Chapter 10

Lee ran rapidly in the direction Sakura turned; he would protect her no matter what. If Sasuke hurt her, he would definitely pay. The sun had set and darkness was already surrounding him but he refused to stop until he found Sakura.

Jumping down, he noticed two blurry figures on a side clearing. Approaching the pair, his eyes widened in shock when he realised who the two were. Even in the darkness, the pink from one was unmistakeable. Sasuke and Sakura were both in sleeping form; one look at the scene made Lee angry.

Sasuke! Again! Why can it never be me! I will beat him in a match and defiantly win Sakura's heart, he thought.

He sent a punch at the missing-nin but the last Uchiha besides Itachi, had his senses up even while resting. Dodging the punch, Sasuke broke apart from the pink headed kunoichi causing her to wake up from the sudden movement. Lee sent an angry glare at the Uchiha who in return gave one of his famous, death glares but this didn't affect the person in the spandex.

Sakura was trying to get her eyes to adjust to the darkness and when she finally did, her emerald eyes showed the two in a heated match.

Lee-san can't fight Sasuke-kun, he will get hurt badly then we won't be able to complete our mission. I have to stop the match before it gets any worst than it already is, she thought.

Sasuke rapidly perform some hand seals, making Lee jump back to be on his defence.

"Chidori!" Sasuke called out as chakra started taking form in his hand.

"Konoha Senpuu!" Lee called out whilst aiming some kicks at the missing-nin.

The attacks would've collided if it hadn't been blocked by something pink. Sakura stopped both attacks from reaching each other but instead they collided with her own body. One side she had a large wound from Sasuke's chidori and a large bruise on the other side.

Both gasped in horror at the sight before them. A warm crimson liquid was dripping from the wound Sasuke had made.

"Stop it, you two. This isn't the time to fight," she spoke after getting enough air. But the two had long forgotten about their fight and were eyeing her with worried expressions.

"SAKURA-SAN, YOU' RE HURT!" Lee exclaimed.

"….Sakura…," Sasuke muttered.

"I'm fine, just don't fight. You're making things worst. But we have a mission, if you have forgotten, Lee. I remember clearly that the scroll didn't state anything relating to this sort."

"But Sakura, you're hurt!" Lee once again exclaimed.

"If you have forgotten then I'll jolt your memory. Why did Neji ask me to join this mission? I may not be as strong as the others but I have other jobs," she reminded him, "I'm a medical nin if you have forgotten."

Slowly she focused her chakra and a green chakra surrounded her hands. Holding her palms just away from her wounds, they began to slowly heal.

Sasuke stood there staring at Sakura and was shocked once again, as to how much she was capable of. Once she thought that her wounds were fine, she let the green chakra around her palms, fade before turning to the two who were a lost for words.

"We should rest. I'm sure there is going to be a big day ahead of us tomorrow," she informed them while trying to get comfortable, laying her back against a tree.

The two just nodded but neither wanted to sleep anywhere near each other, believing that if they did, one of them would kill the other. Soon the three were asleep, believing Sakura's words.

Naruto was unsure where he was headed but running in the dark, becomes difficult even for Jounin. Sasuke hadn't caught up to him but now he was certain that the S-ranked missing-nin went after Sakura. He was deciding whether to turn back or not when he sensed an unfamiliar chakra close by.

I wonder who that could be. Wait, there are two chakras, one that is just small but and a larger one, he thought. I'll find out when I see who they are.

Increasing his speed, he quickly caught up only to discover a man holding a body. His insides were burning with anger when he realised who the body belonged to, Hinata. Taking out a shuriken and kunai, Naruto sent them flying towards her captor. The man easily dodged them, and then speed off with Naruto trying really hard to keep on his tail.

"What are you doing with Hinata?" he called out, unsure if it was the right thing to do.

The man stopped in his tracks waiting for Naruto to catch up, but the blonde was smart enough not to go close, because an exploding tag would've hit him. The captor turned around, facing Naruto showing him, Hinata who looked paler in the moonlight.

"What did you do to Hinata?" he asked again, with hints of anger in his voice.

A small chuckle was heard before a low voice replied, "That is none of your business. This is my mission and if you don't want to get hurt, then I suggest you leave and I'll let you live. After all, judging you, I'd say you're just a useless ninja. Shouldn't you be back there, helping your friends?"

