Hey everyone
This chapter is going to be very close to the cannon for those who watched the Bikochu Episode.
Just want to finish that arc soon so I can continue with all the characters.
On the up side, for those who enjoyed that filler, I hope this is good enjoyment as well.
Don't own Naruto.
Chapter 8
"It's not this one. Not that one either. Ahh man, how many bugs are in this place anyway" Naruto complained as he went to another tree to look.
While he searched, the trio conversed about something that came to their attention.
"Hey did you guys notice?" Asked Kiba.
"Hai" Hinata responded.
"Indeed. It seems were not the only ones who are after the Bikochu. From what my insects can tell, it seems that the Kamizuru Clan is here as well" Shino explained.
"Kamizuru Clan?" Kiba and Hinata both asked.
"The Kamizuru Clan is a group of bee users from Iwagakure. My clan and theirs clashed during the shinobi war. My clan for the most part crushed the majority of theirs, now bringing their numbers to practically extinction. I'm surprised to see that their active right now, but for now we should ignore them while they pose no threat" Shino explained.
"Should w-we t-tell –N-Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked.
"Nah, if he knew then he would start screaming about it, plus he can't act calm at all" Kiba said.
"I agree it would scare off the bugs. For now we shouldn't say anything and focus on finding the Bikochu" Shino agreed.
"Hey you guys, it's not fair if I'm the only one looking for this bug, help me out here" Naruto's voice broke in, startling all three.
"C-coming N-Naruto-Kun" and with that all four of them continued to look for it.
As the Konoha shinobi continued the search, the three shinobi with the Iwagakure headbands laid in wait.
"Are you sure we should rely on those brats to look for the Bikochu? What if they don't find it by the time the dead line hits" one of the men spoke.
"Hush, and in case you didn't notice, one of those brats is an Aburame. As much as I hate to admit it, there bugs are better for tracking then our own. Plus from the looks of things one of them is also a tracker, and the other is a Huyga. They'll find it and when they do we'll take it from them" said the women of the three.
"Well, we'll just keep ourselves hidden until then" the youngest one of the three said.
And that's how they proceeded for the next few days.
The next few days followed this routine of searching for the Bikochu, resting, sleeping, eating, and continuing the search. On the evenings when everyone would be sleeping, Hinata continued to train on her chakra control on top of the water, clothed this time so an incident didn't occur like before.
'If I don't get my chakra control to be perfect, I'll never get that technique to be perfectly executed.' Wave after wave with her hands, the water would move around her, and it would spiral with absolute control, preventing her from getting wet in the process. 'Longer, wider, more flexible, faster, more controlled, focus'
On the final day, the scent of moisture could be noticed and there was still no such luck on finding the Bikochu.
'In the end I wasn't able to be of any help, I'm sorry Naruto-kun' Hinata thought as tears began to fall down her face.
"Not yet" It startled her out of her thought process, "There's still time, the next one, and the next one" Naruto continued to look with determination on not giving up.
'Naruto-kun' she thought as it suddenly began to rain. Looking up at the sky showed the clouds turning grey.
"Here's your chance Hinata" came Shino's voice.
"Shino-kun?" Hinata looked confused.
"With the rain it will send the bugs to exert heat signals. Your Byakugan should be able to pick up even the smallest of insects now" Shino explained.
Realization dawned on her as she watched Naruto jump from one tree to another. 'Arigato Shino-kun' and with that she put her fingers in the hand sign to activate the Byakugan.
'Naruto-kun, if you won't give up looking then neither will I', "Byakugan!" Hinata began to focus her chakra in focusing on the smaller insects around her. 'More, need more concentration' she continued to focus until she could see each small insect around them. 'Left, up, down, further ahead, right, Ah!' She had spotted it, "Naruto-kun it's up the tree near you on the left" she yelled out.
Naruto turned his head where she yelled out, and saw what they were searching for; the Bikochu. He jumped up, only for it to begin flying away.
"Oh no you don't, get back here" and with that Naruto began jumping to every tree near the Bikochu until he got it in his hands.
"Whoohoo, good job Naruto, that was a close call too" Kiba came up to him.
'Thank goodness' Hinata thought.
"Now we just have to wait for the morning for the egg to hatch" Shino said.
"Yatta, Hinata, it's all thanks to you" Naruto said as he put his hands on her shoulders, turning her towards him, then hugging her as he rubbed his cheek on her. The other two just tensed for what her reaction would be.
'N-Na-Naruto-k-ku-kun, h-he-he's' Hinata couldn't finish that thought as her face kept getting redder and redder.
"Perhaps it's best to get ourselves cleaned up. Hinata, you can go first while we watch the Bikochu" Shino said giving her an escape.
"H-ha-hai!" She squeaked and rushed to the lake.
"We should secure the Bikochu in a good hiding place, then pick it up in the morning just when it's about to hatch. I'll hide it while you two hold down the fort" Shino said as he began to walk to thought out location.
In all of their excitement, they didn't notice the three hiding suspects heading over to the moving water.
Hinata was just splashing water on her face before removing her baggy coat.
'Naruto-kun, he had his face touching mine all of a sudden' she thought with both hands placed on her face; she couldn't help but blush at the thought.
