The room was quiet, the only sound being Nue's sigh. Nue leaned against the metal wall with his eyes closed as he sat on the floor in the corner, the coldness of the metal seeping through his clothes. He wasn't fond of the cold, to be honest; he much prefers the heat, the heat of summer and the heat of nations burning.
Nue scowled as he opened his eyes again, two pair of eyes turning to him as they saw him move again. Mara sat in a corner on a chair as she played with a kunai, boredom evident in her eyes. Joro on the other hand was sitting in a chair at the table with her arms crossed. She looked tenser than usual.
Nue clicked his tongue in irritation which made Mara raise an eyebrow slightly from curiosity. Leshy killed the clone Joro worked so hard to create for him. He so enjoyed using these clones. Nue himself didn't have Chakra so the Chakra limit of the clone didn't bother him one bit. It was ideal.
The sound of a chair scraping against the floor filled the room as Joro stood up. She walked silently over to where Nue sat on the ground as she bent down in front of him, her red eyes meeting his purple eyes. Joro examined his eyes as they glistened in the little light of the room while Nue smirked ever so slightly, she really was his favourite toy.
"The son of a bitch killed my clone." Nue said softly as his small smirk turned into a growl, Joro however, didn't seem surprised.
"They're here, we have to go." Joro said in a hushed voice as slight concern filled her usually confident eyes.
It was rare for Joro to look concerned. She was usually very confident and even condescending.
"Yeah I know, the vermin have been running around in my hideout for a while now. I'm a little disappointed none of the traps activated." Nue said louder this time so that Mara could hear their conversation as he sighed heavily, at this point it didn't matter if Mara knew what was going on or not.
"Want a lollipop?" Mara asked nonchalantly with a small amused smirk, however, there was something in Nue's eyes that made her uneasy.
Nue turned his cold purple eyes to her. Mara usually wasn't one to listen to people's conversations, she found it dull. However this time it would seem that Mara was paying attention, she was becoming suspicious of Nue. It made him smile slightly from amusement. Mara never finds anything interesting enough to pay attention to but she was a sharp woman.
"As a matter of fact yes, I would very much like one." Nue said calmly as his sharp eyes met hers.
Mara's eyes narrow at him. Something was wrong. Normally he would be irritated or angry when she would ask if he wanted a lollipop, but now he seemed calm and calculated. There was also something in his eyes, something that scared her. Something ominous.
"What a shame, I just ran out of lollipops." Mara said carefully as she stopped riding on her chair, her eyes focused.
Her guard was up. She was watching Nue's every move.
"Nue, what's our plan? They're getting close." Joro asked urgently with a hushed voice, interrupting the conversation between Nue and Mara.
"You think you can manage another clone, Joro?" Nue asked as he turned his sharp eyes to Joro.
"Yes, I just need a new body to use for the impersonation Jutsu." Joro replied with a confused frown.
"Perfect, let's get started." Nue said gleefully as his smile widened.
"Nue, we don't have a body." Joro said as her frown deepened, however, Nue seemed unfazed by her statement.
Mara scowled in realization as she stood up defensively. The only people in the room were Nue, Joro and Mara. Nue didn't have mana and Mara didn't know the technique.
"Nue." Mara growled as a warning however it fell onto deaf ears.
"Of course we have a body; we have a perfectly good candidate standing right over there." Nue stated as he turned his gaze towards Mara while pointing a finger at her which made her cuss.
Joro followed Nue's finger to look at Mara as a small malicious smile spread over her face. Mara glared at Nue and Joro, knowing full well Joro was going to follow his orders so it wouldn't help reasoning with Joro. Mara's glare didn't falter once as she pulled a kunai out her ninja pouch.
"Right, I'll get the body prepped." Joro said as her lips curled into a smirk.
She never liked Mara anyway.
xXx
"Shikamaru?" Temari asked tensely as she felt Shikamaru go limp at her side.
The two men with them stopped and looked over at them when Temari spoke. Shikamaru was awake only seconds ago however when he sighed and closed his eyes he didn't open them again as his body went slack.
He lost consciousness.
Shikamaru must've lost a lot of blood already if he lost consciousness. Temari scowled slightly as she held up his weight so that he wouldn't fall and hit his head. He was heavy. Temari's eyes strayed to his other arm, slight fear penetrating her heart. There was a steady stream of blood that was dripping from his fingers.
