Journey of the Three Failures Chapter 22: The Box, a naruto fanfic

J3F\\\ Journey of the Three Failures

Chapter Twenty-Two

0-3-2-1 signing in! It's chapter time!

Thank you so much lg1514, Adran06, Omega the Darkness, kurokazeryuu, Malix2, ShadowFaux, sasumiofjp, adngo714, BronzeButterfly18, DialACow, Hypothetical Spiritual Entity, Fuyutaro son, TwiliFay, Echo Uchiha, KoreanGal5, Ookami13'00, Faux Princess, Shizuka Taiyou, foxsadist712, Universal Hope, RedRangerBelt, artsycherry, SaphireShade, xartxisxaxbangx, alteris, Benjamin Goldberg, mangagirl18, Soraya the All Speaker, crusader 5643, Fan Of The Fall, Neo the Saiyan Angel, SweetAngels123, U. May, and anons who signed Hinarocks, narutos vixen, Creampuff, TheTimeTraveler, AnonymousName05, Miyu0493 (:D), Dan, and Don't have account-srry for your wonderful comments, advice, speculations, questions, and all around reviews! ;D

Speaking of speculations… I got some very… VERY interesting predictions as to what's going to happen this chapter. O.o' Some of the ways that preview was interpreted honestly never crossed my mind XD Well, all will be revealed shortly!

Oh, one more thing – I normally ignore flames, but this one just demands to be shared.

From an anonymous 'Zealot' in response to Chapter One: Setting Out-

"Sorry, but this is **. Or, if ffnet edits the word, this is bovine excrement. Really, if you believe that in a NINJA village, civilians can attack active ninja in the open without ANY retaliation, then there is absolutely nothing that can help you. Also, considering how this story begins, I really don't want to know what kind of idiocy you have built upon this foundation."

…

… :D Bovine. Excrement. That is a new one. Well, all I can say to that is (1.) I'm happy this was important enough to this fellow that he spent a few minutes trawling insert online dictionary here for some more creative words than profanity, albeit after stating the profanity – which detracts considerably from the cleverness – and (2.) someone's missing oooouuut! Thank you for informing me that this tale is a pile of cow dung, I truly was unaware – but to say the least, I think I can safely say a couple hundred people can count this as the finest pile of alarmingly legible bovine excrement they've ever seen ;p

So, a special thanks to one Anonymous Zealot for providing me a tremendous laugh! With that, let's get this chapter rolling!

Disclaimer: I don't own NARUTO. But maybe Mr. Thesaurus does, since he knows it so well. Okay, okay, I'll stop! X'D

Journey of the Three Failures

Twenty-Two: The Box

Part One: Foreboding

Naruto ナルト

"Hinata? Ooiiii, Hinata!"

"Huh…?"

She turned, her lithe form in black outlined by the grim silver of the clouds. A striking beauty, she looked back after one lupine ear stirred to my friendly call, revealing the pale, pale cream of a curious porcelain face, a blink of white eyes, a soft part to her inviting lips that inevitably lent the barest suggestion of the sharp canines that rested in shadow behind them. Her body turned, her silken tail hanging gracefully motionless. The foot and toe that held her serenely aloft were poised so delicately upon the low branch that she seemed in that instant perfectly liable to drift weightless and float away from there on the passing breeze as she stood, her eyes on mine, one hand's light fingers absently draped over the trunk at her side.

"What is it?"

I closed and opened my mouth mutely before snapping straight and alert, a hand rubbing my neck as I chuckled a moment. "It's just… you've been staring off into space over there for a few minutes. I was wondering if you're feeling okay."

She smiled, a simple quirk of the lips and sparkle to her eyes dissolving the cloak of ghostly beauty to smoothly establish in its stead one I was well more familiar with. "I'm fine…" she answered. "The air is heavy, that's all. It smells like rain is on the way."

"Good news for the land," I remarked. "The farms especially could use it… Either way, we'd better get ready. We plan it right, and we'll have the rest of Sound's prisons down within a couple of days at most."

