Disclaimer: I own nothing.

A/N: Thank you so much for your reviews, favorites, and follows. They really encourage me a lot. You guys and my love for my all-time OTP are what keep me writing.

I hope you can leave me a review because I love reading them.

One of my readers asked for the rescuing team's POV, so here it is. I hope this won't disappoint you ;)

8

"You're leaving already?" Takao asked, voiced lanced with shock.

"U-Um, yes. We have somewhere to go to." Hinata replied, feeling a little unhappy because she couldn't stay for longer. She liked this boy and really wanted to learn more about baking with him.

"W-Why don't you stay for a few more days. I have a lot of dessert recipes that I want to share with you."

"Sorry, but we really have to leave." She gave him a weak smile.

"We have a festival upcoming. Why don't you stay so that you can enjoy it? It's very fun and I'm sure you'll like it."

Hinata's pale eyes glanced at Sasuke for a moment in expectation, but when all she received was a scold, she gave a sigh and turned to the boy. "Sorry, but we really can't stay."

"Please, just a few more days." Takao pleaded. His hand reached out to hers in an attempt to persuade her but stopped when a pair of red eyes glared at him. Before he could utter a word, Sasuke took a step toward him in annoyance, shielding the girl from the younger man.

"Back off." He hissed.

Takao took a step back in terror. The man's aura had darkened significantly with killing intent as if he was already ready to murder him. He contrasted starkly with the girl behind him. It's like day and night. While he was dark, mysterious and uncaring, she was light and she cared too much. Even someone who had just met them could tell that and he couldn't understand why they were together. She said they were not dating or anything, but he acted like he would murder any men who dared to come close to her.

"Sasuke, you're scaring him." She said, putting a hand on his arm. His red eyes shifted to her in annoyance. She had her head slightly tilted to the side, pale eyes bored into his dark ones in a silence plead to stop scaring the boy and let her handle this. He frowned hard, as if challenging her, and he gave a sigh when the girl refused to back down. His red eyes softened a little before turning back to their dark color.

He didn't fail to notice that her touch didn't disgust him as other girls' would. In fact, it calmed him and displeased him at the same time. She was using the effect she had on him to defend that boy. So what if he was scaring him? It's not like he was going to kill him or anything, though he would love to.

She took a step forward, once again standing before him. Giving the boy a sincere smile, she tried to comfort him. "I'm sorry that we can't stay longer. But I think I can return in a few months, that is… if you still want me to."

"A few months?" The boy asked in confusion.

"There is somewhere Sasuke and I need to go to and it will take us a few months, but when I return, it will be only me and we can spend some time together."

"No." She almost let out a small squeak as Sasuke grabbed her wrist and pulled her flush to him. He, once again, shielded her from Takao. "She is not going to return here." Giving the boy his last glare as a warning, he dragged her away.

He ignored her as she tried to tug her hand away. He was much stronger than her and he would not let her go until they were out of this damn village. God, he hated this place and hated that boy even more. He walked fast, not oblivious to the fact that she was struggling to catch up to him. Her short legs didn't help her much anyway.

"Sasuke!" She called, but he only gave her silence, only keeping on walking fast. Though she couldn't see his face, she knew he was having an ugly grimace. "Sasuke, stop!" She tried again, and this time, surprisingly, worked.

"Because he looks like Naruto?" He turned around and questioned her in an angry voice.

She didn't answer him right away, instead, she busied nursing her wrist with a grimace on her face. With how tightly he has gripped her wrist, a red mark was starting to show. She could feel he was getting impatient with her silence, but she really didn't want to discuss the topic of Naruto with him. With all of the confusing emotions she was having recently, Naruto was the last thing she wanted to talk about and definitely not with him.

She used to think that she could be uncertain about anything, but her feeling for Naruto was never one of them. She had loved him for most of her life, even sacrificed her life for him, but since her journey with Sasuke began, her constant thoughts of Naruto had stopped. And she felt… content. No more thinking about him, wondering why he hadn't given her an answer for her confession or questioning if she was good enough for him. All of these were possible was because of Sasuke, or the potion?

"I don't want to talk about Naruto-kun." She murmured softly. She walked past him with her head lower, her long hair veiling her face from his view. No, she wouldn't say anything about Naruto until she could figure out what her confusing emotions were.

The girl couldn't walk more than five steps when she was abruptly pulled back. His fingers dug into her right arm painfully and she winced slightly. She could feel anger in every fiber of his and she found herself hot angry too. Who was he to question her feeling for Naruto and get mad at her when she refused to answer him? She tried to shake his hand off her, but his grip on her only got stronger. Her pale eyes snapped to his, not surprised at all when she was met with a pair of red eyes. If he wanted to scare her with his Sharingan, then it was not going to work.

