The Wanderers
Chapter 72 – The Necessary Help
A/N: I just want to say something about reviews for a second. I have no issue with criticism, in fact I encourage it. I can't improve unless I know what I'm doing wrong. So please continue to review and tell me ways I can improve this story for your enjoyment. Ultimately I write this story for you guys, and love reading your input, whether positive or negative.
A/N2: I also want to say that I regret what I did with Gai. It was early on in the story and I thought it was the right thing to do, but it was stupid, I'll admit that. If I could go back and change it, I would.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. If I did, some of the shinobi would have wings. Like angel wings.
***Previously-On***
After invading the Land of Fire with his entire population, Neji and his people settled into the Fire Temple as a defensible position and waited for the inevitable Quiraji counterattack. After a week of nothing they began to suspect that the Quiraji didn't even care about their presence. That was when the Quiraji began to attack. Assassin's appeared and slaughtered small groups of shinobi without so much as a retaliation. The next night they returned, but the Otogakure shinobi fought them off, killing a large number of the assassins. The following night they prepared for a similar attack, but instead they were attacked by a horde of beasts summoned by Shiori. They were able to fight them off, but even then they were assisted by their new allies.
***End Summary***
"You're very welcome," said Naruto with a flash of a grin on his face. He didn't intend to hide his happiness that their expedited movements had helped end the battle, but when he saw the leader's face he couldn't help himself.
The Otokage was grateful that the shinobi group had come to help them, but he would have preferred them arrive before the battle started. Neji watched as Naruto and his cousin was joined by Uchiha Sasuke, a strange woman with an amused expression on her face, and what he assumed was Sasuke's older brother.
"As I said, we're happy you came when you did, but we didn't need rescuing." Neji centered his chakra flow from the chaos it had become during the battle. "We had this under control."
Naruto chuckled and wiped his hands as the shadow clones around them cleaned up after the battle. "Keep telling yourself that."
Neji ignored the blonde shinobi and smiled at his cousin, "I'm glad to see that you are okay. I heard all manner of chaotic things from the Land of Earth."
"We're okay," said Hinata with a similar smile. She motioned to their companions, "We brought who we could."
The Otokage nodded a greeting at the Uchiha brothers, making no comment as to the state of Itachi's eyes. His white eyes rested on their female companion and his analytic skills kicked into overdrive as he tried to figure out what felt familiar about her.
He activated his Byakugan for only a moment before he realised what the feeling was. "Ah! You're the Senju girl. I've heard a lot about you."
Fiore's amused expression dropped and she stepped towards the Otokage with a wooden staff appearing in her hands, "I'm no Senju! Don't you dare group me with those bastards."
"Give it a rest," said Sasuke, kicking at one of the hounds on the ground. "Nobody cares."
The Cascading Flow warrior turned to her partner and started to give him a piece of her mind, while Neji gave orders to some of the Otogakure shinobi nearby and turned back to his cousin.
"How did you find us? I was expecting you to hold position back at Otogakure. I was going to have you attack from a different angle to weaken the Quiraji position here."
Naruto clapped his wife's shoulder with pride, "Hinata found the little clues you left between there and here. She knew exactly what to look for. Sorry to disappoint you."
The elder Hyuuga smirked proudly at his cousin; he had left small things in the hope that she would do exactly that. They weren't based on chakra, but rather they were seals made with ink that only she would understand. However he also left them only in the case that they encountered Quiraji forces back at the Otogakure village. "You are late."
"We were a little busy ending a war," said Naruto, glancing over at the arguing couple. "But somehow I think that's what you wanted." He wasn't given to adopting suspicious looks, but Naruto was starting to recognise how much manipulation the Hyuuga elder had done to further his goals. He wasn't complaining, but a little bit of an explanation would have been nice.
"Where are all your people, Neji?" asked Hinata. "We couldn't find a trace of any of your civilians at all. Did you hide them somewhere in the Land of Rice Fields?"
Itachi came up to the group and motioned towards the Fire Temple with his arm, "They're hiding underground. A curious strategy, bringing them here. All your chips are in the same place."
Hinata's alarmed look was enough to make Neji pause before putting up his hand to reassure her. "I'll explain it in a minute. This area isn't fully secure yet; the five of you should come back to the Fire Temple. We aren't sure why these creatures haven't disappeared yet. Clearly they aren't like normal summoned creatures."
Nearby Naruto knelt down beside one of the hounds and felt at its fur for a moment, "These were Shiori's creatures…you're in some serious trouble here, Neji."
Neji's head snapped across to regard another section of the village. "I'll be back in a moment. Find out what you can about the creatures." He disappeared before they could say anything, but when Hinata examined the area with her Byakugan she shrugged; she couldn't see anything that warranted his immediate departure, though she recognised that her cousin's doujutsu exceeded hers by a fair margin.
"He left in a hurry," commented Naruto, but he could tell he was taking his job seriously. He respected Neji's position, even if he still thought he had a stick up his ass.
They turned their attention back to the creatures that they had just been fighting.
"These are fascinating creatures," said Itachi, kneeling in front of one of the killed rhinos and placing a hand on its leathery side. His face wasn't looking at the creature at all, but he could still feel its characteristics through his hands. "Not made of chakra…but also not flesh and bone like normal animals."
"How you can tell that without eyes is beyond me," said Naruto.
The older Uchiha ignored Naruto's comment and stood up slowly before turning his blazing orbs to his younger brother. "We should consult our own summoned creatures, perhaps they have some ideas on how to better defeat them. Sasuke, you're the only one here that can do the summoning technique."
Sasuke stared at Itachi for a moment before uncrossing his arms and groaning loudly. "Do I really have to? There's only one that would know anything about it and I'd really rather not…" His sentence ran off when he realised he was talking to a brick wall. He threw up his hands and began running through handseals.
"What are you doing?" asked Naruto with a raised eyebrow.
Sasuke finished the handseals and bit at his thumbs hard enough to break the skin and draw blood. "Something I really wish I didn't have to." He placed both his hands on the ground in front of him and activated the technique. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"
A large plume of smoke appeared a short distance away from him as it slowly came together into a single figure. The shinobi gathered in the area watched as the smoke dissipated and they all gaped at what they saw.
Standing between the animal bodies was a young-looking woman with almost unimaginably beautiful features that seemed to capture every part of the light that was around the area. She stood at an impressive seven-foot tall with a blood red kimono dress and a pair of fiery red eyes to match. She had long thin arms and legs with dark tanned skin and a small smile.
But the more startling feature about her was the fact that her tall spiky hair wasn't made of hair at all.
It was on fire.
