Chapter 6: Lady Death…or Hinata
Erhen didn't make them run long, nor did he expect them to. They were both physically and emotionally weak. Erhen, finding no safe space on the forest floor, chose a tall, fat tree with thick branches and leaves. They would be hidden from any non-Hyuuga eyes. Erhen instantly jumped onto the highest, smallest branch that would support his weight and took first watch. Hinata mumbled something about him being the only watch as well. Sakura chose one of the lower branches to rest on, not liking the idea of rolling over in her sleep, falling off and waking up with a broken arm. Naruto sat Hinata on a thick branch near the center of the tree, against where the trunk seemed to pulse heat and shade. He straddled the branch before the runaway ninja and allowed her to sob in his shoulder longer. Neither of them seemed to mind that they were the only ones crying.
"Hinata-chan…Hinata-chan please stop crying" Naruto whispered, cradling the small girl.
Naruto would have smiled in any other situation. He hadn't noticed it because of so much happening in so little time but…Hinata was really a tiny girl. Even at this age she was small and thin. Not frighteningly skinny but thin enough to carry with little trouble and yet, with so little meat on her bones, she was soft. Her belly seemed like the most perfect place to rest one's weary head.
Hinata's sobs stopped racking her body like a cough and eventually went slower and easier until she simply had her face buried in his shoulder. After another moment she sighed and pulled back a bit, tying her band over her eyes again, wincing as a few soft locks were caught in the violet ribbon.
"Forgive me Naruto…" she whispered, pulling back so the hollow where the branch met the trunk seemed to be holding her.
Naruto snorted softly. He hadn't touched Hinata in three years, he wasn't going to let go now. Naruto wiggled closer to her and put a hand on the bark on either side of her head, trapping her. Behind her was the tree trunk, below her was the tree branch, in front of her was his chest and above her was his head. She was trapped…and Sakura hadn't made one peep of jealousy. She stared at him through the mask and shook her head, folding herself into the tree trunk.
"Not tonight Naruto…" she whispered.
"There may not be another night Hinata…" he replied.
"You have Sakura"
"But I don't want Sakura. I settled for Sakura. I want you! I've always wanted you Hinata" Naruto groaned, pressing closer to her.
Hinata sighed and pushed him away again, using a bit of chakra since she couldn't push his bulk back on her own. But she leaned forward and planted a gentle kiss on every single one of his whiskers.
"Good night Naruto" she said, curling back up into that hollow.
Naruto smiled, his cheek twitching with her kisses. His smile faded a bit when he felt Erhen's golden eyes and Sakura's green eyes on his back but he shrugged them off and jumped to a branch, just below Hinata's, quickly falling asleep.
'Don't lose her again pup…you may not get her back'
Hinata had been right. Neither Sakura, Naruto nor Hinata had been woken up at least once through the night to take the next shift and Erhen had stayed up. The Golden Assassin ninja had stayed up all night will little chakra and had taken the toll. The instant he saw Naruto open his eyes, the boy lost consciousness and collapsed on the tree. Hinata was instantly at his side, forcing her own chakra to force his own back up and into his system…that's how they traveled for the rest of the afternoon…Naruto carrying Erhen, Hinata holding his hand to lend him chakra and Sakura scouting ahead and behind for traps, spies and Kabuto. They all wanted to see Kabuto and they weren't disappointed.
A bit father on, Sakura disappeared into the trees to scout above and a few minutes later, the pink haired ninja came back thoughtfully. Naruto blinked at her. Something was…different…wrong with his past love interest but he couldn't place what. Hinata obviously didn't have that difficulty in that area for she jumped forward and smashed Sakura's head into a nearby tree. The Haruno girl screamed and backed off, holding her nose in pain and staring at Hinata with a mix of rage and betrayal.
"Nata, what are you doing?! Just because you are a ninja, you should feel companionship for a fellow Konoha villager! Did you miss something, you silly blind girl?!" Sakura screeched.
Red flags went up in Naruto's head. There was still something wrong about Sakura and he still couldn't place it. Erhen frowned and shivered, trying to back off of Naruto but was still too weak. Hinata just glared at Sakura.
"Nice try, you idiot…might as well get out of that hedge" she hissed.
Sakura blinked in surprise and Naruto still looked lost. What was different about her…? Suddenly Sakura smirked and tapped her bleeding nose. Instantly it was healed with not a touch of blood, green chakra still swirling around her. Wait…Sakura didn't have green chakra…
"How'd you know?" she asked, her voice deepening a bit.
Hinata sighed. "They always ask that…okay fine. Number 1, Sakura's pouch is on her right leg, not her left. Number 2, Sakura's hair touches the bottom of her ear not the top of her shoulder. Number 3, Sakura knows my name isn't Nata and thus, wouldn't have called me it without talking to me first. Number 4, I'm not from Konoha, thus can feel no companionship to her. Number 5, I'm neither blind nor silly and lastly, Sakura's chakra is blue not green" she said, listing them down with her fingers.
Sakura looked down at herself and shrugged. "Point taken…"
Poof!
Kabuto stood, cool as a cucumber, in front of Hinata with a tiny smirk. "Wow…you have a punch that could match the Hyuuga Gentle Fist, you know that? You are very powerful if a bit silly. That power shouldn't be wasted on one as silly as you" he purred.
Hinata had the black staff she always carried around in her hand in an instant. Naruto took a good look at it. It wasn't burned black, it looked like the actual wood grew black. He could see where the spirals on the wood were rimmed silver. Kabuto laughed.
"You think that stick can save you?"
Wham!
Crack!
Crash!
Hinata smirked as Kabuto was thrown through the tree and into another, actually chuckling a bit as some of his blood splattered on his shoe. Sakura, who had just come back, and Naruto stared in awe and Erhen clicked his tongue in thought.
"What was that you're saying? This 'stick' is known as Nova. She's a beauty isn't she? She's fused with chakra from past ninja leaders. The minute they die, all their chakra gets fused into Nova-chan. eventually their chakra will fade and Nova will just be a staff but until then her power rivals that of a 2 tailed demon" Hinata said, proud.
Kabuto hacked up blood and stared at her. "Who are you? What did I do to you?"
"You killed my cousin" Hinata replied quickly.
"I did no such thing! Who are you?!" he screeched.
"Yes you did…and I go by many names" she purred, stalking up to him.
"Well give me some" he asked, too weak to back up.
"Hinata Hyuuga" she replied, raising the staff over her head. "But you may call me Lady Death if you like."
Hey guys. Sorry it took so long to make this new chapter. I've been busy and then I got this new computer so all my previous work had been deleted so…well, whatever. Please enjoy
Blackiecatty
