HEAR ME HIME
A/N: Hi! It's March already! Sorry for the delay, so here it is... the much anticipated chapter 13, at the end of the chapter the is a cliffy, so hate me if you want. Please enjoy reading & reviewing!
(warning: violence, mystery, flashback, drama, romance)
Chap13 The Lost Memory Part 2
Previously on chapter 12:
"NNN…" both of them who were smiling at each other suddenly perked up when they heard a groan coming from someone who was in near distance.
"Naruto-sama!" Seimei snapped out of it and ran towards the stirring blonde.
Neji yelled out as he followed Seimei, "Naruto!" Neji then noticed the honorific title the priest used to address the Uzumaki.
He eyed the man with suspicion and pure curiosity clouding his mind, his mind mused as he watched Seimei waking up Naruto gently, 'Even we… the ninjas under his rank never used that to call Naruto that… but how? Out of the blue this guy… just who is he?'
Wind whirled freely in the desserts sweeping away light dusts that were floating in there, the ninjas who were in pursuit of the missing 5 shinobis of Konoha travelled in silence for what it seems for days, the boar masked Anbu literally ragged his feet on the sand one after another. There is no proof of the whereabouts of his rival and brother, the Rokudaime of Konoha, and the others.
The Hyuuga beside him wasn't cooperative in the least bit to entertain him in any conversations that he brought up. His spirit never wavered to find Naruto and co, but he felt tired travelling with a loner. She never uttered a single word to him since their first night together in the tent, *much to his surprise*.
Hanabi on the other hand had her little device showing which direction should she take, a sand storm passed hours ago and it would've brought this little piece of gadget with if it wasn't for her Byakugan, she would've lost it under the heaps of sand. The white eyed Hyuuga walked ahead, leaving Konohamaru alone with his thoughts.
'Blink… blink… blink… blink…'
They didn't make any progress yet, but the little device was starting to blink wider and wider as they walked further. Deep down inside Hanabi felt her own heart flutter at the reacting tool, she nervously activated her Byakugan searching the area farther from where they were.
'w-wow… Neji-nisan… Naruto, everyone… I hope you're there… you better be' Hanabi marvelled as she saw the city ahead of them, her stomach curled as she thought of the possibility of finding Neji and the others.
They passed huge tombs of pyramids built there; she turned to look at Boar through her eyeholes, beckoning him to follow her silently. To hide their true identities so that they could infiltrate into the town, Konohamaru and Hanabi cast a genjutsu upon themselves, covering their real appearance with a fake one.
Galaxy's smallest star made its appearance once again in the clear, broad sky. Shreds of blue and indigo darkness shied away as the sun's pinkish orange beams of light coloured the morning sky. The full moon who dominated in the night literally faded in the light blue background remaining unseen to any human's eyes as the sun's rays outshined the moon and her little twinkling star companions.
The heavy air consists of cloudy mists condensed with water vapours were getting lighter as the temperature rises in the atmosphere. Birds chirped as they flew their way finding their little group in the sky, signing that morning is here.
But none of these were noticed by a certain, snoring Inuzuka, mumbling something incoherently in his sleep the man tossed and turned around. His face formed a grimace-evident that he was absolutely not comfortable; to sleep on the floor with only a blanket and a pillow. Yes, it is not that luxurious for him to get a good sleep under those circumstances. On top of that, he was cuddling against something that is now acting as his hugging pillow.
"he's not up yet?"
The bug master who was folding his futon neatly, turned to his back, looking over his shoulders, the man's eyes fell on the source of the voice- his eyes which were covered with his sunglasses that he never removed from his face. The man placed his futon neatly on the corner of the room and walked towards the Hyuuga.
The Aburame answered the Hyuuga's question with a slight nod, "Hn"
Neji stifled his chuckles as he saw the way Kiba's hand were choking his fluffy dog companion that he was hugging in his sleep, one of his legs were dangling on top of the huge canine's hips as the breathed in sync, both of them comically did look cute together…
"I hope his wife doesn't get jealous of Akamaru…" The Hyuuga said as he slipped out of the room with the Uchiha in tow.
Sasuke smirked at Neji's light joke snorted, "Hn… he doesn't get infected with flees does he?"
The rude comment earned the Uchiha a glare from Shino, "Akamaru doesn't have them on him…"
Sasuke smirked lightly as he eyed the Aburame in amusement, "whoops… that's because you control them huh?"
