A/N: All right guys, here's the grand finale. Next chapter will be like an epilogue. THANK YOU to everyone who has stuck with me through this incredible journey. You're all amazing.
Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
…..
Tenten had never been so scared in her life. She couldn't help but think if Shikamaru were still with them, things would not have gone so badly. But here they were, she and Neji, scantily armed, running away from an entire goon army.
"What do we do? We can't shake them?" she gasped, stumbling, trying not to slow down. Neji did not respond, eyes trained ahead of him, perspiration building on his brow. The Hyuuga was unusually quiet, concentrating on his breathing and the rhythm of his feet on the pavement.
"Neji?" Tenten pressed again. She wanted to look over her shoulder, just to make sure there was still some distance between them and the enemy, but her neck rendered itself immobile (or maybe she was afraid the sight of Gato's accomplices would leave her frozen on the spot).
"We need to find Albert. They will catch up to us soon enough," he rasped, voice uncharacteristically shaky.
"The truck is parked at least a mile away, and we're going in the opposite direction! We need to find another way. The hour's not up yet, he won't be looking for us for at least another fifteen minutes. If we-"
"No. Albert may be an idiot, but judging from the direction of those vans, they should have passed by him long before they locked onto us. Albert is probably looking for us. We need to find him," the white-eyed man interrupted. He dared a quick glance at his partner. He could tell she was reluctant to follow through with the plan. It was risky, they might as well save their own skins instead of waiting for someone to rescue them, but it was the only thing that he could come up with.
"All right, say we do that. What do we do afterwards? I have the only gun and the truck isn't exactly bullet proof or built for high-speed chases," the brunette female asked.
Neji did not grace her with an answer, instead he tugged sharply on her elbow and steered her into another narrow alleyway. "Look, " he told her, "Tsunade's reinforcements should arrive by then. We won't have to do anything- we just need to get in that truck and get as far away from here as possible." He pulled on her arm again and crouched behind a dumpster. They took a moment to catch their breath.
"All right. Let's go," Tenten said, firmly grabbing the Hyuuga's hand once more.
Let's do this.
-With Albert-
Albert swerved to the left, then right, and then made a sharp turn at the intersection, half the truck climbing on the curb. He searched the sea of pedestrians for the familiar figures of the agents- he could not spot them.
Silently cursing, he turned at the next stoplight, hands gripping the steering wheel for dear life. "I'm positive those vans went in this direction," he muttered, growing frustrated. Part of him still wanted to forget about the spies and save himself, but he just could not bring himself to do it. He stomped on the accelerator hard, nearly running a man over. He honked at the car in front of him until it changed lanes.
He needed to hurry. Tenten and Neji were either oblivious to the threat (something he doubted), or were on foot running for their lives (this was far more plausible). Nevertheless, it'd only be a matter of time (minutes probably) before they were gunned down. He couldn't let than happen. They were the only thing between him and Gato's wrath. If they were gone, well, he'd be a dead man himself.
"Where are you two?" he said aloud.
He heard angry shouts and gunfire, and an uncomfortable knot wound itself in his gut. He turned onto Central Avenue, only to almost bulldoze over the very people he was trying to save.
"Albert!" he heard the girl exclaim, her boyfriend covering her back as she yanked open the truck door. They piled in hurriedly, tripping over their feet, completely out of breath.
"I've never been so glad to see you," Neji grudgingly admitted. Tenten in the mean time, dug in her pockets for her pistol.
"Here, let me sit in the passenger seat. I'll shoot while you drive. I hope Tsunade does hurry," she said, setting herself (much to the Hyuuga's dismay) next to Albert. She rolled down the window, daring to stick her neck out for a fraction of a second to judge their pursuers' positions. "We're losing them!" she exclaimed, checking to make sure her pistol was loaded. Then she stuck her head out again and began to fire.
"Give me your phone," Neji told her, "I'll call Tsunade again. We needed back-up immediately." The Hyuuga was rather ticked off that Albert got to sit next to his girlfriend, even more so by the fact that she chose to. One of these days, she would be the end of him.
The brunette female tossed it to him, grinning. She hadn't felt such a thrill for months, since they had first started the case in fact.
Albert made a sharp turn onto the freeway, struggling to keep the truck under control while trying to dodge most of the bullets.
"Did you hit anyone?" he asked the Murakami, ducking as a bullet grazed passed his ear.
"Yeah, a couple. It's harder than it looks," she replied, taking aim again.
Meanwhile, Neji was busy getting lectured by his boss.
"Yes I know that- but- we- I see- no!" he rubbed his temples, if Tsunade didn't shut up and listen now, they might as well stop and dig their graves.
"Listen," he hissed, "We're on the freeway. Tell the drivers to come here. We can work everything else out later." He hung up.
-With Tsunade-
"He did not just hang up on me too. I'll whip their asses after this is over," the blonde muttered.
-With Karin-
The redhead had just arrived at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago and was in the process of hailing a cab. She waved frantically, whistled, jumped and down, but it was to no avail.