"Is he okay?" The man with the dog asked making Temari look up at the strangers.
"He passed out." Temari said with a guarded tone, not trusting the strangers before her.
Shikamaru was travelling with them which meant he probably knew them but that didn't make Temari trust them. After all, Sakura was Shikamaru's friend and she was the one who drugged her and handed her over to Nue.
"We need to get him to Sakura; she'll be able to help him." The dog lover enjoined as he watched the blood dripping to the floor from Shikamaru's arm with worry in his eyes.
Temari's eyes narrowed slightly at the mention of Sakura's name. Temari was not going to allow Sakura to get close to them, not after her betrayal.
"She's unconscious, Nue showed us all the hostages. They're all unconscious." The injured man interjected which made the dog lover scowl.
"You can put Shikamaru on Shiromaru, he can carry him." The dog lover said as he looked back at Temari, it looked like he was trying to help after all Shikamaru was taller than her so it was hard keeping him up.
Temari looked at the dog then at the injured man. She didn't know which one was Shiromaru. She assumed he spoke about the dog, after all, why would he tell her to give Shikamaru to the injured man to carry. It made sense for the dog to carry him.
"Oh, Shiromaru is my dog." The dog lover specified as he scratched the back of his head.
"I figured." Temari said with distrust evident in her voice, not making a move to comply.
"What's wrong Temari? You've never hesitated to use my dogs as a pack mule before?" The dog lover said with a mixture of worry and confusion.
It was weird for Temari that all these strangers called her by name and recalled things she had no memory off. However, even though he seemed to be acquainted with her she couldn't shake the feeling of distrust. Amnesia really was a pain in the ass.
Temari wanted to reply however the injured man beat her to it.
"I don't have time for this. You either put Shikamaru on the mutt or we leave you behind." The man said impatiently.
"That was harsh Sasuke." The dog lover accused as he glared slightly at Sasuke.
"I don't care." Sasuke said with a scoff as he started walking again.
"Fine, but it doesn't mean I trust the two of you. Make any move that threatens Shikamaru or myself and I will cut you down where you stand." Temari spat as she placed Shikamaru gently on the happy dog.
"Whatever makes you comfortable." Kiba said with a sad sigh, making sure he didn't make any move that would make Temari feel threatened.
"Let's go already." Sasuke called ahead of them as he continued walking.
"Let's go. My name is Kiba Inuzuka, by the way." Kiba said with a smile as he started running again with his dog while Sasuke quickened his pace as they caught up with him.
Temari felt slightly better seeing that none of them made any move that threatened her or Shikamaru. Sasuke seemed like kind of a prick but Kiba seemed nice and his dog seemed very friendly as well. However, Temari still stuck to Shikamaru's side.
Since she woke up from her coma she felt the safest by his side and even though he was unconscious now she would make sure he is safe. They ran a little more until they reached an intersection in the hallway. Kiba sniffed the air as the group stopped at the intersection. Kiba led the way closely followed by his dog and Temari while Sasuke lagged behind again due to his injury. Kiba nodded to his left then started jogging down the left hallway. It wasn't long before they reached another group.
The new group was busy carrying unconscious people out of rooms. She didn't know any of them; however, there was one familiar face among the group of strangers.
"Hey, Hinata. How are things over here?" Kiba said with a smirk while Hinata and the white-haired man turned around, however, both their eyes strayed to Shikamaru.
"Kiba, is Shikamaru okay?" Hinata asked with worry in her voice as she headed over to him.
"He's lost a lot of blood, can you stop the bleeding?" Kiba asked seriously.
"Yes." Hinata said focused as she quickly went over to Shikamaru.
Hinata bent down next to Shikamaru and held her hands just above the bloodied cloth on Shikamaru's arm. Temari watched as Hinata's hands emanated a light green aura. She didn't know Hinata knew some medical ninjutsu. Temari felt relieved that someone knew some medical ninjutsu so they could stop Shikamaru's bleeding.
"I stopped the bleeding but he still needs to let a doctor take a look at it." Hinata said with a comforting smile.
Temari felt the knot in her stomach relax. He wasn't losing any more blood which was very good.