Suddenly, she heard sound approaching her way. Focusing chakra in her hand, Hinata repelled the Kunai aimed at her.
"Oh, so you were able to repel that attack" a man's sound came.
Turning her head she saw three Iwagakure shinobi approaching her.
"Not bad for a genin" The other man said.
'These are the shinobi who have been watching us the whole time' Hinata thought as she held a kunai in front of her.
"But will you be able to avoid this attack; Ninja technique: hachi mitsu no jutsu!" The female of the group yelled out.
"Bees?" A bunch of bees began flying in her direction as she jumped back and tried to defend herself.
As she slashed at them, a bunch of sticky, orange goo began to come out, and stuck itself onto her body.
'This is.'
"I see you've realized it. That's nectar; once it latches onto you it hardens and becomes like glue."
Hinata's movements were starting to get slower as the nectar began to harden.
'No good, I used up all of my chakra earlier' she thought.
A stinging feeling was felt on her neck, looking down, she saw a bee there.
"That's a real bee"
Hinata's vision slowly blurred as she began to fall onto the ground.
'Naruto-kun' was her last thought as darkness came upon her.
"How is it Akumaru" Kiba asked his dog partner.
"Arf" was his response.
"I see. I can't seem to sense those three earlier. I thought they were plotting something, but no sign at all."
"Perhaps we overlooked something" Shino said, turning his head towards where Naruto was sitting.
"Naruto, has Hinata not yet returned?" Shino asked.
"Nope, man why do girls take so long when it comes to bathing, I could use one myself" Naruto complained.
Kiba suddenly noticed a sparkle up front, and quickly ran and pushed Naruto to the ground. A kunai landed on the tree.
"A note?" Shino unraveled the small parchment and began to read the details.
"We have your female comrade captured. If you wish for her safety, we'll trade her for the Bikochu. We will be waiting on the eastern hill tonight."
"Damn it. They planned to use us all along" Kiba cursed.
"Hinata" Naruto said curling his hand into a fist.
"Let's proceed to meet them, that way we'll know what were up against and decide from then on what to do" Shino said. The two nodded and all three started running.
"But why would they kidnap Hinata, and how did they know what we were looking for?" Naruto asked.
"We've been watched the whole time since we've been here" Kiba answered.
"What? You guys noticed? Naruto sounded surprised.
"You were the only one who didn't know" Shino said.
"Then why didn't you guys tell me?" Naruto started to yell.
"If we had told you, you would have started screaming" Kiba shot back, "the bugs…the bugs would have run away then, including the Bikochu." Akumaru barked in agreement.
"Okay fine, let's just hurry" Naruto grudgingly agreed as he sped up.
They reached a location where Hinata's scent was last found.
"If they forcefully tried to take the Bikochu from us, there would have been a risk that they could harm it. Therefore, by capturing Hinata, They've changed this into a hostage exchange situation. It's a smart move" Shino explained.
Something caught up to Naruto's nose, and he sniffed the scent in, "I smell something sweet."
Kiba gave a sniff of his own, "Smells like honey."
"It's bee honey" Shino explained.
"Honey?" Naruto looked confused.
"Hinata's scent died here" Kiba said.
"In that case." Shino's bugs started coming out of his jacket, and spreading in search of Hinata.
"All we can do now is waiting and see what my bugs come up with" Kiba slouched down.
'Hinata, please wait, were on our way to help' Naruto thought.
The drowsiness was beginning to wear off as she heard and felt something unusual, 'Water splashing, and moving, and pulling, and it's on my face' her eyes shot open to see that she was indeed in a river, which if it were to carry her, would take her to a waterfall. Her entire body and mouth was covered in nectar.
"I see you've finally woken up" the voice of one of the men said, "were on our way to meet your comrades. If you don't move an inch, you'll remain in the same position. If everything turns up the way things should, then you and your team will be together soon. Don't move now" and with that he left.
'Oh no, if things turn up the way they want then Naruto-kun won't be able to track down Sasuke-kun' Hinata thought as she started to move in order to free herself from the wax. It was sealed tight, and the piece of string that was holding her from being carried away snapped off. The current was fast; hitting her through the rocks, fortunately, the nectar prevented her from being injured.
'I've got to focus my chakra to break free from here' she began to channel her chakra, and bits and cracks began opening.
'Not fast enough, at this rate I'll be carried off the waterfall' she sadly thought, closing her eyes as Naruto's face came to her mind.
"I don't quit or go back on my word. That's my Nindo, my ninja way."
She opened her eyes, 'that's right, never quitting or going back on one's word is my nindo as well, how can I quit' and with that thought, she continued to focus her chakra, gradually cutting the hardened nectar around her.
The water had finally carried her over the waterfall, and with one last push she finally broke free of the nectar, grabbing the nearby rock to prevent herself from falling over.
'I did it, and it was because I didn't give up' pulling herself up, she began heading towards where she last saw the Iwagakure ninja.
'Naruto-kun, everyone, this time I'll be the one who saves you'.
I think I was just a little bit lazy to add extra stuff this week besides the cannon stuff.
I'll make sure there's more of a difference in the next chapter.
On another note, what's with everyone ignoring the poll. It's to help who to pair up in the story later on, if there's no progress by the time I finally reach to pairing people, I'll decide it on my own, :(
Cheers guys.