VERY IMPORTANT. PLEASE READ AUTHOR NOTE.
For those who were inquiring about the lemon, I may actually write it/others out some day. If I do, I'll be giving links to said lemons that I'll host on other sites. NC-17 isn't allowed on anymore, and even though I'm fairly certain I could get away with it, I'd rather not take the chance. I'm rather curious as to how I'd stack up on writing something like that as I've never tried.
I actually did write a bit of a lime (I think it's tame enough to be called that) in this chapter. So let me know how I did.
I would also like to say, some people have been asking some questions that I had already addressed in my usual outro author note. I'd just like to say that even though I know it's boring (I never read the things on other fics) I will always put only important information in these things. Except when I feel like cracking a joke, and I know you love it because I have an amazing sense of humor. And massive ego. Now, I shant waste anymore time, let's get on with the show.
VERY IMPORTANT. PLEASE READ AUTHOR NOTE.
XXXX
Shikamaru Nara stared down at the ramp that led into an underground complex, the supposed ROOT station that was coordinating patrols, the ones that hunted them like dogs. From their stake out point, he'd just watched a team take off from it and from the frequency of the patrols in the area, there shouldn't be another coming back for hours. But. . . something was gnawing at his gut. It almost seemed too easy, there had been a few teams sure, but to not have any perimeter defense? Was their trust in their – rather shotty – camouflaging that great?
"Shika, we going in or what?" Chouji asked, stepping up to the side of his friend. The Akimichi wanted to get this over already and head back home, his stomach was grumbling and he had only been eating crappy trail rations since they left the hideout. At least there he could eat real food, as much as he hated to call such wimpy fare that.
"Yeah, what's the hold up you lazy bum? Don't tell me you're gonna start going on about how much of drag it is to do this, are you?" Ino taunted, coming up to lean onto Shikamaru's shoulder. The two had become close over the past few years. Even if she hated how lazy he could be at times, to the point of madness with his stubbornness, she still loved the pineapple head. It hadn't been long after finding the mountain hideout that Ino confessed to Shikamaru, and they'd been together since, sharing a room and nights together.
Shikamaru shot Ino an annoyed look, making the girl back off with a giggle. "It's not that." he replied, looking back to the hideout. "I just . . . I have a bad feeling." As he stared into the dark passage that led down to a painted red door, his mind started to play a trick on him, making it look like the walls were elongating and the door becoming almost sinister.
"Bad feeling or not," Chouji started, walking ahead, "I'm going in. I'm not letting them get away with what they did to my dad."
Hearing his friend's heated voice, one that contained a hidden rage made Shikamaru close his eyes and sigh. He understood all to well how he felt. Looking towards Ino, he saw she was masking her own feelings on it. Choza had died defending the surviving ninja's retreat, using his expansion jutsu to draw attention to himself and it was because of his valiant sacrifice to keep the Oni at bay they had managed to escape at all.
As for their parents, both had died in the very initial attack. There wasn't many details, but from what was pieced together, Inoichi and Shikaku were in the Barrier headquarters along with many others, which had been blown away by explosives. They died without ever understanding why. So many of their loved ones were dead because of one lunatic's mad ambitions.
Shikamaru clenched his fist, and nodded towards Chouji. They were going in. "No they're not. We're going in." With a smirk he added, "Besides, we're Ino-Shika-Cho. No one can stop us." His teammates grinned at him and shouted out their agreement. Setting his face into his commander mode, Shikamaru spoke, "Alright, breaching formation. Chouji you're on point, Ino you got our rear." He let out a small high pitched yell as he felt a pinch on his rear. Whipping around with a blush he saw Ino sticking her tounge out at him.
"I got your butt alright."
Shikamaru let out a low grumble that sounded something like; Troublesome Woman! Keeping his best face on he marched forward with a chuckling Chouji leading the way.
XXXX
The compound was empty and cold. The layout was built like an ANBU recon base, a single hallway with branching rooms, almost resembling a tree of sorts. They went from room to room, making a sweep of it. The first room they found was the barracks. From the looks of it, there was definitely human activity in it recently. Disheveled bunks with discarded instant food cups in trash cans. It certainly felt lived in.
-But that's what you thought. How obvious it was that they set it up.-
The armory was locked and made from solid steel, but with a universal Akimichi boot-key the door was smashed in. It was decently enough stocked with worn kunai and a few extra short swords and some spare flak jackets.
-All of it old equipment. But you were too focused on your revenge, weren't you?-
The final door in the back had a large Communications sign directly over it. If anyone was still in the building, and they hadn't been alerted to their presence, they would be inside. Shikamaru looked towards Chouji, giving him a nod and stepped closer to the door with his foot extended and his hands held in the seal for his shadow ninjutsu.
-Stop.-
Chouji reached forward, and with a large breath –
-Please – NO!-
Chouji opened the door. A large blinding light exploded from the door and Shikamaru's vision and hearing disappeared in a radiant blast. He let out a pained scream as he was sent shooting away from the door, barely noting he was in mid-air. With a painful slam he hit the steel floor and rolled twice over himself, coming to rest in an awkward angle.
His mind started to race, something was wrong – pain. It was everywhere, it hurt – GOD, why does it hurt so much?!
Chouji. Ino – where!?
-You know where.-
Shikamaru's vision came back to him slowly, his world being shown to him in a black fog that was slowly being pierced by blurry bright spots. His vision continued to focus, and he soon saw that the roof was on fire, and could feel the burning hot flames that licked along the roof threaten to reach out to him and engulf him. And the pain, it was still there! It ate away at him like a tsunami, coming and going in massive waves.