The summoned woman slowly looked around the area with her fiery eyes before she finally landed on her summoner. Her expression changed from what seemed to be a motherly expression to one that could only be described as child-like enthusiasm.
Sasuke groaned loudly as the beautiful woman let out a girly squeal that seemed entirely out of place with her figure and reached down to pick up the Uchiha shinobi and twirl him around in the air close to her sizable bust.
The burst of laughter that came from Naruto's mouth was enough to make him lose his balance and fall onto the ground, as the tall woman continued to spin around in a circle with Sasuke close to her chest like a doll. He couldn't handle it; his sides were almost splitting apart.
"I'm so happy to see you little fire-faerie! It's been so long since we've seen each other!"
Sasuke sighed and tried to force a smile, "Yes, it's nice to see you too…madam."
The summoned woman placed him back down on the ground and started stroking his dark hair affectionately, "I thought I told you to call me Fenix! How are we going to be able to let our relationship blossom into a full flame without using our names?"
She glanced up a moment to see her summoner's partner standing nearby with an amused expression on her face. She smiled at her warmly, "Good to see you, Fiore."
The Cascading Flow warrior chuckled and waved at the tall woman, "Fenix, it's good to see you too. How's the land of things that are on fire?"
"Good, good." She finally released Sasuke and turned to the shinobi she didn't know. "Ah, new people! How delightful! You are all looking quite aflame."
Naruto was finally able to pick himself up from the ground and he said the first thing that came to his mind. He pointed to her and said, "What's with the hair?"
The tall woman appeared amused by his question, but ignored it and turned back to her summoner, "Why did you bring me here? I was sitting on a clutch."
Sasuke motioned to the animal bodies around them, "We thought you'd want to see these things."
She looked at the rhino nearby and her expression changed to one that better suited her outward appearance. She took a single step towards it and left a small trail of fire behind her as she placed a hand on the leathery body.
"This…this thing is…"
Before she continued the rhino burst into flames that spread to all the creatures nearby. The Otogakure shinobi seemed distressed at the fire, but didn't want to say anything against the imposing woman.
The summoned woman clutched her hands together like she was crushing something between her fingers. "Those things are just…wrong. You would do well to destroy any and all that you encounter."
"Can you tell us anything about how to fight them?" asked Itachi, stepping out from behind one of the burning bodies. "They appear to be tougher than regular summoned creatures."
The woman shrugged, "Fire works well on all living creatures. Even aberrations must burn."
"That's your solution?" said one of the Otogakure shinobi nearby. "Kill them with fire?"
"You guys didn't seem to have too much trouble taking them down," observed Naruto. He and Sasuke had taken out a very small number of the enemy creatures in comparison to the ones that the Otogakure shinobi had. He wouldn't want to admit it, but he was somewhat impressed.
"If that is all, I'd like to return to my eggs," said the summoned woman. She smiled at Sasuke before spreading out her arms to reveal a large span of fiery wings that caused her to burst into flames before disappearing completely.
The shinobi around where she had been gaped at what they saw, while Naruto looked over at his old friend with a confused look on his face. "Who is that woman?"
"Insufferable," said the Uchiha with an annoyed look on his face.
"She's the mother of his hawk summons," said Fiore with a chuckle. "The way she treats Sasuke is just priceless, isn't it?"
"She's a phoenix, isn't she?" said Hinata with a knowing look on her face. "She was beautiful."
"Did you find out anything?" came Neji's voice from nearby. He was accompanied by a group of bloody Otogakure shinobi, having gone to clean up after the battle. "Anything that we don't already know?"
"Not exactly," said Itachi with a dull tone. "Is there somewhere we can talk?"
The Otokage tipped his hat and motioned to the main section of the Fire Temple, "Come to my office, we'll talk about what we are going to do next."
Naruto and Hinata shared a look before the blonde shinobi shrugged and placed his arms around his wife's waist, "Never a dull moment."
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"Is this all of you?" asked Neji with a slightly raised eyebrow. They had gathered around his makeshift office in one of the rooms where he and his wife had taken residence. He knew that they were likely tired from their long journey, but after hearing their explanation of how they found the village he wanted to debrief them before they spoke to anyone else in the area.
He recognised that the two Uchiha's and the Cascading Flow woman were powerful fighters, but he'd been hoping for them to bring an army with them.
"We're not good enough?" said Sasuke with a frown.
Neji turned to the Uchiha heir with a tired expression; he'd been up far longer than he would have liked. "I was expecting the Cascading Flow army to accompany you. Their fighting ability would be vital against the Quiraji."
Beside her partner, Fiore scoffed and picked at her teeth with her wooden pick, "That's arrogant of you. Cascading Flow is made up of people fighting for their freedom, not some shinobi war. Expecting us to fight your battles is just stupid."
"Yet you're here," observed the Otokage. "What is your agenda here?"
Fiore grinned at the young man, "Ain't that the mystery of the hour? I'm sure it'll tear you up trying to work it out."
"Are you trying to be a pain in the ass?" said Naruto to her. He enjoyed Fiore's company, but her personality seemed to change with the wind.
Sasuke threw up a hand with an uncharacteristic sigh, "She doesn't try, she just is."
"What were your plans with the reinforcements you were expecting?" asked Itachi, having felt the fluctuation in Neji's chakra that he had tried to conceal from the others. The Hyuuga was an expert at hiding his frustrations even if his language spoke differently, but Itachi could almost feel the apprehension emanating from the Otokage.
Neji walked around the table and rubbed at his neck sorely with his hand, "It is irrelevant now. If Cascading Flow will not help us, I have to consider other alternatives." He looked down at the map of the Land of Fire on the table in front of him, taking a few moments as the cogs in his head began to turn slowly.
"You don't have the numbers to break the Quiraji hold here," said Itachi. He didn't need the ability to see to tell that the Otogakure shinobi were way out of their depth. "If they bring the full force of their army here, they'll wash over you like an ocean over a beach."
"Unless we can strike before they do so," said Neji offhandedly. He picked up a report from a large stack and read the numbers quickly before turning his white eyes back to his old companions. "We can hold this position for a long time, even against some of the Four. Enough time to find the Quiraji main base."
"But not enough strength to destroy it," said Sasuke with a scoff. "They are shinobi-killers; we'd be jumping into a trap."
"Not if we have more shinobi." Neji reached forward and pulled out a larger map; one that showed the entire continent. "It would take about five days to get there and back…"
"Suna…" said Hinata with wide eyes. "You'd have them invade the Land of Fire from their area and assist you."
