It's been ages readers! I'm sorry, time has been short for me, so fanfiction had to be prioritised to the backrow for a little while. But I'm back, fresh with imagination and new ideas. And here's chapter 12 of promise to the loyal fans ;)

'Promise'

Chapter 12:Who will you Choose?

Raging footsteps echoed off of the walls as Sakura pounded down the hallway. Naruto was constantly being taken away from her, and she couldn't stand it anymore. She didn't even know where she was going. She only had the blond ninja in her mind.

It felt just like the time Naruto and her had been looking for Sasuke, deep within one of Orochimaru's hideouts. Desperately searching every room, every corridor, anything that might give her a sign as to where he was.
The Annex was a labyrinth of staircases, hallways, and rooms, all looking identical. Back before this all started, Keitaro and the other girls had said the Annex was big, but not anything like this. Somebody was directly manipulating the Annex. She had originally thought it was Kyoko, but now she was beginning to think somebody had wrested that control off of her.

As she made her way along another long hallway, she saw a shadow jump out in front of her. Waiting at the end of the corridor, Hinata was glaring at her. Right now, she wasn't really sure whether she should treat the fellow kunoichi with caution or not.

Hinata began walking towards her. The closer she came, the more Sakura began to realize that the two of them were fighting for the same thing. The look in Hinata's eyes said that she didn't want to fight. She just wanted to get Naruto back.
Smiling grimly at the lavender-haired ninja, she slowly began walking towards her. Eventually they stopped right in front of each other.

"Sakura... I..." Hinata began.

"Hinata. Let's get him back. Together." Holding out her hand, Sakura smiled. Looking at the hand, and then slowly looking up at her, Hinata smiled back.

"Yes. Let's go get him."

かぎ

Sitting, cross-legged next to the unconscious form of Kyoko, Sasuke was slowly thinking up strategies. He needed a way of ensuring everyone was going to be able to fight an unknown foe without getting hurt.

After a while of pondering the situation, he heard Kyoko rustle. The crimson-haired beauty was beginning to stir, and after a few minutes, she woke up. Her eyes opened softly, looking around her. Her eyes caught Sasuke, and she immediately sat up.

"What are you...?"

"I'm here to keep an eye on you. The others are out looking for Naruto."

Kyoko looked around, but couldn't see any sign of Naruto or the other ninjas. "What happened to him?"

Sasuke's expression swiftly changed from neutral, to fiercely angry, and back to neutral again. "A demon took him."

Standing up faster than Sasuke thought possible in her condition, she was instantly angry. Walking towards the door, a fiery aura surrounded her as she started losing grip on her temper. Putting her hand on the door handle, she turned around a looked back at Sasuke.

"Well, you coming or what?" She reminded him of Naruto when he was angry. That must've been another trait that they shared in common. He smiled as he stood up. He almost felt sorry for the demon in charge now. Kyoko was well and truly pissed.

"I'm right behind you."

And with that, they both sped out of the room. Sasuke keeping an eye out for Sakura and Hinata, whilst Kyoko just steamrolled ahead. Anything that got in her way was going to be burnt with an inferno that could put hell to shame.

つき

Speeding around countless stairways, corridors and halls, Sakura and Hinata were following a single speck of chakra that seemed to be Naruto's flowing throughout the building. It didn't seem to be getting any closer, which was infuriating the pair of them.

"Dammit, how much further!" Sakura was beyond her limit now. They had been running for ages, and her patience had gone long ago.

"It keeps moving away! This annex is interfering with my Byakugan!" Hinata said through clenched teeth.

Sakura suddenly skidded to a halt. "Right, in that case, why don't we just go up? The chakra's coming from an upper floor, right?" She pumped her chakra into her fists, maybe a little too much chakra.

"Sakura, I don't think..."

There was an epic crash, as Sakura knelt down, and shot up, punching straight through the ceiling of the corridor that they had been walking in. Wood splintered everywhere, with dust billowing out in clouds. As soon as the dust settled, Hinata jumped through the hole, spotting Sakura running towards a single door at the end of the corridor. Behind the door, the glow of chakra was very strong.

Racing towards the door, Hinata tried to catch up with Sakura. With both ninja readied themselves at the sides of the door. Hinata held up three fingers, she could see three people in the room, one of which was lying on the floor, which must've been Naruto.
Sakura nodded, readied her kunai and after counting to five, broke down the door with a chakra-pumped fist. The door blasted itself inwards. The two kunoichi raced in, taking up defensive positions and identifying the kidnapper.

"So, you've finally made it."

A girl with long, black hair lined with purple shadows was looking at the two girls. She had big, brown eyes and wore a long, black dress with a white, armless shirt covering her torso. She smiled at the two girls.

"My name is Kanako Urashima. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Hinata gasped. "You're Keitaro's sister?"

