Chapter Forty-Two

Naruto's heart stopped the second he saw the wood grain of the table shift as Hinata raised the scroll. By the time he recognized the hairy, eight-legged mass, it was too late. It had already dug its fangs into Hinata's right hand. Hinata frantically withdrew the hand and stumbled backwards, dropping the scroll to the ground. She spun backwards, falling to her knees, and she screamed louder than Naruto knew possible. It all took less than a second.

"HINATA!" Naruto screamed as he ran to her side, but the flitting of movement on the table caught his attention. The sonofabitch is still here! Naruto kicked the table over, praying vainly it squashed the eight-legged bastard. Another flicker of movement in the far corner of the room confirmed they weren't so lucky.

"Na-Naruto!" Hinata cried, shaking violently. He was truly stuck. He needed to stay focused because this particular arachnid wasn't leaving them alone, and it was camouflaged to the point where Naruto couldn't see it unless it moved.

"Hinata, just stay calm!" Sakura ordered as she huddled next to her, starting to clean off the wound. "Naruto, we need to keep it intact as possible for identification!"

Great, so much for just bugging out and burning the cabin to the ground! Naruto felt his bladder constricting violently as he watched for even the slightest sign of movement. Unable to wait, Naruto threw a shuriken in the general direction he thought it was hiding. Hideous scurrying motion followed as the unholy creature raced along the floor toward him. OHSHITOHSHITOHSHIT!

The eight-legged bundle of death leaped at Naruto with supernatural effect. As Naruto rolled to his left, he was pretty sure hot piss joined the mixture of sweat, rain, and other grime staining his outfit. There wasn't time to be embarrassed – the hairy little bastard now had a clean line to Sakura and Hinata. If it gets either of them, we're in serious trouble! Sakura knelt stone-still, struggling to keep Hinata to do the same thing.

Against all common sense, Naruto lunged to put himself between the spider and the girls. It didn't attack, but Naruto also couldn't wait for it to attack or scurry back down a hiding-hole. Naruto brandished his kunai, and approached the creature menacingly, hoping he was right. He jutted his chest forward and shouted, "Come and get me, you ugly sonofabitch!" The creature lunged at him. He required every bit of discipline not to move out of the way as it sank its fangs into his chest.

NOW! NOW! NOW! Naruto turned the kunai on himself, impaling the spider through the head and feeling the tip of the kunai hitting the armored shell of his jacket. As expected, the puncture resistant nylon stopped both the arachnid's fangs as well as the tip of his own blade. He pulled away the blade and the now-deceased creature – only the outer facing of his jacket showed any real sign of damage.

Allowing himself enough time to breathe, Naruto turned back to Hinata and Sakura. "I got the little bastard!" His short-lived triumph crumbled at the sight of Hinata slouching forward against Sakura. Oh my god! "Hinata!" he dropped the kunai and the dead spider and dove to her side, skinning his knees as he slid next to her. "Hinata!" he cried. Two angry red puncture wounds on the back of her hand swelled like blisters, and she was shivering violently. "HINATA!" he screamed.

"Naruto! Get a hold of yourself!" Sakura commanded as she rinsed the wound site with saline solution. "If you start panicking, she'll panic worse, and that could spread the venom much faster! Now help me guide her back."

"Ugh…" Hinata cried, as they moved her onto her back. The poor girl's face grimaced, whether from pain, fear, or a combination of the two Naruto was uncertain. "Honey, just stay calm," he whimpered, feeling totally helpless as Sakura checked Hinata's vital signs.

"Keep her arm elevated," Sakura commanded as she checked Hinata over, "Hinata, I need you to tell me what you're feeling," Sakura commanded, "This is real important, because it decides what we do next."

Hinata's pale purple eyes became glassy, "I-I'm losing sensation in the right arm, and feel tingling throughout my body," she wept, "and I feel so weak; I can barely move!" Hinata's breathing was becoming rapid and shallow.

"Sakura!" Naruto turned a panicked eye toward her. Sakura's lips moved for a moment, but soon she nodded to herself, "Naruto," she reached into her pack for a plastic bag, I need you to bag up the spider corpse!"

"Sakura, what about the Mother's Love," he blurted out.

She shook her head, "Whether we treat it or evacuate her, I need to know what it is before we try any possible antidote! We use the wrong thing, it could take a nonfatal envenomation and make it fatal, or rapidly speed up the clock." Sakura pulled out a small metal cylinder, "You know how to use this?"

