-oh my gosh…the reviews are all awesome! Haha… I see you are all worked up because of the Sasuke-crazy-proposal scene. I got to admit, I don't know what entered inside my head when I wrote that. Oh, and to those readers who doesn't want the story to end yet…don't worry. There is one final plot that I still need to write.
-Just as promised…here is the next installment. Enjoy reading!
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
-o-o-o-
Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Vial
Hinata's eyes lost its trance-like state. Her foggy brain suddenly cleared itself and she raised her hands up to push Sasuke away, breaking their contact. She pushed him gently though, because her was still feeling a little lightheaded and weak.
"Wife?" She was aware that Sasuke was still holding her by the neck, his other hand already on her upper leg. Trying her best to collect her wits back together, she slowly backed away, removing Sasuke's naughty hands from her body and gained some distance between them. How can he do that? Every time he touches her it was like she doesn't know what was happening to her anymore.
Grasping the front of her shirt again in case she decided to bolt away, Sasuke watched as her face turned horror-stricken. "Wife." He clarified, pulling her close again.
She pulled herself back.
Sasuke snorted. So she was playing the game of tug-of-war now? Never letting the front of her short go, he was the one who covered their distance by pushing himself forward. Wondering how scared the girl was by the idea of being his wife. He knew it was a sudden declaration, but it was soon to come anyway.
The Hyuuga council was still waiting for his explanation about his disagreement with the marriage thing with the sand Kage…and what's the best option than present another potential groom to replace the first one? Besides, he realized it just now, why not make Hinata officially his especially when he got so enrage about her "fake marriage" with the Nara?
Add to that, he was practically saying it the whole time that Hinata was his and only his.
"Sasuke…I…" Hinata placed her arms between them as he was closing in on her again, making some sort of boundary. "No." She stated firmly. "I don't think it's a good idea." Heaven's sake…he was kissing her neck again. Avoiding his touch in case her brains turned into mush again, she stated in a firmer tone. "No."
"Hn." Sasuke frowned and looked into her eyes.
"Gomenasai…" She apologized, though she doesn't know what it was for. "This is insane." Biting her lower lip, she let her hand touch him on the face, easing the frown lines there. "It's too fast Sasuke…"
The way her hand touched his face in a gesture so gentle brought warmth all over his body. Sasuke covered the still bruised hand on his own, holding it firmly. "Can you tell me why?" He asked her in a low voice. Her gentle gesture has made him calm and the disappointment was washed away.
Hyuga Hinata's presence alone was enough to sooth his deadly tempers.
"Because…" She can feel his strong, calloused hand over her own, holding it firmly on his cheek. "I don't know how to respond…y-you surprised me. Wife…that means marriage and I think those are strong words for both of us."
"I wanted to be your husband." He told her, and he knew it was true. Earlier, when everyone was teasing Hinata and the Nara, Sasuke realized that he was acting like a jealous child because he wanted to be called Hinata's husband…not Shikamaru, or Naruto…or anyone else. "Hinata...You know something is going on between us right?"
She nodded, she would be lying if she said no. Hinata admitted that she has her own "jealous slips" sometimes, though she doesn't know where that started. Unfortunately, Sasuke was not the only one with jealous issues between them. "I know…"
"And I had made it clear that no one was to touch you the way I do."
"Hai…you have made it clear a lot of times." She agreed, recalling how Sasuke acted like a spoiled little brat concerning the matter. "Even though it was not necessary…" She added and sighs, hoping that he would not take her refusal negatively. "M-marriage is sacred…it needs to be…considered seriously."
"Do you think I'm not serious?"
"N-no…It's just that everything confuses me still Sasuke." Hinata answered truthfully. "You are…unpredictable…and this whole thing with you was quite…" She chose her words carefully. "New to me... Don't get me wrong…I…I care for you."
"How much?"
"A lot." Hinata watched as his face turned thoughtful, the shadows giving him a grim look. She slowly removed her hand from his cheek but he caught it, wrapping it with both of his big, strong hands. She contemplated if she was going to tell him the fact that when they were captured by the masked men, it was the memory of him that gives her strength and makes her calm.
"Hn."
It was then that Hinata has decided to let all her opinions out.
