A/N: Thank you to all the people who reviewed my story I appreciate every single one of you! Well here is the next chapter… ENJOY! :D

SPECIAL THANKS to:

.: Thank you for your encouragement, yeah they better stay away from Naruto's property!

Rose Tiger: Yes Naruto hurry! xD

esm writer 24: thank you very much ^^

and Hopewolf 13 for all your guys's support! Thank you! Well without further ado…. Here is the new chapter!

Like a Blossoming Rose…

A Naruhina Story

Chapter 3: Desperation

The sun rose early in the morning and lit Naruto's sleeping face. His eyelids opened slowly to reveal two sleepy sparkling blue orbs. He rose slowly and sat up as he scanned his surroundings. He was still in the make-shift tent alongside with his comrades. To his left, slept Kakashi and to his left slept his pink haired friend. It seemed as if nothing was wrong but, Naruto new better… It was not peachy perfect, one of his precious friends, was in serious trouble. "Don't worry Hinata, no matter what I'll save you," he thought. Naruto stood and walked outside the tent, he stretched a bit, ready to begin that day's journey.

"What is taking them so long to wake up?" Naruto wondered aloud as he walked back to the tent. Didn't they know that every second wasted was seconds that Hinata's life was at risk. When he entered he saw his teammates already up and packing.

"Naruto, what are you doing up before us," said Sakura "That is almost as impressive as Kakashi sensei being early."

Naruto smiled at that remark and followed her outside. In a second, Kakashi had packed u the tent.

"Maybe we should eat breakfast first before setting out." mumbled Sakura as she listened to her growling stomach.

"There is no time for breakfast! Hinata is in danger by the second!" the blonde exclaimed.

Naruto marched on ahead of the two, raising his knees high with every step. Soon his own stomach protested and put up a fight. He stopped midway in his march, turned around and quickly went back to the two with long strides.

"He he…um maybe we should eat breakfast first."Naruto said meekly, " I call the instant ramen!"

He quickly skipped to a tree stump, all the while avoiding Sakura's glare… If looks could kill, he would fall dead on the spot.

"Naruto!" Sakura exclaimed.

Hinata woke up to the staring eyes of the man she recognized as Tadao. Instantly, she flinched and cringed away from him. Her pale eyes scanned him until they reached his left hand. If she hadn't been so terrified, her small lips would have curled into a small smile. So their great leader Kabuto hadn't been able to fully heal his hand…such a pity. Her inner Hinata danced a little jig in victory as she stared at his bandaged left hand. Hinata: 1 Tadao: 0

The cell door opened and Gorou walked in with a plate of mush in his hand. Hinata raised a delicate eyebrow in a questioning look as she realized he was wearing an apron with flower print. It dawned on her that he must cook all of the delightful…mush. He handed her the plate and a pair of wooden chopsticks.

"Looking good Gorou," Tadao relied "That apron brings out your gruff and wonderfully ugly beard."

To this, Gorou replied by landing a clean blow to his already crooked teeth. Tadao scrambled away and behind his back, stuck out his tongue at Gorou, then he left with a quick "See ya later beautiful."

Hinata shuddered in disgust, and turned to see the man serving her a glass of water. Despite her dire situation, she held in her urge to laugh. No matter how gruff and dangerous a man is, you can never take him seriously if he is wearing a flower print apron. Hinata: 2 Tadao/Gorou: 0 He removed the cloth from her mouth and she pretended to eat the mush, not wanting to hurt his feelings, all the while not taking even the slightest nibble.

After a quick breakfast, Team 7 minus one, set off on their mission to retrieve the missing Hyuuga heiress. With a full stomach, Naruto resumed his march and of course being Naruto, stepped in a hole and got his foot stuck.

"Um guys… I think I'm stuck."

"Naruto, you big idiot… How did you get stuck in a hole? Weren't you watching were you were going! "Sakura ranted.

Kakashi sighed and started towards Naruto when suddenly, Naruto was carried up near the tops of the trees in a net.