Neji showed the shadow of a smile before readopting his regular stoic appearance. "The Kazekage and I have an understanding. If we present to him the opportunity to strike at the heart of the Quiraji he should jump on it."
At the other side of the table, Naruto laughed at the idea. "You're underestimating Gaara and his obligation to his people. If he thinks it'll put his village at risk, he won't send out a single shinobi to help you."
The Otokage had to admit that his cousin-in-law had a point; if he were in the same position he'd be just as cautious. However he couldn't rely on either of the other two shinobi villages to provide support at this late stage and Neji was running out of options. "Do you think you could convince Gaara to send us help?"
Naruto breathed through his teeth loudly, "That's a big ask. I couldn't ask him to send his people to their deaths."
Neji put up a hand for him to wait and pulled out a pen, "Let me worry about that. How quickly could you get there?"
"Should we go with you?" asked Sasuke, wary of how dangerous that road would be these days.
The Uzumaki shinobi shook his head quickly, "I can get through the lines without fighting; you should stay here. I'm sure you guys could be more use here anyway."
"I'm going to get some grub," said Fiore, pulling her wooden pick out of her teeth. She slapped her partner on the shoulder, "Come on."
Sasuke didn't want to admit that he didn't like Naruto going off on his own, but he knew the blonde shinobi could handle himself well enough. He didn't say anything as they left the room, with his older brother coming with them without saying anything either.
"How long would it take you to get to Suna?" asked Neji again to Naruto.
Naruto thought about it for a moment, "Half a day, maybe less."
The Otokage's eyes widened at his declaration, "That's ridiculous. Even with your techniques that's way too fast."
"It'd be faster if Gaara had agreed to take one of my kunai with him," said Naruto with a sigh. He shrugged, "It wouldn't be that fast coming back though. I can't take more than two people at once."
Neji waved off his cousin-in-laws concern, "I would be in your debt if you could do this for us. I don't mean to use you as a messenger boy."
"It's okay, Neji, I don't mind." Naruto turned to his wife with a grin, "When do you want to leave?"
Hinata sighed and ran a hand through her dark blue hair, "Let me clean my hair at least. All this running around is starting to give me grey hairs."
"I'd like your help here," said Neji to his cousin. "Your medical expertise could be vital to our efforts here."
His cousin smiled at his sweetly, but threaded her hand into Naruto's and held it tightly. "My place is at his side."
Neji sighed and stepped out from behind the table to clasp Naruto's shoulder. He didn't like that he was once again sending his cousin into danger, but if anyone was going to protect her it would be her husband.
He still didn't like that they were married though. There were some things he just didn't want to admit.
Naruto and Hinata appeared out of thin air and huddled at the top of a tree, above a large group of Quiraji soldiers. When he'd initiated the teleport, Naruto had hoped that they would pass over the soldiers altogether, but their numbers were much greater than they had thought.
"Why are there so many here?" he whispered quietly.
Hinata shrugged while continuing to hold onto him tightly. It was a difficult transition accompanying him through the teleporting; as her body was not as used to it as Naruto's was. When he used it by himself he was able to teleport every five seconds, but when he took Hinata with him they had to wait several minutes between transitions.
Naruto looked around the area to make sure that they hadn't been spotted in their hiding place before grimacing and cradling his head painfully.
"What's wrong?" whispered his wife with concern on her face.
"It's nothing, my head just hurts a bit, that's all."
Hinata reached up and placed her hand up to feel at his temple, but Naruto intercepted her hand and smiled into her eyes.
"I'm fine, really." He went to say more, but a sound from beneath them caught their attention. He looked down to see Quiraji soldiers stringing arrows into bows to shoot them down.
Naruto swore under his breath and pulled his wife closer into his body. He hated how painful this would be for her since she hadn't had time to recover yet, but they were out of options.
Wrapping the air around the two of them tightly, Naruto glanced over a mountain range nearby and activated his spiritual energy technique. They disappeared just as the air filled with arrows.
After that encounter with the large Quiraji force, it only took the married couple two hours to make it into the Land of Wind. Because of Naruto's technique they didn't have to engage any enemy forces at all. By their calculation they figured there had to be thousands of Quiraji between Sunagakure and the Land of Fire.
It would have been a messy deal trying to get any other type of messenger to Sunagakure. Getting back in wouldn't be as easy either, as the border they teleported over concealed many of the places they could teleport to.
Once they got into the desert, Naruto and Hinata took a moment to rest as they took an account of their surroundings.
"Do you remember where Suna is?" asked Naruto as he drank from his bottle.
Hinata looked around the area with her Byakugan before sighing and deactivating her eyes. "It's been so long. I can't see anything nearby and I can't remember at all."
Naruto smiled at her and patted her on the back affectionately, grimacing for a moment and touching his temple before shaking it off and standing up to stare at the sun. "Maybe I should try the thing Sasuke tried to teach me."
His wife nodded and motioned for him to try, it certainly couldn't hurt.
Placing two fingers on his forehead, Naruto concentrated his chakra like his old friend had shown him. After working so much with physical and spiritual energy separately, working with chakra in such a finite manner was very difficult, but after training so much with Kage Bunshin that he should be able to do it.
He pushed out his chakra from his forehead through his feet and spread it out as far as he could. His old teammate hadn't come up with a name for the technique and had been highly resistant to teaching him. It was only Naruto's persistence and his compromise with teaching his old friend certain aspects of physical and spiritual energy.
It was nice to be able to do something that the Uchiha genius could not. Seeing Sasuke struggle felt like some aspect of poetic justice.
After a few moments of using the technique, Naruto's eyes shot open and he stared out into the distance.
"Did it work?" asked Hinata with the hint of hope in her voice.
Naruto pointed to the expanding desert, "Not even a little bit. But there are two people approaching us."
"Then why are you smiling?"
The blonde shinobi pulled down his arm and chuckled, "Because one of them is an old friend."
Hinata activated her Byakugan again and her smile mirrored her husband's. "Trust him to be here."
They both watched as a pair of shinobi approached them riding large creatures that moved across the desert at very fast speeds. They moved straight towards them with uncanny precision, slowing to a halt as they approached the married couple and the pair jumped off their mounts.
The two of them didn't recognise the young woman that approached them, but considering her similarity to the other shinobi they knew she had to be an ally.
Naruto went to greet his wife's old teammate, but he stood no chance as a giant white dog came bounding up to him and tackled him to the ground. The Uzumaki heir was a powerful shinobi, able to break through solid walls and teleport great distances in a single bound.
He was completely pinned underneath Akamaru's giant paws and before he could try and escape his face was slammed into the desert ground by a massive wet tongue.