"Thank you." Temari said softly as she took her eyes of Shikamaru and looked at Hinata who simply smiled
Temari saw the old white-haired man walk over to them while Sasuke went over to the room where they recovered Sakura. Temari lost all her trust in Sakura but Sasuke seemed so relieved to see her as he limped over to her. He looked a little upset that they didn't hand her over to him because he was injured but he let it go after a while, but he didn't leave her side. He must be Sakura's husband.
"Temari it's good to see you again, my name is Kakashi." The man said as he smiled behind his mask.
"What's an old man like you doing in a raid?" Temari said with crossed arms as she joked, trying to shake the unease she felt because of all the strangers.
"Words hurt too, you know." Kakashi said as he looked like somebody physically hurt him while Hinata just chuckled softly.
"Sorry, I was just making a joke." Temari said feeling slightly bad that she hurt his feelings.
"That's alright; I'm going to take the leftover ninja and go help Naruto. Will you take care of the hostages?" Kakashi said as he recovered and looked over at Hinata.
"Yes, please take care of Naruto for me." Hinata said with a smile while Kakashi nodded.
"Alright, everyone listen up. Get these people to a hospital. If you are not needed here follow me, we are going to back up the Hokage's group and take a look around this charming place. Kiba you're coming with me." Kakashi said as he started walking away from the group to give everyone time to collect themselves.
"Sorry Temari, I can't leave Shiromaru behind. He won't be able to find his way back home, he gets distracted too fast." Kiba said with a sweat drop while his dog just gave a bark.
"No problem." Temari said as she went to lift Shikamaru of the dog.
Hinata quickly went to help Temari get Shikamaru of the dog. However, a Shinobi quickly took him from them. Temari protested slightly but the Shinobi insisted while Hinata convinced her to let the Shinobi carry him. Kiba along with Kakashi and the rest of the ninja that wasn't needed quickly regrouped then sped off in the opposite direction.
"You can trust everyone in this room; they're all Shinobi of the leaf." Hinata said with a reassuring smile as she placed a hand on Temari's shoulder.
Temari was watching Shikamaru but Hinata made her look back at her when she touched her shoulder.
"They also said I could trust Sakura and here we are now." Temari said with a hard tone.
"You can't blame Sakura for this, she was under a genjutsu. She's probably not even aware of what happened." Hinata said with furrow eyebrows and a sympathetic look which made Temari sigh slightly.
She didn't think Hinata was lying to her, but it didn't mean she was going to trust Sakura just like that. Temari wasn't going to blame Sakura for what happened but she'd have to prove she's trustworthy before she'll trust her again.
"Come on; let's get you to the hospital." Hinata said with a smile as she started walking.
"That's not necessary, I'm not injured." Temari said quickly as she followed Hinata.
Temari didn't feel like being admitted to the hospital since she felt fine, but she wanted to make sure Shikamaru was alright so she followed anyway. Hinata and Temari jogged behind the group as they went to the hospital. Temari, however, made sure she could see Shikamaru at all times, just in case.
"No excuses." Hinata said more forcefully, which surprised Temari a little.
She was under the impression that Hinata was timid yet here she is not taking no for an answer. Whether Temari liked it or not she was going to be admitted to the hospital, the look in Hinata's eyes confirming her suspicion.
Temari grunted softly in irritation but she didn't argue with Hinata.
Temari hated that dam hospital...
"Do you know if Shikadai is okay? Both Shikamaru and I got caught in this mess and I'm worried about Shikadai being alone." Temari said as she changed the subject.
She's been worried about Shikadai since she woke up. Hopefully, Hinata had some information about her child. Now that she had escaped Nue and Shikamaru was okay she wanted to know if her child was also alright.
"Shikamaru left him with Chouji and Karui, he's in good hands. However, you should now, they were attacked." Hinata said with a reassuring smile however her smile fell at the end which made Temari tense up.
"Is Shikadai alright?" Temari asked eagerly as her eyes widened.
"Yes, he's fine. He is going to be having nightmares for a while though. He and Chouchou got caught in a genjutsu. However we stopped the woman before anyone got hurt, but she escaped before we could apprehend her." Hinata said with a soft disappointed sigh.
Temari sighed in relief. Shikadai was okay and safe. She didn't know what she'd have done if Shikadai wasn't okay. Temari felt slightly bad she wasn't there to protect him but at least Chouji was there to protect him. The pain in the ass she met when she first woke up.
