Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

7 Days, Come What May

Chapter XIX: Traps

Ten Ten immediately ran and pressed her back towards Neji's. The two couldn't afford to have an enemy sneak up from behind. Both readied themselves in fighting stance. However, even after two minutes or so, there was no visible sign of an enemy.

Neji observed his surroundings. It didn't look like the same trees that he and Ten Ten had just ran in. Instead, the trees now looked like neatly trimmed, tall bushes, reaching up above his head. It looked like…a maze.

"Neji…you don't think…these…new bushes….are real, right?" Ten Ten still hadn't let up her fighting posture.

The Hyuuga hesitated before answering. "…I'm not sure, but I think it's a fake…"

Then, he began to walk in the direction of the bushes. He touched it. The feel, the smell, everything about the bushes gave the impression that it was real. The prodigy was not fooled. Neji looked around again. The tall bushes surrounded them in every direction, except in one little opening at the west side. Neji headed towards it. Ten Ten followed.

Going through the bush opening, the Hyuuga could see another pathway of nothing but green bushes. It was indeed a maze.

"Ten Ten, I think we're caught in a trap…none of this is real, but we'll wander in this maze forever if we don't force our way out."

Ten Ten nodded. "Then, I'll try to force my way out."

The girl got out her kunai and attempted to cut through the bushes. It didn't work. It was as if the bushes were protected by some invisible force. Ten Ten sighed and put the kunai back in her pocket.

"It's as if the bushes are as hard as rock…" then, Ten Ten's eyes lit up. "Neji, use your byakugan. That way, we can see the opening to the maze…"

"Already did. That was the first thing I did. Didn't work….as good as my eyes are, it still has limits as to how far it can see. All I can see is endless rows of bushes no matter where I look…I couldn't find an opening," Neji stated, as if that was a fact of life.

Ten Ten's furrowed her brows.

'Neji can't use his byakugan…this is bad. Very, very bad.'

"I'll try climbing over the bushes then….maybe we can see the way out," she said.

Neji nodded lightly. Ten Ten crouched herself down to jump, then sprang herself up. Moments later, her head hit on an invisible wall and she fell down. It was very painful to forcefully hit one's head with a wall.

"O-Owwwwwww!" Ten Ten cried out as tears unintentionally sprang to her eyes.

Neji slowly crouched down beside her. "…Don't cry. It doesn't hurt that much."

Ten Ten gave him a fierce look.

"How do you know how much it hurts, huh? Try jumping up there and bumping your head yourself!" there were still remains of accidental tears in her eyes.

Neji smirked.

Ten Ten couldn't resist glaring. She rarely gave the Hyuuga looks that meant anything but nice. But a bump was starting to form on her head, and she could swear that it hurt like hell. Then, she realized that she was crying.

"Don't laugh at me!" she attempted to defend herself. "It really hurt!"

"Yes, Ten Ten, I believe you," he stood up, a trace of a smile still on his face.

'Grrr…he totally DOESN'T believe me.'

She didn't get up. She just sat there, staring up stubbornly up at her teammate. The Hyuuga pretended to ignore the glares and just walked back and forth, trying to think of ways to get out of the maze. When Ten Ten saw that he didn't even care about her, she stood up huffily.

'Fine, Neji! Be that way…what was that you said to me the night in Aunt Midori's bedroom, huh? GOSH, guys! Lies, lies, lies, lies, lies, all lies…'

Ten Ten didn't realize that she'd been muttering her thoughts under her breath. Unfortunately for her, not only did he have excellent eyesight, the Hyuuga also had an excellent sense of hearing. Neji turned around and gave her a strange look.

"What?" Ten Ten asked, confused.

"What's 'lies, lies, lies..' huh?" he asked.

She frowned. "…Never mind…" and turned around to look the other way.

Neji sighed. He was not stupid. He had no doubt that she was talking about him. He found that he couldn't concentrate on thinking up any plan when there was a certain girl standing there mad at him.

'I might as well get this over with first…as my best assumption is that we'll be stuck here for some time…' he thought.

The Hyuuga walked over to Ten Ten, whose back was still turned the other way. He tapped. She immediately turned around, her looks unrelenting.

"What?"

"Okay, I'll believe that it hurt," he told her, trying to keep his face straight.

"It did!"

"Yea, that's what I said, Ten Ten."

"It did!"

"Yes, I totally agree."

"BUT IT DID!"

"I know."

Ten Ten stopped. 'Wow. Okay.'

"…It really hurt, you know," she added, just to confirm to herself that he wasn't really mocking her.