Hinata nodded. "Of course–,"

She shrunk with a yelp, starting as a buffet of wind caught her from behind and set silken strands of midnight hair whipping. The gust caught me as well, and I turned to see it race through the grass as a vast, jaggedly rippling wave.

I whistled. "Looks like some crazy weather is about to go down." I had appeared beside her on the branch, a steadying arm around her shoulders, and now looked to meet her eyes up close. "Let's get back to camp, ne?"

Her voice was quiet. She blinked, troubled. "Yeah…"

Neji ネジ

Finishing what little paperwork I had at the end of the day took little more than a quarter of the hour. That completed, I left my office, walked down the steps of the Hokage tower, and continued on into the village's bleak and quiet streets. Early evening though it was, the grim sky blanketed all in a shroud of shadow.

I halted in the middle of an empty street; a moment later the first drop of rain pecked my forehead. I remained unmoving as more and more fell, eyes on the ground before me as the rainstorm grew and rolled.

Then, flinging my arms out, claws wide, head back, I convulsed with rage, sending a wild surge of thrashing, cursed black energy shooting from my body as I hacked my claws at the air.

Damn that woman… I seethed, fists shaking. I swear…

"Neji-sama," my shadow said, coming to my side in concern. I met her eyes with a command in my own. Her face flushed as she stepped closer otherwise unflinchingly, letting me grab her and bury my fangs so sharply in her neck that she nearly cried out. I drank greedily; when I released her, she was not only dazed with pleasure but groaning and weak. She fell to her knees, curling up under the rain, and wept deliriously within a prison of joy even as she shivered.

I swear, filthy Cat…

If you take from me what is mine…

Hanabi ハナビ

"Keep moving over there! Go, go, go!"

The roar of thunder bellowed over our heads, flinging flickering shadows of moving, running, shoveling figures across the sodden earth, the muck on which countless pairs of feet hurried splashingly along. The rain was relentless, bearing down on us in great, variably angled gusts; my clothes had soaked through in minutes, slicked flat to my skin by the kicking blasts of mist, but still I kept moving, throat and nostrils burning with the wild, rain-soaked air. The first drops, following a calm enough day of clouds and shifting wind, had come down only minutes prior. Finding we were in for quite some rainfall, we of New Konoha had mobilized to put out the rainwater pots and anything else available that might salvage some portion of the natural bounty. Upon finding that the rain was salty, however, and realizing just what kind of rare storm was brewing, the race to put out and secure pots had shifted rapidly to a rush to secure less stable buildings with mud, boards, or haphazard reinforcement of Earth-style ninjutsu. Baskets of crops or anything else of value lying around in the open were being relayed to the safety of the tunnels; hastily a slanted wall of stone, braced by pillars and meant to break the force of the oncoming wind, was being erected in sections by the fields in hopes of protecting the harvest. Shikamaru moved about with the scowl and narrowed eyes of a firm and determined leader weighing priorities as he shouted over the whipping wind, coordinating, engineering the entire effort in sharp commands dished out in every direction.

Flying leaves and stinging wind nipped bitterly at my skin as I hurried with two buckets of carrots that had been thrust into my hands. I felt I was taking in water with each breath. My vision stretched scarcely further in front of me than to allow me to follow the line of shinobi I'd fallen in with, heading (I hoped) to the nearest trapdoor. When something in the wind – perhaps a shred of leaf, perhaps a grain of dirt – contacted my right eye, however, I slipped in the mud with a yelp at the sudden sting. None from the line stopped to help me; we were all battling for the survival of New Leaf here, and they trusted I could get up on my own.

Carrots – I'd spilled a bucket of carrots into the cursed mud. Pinning the bucket down on its side before a wind might claim it, I used one hand to sweep the vegetables back into it, grime and all. We could worry about washing later. I hauled back to my feet and looked up, wondering where the others had gone. Blinking hot rain from my eyes, I paused as I caught sight of the great, proud old oak thrashing valiantly in the howling wind and torrential downpour, in the inundation of adversity, its full masses of leaves battered and contorting as it fought to stand tall.

