CHAPTER 20 - Back to the village (1)

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March was quickly coming to a close.

They had heard nothing about the cult since the Rinne Festival. Despite how much time slipped by she never forgot about the looming threat. How could she?

She was just over 7 months along and being so far from her due date her fears of the cult taking action were low. They wanted her baby. They had already confirmed she was pregnant so now it felt like a waiting game.

She knew Naruto wasn't comfortable with that. She wasn't either but he was more vocal about it.

They were preparing for bed after an exhausting day of a regular follow up at the hospital and starting to baby proof the house.

"I can't believe I had that many shurikens and kunai lying around," Naruto said as he slid under the covers.

Hinata giggled. "Me neither. I found one under the kitchen table."

She climbed into bed beside him, watching in amusement as his face scrunched up into a contemplative look.

"I can't remember why I had that there," he finally said, shrugging.

"Ran out of clean knives?" Hinata teased.

He laughed, rolling onto his side to watch her.

"What?" she asked, fidgeting.

"Nothing," he said with a grin.

She settled into the blanket, a satisfied exhale leaving her lips. "Oh, Naruto-kun. I forgot to tell you. Shino-kun will be stopping by early tomorrow morning before his clan duties."

"Oh yeah? For what?"

"He only told me he had a gift for the baby," she said, smiling at him.

"A gift?" Naruto asked, suddenly looking excited. "I wonder what Shino would give." He wrinkled his nose. "You think it'll be bugs?"

Hinata laughed. "He's not going to give us bugs."

"Hey, you never know! What if he found some new species of beetle that specializes in babysitting."

Hinata laughed. "You're ridiculous, Naruto-kun."

He chuckled, his eyes softening as he looked at her. "Comfortable?" he asked.

"Mhm, he's quiet today," she whispered, staring into Naruto's blue eyes which seemed to glow bright in the moonlight. "Maybe he fell asleep."

Naruto reached over to rest his hand on the swell of her belly. "Can you believe it, Hinata? In less than two months, he'll be here."

She placed her hand over his own. "I'm excited, Naruto-kun. But I'm also nervous."

"I know, Hime," he said, his tone hushed. "It's going to be a big change. But we'll be okay."

"I know," she said, her voice soft but confident. "I have you."

He leaned over to kiss her before they settled down and fell asleep. She fell asleep quickly but had restless dreams that night.

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Naruto woke up abruptly.

His eyes opened blearily as he wondered what woke him so suddenly. He sat up, the blanket falling into his lap as he glanced over at Hinata. She was sleeping but from the occasional twitch of her eyebrows and downturn of her lips he figured she was having a bad dream.

Did Hinata move and that woke him up?

He didn't think so. She was snuggled into a comfortable position and he knew in her pregnant state there weren't many of those.

For a brief second he considered going back to bed but something was stopping him.

Something felt off.

His body felt tense and he felt the goosebumps on his arm raise.

He shifted, moving to wake Hinata. He felt guilty but...better safe than sorry.

"Hinata," he whispered. "Love, wake up."

"Naruto-kun?" she blinked tiredly, getting up onto one elbow. "Are you okay?"

He nodded, his eyes sharp as he took in the darkness of the room, his ears straining, senses alert.

"I'm just...something is wrong," he told her. "I'm sorry to wake you but you need to get up-"

He felt something. Someone.

"Someone's here," he said, on his feet in an instant. His chakra flared and he was surrounded in a flaming cloak, illuminating the once dark room. The glow from his chakra cast light on Hinata's face- she was frightened.

"Naruto-"

"It's her," he said, his voice harsh as he activated his Sage Mode. He felt fury bubbling inside of him-

So they were finally making a move.

He couldn't sense anyone else which felt odd to him. Why would she come alone?

He was at rigid attention, his shoulders taut as his instincts screamed at him to protect his family.

"She's in the apartment," he said it so fast it almost sounded like one word.

The next second he was rushing towards the door, pulling it open, knowing all too well that Gokai stood on the other side.

"Naruto-kun, wait-!"

But he couldn't- he knew where the threat was and he had to act.

He pulled open the door, his chakra fanning out as it took shape into arms ready to grab at the woman who would want to hurt Hinata and their baby.

Gokai stood there calmly, an annoyingly smug smile on her face.