"Sakura…get back. It's a trap!"Kakashi exclaimed.

Instantly he and Sakura took on fighting stances, and Naruto searched the trees. Suddenly, a group of rouge ninja fell from the high branches.

"Sakura! Kakashi sensei!"Naruto screamed.

He watched helplessly as his comrades were attacked. He knew he had no reason to fear because his friends were very capable ninja, yet he wanted to be there to protect them. It was just a natural feeling he had within him. He watched as Sakura put on her gloves and Kakashi kept his Sharingan hidden. Naruto was relieved, for if Kakashi didn't reveal his Sharingan, the enemy must not be such a big threat. He managed to grab a kunai, even in his awkward position, from his weapon pouch and tried to cut the net. Yet, he received a small shock every time he tried to slice the threads apart.

"Naruto can you cut the net?" Kakashi asked while his kunai met the edge of another. With a quick kick he sent the enemy ninja spiraling backwards. He was managing to defend himself simply by using taijutsu.

"No. It's made out of some sort of chakra thread."Naruto yelled.

Sakura meanwhile looked like she was just playing around as she knocked out her foes with a single punch. Yet every punch was full with concentrated chakra that resulted in super strength that could make a whole building collapse. She was the great Sanin Tsunade's pupil and apprentice after all. An enemy ninja stood in front of the tree which held Naruto, and just as Sakura was going to land a clean one on his face, he dodged and she hit the tree instead. With a thundering crack, the mighty tree fell down, dragging a freaked-out Naruto along.

"HELP ME!" Naruto cried as the tree fell down along with him.

"Naruto!" Sakura exclaimed.

"He will manage… Pay attention on your left!" Kakashi yelled at her.

Sakura turned to her left just in time to dodge the kunai. She took him out in a matter of seconds.

Naruto only heard the sounds of clashing metal from inside the tree. Somehow he had gotten caught in the hole Sakura had made with her inhuman strength… and he was still caught in the net. Somehow he was the only one who was always in this kind of situation…why?

"Hey Naruto, are you okay?" he faintly heard Sakura question.

"Yeah…but I'm still sorta stuck in here, so that could be a problem." Naruto called out.

"So you can't cut the threads?"asked Sakura, "I can always just smash the tree open."

Naruto paled at the thought of Sakura smashing the tree open. If she did that, then…he would be smashed open as well…

"N-no S-sakura… no need to be hasty… I'll find a way out… eventually."Naruto stuttered.

"Naruto…did you try using the Rasengan to cut the threads and the tree?" This time it was Kakashi's voice that came from above.

Rasengan…pah, what a dumb… why hadn't HE thought of that?

"Fine I'll give it a go."Naruto said as he formed a familiar hand sign that he knew by heart. A clone appeared in the same weird position as him and gave him the: w-t-f-are-we-doing-like-this-and-why-did-you-summon-me-in-this-situation. In turn, the original gave him the shut-up-and-follow-my-orders stare. The clone mentally agreed and helped his master do the Rasengan technique.

Kakashi and Sakura felt a little stupid staring at the motionless tree…waiting for…something. Out of nowhere they heard a muffled "RASENGAN!" as Naruto erupted from the tree and the clone disappeared with a poof.

"See wasn't that easy?"said Kakashi in a matter-of-factly tone.

"Hmph…"said Naruto while pouting and walking away.

"This time don't get stuck in a hole…"mocked Sakura.

"I am never going to live this down…"whispered Naruto under his breath.

Hinata was staring out the small cell window when once again someone entered her cell. She recognized the cloaked man in an instant and everything inside her yelled: RUN! DANGER ALERT! She had been bound with chakra threads once more, so she was unable to move more than a cringe.

He walked near her and studied her. He made a hand motion and almost immediately Tadao and Gorou appeared at Kabuto's side.

"Isn't she a bit thinner than when you first brought her?"Kabuto said almost menacingly.