"Let me go!" She said firmly.

"Are you in love with Naruto so much that you're willing to date someone who looks like him?" He questioned angrily.

Her pale eyes widened at him. His question was like an insult to her and she was pissed. She might love Naruto, but she wasn't so desperate that she had to use someone who looked like him to replace him. Her conscience wouldn't allow her. But how could he understand? He had every woman in the world throwing themselves at him and he wouldn't give them so much a glance, while she couldn't have the only man she wanted. He would never know how she felt and therefore, he didn't get to question her feelings and insult her for it. Hinata was so pissed that she blurted out something she never thought she could say.

"F-F-Fuck y-y-yo…u."

"Yes, please." He shrugged.

Her pale eyes widened and words died in her mouth at his nonchalant response. "Y-You're unbelievable."

"Answer my question." He demanded.

"My personal life is none of your business."

"I thought you're a shy girl, and you want to spend time together with a boy you just met yesterday because he looks like Naruto? Hinata, I can't believe you."

"Don't drag Naruto-kun into this."

"Why? I think you love him? Don't you want to brag to me about how great he is?"

"He doesn't love me." She almost yelled in frustration. She rarely snapped but bottled her negative emotions up inside her. She would rather suffer it alone than let bother other people with her problems. She told herself that if she buried it deep enough, didn't talk about it and no one mentioned it, she would eventually forget it, but how wrong she was. It weighed down on her like a rock, clouded her mind with doubt, and caused her heartache.

There she had said it. She had said he didn't love her, something she had never told anyone, no one told her, yet everyone knew. It's the elephant in the room.

Silence fell over them, and although it felt suffocating, she didn't intend on breaking it. She had nothing left to say, so she just waited for him to say something, probably to tell her how pathetic she was, and maybe that's exactly what she needed right now. She needed someone to tell her straight to her face that she should stop loving him because there could be nothing between them but friendship and being persistent would only make her pathetic and stupid. And who could be that someone better than him – Naruto's best friend?

She didn't protest as he suddenly grabbed her wrist and pulled her to somewhere. She didn't know if she was imagining it or not, but his hold on her wrist felt possessive. They arrived at a clearing a few minutes later. She looked at him in confusion, wondering why he dragged her here. Before she could voice her confusion, he spoke. "Spar with me."

"E-Eh?" She definitely was taken aback by his request.

"You are an idiot in love, but not in battles, are you?" He asked and she could hear the challenging in his voice.

"No. I am not." She said with determination.

"Prove it to me."

A smirk flickered at the corner of his mouth as veins started to protruded at her tempers. This would be his first time to spar with a Hyuuga member and by the way she gracefully got into her stance, he knew she wouldn't disappoint him.

Naruto could hear the buzzing of Shino's insects, Sakura's gasp, Kou's hitched breath before a tense silence fell over them. But the quick beating of his heart continued to echo in his ears as he gripped the bloody jacket is his hand. His chest contracted with overwhelming pain and anger. This blood-drenched jacket belonged to Hinata and it could mean she was heavily injured. This much blood could even mean death.

A few moments passed by. His shoulders trembled slightly and when he looked up, all he saw were her pale eyes filled with pain and anger. She was hurt and she was angry because he couldn't find her quick enough to save her from Sasuke. It took him a few moments to realize it was Kou's eyes he was looking at, not hers. He looked away, ignoring Kou's deathly glares piercing holes thorough his head. The man probably was blaming everything on him and he couldn't agree more.

"Let me see," Sakura said and he didn't protest as she took the jacket from him. She inspected the jacket carefully, looking for any trace that Hinata might leave on it. As she inspecting it, a small frown crossed her brown. "The jacket is intact."

"That means…" Kou said, his voice laced with relief.

"This might not be her blood." Shino finished for him, the buzzing sound around him ceased down a bit.

"This could be Sasuke's blood." She said in worry.

"Please," Kou scoffed. "As if there was someone who could even touch him to make him spill this much blood."

Sakura didn't respond to Kou, only looking at the jacket in worry. Although what Kou said was true, she couldn't stop herself from worrying for him. It's in her blood to worry for her teammates even when they were probably the most powerful ninja in the world. Besides, her medic instinct always kicked in when she saw this much blood, whether it's her friend's blood or not.