Hinata laughed loudly for what felt like years and turned to her old teammate, "It's so good to see you, Kiba and Akamaru. We've missed you guys."
The Sunagakure scout barked out a laugh and scratched at his face, "Same here. We were wondering when you were going to visit when Gaara told us you'd reappeared."
"Unfortunately this isn't a social call," said Hinata with a slight lessening in her smile. "We came here to get help."
"Then you came to the right place." Kiba turned and motioned to his female companion, "By the way, this is Nagisa, my cousin."
"Cousin?" Hinata could see the resemblance as clear as day because of her tattoos and her wolf companion, but she was sure there was an explanation for her existence that he would tell her in good time. She nodded to the elder Inuzuka respectfully, "It's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Hyuuga Hinata, and the man on the ground is my husband, Uzumaki Naruto."
Beneath Akamaru's rampaging form, Naruto stuck a hand out and waved it with as much strength as he could muster from such a position.
Nagisa looked the Hyuuga heiress up and down for a moment before smirking and turning to her clansman, "No wonder you had a crush on her. She's gorgeous. Way out of your league."
While trying to process the knowledge that the couple in front of him had gotten married, Kiba grimaced and made a silencing motion across his throat to his cousin, but clearly the damage was already done.
Hinata smiled sweetly at her old teammate and acted like she hadn't heard his cousin's statement, though a number of things in their shared past made much more sense, including his insistence of constantly fighting Naruto for 'practise'.
"We followed your scent here as quickly as we could," said Nagisa, ignoring her paralysed cousin beside her.
"Meaning your scouts noticed our arrival and you were sent here?" Hinata responded with a knowing look.
Nagisa ignored her comment and got straight to the point. "You mentioned you came here to get help?"
The Hyuuga kunoichi nodded quickly, "It's imperative we speak to the Kazekage as soon as possible."
"You're looking at the fastest route to Suna then," said Kiba finally, having recovered from his embarrassment. "The guards will let you through without an issue if you're with us."
He let out a low whistle that finally got Akamaru off of Naruto, to which the blonde shinobi groaned loudly before slowly pulling himself up onto his feet.
"That was…an experience," he said with a loud crack of his neck. "Should we run beside you or something?"
Nagisa ignored him and offered a hand to Hinata as her wolf companion came up beside her, "You can ride with us. Yuki and Akamaru won't mind."
"Thank you," said Hinata as she leapt up and landed on the back of the large wolf. It was strangely comfortable for an animal's back and the fur felt nice in her hands after all the desert sand around them.
Kiba stared at his cousin suspiciously as the Inuzuka elder shot him a triumphant look before he turned to the recovering blonde shinobi. He sighed and jabbed a thumb at Akamaru, "Guess you're riding with me then."
Naruto seemed to like it just as little as Kiba did, but watching Nagisa mount her wolf companion in front of his wife it was clear they had little choice in the matter. "Let's just get this over with."
Ignoring the two young men as they sorted themselves out, Nagisa reached behind her and brought Hinata's arms around her waist and motioned for her to hold on tight. Once they were ready the pair of animals launched off the desert sand with such force that she would've been thrown off if she hadn't been holding on.
Her husband, of course, went flying backwards and had to teleport forward to catch up to them.
The desert of the Land of Wind was already greeting them well.
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In the years since they had last visited the village of Sunagakure during the Chuunin Exams so long ago, the village in the sands had changed immensely. It had always been a large cluster of buildings and areas surrounded by large rock formations and a hazardous desert.
Since the war with the Quiraji started, the village had undergone dramatic changes to compensate for the shifting circumstances. The basic structure of the village remained the same, but the rock formations had been changed with Earth Element techniques that made them far more defensible.
The desert area around the village was full of traps and dangerous winds that the Inuzukas had to lead them through so that they didn't get lost or attacked by Sunagakure shinobi.
But once they had gotten through three separate checkpoints and walked through the main steps that led into the village, both Naruto and Hinata were amazed at the progress Suna had made in the few years since they'd been there. At that time they had been under both economic and military restraints following the Third Shinobi War, but now they were a thriving village that appeared to rival Konoha, though their well-trained eyes could see the defences that would spring to action at a moment's notice.
"It has been a long time," came a voice from the distance as they walked through the entrance of the village.
Both Naruto and Hinata looked around for the source, but it became apparent as a green blur shot across their view and stood in front of them with a wide grin on his face.
"Lee! You crazy bastard!" Naruto jumped forward and grabbed at his hand to shake it furiously.
The taijutsu master let out a boisterous laugh that was so frighteningly accurate that the married couple could have sworn that they were standing in front of Gai-sensei. "Naruto-kun! It has been many years since we last laid eyes on each other."
Hinata followed behind her husband and smiled at their old friend affectionately, "You are looking particularly well. We heard you have been quite active lately."
Lee let go of Naruto's hand and clapped him on the shoulder, "We'll have to speak at another time, my friends. I have to deliver a message to the border scouts before we lose the light."
Naruto glanced up at the sky for a moment before turning back to his old friend, "That's less than an hour away!"
The spandex-wearing shinobi gave him his trademark thumbs up with a grin, "I know." With that he disappeared in a similar manner to when Naruto used his teleportation technique, but the two of them knew he was just using his physical strength to propel himself at unimaginable speed.
The couple looked back outside the village in an attempt to catch the fast shinobi, but he was already long gone.
"Show off," muttered Naruto with no hint of malice in his voice. He shrugged and turned back towards the village to see two Suna shinobi standing in front of them. They didn't have their weapons out, but their expressions clearly spoke their disinterest in their presence at the village.
"Are you the ones who are going to take us to the Kazekage?" asked Naruto, wanting to talk to his friend as soon as possible.
One of the Suna shinobi glanced at the Inuzukas for a moment before turning back to their new guests. "The Kazekage is currently indisposed. He will be in a meeting until nightfall."
Naruto looked at his wife with a sigh, "Well that sucks. Wait, how did he know we were coming?"
"The same way we knew to go get you," said Kiba behind them with a smirk. "Very little happens in the Land of Wind without the sand-man's knowledge."
Nagisa's wolf companion barked out a series of sounds that made the young woman pat it affectionately and turn to her cousin, "I'll go back and complete our patrol. You should stay here and guide them through the village."
Kiba waved her off and motioned for his cousin to do just that. She barked at him in a similar manner to her companion, to which the Inuzuka heir rolled his eyes and repeated the command to Akamaru.
The white dog barked in a manner that the observers could have sworn was laughter before leaving with the female Inuzuka out of the village.
"So…what do we do now?" asked Naruto.