Naruto recognized the autoinjector Nerve Agent Antidote Kit. During the Second Shinobi War, some villages had used nerve poisons. During wartime, all shinobi were to carry one, and in peacetime, the team medic was responsible to carry at least one. "Yes, but…"

Sakura cut him off, "I know, it's every bit as dangerous as the toxin if we're wrong," Sakura said. "Only use it if she starts convulsing or stops breathing. Now bag up the spider!" she commanded.

Naruto gingerly surrounded his dead opponent into the plastic bag and sealed it, watching for even the slightest sign that it wasn't dead. "Sakura, we have to get her to a hospital," Naruto said desperately.

"Naruto," Hinata moaned, "You'll void your chance in the Chunin exam if you extract me."

"I don't care, Hinata," he replied staring into her cold eyes, "I'm more worried about you!"

"Naruto, I agree, but we also can't re-enter the course once we leave it," Sakura reminded him, "We'd be leaving behind everyone, including Gaara, if we bug out now." She stared deeply with her green eyes, "Besides, even if we left from our current position right now, it would take at least three hours of carrying her, probably five to reach the central temple. While the test proctors would let us in, do you think opposing teams wouldn't pounce on us for fun at this point?"

Naruto could find no flaw in her logic, but something in Sakura's tone suggested something less altruistic. "What aren't you telling me?"

She stole a glance at her watch, "Team Eight will be at the rendezvous soon, I can make it on foot by myself in an hour's time."

"What about Hinata!" he replied indignantly.

"Get her back to the bunker; Ino should be able to manage her adequately until I get back," she sighed, "If I'm not back by 1800, or if she starts crashing, send three lightning flashes into the sky."

Naruto remembered the distress signal for Dad, "He's not going to be able to locate us!"

"He will," she looked sideways, "he marked the inner shell of your jacket, and he gave me one of his kunai just in case."

"In case of what!" Naruto felt strangely indignant despite the fact that help wasn't as far off as he thought.

"Your dad was worried after the assassination attempt. He didn't want anyone getting their hands on you or Hinata. The armored vest she's wearing contains the same mark. He'll be able to transport directly to your position," Sakura quickly bandaged Hinata's hand before closing her kit. "Now get her back to the bunker; we're wasting time!"

"What the hell are you going to do?" Naruto asked indignantly.

Sakura brandished the plastic bag with the spider, "I need Shino to identify what this is!" She waved the lifeless but still terrifying mass in his face. "If it's something immediately dangerous, I'll summon Lord Fourth, myself, and have him take you two to safety. If not…" Sakura trailed off nervously.

"What are you leaving out, Sakura?" he ordered, taking Hinata's hand, "Tell me, or I'm summoning Dad right now, and I'll have him send the ANBU to rescue the others."

"Full disclosure," she sighed, "Hinata told us Oorochimaru was heading Northeast after he stopped following us, right?"

"Yes, so?!"

"He was heading the direction Sasuke and his team were taking," she said. "I spotted Akamaru's paw prints and a tuft of his fur branching off from our path; they could be in real danger!"

"Sakura," Naruto heaved Hinata into his arms, "if you go after them, you could be in danger!"

"If it were Hinata out there," she gestured to the girl he was cradling, "would you even stop to talk about it?"

Naruto opened his mouth but closed it immediately. He nodded, "All right, you win, but good luck getting Sasuke to come back with us!"

"I hope," Sakura sighed, "there still is a Sasuke to come back." A few tears ran from her eyes, "If… if the worst happens, I'll summon your dad and have him rescue you. Now go!" Sakura turned to leave.

"Sakura, wait!" Hinata struggled to speak. She fumbled with her left hand to reach her right vest pocket, extracting the map. "You'll need this more than we will," Hinata pushed the map towards her.

Naruto handed it the rest of the way to Sakura, "Take it, Sakura, I'll meet you back at the bunker!" Sakura pulled out her compass, checked the map, and took off heading northeasterly. Hinata was shivering in his hand, and Naruto took off his jacket, wrapping her in it as he heaved her into his arms. "Alone again at last," he tried to smile, "sorry not under better circumstances."

"N-Naruto… I'm sorry," Hinata began crying.

"Hey! Let's not have any of that, Hinata," he said as he knelt down to pick the scroll off the ground. "It wasn't your fault; none of us noticed the spider, and we wouldn't have noticed the snakes if not for you." He adjusted his grip on Hinata, "So, I don't want you blaming yourself. If I got to the scroll first, you'd be carrying me right now." He carried her back in the direction they came, dropping all pretense of stealth in favor of speed. Please hold on, honey, please hold on!