"This is my mission and business. Hinata is a Konoha ninja and it is also my duty to protect those of the Village," Naruto started softly but his attitude changed when starting his next sentence, "But you have no right to make fun of me or my friends. Insulting them is an insult to the village, and I despise those who think badly of our Village. As my duty, I shall bring down any enemy that comes along my path and it's your lucky day today, because I'm sure you would like a demonstration of Konoha's power."

Once finishing his sentence, Naruto sent a punch and a kick at the captor. Who seemed to think that battling with Hinata in his hands, was a pain, so he threw the Hyuuga heiress roughly into the dirt.

Seeing this action made Naruto even angrier, and even more, to beat the man in front of him to a pulp.
"How dare you treat Hinata like that! You will be so sorry that you ever met me," Naruto shouted out, indicating the anger through his words.

Slowly, a red chakra started to take form around the blonde, making his opponent shiver, slightly.

What is with that chakra? It is so strong with such an unwelcoming feeling, Shiruko thought.

Suddenly, Naruto has his hands clamped strongly around Shiruko's neck, who was half dizzy from the lack of air and half in shocked. The kyuubi's chakra allowed Naruto to move up a fold in speed.

"How did you move so fast," Shiruko gasped out, once he got enough air.

"That doesn't concern you. What do you want with Hinata and what did you do to her? If you don't answer me now, then I'm sure you would like to live in the deepest pit of hell," Naruto snapped.

Moving his hands around Naruto's arms, Shiruko tried desperately to escape from the strong grip, but failed to. Shiruko found air even more difficult to get and if he didn't get an intake of air soon, he was sure that he would die.

Luckily for him, Naruto released his death hold allowing him to answer, once getting enough air. While doing so, he was also trying to look for an escape route. Naruto soon saw his moves and performed a single hand seal.

"Kage Bushin no jutsu!"

Four clones of Naruto appeared, surrounding Shiruko in case he wanted to do something sneaky.

Raising his voice slightly, Naruto turned to face Hinata's captor, "Answer my questions, unless you really want your death to come."

Shiruko started sweating but it was his mission as a ninja to complete it. During missions with Rika and Yoshiru, he learnt that never give away information to others.

Summoning all his courage, "I would choose death rather than tell you of my mission."

Naruto had enough of the rude attitude of the man in front. In his hands, blue chakra started taking form in a shape of a ball. Shiruko knew that there was noway to escape and he was never going to tell why they needed Hinata.

"Rasengan!" Naruto shouted, sending the attack at Shiruko, who had his eyes closed, knowing the impact would hurt. Blood spat out from the wound, onto the floor and Naruto's face.

The attack was aimed at his heart and the wound was hurting by the second. With the last of his strength, Shiruko managed to stab Naruto on him right arm causing the Jounin to leap back, in surprise. Shiruko thought he could escape from further damage, but not from death. Blood was pouring out rapidly from the wound and he would die of blood loss.

He had no medical skills, so in the end at least he got a chance to hurt the blonde, hoping that Rika and Yoshiru could complete the mission.

"I'm sorry for failing you, my friends," he whispered before closing his eyes, going to his death.

Naruto stood back, bandaging his wound as best a possible. As soon as that was done, he went over to his opponent, noting that he was already dead. His head quickly turned to where Hinata was, lying uncomfortably on the dirt.

He spotted a nearby cave and picking Hinata up, he brought her with him. Once inside the cave, rain started pouring down. In his head, Naruto was thankful that he found the cave. Looking down at the Hyuuga heir, Naruto saw strands of hair on her face and dirt. Taking out a small towel, Naruto cleaned her face revealing beautiful features.

She is really cute even when she fainted or asleep, Naruto thought.

The kyuubi boy was becoming tired and within moments, fell asleep, unaware of the sounds on the outside.

While Naruto was having his rest, Neji and Tenten were still after their opponents. They had been following for sometime but luckily with Neji's byakugan, they had no trouble in the dark.

"Neji, how far ahead, are they?" Tenten asked her white-eyed team-mate.

"…Not far, but it sill still take us a while to catch up," he replied.

"Okay," she said while flashing a small smile at her team-mate or shall we say "boyfriend".