Hinata shrugged in response, "Maybe we could visit some of the others." She turned to the Sunagakure shinobi that had greeted them, "Are we allowed to go anywhere in the village?"
The pair of Sunagakure shinobi just scoffed and began walking back to the village, while Kiba shrugged by their side and offered to escort them. They hadn't been able to talk during the ride to the village due to travelling through a large windstorm that had since disappeared. He wanted to hear everything about what had been happening with them since they'd last met.
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While waiting for the Kazekage's meeting to finish and for him to decide whether or not to listen to their proposition, Hinata went off with Kiba to visit Ino and her daughter. They were low on time, but Naruto decided that his time was better spent visiting his friends that he hadn't seen in so much time.
And as such, he stood in front of a nice-looking door that had a plaque in the middle that brought a smirk to his face.
Chief of Medicine Dr. Haruno
He went to tap on the door, but it opened with a young man smiling at him. "You are Mr. Uzumaki, correct?"
Naruto chuckled at that, "Things have gotten so serious around here." He moved his head to look into the office, to see his pink-haired friend sitting behind a desk, writing furiously onto a pile of papers.
Without looking up, Sakura waved him in and signalled for her assistant to wait outside.
Stepping into her office and watching the young man close the door behind him, Naruto let out a low whistle at the office his old friend had. It was full of medical textbooks and things that he couldn't understand for the life of him what they were used for.
"Moved up in the world, haven't you?" he said, turning to look at his old teammate. She was the same age as he was, but something about Sakura felt like she was almost a decade older than he was. He'd heard that many different things had happened to her over the years, including a proposal to Rock Lee that he wouldn't have seen coming at all, but it troubled him to see very little of the old Sakura remaining.
Eventually Sakura finished her paperwork and looked up at him; a hint of a twinkle in her green eyes reminded him of his old friend before she settled back into her serious expression.
"So you finally married her, huh?"
Naruto cocked his head for a moment before bursting out laughing, "That's the first thing you say after all these years?"
A smirk appeared on the head doctor's face, "Well it's a nice ring on your finger. I would be remiss in not mentioning it."
The blonde shinobi attempted to recover from his fit of laughter when Sakura stood up from her chair, walked around her desk and embraced her old teammate in a tight hug. In the past he would have been excited by the contact, by the smell of her hair and the feel of her skin.
But they were different people now and Naruto returned the hug as an old friend would.
"It's good to see you, Naruto," she said quickly into his shoulder. "We thought you were dead."
"I told you, I can't die until I become Hokage."
Sakura pulled back from him and stared into his blue eyes with a raised eyebrow, "But the village was destroyed. There won't be another Hokage."
Naruto grinned in a manner that reminded her of the look he would get before he did something absolutely ridiculous. "Then I guess I'll live forever."
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Once they were let into the meeting hall, Naruto and Hinata talked to the Kazekage for a long time. They spoke about their experiences since they last met and where things had been going, with the Kazekage listening carefully to each detail.
After getting past their greetings, Naruto and Hinata laid out Neji's plan. It was clear that the elder Hyuuga hadn't told them everything and when Gaara pressed them on that they admitted to their own ignorance. However Naruto reassured his old friend that it was the best course of action and the greatest hope they had to ending the war.
"I cannot give you what you ask," said Gaara finally after all that had been said.
Naruto and Hinata looked at each for a moment before leaning forward with alarm in their expressions.
"Do you mind telling us more than a 'thanks for coming' answer?" asked Naruto with an annoyed look on his face. "We didn't come all this way just to come back with nothing!"
"Naruto, try and look at this from his side," said Hinata diplomatically. "He has an obligation to his people. He can't just commit shinobi because we say it's a good idea."
Gaara nodded in line with the Hyuuga kunoichi's point. "The mission you are proposing would not just require a contingent of Suna shinobi. To be successful, it would require both my presence and the best of our village."
He placed his hands together and breathed out slowly. "This village is the most defensible place in the world and we are keeping the Quiraji as occupied as we can. As sympathetic as I might be to your plight, I cannot offer you what you ask."
Naruto stared at his old friend for a full minute in silence before sighing and reaching into his jacket. He produced a letter and slid it across the table towards the Kazekage. "Neji thought you might respond this way. He told me to give you this letter."
Gaara looked down at the letter before taking it out and reading it carefully. Without hesitation he crumpled it up and placed it on top of a burning candle nearby and letting it burn into ashes.
"You can tell the Otokage that he can't blackmail his way into gaining support. The world doesn't work that way anymore."
"We didn't know what was in that letter," said Hinata quickly, but Gaara signalled that he already knew as such.
He turned to Naruto and cocked his head slightly to the left, as much emotion as he normally gave in situations such as this. "Is there something you wish to say, Naruto? I would ask you to be honest, but that is rarely an issue with you."
The blonde shinobi held a conflicted expression on his face for a long time as he struggled to find the right words to explain what he wanted to say. He never professed to be an eloquent person; he didn't even know the meaning of the word. But this was something he wanted to say properly, as befitting the situation.
Eventually he found the right words; though felt he should say them quickly before he lost them.
He leant forward and adopted the most serious expression he could muster.
"Gaara, I understand your position, but I have one question to ask you. When did you abandon hope?"
The Kazekage was a man of few words generally; he'd make it a point to say what he needed to say in as few words as necessary. However when his old friend called him on something he hadn't admitted to himself, he had no words to say.
But when he looked into himself, he realised that he didn't have an answer.
After a few minutes of silence, Naruto sighed loudly and turned to his wife, "I think we've wasted our time. Clearly they don't want to fight."
Gaara glared at him with a mixed expression, but Hinata was already trying to calm her husband down. She placed a hand over his carefully, "Naruto, you aren't being fair. He has responsibilities beyond what we could understand."
"Thank you, Hinata, but I can speak for myself," said Gaara before Naruto could say anything back. He turned to his old friend and his eyes darkened, "We are losing this war, Naruto."
"I know," said the blonde shinobi quickly. "And that's why we need your help. We're on the verge of extinction, Gaara. If we don't do this, then we might as well lay down with our necks on the blocks."
"I'm well aware of the circumstances," said the Kazekage with a hint of frustration in his voice. His guests could tell that Gaara was struggling with the decision more than he would've liked, but before they could speak anymore the three of them froze as they all sensed something was wrong.
An alarm sound thundered through the room to break the flow of conversation. Gaara shot to his feet and turned to an empty space at his side, his hesitation momentarily forgotten. "Matsuri, report!"