-Don't look.-
Shikamaru started to call out for his team, "Chouji! Ino!" The fear in his voice scared him, he never heard himself talk like that before. He needed to find them – they had to get out, he needed to get up.
-Don't. Please! Don't make me see this again!-
He attempted to stand, but only succeeded in letting out an agonizing scream as his dismembered leg was pushed into the ground, the open bleeding stump's nerves sending a clear message back to it's owner. Shikamaru couldn't wrap his head around it, as he felt down to his right leg – where is it!? As he touched the spot where his leg had been severed he let out an agonized scream of pain. Turning to his side, he meant to crawl, to get to his friends, when he saw it.
-NO!-
Chouji – what was left of him. Only half of his head – the eye. It glared at him, HATED HIM. Blood matted hair, skin charred where the explosion blew it away. Shikamaru's mind shut down as he stared across the floor, feeling blood starting to trickle down his face from a head injury, but he couldn't pay attention to it. His friend, his best friend. Why was half his head lying in a heap of it's own gore in front of him. Behind the eye that he knew were glaring at him with hate –
-It was my fault, of course he hates me!-
He saw her. The woman whom he loved, she was motionless on the floor, her body covered in metal shrapnel from head to toe. Her head was turned his way, the eyes he loved to stare into were now replaced with cold, bloody metallic parts. Her beautiful hair he loved to stroke was matted to her white skin with blood.
It was then he became aware of screaming, terrible screaming. A scream that echoed from the depths of a hellish nightmare.
It was his own.
XXXX
"Shika! Please wake up!"
Shikamaru let out a scream as he shot up in bed, barely registering that he hit something with his shoulder on his panicked ascent. Sweat was pouring down his naked chest and soaked his pants. His heart was beating in his chest like a war drum, and he couldn't think straight as he felt himself fueled by his panic. He noted tears streaming down his face, and his ragged breathing coming out, shallow and fast. His fists were clenching onto the thin blanket that covered his lower half, threatening to tear them. He never took notice of his lover rubbing his back, her face inching close to his.
"Shika, it's okay. It was just a nightmare." Ino whispered out, her voice low and comforting. She knew exactly what nightmare he had to have had. He never told her what the dream contained, but she didn't have to know, for she had the same one. She gently reached down, feeling a large scar that ran up the length of her outer left thigh, which wasn't covered by her short, light blue night gown. Memories of that terrible incident crept into her mind, along with the last thing she ever saw with her eyes. The image of Chouji being devoured by a blinding light will forever keep her up at night. The only thing that kept her going was that Shikamaru needed her. She would do what she could to keep him from falling so far into his despair that he could never recover. She only prayed that hadn't happened yet.
Shikamaru started to turn, to look at Ino, but he stopped short, his hair hiding her face. He grit his teeth, as the still perfect image of her laying in a pool of her own blood, her beautiful body covered in hellish steel assaulted him. Throwing the blanket off him, he turned in bed and reached over for his crutch.
Ino let out a small cry as Shika's back moved and she fell forward. "Shika! Wait!" She knew he was trying to run from her. She let out a soft whimper as she tried to feel for him, and managed to grab onto his fleeing shoulders, using her weight to pull him back down to the bed.
"Ino! Stop!" Shika yelled, not wanting her to touch him right now, it was too painful. Why didn't she understand? It was his fault, all his fault! It was his idea to lead them into that obvious deathtrap – why had he been so stupid?! Because of him Chouji and Ino were –!
"Stop blaming yourself Shika." Ino whispered into his ear, her voice full of her desperation. "Please. . . I don't blame you for what happened! No one could have predicted that! We all went in there together!"
"Ino, stop." Shikamaru replied with anger in his voice. It was his fault – Dammit, he needed a drink where the hell did he put that sake at?! It was right by the bed yesterday. "Ino, where is it?" his voice took on an almost dangerous edge.
Ino furiously shook her head. "I won't let you poison yourself with that anymore! The answer you want can't be found in a bottle." She felt tears start to fall from her empty eye sockets, "You need to forgive yourself!"
Shikamaru grit his teeth, feeling a part of him want so badly to acknowledge that, his old logical self would have accepted it in a heartbeat, for it was correct. But she didn't see how Chouji looked at him, his torn face contorted in rage all of it directed at him! Because Chouji knew it had been all his fault he died! Throwing off Ino's arms, Shikamaru stumbled up to his feet, moving as fast as he could with his crutch towards the door where his shirt laid haphazardly strewn onto the floor.
"Shika? Shikamaru?! Please, don't go!" Ino pleaded, as she started to crawl towards the edge where she felt him leave the bed. How many times was this going to replay itself. When would he stop avoiding her?!
Shikamaru felt his heart tear itself up, and he could hear his abandoned conscious yell at him, telling him to run to her and beg for her forgiveness. But in the end, the bitter cold that enveloped his soul win out. Without saying a word, he opened the door and quickly walked out, closing it behind him.
"Shika?" Ino called out, hearing the door. She slowly shook her head, as she felt hot tears streaming down her cheeks. "Please. . . don't leave me alone in the dark." When no reply was made, Ino wrapped her arms around herself and cried, her pitiful wails contained in the small room.
XXXX
When Hinata awoke, it was a slow and sweet reemergence into consciousness. For the first time in what felt like years, she was content and truly happy. Her eyes slowly opened, and she was greeted by the view of a sculpted chest, gently heaving in and out. She felt Naruto's strong arms wrapped around her, his right arm draped across her mid section and resting on her hip, while his right was folded and she was using it as a pillow. She let out a sleepy smile, as memories of the previous night came back to her in great detail. No matter how many times she had fantasized about it, it didn't even compare to the real thing.