Sakura's heart thundered against her sternum as she raced through the forest as fast as her legs could carry her. If she didn't reach the rendezvous in time and Team Eight left, she was every bit as screwed as if Oorochimaru had murdered Team Eight. In either case, she'd be alone, in hostile territory, and reliant on her navigation skills in the fading daylight at that point.

What greeted her in the clearing made her seesaw between panic and relief. Team Eight was here, they were alive, but they looked like hell. Sasuke knelt shirtless, his normally pale back bright red with recent thermal burns, tending to Kiba. Kiba lay spread out on his back writhing in agony, what she guessed was Sasuke's shirt covering the boy's face. Akamaru whimpered as he watched his master suffering.

"Sasuke, we have company," Shino's soft voice called as Sakura walked toward them slowly. Shino was on his back with his right leg resting atop his backpack. His boot was missing, and his foot and ankle were swollen like a red and purple grapefruit.

"Sakura," Sasuke turned toward her, almost deflating with relief upon seeing her, "Thank god you've come!"

"Sasuke!" she gasped. He looked bloody awful. An angry gash on his forehead was leaking blood around his right eye, and angry red and purple scratches and bruises had been painted haphazardly along his body. Then she saw the mark on his neck. It looked similar to his Sharigan; it filled her with dread to see the cursed seal on the right side of his neck. "Sasuke, what happened!"

"We were ambushed trying to get our hands on a scroll," he explained. "A massive swarm of snakes nearly overran us. We fended them off pretty good until one of them spat something in Kiba's face. Then…" he looked down at the ground, clearly pained, unable to continue.

"What?"

"We were attacked by the criminal Oorochimaru," he sighed. "I expected opposition, but not this level of opposition," he said, shaking his head. "Shino and I tried fending him off, but he wiped the floor with us. I thought for sure we were dead!"

"Then what?" Sakura asked confused.

"He said it'd be a shame to waste my body, and he marked me with this," Sasuke pointed to the cursed seal on his neck.

Before Part Two had started, Minato had offered her and Sasuke a deal: if they got the four Hidden Leaf Teams through the exam safely, he'd expunge their records immediately and make them eligible for promotion to Chunin if they performed well enough during the exam. She guessed it had something to do with Naruto's extreme precautions against being detected. Screw it! We are way past any mandate to finish the exam. Sakura reached into her pack, retrieved Lord Fourth's kunai, and performed three lightning release bursts as she tossed the kunai to the ground.

Lord Fourth and Kakashi appeared only seconds later. Both elder shinobi looked shocked to see her and Team Eight instead of Naruto and Hinata. If they were less concerned, it did not show, "What happened, Sakura!" Minato asked, eying the carnage.

"Oorochimaru," Sasuke answered with a chill in his voice.

Kakashi and Minato exchanged a look of concern, "This is damn serious!"

Minato nodded, "Right, let's get them the hell out of here!"

"No wait!" Sasuke's eyes peeled wide open, "I want to finish the test!"

"Dammit, Sasuke," Minato growled, "Now is not the time to play hero! I don't care what your dad will think!"

"This isn't about playing hero!" he shouted back, "I messed up! I let my pride get in the way, and I probably put all the Hidden Leaf Teams in danger because of it!" Sasuke huffed, "At least give me a chance to make up for it!"

As Sasuke and Minato argued, Sakura made her way to Kiba. She pulled back the moistened shirt covering him, revealing the boy's face. "Kiba, don't move!" she ordered as he flinched against her removing the makeshift compress. The skin on his face was cherry pink from a chemical burn and his eyes bright red. "Kiba," she said as she reached into her pack for saline, "I need to rinse your eyes and face; hold real still!"

Sakura delicately focused her chakra into the liquid as she let several drops run into Kiba's eyes. He cried aloud, but the effect was as desired as bile-green venom leeched out of the corners of his eyes. Satisfied her technique was adequate, she pulled out a clean towelette and repeated the process, using both liquid and chakra to gently cleanse the corrosive venom from Kiba's skin. When she finished, his face was still severely irritated, but the damage was stopped from progression.

"Take five and relax," she said as she turned her attention to Shino. She heard the ongoing argument with Sasuke, Kakashi, and Minato; but she focused her energy where she could do the most good – arguing with her boyfriend would accomplish nothing at the moment.

