A/N: I AM SO SORRY this is so late, but I am really trying to get back into it. I've had very little inspiration to write this recently but I am sticking to the storyline, and I am trying to move things forward, your support would be greatly appreciated.

Disclaimer: I do no own Naruto or any of its characters, unfortunately.

The Used and Abused

It was still the dead of night when they put their plan into action, Naruto and Kiba darting from rooftop to rooftop on silent feet towards the Hokage tower. Akamaru had found them somewhere along the way, but after a quick explanation, the canine was more than happy to assist. The three had equal trust in their comrades to keep Neji and Shikamaru off their scent for the time being, but knew all hell would break loose if they were unable to get past the prison guards without detection.

Dropping to the streets to run the last few yards, the threesome began to formulate their method.

"So, how do you want to do this?" Naruto whispered in the quietest voice he could muster, which admittedly wasn't very quiet at all.

Akamaru lifted his nose to the air momentarily, nostrils flaring, then growled lowly as Kiba translated. "There are three sentries stationed at the sides of the entrance, and two just inside. If we can take out the front without alerting the others, we might be able to pull off a transformation jutsu and walk right past them."

"Alright, leave this to me!"

"Wha– wait! Naruto!" The Inuzuka hissed, but his protests were too slow as the orange clad ninja disappeared faster than Kiba knew Naruto was capable. Guess there's nothing I can do but believe in him…

Several minutes of silence ticked by, and Kiba fingernails were taking the brunt of his nerves. "Where is that idiot…?"

No sooner than the words had been uttered, a loud poof and a cloud of smoke exploded before him.

"Damn it, Naruto! You almost blew our cover, keep it down!" The Inu nin scolded, rubbing Akamaru's neck, but his friend was smirking proudly. Kiba's onyx irises slowly descended to three slumped figures lying behind the Uzumaki, seemingly unconscious.

"Who says I can't be sneaky?!" Naruto asked smugly, teeth showing in a cocky grin.

Kiba chose to simply roll his eyes, transforming into one of the sentries hurriedly. With a little help from Kiba, and a twisted version of the man beast clone, Akamaru's appearance altered too, and both turned to the blonde to do the same. Naruto complied, and after securing the bonds around the guards' wrists and tucking them away in an alley, the duo and canine began the infiltration.

Forcing his fists to unclench, Kiba tried to act casual while entering the prison, passing by the next two wardens as smoothly as possible. One inclined his head briefly in acknowledgement, but other than that they appeared uninterested. Phew.

Once past the initial guard patrol, Kiba decided it would be unlikely to find any other sentries stationed from here to the cell, especially since the prisoner they currently held wasn't exactly being held against her will. A quick, quiet bark from Akamaru confirmed the theory, and the friends picked up the pace as they jogged silently through the passageways. That is, until Naruto decided to dig his heels in the ground all of a sudden, skidding to a halt.

"Oh wait!" He exclaimed as Kiba struggled to avoid a direct collision the orange clad ninja in front of him.

"What now, dummy?! And don't just stop without warning!"

"What if… What if when we get there, she's asleep, and we have to wake her up?"

"…Are you serious?" With a quick whack of Naruto's head, the dog trainer pushed past his comrade with a disgruntled huff, Akamaru at his side. "Her clan is nocturnal, I think we're good. And as if that would be an issue anyway, idiot."

Unsurprisingly, Luna wasn't asleep. In fact she was far from it, pacing almost impatiently at the back of her cell, tail swishing side to side. Pushing open the barred door into the room that held the she-wolf, Kiba flinched as her head whipped round at the noise, face contorting from relief, to confusion, to annoyance.

"If you're here for the reason I suspect you're here…" She began, teeth bared warningly as she glowered at one visitor to the next.

