CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

Physiotherapy!

XXX

72 Days Since Sasuke

"Are you okay?" Hinata asked Naruto as she wheeled him towards the main war room. He seemed rather fidgety, constantly turning in his seat to massage his back, then returning to a neutral position to try and massage his chest.

"Yeah, I've just felt so stiff these days."

"Shizune-san's overdue to give you a physio exam, so you should tell her about it before we leave," Hinata told him, "Maybe you just need a massage."

The pair entered the conference room. Standing around the main round table, which had a globe over it detailing the live conflicts occurring around the world, were three Kage in Tsunade, Temari, and Han, and five members of Yuugure in Gaara, Roshi, Fuu, Yugito, and Hotaru. And Akiko. Naruto had been summoned here for some sort of briefing; he presumed the others were called up for the same reason.

"Where are the other Kage?" Naruto wondered.

"The other Kage? Mei just went to the bathroom, but Lord Raikage and Lord Tsuchikage left to go check on the state of their villages," Tsunade explained.

"Lord Tsuchikage?"

"Yeah, I know. He wanted to see if he could bargain with the Akatsuki to try and get his village back since they had gotten the weapons they wanted. We told him it was a bad idea, but there's no reasoning with that old bag of bones," Tsunade explained.

"Then what are we here for?" Naruto wondered.

Temari took over, "Gaara and I are heading down to Yugakure to try and take the village back. We heard some Akatsuki members were making their way towards the battlefield and if we're caught without any Kage or jinchuuriki, they'll wipe out our entire army. Plus, we need to take Yugakure to create a supply line through to Suna and Iwa."

"And the others?"

"We're heading back to Uzushio," Han said, pointing to Roshi, "It doesn't feel smart to leave one of the most important villages unprotected, so we figured why not have the Uzukage and another jinchuuriki stationed there in the meantime."

Naruto shifted his attention to Yugito, Fuu, and Hotaru. "We're going to the Tsuchigumo Village to have Hotaru's jutsu removed from her back," Yugito explained. "We'll probably be back in about two weeks if we don't run into any trouble."

"And Hinata?" Naruto asked. He'd found her waiting for him near the elevator, so she'd gotten here before he had.

"Akiko just wanted to wish Gaara and Temari good luck."

"I got them chocolates," the Suna kunoichi said.

"So, who'll be left to defend the Base?" Naruto wondered. He went through a list of who was left in the city, "Lady Tsunade? Hinata? Myself, in my weakened state? There are no other strong shinobi left in the village."

"This kid doesn't respect us," someone scoffed from behind the wheelchair-bound jinchuuriki. Jiraiya entered the conference room with Mei Terumi and Shizune. "There's still about 70 000 trained shinobi in the village, so believe me, kid. No one would be stupid enough to attack the Base."

"If anything, I'd say Kiri requires the most defending after the invasions of Iwa, Suna, and Konoha," Mei said. She'd been trying to get some troops allocated to Kiri for the past two months.

"We keep telling you that all signs point to the next major attack either happening in Konoha or Kumo," Tsunade replied, "Even still, if they make an attempt on Kiri, we'd get there before they do."

"How do you guys know where the next attack is coming from?" Naruto wondered.

"Sensory-type shinobi keep track of where all the major players are," Tsunade said looking up at the massive sphere hovering over them. There were thousands of white dots on the map. Each dot represented ten White Zetsu clones. There were about a thousand black dots too, mainly gathered around the upper countries of the Iron, Sound, and Hot Water. Each one represented five Iron Samurai. Next, were the thousand or so green dots. Each one representing a shinobi from the Grass or Rain village, or any Stone and Sand shinobi who chose to betray their villages. Finally, there were sixteen bright red dots. Each dot represented a key player, either a member of the Akatsuki or a member of Orochimaru's team, minus Orochimaru and Sasuke. "That cluster of red there, by the Hidden Rain Village, is the Akatsuki. That smaller cluster in the Land of Iron is the Akatsuki leader, Pain, and Orochimaru's team. Those two dots leaving the Land of Iron, near the Sound border, are the two members we're sending Gaara and Temari down to stop."

"This is insane," Naruto noted.

"This is what happens when you have all the best sensory types in the whole world on your side."

