Suddenly I grasped what was happening- they were all trying to save me. I never thought I was worth saving.
-Albert Borris
Chapter 39: Worth Saving
It wasn't working. Hinata swerved out of the way of another of her father's strikes and flung her hand out towards one of his chakra points. As had happened over the last dozen tries, Hiashi dodged out of the way. Hinata heard Naruto let out a gutteral yell as he charged at Hiashi. She knew that his attempts to fight would fail too. Her father was just too talented for them. He had been a clan leader for years now, and he even had the Byakugan. There was no way a trio of genin could defeat him. It was too cocky of them to even try.
Hinata gritted her teeth as she ran back into the fray. There had to be something they could do. As a child, she had grown up hearing that destiny had already chosen her path from the beginning. She couldn't believe that. It wasn't her fate to grow up weak and fall to her own father's hands. It couldn't be. The gray world whirled around her as her fist snapped out at Hiashi. Hiashi leaned backwards and grabbed onto Hinata's arm. His hand constricted around her arm as he flung her into the path of Gaara's incoming sand storm. The sand parted around her just before she made contact, and Hinata tumbled across the ground.
Gaara clicked his tongue. He wasn't used to fighting with close range fighters. Both his sister and brother were long range, so he rarely had to worry about injuring them in battle. He realized what a disadvantage it put him in now that he was partnered with Naruto and Hinata. He loathed to admit it, but he was hurting Hinata and Naruto more than Hiashi. His sand had ripped across Hinata's arm, and he knew the blood on her left hand was damaging her arm. He had also managed to blow Naruto a good five feet when Hiashi dodged out of the way. The only one that seemed happy about this situation was the Ichibi.
Gaara gathered a coil of sand into his palm and pushed at Hiashi. The sand flew through the air towards the back of Hiashi's head. Hiashi spared a quick glance over his shoulder before catching Naruto's fist. "This is a waste of my time," Hiashi growled lowly. Using his other hand, Hiashi hit two of Naruto's chakra points before throwing the blonde backwards. The only reason this fight had gone on so long was because he wanted to see if any of the three had any valuable qualities to them. If the rebellion managed to train a Yamanaka in the art of mind walking, they would be able to erase the irritating memories from the genin's system. None of them seemed to have any value though. The Suna boy had a strong offensive capability, but he was a one-trick pony.
His sand moved as if it was alive, and that was what made it predictable. Hiashi didn't need the Byakugan to track its movements. Like a human, it had predictable habits which made it easy to follow and defeat. Hiashi flipped backwards and sent two kunai spiraling at Gaara. As Hiashi predicted, some of the sand split off to protect its master, weakening the strength of the original attack. Hiashi's wooden shoes clattered onto the ground as he landed. "I will end this now. I apologize for drawing out your loss," Hiashi said candidly.
Naruto clung onto his dangling arm before snarling at Hiashi, "Don't think we're done yet!" Secretly, he didn't know what they were going to do. Nothing he had tried seemed to work. He looked over at Gaara who had a deep set frown on his face. Behind Gaara, Hinata was running over towards them. Naruto's training allowed him to notice that she was blinking abnormally quickly. Naruto bit his lip. She was probably tiring and was forcing herself to stay upright. He allowed her ten minutes at most.
"Uzumaki-san, do you remember that jutsu you used in our battle awhile back?" Naruto looked over towards Gaara and gave a quick nod. "I need you to use it. I have an idea, and it would work best if I had you help me."
Naruto called out, "You had better know what you're doing! Tsuin Tatsumaki no Jutsu!" Naruto spread his hands apart just as Hiashi shunshined towards them. Naruto grunted as chakra tried to force its way through his arm, but to no avail. His chakra points on his left hand were useless. A lone whirlwind appeared in his right hand, but it was just enough. The sudden current was enough to slow Hiashi for a split-second. It was only half of a second, but it was enough time. Sand stormed into the spiraling wind currents, making small pillars of sand. Naruto struck out with the tornado, and the sand ripped into Hiashi.
The jounin flung off his haori, shielding himself from the torrent and fled back a few feet. As he landed, Hinata struck out behind him, catching him in the elbow. Hiashi grunted as he grabbed Hinata and yanked her in front of him. He spun around on his heels and kicked her into the tornado. Hinata screamed as she was caught in the blast, and Naruto quickly deactivated the jutsu. He caught her in his arms as she fell, and Hinata winced as Gaara forced the sand to drain from her skin.
Her breaths were raspy as she forced herself to sit up. Naruto frowned as she visibly shook from the strain. "I'm sorry. I'm so useless," Hinata said faintly, rubbing a hand against her face. The red smeared across her face, making her dirtier than she had been before. Naruto shook his head and patted her gingerly on the shoulder.
