Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Summary: Three of them came back, severely injured & distraught. Tenten & Ino were still out there, missing. The masked men were preparing to re-open the portal again, this time using the kunoichi's blood. [NejTen] [GaaIno] [ShikaTem] [SasuSaku] [NaruHina]

It was quickly getting darker, despite the fact that they were running away from the source that was emitting such darkness. There were other villagers running away too, with their families in hand. Some of them got caught and were immediately dragged back into the dense forest. They all tried to stay as quiet as possible while running and hiding, but as the night got darker and the temperature dropped, the creature could hear and sense where they were. At first, brave shinobis from the village thought they were able to kill it; however they were proven wrong immediately. Once the creature escaped, villagers immediately began to evacuate - leaving their precious belongings behind.

With one arm supporting Ino, Tenten dragged themselves towards a large tree trunk. She quickly looked behind to make sure that the thing had not followed them. With such darkness though, it was hard to see what was going on. Tenten winced as she heard other people throughout the forest scream in pain as the creature grabbed a hold of them.

Ino tapped on her shoulder and Tenten looked at her. Both kunoichi knew that even whispering could give away their location. Tenten gave a slight nod and helped Ino get back on her feet. Silently, they continued walking through the forest, hoping that they would see sunlight soon.

Tenten closed her eyes for a bit and thought of Neji, hoping that he and everyone else would come soon. However, she feared that the likely hood of that was slim, as no one knew where they were.

It was supposed to be a straightforward mission alongside Ino, Sakura, Hinata, and Temari. They were to go to an unknown isolated village and rescue some kunoichi who were originally from the Hidden Leaf Village. The three women who they were supposed to rescue had been held hostage in that village for a while, mostly due to the fact that majority of people outside the village didn't even know that it existed. However, with the help of Hinata's Byakugan, they were able to identify the small village.

The village had very few fighting ninjas, thus making the mission even easier for the 5 kunoichis. However, something happened while the rescue was going underway and all hell broke loose.

"Help me please! Help me! ARGH-!"

Tenten and Ino froze as the man's arms, which were wrapped around both girls a second ago, were ripped away and his body was thrown to the floor. Both girls closed their eyes as they heard the noise of bones crunching as the now dead villager was dragged into the deeper part of the forest.

Tenten and Ino still kept their eyes closed and arms wrapped around each other as they heard one of the creatures take small steps around them. They knew that if they kept quiet, the creature wouldn't know that they were there.

Ino held her breath as she felt hot breath near her legs, and she knew that the creature was just inches away from them. Tears swelled around her eyes and onto Tenten's shoulders as she tried to think of something else in order to calm herself. The image of Gaara flashed through her mind but quickly vanished as one of the limbs of the creature bumped into them. Both of them held on tighter to each other to ensure that neither would fall and make a noise.

Tenten felt Ino's tears on her shoulders, and she too began to tear up. She thought of the mission, and how they were taken by surprise by the deep dark secret that the unknown village was holding; which ultimately caused them to abort the mission. She thought about Hinata, Temara, and Sakura and hoped that they were at least a day-away from Konoha by now. She wondered if they would be rescued soon, but now knowing where they had run towards while escaping this creature, she became worried about anyone ever finding them.

Both girls heard the creature sit on the ground hard and tussle through some leaves. The pressure within their chests increased as they knew that they would not be able to move a muscle until it went away. Both girls prayed as more tears slid down their cheeks.

Ino could feel the blood dripping down from her wound by her abdomen and onto her leg. She knew that she would have to treat her wound as soon as possible before collapsing on the ground from blood loss and dooming them both.

Tsunade knew that it has been almost four days, and the female ninjas have not returned. She had faith in all of the girls that they would be OK, but something deep in her stomach was telling her that she needed to send a rescue party as soon as possible.

"You still have not answered me, Tsunade-sama."

The homage sighed and turned around from the window, staring into the expressionless eyes of Neji Hyuga. The moment he stepped in her office, she knew what he wanted. Tenten, Hinata, and the rest of them were supposed to be back days ago, but there were still no signs of them.

"Where did you send them?" Neji asked a second time, his tone becoming more irritated.

"To an unknown village...a village that has been difficult to locate for many years. I sent them on a simple rescue mission to rescue three kunoichi who had disappeared over a year ago."

Neji's eyes narrowed suspiciously and Tsunade continued. "We have very limited information for that village. So far, we don't know it's backstory. It's almost as if just appeared...out of nowhere. I had sent 3 ninjas originally to observe it and report to me what they found. Unfortunately, they never came back. Afterwards, I sent more shinobis to the area to look for the first three ninjas, but for some reason, the village just disappeared from where we were sure it was located."

Tsunade walked around her office and grabbed a small box. She opened it and pulled out two scrolls as she continued speaking, "About a month ago, the father of one of the original missing kunoichi found the village, but in a different location. He wanted to sneak in and investigate, but he mentioned that the atmosphere of the area was dark and that something did not feel right. He was an old man, barely capable of running for a few minutes. When he returned to Konoha, he pleaded me to send a rescue team and bring his daughter back. In his heart, he felt that she was still alive."