"Kid, get down!"

Kiba came out of nowhere. The Inuzuka's strong arm wrapped around me, cupping my head in a hand, as his full weight hurled against me brought me swiftly to the ground. As we fell I saw the hazard that had been behind me – a loose tree limb carried impossibly by the wind lurched nearer, likely heavy enough to have knocked my silly. The claws of Kiba's free hand shot past me to snap it in two; the pieces tumbled past us, bouncing, dragging crookedly, rolling, and flying from visibility once again.

"Milady!"

"Oji-san?" I answered over the wind, in Kiba's arms. We'd been separated a minute ago in the chaos.

"Good work, Inuzuka-san," Hiryuu grunted as he approached, his powerful frame hardly swayed by the screaming gusts.

Kiba nodded, suddenly scooping me up in one arm and grabbing a bucket in the other. "What're you trying to do, get carried off in the wind?" he growled as Hiryuu picked up the other carrot bucket. The boy followed as Hiryuu took off in the lead, guiding us back.

I was unable to control my shivering, I realized then. I hated thunderstorms with something almost akin to the way I hated blood. Shaking my head, I watched the raging old oak battle until it had altogether vanished from sight.

This is… Some kind of storm is on the way… I thought.

Quite a storm, indeed…

Hinata ヒナタ

"HRAAAH!"

I darted under the lunging strike of his straight sword so that the blade passed behind my neck. My hands briefly met earth; then I shoved upward well within his guard, springing to rake deadly sharp claws up his chest and throat.

My foot snapped out, kicking the crumpling Oto-nin sharply into his approaching comrade. While the kunoichi was startled by the collision I vanished in the rain; behind her, I slipped one hand onto her jaw and brought with the other a swift claw across her throat. I released her, and she fell with the other bodies strewn around me as thunder rumbled, as distant war shouts issued from the battle still in progress.

I had raced here alone in pursuit of a Sound squad pulling a strike and retreat tactic from the shadows of the woods. My job was apparently done; still I didn't turn to head back to the prison battlefield.

One ear giving a twitch, I turned my head. A flash of lightning played on my face and on the smiling mask of the one who faced me, standing coolly ten yards away. Masked or not, the five-foot-three ANBU's scent was female, easily placed in the mid-teens – about Lee's age. My estimation was reaffirmed by her lofty voice as she mused aloud that I'd actually detected her. The Oto kunoichi wore a dark, lightweight trenchcoat that repelled the rain.

Whoever she was, she smelled awful. Briefly a cat came to mind; before I could ponder this she spoke.

"You're the Black Wolf Fang, aren't you…?" she purred silkily, removing her mask to toss me a slit-eyed glare. Her intentions were clear enough.

I displayed a coldly fanged grin as my claws snapped out, flexing at my sides. "Hm… Maybe."

THAMP!

She's quick… I noted, glowering as I held off her blocked fist with an arm by my head. Her amused mouth quirked into a sneer.

"Then let's play, puppy."

I struck out, and fluidly she dodged; a following kick and palm were similarly evaded as she rolled along on her feet, shifting smoothly as if her limbs and spine were composed of weightless liquid. Abruptly she struck out in the midst of the disarming evasions, and her fist popped me in the chin. The blow was light however, even weak, as if a playful feint or jest; all the same, I found myself hard-pressed to return attack as she sprang into a boxing flurry of strikes, getting me to backpedal under pressure. What blows did slip and flow past my defense were the same light, testing jabs whose force did little if anything to wear on me. That was what I thought, at least – but aside from confusion as to the purpose of her peculiar gentleness, I felt, nonsensically, as if I were slowly weakening with every touch.

Something's not right… I of all people knew of the danger that often lurked in subtler fighting forms, but I sensed no chakra, no manner of trick or illusion to her strikes. So what was happening?

I struck. She whirled. My fist hit a billow of her black cloak, and her foot snapped up to ram her boot sole into my face.

