A/N: Spectacular reviews and I thank you all good folks! Again if you don't think that I'm giving Hinata and Gaara enough romance time, after this chapter is when everything will get more romantically dramatic. Keep in mind that this will definitely end as a Gaara and Hinata. THEY WILL BE TOGETHER I PROMISE!! If you do not like any of the material I put in this chapter then I apologize but remember I am doing a lot of this for my own entertainment and if you don't like a couple or a situation I apologize and I'll even write you your own personal mini story to make it all better.
Due to popular demand!
Story thus far: Hinata traveled to Suna to become stronger and forget about her blonde knight in shining armor. There she met the Kazekage and they both, through a bunch of strange events, grew attached to each other. However Hinata had to return to Konoha. As soon as she got back she realized she missed Suna so much that she wanted
Chapter: 36
"Sasuke…" Sakura could only gasp as tears started to form a slow steady stream down her cheeks.
"Looks like your brother has a fan Itachi," Kisame joked.
Itachi sent a glare at his partner before transporting himself onto the same branch with Sakura. The pinkette threw her arms around the young man's waist and sobbed into his trademark coat. Itachi wrapped one of his arms around her waist while reaching in his pouch for a kunai.
"Sasuke-kun I missed you so much." She breathed, just loud enough for Itachi to hear.
He lifted the metal knife and pressed it to her throat but she didn't seem to notice as she continued to cry. Just as he was about to slit her throat Natsu and Naruto intervened. The Jounin attempted to deliver a powerful kick to the Akatsuki's side while the blonde tried to safely remove Sakura. But Natsu's leg was met with a log. The young Jounin gritted her teeth and fell back to the other branch while Naruto rocketed away with the sobbing Sakura.
"Sakura," Naruto tried, however the continuous tears proved that he wouldn't be able to reach her. He cupped her face in his hands and he sighed before letting her head fall and standing.
"Don't worry Sakura-chan!" he said, turning to her with a sad smile. "I'll be back!"
With that Naruto rushed back into battle just as Natsu was beaten back by Itachi.
"Natsu-san!" Shikamaru cried dodging a blow from Kisame's sword and going to check on their instructor.
"You won't get away from me that easily!" the shark man cried following Shikamaru but stopped as Shino's swarm of Kekai bugs tried to latch themselves onto the Akatsuki.
When Shikamaru reached Natsu Itachi was already ready to attack her again.
"Are you okay?" Shikamaru asked.
"Yes, I think so." Natsu said one hand clutching her bad leg. "It would help if we had Sakura, or at least Hinata!"
"Natsu-san," Itachi's cold voice broke through their conversation. "You should stop fighting; it is obvious you need medical attention. We have not come for you."
"I will not let you hurt anymore innocent people!" Natsu cried lunging at him, Naruto following her up with a rasengan.
"Naruto look out!!" Shino shouted as Sakura's fist came right in between Naruto and Natsu's heads, landing instead on a tree branch that exploded underneath her assault.
"Sakura-chan?" Naruto cried, leaping away from his pink haired teammate.
"I won't let you hurt Sasuke-kun!" Sakura said glaring daggers at Naruto.
"Sakura…" Naruto said, trying to come up with a plan to help his now defenseless teammate.
"Kisame," Itachi's voice came out bored, even though his eyes flickered with hate as he glanced over at Sakura. "Kill her."
"Aye aye sir!" Kisame chuckled at his sea worthy pun, while Itachi simply rolled his eyes.
Everyone gasped as the shark man lifted the sword over his head and swung it down. Blood splattered the tree trunk and everyone gasped.
"Are you okay Sakura-chan?" Hinata panted ignoring the extreme stinging sensation in her side.
The pinkette sat there shocked and looked into the worried eyes of her Hyuuga teammate and instead pushed her away.
"Hinata!" Naruto cried, just as the Kazekage appeared next to him.
"Don't worry about her, worry about the Akatsuki members and why they are here in the first place." Gaara said, not even able to hide his worry from the blonde ninja.
Kisame stood on his branch looking triumphant, however in a flash he was crashed into a tree. Everyone looked around frantically not knowing whom to thank for the welcome distraction. Slowly he was able to pull himself out of the small crater he had made.
"What the hell Itachi!?" Kisame cried getting to his feet.
Everyone's eyes immediately flew over to the Uchiha who only stared impassively at his teammate.
"Her blood." He said finally.
"What about it!?" Kisame growled.