A young woman with short brown hair appeared out of thin air, kneeling in front of her leader. "Six groups of enemy forces have broken through the northern perimeter. General Nara has engaged the enemy and is holding his position."
The Kazekage gave his guests a look for a moment before placing his hands to his side and gathered up sand from a line of gourds in his office around him. Before he could warn them, his stream of sand shattered the window behind him.
The married couple shielded themselves from the flying glass as the Kazekage let the sand carry him out of his office and towards the battlefield. Matsuri hopped on the tail end of the sand and rode it out with him, while Naruto and Hinata recovered from the sudden change in the situation.
Putting down his hands, Naruto let out a long breath and stood up from his seat, "I guess that puts an end to negotiations."
"We should go help them," said Hinata, activating her Byakugan. "Prove that we're serious about this alliance."
"You don't think they can handle it? We're always fighting."
"Naruto…"
The blonde shinobi threw up his arms and moved towards the window, "Fine, fine. One day I'll win an argument with you."
Moving to his side, Hinata let out a soft chuckle and patted him on the shoulder affectionately, "Don't count on it, honey."
Naruto pulled out the sword he had won in the Land of Water and activated it with a flick of his hand, "Lead the way, dear."
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By the time Naruto and Hinata got to the front lines of the battle, it was clear that the Sunagakure shinobi had everything completely under control. Gaara had left the meeting in a big hurry and had left huge clusters of sand in his wake as he laid waste to the invading Quiraji soldiers.
With her Byakugan active, Hinata was able to take the two of them straight into the action, where they discovered a small group of Quiraji soldiers fighting against a group of Sunagakure shinobi being commanded by an old friend.
Nara Shikamaru blocked a sword strike from a soldier just in time to save himself from losing his head. He dug a hand into his shadow and pulled out a long blade that he drove into the soldier's stomach. It wasn't pretty, but nothing in the war had been pretty.
"Sir, we've got two unknowns coming in from the south!" yelled one of the shinobi under his command.
Shikamaru turned and grinned over his cigarette, "They aren't unknowns; they're old friends." He put his hands together and gathered his shadow around himself so that he could use it at a moment's notice. There were enough enemies around that he couldn't lower his guard, but seeing his old companions was enough to set his mind more at ease.
Though seeing Naruto taking down Quiraji soldiers with a sword made of lightning and Hinata flying around in the air protecting Sunagakure shinobi with her Jyuuken techniques was enough to remind him that things weren't as they used to be.
High in the air Gaara was taking out any Quiraji soldiers he could find and sealing up the hole in their wall that had been breached. The advantage of having the village constructed mostly with sand was that everything was under his command and even when he was absent from the village the other shinobi with sand techniques could defend their village.
Less than an hour after the battle had begun, it was over.
In the air on his sand platform, Gaara watched Matsuri finish off the last Quiraji soldier with a blade of wind before turning up and waving at him enthusiastically.
The two of you should just get freaky and be done with it.
Gaara resisted the urge to groan, "Keep it to yourself, Shukaku."
Gaara and Matsuri sitting in a tree…
The Kazekage, the greatest shinobi in Sunagakure and one of the most powerful shinobi still alive, drove his fist into his stomach, hard. It was enough to make him double-over on top of his sand platform, but the monster raccoon that resided inside reeled back and kept the remainder of the song to itself.
With that situation under control, the Kazekage slowly floated down to the ground near where Naruto and Shikamaru were sorting out the after-effects of the battle. They greeted him with a courteous nod as he leapt down onto the ground.
"This won't stop until we do something serious," said Naruto, deactivating his sword and hooking it back onto his belt. "You know what the right thing to do is," he said directly to Gaara.
Gaara collected his sand back into the container on his back and looked over the battlefield. They might have won the day, but every shinobi he lost was a stab in his heart. "I can't just leave my people to their fate. I am the Kazekage and this is my village."
At his side, Shikamaru lit up a cigarette and took in a long puff, "Gaara, we'll hold the village until the last man, woman or child. If it means winning the war, you should go with them."
"How do you know our plan?" asked Naruto with a dumbfounded expression. He and Shikamaru had barely exchanged words as they'd fought on the battlefield together.
The Nara heir turned to him with a condescending look that would have made his teacher blanch in horror. "It's called information, Naruto. I knew why you were coming before you did."
The Kazekage wasn't one to demonstrate emotions, but he pulled down his Kage hat to conceal his expression. "A Kage's job is to defend his people. I can't just go off on an adventure and leave them to their fate."
He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to see Naruto smiling at him. The blonde shinobi pointed with his finger, "Perhaps you should turn around and see for yourself."
Gaara turned slowly and even his stoic expression broke as he saw rows upon rows of Sunagakure shinobi and ANBU kneeling with their fists over their hearts. Even those that bore the wounds of the recently fought battle knelt proudly in honour of their leader.
At the front was his old Jounin instructor, Baki, looking at him with pride on his face. "We'll hold the village, Kazekage-sama. The people trust your judgement and ability to save us."
The other kneeling shinobi echoed his statement before standing up in synchronisation and saluting him proudly.
Gaara let out a long breath; there was only one thing he could do with such support from his people. It wasn't a decision he liked, but if it was for the survival of his village, he would make any sacrifice necessary, including sacrificing his own life.
He turned to his first friend and adjusted his Kage hat so that he wore fully and proudly.
"You have your army."
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Most of the shinobi that fought in the defence of Suna earlier had been Chuunin and Jounin, the mainstay of the Sunagakure army. Gaara recognised that his presence in the Land of Fire was necessary because of the power he wielded, and that he had an obligation to draw the Quiraji's attention away from his home.
But he wasn't about to leave his home undefended. With a standing force of thousands, Gaara, in consultation with the Council, was only being accompanied by less than ten percent of the working shinobi of Sunagakure.
However the vast majority of those shinobi coming with him were veterans of war, the best fighters that Suna had produced over the years, including three of the current Council members.
And every single ANBU available.
It had taken several hours of preparation to get their supplies in order for the long trip, and in the meantime Gaara was in constant consultation with his head strategists and theorists.
"We're pulling back all our long-term scouting teams," said one of the strategists. "The long range observers will remain in place, but everyone else is falling back to the village as we speak."
Gaara nodded in acceptance of the plan and turned to his chief military strategist, "I would like a straight evaluation. How long can you hold the village?"
Shikamaru put out his finished cigarette and fingered a new one in his hand, "In theory, forever. We have resources that the Quiraji simply don't, including food and supplies. Despite appearances, we aren't truly under siege. It's more of a standoff and we hold the high ground."