She rested her forehead against the center of Naruto's chest, and brought her hand up, gently tracing the packed muscles of his abdominals. She slowly blushed as her hand continued down it's path, her eyes looking down at the part of Naruto she was introduced to last night. She had to say she was rather happy to make it's acquaintance. And you want to get to know it better and soon. She thought involuntarily, though she didn't deny the rogue thought. She continued to lower her hand, but she let out a soft shriek of surprise when she felt Naruto's hand move slightly and give her rear a squeeze.
She looked up in surprise and saw him looking down at her with a grin, his eyes sparkling with mischief. "Taking advantage of me while I'm asleep? What ever did happen to the girl who would faint as soon as I walked into the room – are you sure you're my Hinata?" he asked, teasing her.
Hinata pouted, her cheeks puffing out some as she looked bashful at being reminded of how timid she used to be. "Naruto-kun," she whined, "You're horrible." She let out another soft cry as she felt Naruto take a grip on her underside and pull her up to his eye level. Before she could say anything, Naruto kissed her hard, pressing his lips against hers with all the passion he could, making her let out a small moan. She grasped onto the back of his head and returned the kiss with the same vigor. She let out a small shiver as Naruto ran his hand down her side, his rough but gentle hand caressing the side of her breast and continue down to rest on her hip.
They broke apart, saliva trailing from their mouths, breathing each others hot breath as they gasped for air. They stared into each others eyes, finding themselves lost in each other. Naruto moved again, this time kissing the very corner of her mouth, making the girl let an almost disappointed moan out, but it was soon replaced by an erotic gasp as Naruto continued to gently kiss down her chin and along her neck, making Hinata tense up as she felt the indescribable sensation jolt through her body. Her hands started to roam over his back, as she felt his continue his descent, kissing along her body the entire time , his hands groping and gently squeezing at her breasts. When he reached her belly button, his hands trailing down her sensitive sides and coming to rest on her hips, she understood with a blush what he was aiming for.
"Na-Naruto-kun, that –" she was cut off by her own surprised gasp, feeling her body fire up as she felt him start to kiss her inner thighs, trailing the inside of them with his tongue and drawing close to her most sensitive place before pulling away at the last moment to switch to her other leg.
Naruto grinned as he felt her hips buck and tremble as he carefully traced a line with his tongue down towards her most private area. He'd learned last night a lot about his lover, and he was nothing if not a quick study. He found himself getting drunk on her taste, her skin holding a unique flavor all her own, the smell of her flower reaching him, begging him to finally give her what she craved so. Looking up at her, he saw she was beyond ready, her eyes clouded over with desire, and a trail of saliva running out of her mouth as she looked at him, begging. He finally moved down to give her what she wanted, no, needed when –
"Hina-chan! Are you up yet? Anko is back and wanted to report, said she brought back a new 'toy' with her too." Ino called out, as she gently opened Hinata's door. Hinata and Naruto froze, staring over at the new presence, both of their faces were burning red. Hinata tried to find her voice, but with Naruto still between her legs she was having a hard time.
"It's already past nine, you never sleep in this late." The smile on her face told that she had no clue what she had interrupted. After another moment of silence she continued, "Hina-chan, are you -" Ino let out a small cry as a loud boisterous voice cut through the hall from behind Ino.
"Here, let me through! I'll get the lazy bum u -" The new voice belonged to none other than Anko, who shoved past Ino and slammed open the door, standing in the door frame in a triumphant pose. But when she looked to the bed and saw the two beet red ninja, her face turned into a wicked grin, a Cheshire cat smile crossing from ear to ear. "Oh ho - Whoops! Sorry girly! Didn't know you were getting maintenance done on the pink tunnel." Glancing over at Naruto who looked like a deer caught in the head lights, she grinned as her eyes locked onto his other half. "Though I might need to get the number for your plumber, he's got a nice monkey wrench on him. The rest of him is easy on the eyes too. . ." Anko slowly licked her lips as she looked Naruto up and down, not that she recognized him.
Hinata's whole body turned red, and she finally found her voice and she stammered out, "G-G-Get out!" Before grabbing a nearby kunai, and then anything she could find and started launching it towards the infuriating kunoichi who grabbed Ino and took off cackling like mad as she slammed the door shut behind her, the projectiles slamming into the wood.
Hinata was breathing hard as she felt the steam coming out of her ears. She couldn't stand how embarrassed she felt getting caught like that! Covering her face she resisted the urge to scream. She was going to kill Anko!
Naruto found his motor functions about the time Hinata started throwing his weapons at their unexpected guests, and was currently sitting with his legs crossed and back turned towards Hinata, a rather uncomfortable heat between his legs making it difficult. His face was still flushed from having another woman see him naked, not believing they'd been barged in on during that – and it had been the insane proctor from the Chunin Exams of all people.
He almost jumped out of his skin when he felt Hinata press her naked body against his back. Her hands slowly roamed to his front, and came to rest at his abs, embracing him. He let out a small laugh, as he could feel how red she still was, her body temperature heating him up more than he thought possible. "Sorry, Naruto-kun." Hinata spoke gently.
"Nothing to apologize for – I probably shouldn't have gotten us started this early in the morning." He tried to joke, but it was hard when everything in him told him to turn around and ravage her. He had a taste of her, and he wanted more.
Hinata quickly shook her head. "You never have to apologize for . . . for that." Her breathing became labored again as she felt the heat in between her legs still burning a hole into her body. She ached for release. She let out a small gasp as Naruto turned in her arms, letting out a gasp as she felt him press against her.
"They're not gonna need us right away." He managed to breath out, feeling exactly the same as she did. He searched her eyes for any sort of green light, that if she felt the same he did. Her face grew heated with her desire and she nodded. "We only have a few minutes," she spoke before slowly dropping down on the sheets, looking towards his other part.
