FRENZY

CHAPTER 12

"Woah woah woah, what's going on?" Naruto cried. He'd only just ordered his second bowl of ramen at Ichiraku's when sudden—this! But what exactly is this? The villagers were going crazy, like zoo animals!

"Civilians to your homes! All nin and genin to the academy at once! The village is under attack!"

"Under attack?" Naruto cried. 'By who?' Someone knocked into him so hard that his forehead protector slide sideways over his eye. He had to fix it back in place and when he opened his eyes, saw that he had gotten turned around somehow in the market. "Ow, what the heck's going on?!"

"Eight trigrams sixty-four palms!" he heard, followed by a sound of breaking wood and shattering pots of grain. Was someone in trouble? Naruto's brow set with determination as he pulled the knot even tighter on his forehead protector. He had to veer away from the school to find the fight. To Naruto's shock it wasn't just anyone being attacked, but a student from the academy!

There must have been five men attacking him, all decked in blacks and browns, bandaged at the face and hands, and with no visible mark of a village. Naruto didn't waste time trying to figure out who they were. He formed the hand sign. "Shadow clones!" Three of the carrot jump-suited clones burst from their smoke clouds, shouting in unison.

Two of the attackers were caught off guard. They flew into a pile of sacks that exploded with clouds of flour. Naruto jumped immediately to the aid of the student, who had just sent another nin flying down the street with a strike to the chest. Naruto managed to get snagged by the arms, but he drew his knee to his chest and kicked him hard in the leg. He faltered, giving the other student an open area of attack. Naruto's arms were freed immediately as the nin also went flying, this time into a window. "Are you all right?" Naruto asked the boy.

"Who are you?" he demanded, and was interrupted by another attack. The remaining two shadow clones piled on the attacker, sparing him the need to engage. He turned back to look at Naruto, who grinned and adjusted his forehead protector.

"Naruto Uzamaki, at your service!" The boy glared skeptically, but didn't reject the assistance.

"Hyuga Neji."

Hinata struggled with the ropes tied around her wrists. They were mercilessly tight, indenting into her skin. She was gagged, so there was no way to scream for help. Even if she could, her kidnapper might have put a stop to it. Kami, she had been snatched up so fast! Did Sasuke even know? Thinking about the worry he must be going through somehow outweighed the terror she felt for herself, and she was indeed terrified.

Even though the kidnapper had gone through the trouble of gagging her, he hadn't blindfolded her. Whatever this place was, it was dark. Smells of aged wood and iron assailed her. Was this some kind of metal works shop? There was an abandoned one in the shanty part of Konoha, along with other business that had crumbled in economic decay. If that indeed was where she'd been kidnapped, there was little chance of being found while the village was still under attack.

She had to break free herself. Her Byakugan offered little assistance in this situation. On a flat field she could see about a hundred-and-thirty meters. Not so much with a line of walls barricading the way. Chakra glowed like starlight, and it alarmed her when she couldn't see a single glowing vein. She tried to think. There was something she could use to break out of this situation—there had to be. So many people had put in their share: Kurenai, Kiba, Shino, Sasuke, Neji . . .

Sasuke. So much time she'd spent with Sasuke. The sparring, the weapon handling, the chakra control . . . maybe that was it. Right down to the basics. The Gentle Fist had endowed her with superb chakra control, something she had been reminded of again and again by Sasuke and her father. She closed her eyes. It was like the flow of blood, only cooler, more potent. With a bit of concentration she was able to direct it. Blood was blood, however chakra flowed like water. Put it under pressure and you get a blade. Make it strong enough and one can even slice a diamond. Luckily she did not need that much pressure. Just the tiniest stream from her fingertips was enough to cut the ropes.

It was done quickly and quietly. The first thing she did was yank the balled cloth from her mouth. It was warm and damp with her saliva—disgusting. She wiped the fibers from her tongue with her inner sleeves, sputtering silently. Every window and every hole had been welded or sealed, and she did not dare leave through the front door. Making an opening was only a matter of time if she used the same technique she had used on the ropes. Of course she could always blast her way out, but the noise was a factor to be considered.

Well, it should have been. Hinata spun at the sound of footsteps over crumbled coals and splintered wood. "Going somewhere?"

Even with her ever expanding arsenal of kunai, Tenten found herself running on empty. The scrolls were only as good as her chakra flow, and on the way to the academy she had probably made about four stops. If she wasn't assisting a classmate she was saving a villager from getting trampled. This time it was a kid. Hiding behind a chimney she looked down in the square and saw that there were actually three kids. And hell, was that the Hokage's grandson? They were being held captive by a team of four.

"To hell with it," she muttered, and broke out the net. She only managed to ensnare one of them with it, the easiest catch she had ever landed, actually. But then there were three more. Her kunais formed a halo in the sky, and when they began to rain down in spikes Tenten shouted for the kids to retreat against the wall. Not a single kunai was able to land a target—the terrorist in the net had broken free immediately—but her primary objective was not to kill anyway. It was to give the kids time to escape.