He flicked on his lighter and placed his cigarette at the edge of his mouth, "But every loss we suffer is one that cannot be replaced, while the Quiraji seem to have no issue expending soldiers to further their goals."
Everyone in the room knew that it was a risky venture they were undertaking, but after being on the defensive for so long it was a refreshing change to be able to go on the attack. "If none of the Four come to attack us, we shouldn't have too many issues. We can assume they'll be too occupied with your invasion to worry about us too much."
"But we must work under the assumption that they could take advantage of my absence," said Gaara, clasping his hands together on top of the round table. "This village is the most defensible place in the world and I refuse to believe that it will fall to our enemies."
He slowly stood up from his seat and placed his Kage hat back onto his head, turning to regard each strategist in turn before finally staring at his brother-in-law.
"You will hold this village. That's an order."
Each of the strategists stood up and saluted their Kage, while Shikamaru sighed and continued smoking his cigarette.
He wouldn't be able to relax for a long time yet.
As Gaara left the hall, he saw Ino standing in the corridor with a confused expression on her face. Without saying a word he motioned for her to follow him. Knowing the Kazekage was generally a man of few words, the doctor followed him to his office and waited for him to be ready as he stood behind his desk and began preparing scrolls for the journey.
"You'll be accompanying us to the Land of Fire," said Gaara with a strong tone.
"Do I have a choice in this matter?"
The Kazekage placed a pair of scrolls in a pack he had been preparing, "You do and yet you do not."
Ino shook her head with a sigh, "Why not send Sakura? She's the best doctor in the village."
"She is, and that is precisely why she is staying. Her issues in the field prevent her from assisting us, but you have extensive experience and are the best person to head up our medics."
"I'm sorry, but I can't help you in this." Ino wanted to help her friends, but she had a greater obligation. "I couldn't possibly leave my daughter. She is all I have."
"You are aware that there is nowhere that can be considered safe anymore, right?"
Ino sighed and stared out of the window of his office, "Painfully aware. What are you implying?"
Gaara buckled his pack and called for an assistant to fetch it for him. "I don't have to spell it out, do I?"
It didn't take Ino long to work out what he meant and the rant that ensued was one of her best. It had anecdotes, metaphors, various tone changes and interpretive hand signals.
Gaara let her get it all out of her system without saying a word. He respected her position as a mother and as a shinobi, but as a Kage he had to give some difficult orders.
And that included asking a young mother to bring her talented daughter on a dangerous mission. He knew that she wouldn't let her daughter out of her sight and swore that she would only be surviving on the backlines where they wouldn't be threatened.
"You know that Airi isn't telepathic, right? She's just a child."
"She also has abilities that you don't even understand and would not be a burden." Gaara's tone continued to indicate that she didn't have a choice in the matter.
It was implied, but she did recognise the fact that if their mission failed in the Land of Fire, the destruction of Sunagakure wouldn't be far behind. Nowhere was truly safe and Airi's place was at her side regardless of where she went.
"I won't put my daughter into any serious danger. Suna doesn't seem to be a safe place either, and if this helps make a safer world, then I'll do it."
She hated the fact that she had to do it, but she swore that if anything happened to Airi, he would be the first person she killed.
It was a hard life, being a shinobi mother.
Crossing the border from the Land of Rivers into the Land of Fire was relatively easy once they made it clear to the Quiraji soldiers patrolling the border that they meant business. With the Sunagakure ANBU and shinobi in combination with the Kazekage was more than enough to overwhelm the small number of guards that were more of a statement rather than a standing force.
They didn't wait on ceremony to regard their slain enemies though. With the Kazekage at the front they moved at top speed towards the Fire Temple where they expected to find the Otogakure shinobi to be under heavy assault.
"It almost feels like we're getting the gang back together," said Kiba as they ran across the grasslands in their old home country.
"Not everyone," said Naruto with a long drawn-out sigh. He'd hoped to have Shikamaru and the others to come with them, but he understood that the defence of Suna was highly important.
Once they had crossed the border Lee had shot ahead of the group to ensure that Neji was aware that reinforcements were on their way, having made the trip to and from the Land of Fire many times. Naruto had offered to come with him, but Gaara had insisted that he accompany the main force, since his techniques were very good at preserving bodies.
"Don't take it too hard," said his wife, running at his side. She didn't need her Byakugan to be active to see the troubles on her husband's face, but she also knew that he wouldn't want to talk about it in front of the others.
Naruto smiled at her affectionately, but his eyes spoke of how bad his headaches had become.
"We're still two days away, even at this speed," said Nagisa, on top of her wolf companion. "We might be too late."
Kiba scoffed, "I'm sure Neji is sitting all nice and snug." At his side Akamaru barked in disagreement, and the look from his old teammate was enough to almost make him whimper.
"We aren't going to rescue Neji-niisan," said Hinata with a tone that Kiba barely recognised. "We're going to assist him."
The Inuzuka heir waved off her comment and focused on the woman running just ahead of him. He hated the fact that she had come with them, but the small child she carried in her arms was the main source of his concern. Ino wasn't the type to bring her child into danger without complete loss of her reason and Airi wasn't a normal child, but he saw the little girl as under his protection.
After an hour of travel, the Kazekage called for a temporary break. With soldier pills they would be able to travel days without resting, but Gaara was well aware that they would likely need to be in top fighting form when they arrived.
While munching on a stick of charred meat, Naruto rubbed at his temples sorely. He'd spent years not being affected by any kind of disease or affliction, so headaches were something completely foreign to him.
The sun had set hours before they'd entered the Land of Fire and the night was particularly cold, but that didn't stop the shinobi from being on edge and setting up guards. The Sunagakure shinobi were very quiet as they rested and prepared for the long journey that remained in front of them.
"Can I have a shower when we get there?" asked Airi to her mother with the most innocent look she could muster.
Ino smiled and continued to brush her daughter's hair affectionately, "I'm sure we can find something, dear. There might even be kids your age there."
"Like Jono?" Airi had developed what could amusingly be considered a crush on a young Suna boy that was a few years older than she was. Ino hadn't been sure how to handle it, but her adopted daughter was much smarter than she could have thought and swore that she didn't use her special ninjutsu abilities to communicate with him.
After a few minutes of quiet, Airi head almost snapped across and her pale blue eyes locked onto one of the nearby Konoha survivors.
"What is it honey, what's wrong?" asked a concerned Ino, not recognising the too-serious expression on her daughter's face.
There's a monster in that man's head!
Switching to her telepathy showed how she was, but Ino was quick to reassure her. "It's okay; he's in control of it. He's had the monster since he was born."