"Well, maybe a little bit…but that's because Gorou's cooking is so bad."Tadao said.

"She refuses to eat boss and not because my cooking is bad. It's perfectly edible." Gorou said in his defense.

"Well MAKE her eat if you have to. Madara will not be pleased if we hand over a toothpick. The less healthy a Hyuuga is, the weaker their Byakugan will become. Although, if he doesn't find use to her, I can certainly use her as a research subject…" Madara said sternly.

"Yes boss I'll feed her immediately."Gorou said, taking his leave.

"Add the special ingredient, we will depart tonight."

Hinata felt a wave of panic hit her and spread through her body. 'What did he mean by depart tonight? Where were they going to take me?'

In a few seconds Gorou returned with another batch of his lovely mush, this time it had a blue-ish glow to it. He untied her hands, and she thought about gathering chakra into her hands to perform a jutsu…any jutsu that would get her out of there alive. It was a good idea, one problem though… she had a strong will, but her body was weak with hunger. She hadn't eaten since she was brought into this…prison. She always threw the food away and refused to eat. She could feel herself slowly losing her strength… She slowly shook her head when he offered her the plate.

"C'mon eat already," pleaded Tadao, "We are always getting in trouble because of you."

Gorou apparently gave up on the polite method, after Hinata had once again refused to eat his food and once again tied her hands together. He got the chopsticks and with one hand forcefully and with the other he shoved the food in her mouth. Hinata swallowed the food forcefully and made a face in disgust. She didn't think it would be that bad. Soon when she had almost eaten the whole plate, she felt her senses begin to dull. She made an effort to gather chakra into her eyes and managed to activate her Byakugan. She was about to try to rip the threads apart when suddenly her Byakugan deactivated and she fell back. Hinata barely realized she had been sitting up all this time. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Kabuto return and smile menacingly

"She is ready for transportation…Now she won't give us any trouble… Get ready to leave at midnight." she heard him say as her world turned pitch black.

"Kabuto has Hinata!"Shouted Kiba enraged.

"Yes, but calm down, I sent Team 7 to Otogakure in hopes of finding Kabuto as well as Hinata. I already suspected that he had her in the first place."

"We have to help.."Kiba said frantically.

"I will save you in case something goes wrong and we need to track down either Team 7 or Kabuto. So for now all we can do is wait for a report from Kakashi…" Tsunade said sternly, "You won't be of help if you jump in there recklessly. It will only make matters worse than they already are…"

"Fine..."Kiba whispered as he stared out the window

Naruto was running from branch to branch, when suddenly he felt a pang in his chest that made him stop altogether.

Sakura noticed they had left the whiskered blonde behind, so she went back to see what was wrong. When she saw him, he was on his knees on a branch.

"Naruto, what's wrong?" Sakura asked.

"Hinata is in grave danger, time is running out… I feel it in here…" he said motioning to his chest and heart.

"C'mon Naruto we are almost at Otogakure… We WILL make it in time."Sakura assured.

"Let's hurry then, I promised I would save her no matter what…" Naruto said under his breath as he went to catch up with his teacher.

When they finally reached the end of the forest, they had a perfect view of the village in the distance.

"Finally, Otogakure…" Naruto whispered, "I'm coming Hinata…"

He hadn't taken even one step when a kunai landed in front of him, missing his face by inches landing on a rock. He noticed a tag on it, but it was too late… The paper bomb exploded and sent the trio spiraling backwards. It was followed by a sequence of smoke bombs and several kunai and shuriken.

'Not another ambush!" Naruto thought as he shielded his eyes from all the dirt flying around. His teammates were nowhere in sight, his vision was clouded by smoke…

'Hinata…'

Hehehehe…. My attempt at a cliffy… *evil smile* please excuse my sorry attempt to write a short fight scene… I'll do my best to improve…. Well until next time :D Please REVIEW…. I would really appreciate it! Without your reviews I might have just given up on this story. You guys are awesome T^T -PerfectAngels98