"Long enough," he agreed and went to finish what he started.
XXXX
Naruto tugged at the offending shirt he'd been given from Hinata, demanding he cover up her goods. He let out an amused sigh as he pulled at the collar for the fifteenth time. He'd never took her for the jealous type. Just thinking of it made him laugh.
Naruto started to put his robe back on, wearing as he usually did with the top half hanging off, when he saw Hinata come into his view, holding a folded shirt out. He gave her a curious look, but took the folded garment. "What's this?"
Hinata put her hands on her hips and gave him a pout. "You need to cover up those dangerous weapons Naruto-kun." She didn't want every female ninja in the whole place to be ogling him.
Naruto raised an eyebrow, remembering her earlier promise to make him cover up, after saying something along the lines of having S rank genjutsu. He didn't think he was being indecent at all. "I really don't know what you're talking about Hinata-chan."
Hinata let out a sigh and covered her cheek with her hand, looking up at Naruto with pitiful eyes. "Naruto-kun. . . you really don't understand girl's feelings." She mumbled out, and seeing his confused look, she pouted. "If you haven't noticed – you're hot. You can't just go around teasing girls by walking around shirtless!" That was only partly true, she also wanted to add in Or go around showing off what only I get to touch.
It dawned on him all at once that Hinata was jealous. He let out a small snicker, and then bent over laughing, holding the folded shirt against his side as he began to uncontrollably laugh. He saw Hinata's confused face and he managed to breath out between laughs "I'll wear it."
It turned out to be a slightly more difficult process than that. The shirt was a generic unisex Jonin top, one-size-fits-all (supposedly). Naruto took one look at the shirt and knew it wasn't going to fly. But from Hinata's insistent face he let out a small sigh and tried it on. After wrestling to get his arms through the sleeves, the fabric stretching to accommodate his thick muscular arms, he gave it a final tug to pull the shirt down and an audible RIP sounded through the room. Looking down at where the shoulders met the arms, Naruto saw the seams had torn. With a shrug he tore off both sleeves, feeling instant relief. The shirt was super tight around his torso, but not in an entirely uncomfortable way. Looking over at Hinata, he raised his eyebrow.
Hinata had her hands to her cheeks, her face red as she saw the thin fabric of the shirt did little to hide his physique, the too small shirt having to be stretched to it's utmost to accommodate it's wearer's body, trailing over every muscular detail. She couldn't tell if this was going to fix or exacerbate her problem. . .
Naruto finally found his way to his first destination of the day. Hinata had duties to attend to, as she was basically the leader of the guerrilla forces for all intents and purposes. Deciding that he'd drop in on her later and find out her could could help, he thought he'd stop and see Sarutobi first. With a light knock, he hoped he didn't wake the old man.
"Come in." Sarutobi called out.
Naruto smiled as he opened the door. "Hey Old Man, it's me." Looking in, he saw Sarutobi was lying in his bed, but he had a large, thick book in his lap.
Sarutobi smiled as he closed the book, pushing it to the side. "Naruto, how are you?" He was glad to see the blonde, he had been anxious to talk to him once more.
Naruto pulled up the same chair he had yesterday, spinning in around so he could sit on it backwards, leaning onto the back of the chair with his arms. "Not bad," he started, instantly his mind bringing to him memories of last night, "Well, really good. It's not in the best circumstances, but its good to be with the people I care about again."
Sarutobi nodded, his face growing somewhat grim. "I apologize for skipping over many of the pleasantries, but I must ask – what is Konoha like now? What has Danzo done to our home?" He had been burning to ask this question since yesterday. To date, only Naruto has seen Konoha since it's occupation by Danzo's forces. They had tried to send a few lone operatives in to sneak about, but none returned.
Naruto's face grew serious, understanding why he asked the question. "It's different, very much so. Danzo somehow managed to grow a massive tree," his speech stopped for a moment, as he grit his teeth the topic pissing him off, "Right on top of the Hokage monument." Judging by Sarutobi's face he wasn't a fan of Danzo's redecorating either.
"The village is almost dead. Barely any of the civilians are still in the town, or from what I could tell. The tree's branches are so thick it blocks all sunlight from entering, making Konoha always seem to be in the middle of the night. He has his ninja patrolling the streets, fully armed. I didn't see much else than that and a few of the inner workings of the tree itself – he somehow managed to hollow out the inside of the tree and construct a new Hokage tower within it." He explained the last bit, seeing Sarutobi's confused look as he hadn't explained about the tree's purpose first.
Sarutobi cupped his chin, nodding. "It must be the Mokuton he mastered, he had to have made the tree himself." He still couldn't fathom how Danzo had managed to unlock it's powers, all the tests they had tried before proved that it was far too unstable for anyone to use it. So what did he do different?
"Mokuton? Isn't that the bloodline of the first Hokage?" Naruto asked confused, remembering all the stories of the great Shodai Hokage.
Sarutobi nodded, his face grim. "Yes, and with the exception of one other, Danzo is the only person to use the Mokuton." He was referring to Yamato, but he didn't think Naruto had met him yet.
Noting the old Hokage's mood, Naruto decided to lighten it up a bit with a grin. "Don't worry – I'll chop that ugly ass thing down and shove it straight up his ass before I kill him. That's a promise." His tone might have been light, but his blue eye was fueled by a determination that was plain to anyone. Danzo had much to answer for, and Naruto intended to see Danzo's reckoning be delivered by his own hand.