"Do you have any idea which two those are?" Naruto wondered, talking about the two dots moving towards Yugakure.

"… Our best sensory types aren't that good," Tsunade admitted.

"Karin probably can. I want to give Gaara and Temari the best intel before they run headfirst into the Akatsuki. For all we know they could be running into Pain," Naruto said, "Hey, Akiko, can you run down and call the angry red-haired girl."

"Will do!" Akiko sprinted past the Uzumaki and out of the room.

"Whoa, watch out, kid."

"Is Karin that good?" Jiraiya wondered.

"Oh, she's amazing. Don't underestimate the skill of a purebred Uzumaki."

Kakashi entered the room. He looked around the conference room for a minute before looking down at Naruto. "You're in worse shape than when I last saw you," he noted.

Rather unenthusiastic for someone who Naruto hadn't seen in over four years. He lifted himself up off the chair and hugged his cyclops of a sensei. "That's how you greet your old student? I never thought I'd see you again," Naruto said.

"Hm? We're fighting in the same war. Of course, we'd see each other," Kakashi said bluntly. He looked down at Naruto, "Okay, enough with the waterworks…" after a few seconds of Naruto's hugs, Kakashi's laidback exterior shattered. He slowly lifted his arms to wrap them around the Uzumaki and sighed, "It's good to see you again, Naruto."

Karin flickered into the room, still dressed in her pyjamas, with Akiko draped over her shoulder. "I was enjoying a really good nap, so this better be important," she yelled, adjusting her glasses.

Naruto finally let Kakashi go and fell into his wheelchair. "Karin! I need you to lock onto a pair of chakra signatures for me."

Karin looked up at the massive globe in front of her. "You sure? You seem to have it all figured it to me."

"Yeah. Those two leaving the Land of Iron. Would you be able to tell me who they were based on their chakra signatures?" Naruto wondered.

"I wouldn't be able to get their names and dates of birth, but I'd be able to give you a physical description and a description of their chakras."

"That'd be perfect," Temari said.

"Okay, fine, give me a minute."

"Can you put me down please, Karin-senpai?" Akiko requested.

"No," Karin replied. She focused her chakra and closed her eyes to open her third eye, her mind's eye. "Kagura Shingan: The Mind's Eye."

.

.

.

"So, I think I've locked onto them. Yeah, there are definitely two of them. Two men and I know one of them, but I don't know the other. Pretty large chakra reserves on both of them though. Both have kekkei genkai. The first one's got a mixture of earth and lightning… it has an explosive feel to it. Their chakra is very reactive like it's about to go off at any minute."

Naruto's eyes lit up upon hearing of the first person's explosive capabilities. He'd met that explosive figure before in the Battle for Iwa. Mei browsed through her mental library for the explosion-style combatant, "Sounds like we're dealing with Deidara of the Akatsuki," she said before digging through a pile of scrolls to lay down Deidara's wanted poster.

"And the second?" Tsunade asked.

"It's Kimimaro of the Kaguya clan. He's one of Orochimaru's test subjects, but I never expected to see him out on the battlefield."

"Why's that?" Gaara asked.

"Last I saw him; he was extremely sick. Still very powerful, but whenever he was disconnected from Orochimaru's machines, his life is on a timer essentially. Orochimaru still used the idea of him as an intimidation measure, but I don't know how long he'd last in a real fight."

Mei finished digging through a pile of scrolls to pull out all the information they had on Kimimaro.

"The Kaguya clan… I thought we wiped them all out when they tried to attack our village," Mei noted, "One of them must've slipped away."

"Well, unfortunately, you let the strongest one get away," Karin informed her.

Kakashi leaned over the table and read through both scrolls, "So, they've sent out a long-range expert and a close-quarters combatant. It's a good thing you're going along then, Temari."

The Kazekage chuckled. She stood up and commented, "When it comes to Gaara, he doesn't care about long-range and short-range. If he's the same Gaara I knew all those years ago, I'm just going along to keep him company."

Gaara just smirked with his arms folded over his chest.

Kakashi shrugged, "Then it's settled. If no one has anything else to say, we'll end the meeting here and everyone will be on their merry way. You'll have to leave with at least three companies, medics, and supplementary units though, so they can defend the village when you're done."