"Don't apologize, Hinata-chan." Naruto looked over to Hiashi and said, "Thanks to you, I think I have an idea. "
-TSUME-
"I have to hurry," Tenten murmured to herself. She pulled Gai farther up her shoulders and took in a deep breath before setting off at a run again. It had been nearly fifteen minutes since the attack on the Hokage box. She had to hurry and bring Gai to the hospital before it was too late. They didn't know what was in the poison, and Gai could die if she didn't arrive soon. She knew that causalities would start streaming into the hospital, so she needed to get Gai on a priority list and quickly.
She glanced over to the main street and grimaced. She had been forced to take the small side streets since the roads were now swarming with panicked civilians. The last thing she wanted was for Gai to be jostled off her shoulders and trampled to death. Tenten would have to continue to go through the side roads. She sighed and pictured the map of Konoha in her head. "This way," she mumbled before running off down another street.
Shadows flashed across the ground in front of her, and Tenten cast a concerned glance above her. She couldn't be sure that the ninja were allies or enemies anymore. Tenten picked up the pace as she sped along the alleys. A shadow shifted in the darkness before her as she grabbed at one of the kunai she hid in her pockets. "Who's there?"
"Tenten-chan? Is that you? What are you doing here?" Ino said as she stepped out from the shadows. Inuzuka Hana walked past Ino and over to Tenten. She rested a hand on Gai's forehead.
Tenten sidestepped away from Hana, causing the older girl to frown slightly. "Hello, Ino-chan. I'm bringing Gai-sensei to the hospital. If you'll excuse me, I'm afraid I don't have the time to chat. He needs medical treatment immediately." She tried to walk by Hana, only to have the older girl hold an arm out in front of Tenten.
"I'm afraid I can't let you do that, Tenten-chan. You see, Maito-san needs to come with us," Hana said with a gentle smile on her face. Tenten bit her lip tightly. She was at a great disadvantage. They outnumbered her two to one, and she had to make sure that they couldn't reach Gai. Hana moved towards Tenten, but suddenly, her foot stopped moving. She tried jerking it along, but it remained fast.
"We can't let that happen either, Inuzuka-san." Hana's gaze travelled past Tenten to where Shikamaru stepped out of the shadows with Kei at his side. "We know what you are here for and what your allegiance is. You are coming with us." Hana glared at Shikamaru venomously, and behind her, Ino shifted in the shadows.
She reached behind her back and pulled out a thin sheet of paper from her pack. She flipped it between her fingers and flung it in the air. Light erupted from the seal, and Shikamaru snapped the jutsu shut and covered his eyes. With her eyes closed, Ino ran forward and pushed Hana forwards. Realizing that she had been released from the power of Shikamaru's jutsu, Hana sniffed the air before running towards Tenten. She scented the smell of poison wafting from Gai and snagged his arm before yanking him off of Tenten. She hefted the older man onto his back before taking off down the alleyway with Ino.
Behind them, Ino heard Tenten's yelp of surprise when she realized that Ino and Hana had run off with Gai. Loud barks echoed around the running ninja as they made a mad dash down the thin corridor. Paws thundered beside them as three large huskies joined them. Hana smiled broadly at her nin-dogs. They had perfect timing as usual. "Inuzuka-san." Ino's voice distracted Hana from her thoughts. "Our job is to keep Maito-san out of the hospital for another thirty minutes, right? We just need to distract them for a bit in order to do that."
Hana stared at Ino silently before she nodded. "Give me a moment." Hana skidded to a stop and dropped Gai carelessly against the wall. She coaxed one of her nin-dogs over to her and held her hands cover its shoulders and mumbled, "Juujin Bunshin." She pressed her hands down on the husky and a puff of smoke filled the air. Once the smoke cleared, the nin-dog had transformed into a copy of Gai and was lying limply on the ground. Hana wiped a bead of sweat from her brow and lifted the dog off the ground. "I should be able to hold the jutsu for ten to fifteen minutes. It'll be enough for a diversion at least. I would normally be able to hold it longer, but it's easier having the nin-dogs hold bunshins of me rather than of another person."
"It's good that you're able to do this for a little while rather than not at all," Ino said blandly. Ino hurried over towards Gai and slung him over her back. "We'll split here then." Ino was silent for a moment before breaking out into a broad smile. "Best of luck, Inuzuka-san! I'll see you soon, okay?" Ino turned away from Hana and hurried down the dim alleyway. Behind her, Hana huffed and shook her head. She never did understand the blonde, but it seemed as if Ino was more of a mystery than ever now.