This was getting amusing for Neji. He cracked a smile.

"Yea, I know."

Ten Ten grinned back.

"Yea, it did! But it doesn't hurt anymore!" she suddenly gave Neji a tight hug.

Neji sweatdropped, but colored slightly.

'T-This girl…she forgives so easily…'

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Hinata, Lee, Kankurou, Ino, and Chouji were the second group heading closest to Sakura's location. Hinata was running in the lead, possibly because of her strongest determination to rescue her friends. The group was on their way across a muddy swamp.

Suddenly, Chouji, who was behind all the others, felt something at his foot. When he looked down, he realized in horror that…the water was formed in a shape of a hand! Moreover, that hand was pulling him down! Before he could even let out a shout of protest, Chouji was a long way down under the swamp.

A soft sound of a splash resounded among the sound of the shinobi's running feet. Kankurou was not a shinobi from the revered Sand country for nothing. He immediately heard it.

"Hey, everyone! Stop right there!" the puppeteer shouted.

The group obeyed, even though Hinata looked like she was really desperate to go on.

"…I heard it too, Kankurou," Lee said, his eyes darting all around him.

"What was it?" asked Ino, who hadn't heard the little splash.

Hinata also looked confused. She hadn't heard the sound, perhaps because of her worry for the hostages.

"…Shhh!" Kankurou shushed them, trying his hardest to locate the small but significant sound.

Then, Ino's eyes widened out of realization.

"W-Where's Chouji!" she cried out.

Kankurou did not look surprised, for he had already realized that the guy was missing.

"…We'll find him soon, Ino-chan," Lee told the blonde grimly.

"T-This…is b-bad…" Hinata whispered hoarsely to no one but herself.

The Hyuuga heir felt her anger rising again.

'They dare to capture Naruto, Temari, and Sakura…and now, Chouji!' she thought angrily.

Then, unexpectedly, the four all felt something tugging at their foot. They all looked down and felt what Chouji had just moments earlier. The four where all rapidly sinking, and there was nothing they could do about it.

"Ugh! This is a trap!" Kankurou said, highly displeased.

The puppeteer knew that the sinking scene was nowhere near real…but he also knew that under the illusion of being under the swamp, he would be tortured like hell.

Hinata was the person closest to the edge of the swamp. With all of her remaining strength, she tried to grope at the ground at the swamp edge to pull her up. It succeeded only a little bit, for the Hyuuga didn't have enough strength. When she began to feel herself sinking down again, a hand pushed her at her back. Hinata looked back.

Lee's hand was on her back, attempting to help her push her way up and out of the swamp.

"L-Lee…"

The Green Beast of Konoha gave her a thumbs-up sign and winked.

"…Save the others, okay?" Lee said, and then gave her his last push.

That was all Hinata needed to be free of the water's pull. At the edge of the swamp, she turned around to thank you the Green Beast. Unfortunately, he and the others were long gone, under the swamp. She felt her eyes watering but she quickly wiped it away.

'I-I have got to be strong!'

The fact that she was on the ground didn't mean she was safe, though. Now, the sand on the ground was starting to form into hands and tug at her.

'O-Oh no! I-I hate this kind of illusion!'

It was the kind of poisonous illusion that wouldn't stop pestering you unless you got far, far away from the area.

So, Hinata ran.

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Naruto opened his eyes and observed his surroundings. He could see only gray rocks everywhere he looked. When he tried to sit up, he groaned. He was sore all over. Not to mention that he was also tied up.

"…So, you're awake now?"

Naruto whipped his head around, only to find Temari sitting there, also tied up. He saw that she had a sharp piece of rock in her mouth, and she was rubbing it on her hand ties, to free herself.

"How long have you been awake?" he asked.

"Few minutes before you," the Sand shinobi paused and looked up at him. "…What the hell do you think you're doing? Stop sitting there and at least try to free yourself!"

"H-Hai!" Naruto replied, a bit startled.

He was briefly reminded of Tsunade or Sakura when they were angry. The fox boy rolled himself around, trying to look for a sharp piece of rock. Soon enough, he spotted one, and began to use it to untie his bonds. However, that wasn't really necessary at all. Temari had already freed herself and was now helping him untie his bonds.

"Wow, you're fast, Temari!" Naruto said gleefully.

"I know," she replied.

He sweatdropped.

'…But Temari's self-confidence is better than even the old hag's or Sakura's!'

Once she had Naruto untied, Temari immediately ran to the entrance of the cave. When she tried to walk out of the cave, her body was immediately repelled back. She fell back but immediately recovered.

