((Sorry for the long wait, I had to get a new writing program. I hope you enjoy it. This is going to be a two parter.))
Naruto for the first time in quite awhile was sleeping soundly when a sudden crash and then a loud giggle woke him up. He muttered something under his breath and then turned over so he was face to face with his wife. "Who's turn is it?" he asked sleepily
"Yours." Came the sleepy reply from Hinata. "I took care of it when she managed to break the cookie jar last night.
Naruto sighed. Natsuko was now two years old and seemed to be getting into trouble on a daily basis. She had visited TenTen and Neji earlier that day with Naruto and Hinata. TenTen and Neji always enjoyed having Natsuko over and TenTen just couldn't resist giving her a piece of candy or two whenever she was over. The result was always the same: Natsuko would sleep most of the night only to wake up later and cause all sorts of chaos.
Naruto began to mutter under his breath as he entered the kitchen and saw Natsuko sitting up on the counter with the wreckage of the new cookie jar that Hinata had bought earlier today. Natsuko had a cookie in her hand and she smiled at Naruto as he walked in. Naruto sighed again. "Natsuko...what did we tell you last night?"
"Stop waking up Mommy and Daddy?" Natsuko asked with a giggle.
Naruto shook his head. "No...we told you to stay out of the cookie jar and to stop causing trouble at night. Do you remember now?"
Natsuko paused for a moment and than nodded her head. Naruto smiled and picked her up off the counter. He paused for a moment as he looked over and saw a window that was broken. He sighed again. "Natsuko...did you break the window?" Natsuko looked over at the window and a confused look appeared on her face. "No."
Naruto looked over at the window and paused for a split second. Based on her expression, he could tell that Natsuko hadn't broken the window, Hinata was still in bed so it couldn't be her and until a few minutes ago he had been in bed as well. They were on the second floor of the Hokage's building so that could only mean...
Intruders...In the village!
Before he could react, he heard a shout come from the bedroom. Naruto's eyes widened in panic and he ran towards the bedroom only to be intercepted by a body flying out of the bedroom and slamming into the wall. He looked down at the body and sighed in relief.
It wasn't Hinata. He took a quick look at the mark on the ninja's headband and saw two things that alarmed him: One was that the identifying mark had been crossed out and he wasn't able to tell where the ninja had come from. The second thing was that there was blood on the ninja's face and he didn't have any cuts or other injuries near his face.
Hinata...He must have injured Hinata!
Naruto ran into the bedroom and saw Hinata leaning against a wall. She was holding her side and the fabric of her shirt was turning red with blood. She hit the floor with a thud even as she smiled at her husband and daughter. Naruto gently put Natsuko on the bed and ran to Hinata's side. "Hinata...Hinata wake up!" He wept as the tears began to roll down her cheeks as he cradled her head in his lap.
Natsuko got up off the bed and grabbed her mother's hand and began to cry. "Mommy..." She sobbed. "Mommy wake up!"
Naruto quickly checked to see if her heart was still beating and was relieved to find it still beating. He was torn between rushing Hinata to the hospital and leaving Natsuko alone in a village that most likely had enemy ninja in it or staying by his wife's side and waiting for medical-nin to arrive.
There has to be something I can do...I can't leave Natsuko alone...not if there are possibly enemy ninja lose in the village. But Hinata...I can't let her die.
The answer came to him a split second later.
Shadow clones...Why didn't I think of this earlier?
Naruto made a series of handsigns and a small group of shadow clones appeared in puffs of smoke and instantly formed a small barrier around Natsuko except for one that immediately jumped out the window and ran in the direction of Neji and TenTen's home. Naruto got down in front of Natsuko and tried his best to stop crying. "Listen to me Natsuko...if someone gets inside the house before Neji and TenTen get here, I want you to run to Neji and TenTen's. You need to leave at the first sign of trouble okay?"
Natsuko nodded tearfully and grabbed onto one of the shadow clone's legs as her father scooped up his wife and jumped out the window and landed on the railing one level before and then jumped down to the ground level and took off as fast as he could.
Natsuko let go of the clone's leg and nervously watched as her father took off into the distance. She hid behind one of the shadow clones as she heard a twig cracked outside. "I'm scared..." She said quietly to the clone who patted her head to reassure her that they would do her best to protect her.
Naruto continued running towards the hospital as quickly as he could as Hinata continued bleeding through the wound in her side. He couldn't help but think that he was making a mistake leaving Natsuko alone with only a group of shadow clones to protect her. It'll be okay...he thought anxiously as he continued running, Soon Neji and TenTen will be there to look after her.
Hinata muttered something under her breath. He raised her up so he could hear her better. "Natsuko," she muttered anxiously even as she winced in pain. "I-I s Natsuko alright?" Naruto looked down at her and nodded. "I left her with some shadow clones and Neji and Ten Ten should be there as soon as they can."
Hinata's eyes closed briefly as she struggled to stay awake."Protect her Naruto...there are more of them...in the village...waiting for us to leave her alone...Someone w-wants to take her...that was all I managed to get out of the enemy ninja."
Naruto's eyes widened in panic as Hinata spoke those words even as she finally passed out. He should have known that there were more attackers in the village and he should have known that that they were after his daughter.
He continued running even as he sent the new information to the shadow clone heading for Neji and TenTen
Please hurry...he thought as he continued running.
Home of Neji and TenTen
Hyuuga Neji was tired. He had spent the last hour trying to get Hirona, his and TenTen's daughter to sleep. TenTen was in the kitchen getting a bottle ready so she could take her turn trying to get her to sleep. He was just about to fall asleep with Hirona in his arms when he suddenly heard a loud banging at the door. He was about to get up and answer it when TenTen managed to get in front of him. She handed him the bottle and then opened the door.
Both Neji and TenTen's eyes widened as they saw the shadow clone at the front door. It began to speak so fast that they couldn't understand it at first but they managed to catch a few words that made them worried.
"Slow down..." TenTen said quietly. The clone paused for a moment and then told them what had happened as quickly as it could so they could understand it.
"Hinata...was attacked? Neji said in disbelief. TenTen turned to look at Neji as a sudden realization came to mind. "Natsuko is alone? Why would he leave her alone with enemy ninja in the village?"
"He left a group of shadow clones with her...he just found out that Natsuko is the target and that the attack on Hinata was a distraction." The clone answered before vanishing in a puff of smoke.
Neji and TenTen both looked at each other as their panic began to show. "We need to protect Natsuko!" TenTen said quietly. "But Hirona...what do we do? If this is true then we need someone to protect her!"
"Ino is only a few homes away. We'll leave her with her." Neji said as he grabbed his kunai holster and ran out the door. "I'll meet up with you as soon as I can." TenTen called out after him as she ran out the door to Ino's house.
((Well...here is the end of part one. I'll write up the rest of it as soon as I can. Thanks for reading.))
