A/N: Thank you for all of the concern and well wishes! I had some personal things going on for a while that kept me from updating here, but I'm back now and will update regularly.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto
Translations:
Hokage no tsuma: Wife of the Hokage
"You hear about Reo's injury?" Jiro, one of the Konoha night guards said.
His partner, Bunta yawned and grinned at him. "Yeah. Heard he got hit in the ass with a kunai by accident from a genin." He leaned back against his chair to get a better view of the stars. "Amateur."
"Don't be so mean," Jiro teased, scratching his beard. "Remember when Konohamaru nailed your ass? Had you sprawled out on the ground like some idiot."
Bunta rolled his eyes as the crickets chirped in the dead of night. "Man, it is dead out here."
Jiro laughed. "Hell yeah it is."
Slipping his scarred hand into his vest, the ninja took out a small bottle of sake. Jiro raised his eyebrows. Getting drunk on the job wasn't exactly recommended, and Jiro was a stickler for sticking to the books.
"Come on," he said, folding his arms in irritation, "We're on duty."
"Nothing's been happening all night," Bunta replied, swinging the bottle in his hand like a pendulum, "And nothing's gonna happen. We get off duty in like an hour. What's wrong with a little drinking?"
"Everything," Jiro said with a grin, the hard ass in him weakening.
"Nothing's gonna happen," Bunta pushed, "Promise."
Jiro let out a hearty laugh and held out a hand. "Give it here."
Bunta handed the sake to his partner, and as his fingers wrapped around the bottle, the alcoholic content shook for a brief moment as a small vibration rippled through the ground beneath them.
Jiro paused. "Did you feel that?"
"Feel what?" Bunta asked lightly.
Jiro glared at him as yet another vibration came and a large crash sounded. "That."
Bunta couldn't shrug it off if he wanted to. And, boy, did he want to.
"Oh," he said, the worry in his eyes flashing under the moonlight, "That."
In a flash, Jiro was up on his feet and headed toward outside the gate, kunai at the ready. He kept his muscles flexed, eyes set on his surroundings. Konoha had been peaceful for a long time—ever since the great Shinobi war, in fact. Needless to say, any form of disturbance was eye catching to the guards.
"Bunta," Jiro said, not taking his eyes off of the dark foliage, "Do you hear that?"
Said ninja was right behind his friend, his own shuriken between his pudgy, little digits. "Yeah." He gulped nervously. "I did."
"It's there," Jiro said, setting his sights on a large bush. "You know what to do."
Bunta sure did. He flicked his wrist silently and quickly, throwing the shuriken directly for his target. Whatever was hiding in that bush would be dead in a second.
Jiro pounced, leaping into the air and turning his body around, so he and Bunta could be on either side of their target.
"Bunta," Jiro said, quirking an eyebrow up, "What the—?" He wrapped his fingers around the little rabbit's ears and held it up. "Seriously?" Jiro let out a guffaw. "A rabbit?"
Bunta frowned and approached him. "Huh…"
"If it's only a bunny, we don't have to report it," Jiro laughed, dangling the dead creature around. "Who's up for rabbit stew?"
Bunta let out a sigh of relief. At least it wasn't an enemy.
But then a rustling was heard behind them. The rabbit was dropped to the ground, and a blade replaced it. A low moan sounded from a few feet away—a moan of pain.
Jiro flipped around, ready to attack if need be. A horrid scent caught the air and the wind served it up to his nose. Revolted and gagging, Bunta walked up to Jiro's side. They both knelt to the ground, pressing their fingers to the sticky red substance making its way through the twigs and dirt.
Blood.
And then their eyes fell on it.
On them.
"Get the Hokage," Jiro whispered, "Now."
"If we take this road, it'll cut our distance in half," Sai said, pointing to the dirt road leading straight to Konoha.
"But it could be risky," Sasuke replied, "We have two of the sannin out in the open—taking the trees would be safer."
Sakura sighed and looked up at the noon sun. They had been debating whether or not to take the dirt road for a good hour, and quite honestly, Sakura was fed up with this whole thing. Did it really matter if they took the dirt road or the trees? Sakura and Sasuke were powerful enough to handle anything, if need be. But Sasuke, being the protective asshole he was, stood by his decision to take the long route through the trees.