Airi shook her head so quickly that her hair seemed to move independently. No, no! The monster is…it's claws are hurting the man! I can hear his screams!
Now Ino knew something truly was wrong. She cradled her daughter in her arms and stood up cautiously, walking over to the married couple with a concerned look on her face.
Naruto was too preoccupied with his headache to notice her approach, but Hinata could read her expression from a mile away. She put up a hand to stop her and got up to meet the medic in front of her husband. "Is something the matter?" she asked with at a whisper.
Stroking her daughter's hair, Ino glanced at her friend's husband. "You know about my daughter's ability, right?"
Hinata nodded, she'd been told all about Airi by Kiba. She thought she was adorable and could clearly see Kurenai's influence on her child. Despite herself, she could almost feel her motherly instincts churning at the beautiful little girl.
"She says there is something wrong with Naruto," whispered Ino to her.
The Hyuuga heiress frowned and turned back to her husband, looking him over like a doctor would a patient. At first she couldn't see anything beside a regular headache that was likely caused by stress, but something didn't quite fit.
She motioned for Ino to take her daughter back and stepped forward to kneel in front of her husband. He still hadn't brought his face up to notice the discussion and didn't even notice when she placed her hands on either side of his face and her hands started to glow blue.
The moment she activated her medical technique she realised that she should have noticed it the moment he had complained of having a headache. It was a complex issue that she couldn't even begin to understand, but she knew that she couldn't just leave it to its own devices.
It was then that Naruto began to scream at the top of his lungs.
The sound drew every shinobi in the area's attention immediately and they leapt up with weapons ready to fight off any invaders that came near them.
Naruto's hands shot up to Hinata's and clutched at them so tightly his nails drew blood from her arms. Despite this, Hinata refused to move her hands from her husband's head, determined to not let him go.
"What is going on?" demanded Gaara as he arrived at the scene in a whirlwind of sand. He'd found it difficult to sleep outside of his village, but years of insomnia had made him used to not being able to sleep. However the dark rings around his eyes had already begun to resurface as clearly as they had once been.
Naruto roared out in pain and his head shot upwards, his voice changing from its usual tone to one that sounded closer to a beast. Hinata's white eyes widened as she recognised the sound and took one of her glowing hands from the side of his head and clamped it over his mouth.
"Naruto's sick," said Hinata almost dismissively.
Gaara leaned forward to look closer, "Since when does that happen?"
The two Inuzuka's bounded up to the commotion, with both holding their noses.
"What the hell is that smell?" exclaimed Kiba through his held nose. "It just came out of nowhere."
Hinata went to respond, but Naruto roared out through her silencing hand and froze up before collapsing onto the ground. His wife tried to catch him and failed, but she cradled his head and activated her Byakugan to examine him.
Nearly a dozen people behind her all spoke at once, but Hinata couldn't hear a word they were saying. With her Byakugan active she could see the destructive chakra running through her husband's system, shutting down his organs one at a time. She took her hands from his head and placed them on top of his chest.
Her medical technique was the only thing keeping his heart beating, though it was a close thing. She didn't notice when Ino lent her assistance to keep him stable, or when a passing group of Quiraji stumbled onto the Sunagakure force and attacked them with impunity.
She only cared about keeping him alive.
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"This is complete crap!" said Kiba with a disgusted look on his face.
Gaara stared at the Inuzuka heir for a moment before turning back to Hinata, "I'm sorry, but that is my decision. I consider Naruto my friend, but I have a greater obligation. We don't have a choice."
After staying up the whole night, Hinata had tired rings around her eyes to match the Kazekage, but she still kept her senses as she nodded numbly. "I can't leave my husband. I'll stay here and defend him even if it costs me my life."
"We'll stay with you," said Kiba stubbornly at her side. His companion Akamaru barked out in agreement, but Hinata placed a hand on her old teammate's shoulder to dissuade him.
"You have to go with them, Kiba. They'll need your skills for tracking." Hinata turned around before he could respond and walked back to her husband's comatose body and her hands glowed with her medical technique once again. "Leave us here."
"Hinata…" muttered Kiba, but he could see that she'd made up her mind.
"We can't delay here any longer," said Nagisa beside her kinsman. "Either we leave a group to guard him, or we take him back to Suna."
"We can't risk moving him," said Ino with a long sigh. "His organs are constantly in flux; his body is literally trying to eat itself alive." She turned to look at the blonde shinobi's body, "I don't know what she's doing, but it's keeping him alive."
"Is there anything we could do to help?" asked Gaara, not wanting to just leave his friend on his own in enemy territory. "We have to keep moving, but I'm not comfortable leaving him on his own."
"You should all go," said Hinata after a few moments of silence. Her voice conveyed the seriousness of what she was saying, yet they could all hear the warning as well.
Gaara was unsure about her request, but organised his shinobi to move out regardless. They were ready within moments, having been on constant edge since the Quiraji attack.
Before anyone could comment about what she said, Hinata turned to regard them with her Byakugan blazing. "The Kyuubi's chakra is trying to take over his body. Without a seal holding it in place, it could break out at any moment. I know Naruto wouldn't want any of you to get hurt because of him."
"What about you?" asked Kiba, concerned about his old teammate's wellbeing. "You'd be right in the centre of the chaos if the Kyuubi comes out."
"I'm his wife," said Hinata stubbornly. "I'm not leaving his side."
They tried to talk her into letting them help her, but Hinata refused in a manner that was quite reminiscent of her comatose husband. Eventually they relented and admitted they didn't have any more time to spend before reaching Neji's position at the Fire Temple.
Gaara gave her a scroll that he described contained an instrument that could be used to possibly seal a Tailed Beast. It had been something he had been keeping a hold onto if Shukaku ever got out of hand, but over the past few years he had realised he no longer needed it.
After saying their goodbyes and wishing her well, the Sunagakure group moved on within the Land of Fire. Once she saw they were gone, Hinata sighed and continued her vigil over her husband.
You're fighting against the inevitable, little girl.
"Shut your mouth, fox," she spat back at the voice in her head. While she was connected to Naruto through her healing technique she was able to experience what was going on within his mind. It wasn't how she normally responded to adversity, but the situation had robbed her of her patience.
She could see her husband fighting against the monster that lay within him. All she could do was keep him alive and have faith that he would return to her.
Author's Note:
Okay, I know the ending is a bit weird, but trust me; it'll make sense after the next chapter. The reason for that happening will become clear, and also why Hinata told the others to leave them be.
Please review and tell me what you think. I try to take each review into account, and believe me I read them all. Tell me what can be improved, what you liked, what you didn't, everything. I'm a writer so I'm always open to criticism.