins, so every second counts. Lastly, I'd just like to say, try to stay focused and keep your personal feelings out of this." He scowled at Ino just slightly to drive home his point.
Maito Gai pondered why the hell he was here in the first place. Sure, most of his team was present, but no one paid attention to anything he had said in the last five minutes. His typically chatty students hadn't said a word to him, merely whispered back and forth to each other. Not only that, but Ino and Shikamaru complete ignored everything he had said, as if he hadn't been present at all. "Perhaps I need to start over with a fresh and youthful bunch of kids!" Gai exclaimed with all the might his voice could muster. Apparently no one paid him any mind; the young group had departed mid-sentence without so much as a smirk at his remark. He wondered if Kakashi had so much trouble with his students in recent years.
Presently...
Ino was moving with all haste to keep up with rest of the team. She knew she wasn't a heavy combat type and that she might even be a burden to this mission. However, she hadn't stolen this mission out from under Sakura's nose for nothing. This was perhaps her last ditch effort to move to the top standing in Naruto's heart. He'd spent too much time alone with Hinata alone, and if Sakura showed up first, bluntly showing her feelings for him by backing him up using all the military might at the disposal of the village, he would certainly choose her.
The reason for Ino arriving now would show that she was willing to sacrifice everything for him, risking her life, disobeying orders to be by his side, supporting him. It had taken Ino many years to realize Naruto's maturity and strength, something he had shown boundless progress and potential in starting from his appearance in her first Chuunin exam. He's been the first man to recognize a potential within her that was overlooked. Most people just thought of her as a beautiful, stupid blond, who obsessed over boys and her own looks. Naruto looked past that, acknowledging her as being able to become an adviser to the Hokage himself. She may not have been a Sannin's first choice as an apprentice, but she was his choice. Because of that confidence in her, she would match it equally with effort and become deserving of the trust given to her. More importantly though, she felt as if in his own way, he was giving her the kind of love she could find nowhere else. She would capture this love, and return it tenfold with the love and kindness Naruto was rarely given but more often than not deserved.
Hinata stirred from her slumber an unknown number of hours later. She rubbed her eyes and looked around. Naruto was nowhere in sight. It was odd though; this particular water, which was summoned from a hot spring, was surprisingly as warm as when she had first entered. When Hinata peered toward the entrance, she noticed her clothes neatly piled near the bath, a towel resting atop. They had been roughly cleaned. A tear or two had been sewn together; the pattern of the stitching indicated perhaps a five year old, a monkey, or a seventeen-year-old blond Hokage that had never been taught how to sew in his life had sewed it.
Hinata drew a closed palm to her mouth. She knew Naruto was a kind man who always thought of other people before himself. She knew that they had grown closer in such a short time. For the life of her however, she hadn't expected him to care about such a minor detail. This was a sign. He was ready for her, and not in the typical seventeen-year-old male type of readiness. He must be giving her a sign. "Yes! A sign!" she exclaimed hopping out of the bath, quickly drying herself off.
Once she was fully dressed, she skipped through the cave, humming along the way. When Hinata reached the mouth of the cave, she paused, holding her right hand up to regard it, waving her ring finger ever so slightly. She smiled and giggled to her self. Looking up, what she saw nearly spoiled the entire mood.
"Hinata-sama, we must leave immediately," Neji said. Neji, Ino, and Sakura stood a dozen feet away fully geared, glancing around the area with nervous anticipation, perhaps. "This is no time to be fooling around with Uzumaki-sama, you slut," Ino said approaching Hinata. Sakura followed closely. "My friend is right, Hyuuga-san. While Hokage-sama is off fighting the most powerful shinobi of Hidden Cloud, you are here humming and skipping like a child."
"What? Naruto-kun is in danger? I'm so sorry, I'll find him right away!" Hinata stammered. Hinata activated her Byakugan. "Well then, if you'll excuse me," she said tossing a smoke bomb at her feet. A thick layer of darkness clouded the area, the idle ninja covering their faces with arms raised. When the black fog subsided slightly, a single thin sheet of paper became visible.