Shino turned to ignore Sasuke's comments as they walked out of the door. Subaru smiled at the Aburame and the others, she bowed greeting them with a smile, "Good morning everyone… I came to inform that breakfast is ready…"
Neji nodded politely at her and she turned away to lead the guys to the hall, they were now resting in the temple until Hinata's in a good condition again to go back to their village. The rooms were quite simple, built with bamboo trees, the ninjas were quite surprised that this temple stood well for many decades. Simple bronze statues of Buddha's lined the lane as they walked towards the hall. The whole building held a charm to it, I was peaceful, tranquil, and it was calming everyone in there. A thin scent of aroma sticks being burnt could be felt in the air, the fragrance of sandalwood and jasmine calmed their mind. They all could faintly hear that bells to the temple were being rung, indicating that the priest of the temple was performing his morning prayers to the Gods.
As they proceed to the hall, Neji called out to Subaru, "Subaru-san… could you tell me where can I find Naruto and Hinata-sama?"
The priestess placed the last cup that she had poured the herbal tea in it, the woman softly pushed it on the table towards Shino, and she turned to the impatient Hyuuga smiling softly.
"They are in the room near to the prayer hall, if you walk further, you would see the staircase leading up to the first floor, you'd pass the huge prayer room, after you pass it turn to the left corner, you'd find them there… in the third room"
The priestess nodded curtly at the Hyuuga who thanked her and hurriedly walked away leaving his breakfast for latter. She turned to her guests and served them their portion of vegetable stew, onigiri, and fruits. The breakfast was simple and nutritious she smiled at her guests as they thanked her warmly. She followed the suit and began to eat her own portion once everyone began chomping down the food.
The Hyuuga walked up to the stairs that coiled somewhat like maize, which leads towards the prayer room of the temple. It was a huge building despite the way it looks so simple from outside, it was actually a magnificent and unique building that was built few hundred decades ago. The rooms where the priestess, he and his friends were staying were located at the ground floor, which was built underground. He was marvelled to witness the details and structure of the building.
The floor and pavements were carved with incantations, structures of Buddha and other holy gods were sculpted along the huge walls. Once Neji was inside his room, he discovered the strange sense of chakra shrouding this whole temple that extended until the border of this forest. He could see it in detail but Neji had figured that there was some kind of powerful presence that was residing in this forest.
Neji blinked away as the sun's rays hit his enlarged pupil to which he squinted his eyes for adjusting the light passage into his white eyes. The Hyuuga felt intoxicated as the strong fragrance of the burning sticks hit his nasal cavity. He could feel and hear Seimei's soft voice mumbling in his prayer as he walked towards the prayer room.
Turning to left corner, the Hyuuga easily found the third room. A smile tugged at his thin lips as he softly rapped against the sliding door to their room. The man quickly pulled the door to his left, opening it in one yank since he couldn't hear any sounds from his polite knocking. Smiling softly at the sight of the two shinobis who were asleep within each other's arms, Neji released a soft sigh of relief.
'They're fine…' he thought to himself, 'may be… I should wake them up? No… they're asleep, I can let them rest…'
The Hyuuga turned back to the door, but he glanced back at Naruto when he heard a sound, 'one night was enough… but if I let this man anymore near Hinata-sama…'
The Hyuuga who was already pale by genetic and hereditary, was turning even more paler as he thought of the outcome that would happen if he let a pervert like Naruto near his precious cousin. Naruto's pervy sense never knows boundaries, as of now, he was not behaving like a pervert to any woman except for…
His pale white eyes landed on the figure that was cuddling against Naruto for warmth, his cousin, 'except for…'
His eyes roamed on the couple, he eyed the way Naruto was holding her, the way he was hugging her tightly in his arms- as if he was over protective even in his sleep, a realization dawned upon his mind as he eyed the blonde, Naruto has surpassed Neji by being so.
'-except for the woman he truly loves… and he's not aware of it himself…' Neji mused.
The man recalled the incident the night before as he walked towards them who lay sprawled against one another on the very comfortable looking futon.
Naruto whimpered in his sleep when he felt her breath against his tanned skin, the blonde was sleeping soundly unaware of the a human cuddling against him. His heart throbbed against his chest when he felt her cuddling against his chest, he unconsciously moved his arms around her tightly securing his embrace on her. The sneezed loudly when a feather tickled at his nose.
In surprise by his own sound Naruto opened his tired eyes and looked around until his sky blue set of eyes fell on the dark blue blob latched against his chest under him. He quickly scrambled to his feet, pulling away from Hinata, all of the blood on his body was now on his red as he blushed brilliant red as he found himself snuggling the Hyuuga, Neji kept the feather away and smirked at Naruto happy that his technique worked on the Uzumaki.
