Some more news: since I don't always feel like writing in my spare time, I'm drawing a little something that goes with this story. I'll probably have it done by next week. I'll post a notice with the chapter that it comes out with. (Don't worry, I promise it won't be shitty. I'm actually a professional artist-in-training)
disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, but I do possess a bottle of Captain Morgan. (Sweet rum, take me away...)
"Hey white eyes," one of the escapees called, "See something outside the gates?"
She nodded. "Yes: Four APC's, six light tanks, two main battle tanks, and about fifty soldiers."
"What kinda soldiers?"
She looked at the red-eyed specialist in confusion. "There are differences?!"
"Well… yeah. What do they look like?"
She concentrated further. "Looks like they have bare metal plates for body armor."
"Dammit! Listen up!" The man addressed the others. "We've got iron men coming! They got armor too, six lights and two heavies!"
Hinata saw all the crimson eyes become alert at the news. Apparently this was a challenge for them. She saw them take cover closer to the gate and prepare for the new opponents.
Dorian came running from the direction of the ammo dump. "Hey guys!" He announced. "There's an ammo supply place back there with all kinds of good stuff!"
The Hyuuga spoke up. "It also has the rest of the camp taking cover there! It might be better to ambush them here while the gate constricts their path!"
The red-eyes who initially greeted her sat in thought for a moment. "How many are hiding at the supply dump?"
She counted. "Thirty-seven."
He nodded. "Alright," he addressed the rest of the escapees, "We're falling back to the ammo dump and going jungle once we restock! Move out!"
The red-eyes obeyed instantly. They moved with graceful finesse through the wreckage of the makeshift camp and the bodies of its deceased inhabitants back to the ammo bunker. They took up position around the building and waited for orders.
The leading terrorist charged through the front door with a trench shovel in hand. Hinata's Byakugan saw the western specialist dodging bullets and beheading a handful of soldiers to gain their attention as the rest of the group stormed the building. Within a minute, they controlled the ammo supply bunker.
As ordered, the crimson-eyed fighters loaded up with as much firepower as they could comfortably carry. An entire rack of grenades was emptied in seconds, and armor piercing rounds of all calibers disappeared into the magazines of their weapons. As quickly as they ransacked the room, the well armed group dispersed.
Hinata was comfortable at her location. She hid herself in a dark alley that turned into a dead end around a corner due to some unusual placement of the movable buildings. She could see the escort force moving as one instead of spreading out. "Strength in numbers. Smart in theory, but clump up together too much…" She aimed one of her remaining three rockets at the fuel tanks of a passing tank and fired. The tank went out with a bang, and she retreated around the dead-end corner.
A few soldiers were foolish enough to give chase in the confined alleyway. As they rounded the corner, they were met with a metal wall. "Where did she go??" was their singular and final thought.
Hinata undid the technique and the dim light around her ceased bending to avoid her. She struck the men in front of her in the chest, killing them instantly. The troops behind the fallen comrades raised their weapons to fire, only to have the barrels of their guns pushed aside and rusty kunai dug into their throats. The final man was quick enough to begin firing, but slow enough to not realize that the white-eyed bounty hunter was pushing his dead friends forward, using their body armor to deflect his bullets. The momentum of the thick metal armor crushed the man against the opposite wall.
The blue haired woman clambered up the walls of the alley to take potshots at the force below. When she made visual contact, she whipped out her remaining rockets and fired at two light tanks, taking them out in a blaze of glory. She ducked down on the roof and hoped that no one noticed her in the confusion.
Her Byakugan could see that she was the least of their problems. Dorian had pinned all the troops down with his 'portable' turret and thousands of fresh rounds. The soldiers tried to return fire on his position, but were taken out with precision shots through weak points in their armor by hidden red-eye crack shots.
She saw the 'leader' red-eyes (seeing as how he was always giving orders) zigzagging through enemy fire with incredible speed. With the combination of the blurriness of his movements and the fact that he was about six inches off the ground, it appeared that he was flying. He charged his shovel with massive amounts of chakra and jammed it into the large treads of the leading battle tank, stopping it in its tracks.
Red-eyes suddenly swarmed out of the shadows and charged the second battle tank as it rolled to a stop. They forced open the hatch and tossed a handful of grenades in before slamming it back and holding it down. Hinata saw the shrapnel-infested explosions go off inside, killing the crew. The tank's attackers opened it up again and moved in. They pushed aside the bodies and began operating the tank.
Hinata saw that the remaining enemy troops threw away all regard for their lives and dashed from their cover to retrieve the massive tank. The ones who weren't mowed down by Dorian were killed by a wave of grenades thrown from the shadows. She laid back on the roof and yawned, feeling slightly bored as well as sorry for the fallen troops.
"May as well wait 'til their done. No use in fighting if I don't have to…" She repeated another wise lesson she had learned in the course of her life.
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After another half hour, the slaughter was over and the red-eyed prisoners had successfully escaped without a single casualty and plenty of extra firepower.
"You guys didn't need my help at all," Hinata said to the shovel wielding red-eye.
He laughed. "Almost. Those locks could only be undone from the outside."
She smiled weakly. "Now that you're out, I need some info."
"Shoot."