"Adopted sister, actually." She narrowed her eyes at the ninja. "Although it doesn't matter anyway. I see him not as my brother anyway, he means much more to me than that." Her smile returned. "So, what can I do for you two?"

Hinata was about to open her mouth and ask politely, but Sakura's angry voice stomped in at the last second.

"We want our friend back, who you stole from us. And we want him back exactly as he was before you took him away." To Sakura's surprise, Kanako kept smiling and nodded.

"Sure, you can have him back." She walked over to the unconscious form of Naruto. Kneeling down beside him, she touched him on the shoulder. "Naruto, its time to wake up."

A groan came from the blond ninja. His shoulders shuddered, and he slowly got himself on his elbows and knees, his head in his hands. As slow as he could, he moved into an upright position, sitting on his legs, lifting his head to face the ceiling, his eyes still tight shut.
Opening his eyes slowly, he turned his head slowly to face Sakura and Hinata. Whilst he stared at them, Sakura noticed his eyes were blank and expressionless. He stood up slowly, still staring at the two girls.

"Sakura... Hinata..." His voice was emotionless. Like he was still sleeping or something.

Hinata quickly stood next to Sakura. "He's in a genjutsu." She whispered quietly. "We need to get our hands on him and release him from it."

"You know how strong he is, right? Getting our hands on him is not going to be easy." Sakura was worried. Under an enemies control, Naruto was a powerful opponent. He might be too much to handle for the two of them.

"It's okay. I think I know how we can get him." Hinata settled into her Gentle Fist stance. But as soon as Sakura blinked, Hinata was suddenly flying. She screamed out in pain as she hit the wall behind her, a trickle of blood running from the corner of her mouth emphasizing the power of the attack.

Turning to face Naruto, she gasped in surprise as she saw him right in front of her, halfway through a roundhouse kick. His foot connected with her side, sending her flying next to Hinata. Now she could taste blood too.

"Naru...to... It's me..." She coughed, blood trickling from her mouth too. Standing up again, she got into a defensive position. Hinata was up behind her, settling into her Gentle Fist once more.

Looking around at the situation with her Byakugan, Hinata noticed two main things. Naruto's chakra was going mental, clearly because he was under the spell of the genjutsu. But it was a different sort of crazy, like it was trying to draw chakra from nothing. The second major thing was Shinobu. An evil chakra was running through her body, which was clearly why she was acting so strange, and explained her abilities as well. The only chance they had was to take out Shinobu, and hopefully would stop Naruto's chakra from going crazy.

"Sakura, we have to get Shinobu."

At her words, Sakura snapped round. "You want to kill her?" Shaking her head slowly, Hinata looked sure of herself.

"We only need to knock her unconscious. You go after her, whilst I distract Naruto."

"But you're going to get hurt!" Sakura yelled at her. Naruto was a strong shinobi, way stronger than the two girls. And under the influence of an enemy, he was a powerful opponent, one of which they couldn't hope to hold off for very long.

"I don't care." Hinata said, determination etched on her face. "I'll protect him, and I'll never give up. Naruto taught me that."

Taken aback by her statement, Sakura realized Hinata was right. They wanted to help Naruto, regardless of what may happen. Keeping her eyes focused on Shinobu, Sakura nodded. "Alright, let's do it!"

In a heartbeat, Sakura had disappeared from the spot she had been standing on, using a body flicker jutsu to get as close to Shinobu as she could. Copying her movements, Shinobu also used a similar jutsu, until all that could be seen of the girls was two shadows moving faster than what could be tracked by the human eye.
Hinata had a major problem with Naruto. Even with Byakugan, he was way too fast. Out of nowhere, his fist blasted its way into her stomach. Blood lurched up through her throat, flying out of her mouth and over his face. He didn't even seem to notice as he jumped backwards, his eyes locked in a daze.

Collapsing on the ground, Hinata used what little time she had to begin a jutsu. But she didn't have a chance to finish as she felt Naruto's foot catch her painfully in the side, blasting her into the closest wall, shattering it. Finding herself on the ground once again, she could barely move as she was in so much pain.
Looking up, she could see Naruto walking towards her. Double vision kicked in, and she began seeing two of him. Shaking her head, she looked back up at him, blood trickling from her mouth, but her same look of determination still on her face.

"Naruto, it's me! Please, wake up!" She let some of the worry into her voice that she had been trying to hold back. A single tear escaped her eyes as she yelled at him. Attempting to stand up, she wobbled a little before regaining her balance.

"...please..." She said faintly. She got into her Gentle Fist stance, but this time, it was slightly more reluctantly. Her emotions were holding her back.

His step faltered. And then vanished. Once again, Hinata was thrown across the room, but this time she had managed to block some of the impact. She hit the wall again, but this time she was able to recover, and keep moving. They themselves became shadows, using the body flicker technique to dodge attacks from every direction.
But eventually, Naruto managed to get a hit in, knocking her out of the rhythm. A sudden battle of speed turned into endurance, as Hinata and Naruto both parried, blocked and traded blows, weakening each other.