His sleep deprived eyes, were now fully aware of his surroundings, he eyed the Neji in confusion "H- how did i get in here?"
Neji smirked at the Uzumaki with a knowing look on his eyes, Naruto was surprised when he was pulled back into the futon by Hinata, who was now tightly hugging him to sleep, Naruto cocked his eyebrows in puzzlement and look at Neji as he heard the Hyuuga say, "That's how... you ended up here Naruto..."
"Nnn… nnnhggghhh… nnggggaaahhh! Nata…. Hinata…" the man moaned as both Seimei, and Neji watched him as he mumbled her name.
The two quickly moved to the blonde's side the minute they saw him grimace in his sleep. He began to flail his arms and legs violently as he always does in his rough sleep, something was not right and the two men who watched the Uzumaki knew it when they saw a drop of tear trickled down to his whiskered cheeks as e continued to mumble something about, 'don't go…', 'why you're leaving me?' and some other words that they can make out.
"Must be some kind of a dream…" Neji whispered as he pulled Naruto's arms apart stopping the Uzumaki from injuring himself or the others.
For split second the Hyuuga's eyes widened when the blonde turned into Sage mode, a small whirl of chakra were unconsciously building up within Naruto's palm as they watched him mutter something in his sleeps.
Neji glanced at Seimei as the priest had finally transformed back into his old form, which was a camouflage of the original, the priest said softly "it's not a dream, it's a nightmare…"
A scowled formed at his forehead as Seimei said urgency and seriousness latched onto his tone, "Naruto-sama might be in danger if we don't wake him up, Neji-san… help me wake up!"
They were trying to wake the Uzumaki while Shino and Kiba were shaking Sasuke up, on the other side. They held Naruto in place, while the Hyuuga in the Uzumaki's arms remained still. They tried their best shaking the blonde away from his sleep, until he was roused.
..:::...+-:-+...:::..
"…ruto… Naruto… Naruto, wake up…" he heard a familiar voice calling him up.
"urgh…" they brightened once the blonde began to stir.
The Uzumaki's eyes flickered open as he blinked to adjust his vision, the man squirmed on his back as he released a huge yawn. Blinking back some unshed tears, the blonde's eyes widened at the sight of the people before him, his eyes watered and his lips quivered. Quickly, without thinking Naruto glomped onto the male Hyuuga who was eyeing him with concern.
"Are you alright Narut-whoah!" Neji fell flat on his butt on the ground as Naruto tackled him in a very surprising manner.
The poor Hyuuga groaned in disgust as he gritted his teeth. He was choked to death by Naruto's big bear hug until all air flew out of him. He felt like he was mistaken for some orange by the Uzumaki and is now being squeezed for some juices.
"Gah! N-Naruto! B-baka G-get off!" Neji panted as he let his last breath out, he was again surprised by the blonde.
"HINATA-CHAAANN! WHY! WHY! WHY DID YOU GO!"
"pfft…"
Seimei nearly let out his stifled chuckles when he heard the Uzumaki yell hugging Neji, because he had mistaken him for his younger cousin Hinata. The priest glanced Hinata, a blush crossed his cheeks once he realized something. Seimei quickly took of his coat that he was wearing and put the cloth on Hinata who was unconscious. Again another wave of shock hit him, the priest widened his eyes as he felt the Hyuuga's skin was much paler and she was stiff, cold like an ice cube. The Hyuuga head who was appalled by the blonde landed a strike at Naruto's abdomen taking the pleasure of waking him up from his dream. The man landed on top of the other Hyuuga that he wanted to hug so badly, knocking over Seimei in the process.
..:::...+-:-+...:::..
Naruto opened his eyes and looked around for the second time and he found himself in the middle of the same crater that he saw in his dream. The blonde blinked as he propped himself up with his arms, he looked up as he saw arms around him. Sasuke was looking down at him with worry deeply buried within his coal black eyes. The man quirked a brow at how quite Kiba was who outdid Shino this time. He noticed that they were all with him within the huge crater, but their eyes were somewhere else. Naruto looked at Neji and Seimei in confusion.
He saw their face were twisted in an unkindly expression, both of their eyes landed on top of a girl, that woman who looked exactly the same as the one he met in his dream. His brows furrowed as he sensed that there was something wrong with her. The air around them was heavy and thick, enveloped with grim silence as none of them spoke even a word, his sky blue eyes found a pair golden yellow which was staring at him.