My lip busted; my nose burned and bled, and I staggered, though even that blow seemed as if it had been thrown more lightly than it could've been. My adversary's form blurred and duplicated as she darted aside, converging as she rushed toward me in a flicker – and vanished.

An angry yowl raked at my ears. My fist hit empty air. A black cat scratched at my arm and went for my face – I yelped and managed to knock the hissing feline away. And, with a chirp of "Whoopsies!" two hands clamped down on my tail with malice in their grip.

A strangled yell jumped from my throat as joints locked up, body going rigid with the jolt of pain. Then my yell seized up – cut to a growl, and then a roar – as I snapped around on a single, tremendous surge of power to bring the back of my fist into square contact with the assailant's cheek.

CRAK…

I felt her neck snapping just before I heard it. A delayed instant after her body went shooting away, off into the storm. I watched a tree shudder and fall as I wheezed, trying to catch my breath and keep on my feet what with the strength I'd squandered.

I wheeled at a hiss in front of me. The cat – her cat was a ninja, too, every bit as much as Akamaru. What I saw before me, however, was not for long one cat, but two; the lone angry feline burst into flame and smoke to suddenly be left barely a tiny kit. Beside it a second puff of smoke bloomed and faded to reveal a cat identical to what the first had just been, large, slender, and with fury in its bright eyes. Suddenly, in a familiar voice, it spoke.

"You're being more difficult than I expected…"

With no further warning the larger cat pounced, morphing at once into the Oto kunoichi to bring a downward strike of a kunai toward my head. My claws rose, moved to successfully catch and halt her incoming blade with a sharp clang of force.

Pain crackled through my hands. My black claws shifted of their own accord into harmless, fully human nails.

There was nothing I could do in my shock but to catch the freed blade tightly in my hands before it could slam down into my throat or gut. My teeth clenched up as the metal bit into sizzling flesh, setting my ears ringing, my vision quaking. My eyes widened as my youki dropped into worthless tumult.

A silver kunai–? !

She yanked it free of my hands in a hacking motion, slicing invisible fire into my fingers and palm, and the meat of my thumb. I yelled aloud, withdrawing my bleeding hands and trying to move away, but before I could she kicked me harshly in the stomach and lunged to wrap her arms around me, pinching two points in my neck with her left hand, so sharply that I flinched, and touching the fingers of her right to the back of my shoulder.

"I can only use that eight times in a lifetime, you bitch," she hissed venomously, and what I could only guess were claws protracted from her fingers, five needling keen points small but sharp and hooked latching into my back – and raking across it, shoulder to hip, as deeply as she possible could. I screamed, head thrown back in pain. "Ya' like that?" she taunted viciously at my cry, throwing an arm behind my neck to force my head down under her arm. With a short hop she raised her knee, striking a quick but sharp blow into my stomach.

I staggered, winded, gasping and dizzy as she released me. My hands – they wouldn't stop burning! My energy was too disorderly to mend the slices in my back. I clenched my teeth carefully. "Wh– who are you?"

"Ara? Neko, but you can call me Koneko – everyone does!" she chirped.

I glowered darkly, and looked past her in the direction of the main battleground. I need help…

"Oh, no you don't," she purred, appearing before me to tweak my nose in her fingers. In retaliation I slapped her hand away and threw a wild punch. No – perhaps she'd only let me hit her hand. Completely prepared for the punch, she dodged my fist and fell back, hooking biting claws into my outstretched arm and opposite hip – and in a neat, rolling motion redirected my strength to throw me over herself. She herself was in something of a backbend as she slammed my back to the earth; then she flipped her legs up and around. Her left foot touched down first to the ground beside me, and then she dropped neatly, knees straddling my sides and her rump landing at my belly so abruptly that I grunted.

I hadn't noticed it when she, at some point, looped the strong cord around my neck. I certainly noticed now.

"So you see," the self-proclaimed Kitten began with an innocent smile, speaking sweetly as if she weren't currently attempting to strangle the life out of someone. "I've taken a fancy to a certain silly Wolfboy back at home. I live for battle, see; I thirst constantly for that rush, that heat, like you couldn't even imagine. I think my Wolfboy would make quite a delightful fight – but all he's interested in is you–," I fought as she pulled the wire tighter still, "And I don't know why."