A quick inspection of Shino's ankle indicated her worst fear – there was a decent sized fracture of the lateral malleolus going through his epiphyseal plate. If she didn't heal it properly, the ankle and lower leg might be seriously deformed as he reached skeletal maturity. This is not going to be easy or pleasant. Knowing the process might cause him to pass out, Sakura reached into her pack and found the plastic bag with the spider's remains. "Shino, before I try fixing you," she held the bag in front of him, "tell me what this is."

The boy eyed the disgusting remains, "Ah, never seen one for real," he said, sounding fascinated.

"What the hell is it?"

"Oakwood Tarantula, sometimes known as a Chameleon Tarantula because of its unique ability to camouflage itself." Shino paused, eying the bag's contents, "This is Naruto's kunai in here… did he get bit by this little bastard?" Suddenly Minato and Kakashi stopped their argument with Sasuke at the mention of Naruto.

Shino just referred to a bug as a "little bastard". That can't be good! "Naruto is fine, but Hinata got bit by it on the hand." Sakura said as calmly as she could. She locked eyes with Shino. "How serious is it?"

Shino paused, considering his words carefully, "She's certainly in for an unpleasant experience…"

Anger surged through Sakura, so much that she shook Shino by the bad leg, "GODDAMMIT! HOW SERIOUS!" Tears began dripping from her eyes, "Is she going to die?"

"Was she…" Shino winced, "…in respiratory distress after being bit?"

"No, why!" she demanded.

"Then she has a good chance," he groaned, "the venom is a paralytic, similar to curare. It blocks neurologic signals to the skeletal muscles. As long as she wasn't stung repeatedly or has an allergic reaction, the effect will wear off in a few hours. The worst after effect is weakness that should end in about twenty-four hours unless…"

"Unless what, Shino!" Minato exclaimed. Sakura felt the man's desperation. Hinata was his goddaughter and probably his future daughter-in-law someday.

"The venom can cause paralysis of the diaphragm in mammals, but even assisted respiration like a bag-valve respirator is generally sufficient to keep a subject alive until the effect wears off," Shino explained, "You do have one in your kit, correct?"

"Yes," Sakura nodded.

"Sakura, would Ino know how to do that?" Kakashi asked.

"Yes," she nodded, "but, why?" she wrinkled her forehead.

"If Hinata stops breathing, she'd know to do that procedure, correct?"

"Yes…" she didn't like where this was going.

"The venom is slow-acting," Shino explained, "especially in larger animals, it can take hours for it to have full effectiveness."

"Is her life in danger otherwise?" Minato asked pointedly.

"No," Shino said.

"You can't seriously be thinking…" Sakura said.

"Sakura, there is an S-ranked criminal in the training ground that has already eliminated several teams, and he might be part of a bigger plot against the village," Minato explained. "Can my son get her to safety?"

"He was taking her to a bunker we cleared, Team Ten and Team Guy are already there… and…"

"And what?" he asked.
She quickly explained the situation with the sand-siblings and what happened to Gaara. She also explained what Shikamaru had told them about the Hidden Sand Village's plan to invade Konoha.

Minato nodded, "So, we still possibly have the element of surprise." He turned to Kakashi, who also nodded. "Sakura, can you get these guys back to Naruto and the others?"

"Yes, but…"

"No buts," Minato said. "It's imperative that everyone gets out, without Kakashi or I being seen." Minato turned to Sasuke, "You still looking to be a hero, make your daddy proud?"

Sasuke nodded. I'll never understand his level of pride.

"Congratulations," Minato said, "you work for me, now. Here's the plan…"

By the time Naruto got them back to the bunker, it was already starting to get dark. How could I have let this happen to you! "Naruto, HINATA!" Neji was the first sentry to greet them. The boy hobbled at almost normal running speed in spite of his bad leg. "What happened to her!" Neji demanded.

"She got bit by a real big spider," Naruto explained. "She's been slowly getting paralyzed ever since."

"Ne-ji," Hinata slurred her speech as she struggled to move her jaw and tongue, "asn't… is… ult!" her tongue flopped uselessly as she tried forcing out the words.

"Get the door!" Naruto commanded, "we need to get her inside!"

Neji did as ordered, and soon they had Hinata set on her sleeping bag. Ino began immediately checking her over. "Heart rate elevated, but nothing dangerous," the medical-nin-in-training spoke as she worked, "no obvious sign of infection or fever… breathing labored but steady. Assuming you're right about it being a paralytic, let's keep her upright, head slightly tilted back to keep the airway clear, but I don't want her inhaling saliva if we can help it."

