A/N: Ok, so I finally got by butt into gear and decided to give a crack at Chapter 4. Hopefully, it's up to standards with everyone.
I'd just like to take this time to make it clear that yes, I know how to spell Neji now…it's just sheer habit to start typing "g" instead of "j".
(silence)
Ok, yeah, that's a lame excuse, even I'll admit it. (sighs) Eh, I'll get it eventually.
No other errors though, right? 'Cept for maybe the occasional run-on sentence. I'd say that's pretty good…especially considering the rather low standard set for grammar and spelling that I've noticed here in the Naruto section of Sorry Naruto fans, but I must admit, the Inuyasha fans have a certain higher degree of…expectation when it comes to their fan fiction. Lol, that must sound so stupid… But it has some truth to it. I mean, look at Rozefire (everyone who's actually reading this---go out and read her fics right now. You won't regret it). She didn't get that popular by writing shi---err, 'scuze my french--badly structured stories.
Right…I think I'll stop shamelessly plugging other people's stuff now and get on with the story. TT Please don't hate me for that…
Disclaimer: A brownie for anyone who actually thinks I'm smart/talented enough to actually create Inuyasha or Naruto. You're too kind if you honestly do believe so…and stupid. Definitely stupid.
P.S. My apologies---this chapter is unforgivably short…but Broadway shows and regular visits to the nursing home decided to take a big bite out of my schedule so I had about 2 hours max to write this. (sweat-drop)
Chapter 4: …Who Was Overcome
Hinata really wanted to start running her ass off right then and there. Naruto was eyeing her and the jewel in her fist dangerously, and only the fact that Kakashi was standing next to her kept her in one spot.
"Now, now, Naruto, no need to be like that. We don't want to have to resort to violence," Kakashi reasoned.
Naruto shot him a confused look. "Who the hell are you supposed to be? And how do you know who I am?"
Kakashi looked unfazed as he continued to try and stare him down with his mis-matched eyes. "I thought you would have recognized the sharingan, but I guess I was wrong." He sighed. "The fact remains though, that right now you are threatening Hinata-chan, and we can't have that now can we? I'll give you one last chance. Are you going to back down or not?"
Naruto grinned in response. "Hell no." He made to leap past Kakashi, but the silver haired man was too fast, and Naruto was pulled back as the rosary Kakashi had slid over his neck threatened to choke him.
"Quickly, Hinata-chan! Call out a word of submission!" Kakashi yelled to her, struggling to hold back the thrashing boy by the glowing beads around his neck.
"What? But I don't know any!" she protested weakly.
"Anything will do, but you must stop him quickly!" he shouted desperately. "I can't hold him like this for much longer!"
Hinata was feeling more confused and terrified now than ever in her entire life. How could she help if she didn't even understand what he wanted?! "B-but---!"
Her hesitation was long enough, and Naruto broke free with from Kakashi's grip with another blast of chakra which sent the silver-haired hokage flying. Naruto charged at her, and for the second time that night, Hinata felt as if she was watching the scene unfold in slow-motion.
This boy just had saved her life…and now he was threatening to take it away. She had no choice but to defend herself, but she couldn't help feeling guilty about it at the same time. Was this how she repaid her savior?
She raised her hands in a defensive position, prepared to take him down if that was what it came to. He drew back his fist, obviously willing strike her. Here it comes… "I'M SORRY!" she cried out to him, as she moved to attack him as well.
BAM!
"Well that was interesting," said Kakashi, as he picked himself off the ground and saw what had happened.
Naruto laid in a small crater in the shape of his body, his face firmly planted into the ground. The rosary that had been placed around his neck by Kakashi glowed, and Hinata stared at him in alarm.
"D-did I do that?!"
Naruto struggled to pick himself off the ground, and glared at the her and the rosary in bewilderment. "What the hell---?! What did you do to me, you bitch?!"
Hinata whimpered in distress. "I didn't mean to! Oh, I'm so sorry!" Naruto's face hit the ground again and the crater he had created got a little deeper. "No! Ah! I'm sorry! I---!"
"Hinata-chan, you may want to stop saying that if you want him to be able to get back up again," advised Kakashi, now approaching her.
Hinata let out another distraught whimper. "Stop saying what?"
"I'm sorry."
"Why are you sorry?" Hinata winced as she saw Naruto slam deeper into the dirt.
"YOU BITCH! STOP DOIN' THAT!"
"Sorry!"
BAM!
"Augh!"
Kakashi seemed to be the only one who found the situation quite amusing, and he chuckled to himself at the blonde's expense.
"WHAT THE HELL'S SO FUNNY?!" Naruto roared as he finally dragged himself out of his little crater. He tugged at the rosary beads around his neck, but they began to glow again and refused to be lifted over his head.
"I'm afraid only I can remove those, Naruto," Kakashi advised as Naruto continued to pull at them stubbornly.
"THEN TAKE THEM OFF!"
Kakashi shot him a dry glance. "Well that would defy the whole purpose of putting them on, now wouldn't it?"
Naruto growled and Hinata could feel his chakra beginning to rise to dangerous levels again. "YOU THINK YOU CAN CONTROL ME, HUH?!" He took a step forward and Hinata blanched as the ground began to break beneath his foot. "WELL I'LL SHOW YOU! NO ONE CAN STOP ME!"