She glanced at Naruto, noticing the tension in his shoulders had lessened a bit. He hadn't said a word since they found the jacket, which was unusual. He usually couldn't keep his mouth shut for an entire 5 minutes and his silence really had her worried. She thought she partly understood his dilemma. After all, Sasuke was her teammate too and she cared for him no less than Naruto did, and although Hinata wasn't her closet friend, she liked the girl a lot. To have Sasuke kidnapped Hinata and probably hurt her, she really didn't know what to do.

"My bug told me there is also some blood nearby, but no bodies can be found," Shino said, a small bug perching on his finger.

"Can you find any trace of Sasuke and Hinata?" Sakura asked.

"There are some traces of fighting, but no specific ones about them."

They all felt disappointed. A bloody jacket could lead them to nowhere. They didn't even know who the blood on the jacket belonged to.

"There is a village nearby. We can go there to see if we can find anything." Shino suggested and the group nodded their heads in agreement. If Sasuke and Hinata had been here before, chances were they had gone to the village to at least get some supplies.

Sakura didn't protest as Naruto took the jacket from her. He folded it neatly and put in his backpack, all the while didn't speak a single word. When Shino and Kou were a few meters ahead of them, she spoke to Naruto in a low voice so they wouldn't hear her. "You should have faith in him."

"I have always had faith in him, haven't I?" Naruto replied.

"Sasuke-kun can be a lot of things, but a kidnapper is not one of them. There must be a reason."

"I could forgive him even when he tried to kill me, but if he hurt Hinata… I can't, I really can't…" Naruto clenched his jaw tightly. He was angry at Sasuke, but most of all, he felt guilty toward Hinata. It's not technically his fault that Sasuke kidnapped her, but if he could save Sasuke, could bring him home, all of this would have never happened. Out of all people he could kidnap, Naruto wondered why he had to kidnap Hinata. He couldn't think of a reason why. Why the eldest daughter of Hiashi and the girl who had had a crush on him for the longest time?

He felt a pang of guilt hit his chest. He was very aware of her feeling for him, he just never addressed it. She made him felt safe. Even if the entire whole world was against him, he was sure she would still support him. She was a nice person. In fact, she was so nice that he even felt safe to not address her confession. It was safe to delay giving an answer to her because he knew she would wait for him and never leave him.

Too immersed in his thoughts, Naruto only realized they had arrived at the village when the laughing and talking sound of people on the streets reached his ears. Blue eyes looked around, trying to find a pair of pale eyes though he knew it's all futile. The chances of running into them on the streets were nearly impossible.

They stopped at a bakery shop as Sakura wanted something sweet. As they were waiting in the line, something caught her eyes. "That guy really looks like Naruto." She said, making the men turned their head toward where she was pointing.

"And he acts like you too," Shino said as the boy flashed a grin at the customer and fold his arms behind his head in a carefree manner.

Naruto watched the boy closely. He himself had to admit they looked alike. They both had blonde hair, blue eyes, and the same figure. Judging by the apron he was wearing, it seemed he was a worker at the shop. He was busy talking to a customer, completely unaware of four pairs of eyes watching him curiously. They knew that people could look like each other, but it's the first time they actually witness one. Draw 6 whiskers on the boy's cheeks and he would look just like Naruto, only a little younger.

The boy suddenly caught them staring at him. He said something to the customer and when she smiled at him and waved him goodbye, the boy quickly walked to them.

"Excuse me. Are you Naruto?" The boy asked when he reached the group, his blue eyes looked directly at Naruto.

"Eh? How do you know my name?" He asked in confusion.

"Someone said that I really looked like you."

"Who?" This immediately got the group's attention.

"Her name is Hinata."

"Does she have eyes like me?" Kou stepped forward so the boy could see his eyes more clearly.

"Yes. But her eyes are a little violet." The boy answered. The man's eyes surprised him a bit as he didn't think there could be some else who had eyes like Hinata's.

The group was shocked, so shocked that it took them a few seconds to process everything. Finally, they found something. Naruto was the first to react. He grabbed the boy's shoulders, making him flinch slightly. "Where is she?"

"I don't know. She left a few days ago."

"There was a young man with her, right?" Sakura asked.

"Yes. His name is Sasuke."

"Were they okay? Was any of them injured or anything?"

"They're fine. But Hinata said they encountered a group of bandits."

The group looked at each other in understanding. Now they could easily figure out something. The blood on Hinata's jacket must belong to the bandits.

"Do you know where they went?" Shino asked, while his bugs were secretly scanning the entire village for any trace of Sasuke and Hinata.

"I don't know. She only said that they needed to head to somewhere."

"Did he hurt her or threaten her?" Kou asked.