"Ino," Neji said, "How bad?"

"As long as she's still breathing, we're fine," she turned her attention back to Naruto, "if she stops breathing, I'll have to ventilate her manually."

Naruto nodded, feeling helpless, "I'll watch her for now," he said."

"Naruto, you're exhausted. Why don't you let someone else look after her?" Ino asked.

"It's my fault!" he cried, "And I can't live with myself if she dies because of it," he stared Ino dead in the eyes.

Ino's forceful expression softened as they locked gazes, "So, there is something going on between you two."

"We keep it a secret, as best as we can," he explained.

"Not well-kept," she grinned slightly. She turned to Neji, "Let's let them be," she turned back to Naruto, "She stops breathing or you need someone to take over…"

"I'm staying with her!" He exclaimed, "But, I'll call you over if she stops breathing."

Ino nodded to Neji, and the two went back to the other side of the bunker.

"Honey, I'm going to help you upright, okay?" Naruto's voice was choked with tears. By now, Hinata couldn't talk. He carefully moved her to a seated position, leaning her head back onto his left shoulder as he sat her between his legs and hugged her in his arms. The muscles of her mouth fasciculated like she was trying to make words, but her jaw flopped uselessly down. Naruto wiped away a stream of saliva from her lip, "It's okay, just focus on breathing, and I'll take care of the rest!" he rocked her gently in his arms.

Naruto didn't know if it had been minutes, hours, or days as he sat with Hinata, listening for her breathing. A few times, he had to let saliva drain from her mouth and reposition her to keep the airway clear. With the still of the approaching night, Naruto could do nothing but replay the event over and over in his head as he felt Hinata for the next breath, and the breath after that. How the hell could I have screwed up so badly!

"Gah, enough with the pity party! It's annoying!" Kyuubi's voice rang in his head.

Kyuubi? Naruto was reluctant to engage with the tailed-beast despite its help in escaping his assassin the first time at Hokage Rock.

"Who else would be in your head! Of course it's me! Now get in here, you idiot! We have much to discuss!"

Naruto hesitated – if Kyuubi wanted to talk, it had to be important. If it means linking chakra with her… Naruto felt manic at the prospect as her breathing became labored. He closed his eyes and began to meditate, focusing deep inside.

When he opened them again, he was in the cavern holding Kyuubi again. The massive fox demon looked down in amusement, "You look gorgeous!" it bellowed in condescension.

"Kyuubi, help me!" Naruto pleaded, "Help her!" he began crying again.

"Ah jeez, will you stop with the crying puppy-dog eyes! It's annoying," Kurama barked.

"Does that mean…"

"Yes, good god, I'll help you! Just please stop whining like you did when you needed your diaper changed or wanted your mom to nurse you!" Kurama laughed, sounding amused.

"What's the catch?" Naruto asked.

"What do you mean?"

"There is always a catch!"

"The catch is I don't want to be half-dead," Nine-Tails huffed. "So, focus your chakra on her and concentrate on your breathing, and everything will be fine!"

"Kyuubi…" Naruto cried, "Thank you!"

"Yeah, yeah, don't mention it, now enough with the chick-flick moments, and get to work!" the beast chided.

Naruto again closed his eyes, expanding his chakra outward. He felt the struggling mass of Hinata's Chakra. Naruto reached for it, trying to merge with it. His breathing suddenly felt like a lead weight was sitting on his stomach. Ignore it! Work through it! He willed the airway to expand, sucking in sustaining air, and he let it relax, letting the air back out. In and out, as long as it takes, whatever it takes! He closed his eyes and began concentrating.

Hinata found herself in a setting strangely familiar and alien. She was surrounded by forest and shadow, a lone campfire the only source of light. Something is wrong, there are no stars, no moon! Where the hell am I? How did I get here? Despite her panic, her breathing was slow, rhythmic. Her diaphragm was moving, but she wasn't the one controlling it. Despite the strange sensation of possession, she wasn't afraid.

Hinata walked to the roaring campfire slowly. Her sleeping bag was spread out beside the warm flames; she knew this place – it was the clearing where Naruto and she had made camp when they had been injured on their first mission. There was a strangeness about it. For as unpleasant as the stay in the clearing had been, part of her longed to return here, it had been…

"Romantic?" Naruto's voice came into her right ear as she found herself seated on her sleeping bag, his arms around her as she sat between his knees.