Air caught in his dry throat as he coughed nearly getting choked, "W-wha… what h-ha-happened?"
Seimei's body went rigid as he scooped her small, frail body in his arms; Neji stared at his cousin as he said, "H… Hinata-sama is not breathing… …Naruto"
"W-WHAT?!"
"H-how c-could that… be?" Naruto asked.
Neither of them knew the answer, Naruto visibly shuddered as he kneeled to his knees, the man reached out his arms to touch the petite Hyuuga in the priest's arms. Her eyes were closed; her skin was turning pale that it gave a tinge of blue on her skin. The Uzumaki's eyes roamed to her chest, he scowled when there was no rise and fall that indicates her rhythmic breathing. Indeed, they were right. She's not breathing. She looked almost dead, with a peacefully sleeping face.
To the priest's surprise, Seimei looked in shock when Naruto gripped the left arm of the woman and yanked her out of his arms in one go. He pulled the Hyuuga to the dusty earth below and placed his hands on top of her chest, he yelled.
"1… 2… 3… breath!"
Neji scowled sadly at Naruto who was trying his best to bring her back to life, 'it's futile Naruto… we tried doing that too… it doesn't work, I wish you could listen to that…'
Seimei's eyes enlarged with a magnificent width when his golden eyes focused on Hinata's body. Her skin flickered and glowed under the Uzumaki's touch every time he pushed air into her mouth, the seal that was carved onto her skin seem to react. Seimei smirked when he understood the condition.
"Naruto-sama, please continue on, Neji-san please activated your doujutsu… we have to capture something inside of Hinata- sama's body…"
Neji turned to the priest with a questioning scowl etched on his forehead, "what are you doing?"
Without turning to the Hyuuga, Seimei focused onto the moon light, "I am trying to capture the Soul Eater that is currently residing inside her body, it is powerful and it is also capable of altering one's memories… we don't have much time, we're lucky enough that its full moon tonight"
The priest glanced at the unconscious for of the lady within Naruto's arms from the corner of his eyes, 'perhaps not only capturing that summoned creature from hell, I hope your powers would be bestowed to you… Hinata-sama'
Everyone perked up turning their attentions towards the priest, realization soon dawned on them once they saw what he did, Naruto stayed by the woman's side as Seimei bit his finger and he placed a seal of blood on top of her and Naruto and his forehead. He then signalled Neji to get ready.
"Neji-san." He called, "focus your eyes on her body"
After receiving a curt nod from the Hyuuga head, Seimei focused his eyes on the moon light; he raised his staff high above his head and yelled weird incantations, which were not understandable by any of them. As soon as he started to say them out loud, a loud, dark, piercing shriek was heard from none other than Hinata. Naruto held her down with all his might, pushing her back to the ground as she thrashed at him.
"wwaaaahhhhhh! Iiiiiiiii! Uwaahahahahahhh!" the demon shrieked inside of Hinata.
Naruto held her in place and slapped her across her face, calling her real name out in desperate, "Hinata! Hinata! Can you hear me! Hinata! Snap out of it!"
Sasuke and Kiba moved to their side and helped him to pull Hinata's appendages as Seimei lowered his staff's head landing on her forehead, as soon as the full moon's light were cast upon her body, her cries died down. The air around them grew dark at the summons's appearance. The temperature dropped as Seimei stared at the vague creature, nobody were able to see it other than Neji and Seimei.
"Seimei!" Naruto screamed after the priest in worry.
Sasuke and Kiba who were kneeling down beside Hinata's limp body began to feel her breathing; Sasuke took her wrist and felt her pulsating normally, while Kiba checked her temperature on her forehead. The both of them failed to notice something that was changing in her. They stayed by her side guarding her body.
With a dark fog emanating around them, the foul creature emerged out of her body. The dark summon crawled out of her, releasing all the contact it had on the female Hyuuga, the dark creature with a huge coal black eye red lids stared back at Seimei with a snicker that could be heard by none other than the priest himself.
Neji eyed the spirit's movements and said at Naruto "Naruto above you!"
"What where?" Neji yanked the Uzumaki right away before the demon could consume him.
"Get back all of you!" the priest yelled at them, once he noticed that the demon's powers weakened and that it was finding a host among them.
Before he could blink Seimei who was mumbling the incantations was enveloped by its dark aura, which the creature did to swallow him and target him to be its next host. With a lightning speed the priest spun around with his staff in hand and sent the spirit into a vial that he had in hand.