"Hey!" A voice called out from the street where Hana and Ino had just left. Hana sighed and bolted away from Ino. A few moments later, Shikamaru, Kei, and Tenten arrived at the intersection where Ino and Hana had just split up. Tenten cursed under her breath as she realized that the two had gone in opposite directions. "Kei-chan and I will go after Hana. You've known Ino-chan for a long time right, Nara-san? You'll have the advantage over her, and it's best that two of us stick to Inuzuka-san. Let's go! We have to hurry and find Gai-sensei!" Tenten grabbed Kei's hand and yanked her along as she sped off after Hana.
Shikamaru sighed and looked down the street where he could just make out Ino's platinum blonde hair shining in the distance. "How troublesome..."
-TSUME-
Shikamaru chased Ino around for a good five minutes before she came to a stop. The wind whipped her hair around as she set Gai down on the edge of the flat rooftop. She had led Shikamaru away from the center of the village. There was no spot that was further away from the hospital than this. Even if Shikamaru managed to defeat her, it would take him at least ten to fifteen minutes to get Gai to the hospital. That meant that Shikamaru would have to take her out in ten minutes to save Gai's life. Ino had confidence in her ability to stall for ten minutes at the very least.
Shikamaru landed on the rooftop behind her and pulled a kunai out of his hip pack. "Ino-chan, why are you doing this? Out of all people, I didn't think that you would side with the rebellion. Do you really hate Konoha that much?" Shikamaru kept his voice even, but inside, his heart was wavering. He hadn't ever been particularly good friends with Ino, but he had spent most of his childhood playing with her. When their fathers had met together, he, Ino, and Chouji had always gone to play with one another. There were a lot of bad memories from those times, but there were also a lot of happy memories, a lot of memories that made it painful to fight against Ino.
Shikamaru's mind was racing. How would he be able to tell Inoichi about his daughter's betrayal? He had seen Inoichi grow increasingly tired and irritable as the days ticked down to the rebellion. It wasn't difficult for Shikamaru to puzzle out that he was worried about his daughter. Any man would be the same in Inoichi's situation, and now, Shikamaru had confirmed the worst possible situation.
"I don't hate Konoha. I could never do that," Ino replied softly. "But I have to do this..." Ino fell silent. After a while, she gave a loud sigh. "I suppose you would never understand though. Your value is already worth twice of what mine is. This is the only way for me to have any value." Ino's shoulders slumped as she stared down at the ground. She scuffed up the dirty rooftop and looked up at the sky. "I don't do these things because I want to, but because I have to."
"You don't have to do anything, Ino-chan! Just give this up, and come back to our side. You're worth more than you think you are. We care for you, Ino-chan, so don't do this!" Shikamaru said, taking a step towards her. Seeing him approach, Ino stepped back and pulled out a kunai.
"I'm in too deep, Shikamaru-kun. But maybe I'll be worth something after this, and people will look at me again!" Ino smiled happily as she twirled her kunai around her hand. "No one will forget about me and leave me again. It won't be like how you left me, daddy left me, and mommy left me. I'll never have to be that way again after this!"
Shikamaru gripped his kunai tightly and clamped his eyes shut. Had Ino really thought that they had all abandoned here? "We never left you, Ino-chan! We had different lives to lead, but we never left you! We all care for you!" It felt weak now that he was saying it. It was nothing compared to what she had to have gone through to turn out like this.
"That's what I thought for months before I realized that none of you would see me anymore! For all you could have cared, I never even existed! No one even bothered to see me in between missions! I was only of temporary value to you all, admit it!" Ino screamed the last words out. She held a hand up to her eyes and bit out, "It won't have to be that way anymore. I am finally going to be worth something, and I can't let you prevent that!"
Shikamaru opened his mouth to protest, but a sudden movement in the corner of his eye caused him to step back. A black figure shunshined onto the rooftop. A painted mask covered the man's face as he stood up and turned towards Ino. "Go to Alpha Point 6. You are needed now." Ino started in surprise before nodding obediently. She cast one last glance at Shikamaru before shunshining away.
With Ino gone, Shikamaru was in a predicament. The ANBU turned back towards Shikamaru and pulled a sword out from behind his back. Shikamaru glanced around the rooftops, trying to think of a plan. He needed to grab Gai and run without being skewered. His mind raced as he tried to think of ideas. There were only three that had any hope of working, and none of the three were preferable. Shikamaru looked back towards the ANBU who was slowly walking towards him and swallowed. He'd go with the second option.
That was when the ANBU suddenly shunshined towards him and thrust his sword into Shikamaru's stomach.