"I wouldn't if I were you," she said quietly, her eyes narrowed as she watched his chakra burn around him.

"Are you that confident?" Naruto asked, pushing down the urge to just lunge at her- send his tailed beast chakra arms to grab her. "You're that confident that you came here alone?"

While he spoke he made sure Hinata's chakra signature stayed steady behind him. If there was any waver- he would move.

"We need time, Uzumaki Naruto," Gokai answered.

He didn't know what that meant. But he didn't care to waste time thinking about it.

"Are you going to attack me?" she asked with a tilt of her head. "Send those chakra arms out at me?"

He jerked forward and for a miniscule second Gokai's eyes widened as if she hadn't expected that but a strangled gasp froze him in his tracks.

He whirled around-

"Hinata!"

She was being held by tall, cloaked figures. One held her by her hair, the other had her arms.

"Naruto-kun!"

But- but I didn't sense them-

Understanding dawned on him. His eyes flickered to the open window.

"Puppets," he cursed, running back into the room as Hinata struggled in the opponent's grasp.
"No-" she cried out, her eyes focused on something behind him. "Naruto-kun, wait your chakra-"

He sensed Gokai coming- he sensed the ill intent.

He formed a rasengan just as fast, turning on his toes-

Gokai was grinning, a green orb in her hand. Naruto's anger flared, his lips were curled in a snarl as he swung his arm towards her, his rasengan colliding with her orb-

Suddenly he felt drained.

He watched in horror as his rasengan dissipated, as his golden cloak was sucked away-

Like the time in the tunnels-

"What-?" he croaked, falling roughly to his knees as Gokai kept moving, her orb making contact with his chest-

Kurama, who was snarling in his mind, went silent.

"My chakra-"

He could hear Hinata's screams as he fell backwards. He could see her, struggling. He watched helplessly as a puppet tugged roughly at her hair and she pulled one arm free in an attempt to gentle fist the puppets to no avail. There were no pathways to close- nothing to attack-

Gokai bent down next to him.

"Your jutsus won't touch me," she whispered. "I am a descendent of the Otsutsuki clan. I may not be as strong as the clan on the moon but it is enough. Your chakra is gone. You will die."

"Hinata-"

Naruto reached feebly for her, his heart breaking at the sight of tears running down her cheeks.

I...failed?

"Don't..." he said weakly, his voice barely a whisper.

Gokai stood and Hinata's screams faded. He couldn't hear anything anymore as the world seemed to darken. His chakra cloak was gone, the room lit only by the moon's rays but Hinata's distraught expression was seared into his mind.

Her mouth was moving but he couldn't hear her- he was losing consciousness fast-

Gokai approached her and he watched Hinata struggle, on her knees as she tried to claw her way towards him. He watched helplessly as the puppets yanked her back. He watched as Gokai caressed her face, her lips moving in words he couldn't hear. He watched as the puppets forced her into standing as Gokai moved her hands to Hinata's stomach, the glint in her eyes-

Hinata was shouting- he couldn't hear but she was shouting.

Hinata...my baby…

The world continued to go black as he watched Gokai shove the green ball into Hinata, her terrified, opal eyes widening, shifting to meet his gaze one more time before fluttering shut, her body going limp.

I'm sorry.

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"HINATA!"

Naruto woke up with a gasp, his heart thundering in his chest.

Where was he? Where was he?

Where was she?!

He couldn't recognize his surroundings- the beeping, the wires, the IV-

"Naruto-"

His head turned in panic, eyes frantic-

"Tsunade-baachan," he croaked. "What- where's Hinata?"

He was panicking and he knew it.

Kurama?

The fox was still silent and that unnerved him to no end.

Tsunade was looking at him with sad eyes and he hated it.

"Where is she?" he repeated, glancing around as if he would see her. See the love of his life waiting for him.

The hospital. That's where he was.

A quick glance out the window made his heart drop.

"It's morning," he muttered. "It's morning…"

"Yes, you've been out for a few hours since we found you-"

"A few hours?!" he tossed the blankets aside, throwing his legs over the side of the bed but Tsunade surged forward as if she were prepared for this very moment. She gripped him by the shoulders and pushed him back with her monstrous strength.

"You're lucky you're even alive, Naruto, you baka!" Tsunade shouted. "You were nearly depleted of all your chakra. You were basically dead!"