"Sasuke…when we were captured by the rogues, it was you who gives me strength." She admitted and she dropped her head, embarrassed. "All I need was to think of you and I would be able to control my fears. I know that to tell you this was not enough to return everything that you have done for my sake…but I want you to know that I…that I…" She stuttered, a little terrified to let the words out. "I really can't explain what I feel…but I want you to know that I care for you deeply enough to be afraid…to lose you." Hinata peered at him under her long lashes, her breath was turning into ragged gasps.
"You won't lose me." He told her. "And-"
"No…I need to say this now." She clenched her palms, turning them into fists. "And I am asking you to give me more time…take it slowly…Please Sasuke, don't be rash with your marriage idea." She took a steadying breath. "I want to take these things slowly…with you." Hinata bit the inside of her cheek, waiting for his response after her little all out talk. "I….like you, Sasuke."
Sasuke did not say anything, Instead, he leaned forward and pushed the heiress down on the floor, pinning her curvy, frame down with his weight and captured her quivering lips on his own. His hands took both of her arms and pinned them beside her.
"Did you know that you just made me happy?" He asked when he gave her time to breath, he noticed that she has stopped doing so for the second time the moment he pinned her down. "Fine." He dropped his head to kiss the hollow part of her neck; she heard her whimper and he smiled. "Fine… Let's take this more slowly just like you want princess...But in one condition…"
"Wh-what?" Hinata squeaked as she felt Sasuke's lips on her ears.
"You are going to be my girlfriend…Officially." He smirked as he saw her face register the fact. "So that no one tries to steal you away from me."
"Girlfriend…" Hinata repeated."O-Officially."
"Get used to it." He told the Anbu as he breathed in her lavender scent. "Now…why don't we take some sleep?" Sasuke's lips lingered on the skin of her temple. "Before I lose my control and we accidentally advanced on the honeymoon…"
-o-
Hinata's hands shot to her flaming cheeks.
"Something's weird is happening to Hinata-chan." Kiba whispered to Shino as they bounded through the branches. "Since we departed with the spy unit, she just won't stop blushing. "Do you think it's because she saw Naruto back there?"
"I don't think it's Naruto." The bug wielder answered.
"Really?" Kiba stole a glance at the blue haired girl who was bounding near captain Yamato. "Who?" Her cheeks were bright red and eyes unfocused.
"You will find out soon enough." Shino too, stole a glance at the girl, recalling what he has found out with the help of his watcher beetle that time with when they shared a night with the Spy Mission team.
Sasuke would be in great trouble if he tries to play with Hinata's feelings…
Shino would make sure of that.
-o-o-o-
"Tenten! duck!" Sakura yelled as she saw the man with the orange hair swing past her in a blur. The weapon's mistress leaped away, turning around gracefully to throw a few kunai from the scroll which she was holding on one hand.
They are continuing their way when all of a sudden, a man attacked them, emerging wildly from the cover of the trees. He has no visible chakra so he was able to catch them unaware. There were weird lines on his body and for a second, Sakura thought that he looks like a tree.
"Natural power…" Sakura muttered as she swung her gloved hand to where the man was. The man avoided her fist with ease. If only it has hit its mark, the Haruno was more than sure that he would have been embedded on the ground after that.
"Jugo!" Karin called, her binding chains coiling around her. "It's me! Karin."
Tenten gasped as the attacker grabbed her neck. She was about to side-stepped away from him but he was faster than her. "Uhn!" A sound escaped her lips and she could feel his fingers tightened around her wind pipes, and just as when she was sure that he would break her neck into two, Sai came from behind and landed a solid kick on the man's back, toppling him forward. The stoic Sai then grabbed her waist and pulled her away from the hand that holds her. "Arigatou." Tenten managed when she was able to catch her breath.
"Are you alright?" He asked her, body already crouching to attack again.
"Hai."
"Why isn't he stopping?" Sakura asked Karin as she landed next to her. Sai and Tenten were busy at the moment, occupying the attacker's attention by throwing kunai at him. "He is a friend of yours right?"
"It's because when he gets surprised or excited all of a sudden, he loses his control." Karin replied. "His killer intent rises up and turns into a bloody killer. We need to calm him down so that he would be able to recognize me and stop this fight."
"How?"
"I could try to bind him." The bespectacled girl pointed at the chains. "Then we could calm him down with your chakra. You are a medical nin aren't you Sakura?"
"Hai." The medic answered, clenching her fists and swiftly leaped to where the fight was. Taking Sai's position, she nodded at him, letting him know that she was buying him time.