"There are only four people on this earth who have the right to spill Uchiha blood. That is my foolish younger brother, Leader-sama, her." He said pointing at Hinata who remained crouched to ease the pain in her side. "And myself."
"Uchiha blood?" Shikamaru asked. "She's a Hyuuga, not a Uchiha!"
Itachi only glanced at Hinata whose hand flew to her arm where an I.V drip used to pump the sacred Uchiha clan blood into her system. All eyes were now glued to her and she had to force her arm back down to her side before struggling to stand up right. However no explanation was given, as Kisame seemed to understand what he was being told.
"Fine no attacking her then," Kisame said. "But the rest are fair game right?"
"Do as you wish," Itachi said rolling his eyes.
"Sweet!" the shark man said before leaping towards Shikamaru who braced himself for the attack.
However Hinata quickly teleported in front of the young man and Kisame was thrown of kilter by the swift kick Itachi delivered to his head.
"Itachi if I can't attack her then I won't be able to attack anyone!" Kisame said.
"Not unless keep her busy." Itachi said.
"Hinata!" Shikamaru said pulling the Hyuuga who quickly grabbed Sakura just as a fire ball incinerated the branch she was on a moment before.
Soon all of the Konoha's Jounin exam team and the Kazekage were gathered on a single branch.
"What's the plan?" Naruto asked keeping his eyes on the Akatsuki.
"Honestly?" Natsu asked. "I don't know."
A moment of silence passed as hope faded in the group. Finally Natsu stood straighter before glancing back at her team.
"Alright I've got a plan." She said. "I'll distract them and you guys run for it."
"No way!" Hinata gasped. "You'll die!"
"Do you have any better ideas?" Natsu asked.
"I have an idea." Shino piped in. "Shikamaru is the best strategist so why don't we give him time to think?"
Everyone glanced at the Nara who nodded in agreement.
"But you guys have to buy me time, I may be a genius but I can't come up with a good plan in five seconds.
They all nodded before retreating a little further into the forest the Akatsuki never letting them out of their sight.
"They won't give us any time to rest." Naruto commented as he looked behind them.
"Wait! I have a plan so we can form a plan!" Natsu said suddenly excited.
After they decided their course of actions in whispers they all sped up and sprinted as fast as they possibly could. The Akatsuki members also sped up but kept a safe distance just in case.
But before too long they broke up into different groups. Gaara, Hinata, Naruto and Natsu went to the right while Shino and Shikamaru quickly dashed to the left. Kisame looked at his partner who nodded and the shark man headed off to the left while Itachi made a mad dash to the right. On a single branch stood Gaara, Hinata and Naruto, while an exhausted looking Natsu leaning against the trunk of the tree. Itachi formed the hand seals for his trademark fire ball jutsu and fired it at the small group of ninja's but a wall of sand quickly blocked them from any harm. Itachi retreated a few more feet and waited.
--Page Break--
Kisame continued to play with his prey for as long as they were willing, never getting close enough to catch them but never letting them get to far ahead. Suddenly Kisame was hit in the head with a rock and he looked up just in time to see the young man with the ponytail turn back around. He quickly sped up and was able to reach them with his sword and with one foul swipe he cut the young man in half.
--Page Break--
"How much longer do we need?" Gaara asked as another jutsu struck his slowly weakening barrier.
"Are you almost done Shikamaru-san?" Hinata asked as the form once recognizable as Natsu changed into Shikamaru.
"Just a little longer, I'm almost done!" Shikamaru said, even stiff in his trademark-thinking pose.
A few seconds and jutsu later the Nara's eyes lit up and a smile formed over his face.
"Alright I got it," Shikamaru said. "Gaara when I tell you to let your barrier fall and grab Hinata and she'll form a barrier to protect you guys just in case. Meanwhile Naruto, you need to hold Itachi back for a few seconds while I form my hand signs for my Shadow possession jutsu. Since Natsu's already off to find reinforcements I only need to keep him there for a few minutes but just in case, Hinata I'll need your help by giving me solider pills."
"Hai!" everyone nodded and Shikamaru stood.
--Page Break--
Shikamaru's severed body did not drip blood but instead bugs. Kisame scowled as the surviving bugs swarmed around him viciously. He swatted at them aggravated as the other young man was quickly gaining ground. The shark man grew extremely frustrated and sped up until he was bearing down on the young man who had began to panic slightly. He raised his sword and was about to bring it down but suddenly the woman Natsu jumped in front of the Akatsuki delivering a fire jutsu straight into his face. Shino turned just in time to see the blue skinned Akatsuki retreating. The bug master jumped down from the tree branch and landed on the forest floor.