"Those bimbos," she said, balling her hands into fists as yet another taxi sped passed her.
-With Naruto, Lee, and Hinata-
"All right, I booked their tickets. They'll be leaving tomorrow," Hinata said, turning off her laptop. Shikamaru's parents had requested a flight home as quickly as possible. Naruto, Lee, and Hinata were more than happy to see them go. They couldn't handle all the grief.
"Thank God," Naruto said, plopping down onto the couch. Lee sat down beside him, nodding enthusiastically.
The Hyuuga sighed; it wasn't the end of their problems- they still had to move out of Sakura's home.
"Yeah, we're good for now I guess," she told them quietly.
-With Gato-
"Watch where you're pointing that thing!" Gato yelled, settling himself in a van. He shoved the gun out of his face. "You're trying to kill them not me!'
"Oh," his henchman responded stupidly.
Gato was not a happy man.
-With Tenten, Neji, and Albert-
"Where are they?" Tenten asked, ducking as gunfire filled their ears.
"They'll be behind us in a minute," Neji said, covering his head with his hands. Suddenly the truck lurched, and the Hyuuga fell to the floor. When he looked up, Albert was clutching his bleeding arm.
"Get back here. I'll drive," the white-eyed man said. The resulting transition was difficult with Tenten repeatedly having to grab the wheel and steer as best she could from the passenger seat. Finally, Neji settled himself next to her and pushed on the accelerator.
"Stay down," he ordered, glaring at the Morrison who was currently struggling to sit.
More gunfire, and the windshield finally shattered. Tenten grimaced as she felt glass cut her face, and she bit her lip to fight down the stinging sensation.
RING RING! RING RING!
"Hello?" the brunette female answered.
"We're behind you. Pull off at the next exit. We'll handle this," Tsunade said and Tenten noted she sounded much calmer, almost excited.
"All right Mam," Tenten replied, and shut off the phone. "Take the next exit," she told Neji.
And they were thrown to the ground again.
"Shit, they shot our tires," the Hyuuga hissed, rubbing his forehead where it hit the dashboard. Beside him Tente groaned.
"Stupid bimbos," she muttered. "Looks like we'll be sticking around for a bit." She made move to open the door, but was jerked back by a hand on her shoulder. When she turned around, Neji kissed her.
"Don't die," he told her.
"You really should have more faith in me you know," Tenten responded, hand grasping the door handle. "Let's go."
And together, they stepped outside.
-With Karin-
Karin had finally managed to get a ride. She sank back into the cushions of the seat, prepared to nap until she reached her hotel.
But of course, since the highway had turned into a battlefield, that did not happen. She pushed the glasses up the bridge of her nose, annoyed.
"Can't you take a different route?" she asked, prepared to strangle the driver and hi-jack the cab.
"Afraid not Miss."
Karin fumed and opened the door. She stomped towards one of Gato's henchmen and tapped him on the shoulder. When he turned around, she slapped him and grabbed his gun.
Karin had officially gone commando.
Oh snap.
-With Neji and Tenten-
Neji had just knocked out a man more or less like the redhead mentioned above. He grabbed the man's gun and crouched behind one of the reinforcement cars. Tenten was close by his side.
They took turns firing then changing location. Tsunade had literally brought more guns than men (not that that wasn't a good thing).
The Murakami scanned the scene for Gato, and quickly spotted the man slinking away back towards a van. "Oh no you don't!" she growled, darting out from her hiding place to tackle him. He surprisingly fell without use of much force, and looked ready to submit before Tenten's fist ever made contact with his face.
"This is for almost killing Lee, and this is for killing Shikamaru, and this is for-" Rough hands grabbed her by the shoulders and threw her off the man. But Neji shot down the aggressor before he could fire his own gun.
"Be careful!" the Hyuuga hissed at her, grabbing Gato by the collar, ready to beat him to a pulp.
However, after just one punch, Tsunade came to stand beside him. "That's enough. We're done with his men. We'll interrogate him. Take a break," She said.
"Mission Complete."
Tenten practically glomped Neji, grinning madly. He picked her up and spun her around. They'd done it!
But of course their perfect moment of euphoria was ruined by a groan. Albert.
The two agents looked in their direction of the truck, only to see the Morrison lying on the ground far more bloody than he had ever been. And before they realized it, he was gone.
-Later that Evening-
Tenten and Neji had driven back to their apartment and were currently preparing dinner.
"Emergency pizza?" Neji asked, opening the freezer.
"Emergency pizza it is," Tenten replied, hugging him again. He leaned down to peck her lips.
"I love you."
"I love you too."
And love they did.
…..
A/N: That was kinda short, lame, all of the above, etc. I would have finished this yesterday if not for the freak storm that passed through Chicago. But here it is, the "battle royale"- not really.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it. Every minute of writing this has been an amazing experience. I definitely feel like I've grown so much as an author.
Thank you all for reading and please review. The epilogue should be up in a couple days.
~M.I.