Sai jumped back, his hands releasing the giant scroll and brush behind him. Spreading out the scroll on the ground, he painted a fierce-looking tiger with a few swift strokes of his brush. The painting came to life when the animal leaped out of the large parchment. With a feral growl, it launches itself on the crazed eyed Jugo as the same time as Karin's chains wrapped around the man's body, immobilizing him.
"Sakura! Now!" Karin shouted.
"Got it!" Sakura raise her arm into the air, and with a chakra glowing fist, she directed her hit to the man's chest.
-o-
Naruto stopped and he signaled the others to do too. Sniffing the air in case for chemicals, the one thing team Yamato has warned them about, he was relieved when he could smell nothing weird in the air.
Temari landed next to the Jinchuriki, squinting as the daylight hit her squarely on the face. According to Suigetsu, they have now arrived to their destination. The mountain that was in front of them was the one that hides a small town inside it.
Hidden behind the leaves and tree trunks, the spy unit observed the place.
"The entrance should be right behind that tree." The white haired Taka said, pointing somewhere on the group of large trees.
"Is it not dark in that town? Hidden inside the mountain and all…" One from the group asked.
Suigetsu shook his head. "No. In this angle, you can't really see it, but after you enter the dark tunnel-like pathways inside, you could see that the mountain is like a huge cone. There is a large opening above, allowing the sunlight to enter. Overall, it's just an ordinary town…with not so ordinary people."
"Why no guards?" Naruto asked.
"The guards are inside the tunnel entrance."Suigetsu answered. "The people there are quite accommodating. It's just that the majority in there are…" He shuddered. "Missing nins and wanted people that could be found in the bingo book. Inside, there is no questioning your identities. It's like mind your own business in there."
"A sanctuary." Kankuro clarified. "A sanctuary for people who doesn't want their identities to be known."
Temari snorted. "A sanctuary should be for people in need. They are breeding criminals inside of that mountain. Not to mention that there is a group in there that gauge powerful Shinobi eyes for a living." Crouching down, the Suna nin adjusted her fan, loosening the cord that binds it in case she would need her weapon in a short notice. "So what are we going to do now?"
One of the Kiri nin performed hand signs. There was a puff of white smoke, and a small messenger hawk appeared. "I am going to send a message to the Kages, informing them that we have reached our destination." Pulling out a piece of paper, he wrote a short message, and then rolled it. Attaching it into a small cord on the bird's feet, he let it flew away. "For the meantime, why don't we choose some of our members to mingle with the people inside? The others would wait here. Then we would be able to have eyes inside and outside of that mountain."
"I would go in." Sasuke volunteered.
Temari frowned at the raven haired konohan. "Don't you think you might get a lot of attention inside Uchiha-san? You have the bearing of an Uchiha, not to mention that you are quite…popular with this crowd."
"We could disguise ourselves…" Naruto suggested, removing his white robe and orange jacket. "Why don't you remove your shirt Sasuke? I have a spare shirt here." The blonde then rummage what was inside of his pack and tossed Sasuke the said shirt. "Your shirt has the Uchiha clan's insignia…that won't work."
Temari still looked unconvinced, but said nothing. She removes the hair bands on her hair, destroying her usual "four-tail-do". She ran her fingers on her shoulder length hair to let it fall free. "I'm going in too." The fan lady then looked at her brother. "Can you give me some of your body paint? I am going to use some of it."
The Uzumaki lightened up. "Body paint…that's a good idea."
The three then left their teammates hiding behind the covers of the trees while they proceeded to go inside the mountain. Following the instructions of Suigetsu, they found the entrance to the said town and followed the tunnel-like path until they were sure that they have walked for almost a mile. Sasuke's face was covered with a mask he made by tearing a small portion of his white shirt. Violet marks were also painted on his face, as Temari suggested that it would help take away the attention from his unnatural black eyes.
Temari also made a good job disguising herself. She was wearing a light head piece she has borrowed from one of the Kumo nin and two red marks like the shape of lightning adored her cheeks. Out of the three of them, she was the one who was unrecognizable the most. Her untied hair alone makes her look different.
Naruto on the other hand, has painted his face with all the colors he has found on Kankuru's body paints. If a child was around, it would surely assume that the Uzumaki has slammed his face into a rainbow or something.
Even though he has matured greatly from the past years, Sasuke knew that Naruto would always have that idiotic side in him that would never disappear.