-TSUME-
Hana hugged her dog tightly to her chest as she ducked in and out of the crowd. The throng of panicked civilians surged around her as she made her way into the city. The panic provided her with the perfect cover to avoid being caught by Tenten and Kei. Even if one of the two managed to catch up to her, it was highly unlikely they would be able to hold her down in the swarm.
Hana followed the ground into a large plaza. The crowd thinned out as there were more places to move, and Hana dashed towards the fountain. A lady with a water pitcher stood in the center of the fountain. Hana dashed up to the stone woman. She dropped her nin-dog by the fountain and jumped up onto the center pedestal. She fumbled around the stone layers of the woman's dress before coming upon a sword hilt. She unsheathed the steel sword and whirled around to see Kei and Tenten running towards her.
Hana jumped back down from the pedestal and walked in front of the fake Gai. When the two genin game closer, Hana darted forward and slashed at the two girls. "Haimaru!" The two remaining huskies barked in response to their master's call and lunged at Kei and Tenten. Kei dove away from the first dog, slashing at its hide while she did. Kei groaned when the kunai barely pierced the dog's skin. There was a reason why they were nin-dogs after all.
The husky circled around Kei, barring its gleaming white teeth. Kei pulled out a fistful of senbon from her pouch and took a deep breath. She had heard that dogs could sense fear from humans. If she was nervous, then the dog would probably pick up on it. If it was a nin-dog, she couldn't be too sure whether or not the husky would find her fear empowering. If morale dictated a battle, fear was a foe she couldn't lose to.
Across the plaza, Tenten slammed her nun chucks into the dog, sending it careening to the side. She twirled the nun chucks around before striking at Hana's blade and sending a kick into the older girl's stomach. Tenten was actually sort of glad that there was a small opportunity for her to fight. She had had enough with all the helplessness she had been feeling. She had been helpless to prevent Neji's death, helpless to save Lee from his guilt, and too helpless to save Gai when the snake bunshin exploded. All the aggression had been pent up inside her, and it was just waiting to explode. Hana was as good a target as any. She was a rebel. She was part of the reason why Neji died, Lee cried, and Gai was near death. Tenten would make her pay.
Tenten yanked an extendable staff out from her waist pack and yelled out a battle cry before charging at Hana. Hana grunted as she parried the girl's attacks. She reminded herself that winning the battle wasn't her goal. Her goal was just to delay them. Delay, delay, delay, she had to delay them. She forced Tenten backwards just as one of her dogs tackled Tenten in the stomach. Tenten tumbled backwards and raised the staff above her as the dog's gaping maw came down upon her. Her knuckles whitened as she pushed back against the dog.
An image of Gai lying against the fountain came to her mind, and Tenten felt a rush of energy. She roared and flung the dog off of her. Before it had time to move, Tenten rushed over to it and drove a kunai deep into its chest. The dog yelped in pain, and Tenten hardly had a moment to react before Hana angrily kicked her into the side of the stony fountain. "Haimaru!" Hana bent down by her nin-dog and stroked the side of its head worriedly. The dog panted weakly, and Hana trembled with rage. "You'll pay for that," she growled.
A few feet away, Kei was struggling. She wasn't a close range fighter, and she made no pretenses of being such. Unfortunately, the dog was uncannily good at close range fighting. She ducked out of the way as the dog dived at her yet again. Kei threw senbon towards the dog, but it didn't seem to mind as senbon stuck out of its hide like porcupine needles. Kei heaved in air as she hunched forward slightly. They had spent too much time running to reach the plaza before beginning to fight.
She forced herself upright as the dog came at her again. It gave a thundering howl of rage, and Kei glanced over its shoulder to see one of the dogs lying on the ground with a kunai protruding from its chest. The dog was faster than ever as it lunged towards her. One of its claws dragged across her neck, and Kei gasped as she felt it tear into her skin. She stabbed at its head with the senbon she had in her fist, and it yelped as one of the senbon gouged it in the eye. The dog whimpered and pawed at its eyes as Kei clutched at the side of her neck.
She drew her hand away to see that it was wet with blood. Kei grimaced and forced a spark of green chakra to light her hand. If she was bleeding that much already, the dog had probably hit the carotid artery in her neck. Mending the carotid was no simple task, healing arteries rarely was. To make the situation even worse, she wouldn't be able to see her artery while she worked on it. The plaza they were in was over seven minutes from the hospital. She wouldn't be able to make it even if she ran. Kei spat out a glob of blood and held a glowing hand over her neck. Well, it was better to try than to lay down and die.
Author's Note: I've been so uninspired recently, but I read all of your kind reviews, so I worked hard to finish the chapter on time. It's unbetaed, so I apologize about that. I finished it about 10 minutes before the deadline. Heh... I need to work on my time management. Well, thanks for reading! :D I hope you enjoyed it!