"Gotta find Naruto-kun" Hinata noted to herself. As she sped away, the sound of an explosion echoed through the forest. Hinata's eyes darted back for a moment. "That was the last explosive tag. I only have two kunai left, and I'm out of all my supplies." Hinata clutched the poorly sewn tear of her jacket, running her fingers over each exposed portion of threading. She landed on a nearby branch. Several hand seals flashed by before Hinata summoned a small tracking fox, which nodded to her when he appeared. "Just a second," Hinata stated, untying her forehead protector. The swishing sound of cloth rubbing against cloth resounded, followed by a "Yosh!" proclamation. The two disappeared through the trees, the tails of the girl's forehead protector flapping in the wind from atop her head.
"I'm picking up some strong scents, we should be fairly close now. The direction they should be in is," Kiba stated but was interrupted by an explosion about one hundred yards to the right. Shino finished his sentence for him. "That way." Kiba spat at the ground. "You take all the fun out of it, Shino."
The three imposters changed back into their original forms. "Fuuka, Fumika, you've overdone it." The twins frowned at the coldly beautiful woman, replying simultaneously. "Our sincerest apologies Seina-san." The raven-haired woman's eyes blinked, and then slowly adjusted their focus to the side. "A complete failure. It seems as though we need only delay help from arriving to the lovers. Hikaru will ensure Reito-sama enjoys his fight fully."
"Ladies," Shino began, "the parameters of our mission do not strictly require us to engage in combat with you. Stand down so we may recover our injured nakama, and shed no further blood." The twins doubled over laughing, Seina cracking a smile at the opposition. "It would seem your goal and ours are mutually exclusive. I apologize for the indefinite delay of your mission, Konoha shinobi, but we will be taking your lives if you persist."
"I will handle them," Neji said, stepping ahead of the group. "Our first priority is to rescuing Naruto-sama and Hinata-sama." Neji formed his Byakugan, veins bulging from his head to the right and left of his eyes respectively; he took a defensive stance. "Very well, we shall be your opponents. I bid you goodbye, for one of us shall walk away from this battle to the next opponent, and the other shall walk into the afterlife." The twin women from Lightning raised their weapons. Neji could see chakra gathering into the weapons themselves, while the woman Seina appeared to be drawing green chakra from the ground itself.
"Interesting ability you have there. You manipulate plants, but you can't forcibly grow or create new life as you see fit," Neji commented. Seina smiled softly at the white-eyed man. "Konoha is full of talented youth I see. Yes, I may not be gifted the way your Shodaime Hokage was, however I'm not one to trifle with." The vegetation around her began to die as she soaked up more life essence from the nearby plants.
A hand found its way onto Neji's shoulder. Shino spoke up. "Teamwork, it's not just a good idea, it's a necessity. Believe it." Neji shrugged Shino's hand off his shoulder, but paused and turned his head to look Shino in the eye, or rather the glasses. "Believe it? What the f?" Kiba laughed, and then explained, "It means he needed to shock you out of being a douche, and get you to use your head, not that half inch disappointment you call a penis."
With the enemy distracted, the women from Lightning pressed their attack. Fuuka who was wielding dual falchions spun the blades in a circular motion in front of her, creating a massive wind to assault the enemy. Simultaneously, Fumika rotated her shield counterclockwise catching rays of sunlight, which she amplified at the Konoha ninja. Seina finished off the blitzkrieg by executing a complicated pattern of hand seals, then pointing an index finger to the sky. Lightning continuously struck her finger, which she pointed at Neji, then released the deadly electric flash.
The team from Konoha was knocked off their feet, blinded, and Neji took a direct strike from the lightning while midair. Not being completely unprepared, he defended his chest with chakra and performed a miniature airborne Kaiten which deflected enough of the attack to prevent it from stopping his heart. Despite the decrease in damage, that attack really, really hurt.
The twins came charging in, rapidly attacking their off-guard enemies, several trees uprooting themselves, slowly lumbering toward the men. "The situation appears slightly grim," Shino remarked, regaining his feet. "This is no time for jokes, lets just kick their asses," Kiba stated, dodging a shield slam.