Chapter 4: Kiba – To Save Her
"Hina, I'm here to listen to you, I always have been" I can't stand to see her so broken anymore, I need to get her away from the edge of that damned cliff "Please just come away from the edge of the cliff. Please, I'm begging you Hina!"
I can't help the crack in my voice, the thought of life without her, without Hina, made my heart shatter. If I hadn't have arrived when I did, I'd have lost the most important thing to me without even knowing she was hurting. I never use her nick-name unless we're both hurting, or we're alone or when I have to try to coax her to try something.
I see her features light up at the mention of her nick-name. I really hope, from the bottom of my heart, that I'm managing to get through to her. I have to try something more, anything to get her away from the edge of that bloody cliff.
"Ok, I'll make you a deal Hinata, if you come and talk to me right now, and if I can't help you, you can jump ok? I can't promise that it won't hurt or break my … I mean, people's hearts but you can jump. But if I do help, you have to promise to let me take you to the hospital so I know you're in a safe place, ok?" Pray Kami that is enough! Come on Hina!
I follow her eyes to the place of her would-be demise and back to her. I watch her lavender pearls consider the offer I put forward. Seeing her nod slowly and turn herself towards my direction, I let out a silent sigh and close my eyes out of relief knowing that I can at least try to help.
"KIBA"
I open my eyes and realise that she is slipping from the mountain top, her feet slipping in her own blood, betraying her body's survival instincts, making her weak … Much like her own family. Reaching forward I grab her by the wrists, preventing her the fall.
That's when I felt my own feet slipping. Being pushed forward by her Hyuuga blood, almost like a sign of clan hostilities; being shown for the worthless dog that I am.
Feeling Akamaru grasp onto my jacket with his jaws (won't mum be happy about that later …) and digging his paws and claws into the ground, I realise that I have to do something to ensure everyone's safety. There's only one solution that I can think of …
"Hinata, we need to work together on this one, ok?" I can feel my hands slipping around her wrists, I can smell the fear and anxiety and pain on her, wishing I could take it all away for her. Hearing her heart rapidly beat through her and the whimpers escaping her mouth shows me that she's willing to listen but is too scared that I'll risk my own life. She knows me too well.
"K-Kiba, please help," I feel like that is not only a plea for the current situation but for what happened before I found her.
"Ok Hina, remember that mission we had in the Land of Mountains? When Shino fell from the side of the mountain while carrying an injury?" She nods slowly.
"We need to do that ok? I know it's a big ask of you Hinata but I know you can do it. I know you have the strength and the ability to do this" I watch her with concerned eyes as I slowly feel my feet slowly but surely slipping from the cliff top.
"Hina, please, I can't lose you!" Suddenly I realise I let too much of my true emotions through on that one. But if it got through to her then surely she'd listen.
"O-ok Kiba-Kun, I'll do it" she almost whispers.
Feeling the chakra flow to her feet, I remember the lesson that Kurenai-Sensei taught us in those brief seconds before we could have lost our mutual team-mate a few years ago …
Walking along the side of the thin mountain path, we were all scared of the sharp and sudden drop to our left. With Shino injured from a battle with some rogue Nin, our sensei was being extra cautious. Hinata was being all cute pretty tucked in behind Kurenai-sensei's back.
"I still don't understand why we have to help this miniscule piece of rock," my obnoxiousness showing through.
"We have to because we were told to now shut the hell up Kiba" Shino's gravelly voice piercing through the cold mountain air, exasperated that he was so foolish enough to get himself injured.
Turning to face him, I snapped, not even trying to disguise the aggressive growl in my voice, "Look here bug-boy, I know you're injured and all but you're stinking attitude is not fucking helping us get through this mission any quicker"
"If you had got my back like you said you did, I wouldn't be like this right now!"
"IF YOU HAD JUST BEEN FUCKING SMART TO BEGIN WITH, YOU WOULDN'T BE WALKING INJURED NOW JACKASS!"
"Alright boys, calm down" Kurenai's attempt to settle the situation between us went unnoticed.
"YOU HAD YOUR DAMN MUTT THAT COULD HAVE HELPED ME, BUT NO, YOU WANTED TO SHOW OF AND SHOW THOSE ROGUES THAT YOU WERE MORE POWERFUL THAN THEM AND PROVE THAT YOU'RE THE OBNOXIOUS AND SELFISH BASTARD EVERYONE KNOWS YOU ARE!"
"P-p-please K-Kiba-kun, Shino-kun, don't f-f-fight," Her soft voice lost within our heated argument
"LOOK HERE, YOU HAD YOU'RE BLOODY BUGS AND YOU DIDN'T FUCKING USE THEM, SEEMS LIKE YOU'RE THE BLOODY ONE THAT WANTS TO SHOW OFF, NOW BACK THE FUCK OFF"
A slow rumble fell between us and almost instantly dropped the tension between the group; all of us looking up saw that a rock slide was speedily falling towards us. Quickly moving out of the way, we all thought that we were all clear and out of the way.
"Now, where were we you bug-asshole" Looking around there was no sight of Shino. 'Fuck,'
"SHINO, WHERE ARE YOU?", Kurenai's voice evidently showing worry.
"HERE" Looking at his location, we could see his hands almost limply holding onto the edge of the path.
"Shit, SHINO" Grabbing his arms, I felt my feet almost give way from underneath me. I felt Hinata using all of her strength to grab my jacket and pull my back from the edge. "Come on Shino, give us some help here, pal"
"I was gonna save this lesson for you guys 'til later on but seems that now is the necessary time, it's a life or death situation. Shino you need to hold on a little longer."
"Fuck, how much do you weigh Shino?"
"Shut up Mutt"
"BOYS LISTEN TO SENSEI" her soft shout piercing through the air. Hinata kinda startled us both with her abruptness and the fact she didn't stutter.
"Right, Shino imagine a floor beneath you, almost like a gen-jutsu,"
"WHAT?"
"Just do it! Now once you've done that push chakra down on it, like the tree exercise, once you have the normal amount of chakra there, push a sudden rush down and apply it to your feet. The chakra will break through the 'floor' and push you upwards"
"But I don't have eno-"
"Just do it"
Feeling the chakra rush through to his feet, his body launched up the way and landed strongly on the path. Out of breath from shock, I turned to sensei and looked at her in awe and wonder and how she knew how to push chakra through air.
"What the hell was that? How did you know to do that?"
"When you're a shinobi, Kiba, and one of your team-mates is in trouble; you do anything to figure out to help them" …
Come on Hina, we can do this. Feeling the pulse of her chakra through her feet, I could tell she was at her limit.
"Just a little more chakra Hinata!"
"I can't Kiba, I can't …" hearing the desperation in her voice tore my heart anew crack as I fought back tears.
"Come on Hina, I know you can, you showed everyone before that you have more strength than they believed, do it again, prove to everyone how strong you are"
I don't know how much longer I can hold on. Then I feel it.
The sudden rush of chakra, the sudden jump from mid-air; and Hinata managed it. I felt her body lift weightlessly through the air and fall gracefully back down to the ground where she had previously stood, with me cushioning her fall.
Holding onto her tightly, I never felt so relieved and thankful at the same time. For what seemed like a long time, we stayed in that position. And then, she looked into my eyes …
A/N
Sorry I haven't updated in a while. I was on holiday in Manchester :)
As I have said before, Naruto and his fellow characters do not belong to me, but to the brilliant mind of Masashi Kishimoto.
any criticisms you have please let me know :)