Once freed from the lid, the vial began to act like a tunnel sucking in all the air around them that was foul, The Uchiha, Inuzuka, Neji and Akamaru had to cover their ears preventing the sounds of its shrieks to not hurt their ear drums. Sasuke grimaced as he activated his sharingan; the wheel eye's tomoes swirled around his pupil, giving him a rough image of the foul spirit's chakra form.
"What is that thing?" Sasuke whispered out his words as he saw the shadow being sucked into the vile.
The air around them stilled once the vacuum vile was closed, "it's over" Seimei sighed as he glanced at the other's with an accomplished smirk adorning his face.
..:::...+-:-+...:::..
"Why is she still not waking up?"
Kiba asked, now irritated, Sasuke rolled his eyes to the Inuzuka's frustrated outburst, feeling equally tired himself. They tried everything in their capabilities to wake up the woman, except for the option of Kiba's companion Akamaru to pee on her face, since he knew that was an underhanded method which he only used on Naruto, it will disgrace the Hyuuga and Neji would have a fit if the Inuzuka did that. They waited so long for her to finally crack her eyes open, now the sun was about to rise in the sky. The most anticipating person out of the six was Naruto and Seimei. Neji even checked her chakra level and declared that her condition is now stable.
Naruto cradled the Hyuuga in his arms like she was a baby and shook her gently, the woman's eyes were still closed, yet the only one who noticed the change on her forehead was Seimei. The priest smirked once he saw a blue crescent symbol was present on top of her forehead. After what seems like a minute after sunrise, the woman in his arms squirmed and wriggled her body against his grip.
"u-ugh…" her tiny voice made everyone around her gaze at her in anticipation; some were already crying tears of relief, like Kiba.
Tears were pouring out of his canine eyes as he stared at her with relief; Neji gave the others an excuse saying that his eyes were sweating, while Sasuke blinked them away. Shino remained mysteriously quite unaffected to the emotional perk.
"My bug informed that she would wake up soon…" was all the Aburame stated before turning into a mute.
Seimei smirked watching them with amusement in his eyes, he witnessed how much she was important to this group of shinobi, who even came out to risk their own life to save her. The priest was puzzled as he directed his gaze upon the young blonde, there was confusion in his eyes. Naruto looked up and met Seimei's gaze and the priest was able to make the rest of his emotions once Hinata blinked her white eyes open.
Seimei realized that Naruto was disturbed when he heard the Hyuuga mumbling Seimei's name. She had quickly sat up; she was out of the Uzumaki's arms. Naruto stared in surprise and shock once she glomped onto the priest, wrapping her arms around his neck.
"S-Seimei!" she cried her eyes out.
..:::...+-:-+...:::..
"I'm sorry…" Hinata whispered at the priest as he eyed her warmly, patting her head.
Naruto gulped down the hard lump as he stared at the two of them, enveloped within a hug. He tried to smile as the others eyed him, but failed miserably when his face was set with a sad, broken look. He wasn't sure why he felt that way but, he felt like his heart was being stabbed with a dagger every time he glanced at the two. Sasuke placed an arm on the Uzumaki shoulder, staring at the two.
"Jealous huh?" Naruto's blood boiled with rage when he snapped his head at the Uchiha when he heard that question.
"Why would I be! That's nonsense!" Hinata jerked at the Uzumaki's outburst, and turned to his direction.
"Hn I said so… you are jealous Naruto…" Sasuke smirked, amusement was evident in his eyes.
Growing irritated Naruto yelled, "What makes you think that way? I'm fine with it!"
"No." Sasuke directed a look at him with a mischievous glint in his coal black orbs, "you are lying, you are obviously not okay, why are you grinding your teeth when she hugged him?"
The blonde widened his eyes when Sasuke whispered his last sentence, "t-that…" Naruto's eyes dropped down to his feet, his eyes searched for an answer as to why he reacted that way, but he could put his finger on anything.
The gasps in embarrassment that she didn't notice their presence, all she could see was Seimei. The girl blushed brilliantly, she bowed "I… I am sorry… I didn't notice all of you here…"
Kiba laughed it off as he scratched the back of his head, "Ah! Don't worry about that Hinata! Are you okay?"
Hinata widened her eyes as stared at him in shock, she glanced back at Seimei who stood close to her, she scowled with confusion, "D… Do I know them Seimei-kun?"
He priest smiled warmly at her and said, "Hn, they know you Hinata-sama…"
"Huh?"
To be continued…
Thank you for your precious time you spent reading the chapter, I hope you like it. The story's progress and details on its update will be available at my profile page. I thank all of you for your support.
-APSH-