Sarutobi smiled, hearing the boy's vulgar description of his plans. If only he knew how much he acted like his mother. "That's part of the reason I was hoping to speak to you again today," he started, noting the confused look on Naruto's face, "Do me a favor and go to the chest by the foot of my bed and open it."
Naruto nodded, doing so. Looking within he saw a large scroll sitting on top of everything else. "Take the scroll and bring it here." He heard Sarutobi add, and did so, curious to where this was going. Looking over the large scroll once, he didn't see any obvious markings on it's red backing. Turning his chair so he could sit on it properly, he started to hand it to the Old Man when he shook his head.
"It's yours Naruto. Go on, open it." He watched with a knowing smile as Naruto looked surprised, but then went to open it, his jaw dropping slightly as he read through the first few lines. Deciding it was a good time to explain, he reached out and placed a hand onto Naruto's shoulder, "Within that scroll lies all the knowledge I have collected of the various ninjutsu I have learned over my long life. I know that you have the potential to become the greatest ninja the shinobi world has ever seen Naruto. I entrust my legacy to you in hopes that it might assist you even a little with the fight against Danzo. It is no small burden to bear, but I place my hopes in you and Hinata. The future of the village lies on your shoulders, of this I have no doubt."
Naruto looked up at Sarutobi, his eye wide as he listened to the heartfelt speech. "Old man. . ." he whispered out, floored by the sincere wish that Sarutobi placed to him. Furrowing his brow, he gave a fierce nod and clapped his right hand on top of the old Hokage's, meeting his strong eyes. "I swear an oath here and now, I'm going to retake our home and make Danzo pay for every life he's stolen."
Sarutobi smirked and nodded. He knew that it was more than a promise, more than an oath, it was a certainty. "Good. That is the will required to be Hokage." By the shocked look on Naruto's face, the blonde understood what Sarutobi was implying, even if there was no way to actually put him into that title. "Go and grab the last item from the chest."
Naruto nodded and walked back to the chest, trying to remember what it was. Kneeling down by it, Naruto let out a small gasp as he looked up to Sarutobi. The Old Man gave a nod. "Try it on. I've shrunk since my prime, but I think it should fit you."
XXXX
Hinata stood in front of the planning table, staring at the map on it and holding her chin with her finger held under her lip. After she thoroughly chewed out Anko and swore to kill her if she blabbed about what she walked into. (Of course, Hinata never thought to apply the same threat to Ino, who Anko had given all the juicy details to.) Anko had been out on a recon mission to keep an eye on the Oni hunting parties that were constantly expanding their search for them. According to Anko, they were starting to get closer to crossing into the Land of Grass with no worries for the repercussions apparently. She bit her knuckle, from the furthest Anko saw one party enter, they were within maybe fifty miles of the border. How much longer did they have here until they found them? One month – maybe two at best. She needed to do something before then, but what?
Before she could be drawn too far into her thoughts, she felt someone enter the room with her. Turning her head towards the presence her eyes lit up when she saw Naruto, but her jaw dropped open soon after. Her blonde lover was standing tall in the tunnel entrance with a soft smile on his face, but it was what he was wearing that got her attention. "Naruto-kun, where did you get that armor?"
It was red in color, styled like the older shinobi armor before the flak jackets had been created. The shoulder pads were identical with two overlapping plates, tied to the chest piece that covered the torso, his torn jonin shirt still underneath which left his arms bare. Two elbow length kote were attached to black leather that formed fingerless gloves and covered the length of the kote. On his legs were actual black pants that fit him, along with hip and thigh guards that ran to his knees, made of more overlapping plates. He also managed to find a pair of black sandals that fit him as well.
Naruto smiled as he once more re-examined himself, enjoying the look and feel of the armor. "Old Man gave it to me. It was his when he was my age." Noticing the look on her face he continued, "I went to see him after you left, he gave me a scroll of ninjutsu and this armor telling me he was placing the hope of Konoha with both of us." He raised his fist and tightened it, the sound of the leather crinkling producing a nice sound. "This armor and that scroll is the physical proof of his faith in me, I won't let him down."
"Amazing," Hinata breathed out. Seeing him as he was, Hinata was reminded of a hero. The armor just had a certain look that screamed it. With a playful smile she asked, "So no fancy armor for me?"
Naruto laughed and stepped into the room, walking beside her. "Nope, but you get me, how's that for a consolation prize?" He asked, his voice low as he stared into her eyes. He gently cupped her cheek with his right hand and gently ran his thumb across the scar on her face; he'd learned last night it was rather sensitive to touch.
Hinata almost let out a whimper, feeling her legs go to jelly and shivers run down her spine from his touch, as she looked up into his eye, the tone of his voice making her burn with a familiar need. She loved that he had this effect on her, she just wished they weren't in the planning room. Grabbing onto his shoulders she pushed herself up onto her toes and gave him a quick kiss, pulling away with a smile. "I think you'll do."
Resisting the urge to continue the kiss, Naruto decided to get to business. "I saw you were looking pretty concerned about something. Did something bad happen?"
Hinata felt her mind pulled from her happy place, and a slight frown marred her face. With a nod towards the table, she turned towards it. "Anko – the ninja who barged in on us this morning – she's been out on recon for the past few days, monitoring enemy movements. Ever since we fled Konoha, Danzo has had Oni hunting squads combing the Land of Fire for us, in a wheel pattern like so," she placed a finger on Konoha on the map, and slowly spun it around clockwise, going out further with every turn.
"Over the past year and a half, they've been keeping this up. According to Anko they're starting to cross into The Land of Grass to search for us. Even though it could net him trouble, he's determined to find us." Pointing at a spot on the map, she continued, "this is where Anko found the furthest to have traveled." She moved her finger to the smallest portion of The Land of Grass, almost into the Land of Earth, "We're here; It's only a matter of time, maybe two months from now, until they find us."