"Fine by me, it'll take a while for us to reach Yugakure, maybe a month or so with a whole army, but when we get there, the village will be ours," Temari assured everyone.

As the other leaders and shinobi got up from their seats, Akiko hopped off Karin's shoulder and rushed towards the two Sand Siblings.

"What is this?" Gaara asked the younger kunoichi. Temari, who was seated on the war table with her back to Akiko, turned to stare into the little girl's lively eyes. She held a heart-shaped box up to the pair.

"It's a gift for good luck," Akiko bowed, "Please do what I could not and liberate the people of Yugakure."

Temari took the box from Akiko's hands and opened it up to reveal a dozen chocolates. "Holy Shit! Sweet!" she bit into one of them before deciding, "Yeah, these aren't making it out of this room."

"That's right. The Hyuuga heiress informed me of the fact that you were one of the first shinobi sent to Yugakure," Gaara noted.

Temari scratched the side of her head after shoving one of the chocolates in her mouth, "Were you? What village are you from?"

"Sunagakure."

Temari's eyes widened. She stopped chewing for a bit to stare at Gaara. "I haven't sent a company to Yugakure since… two months ago."

"She was a part of that company," Gaara had heard.

Temari turned to her, "But we never heard from that company again."

"We all got wiped out. Except for me," Akiko explained. She went through her whole story again, explaining every minuscule detail to her Kage, emphasising the ambush tactics and suicidal tendencies of the White Zetsu clones before apologising to her village's leader for her failure to fend off her human instincts, and stand and fight.

"What is your name?" Temari asked.

"Akiko, Lady Kazekage."

"Akiko, how old are you?"

"Thirteen, Lady Kazekage."

"And how did you get into Suna 30th Company when it was a jounin-level company?"

"I lied about my age, Lady Kazekage."

"Why?"

"I wanted to get involved in the fighting nice and early, so I could qualify for the war benefits."

"And why would you risk your life for some stupid benefits?"

"Because my grandparents are sick, Lady Kazekage, and I heard one of the war benefits was free private medical aid for your immediate family, no matter the ailment."

"And where are your grandparents right now?"

"Safe behind the Sunagakure walls, Lady Kazekage."

"Safe?" Gaara asked. He turned to his older sister, then returned to Akiko, before staring past the thirteen-year-old to lock eyes with Hinata and Naruto, who were warning him to shut his mouth. "That's good then. You won't be needed on the battlefield for now… you'll be relocated to a more appropriate company," he told her.

"Oi! Don't tell my citizens what to do," Temari warned him, "… You won't be needed on the battlefield for now. You'll be relocated to a more appropriate company when I get back. Now get going."

XXX

74 Days Since Sasuke

At the last minute, Shizune was forced to tag along with Yugito, Hotaru, and Fuu to complete the traditional four-man cell and act as the team's medical-nin. With Shizune gone though, Hinata was left in charge of Naruto's physiotherapy. So, with the rain coming down on the Allied Shinobi Force's Homebase, Hinata laid out a table in front of Naruto's large window and told him to lie down, face down, on the pillows she'd set up for him. He did. Shirtless.

Hinata made sure to set the mood by turning off the lights. She substituted the bright ceiling lights for a more modest display of candlelight. She lathered Naruto's back with some oil and allowed him to relax as the sounds of rain hitting the window lulled the jinchuuriki into a tranquil state. He whimpered slightly as she sat on his butt and dug her fingers into his back.

"Did Shizune tell you to do all this?" Naruto wondered.

Hinata giggled, "No, this is the Hinata Hyuuga Special," she explained, running her hands over every sensitive spot on the Uzumaki's back.

Every now and then, Naruto would moan or jump as she pressed against a vital spot, but as the night went on, he could feel his tense and sore muscles begin to thank him. He'd been pushing his body to the limits over the past few days. The Uzumaki didn't like the idea of using a walker or wheelchair to move around, so he'd been desperate to get standing, get moving, and get training, but his over-eagerness had come back to bite him in the butt.

She ran her tiny hands all the way up to his shoulders before noting, "Why are you so stiff? It's like massaging a rock."

"This is the first massage I've ever received, you're digging into seventeen years' worth of tension right now," Naruto said.