Temari scowled slightly as they reached the hospital. She stopped in front of the menacing building which loomed over her. Nurses and doctors rushed to the Shinobi who had inured people with them while Hinata explained what happened. Temari stood rooted to her spot as she watched the nurses and doctors leading the Shinobi to rooms.
She smiled from amusement as she watched someone bring a wheelchair for Sasuke. Sasuke's expression was priceless, however. He stared at the chair in irritation and refused to use it however that gained Hinata's attention. Hinata walked over to him with a glare. It took Hinata two seconds to make Sasuke get in the chair so a nurse can take him to an examination room.
He glared at Hinata and the nurse but he didn't argue with them. It was an amusing sight, but it wasn't long before someone came over to Temari.
"Are you injured?" A doctor asked as he walked over to Temari and eyed her.
"Do I look injured?" Temari said with a scoff as she stared the doctor down who coward slightly from her intimidating gaze.
"Yes, she was one of the hostages. Please take her to an examination room." Hinata said with an intimidating smile as she walked over to them, she understood why Sasuke listened to her now.
Temari looked at Hinata with a look of betrayal. She knew Hinata was going to force her to be admitted but she thought she could somehow distract them into forgetting about her.
"Right away, follow me." The doctor said as he started walking while Temari followed him begrudgingly.
"See you later Temari." Hinata said sweetly which made Temari growl slightly at her with a glare.
At least they didn't wheel her into the hospital like Sasuke.
The doctor ended up finding nothing wrong with her but they decided to keep all the hostages overnight anyway, much to Temari's irritation. They kept all the people involved in the incident close together to make it easier for the doctors but they did split the males and females. However, their rooms were right across the hall from each other.
Temari sighed heavily as she lay on her back on the hospital bed. She was the only one awake in the room. Her bed was the closest to the door so she couldn't even watch the stars out the window. She tried falling asleep but she found it hard. This hospital made her feel uneasy. Sakura was the only person she recognized in the room, she was on the bed next to Temari.
Temari felt restless, she wanted to go check up on Shikamaru but she didn't want to disturb everyone plus if a nurse caught her wandering around in the middle of the night she's definitely going to get scolded and she was honestly not in the mood.
Temari sighed again. It was going to be a long night...
xXx
The birds chirped happily as they flew in the brilliant blue sky. The sun bathed the village in its warm light while the winter wind nipped at any exposed skin. The village was a scene of serenity, the events of the previous night unbeknownst to the happy villagers.
The receptionist hummed softly as she did her usual work in the hospital lobby. It seemed like a normal day when she first went on shift however she knew it wasn't a normal day when she heard about Sakura being hospitalised. Luckily it was just for observations and nothing serious. She was after all a vital part of this hospital. She didn't know how this hospital would run without her.
Sakura was supposed to only be released in the afternoon but of course, Sakura couldn't sit still when she was at the hospital. She woke up early this morning then started treating patients much to the doctors' protests. Of course, Sakura first checked in with her husband and made sure he was alright.
The receptionist answered the phone which was ringing. It was quite an annoying ring so she answered it quickly so it wouldn't disturb everyone in the lobby. The lobby had a few visitors waiting to be helped and also some people who were waiting for their appointments, nothing out of the ordinary.
However when the door opened again the man that entered caught her attention immediately. Her eyes locked with his wide frightened eyes. She frowned as her eyes froze on the man who tensely walked towards her, hearing all the gasps and frightful whispers from the people inside the lobby. Sweat poured from his forehead as he averted his gaze to the floor while walking over to her slowly. As he came closer she could see his whole body trembled. Her confusion started to subside and gave way to fear as the man stopped close to her desk. She could see the man's wild terrified eyes more clearly now and it scared her.
"Please save me, I don't want to die." The man said grimly as tears streamed down his face.
He clawed desperately at his jacket which made the receptionist's eyes grew wide in horror. As he clawed at his jacket she could see the numerous paper bombs strapped to him. Her breath hitched as she saw a paper bomb starting to smoke.
The receptionist's eyes grew wider in terror. Never once did she think today would be the day she would die. The receptionist screamed as tears pooled in her eyes, however, her scream was drowned by the explosion that soon followed.
Some accepted their fate while other people started running, but it was far too late to escape...
A/N: Hey guys! I hoped you enjoyed this chapter. Sorry for taking so long, I got really busy suddenly. But I finally got this chapter done. I hope everyone is well and staying safe :)