She was so sick of the fighting. And from the looks of a napping Kakashi, so was he.
His usual porno book covered his eye as it rested neatly on his nose. His face, acting as a bookmark, had not been seen since he decided to take a break in the tree above them. Kakashi decided to let the two emotionally challenged ninja talk it out.
This left Sakura to mediate.
"Why don't we just take the trees by the road?" Sakura asked, impatiently. "Like a compromise?"
"No," Sai and Sasuke said in unison.
"Ugh," the pink haired kunoichi said, throwing her hands up in the air in exhaustion, "Whatever. I'm leaving." She tilted her head up at the sleeping ninja. "Kaka-sensei? Let's go."
The white haired ninja removed his book and glanced down at the pink haired kunoichi. "I thought you'd never ask."
As he was about to hop down, a bird caught his eye. A black hawk from Konoha, if he wasn't mistaken. He hopped further and further up into the tree, ignoring Sakura's inquisitive stare and keeping his own gaze on the bird. He leapt in the air at the exact moment the hawk dropped a parcel it had in its clutches.
"What is it?" Sakura called, looking up at Kakashi curiously.
"A scroll," Kakashi replied with a frown. "And it looks urgent." He tilted his head. "It's addressed to you, Sakura."
He tossed it down to her before leaping off the top of the tree and landing by her side. Peeked by curiosity, Sasuke and Sai flocked toward their comrades, having temporarily forgotten their dilemma. Sakura opened the scroll quickly, her green eyes scanning over it. They stopped at the middle, and she lowered it to her side, her hand now preoccupied with covering her open mouth.
"What is it?" Sasuke asked, watching the tremble in her body.
"K-Kiba a-and Shino," she got out, "Th-They're—"
Sasuke took a step forward as the tears started falling. He hated tears. Especially hers. Whatever was in that scroll needed to be taken care of. So he snatched it from her fingers and quickly read over it, his eyes narrowing with each passing word.
"Kiba and Shino are near death," Sasuke said, still reading, "And normally Naruto would ask Sakura to return to Konoha to save them, but…" His eyes widened. "Hinata isn't with them. She's missing. Naruto needs us to be a recovery and rescue unit…we need to head to Tsuchi no Kuni."
Sai frowned. "Land of earth?"
Sakura folded her arms but kept her head down. "Why?" She sniffled. "What was Hinata doing there?"
"That's not important," Kakashi said, warily, "What else do we need to do?"
Sasuke's eye twitched. "Apparently, we're supposed to meet another team that is currently on mission on the border."
"A team up," Kakashi stated.
"Who's the team?" Sai asked.
Sasuke's eye twitched again.
"You don't want to know."
"We need more blood, STAT!" Ino screamed as she pumped chakra into Kiba's dying body. "Somebody cover Shino's ass!"
Naruto stayed silent as he watched his dying comrades through the glass pane. He never really understood statistics, but judging from the slowing monitors, things were looking bad. Real bad.
"For the love of—would somebody get on stitching Kiba?" Ino shouted. "Fuck, where's Sakura when you need her?"
Naruto closed his eyes. He needed to take a deep breath. Hinata had not been found with Kiba, Shino or Akamaru. Her body was nowhere to be scene. Even still, Naruto had a pretty good idea of where she was.
It wasn't hard to figure out that rogue ninja that they had been tracking was up to this.
"Any news?" Shikamaru asked quietly, walking up from behind Naruto to peer in the operation room.
"None," Naruto replied somberly.
"I assume Team Seven is on their way," Shikamaru stated, clasping the Hokage on the shoulder.
"They have direct orders," Naruto replied.
Shikamaru looked at the worn features of the Hokage. He couldn't imagine dealing with not knowing if his wife was okay or not—especially with the baby on the way. So for Naruto, who loved so deeply, it must have been difficult for him to have Hinata missing.
"Sh-She's gonna be okay, Naruto," Shikamaru offered up, scratching the back of his head awkwardly. "Hinata's strong."
Naruto didn't say anything for a moment. He couldn't speak. How could he? How could he talk when his heart was on the floor, crumpled and withered like an old piece of parchment?