Thought Neji wasn't the type to laugh or smile, but when he saw Tenten flash him that expression, his face showed bits of happiness. Luckily they were in the dark, so Tenten didn't get a glimpse of a shade of pink on Neji's face.

Suddenly with his byakugan, he caught the mere shapes of two figures, up ahead. Speaking softly to Tenten, "They're close and we don't want to lose them again. Keep your guard up."

Tenten nodded at her captain and slipped one of her hands, into her weapon holster, drawing out a kunai, just to be safe. I don't have many weapons with me, most of it is still in my backpack, she thought.

The two ahead of them must have realised that they had been caught, because they soon came to a sudden halt.

"So, I see you managed to keep up," Rika said, mocking at them.

Both Neji and Tenten remained silent, unbothered by her comment.

"Quiet, are we?" her partner, Yoshiru asked them. Then turning to his female companion, "Another Hyuuga, one such cold hearted and a stupid, tomboyish looking team-mate."

He said it loud enough to be heard by Neji and Tenten. Tomboyish! Tenten thought, angrily. How dare they say that about me! They are so going to pay.

Neji who sensed the anger from Tenten, stepped back, knowing never to mess with a pissed and angry, Tenten.

"You dare to call me that!" she yelled, her voice full of hatred and her eyes, showed her emotion.

"And what if we did?" Yoshiru replied, provoking her, even more.

That's it; he is going to die, thought Neji.

"Why you, idiotic, stupid, looking piece of shit!" Tenten exclaimed, then in a flash, charged straight for Yoshiru.

Over the years, with the help of Neji, her ninja skills improved dramatically. She was no longer the girl that was easily defeated by Temari. No, she was someone, new. She threw a kunai at him but as expected, he managed to dodge it with ease.

"Too easy, right?" she asked mockingly.

Her opponent smirked, unsure of what to say. While, Rika and Neji stood back watching the fight in front of them. But Neji was hoping to catch Rika off guard, so he could attack her without using too much of his chakra. He has his bloodline, activated keeping a watch on Tenten, just to be sure, that she wasn't injured or needing his help in anyway. But Tenten was fighting a match that seemed easy, since she was fighting with such a calm position, which made him slightly confused, though he didn't show it.

Something is wrong. This match seems too easy. Is he trying to make Tenten, use up all her chakra? But Tenten's not that dense, she will work it out now or eventually, Neji thought.

Tenten jump back, realising that her opponent wasn't attacking in anyway. Trying to make me use up all my chakra. Well I'm smarter than you think. Once again, she charged at the enemy, using less chakra than before. With all the training she had, almost every skill she had, improved its best. She had more stamina and more chakra, which becomes very helpful whenever a battle arose.

The brunette stopped in her tracks when she saw, her opponent perform a series of hand seals. Suddenly, a shower of senbon, shot up from below for her and Tenten swiftly created some hand seals for the substitution technique. The senbon pierced themselves into her fake form and then a 'puff' was heard and smoke bellowed out from the place. As the smoke cleared, on the floor were the remains of logs.

Kawarimi no Jutsu. Clever but not for long, Yoshiru thought.

Tenten leapt out from her hiding spot, and stood a few metres away from her opponent.

"I see that you are neither stupid nor slow," he spoke out.

"Hn…." she replied. God, I'm using the word Neji always says when he replies. Must be spending too much time with him, she thought while mentally slapping herself.

"But I will defiantly finish you off," Yoshiru replied after she gave her response.

He once again performed a series of hand seals and then placed his hands on the floor; the earth below Tenten broke through and shot up like a barrier. She tried running faster to reach the top before the barrier could capture her, inside. But the earth was just too fast, within moments, she was trapped inside an earth barricade. (A/N: The barrier thing Jirobou used when capturing Naruto, Shikamaru, Kiba, Chouji and Neji.)

Tenten! Neji yelled inside his mind, Shit, that cage is sucking chakra from the captive person. I'd better help her but first I have to finish off these two.

Activating his bloodline, the byakugan user went straight towards Yoshiru, who had his hand occupied. Rika who saw the action, quickly leapt in front of her partner, taking up a new fight.

"Sorry, but I can't let you go there. But if you do so, then I'll be forced to kill you," Rika spoke up.