She didn't know if they just weren't getting the message or what, but not one of them moved. At first. When the girl actually dared to snatch her friends' hands to make a break for it, they were immediately seized. Tenten broke out another scroll, this time preparing to kill if she had to. Needless to say she hadn't been prepared for a boulder to drop from the sky. Only it wasn't a boulder, it was a student! He landed directly on the terrorist's back, and that in turn freed the children. "Who the hell are you?" she asked. The balloon shrank, spectacularly forming limbs and a head.

"Name's Choji Akimichi!" He saluted, chubby face flushed with adrenalin. "Here to help!" Tenten choked with relief. Karma really kicked ass.

He made for one helluva wrecking ball, and together with Tenten's flying arsenal of blades they managed to knock out all four terrorists. What a bunch of punks. Choji slumped to the ground when it was done, panting and grinning. Tenten joined him after making sure the children were okay. Her chakra was spent. "Are you okay?" Choji managed to ask between breaths.

"I'm good," she huffed. They slapped hands, smiling.

"You guys are awesome!" the children cried. Tenten sighed heavily.

"And you guys are in trouble. Deep trouble. You're coming to the academy with us!" She turned back to Choji. "Name's Tenten by the way." He nodded, and then pointed to the men lying unconscious on the ground.

"Didja notice?" he asked, finally catching his breath.

"Notice what?"

"Their forehead protectors . . . they're blank."

There wasn't a curse in existence Sasuke did not gut himself with when he realized what had happened. This was his fault. To think he'd allowed something like this to happen because of such a stupid distraction! He'd only taken his eyes off her for a second. How in the hell does someone just vanish?

Panic had not subsided in the village. Those who hadn't made it to their doors were still darting through the streets. Somewhere a child was crying and somwhere else a woman was shouting for her husband. The same thing could be found on every street and at every corner, and with street lights getting knocked out by flying chakra and Kami knows what else, it was swift becoming a black blur. However, only one sound blared through Sasuke's ears; the sound of all his inner curses besieging him. Kami, he was such a . . . a dobe.

"Sasuke!" He stuck his heels into the rooftop and glanced over the edge. It was Sakura. She was waving to him frantically, just about falling over her feet to get to him. He kneeled at the edge of the roof when she came close enough, examining to see if there were any injuries on her. There weren't, but tears did spring to her eyes when she saw him; equal parts fear, equal parts relief. "Sasuke-kun, are you alright? What's happening?"

"What are you doing?" he snapped. "You're supposed to be at the academy." She jerked back.

"I was looking for you . . . we need to go together! The village is—"

"Yeah, I know."

"The academy isn't that way. Where were you going?" He snorted and rose to his feet. With his view of the market he was able to see people running through the square, and the patches of darkness being thickened by smoke over the tops of apartments. Hinata could be anywhere in the village. He didn't have time to waste with Sakura or anyone else, and that included everyone at the academy.

"Don't worry about me," he told her, but it sounded more like a command. "Just get to the academy like you're supposed to. I can't afford to babysit you right now, do you understand? This isn't some stupid throwaway mission from Kakashi. If you encounter any enemies just run, got it? Don't try to fight."

"S-Sasuke," she whimpered, biting hard on her lip. "I . . . I won't leave you. I don't know what you're doing, but you can't just run off alone!"

Sakura," Sasuke growled. "I told you to—"

"Sasuke!" someone called, rushing in from the market. Sasuke rolled his head with a toss of his bangs.

"Goddammit." It was Ino just making her way from a streaming crowd, waving to him in the way Sakura had done.

"Sasuke, there you are!"

"Get out of here, pig!" Sakura shouted. "Just get to the academy!"

"I'm here for Sasuke, Billboard Brow, not you!"

"I don't have time for this." Sasuke hissed. He didn't hesitate to turn his back to them. "Get to the school, both of you. I'll be fine, okay? I always am."

"But Sasuke!" they cried in unison. "I'll go with you!"

If they wanted to argue like children that was their damage. Sasuke made his escape in the midst of their arguing, fully believing that when they realized he was seriously gone, they would find their way to the academy together, having no choice. Every second wasted felt like a nail being driven into his chest.

Even though he had told the girls he'd be fine, truth was, he had no idea where he was going. Moving was better than standing, and if he was right in assuming that Hinata had been kidnapped, then it was probably better that way. She wouldn't just leave him in a situation like this. Something must have happened to her. Something . . .

It had been a long time since he'd felt this way. This powerful concern, this anger, this overwhelming guilt. The rage he felt toward the kidnapper, toward the terrorists, toward himself, was a collision of sorts, like the kind he'd only ever experienced with Itachi. He hated it. He wanted it to go away.

'Hinata,' he thought feverishly, 'be okay. I'll come get you. You don't have to fight your way out of this and you don't have to forgive me. Just please . . . be okay.'

*AN*

If you like this story and want to be kept updated, please TWEET me at Stitchpuppy01 so I can respond to you personally! I'd LOVE LOVE LOVE to hear from you!

(Haha, Naruto was at the ramen shop! :p)

And by the way, just WHY the hell doesn't Tenten have a last name?