"Arigotou Natsu-san." Shino said searching around for his Jounin instructor. "Demo you were supposed to be getting hel…"
However the bug master never got to finish his sentence as he tripped over Natsu's severed leg.
--Page Break--
"Ready…go!" Shikamaru cried.
Gaara's shield quickly fell and Hinata grabbed onto him before forming a barrier around them as they fell from the trees. As Itachi was about to swoop down upon them Naruto tackled the Uchiha. They were stuck in a battle of strength, and it seemed as if Naruto would win until Sakura sprinted at him with a kunai.
"Naruto-kun!" Hinata cried before jumping in front of Naruto and getting stabbed in the shoulder.
The Hyuuga reached behind Sakura and quickly knocked her out. Itachi quickly hit Hinata in an attempt to distract the blonde and it worked. However the nine tailed fox also retaliated and he began to transform. Hinata felt herself falling and the sharp pain in her back. Gaara was staring up at her, fear crystal clear in his eyes and what seemed an hour was really only a few seconds. She closed her eyes prepared to die knowing she would never survive the fall without her chakra. But she was halted with a sickening jolt and she writhed trying to see who had caught her.
Naruto's blue eyes were now red and although this should have scared her Hinata had a strange moment of understanding and instead smiled at him. Just then however Kisame burst from the foliage, still swatting at the bugs and almost crashed into Hinata. Naruto however swung her so that they would avoid collision but in doing so he also punctured her skin with his new, longer nails. Although avoiding the collision saved Hinata from bumping into the vicious shark man it did not protect him from colliding into the tree making Naruto drop Hinata. She plummeted to the ground but was caught just in time by Gaara.
"I got him!" Shikamaru cried. "Demo, Hinata! I need those soldier pills."
The Kazekage did not let her go and instead he sent both of them up and onto the tree branch with Itachi and Shikamaru. Hinata quickly reached into her pocket and shoved a soldier pill into Shikamaru's mouth.
Kisame recovered quickly and stood ready to kill the Kazekage but Naruto quickly grabbed Kisame's sword from his own hands and swung the heavy object at the original wielder of the heavy blade. The plan was working decent even with the unexpected arrival of Kisame until a loud cry was heard. Everyone turned to see Shino leap from the bushes with Natsu held securely on his back with one arm while the other was cradling Natsu's bloodied severed leg.
Hinata's heart stopped and she forgot all about the weakening Shikamaru as she looked upon her Jounin instructor with only one leg.
"Hinata!" Shikamaru cried, but Hinata couldn't hear him as she was to focused on the girl hanging limply from Shino's back.
A slap to the face got the girl back into reality and she came face to face with the red Uchiha eyes.
"We will be back." Itachi said before he and Kisame disappeared.
Hinata fell to her knees and began to sob at the sight of Natsu and Shino who was trying to stop the profuse bleeding. Gaara wrapped an arm around Hinata and let her cry. Naruto walked over to Sakura's unconscious body and carried her over his shoulder as he watched Natsu with sadness in his eyes but no other expression. Shikamaru slid down the tree trunk and closed his eyes, but soon felt crushed underneath an unfamiliar pressure and he opened his brown eyes to see Temari hugging him tight.
"I was so worried." Temari said, wetting his shirt from her tears. "You are such an idiot."
Shikamaru stared surprised at the top of her head before he began to laugh, for no reason at all.
"Stop laughing!" Temari cried pounding on his chest. "It's not funny!"
And Shikamaru did stop laughing but only to replace it with slight mewls of pain. Then Temari began to laugh and laid her head gently on his chest.
"I know this isn't the most romantic setting but," Shikamaru began pushing her into a sitting position. "Will you marry me?"
The blonde blinked stupefied and mesmerized at the ring that the young Nara had produced for her.
"Hey," he said, regaining her focus. "This is where you're supposed to say yes."
"Do you really think this is the time?" Temari asked innocently.
"Well I survived a run in with the Akatsuki and Natsu will want some good news." He said sending a glance toward the young woman who was being attended to by the rest of the sand team. "This is as good a time as any."
"Then of course!" Temari said, crying harder now.
A/N: Yeah I know that the romance between Shika and Temari kinda moved fast but this will pave the way for other romantic drama to occur! Again please review and if you have a pair you want to request for my next story then I will be more than happy to write it for you. However I probably won't start it until I'm finished with this story, which is almost done.