"Hn, kill me? Sorry lady but I don't think you will be able to do that," Neji spoke in a mocking tone.

"Why you, arrogant bastard!" Rika exclaimed, but she only received a smirk from her enemy.

"Care to try?' Neji once again spoke in a provoking manner.

"You will be so sorry that you didn't go when I let you. Now you will have pay. Death awaits you."

"Hn"

Rika performed a series of hand seals, and then blowing fireballs from her mouth all aimed at the Hyuuga. The attacks all hit their mark, too easy, Rika thought, but when the smoke cleared, left in the spot where the Hyuuga prodigy had been, was a log.

Substitution technique! Where has he gone? She thought.

She looked around herself, hoping to catch a glimpse of her opponent, but there were none. Mean while, Neji was situated at the top of a tree looking down at the scene with his byakugan; he saw Tenten inside the cave but the form of her shocked him. She wasn't standing steadily but holding the sides of the wall for support.

I better beat that man first unless I want to carry Tenten back to the camp, he thought. Looking for a chance to attack, he made clones of kunais, shurikens and senbons, sending a shower of weapons down on them. Rika saw the attack come out of no where and proceeded in dodging the weapons but she saw that some too, were aimed a Yoshiru.

"Youshiru, watch out, behind you!" she called to him.

Her partner managed to dodge the attack but lifting one hand from the earth. Neji ran rapidly to Yoshiru, using his 'gentle fist' on the man. Neji hit a few of his tenketsu (chakra points), stopping the flow of chakra in his body. Focusing a large amount of chakra in one palm, he hit his opponent, squarely on the chest, sending the man flying back.

The barrier stopped and fell back to the earth and lying in the middle of the mess, was Tenten. She was stirring a little and slowly, her eyes fluttered open. Looking around she saw her 'opponent' beaten up just a few meters away from her. A hand came into view, offering her a hand. She accepted it gratefully; already knowing who it belonged to.

"Thanks Neji," she spoke but her voice was a little shaky. Her legs were a bit tired and were unable to support her weight. But she used all her effort to stand, so she wouldn't seem weak.

Rika was standing a distance away from them, everything happened so fast that she didn't have to chance to help out.

"Neji let me finish her, since I never go to finish my other match," she asked him.

"I don't think so, your chakra is low already," he replied but his team-mate wouldn't take 'no' for an answer. She already walked away from him, getting into her stance, challenging Rika to a match.

Rika's face brightened up when she saw that she was fighting Tenten, instead of the Hyuuga. So easy, I will definitely be able to defeat her. After all, Yoshiru already sucked out most of her chakra, so she shouldn't have much left.

Rika sent a couple of weapons flying towards Tenten, but the bun-headed Jounin, caught them with ease.

"You caught them!" Rika exclaimed but her opponent only smirked in return. She caught them so easily! How can it be? She wasn't even supposed to be able to dodge them, with that level of chakra left.

Rika cringed at the thought of losing and inside, she was angered deeply, but she remained calmed on the outside. She performed a set if hand seals before charging at the weapon mistress.

Tenten leapt back when she noticed the change of speed of her opponent. It was twice as fast and coming at her at a fast rate. Rika sent a series of punches and kicks at Tenten, who had difficulty dodging many of them. The rate they kept coming at, made it impossible to make a move. The bun-headed Jounin received hits at her stomach, face and almost everywhere else. Her body was beginning to feel sore, all over but she refused to give in. This continued onwards for a few more minutes until Rika finally stopped, thinking that Tenten was down for sure. She sent a punch with more power at Tenten, causing her to fly back and into the dirt.

Neji was standing back from the fight, since it was Tenten's battle, not his. But his years of training with her hadn't been for nothing. The fight just then had been nothing compared to the training they did. The prodigy looked back at the fight and saw Rika standing away from a beaten form of Tenten, but he wasn't worried, not one bit.

"You (pant) lose," Rika said to her opponent.

Tenten was lying on the floor from the impact but smirked when she heard Rika say this.

"Don't think so fast, this fight is far from over," she replied while slowly getting to her feet.

"You're….you're still able to stand! Impossible!" Rika exclaimed.

"I'm not that easy to defeat but you are."

"How dare you say that! You're the one who is all beaten up and hurt, not me," Rika yelled.