Naruto could understand why she seemed so stressed out earlier. Rubbing his chin, he tried to think of some plan that might help. "Have you tried using clones in disguise to lead them away?"
Hinata nodded, "We used that trick before to lead them away from us when we made our way here. They'll hunt down the clones, but they keep their wheel pattern no matter what. It's a long way to search, but it will eventually find us. I considered trying to move us back into the Land of Fire, to an area they've already searched, but it's too dangerous. There's no telling what Danzo has done with the multitude of hiding spots."
"What about genjutsu? If they start getting too close a genjutsu over the main entrance might do the trick and have them pass right over us." Naruto said, thinking of their sensei who could undoubtedly make a master jutsu to cover them up.
Hinata shook her head, "It won't work. The Sharingan can see straight through genjutsu. It might help some if it comes down to it, but they'd still find us."
Naruto clicked his tongue, folding his arms. "Well, then I guess the only other option is to just kill them before they find us. Besides, I don't plan on letting Danzo live two more weeks, much less two months."
Hinata smiled at his bravado. "It's going to be more complicated than that but. . . when I hear you say it like that I really believe we're gonna be able to go home soon."
Naruto grinned at her and gave her a thumbs up. Then, a thought passed his mind, something he'd been meaning to ask. "Say, I was wondering – doesn't the Fire Daimyo have to choose who becomes the next Hokage? I don't really know anything about the -" his voice trailed off when he saw that Hinata's was frowning, her face darkening as he spoke. "I – uh, sorry. . . was it something I said?"
Hinata's rage turned into shame as she looked at Naruto sheepishly, she didn't mean to let that show so much. "Sorry Naruto-kun . . ." she started, knowing she had to explain. "Remember when I said I went to see Hanabi before Danzo's coup?" After seeing his curious nod, she continued, "I went to talk with her because she said she had something urgent to tell me. She was arranged to marry the Fire Daimyo's son."
The reason for her rage hit him like a ton of bricks, "Is she already . . .?" At her slow nod, he understood. His first thought was that she might be safer there, but Hinata would also know that – so what else was wrong. "There's more to it than that, isn't there?"
Hinata nodded. "One week after we fled Konoha, we heard rumors in a local village that the Daimyo was assassinated – his son took over by right of birth immediately after. Only two days after that Danzo was given the title of Hokage."
Naruto felt a very cold chill run through his spine. There were far too many coincidences in those chain of events, too many for a ninja to believe they were anything other than manufactured. "Do you think that Hanabi's arranged marriage and the Daimyo's assassination are linked?" He already knew the answer to that.
Hinata gave a single nod, burning a hole into the map in front of her with her heated gaze. "There's a single piece of evidence that leads me to believe they are. When we left Konoha, I noticed something strange. Almost no Main Family members of the Hyuuga clan were with us. At first I thought it was only due to the fighting, but when I asked some of the Branch members. . . they were able to confirm that when they left to join the fighting, only a few Main branch fighters followed them."
"You can't be saying –" Naruto mumbled out, his eye widening.
Hinata looked back towards Naruto with a hard expression. "I am. They knew about the attack and did nothing to stop it because they were in on it. They sold Hanabi to the Fire Daimyo's son – to Danzo – to secure their place in the village!" She slammed her fist down on the table, cracking it where her hand landed. She had no evidence for it, but she knew in her gut it was true. The Elder Hyuuga didn't hold a high opinion of Sarutobi, especially after the slaying of her grandfather. She wouldn't put it past the slimy, old motherf –
Naruto gently placed his hand on top of Hinata's fist, his face reflecting the hurt he was feeling. He'd never seen her so angry as she was. He couldn't even remember seeing her angry before. He slowly leaned onto her and placed his chin on her head and wrapped his arm around her midsection.
Hinata's anger cooled at once, feeling the reassuring squeeze from Naruto's hand and body. She let out a small smile, almost feeling like crying at the simple gesture. She really didn't deserve him. But before she could turn and thank him, a voice broke out through the silence of the room.
"Oh man, am I gonna get another free show? You usually gotta pay to see live action stuff like this, must be my lucky day."
The two instantly broke apart, with Hinata glaring over at the newcomer, recognizing the voice. "Anko! You need to learn to knock!" She had already chewed out the risque kunoichi earlier about barging in on her and Naruto.
.
"And you should learn to lock doors missy." Looking over towards Naruto she let out a wolf whistle. "You clean up good don't you? I still can't believe the little shit grew up into a right hunk. If you ever get bored of little goody two shoes you can always come warm up my bed." She winked at Naruto slyly, drawing a shiver from him.
Sure, she was sexy, no one could beyond the blind could deny that. But her attitude was. . . Naruto shivered again, feeling almost like he was looking at a snake that was inviting it's prey to it's waiting mouth. "No thanks," he finally said, finding his words. "I prefer my little goody two shoes."
Anko stuck her tongue out playfully, then looked back to Hinata who was looking none too pleased. "Oh don't look at me like that, just learn how to give him good head and he'll never leave ya." She made the motion with her hand, poking out her cheek with her tongue.
"Did you just come to be vulgar or did you have something to actually report?!" Hinata replied, flustered at the older kunoichi. Anko been constantly teasing her since they had fled Konoha, saying something along the lines of 'she liked her moxy'.
"Keep your panties on, I actually do have a reason for bugging you." She grinned, and then let out a sigh. "That ROOT I captured – he's just like the rest. He has that weird seal on his tongue that doesn't let him talk about anything, we won't get jack shit out of him."