"I don't care!" he cried. "I need to get to Hinata! Why- it's been so long. She's in trouble! You said a few hours- what took so long?!"

Tsunade glared at him.

"We didn't know what happened," she explained. "There were no explosions. No gang of cult members sneaking through the village. The only reason we found you as early as we did was thanks to your friend, Shino."

"Shino…" Naruto remembered now what Hinata told him last night. How Shino was going to drop by.

"Yes. He said he knocked at your apartment and received no reply. That Hinata would never cancel on him without warning so he took the liberty to send a bug into your home. He apologizes for it but as soon as he found out about your condition he called for help. Naruto, you were just barely hanging on. Probably by sheer will and stubbornness-"

He scoffed, replaying what had happened. How ashamed he felt. He also remembered how Gokai said they needed more time.

More time…

"They're going to the village," he whispered. "Tsunade-baachan, I have to go-"

"We have Team 8 and Sakura tracking them as we speak," Tsunade told him. "Sasuke is unfortunately on a mission. No one assumed this would happen so soon." There was a beat. "I presume you know why we sent Sakura as well?"

Naruto's fingers curled into a fist.

Of course he knew.

"They want the baby," he said hoarsely. "Hinata's going to be giving birth. Right now."

Tsunade nodded. "I wouldn't be surprised if the stress triggered contractions all on its own but you said they had a healer. It's possible they will be inducing. But...Naruto that means your child will be born very soon."

He growled, moving to get to his feet but Tsunade's grip was firm.

He glared at her.

"I'm going."

"Naruto, I nearly depleted all of my own chakra to keep you alive," she said. "And even still you need to recover-"

"And I'm grateful Baachan," he said, wrapping his fingers around her wrist to gently but firmly remove her grip. "But too much time passed. Shino found me this morning and you've been healing me for hours." He slid off the bed with little resistance from the former Hokage, gratefully noticing a pair of his mission clothes folded neatly on the table. He glanced at the older woman, a small smile on his face. "And looks like you expected exactly this."

Tsunade crossed her arms, leaning back into her chair before demurely staring out the window as Naruto stripped down and quickly put on his mission gear. "Picked it up while they transported you here."

"So you know that nothing's going to stop me," Naruto said, zipping his jacket on. "Hinata's alone with them. They already had a headstart and I have a hunch they're at the village."

"Team 8 and Sakura shouldn't be too far now," Tsunade said. "Remember you're not fully healed-"

"I don't need to be," he ground out, walking towards the window and sliding it open. "I'll catch up to Sakura-chan and them-"

"Naruto-"

He glanced over his shoulder back at her. "That woman, Gokai, can absorb my chakra," he admitted begrudgingly. "But now that I know that...I won't make the same mistake twice. All I have to do is get to Hinata now."

Tsunade nodded. "Do you think you'll need more backup-?"

"Doubt it," Naruto said, feeling his fury grow once again as he remembered the fear on Hinata's face. The way Gokai was so fascinated by her growing stomach-

"Your Kyuubi…" Tsunade said slowly. "Naruto, when I said your chakra was low I meant both of you."

Naruto allowed his eyes to fall shut as he honed in on himself.

Kurama?

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...I'm here.

You're okay?

Better than you, the fox said unenthusiastically. ...I never knew your own massive chakra system could get that low.

Me neither.

I lent you some of mine to help keep you...well, alive. But her jutsu impacted me as well.

Think you'll be able to help a little more?

Obviously, Kurama said, sounding offended. I'm the nine-tailed demon fox.

Naruto smiled. He could tell he hurt Kurama's pride at the implication that he might not be able to-

He felt his Kyuubi mode flare up and energy surge into his body. He stepped onto the window sill when Tsunade spoke.

"Naruto."

He glanced back at her.

She smiled. "I'll have a room ready for Hinata and your new baby," she said. "You'll be a dad soon."

He felt his heart stutter. "Yeah…" he said, his voice cracking. He turned away from her, feeling warm tears gather up in his eyes before he shook his head, determined. "I won't be back without them, Tsunade-baachan. It's a promise."

And with that he left.

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Author's Note:

Sorry for the delay- haven't had much time so I split this chapter into two so I could get an update out. I'll do my best to get the next half out soon. And then an epilogue. I'm going to miss this story- thank you for all the support!