She gave the scrolls to Neji, who opened the first one and quickly read it through. He opened the second one and narrowed his eyes at her. "There's barely any information here regarding that village."

Tsunade nodded as Neji handed her the scrolls back. Thanks to the heartbroken father who sent searching for his missing daughter, Tsunade was able to retrieve more information on the place. One unique characteristic of the village were the trees, according to the man. The trees were not the usual trees that Konoha proudly had. According to the man, the trees looked like as if they were caving in towards the village, almost as if protecting it. There were barely any structures however he did notice how the ground seemed off. With this bit of information, Tsunade had become concerned that the reason why the village was hard to find was because it was mostly underground.

"Excuse me, Tsunade-sama!" a female officer walked inside, quickly bowing her head towards the Hokage.

"Speak."

"Three of them have arrived!"

The creature had walked away minutes ago, but both of them had stayed still just in case it was still around. The shouts of dying people stopped, and the night became quiet.

Tenten rose her head up and looked around, hoping to see a light in the midst of all the darkness. She felt Ino slipping towards the ground and immediately caught her by her arms. She placed one of her arms around her shoulder and continued walking.

Ino rose her head slightly and looked behind them, making sure that no dark shadows were fallowing them. She could feel Tenten limping and it hurt her that she could not help her friend, since she herself was bleeding and had limited chakra. She closed her eyes again as an image of the red-haired Kazekage went through her mind. She wondered if he was thinking about her, or even searching for her by now. Ino pressed her lips together as she imagined Gaara appearing out of nowhere and rescuing them. She imagined his arms around her as he swept her away from this place. Generally, she would be able to hold her ground and fight back – not be afraid of whatever would come for her.

But tonight….

Tonight was different…

Tonight, she experienced a horror that she had never experienced before…

Tenten let out a scream as all of the sudden the ground beneath her feet gave in.

Ino gasped as she tried to grab Tenten's arms but felt them slip from her hands. She looked back as she heard loud rustling, and knew that the creature had heard the scream. She knelt down on the ground and felt the gaping hole. She turned her head back again and saw trees violently knocked down.

Panicking, Ino swung her legs towards the hole and lowered her body inside the small man-made cave, wincing as she felt her wound bleed more. Her heart beat faster as she wondered where Tenten landed. After her initial scream, Tenten made no other noise and Ino worried that she was probably seriously injured. As her feet touched the ground, she crouched and reached her hand out. The first thing she felt was Tenten's head and she quickly crawled towards the injured kunoichi. Tenten was breathing loudly and Ino placed her hand over her mouth as she heard loud stumping and growling from up above.

Ino looked up and through the opening of the ground, saw large tentacle-like shadows passing back and forth. She closed her eyes tightly and prayed that the beast went away.

Tenten opened one of her eyelids and looked up, watching Ino crouching next to her with her hand over her mouth. She felt her shoulder ache terribly and knew that something had stabbed her. Tears gathered around her eyes as she thought of Neji and wondered if he was on his way to her…

Hinata trembled as she felt gentle hands sit her down on a chair. Her breathing was loud and she ignored the footsteps walking past her.

Naruto wrapped her hand in a white towel and looked at her worryingly. Ever since she arrived, she had not said anything except for a few words. Naruto recognized this behavior from her – it's how she would react when something terrible has happened and she couldn't put it in words.

"Hinata…" Naruto said softly, and finally she looked up at him.

Naruto stared back at her pupil-less eyes and wondered what had happened in the last two weeks that she was gone. Even though Hinata was not as injured as Temari or Sakura, Naruto felt as if mentally she was not there.

"It happened so fast…"

Naruto turned around as he heard Sakura's shaking voice. Tsunade had healed her gaping wound on her thigh before running back towards her office upon hearing that the Kazekage was in Konoha.

Sasuke was in the room as well and although he was quiet, he had Sakura on his lap as she stared towards the wall. Naruto had known for quite some time that the two had been dating, but this was the first time he had seen Sasuke show public affection towards the pink-haired girl. The moment the gate doors had opened and a bleeding Sakura was seen, supported by Hinata, Sasuke had ran towards her and immediately gathered her in his arms.

"We don't know where they came from….We tried to fight them but there were so many and it got dark really fast. Those things…it's like….it's like they're not from this world." Sakura said, her voice getting louder. Sasuke held her hand tighter as he gave her a worried look.

Hinata's tears started rolling down her cheeks as she thought of Ino and Tenten and how they must still be out there. Guilt shot through her body as she remembered supporting both an injured Sakura and Temari out of the forest before the dark fog came down. She had tried using her Byakugan to see where Tenten and Ino were, but was unable to stop as she noticed dark shadows, shape of humans almost, approaching them.

After some time, the shadows had stopped and Hinata, tired from supporting both Sakura and Temari, had stopped to rest as well.

"Ino and Tenten are still out there….and we couldn't get them." Sakura said as her voice became shaky and Hinata immediately started crying.

"I should have….I sh-should…."

"Hinata, it's OK-"

"N-No Naruto, I should have gone back for them!" Hinata screamed as she balled her hands into fists and looked down at the floor.