Naruto's ears perked up at the word 'seal'. "What kind of seal is it?" he asked, stepping forward.
Anko looked at him with a raised eyebrow. After shrugging, she spoke. "Fuck all if I know. It's just some stupid shit where they can't talk about Danzo or anything related to ROOT – which apparently encompasses all of their goddamn operations. Pisses me the fuck off. Tried cutting off the tongue one time but the asshole bleed to death before I could get him to gargle out something useful."
Ignoring the rather obvious statement of telling her you can't talk without a tongue, Naruto replied, "Take me to him, I might be able to remove the seal."
Anko's eyes lit up like a Christmas tree when she heard that. "Seriously?! Oh fuck I might just be in love – follow me!" Anko turned and almost skipped down the hallway. She was also humming a happy tune – and for the circumstance it was almost chilling. And it didn't help any that he could feel Hinata glaring at the other kunoichi. Naruto let out a soft chuckle, he was going to have to be real careful.
XXXX
"Welcome to my own little slice of heaven!"
Naruto grimaced a bit as he looked around the room Anko led them to. Situated deep in the mining tunnels, it was alone by itself at the end of a rather steep decline. The lights leading down to the door would flicker, and Naruto didn't think that was an accident. The cavernous room itself was telltale of what had transpired in it previously. Dried bloodstains coated the ground, the walls, and unnervingly the ceiling too.
In the center of the room, the ROOT member in question was tied to a chair, his head hanging low but he was clearly breathing and conscious. To his side, was a side table with all sorts of interrogation tools, none of which Naruto was familiar with, and he was glad he wasn't. Each looked more deadly than the last and none seemed too pleasant. And if the rusted blood on the tools were any indicator, they had been used to great and loving effect.
Trying to think of a way to get his mind away from the macabre table Naruto looked to Anko. "Are you sure you should have left him alone?" Leaving an enemy ninja alone wasn't a good idea, especially if they were ANBU level, which is what Naruto guessed the ROOT were.
Anko walked up to the ROOT and reached behind the chair towards where his hands were bound. "Don't sweat it cutie. I have very strict regulations." She seemed to grab something and the ROOT shot his head up, showing he was fully gagged and his mouth was jam packed with a shirt and taped off. A muffled scream was being stopped by the homemade gag. "I make sure to shatter the wrists and hands –" she reached over and kicked the ROOT's ankles, causing him to scream again. "And the feet."
Naruto frowned, hearing the treatment of the ROOT ninja. They were enemies, sure but, to be treated as such? "Don't you think that's going a bit too far?"
Anko was silent for a moment, and looked towards Naruto – her face now lost of all it's joviality. Her eyes were hard and cold, their steel gaze cutting right through the blonde. But what really scared him wasn't the hate or the frigid glare, it was the hurt that he could see hidden behind those emotions. It had only been a few seconds that she maintained eye contact, but when she finally looked away Naruto felt as though it had been centuries. Anko grabbed a handful of the ROOT's hair and yanked his head up, giving the same glare into his eyes.
"If you expect me to have any kind of mercy or treating these dogs like humans after what they did to Ibiki-sempai. . ." She trailed off, but her grip tightened on the ROOT's hair, making the ninja cringe in pain. With a harsh push she let go of the ninja's head. When she looked back towards Naruto, the edge in her being had mostly gone. "They don't deserve any kind of nice treatment. Don't you ever think otherwise."
Hinata frowned, she knew that Anko had been close with Ibiki. From what the older kunoichi had told her, Ibiki was the first person to accept her after Orochimaru. He hadn't cared that she was the snake's apprentice, he in fact found it to be an asset with learning interrogation. Anyone who went through what she did would make for a great mold to start training a top notch interrogator ninja.
Naruto looked away for a moment, feeling almost ashamed that he had questioned her. He didn't know what Ibiki and Anko were to each other beyond members of the interrogation squad, but he had forgotten that the ninja in front of him was part of the reason so many of his own friends were dead. Of course she would want to see them suffer as much as humanly possible. Looking back to Anko for a moment, his sincere face made the psychopathic girl look almost surprised. "You're right. Forgive me." Stepping forward, he spoke again. "Show me the seal."
Anko regained her smirk and reached out, quickly tearing the tape from the ROOT's mouth. "It's on the tongue. But before we remove the shirt," Anko walked around to her table and grabbed two V shaped piece of steel. "Here we go. . ." she took the shirt out, and in the same motion slammed the tools into the ROOT's mouth. "There we are! Now he can't bite his tongue out. Bastards are good at it. The first two I captured were fast enough to kill themselves like that before I got to 'em. This one – I learned my lesson, two senbon to the jaw and he wasn't able to move his mouth for a few hours."
Naruto grabbed the ninja's tongue and pulled it out. He let out a small scoff when he saw it. "This is what Danzo uses to seal his men off with? Too easy – the seal can pick up on certain keywords that the user implants in it. When it does, it sends a massive shock to their nervous system and render them incapable of moving or talking." Bringing his thumb to his finger, he bit it, causing a drip of blood to come out. Putting his thumb onto the ROOT's tongue, small seals began shooting out from under his thumb written in blood and surrounded the ROOT juinjutsu. "Release!"
The blood seals all lit up with the chakra charge they had been given, and the ROOT juinjutsu vanished. Anko leaned in, and saw that the seal was gone. Looking back up to Naruto she blinked once before grinning. "I'll be dammed! You're more than a pretty face you know that?!" She laughed once and looked back down at the ROOT who's eyes were shifting around quickly, looking confused. "You hear that bud? You can talk now!" The ROOT's eyes went wide with terror. "Ah, but don't worry! You don't have to talk yet. Now where would I get to have any fun if you did?"