Even so, he closed his eyes and smiled at his old friend.
"Of course she is!" Naruto said excitedly, "She's my wife, after all." He nodded once at Shikamaru. "Gotta go." He thrust a thumb over his shoulder as he started walking away. "Lots of paperwork to do."
Shikamaru felt his chest hurt. "Naruto…"
But the Hokage was already running. Tears streaming down his face. Fuck. Why did it have to be Hinata? Hinata was his everything—she was his family. His past, present and future.
His feet hit the ground hard as he pushed his way out of the hospital.
Hell no. Naruto wasn't doing this. He was not going to lose her. She meant too much to him. They had too much to do together—they still needed to make a family, still needed to have children…They still had a life to live together.
This was his love. His wife. And Hinata had claimed his heart long ago—the first time he laid eyes on her dark head, he was hers. Hinata had loved him since the day she met him. Since before they were born, they were meant to be. He was tied to her by a single red thread that was unbreakable.
Only now, it felt like it was being cut into pieces by a fucking kunai.
He promised her when they married that they'd be together forever. That he would protect her at all costs. Naruto knew he was hopelessly in love. He knew he wasn't worthy of Hinata's affections, but she gave them to him anyway. And now that she could be dead or gone...
Naruto knew he should have reciprocated her feelings sooner. Even if it meant just having five more minutes with her, he should have realized his love for her earlier in life. How could he have not seen that she was everything good about this world wrapped up into one beautiful being? And if she was gone for good, then he would be nothing.
So many times he should have...
Shit, he thought as he scaled up a house and headed for the roof. There's no time for this crap. Hinata could be…
He shook his head.
Naruto didn't want to think of the horrors that she was facing. He silently cursed himself—wondering why he didn't send another team to retrieve Sakura's medical supplies. Why he didn't just talk to the pink haired kunoichi himself...
Heading straight for the gates, he ran as fast as he could. There was no way he was going to sit by the sidelines while his wife was in danger.
"Hinata," he muttered, "I'm coming."
"You're not getting any information out of me," Hinata spat, the blindfold on her eyes soaking up the blood pouring from them.
"I didn't need your eyes," the voice said, boredom dripping from each word he spoke, "So I slashed them." His cold fingers tilted her chin up so he could let his tongue lick the length of her neck. "And I don't need your information." His lips hovered right in front of hers. "So should I slash your tongue out, too?"
Hinata shivered. "D-Do your worst."
The voice let out a chilling laugh. "Oh, but you're no good to me if I damage you beyond the point of no return." He tapped her cheek lightly as he pressed his lips to hers gently. "Although that would be interesting to see…" She opened her mouth to bite him, but he pulled away. "Now, now…" His voice was condescending. "Let's not get feisty."
Hinata felt a hand move along from the back of her neck to the tip of her breast. She gasped and struggled against her restraints, digging the sharp edges of the chains deeper into her skin.
"What do you think I am interested in, Hokage no tsuma?" the voice teased, pressing against her ear. "The leaf village?" He paused, taking her nipple between his thumb and forefinger before lightly squeezing. "Your precious Hokage?' The squeeze became harder before he released it. "You?" The man blew cold air over Hinata's hard nipple. "Or perhaps there is something else I want."
He took the most he could of her breast in his awaiting, hungry mouth and lightly bit down. She squirmed in her seat, the disgust bubbling from her stomach and up to her throat, threatening to pour out of her mouth in the form of vomit. He grinned as he watched the young woman grimace.
"Perhaps all I want…" He smirked, watching the helpless woman blush a deep shade of red as he flicked his tongue along her puckered nipple. "Is to indulge in life's simple pleasures."
"N-Naruto will come for me," she gasped.
Hinata couldn't stop trembling. How many days had this sick man been torturing her? She lost track.
"Of course he will," the voice said with a chuckle, "Why do you think I planted your comrades' bodies at the gate of Konoha?" He released her nipple and sighed. "Such a shame, really." The man walked away from her. "You don't get me hard at all."
With that rejection, Hinata sighed a slow breath of relief.
"But I know three rogue ninja from Amegakure who would love to fuck you."