"Byakugan…"

"Hm?" Naruto tried to look back over his shoulder, but Hinata pressed into it. His left arm went numb as a wave of pain and pleasure shot through his entire body. He couldn't even move his neck. It felt so good, but so weird at the same time.

Hinata did the same to his other shoulder, forcing another groan. It felt like all his chakra was leaving his system, but not in an excruciating manner like when he fought Neji. It felt like lying down after a long day of training, as if all his muscles were going 'ahhh" in perfect unison.

"What are you doing to me?" Naruto whimpered.

"I'm using my Byakugan to target the knots in your muscles," she explained. She gently ran her fingers down his spine, stopping between his shoulder blades to press inwards. Naruto's legs flinched behind her. "That's good. It's getting the blood circulating through to the rest of your body better," she said before digging into the muscle directly under his shoulder blades, eliciting another series of moans.

Hinata was having the time of her life. She equated the experience to giving a dog a belly rub. Naruto's body was in a state of complete relaxation, spread out across the table with his face pressed against the pillows she'd laid out for him. He was on the verge of passing out from the euphoria at this point.

Her mood suddenly shifted when Naruto's head reared. "Ooh, you should really try massaging my chest," he said.

"I don't think that's a good idea."

"No, really, you won't believe the amount of pain I've had from my chest to abs recently," he said, trying to get up.

"Naruto, I really don't think that's a good idea," Hinata tried to steady herself, but Naruto outmuscled her. He lifted her body weight off of him with one hand while turning to have his back on the table.

He dropped her back down before pointing to the spot right under his pecs, "If you could focus on this spot right here, I'd love you forever," Naruto said. She didn't react. Hinata didn't even move for a solid minute. "Huh?" he stared up into her eyes.

Hinata looked like she was about to explode. Her face was beet red with her lilac eyes paler than usual. Hinata looked like she'd seen a ghost, "…" she was paralysed.

"Hinata?"

She couldn't bring herself to stare at him.

"…"

"Hinata?" he tried to nudge her back with his knee. The shaking just left her unresponsive. She could do nothing but breathe heavier and heavier with every nudge.

He tried to get her attention by kneeing her back a little harder. The movements also helped the blood flow from his torso to his legs. Only after a few knees did he realise why Hinata was on the verge of unconsciousness.

He stared down at his hips. They were directly under hers. The Hyuuga heiress straddled him, legs on either side of him.

The mix of pain and pleasure from Hinata's back rubs had left Naruto more excited than he realised. And only now was he beginning to feel her on him.

He stopped kneeing her. Each knee was just moving her back and forth on him.

They both froze.

"…"

"…"

What should they do?

Nothing they did helped.

She was trembling. That did nothing to help.

He was shaking himself, he didn't even know why, but he was.

Suddenly, the temperature dropped.

Hinata was breathing heavily. Naruto the same. Steam emanated from their open mouths as they tried to calm themselves down, but the inflating and deflating of their bodies, pressed against each other, did nothing to help their predicament.

Naruto held his breath. It just made his breathing heavier when his lungs eventually gave out. Now he was panting like a dog in the summer heat.

His eyes trailed up to hers, then returned to where they connected. The fact that they wore such loose-fitting clothing meant not much was left to the imagination.

They needed to do something.

Hinata was too petrified to move.

Naruto too, every movement made the moment even worse.

But maybe…

Naruto's head was fuzzy. All he could hear was the roar of the rain outside. He looked back up into her eyes. The candlelit room meant all he could see were the edges of her soft pale skin and the silhouette of her curvaceous figure. It wasn't helping.

But maybe he should continue?

.

.

.

"Hinata… I think…"

There was a knock on the door.

Hinata finally returned enough to jump off Naruto's hips and make sure she was still on this earth. Naruto did the same, standing up off the table to put on a shirt.

"Who's there?" Naruto yelled.

"It's me," Akiko replied, "… I ate some of your soap… again," she said, shame in her voice.

"I'm coming," Hinata yelled back. She turned to Naruto, her heart still heavy, "I'll… I should… I…"

"You should go help her out," he said.

"I… I should," she turned to leave.

"I enjoyed that… the massage," he said as she opened the door.

Hinata flashed him a timid smile. "Me too."