"Well, that will change," Tenten replied, before taking out a scroll. She circled Rika then jumped into the air, performing some flips. She twirled the scroll around her body, looking down at her opponent.

Rika looked up, wondering what she was doing, but it was hard to see in the dark. What is she doing with that scroll? It's too dark, I can't see clearly, she thought.

Placing a hand over each symbol, a weapon appeared in sight. Tenten flung multiple weapons down at Rika who managed to doge most of them.

Some weapons managed to cut her, near the shoulders and arms, leaving a gash of blood dripping down. A kunai imbedded itself in her left thigh and a senbon in her right. Each time she dodged the coming attack, she received more on herself.

When Tenten stopped, she landed gracefully on the earth and the sight, pleased her. Situated in the middle of all the weapons was Rika's body, with weapons fully imbedded into her with a puddle of blood surrounding her.

I guess training at night does help, she thought.

Her body gave in and her legs buckled under her weight and she collapsed from exhaustion. She would have been eating dirt if Neji hadn't caught her in his strong arms.

Looking down at his team-mate, he saw her asleep in his arms, all worn out from the battle. But her features were just a beautiful, especially in the moonlight. Carrying her in bridal style, he headed back to the camp they had set up, earlier.

Neji had been heading back for a while when he spotted two figures coming at him one was smaller than the other. Their chakra felt familiar but he was unsure who they were. When they got closer, he saw a blurry form of his smaller cousin and Kiba.

"Hanabi-sama," he greeted his cousin when they stopped in their tracks.

"Neji-nii-san," she replied, "what's wrong with your team-mate"

"Pass out after a fight."

"So weak," Hanabi announced.

Neji sent a glare at his cousin who saw it and stuck her tongue out at him.

"Well she is, I'm don't even pass out after a fight. She is more of a weak-," she started but couldn't continue on, when Kiba placed a hand over her mouth to shut her up. Bending down he whispered something in her ear which caused her to give Neji a big evil smile. But Neji just turned away, knowing clearly what Kiba has told his younger cousin. He had heard Kiba tell Hanabi to keep quiet about Tenten because she was Neji's girlfriend.

Kiba couldn't clearly see Tenten, but in the darkness, you could make out a few dark marks. Bruises! Must have been a bad fight. I wish I was there and not keeping eye on this brat, he thought.

"You'll have to find Sakura; she went off into the forest when Naruto and her were fighting Sasuke. I don't know what has happened," Kiba said to Neji after letting go of Hanabi.

"Hn," Neji replied then started heading back, with Tenten still in his arms. He had checked before, that she hadn't any broken bones, just bruises.

Then something came to his mind, they had forgotten about Hinata. Turning around, he faced Kiba who stopped in his tracks when he saw his captain halt.

"Do you know about Hinata?" Neji asked him.

"Hinata? Um…I think Lee went after her or did he go after Sakura," he started, "but I don't remember because I was keeping an eye on your cousin."

"Nee-san? I haven't seen her since the day we went training," Hanabi spoke up.

Neji kept quiet for sometime before turning to Kiba, "Go find her now. I'll take care of the things here."

"Okay," Kiba replied, and then turning around and ran off in search of the Hyuuga heiress.

"Hanabi-sama, we're going back to the camp." Neji announced then heading off, with Hanabi close behind.

A/N: I'm so sorry that i took me this long to update. I was really out of ideas but in the end, i worked out something. Hopefully you liked this chapter though there isn't much fluff. There will be more in the next chatper. Thanks for reading. Review please.

Neji Rocks- Thanks for the help. I think i'll stick to the pairings but i like your ideas. They helped me quite a bit.

Black Phantasy- Thanks Vic. Don't worry, i'll come up something in the end.

valonross- There will be some more Sasusaku and Nejiten in the next few chapters. The talk will come soon and thanks for that idea. Like it very much.

XxaoshixX- Thanks.

abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvxyz- Thanks for the review. At least i got some ideas in the end.

mysticalshadowangel- Sheesh, i've slowed down already. Happy now? Anyhow thanks for the review. Ja.

Tears like Crystals- Thanks for the review, i really need to thanks you. I like the idea you suggested, in which i used. Thanks again.

Other reader/reviewers- Please review and thanks for reading.