Hinata had been watching the entire time, a look of amazement on her face. She knew nothing of juinjutsu, but she knew it was a very complicated art. For Naruto to have mastered it. . . it was rather impressive to say the least. "Amazing Naruto-kun, what else can you do?"
Naruto turned to her and gave her a wink. "Lots of stuff. I'll show you some of the cooler tricks someday." He then felt Anko pushing on his back, making him babble out a 'what?' as she started pushing him towards the door with Hinata moving ahead to open the door.
"Thanks for the help blondie, but now it's time for me to go to work and an artist needs her privacy to function right."
Naruto turned to complain at her for pushing him out, but was stopped as Anko grabbed the sides of his face and kissed him hard, giving him a taste of her lips that he swore tasted like blood. He heard Hinata's indignant gasp seeing the stolen kiss and tried to push Anko away but she was already off him. "That's for giving me back the greatest thing I love in life! See ya blondie!" She slammed the door shut, just as Hinata started for her, but to the princess's dismay the door was locked.
Anko laughed from inside the room as she heard the rattling of the doorknob, and chose not to say anything, guessing the Hyuuga girl would appreciate the irony. Looking towards the still terrified ROOT, she pulled out a senbon. "Did you know there are hundreds of pressure points all over the body? From what I understand they hurt like a son of a bitch when you get stabbed in them. Wanna help me test that out?"
Hinata pulled away from the door when she heard the unearthly scream come from within the room. She whipped around to look at Naruto who very much looked like a man trying to think of something to say to avoid getting executed. He only held his hands up and meekly stated, "I didn't ask for it!"
Hinata let out a sigh, knowing she couldn't blame him. But she was going to get Anko back for this, mark her words. Grabbing Naruto's hand she started pulling him away as the screaming got worse. "I'm not letting you anywhere near that woman again. . ."
XXXX
"Hinata."
Hinata looked over at Naruto, both of them back in the planning room sitting down at the table and looking over some various reports. "Yes?" She replied, watching as Naruto placed a report down about how their funds were holding up for buying new supplies – it wasn't good.
"About your sister."
Hinata looked away for a moment, but let out a sigh. "I know she's safe where she is Naruto-kun." She already guessed he would bring that up. "Danzo won't hurt her, especially if he doesn't want to worry about the Fire Daimyo invoking his right to call a new Hokage – even if that wouldn't do anything."
"Let's go get her."
Hinata's jaw dropped for a second. "Naruto-kun. . . that's -" she started to say it wasn't necessary, but she saw the look in his eye. The one where he was determined to do something. "It's impossible."
Naruto cocked his eyebrow and leaned back in his chair. "Is this coming from the same girl who's been leading a rebellion basically on her own? What makes it such an insurmountable task?" He asked, his tone lighthearted but serious at the same time.
"For one, we'd have to invade our own capital and possibly hurt or kill our own countrymen."
"And? We don't even have to fight anyone – were ninja remember?" he asked with a joke, his grin sparkling. His face grew a bit more serious, "Besides. The current Daimyo is supporting a murderer like Danzo. I have every intent to make him pay for his role in this situation we're in." He meant that. He wasn't going to kill him or anything, but definitely expose him for what he conspired with Danzo for, and he might have been behind his own father's assassination. He didn't think the men under him would take kindly to that.
Hinata's jaw dropped some, feeling shocked he was suggesting such a thing – and yet happy at the same time. "It's still too dangerous. We've tried to get word to the Daimyo before we knew he was on Danzo's side. The entire city is crawling with Oni – all of them loyal to the Daimyo and with orders to kill any of us on sight."
Naruto shrugged. "Then we kill any of them that get in our way." They didn't seem that tough at the convoy, a few more wouldn't hurt.
"Naruto-kun, that's crazy it -" she was cut off as Naruto reached across the table and grabbed her hands into his own, looking into her eyes.
Naruto stared into her milky white eyes, his own blue orb soft and caring. "Hinata-chan. Your sister is being held against her will by an enemy. I won't just stand by and let it happen. I have faith in you – hell I've seen you fight! You obliterated the bastards." He smiled as he saw her blush, she never was good at getting complimented. "Now have faith in me. I swore to you I'd take back everything. Your sister is first."
Hinata stared at Naruto, feeling her eyes tear up at his speech. She did want her sister back, more than anything. When she wasn't worrying about Naruto she worried about Hanabi. She was the only family she had left and she was in the care of some bastard that would kill his own father to get what he wanted. She looked down to her hands, where Naruto's warmth spread across. It gave her a strength that she knew only he could give her. Nodding once, she looked him in the eye. "Let's do it."
Naruto stood, a huge smile on his face. "Give me two days." He held up the scroll the Sandaime had given him. "Then we'll go and rescue your sister." Turning he started heading for the training area Hinata had shown him before.
"Naruto-kun – where are you going?" Hinata called out, watching his retreating back.
"Training. If I got two days I'm making the most out of it. Those bastards won't know what hit them!"
XXXX
AND FINI.
For this chapter anywho. I didn't get to as much of the other side characters as I would have liked, but I got lots more planned for this fic so you'll get to see them all eventually. If you noticed, I put a side bit there with Shika and Ino, you're gonna be seeing some more of them at least until Naruto can snap that pineapple back into shape (perhaps some Talk no Jutsu? Hmm?) Nah, that's Kishi's thing, not my style.
I'm sure I'm forgetting something in here but remember, read this stuff to get answers!
As always please leave a review if you liked it/hated it – and let me know how I did on the lime! If it was good then I shall include more in the times to come, it's always fun to try writing things I never have before!
Until next time,
Shinobi no Ryu