All throughout the fight, Hinata could feel more of her tears falling. She didn't want to be fighting him. She loved him, but she was trying to hurt him, and it was hurting her. His fist swiftly grazed past her face, drawing blood. Her hand left a sharp cut equal to her own on Naruto's cheek.

"Stop Naruto, please!" Her plea went unanswered as she felt her stomach being punched in, and then she was thrown to the ground. For a split second, the world went white, and there was a lot of pain. Crying out, she desperately opened her eyes, trying to see where Naruto was.
What she saw almost broke her heart. He was walking towards her, a kunai in his right hand.
He was going to kill her.

A sudden sense of peace captured her mind. She could feel the end, through all the pain and sadness. He was going to set her free.
Looking up at him, she smiled, with her tears still flowing softly.

"I'm sorry, Naruto. I promised to get you back. But it looks like I've failed...
I'm so sorry..."

"Hinata!" Sakura was holding off Shinobu as hard as she could, so all she could do was watch.

"...The only regret I've ever had, is that I could never make you see just how much I..." Hinata faltered for a moment.

"My only regret, is never being able to to tell you I love you. " She closed her eyes, feeling years of worry, stress, pain and sorrow wash off of her. She had finally said it, and with that she could...

やくそく

"Someday, I will become Hokage. I will protect everyone, and more than anything, I will never give up! That's my Nindo, my ninja way!"

"I will also make it my ninja way, to never give up, just like Naruto!"

くおん

Memories of the past flooded back to her, in that one instant. She was giving up, breaking her ninja way. And breaking the promise she had made to herself, so long ago.

And with it, she suddenly got up onto her feet, facing down the opponent who she had once thought she was going to die to. The one she loved.

"I love you Naruto, but you showed me that never giving up was what your ninja way was all about. And that's why I made it mine too. We share the same Nindo, and I am not going to let anything happen here!"

Using speed she never knew she had, using strength hidden away deep inside of her and using a courage that had erupted in from the fire in her heart, she rushed forward, blasting Naruto away with the Gentle Fist into the wall behind him.

Caught by surprise that her puppet had been hit so powerfully, Shinobu dropped her guard. Sakura was all too happy to send the girl flying into the floor, knocking her out cold.

There was dust everywhere. The impact of the attacks had turned the room into a major fog. As hard as she might, Sakura couldn't see a thing.

"Hinata, where are you?" She groped around in the fog, trying to find her teammate. She suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder.

"It's me, I'm here." Hinata's Byakugan was active, keeping an eye on Naruto. His chakra levels were beginning to return to normal, as were Shinobu's. Kanako had completely vanished. Sakura walked over to her, draping an arm around Hinata's shoulder.

"It's over. We got him back."

Hinata shook her head, a bitter look etched on her face. "It's not over." Silent, angry tears fell down her cheeks. "First, we've gotta stop Kanako. She'll just keep on maintaining this genjutsu, she's the reason we're all trapped in here now. And then..." She looked at Sakura. "What about us? We can't keep brawling over who wants Naruto more. We can't keep fighting, because it not only hurts us, it's hurting him as well..."

Sakura's arms slumped to her side. She knew what Hinata was saying made sense. They couldn't keep this up. And not only that, but Kyoko too. All three of them needed Naruto. All three of them were in love with him, and wanted him for their own. But it wasn't as simple as just making him yours, there were too many conflicts.

"Unless..." She sighed. "Unless he chooses one of us for himself, or..." She hesitated before carrying on. "We all agree to love him together. Because I get the feeling he loves us all, and also cannot choose between all of us."

Hinata's eyes widened as the idea formed in her mind. "But that would mean that...?"

Sakura nodded. "It would mean we would be committed to a polygamous relationship. And..." She maintained a serious expression, one that Hinata had never seen her use before. "...I would be willing to go through with it, and make it work, so long as you and Kyoko could also do the same."

Silence echoed between the two girls for a long time. Sakura was nervous, this was a massive decision, and even though it wasn't the best case scenario, it was something she could live with, so long as Naruto had a place in his heart for her.

"I think I..." Hinata stammered, it was hard to get the words out. "I think that I could go along with that. I love Naruto, more than anything. And if it meant I could still be with him in a unique way, I too would also..." She smiled at Sakura, her eyes still moist from the tears. "...would like to share him with you and Kyoko."

As soon as the words left the Hyuuga's mouth, Sakura pulled her into a strong embrace. "Thank you Hinata." She sobbed. The two girls embraced, sobbing into each others shoulders. The only thing they had left to worry about was whether Naruto would agree to something like this, and whether Kyoko would be able to go along with it.