"Hinata," Kakashi started calmly, his red-eye still trained on Naruto, "would you please apologize for me?"
Hinata blinked. "I'm sorry?"
BAM!
Naruto ate dirt again, and Kakashi used the distraction to jab him in the back of the head in a very familiar stance.
Hinata's eyes widened. There was no way…could he…?
This time, Naruto stayed down until Kakashi casually threw the boy over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.
"Iruka!" Iruka appeared next to Kakashi at the sound of his call, and Kakashi slid his eye patch back over his red left eye. "Gather the men. We need to head back to the village immediately to assess the damage now that the threat has been eliminated."
Hinata watched the now unconscious Naruto as he began to snore from his seemingly uncomfortable position. Somehow, it occurred to Hinata that the threat was far from eliminated…
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Kiba and Shino stood in front of the entrance to Hinata's house, staring quite expectantly at the door as if their combined gaze alone could speed up the process of what they were about to do.
"So…" Kiba started halfheartedly. "You, uh, gonna knock?"
Shino said nothing, opting for the stay-silent-and-hope-he-forgets-I'm-here approach.
"Right…I figured as much…"
Another pregnant pause passed between them while Akamaru furrowed deeper into Kiba's coat.
Gulping, Kiba raised his shaking fist to the door and just prayed the butterflies in his stomach wouldn't be replaced with shuriken…
He was spared the pain of knocking though, as the heavy wooden door swung open to reveal the feared man of the hour. Kiba mentally cursed as he remembered Hyuuga Hiashi had probably sensed them and seen them through the door with his well-trained eyes. Well, there was no turning back now…
"Inuzuka, Aburame…What are you two doing here? Where is Hinata?" It was clear to Kiba and Shino that these were more demands than they were questions.
Kiba began to sweat as he gaped at the intimidating older man; all reason leaving him with nothing but the instinctive urge to run far, far away. Good teammate that he (mostly) was, Shino decided to give some aid to his distressing friend.
"She's not here," he offered bluntly. Hiashi fixed him with a dry stare while Kiba inwardly groaned.
"Care to be a bit more specific, Aburame?"
"She's, um…at the hospital!" Kiba answered for him, deciding to try and take control of the conversation. "Hyuuga-sama!" He added as an afterthought. Hey, a little sucking up couldn't hurt the situation…
"What?" Hiashi hissed tensely through gritted teeth. Kiba winced. Okay, so maybe saying she was in a hospital wasn't one of his better ideas…
"And just why is my daughter in the hospital?"
"She…uh…broke her leg!" He made-up off the top of his head.
"When?! How?!"
"I-It happened during our training today! It was like a umm…freak-accident! Yeah!"
"What happened?"
Kiba shot a pleading glance at Shino who's look plainly told him he was on his own. "She fell out of a tree?" he answered lamely.
Hiashi seemed to find it believable enough though, because he paused his interrogation to start muttering to himself about "clumsy girls" and "not enough focus." He let out a frustrated sigh and Kiba released the breath he hadn't been aware he'd been holding. It seemed like they were in the clear…
"Which hospital is she staying at? Her mother will want me to bring her home," Hiashi asked him. Kiba felt his blood freeze.
Again, Shino finally felt the need to lend his assistance. "You can't."
Kiba resisted the urge to bash his head into a wall. His teammate was a genius in the field, but truly a social retard in every aspect.
Hiashi was looking quite deadly at the moment though, so Kiba quickly picked up where Shino had left off in attempt to placate him.
"There's a very good reason you can't see her, Hyuuga-sama!" Now if only he could think of it…
Hiashi turned his angry glare at him. "Really? And why is that?!"
"Because…she's…she's very contagious right now! No one but the doctors are allowed near her!"
The pulsing vein in the forehead of the leader of the Hyuuga family threatened to pop. "And just how are broken legs contagious?!" he roared at them.
"The wound got infected?" Kiba answered nervously.
"What's going on out here?" Hinata's mother suddenly appeared next to her husband in the doorway, and Kiba thanked god for her sense of timing. "Inuzuka-kun, Aburame-kun, why isn't Hinata with you? Did something happen?"
"Hinata's in the hospital," her husband answered for the boys. "She fell out of a tree and broke her leg. The wound's infected."
She gasped in surprise. "Really? It's not life-threatening is it?"
"No, ma'am," answered Kiba.
"Hmm…well, I trust the doctors know what they're doing. They know who she is---they'll take good care of her," she replied casually, immediately reassured of her child's safety. "Well, you boys had better head home. It's time for dinner." She headed back inside the house and Hiashi followed after her, but not after shooting one last suspicious glance in their direction.
"Shino?"
Shino grunted.
"We are so dead…"
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Ok, ok, I know, this is WAY too short (a measly five pages), but before you complain about it, I promise you FULL compensation with the next chapter. I promise---10 pages or else! And PLOT DEVELOPMENT! Now doesn't that sound good?! Huh? Huh? (jazz hands)
Some very inconvenient events (people in hospitals, visits to family member that live too far away etc.) decided to rear their ugly heads into my schedule, and this is the result. TT Tragic, I know.
Gah…I give you all full permission to whine with gusto in your reviews…I deserve it…