"Stop." A voice echoed, making the trio stop on their tracks. Not far from them, were two masked men, holding one katana on each hand. "State your business."
Without warning, Sasuke suddenly activated his sharingan and has trapped the two guards in his mind jutsu. "We are travelers. Let us enter."
"Hai," Both guards answered, their minds being controlled by the Uchiha.
-o-o-o-
A bird made of ink flew above them as Sakura slowly let her hands hover over Jugo's head. She was trying to ease his heartbeat in order to help him calm down, the weird lines etched in his skin was starting to fade and his skin color was turning back to normal.
"That will send a message to Kakashi-sama." Sai pointed at the bird he has drawn a few minutes ago.
"Jugo…" Karin dropped to her knees and smiled at the missing Taka member. Her unearthly glowing chains still wrapped the man from neck to foot. Studying his ragged appearance, she slowly waited as his wild eyes turned into a more sober one. "Can you recognize me now?"
"Karin…" Jugo muttered, his lips quivering.
"What happened to you?"
Jugo grimaced as he felt his strength being absorbed by the binding chains. Slowly, his body turned smaller, arms and legs shrinking. His once bulky build was slowly turning into that of younger man. After a few more seconds, he was just as big as Sai. "I am being pursued by rogue nins. I did not mean to hurt anyone… "
"The ones we are escaping from? Is that the person who pursues you?"
Jugo nodded weakly. "I have been hiding for the past days…"
"He shrunk!" Tenten exclaimed, witnessing his sudden change of size and appearance. "Did that man just turned younger?"
Karin removed the chains that wrap the now younger and smaller Jugo. "Every time he uses much of his energy and natural chakra, he turns like this. He will return back to normal after he regained his strength." She willed the chains to return back inside her body, feeling no need to use them further. A younger Jugo means a weaker Jugo, they could handle him with ease now, even if he turned berserk again.
"He has nature energy chakra just like captain Yamato…" Sakura observed.
Tenten dropped a small pouch on the ground. "He was wearing this when I accidentally cut the strap with one of my weapons." When it landed on the soft soil, small vials rolled out of it, gathering curious looks from the team. The vials are full of colored liquids with small tags attached on the lid.
Sakura took one vial containing blue liquid. Rolling it on her finger, she looked at the tag. "Disabling senses." She frowned. What is this stuff? "Wait…are these vials containing drugs?"
"Hey, you are the medical kunoichi here. You tell us." Tenten also took one vial, but the one with the greenish colored liquid inside. "Mind Illusions."
"I think…I saw these kinds of vials before…" Karin said, letting her fingers trail on the small bottles. "It was back in the mountain town. We somehow landed in a room full of these things when we are sneaking in on a building. We are spying some rogues at that time." Taking one bottle in hand, she looked at Jugo. "Did you steal all of these Jugo?"
Jugo opened his eyes. "I took some…knowing that it might help us on the way."
Sakura nodded, noticing the strain on the man's voice. "You can answer our questions later…you are still exhausted." Looking back at the vials, she started to return them back inside the pouch, her medical ninja side at work. "Well…I could bring these to lady Tsunade for further study…This is quite a break through if the chemicals inside these vials are as effective as what the tags says."
Somehow, Sakura was glad that the Taka member has stolen these things. If dangerous outcasts and missing nins are using these as their weapons, studying about it could help them discover antidotes and repellants. It could also be used as an advantage for Konoha.
Tenten tossed the vial she was holding to Sakura, a little disgusted at the contents inside. She wondered how many people have been harmed by the help of these drugs. Remembering what happened to Hinata when she came back from the peace mission - blinded and chakra-less because of a drug like the ones inside the vials- Tenten cannot help but grimaced.
Karin was about to toss the vial on her hand back to the Haruno when her eyes lingered on the tag attached.
It says: For Brainwashing.
"No more?" Sakura asked, looking around her in case some vials escaped her sight. Every bottle is important, none must be left behind.
"N-no more..." Karin answered, closing her fingers around the small bottle. "I think that was all."
-o-o-o-
Here ends the chapter! Lol….Karin is into something…
I wanted this chapter to be longer, but I wanted to keep the deadline that I promised. (Besides, I was not feeling well yesterday because I have a fever, so I did not write much…)
(I am feeling better so I promise to make the next chapter very…very…long. Next update would be on Sunday. )
Please review…suggestions and additional ideas are loved.
-crazygurl12