The Inuzuka heir held up his hands before she could shoot them down. "Wait, wait. Just hear me out. It wasn't only my plan for once, everyone agreed it was for the best." He figured best not to mention the few opposing members… "Locking you in a cage is not the answer to–"

"It doesn't matter how the answer is found, only that it is!" The hybrid snapped, anger rising along with her voice, but she ignored Naruto's shushing noises. "The Hokage said it herself, this is only a temporary solution, one that I am more than happy to comply with if it keeps you… a-and everyone else safe." She stumbled a little over her words, but breezed over her blunder before the two on the other side of the cage could notice. "Kiba, if I can't control myself, it puts the whole village in danger. As soon as the bastard behind all this is found, everything can go back to normal." Whatever 'normal' was.

"Luna, this is ridiculous, you aren't gonna hurt anyone. I won't let you. Now get out here!" He demanded, twisting the key, which Naruto had plucked from a set of drawers, in the heavy metal lock.

"Stop that!" She hissed, backing away. "You might trust me, but I don't. Why can't you just leave things alone?"

"Because I–" Kiba choked suddenly on whatever he was going to say, ebony irises widening. Akamaru lifted his giant head to his human, something registering behind his dark eyes, before Kiba returned to normal and changed his persuasion tactic. "Just come out of there, you're a wolf, you're proud. You don't want to choose to stay locked away when you can take matters into your own hands… or paws!"

"Erm, guys, I'm going to stand guard outside, kay?" The blonde ninja mumbled, suddenly feeling like a third wheel, despite the dog in the room.

Neither of them even batted an eyelid as their friend made his swift exit.

"Wolves may be proud, but we aren't stupid. We're tactical, we know when we're beat."

"How can you give up so quickly when you have so many people behind you?" Swinging open the cell door with a louder-than-necessary clang, he waved around the room. "Look at what you're putting yourself through! What would your family want, for you to roll over and let the village do all the fighting? Or would they want you to look him in the eyes and show him he messed with the wrong hybrid."

The girl seemed to hesitate at this, genuinely considering her options. He knew she was torn, and he knew how difficult this was for her. But he needed her to come with him. He just needed her to.

Kiba's arm reached toward her, fingers outstretched in an hopeful gesture. "You're strong, do this for yourself, if not for me."

Her eyes locked with his, a final plea. Kiba held her gaze firmly, determination and not a hint of doubt nearing his features as he silently begged her to trust him. But she did trust him, it was herself and the Hihanta she had issues with.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, she took one delicate step towards Kiba's hand. Then another, and another, until their fingers brushed together and he wrapped his hand around hers, tugging her gently across the threshold.

"Thank you." The Inu breathed, unable to hide the relief in his voice and expression. The large canine whined lowly in agreed relief, earning a light head ruffle from the she-wolf.

At that moment, the loud orange clad ninja came crashing into the holding cells. "Guys, guys, we gotta run! We've been detected and there are Anbu everywhere!"

"Shit." Kiba growled, his hand clamping around Luna's tighter as he took off after Naruto, who had already begun to retreat.

"Follow me, I know a way out the back!" The Jinchuuriki called over his shoulder, earning a nod from his comrades.

Luna's eyes squeezed shut momentarily as she allowed the dog nin to yank her with him, Akamaru hot on her heels. But her feet dragged, the reluctance she still felt in her heart weighing her down, and Kiba noticed.

Spinning around hurriedly, he had scooped her off the floor and onto his back before she had a second to object, let alone register the action. His feet took of once again, a little slower with the added weight but worth it if it allowed them to keep moving, despite her guilt.

Kiba thought for sure she was going to protest, give him a whack and order her release, but none came. In fact, he almost tripped over his own feet when her arms tightened ever-so-gently around his neck, forehead resting just below the nape of his neck. The Inu nin could only hope she missed his nervous gulp and the way his heart began to pound in his chest, heavier than this sort of exercise usually induced.

Again, Akamaru remained silent at the exchange, but the same flicker of recognition sparked in his doggy expression.

They rounded another corner, and Naruto leapt to the side, beckoning them past and calling as they continued, "Exit's just up ahead. I'll draw the Anbu in!"

"Thanks!"