"No. Why would he do that? They seemed comfortable around each other."

The boy eyed the group nervously. When Hinata said he looked like someone named Naruto, he never thought there would be a day where he could actually meet him. And they indeed looked alike, Hinata didn't exaggerate at all. Their meeting was not like what he had expected though. He had expected a friendly and pleasant meeting with a handshake and a pat on the back and then he could ask Naruto about Hinata, not being bombarded with questions like this. The group seemed very serious and it unnerved him.

"Did Sasuke treat her well?" Naruto asked what seemed like his final and most important question. The four looked at him with a grim expression and he got a feeling that if they didn't like his answer, there would be a disaster. Why such a nice girl like Hinata had weird friends? Firstly Sasuke, who seemed like he wanted to murder him all the time and now this group with a serious aura like they were on a mission to rescue someone from a dangerous criminal.

"He treated her well." He finally got his words out.

He could see the group relaxed a little, except the man who had the same eyes as Hinata. He still had a grim look on his face as if the fact that Sasuke had treated Hinata well was very suspicious.

"Thank you for letting us know. We really appreciate it." Sakura said politely after a few moments.

"You're w-welcome." The boy replied.

Noticing he was fidgeting with his apron and his eyes seemed to look anywhere but them, she forced out a small smile. "You see, we're just very excited to hear about Hinata and Sasuke because we haven't seen them in a while."

He didn't fully believe them, but he nodded his head anyway. Although he really wanted to ask them about Hinata, he got a feeling that they wouldn't like that.

Sakura smiled again as she paid for her cakes. "Well, we got to go now. Thank you again."

And the group quickly left the shop. They knew exactly what to do now.

He couldn't take his eyes off her.

Hinata was laying on the ground, breathing heavily. Some of her long hair stuck to her face with sweat, the rest spread beneath her like a halo. Her face was covered in a pink hue, though not quite as deeply as when she was embarrassed. He had seen her fluster so many times that it would feel strange if her face didn't hold her signature blush.

He noticed her neck was glistening with sweat. He was sweating too, but not as much as her. It had been a while since the last time someone managed to make him break a sweat. They had sparred a few times for the last couple of days and he had to say their sparring was not like what he had expected it to be. He had expected an easy spar with him completely dominating her. He still did, but not without some difficulty. Her skills were no match to him, but they're good. With what she had shown him earlier, he acknowledged her as a good kunoichi, though he would never say it out loud.

She mostly used her clan technique Gentle fists and it was dangerous. She didn't have sheer strength like Sakura did but rather relied on her ability to lock chakra points and paralyze her opponent. Just one gentle touch from her and he would be paralyzed for days. He enjoyed her small hands caressing his hair and gripping his shirt when they kissed, but he had never realized how deathly they could be.

Her pink and plump lips opened slightly as she tried to catch her breath. Her chest rose and fall with every breath she took, stretching her jacket and he found himself staring at them. Even with her jacket on, he could still see the line of her breasts.

He didn't know how she could wear that jacket in this weather. It seemed very thick and the weather was hot. Besides, she had sparred with him for hours and was sweating profusely. She must be very hot right now and her jacket would only suffocate her.

"You should take off your jacket." He said without thinking.

"Why?" She turned her head to look at him in confusion.

"You're hot."

He saw her face went red and it took him a few seconds to realize what his words might imply.

"That's not what I mean." He elaborated. "What I mean is you should take off your jacket because you're hot."

The girl immediately sat up, looking at him with widened eyes. One of her hands clutched her jacket tightly in a protected manner and it only irritated him more. If he really wanted to do something with her, as if that ugly jacket, or anything or anyone could stop him. He never felt the need to explain himself to anyone before, but he did now, specifically to her. "No. You're misunderstanding me."

"Y-You…" She began, but no word came out as her face only got redder and redder.

"The weather is hot, but you're hotter with that ja…" Ugh. He turned away, one hand ran down his face in frustration. This must be an effect of the potion. There were no other explanations why he was acting like an idiot. He turned to her again with a serious face, this time determined to get her to understand him. "No. Listen. I…" His words died in his mouth when he felt something… someone was coming. Looking over Hinata, she seemed to notice it too.

Without saying a word, Hinata active her Byakugan, scanning the area as far as her eyes could. Her vision stretched for miles until she saw someone she would usually be happy to see, but not now. "They're coming at us." She whispered.

"Who?" Sasuke asked impatiently.

"Shino-kun, Naruto-kun, Sakura-san, and… Kou-niichan?" Hinata couldn't hide her surprise to see her caretaker.

"Kou?"