"I'm looking for Uzi."
The man's look became serious. "You're looking for Uzi?" He repeated with apprehension in his voice. "Are you after the reward, or is it something else?"
She shook her head. "No… no… I've been looking for him ever since her left home."
His face regained his good humor. "Oh! Is that it? Really?"
She nodded.
"So you know Uzi, eh? You got a crush on the guy or something?" He laughed.
She shook her head again. She felt her face warm up, but not nearly as much as it used to. "I've been looking for him for over fifteen years now. You're my closest lead right now."
He stopped laughing and looked at her with shock. "Fifteen… years?! That's… more than a crush. That's… dedication. Are you in love with the guy?"
She was silent for a moment before she responded. "I don't know anymore. I haven't seen him for so long, I just don't know what I'll do if I ever find him. So please, if you know where he is, could you tell me?"
"Yeah, yeah. Gimme a sec," He nodded his head and his crimson eyes burned brightly. After a few moments of concentration, he broke his silence. "He's avoiding contact right now. Don't know why. Lemme try a little harder." His eyes started burning brighter, and he started to squint.
"Crap! Are you okay?!" Hinata yelled when he started to shake and blood started dripping from his nose. His head continued to convulse more violently as blood started to ooze from the corners from his eyes. His eyes suddenly reverted back to their normal glow when his head stopped shaking and he began panting heavily, a light layer of sweat forming on his face.
He looked up and, between breaths, said, "It's real hard for normal red-eyes like me to connect with stronger ones like Uzi. Took a lot outta me, but I got somethin' for ya. He doesn't want to be found at the moment, but I did manage to catch a glimpse of where he is right now."
Hinata's eyes widened. "Where?"
"Head north to Roventia and look for the Raver. He's real popular there, so anyone will know where he is."
"Is Uzi with him?"
"Yeah. Oh, you'll need to repeat this phrase to the Raver's boys for conformation." He motioned for her to get close to him and whispered the line into her ear. "No one except us should know it, so say that and you'll be noticed as a friend."
"Thanks for the info." She turned to leave. "I never caught your name."
"Trench."
"Thanks for everything, Trench."
As she neared the exit, he called out to her. "White eyes of death! I only met Uzi once, but he's a good guy! Just tell him what you feel and he'll understand! Good luck!"
She looked back and smiled her thanks before continuing her journey.
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Two figures cloaked in black stood atop a building and watched the Hyuuga leave the red-eye hideout.
"So what do we do?" The larger shadow with a large object strapped to its back asked the other.
The smaller phantom stayed silent for a moment before answering, "We follow her. She can get closer to our target than we can."
The larger figure nodded its head. "Still can't believe these guys can stand up to your interrogation."
Once again, silence ensued. "I feel the presence of thousands in their minds. The other entities support them so their minds will not break. They cannot be tormented into giving us anything."
"Still, to be able to withstand your mind games? That's something."
The shadow changed the subject. "We shall follow the Hyuuga until she finds our prey, then we pounce."
The larger figure caught its comrade's drift. "Yeah, yeah…"
(flashback)
Hinata was dug out from under the bodies of her mercenary team and taken back to the field hospital by the loyalist forces. When she awoke, she was saddened to discover that her entire group had been eradicated, save for her.
She left the city as quickly as she could gather her things. She passed by the battle where her friends' lives were ended to pay her last respects. While there, she saw the completed version of the familiar pattern of destruction.
"Naruto… that was you, wasn't it? How did you do this?" She broke out in tears with the combination of her friends' death, Naruto's freakish power, and the fact that he was here mere hours ago on the other side of the battlefield.
A wounded soldier passing through saw her crouching in the field and went over to her. He recognized her from the mercenaries that had been hired a few weeks ago. "Must have been this group," he thought to himself.
"What's wrong, little girl?"
Hinata looked up at the soldier's undamaged eye with tears in her own, unable to voice her sorrow.
"Were you with the troops who died here today?"
She nodded.
"I see." He allowed silence to rule for a moment before continuing. "I know what it feels like to loose people like this. I've lost friends and family in battles just like this one. It's impossible to not feel sadness at their loss, but there is one thing you can do."
Hinata stopped sniffling for a moment so she could hear the veteran.
"Keep on living for their sake. They died so you didn't have to. Don't beat yourself up over this for the rest of your life, because that would dishonor them. Live life to the fullest and with no regrets." He stopped for a moment and chuckled. "Heh, that sounded pretty cheesy, eh? Doesn't make it any less true, though." He nodded as if satisfied and continued on.
The young girl choked off her tears as best as she could. Even though this man didn't understand her situation completely, his advice was still valid.
"Thank you, sir." She bowed and turned to leave. She still let the tears fall, but felt better now that they had run their course.
She saw the destruction's pattern moving westward. She had been searching for Naruto long enough to learn that he tended to move in the direction of his devastation.
After a week, she knew she was right, and her spirits were heightened now that she knew she was only a step behind the blond boy.
dun dun duuuuuuuuuuun...
Who could the men in black be?!!! Find out next chapter (a blatant lie)!!!
Hahaaahaa! Couldn't resist being st00pid in the afternotes. You'll find out who these new guys are in due time.