Shikamaru sighed as he turned around, exited the room, and walked into the room in which Temari was resting. He was still trying to piece together what had happened to the kunoichis. Hinata, while not physically injured, seemed to have been experiencing anxiety attacks from whatever they had run away from. Sakura had a terrible wound on her thigh which she herself could not have cured. She had actually used some of her healing to heal Temari, who had arrived with a broken arm and injured back.

Shikamaru sat on the chair next to the bed Temari was laying on and held her hand, waiting for her to wake up.

Tsunade had checked up on her first before attending Sakura. When Shikamaru ran towards the gate to see Temari, he was shocked to see how badly she was beaten. Her words were incoherent and eventually she had passed out from the pain. Shikamaru stood up as he felt a familiar presence and saw Kankuro standing behind him with a worried look.

Shikamaru was not surprised that Kankuro was in Konoha, considering both Temari and himself were supposed to go to the Sand village after the mission. However after multiple days of not knowing what had happened to the Kunoichi, Shikamaru had suspected that both Gaara and Kankuro would have immediately travelled to Konoha.

"How long has she been unconscious for?" Kankuro asked.

Shikamaru turned and faced him before answering "At least a day….".

Kankuro pulled a chair next to the bed, opposite of Shikamaru, and stared at his sister.

"What happened out there?"

"Even I am still trying to puzzle the pieces together." Shikamaru replied, looking back at Temari. "So far, only Sakura has been the only one to give us some clues. Hinata is traumatized and Temari has been unconscious this whole time. From what Sakura has mentioned, looks like something terrible attacked them and everyone else in that village."

Shikamaru continued as he looked at Kankuro. "Tenten and Ino are still missing."

"I know. That's why Gaara is here…"

Tenten shifted uncomfortably and furrowed her eyebrows as a bright light hit her in the face. Slowly, she opened her eyes and looked up, seeing daylight for the first time in almost a day. From the gap that was created when she fell in, she saw the trees rustling peacefully against the wind. Everything seemed much calmer.

Tenten lifted her upper body slightly and groaned at the sharp pain in her shoulder. She felt the sharp rock from the back of her shoulder. She reached behind and after counting to three, she pulled the rock out of her shoulder and winced as the pain increased.

She heard Ino wake up and immediately sit up.

"Tenten, your shoulder." She whispered. "We need to get that wrapped up."

Tenten nodded and whispered back. "We have no bandages."

"How comfortable are you in shorts?" Ino whispered, pointed their last kunai on to Tenten's long red pants.

Tenten sighed, shaking her head while whispering back. "Do I have a choice? Either that, or we both bleed out from our wounds."

Ino nodded and looked back up through the gap, hoping that the beasts from last night were not around.

Tenten undid the buttons from her pants and slowly slid them off her legs.

Ino helped her stretch the pants out on the ground and then with the kunai, started cutting the pants into shorts. She knew that Tenten would be uncomfortable going around in shorts. She recalled the time Sakura had gifted the bun-haired girl a beautiful pink skirt on her birthday. Since it had been a gift, Tenten had felt obligated to wear it…and she had. The skirt had been shorter than anyone else had realized, and Ino smirked as she recalled the shocked face Neji Hyuga had upon seeing Tenten with her hair down and most of her legs in display in that bright pink short skirt.

Tenten put on her newly made shorts as Ino cut the leftover fabric of the pants into long bandages. Ino grabbed one of the pieces and carefully wrapped it around her stomach, covering the wound from yesterday. Tenten unbuttoned her shirt and Ino grabbed another piece of the fabric and wrapped it around Tenten's bruised shoulder.

"Do you think it's still around?" Ino whispered.

Tenten shrugged. "I don't know. It's oddly quiet out there."

Ino nodded and slowly crouched upwards. She lifted her head through the gap and slowly looked around. The trees were still rustling through the wind. Slowly, she crawled back down to the small cave.

"Looks like it's safe. We should start walking now while it is still daylight."

Tenten nodded and crouched upwards, ignoring the pain in her shoulder.

Ino got upwards again and slowly climbed out of the cave. She turned back and grabbed Tenten's arm, helping her out of the tight space.

Both girls started walking again, looking around once in a while to ensure that nothing was following them. They thought back at how all of this started. How Tsunade had cautioned them to be careful, as the village they were to approach was not even on the map. The only thing that they had known were just the small details provided by farmers and travelers passing by the area towards Konoha. The five of them had been eager to do this mission and rescue the three missing kunoichi. It had taken a while for them to locate the village, as most of it was underground. They found a secret passage and had snuck inside, surprised to see how different everything was from the inside.

They had been met with wooden stairs that had travelled hundreds of feet down. There weren't many people around, which had made it easier for them to go downstairs until they had been met with large doors.

Ino gasped as she felt something cold clamp on to her ankle. Tenten looked at her and noticed metal binds around Ino's ankle. Before she could process what had happened, Tenten felt a cold metal cuff around her wrist and was immediately dragged backwards. Heavy footsteps surrounded them and Tenten looked up. She saw a man wearing a white suit and black mask staring down at her with an amused stare.

"These two should be enough for the next stage."