"H-how?" she stammered, not able to compute how she went from standing to sitting with Naruto around her without her noticing. She tilted her head to see Naruto with his eyes closed, heavily focused on breathing, only the faintest smile appearing at the corners of his cheeks. As he inhaled and exhaled, Hinata felt her own lungs moving in sync with his.

"Pretty cool, eh?" he widened his smirk.

The memories hit in a flood: getting bit by the spider, slowly losing sensation and muscle control throughout her body. Our chakra link, he must be using it to help me breathe!

"That's right," he said, having heard her thought.

"How long have you been like this?" she asked.

"I don't know," Naruto shrugged gently, "I'm too focused on this to worry about anything else."

"But you must be exhausted by now!" Hinata squeaked, still not entirely used to the odd sensation of someone breathing for her.

"Hella weird, I know!" he laughed, "As for how long I can do this, as long as it takes until you can breathe again unassisted."

She leaned back into his arms and sighed, "Leave it to me to screw up, again!"

"You didn't screw up the first time, remember, and you didn't screw up this time, either!" he said forcefully. "In fact, this is just returning the favor from the first time," he chuckled.

"Returning… oh!" Hinata felt his memory of being trapped in the dark, feeling her lips on his, breathing life back into him, feeling her hands on his chest as she willed him back to life after drowning. "It feels so long ago," she said leaning into him, tightening his arms around her waist.

"Not even a year," she could feel his smile as he spoke between breaths, "I was surprised you found this place nostalgic."

"This was the first place you held me," she sighed dreamily.

"This was the first place you dreamed about us, our future," he hugged her closer. Hinata could feel him seeing her memory of them getting married.

A strange flash of realization overcame her, "It was the second place you dreamed about me," she smirked, "being the mother of your child. The first was the night you caught me dancing in the waterfall."

Their breathing jumped suddenly, "So, that was you."

"You were hoping it was," she smiled. There were no secrets while their chakra was linked. She could feel all of him: his hopes, his dreams, his fears, and uncertainty. "Naruto…"

"Hinata…"

"This isn't your fault," she sighed. "If I don't make it, know that you've made me incredibly happy for what little time we've had."

"It won't happen," Naruto's conviction was warm, soothing. "If you die, I die… I…" Naruto choked for a moment, "I love you, Hinata!" she felt his tears caressing the sides of his cheek.

"I love you, too, Naruto!" she felt herself falling back into him hearing his heart beating. She could tell he was spent, so was she. "Naruto…"

Lubdub, lubdub, lubdub…

The sound of his heart surrounded her, reminding her of the night they fell asleep on the couch as he read to her. Lubdublubdublubdub. "Naruto…" she said weakly.

"Hinata!" an unfocused voice pierced the haze of the darkness surrounding her. It wasn't Naruto, the voice was too feminine. "Hinata!" the voice came in clearly. Sakura! "Sakura!" she shouted, surprised at the sensation of her mouth moving and her voice box making sound beyond a simple croak. Hinata's eyes shot open, the bright light of a penlight assaulting her. "Ahh!" she squirmed, suddenly aware that she was moving.

"Hinata, hold still!" Sakura commanded as she turned off the light. The bunker was lit again only by lantern. Despite being largely unconscious, Hinata felt groggy. "H-how long was I out?" Was all that just a dream?!

Sakura checked her watch, "Feels like forever," she explained, resting her hand on Hinata's forehead.

"N-Naruto?" Hinata stammered as she forced the words out.

"He's right behind you; he passed out a few minutes before you woke," Sakura smiled. "He seemed to be using some kind of chakra link to help you breathe. We didn't know what happened when he suddenly slouched over; the boy kid is exhausted!"

Hinata rolled to see Naruto laying beside her, passed out. She placed a hand on his cheek. Thank you! Despite know he couldn't see it, she mouthed the words, "I love you," silently to him.

"Hinata," Sakura guided her up slightly, "Drink this slowly, you're dehydrated!" She offered her a canteen. The cold water soothed Hinata's overly dry mouth.

"Thank you, Sakura!" Hinata said as Sakura guided her back.

"Just rest for now," Sakura said, "You're still very weak."

Hinata felt unable to lodge a protest as her eyelids closed over her field of vision. In the darkness, she walked her hand toward Naruto, feeling the reassuring touch of his left hand. As long as I have this, I have it all, and I'll never let you go! Exhaustion took her, and she drifted off to a much-needed sleep.

Author's note: Hey everyone, sorry if this is coming out a bit late. I hope you're all safe and enjoying the story. Have a good weekend and I'll see you all next week! Believe it!