"He was my caretaker when I was young."

"He has Byakugan, doesn't he?"

"He does."

"Can he see us?"

"No, I don't think so. His range is smaller than mine." In fact, she could proudly say that her Byakugan had the largest range in the Hyuga clan. "But we should be going soon," Hinata said and quickly stood up.

Sasuke abruptly grabbed her arm, stopping her from taking another step. "How far until he can see us?"

"Soon. A few kilometers."

He frowned thoughtfully as if he was pondering hard on something. His dark eyes didn't leave her pale ones. Instead, they bore deep into hers and if it's not for the team coming right at them, she would stutter and bushed madly. "We should be going now." She repeated, trying to tug her hand out of his hold.

His hold only got stronger and it seemed he didn't plan on letting her go anytime soon.

"Sasuke, what's wrong?" She asked in worry but was met with silence. "We have to go now. If we don't, they are going to see us."

A few minutes passed by and she was getting more and more frustrated with him. The team was getting close and Kou would see them soon. Did he want to be seen? She thought he wanted to stay as far away from Konoha shinobi as possible, especially his old teammates?

"Sasuke!" She almost screamed at him. "We have to go now."

"Can Kou see us now?" He asked.

"No. But he will soon."

He said nothing in reply and it only frustrated her more. "Do you want to be seen?"

"Yes."

Her pale eyes widened. Did he go insane? He had made it very clear to her that he hated Konoha and now he wanted to be seen by the team Konoha sent out to search for them. It didn't make any sense.

She was about to open her mouth to say something, but her words died as a pair of pale eyes looked straight at her. They were in Kou's range now. She could see his eyes widened in both shock and happiness. He must be happy to see her alive and healthy after being kidnapped by the most dangerous criminal in the world. She should be happy too, but strangely, she didn't. All she was feeling right now was nervous.

She saw him say something to the other shinobi, probably informed them that he had found her, and they immediately speeded up. A determination was written clearly on their faces.

Hinata realized she didn't unconsciously focus on Naruto as she did before.

"Can he see us now?" Sasuke's voice pulled her out of her thoughts.

"He is seeing us." She replied.

"Naruto is on the team, right?"

"He is."

She couldn't hide her confusion when a smirk graced his mouth. He only smirked when he planned on doing something devilish… or when he wanted to embarrass her.

Hinata froze when she felt a pair of soft lips on her own. He was kissing her! She was so shocked that she let him kiss her for a few moments and only started to struggle against him when the shock waned off.

"S-Sasuke, stop!" She put her hands on his chest, trying her hardest to push him away. He didn't seem to mind her. One of his hands wrapped around her waist, keeping her press closely against his front. His other hand tangled in her long hair, fingertips gently caressing her silky strands. She had to admit that it felt good. It's soothing and comforting and if it wasn't for their grave situation right now, she would have wanted him to continue.

His tongue prodded her lips, asking for an entrance. She didn't grant him at first, but with the way he was gently caressing her hair, she involuntarily let out a mewl and he took that chance to slip his tongue into her mouth. He bit on her bottom lip, got her to mewl a few more times before deciding to stop. He would like to continue this later. This was in no way close to how he usually kissed her.

Her face was on fire. It's hot and red like burning coal. She had always flustered when kissing him, and with Kou witnessing their kiss, she thought she was going to die out of embarrassment. With her Byakugan still on, she could see Kou's face blanched and he looked like he was going to faint. He even stumbled on his feet. And she thought she was going to faint too.

Hinata let out a small squeak when Sasuke suddenly lift her up and she found herself thrown over his shoulder. "Let me go. I can walk." She almost screamed, small fists punching his back.

Sasuke ignored her, letting her do whatever she wanted on his shoulder. He turned slightly toward the direction he knew the team was coming from. A smirk graced his lips and he knew Kou could see it.

With lightning speed, he headed toward the forest.

Kou would let the team know what he had seen.

Kou stumbled on his feet before coming to a complete stop.

Around him, he could vaguely hear Sakura's worry voice asking why he stopped, Naruto's impatient voice screaming for him to continue, and the buzzing sound of Shino's insects as he patiently waiting for a reaction from him.

Sasuke was too fast. He couldn't see him anymore.

"Why did you stop?" Sakura asked.

"We have to continue." Naruto grabbed his shoulders, shaking him to try to pull him out of his shock. He could see the worry in Naruto's blue eyes because he knew whatever he had seen, it must be very bad to get him this shaken. "What did you see? Tell me? Did he hurt her?"

Kou found it hard to tell them. What he had seen was never supposed to happen.

"They're kissing."