"Be careful!" Luna worried her lip, hair rippling across her face as she watched Naruto's figure disappear back the way they'd come.

"He'll be fine. The Hokage has an annoying soft spot for him." Kiba reassured her, sensing her rising guilt over someone else getting in trouble for her sake.

The exit Naruto had directed them too seem to lead into a spacious, cavern-like room, with a few candelabra lining the walls and only one other way out on the opposite side. The friends had slowed to a walk when they had entered, either out of caution or curiosity.

It took a few moments and a prompt from Akamaru for Kiba to realise where they were. "Oh! This is one of the evacuation tunnels that leads through the Kage mountainside. We'll be safe here for a while. No one comes here unless the village is under attack or something, and they need to get the civilians out, fast."

Luna appeared unconvinced, her ears remaining alert, but she trusted him. She was then suddenly very aware that he was still carrying her, and her arms were still wrapped securely around his chest.

Squirming a little, Kiba seemed to catch on and loosened his grip enough for her to slide off his back and onto her own two feet. Her tail wagged a little as she moved to run a hand along one of the walls.

"So what now then?" Her tone was less than enthusiastic as she slumped to the floor against the wall, but at least she was willing to consider their next move.

"Now we need to think of a way to draw the Hihan– er, sorry," The dog trainer backtracked upon the glare he received. "the hunter, out of the village. We need him to follow us out of here, where we can fight him safely. Maybe you could howl to alert him where we are once we get out of these tunnels?"

"…I think that's a terrible idea."

Akamaru snorted in amusement as his master's face fell.

"What?! Why?"

"For starters, a howl will also be heard by the leaf ninja who are currently trying to find me, and then end up putting them in danger anyway. Secondly, this hunter isn't stupid, he knows I wouldn't be so careless as to give away my position like that unless it were a trap. And lastly, there is no 'we' in this. I'm going alone."

"Okay some good points you make there…" Kiba grumbled, ignoring the third reason. There was no way he was letting her go alone after everything so far, but he also knew there was no point arguing about it. She'd just have to deal with that later. "So what do you suggest?"

"I… don't know yet."

"Right. Great." A Whine from his side drew his attention to his great white companion. "What's that, boy?"

He listened to the dog's growls and woofs for a moment, then closed his eyes with a serious frown as he lifted his nose to the air.

Luna watched him expectantly, pushing chakra to her wolf ears momentarily in a vague attempt to see if they were being followed. What she heard was worse than a few jounin ninja.

With pinned ears and a snarl, she scrabbled to her feet. "You need to leave. Now."

"I know. Akamaru smelled him."

"Then what are you waiting for? Leave. Both of you!" Luna snapped her teeth, in a way that might have been threatening if her intended target was listening. But both Kiba and Akamaru's attention had shifted to the cavernous opening on the opposite side of the room, waiting.

Not wanting to be caught unprepared, Luna shifted into a battle stance, feet apart and tail tilted upward. Shedding the bandage from her arm so as not to appear weak, she readied herself as the footsteps and vague musical tone she had been concentrating on grew louder.

"Kiba, I am warning you, get out of here before it's too late. Don't you know how foolish it is to stick around when you've seen what he can do, what I could do!"

"Luna." He said, softly. Her name resounded in her ears like an echo, the way he'd spoken it so gentle and firm at the same time. He didn't need to say anything else, he wasn't going anywhere.

Bracing herself again, she refocused her energy away from her ears. He was close enough now that she knew he'd be upon them any second, and the last thing any of them needed was for this bastard to control her here.

She was strong, Kiba believed in her, and she believed in him. Her heart beat furiously as the last traces of doubt were forced from her mind. She only needed to resist long enough for one of the others to get that blasted whistle away from his grip. And then, she would strike, with all of her soul, she would kill him for what he'd done to her, to her family. She was strong, she was a wolf, she would endure.

And then, in the frame of the cave doorway, he appeared.

A/N: Leave a review and I'll be forever grateful… and motivated! I don't know if anyone is still interested in this fic, so please let me know your thoughts.