"….We're in a cave, fox boy. And that damn Sound nin's put a Kin Tag outside this cave, so that we can't get out…" Temari informed Naruto, a hint of a menace in her voice. "…And that nin's also taken my fan."

"Then, since we can't get out, let's blow open a hole in this cave and escape!" Naruto said was determination.

"Don't try. It won't work," was Temari's reply.

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Sakura had stopped struggling. It was useless to try to free herself now. The pink-haired girl had figured by now that the only weapon she had with her was her mouth. So, she had tried her best to annoy the Sound nin beside her by asking loads, loads, and loads of questions.

"…Hey, Emiko, what made you decide to become Orochimaru's servant?" Sakura asked.

"That's none of your business."

"Okaaaaay….then, Emiko, what dye did you use to make your hair blue?"

Emiko sighed. She was really getting tired of this girl.

"Then what dye did you use to make your hair pink?" the blue-haired sound-nin retorted.

Sakura pretended not to be offended. If there was anything she could pride herself in, it was her ability to make other people annoyed. After all, she did have lots of experience doing that with Sasuke.

"Oh, so it's natural, right, Emiko? Then…how about…hm….what's your goal in life?"

Emiko so could not stand this girl any longer.

"Arghhh!" the blue-haired Sound nin stood up, prepared to slap the girl.

"Stop right there, unless you want to die," came a voice from behind.

Emiko stopped. She watched as Sakura's eyes turned wide to the person that was behind her. So, Emiko whirled around.

'Ahh…so it's the Uchiha…'

Then, Emiko heard something in the air. She looked up. There, on a pillar of sand, sat Kiba the dog-boy, the Nara genius, and none other than Sabaku no Gaara.

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Joyce: Hey, people! Thanks for your reviews! Yea, and I apologize if I didn't have enough 'romance stuff' in these last chapters…:D….Right now, I don't know why, but I've not been feeling very romancie lately, you know what I mean? Lol, yea, but I will really, really try to put myself in that 'romantic mood' again…:S Might be real hard, but I will try, because I know a lot of you are waiting for it:D …Normally, I'm not a very…what do you say…a 'romantic' person or overly emotional person….:S Gosh, once, my BEST friend even said I was 'heartless' :S. Lol, needless to say, I was shocked. Oh, well. She's also said I'm impolite, lazy, violent, immature, impatient, etc, etc etc…What kind of best friend is that? Oh, well…She' my best friend all the same…:P..Gosh I'm ranting again. Are you guys bored? Hope not. :D Yea, but despite all my faults according to my friend, I will try my best to be nice in my writings:D Yea, and REVIEWS! ;) (Oh, yea, I'm too lazy to answer reviews this time, okay? Don't be mad. :D)

For people still confused about the pairings: NarutoXHinata. SasukeXSakura. NejiXTenTen. ShikamaruXTemari. The rest are…probably single. Yea, that's my guess, since there's nobody to pair them up with anyway. Unless there's a huge amount of people wanting otherwise? Lol :) Ya. :D

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….Okay. I change my mind. I will answer some reviews. Why? Because after writing that last part up there, I read reviews, and it apparently erased my laziness…but I'm too lazy to erase the note that I just wrote so here…:') …Lol, almost made me a more emotional person all of a sudden. Sigh. So, yea…This is dedicated to reviewers:)

To senx: Yea, read your fic! ;) Thanks for mentioning my name:D YAY!

To moonlightpath: Thank you! I'm glad you liked my butterfly idea:D

To Frozen-angel: Lol, yea, I wonder what Gaara will be like when he sleds…I'm glad you liked Jiro:) Lol, my sister liked him so much too..so I drew him for her…pic's on my deviantArt gallery if you wanna checkit out sometime ;)

To kLmkuMi: Wow. That's all I can say! I'm honored that I'm the second fic you're placing a review on! YAY! And yes, your review makes perfect sense to me. ;)

To Tokyobabe2040: Whoa! I'm so touched that you like my story enough to even print it out and read it! Thank you, thank you, thank you:D

To xXxReixXx: Lol, funny scenario with Gaara! Thanks for review:D

To SociopathLover: OMG! HAHAHAHA, your review is so funny! (In a good way). Hahaha, yea Sasuke chasing butterflies was funny…and GaaKiba! (rolls on floor laughing) hahahaha! I didn't even think of that:D Thanks for review:D

To lunarangel: Yay! I'm glad you liked the part with Shikamaru hitting Kiba and Kiba trying to get Gaara interesting in sledding:D

….ya, that's all the review answers I'm doing for this chapter:D