My nails snapped the cord at my throat. Undeterred, she gripped my neck in a strong hand, pressing my windpipe hard with a thumb, before I could so much as draw a full breath. I gagged and choked in protest. She merely leaned over me, smirking.

"You managed to take my third life from me, and that's impressive… but… I still don't understand his obsession in someone like you. So I was thinking…" The kunai, that horrendous, sickening kunai, was pulled from her cloak.

"Maybe, if I cut you up with this…"

The burning silver tip was pressed threateningly below my chin, its foul aura firing a paralysis down my spine. I grimaced, helpless as the woman ran her rasping tongue sensually along my jawline, and up across where I knew the old claw scars resided on my cheek.

"If I twist your cursed head off and present it to him…"

Wide-eyed, I fought not to shiver as her tongue passed now over the ridge of my nose, and continued to flick and slide at the skin below my eye. With a final flick she pulled away.

"I think he'll get a lot more interested in me, don't you?"

She drew back, flipped the blade sharply around her hand – and plunged the silver deep into my stomach.

My head was flung back in agony, vision flashing, neck muscles straining as blood was thrown from my mouth on a silent scream. Before I could do a thing my arms were knocked firmly aside – her hands darted into her cloak as her feet landed atop my wrists – and two more blasts of monstrous pain gripped and thrashed at my jarred soul as she thrust two silver knives into my palms.

As I got past the initial shocking pain, my unsteady vision focused well enough to see the woman rise to full height. I was too enfeebled to react with any more than a sharp grunt as she muttered to herself and kicked me in the face, snapping my head to one side. For sheer stubbornness I would have liked to turn my head back and meet her eyes with my coldest glare in challenge. My body proved reluctant to listen. It blazed afresh with every thump of my heart. All I could do now was lie there in the mud, pitiful, struggling with each short, shallow breath.

"Does it hurt?" she crooned as I lay sweating and shivering, teeth clenched. "Oh, you poor, poor wolf-bitch! I'd love to put you out of this miserable state, but, unfortunately, I am supposed to attempt to bring you in alive…"

My locked teeth shakily parted as she walked past me, pacing in thought.

"Still, even the best can make a 'mistake' once in a while… I think I can afford one…"

"Y…you…"

"Aha, here's an idea! I'll let the naughty dog decide. Want me to kill you, or slice it up some more and drag you into custody… Hm? You say something?"

"You…" My body shook.

By all accounts, I was beaten.

…I hadn't let that stop me in a long time.

With a roar I lifted my pinned hands from the earth and sprang to my feet upon a surge of solid willpower. I swept my arms out to fling the piercing knives aside, and with a snarl planted a hand on the barely protruding handle at my stomach. My fingers steamed on contact with the cursed metal, but I shut an eye and pulled it free in a single jerk, casting the knife to the ground.

A feline smile curled across the kunoichi's lips. "We're not done playing, then?" she purred. "But by the look of it, your arms are out."

"N-not quite…" My youki was all messed up: if I tried to use it now, I really wouldn't be able to move. But if I concentrate, and draw on only my chakra…!

My hands rose, and twitched into a seal.

Mi-Hitsuji-Saru-I-Uma-Tora! Katon–!

"Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" I yelled, spewing a Grand Fireball her way.

She dodged – but in the moment her view of me had been obstructed by the blast of fire, I had darted to the treeline.

Byakugan blazing, I sailed toward her from behind in a Konoha Sempuu kick. She ducked just before my heel could sweep into the back of her head, and turned to block the follow-up on her forearm.

Block though she did, I heard something crack. Then the force overwhelmed her entirely, shooting her to the dirt five yards off where she hit and rolled, sliding a ways before collecting herself and tumbling into a crouch.

By the time she did I was charging straight toward her, practically on top of her again. Her eyes grew.

"You won't hurt my comrades!" I cried, springing into a flurry of kicks. My arms were weak, and the pain that clung to my gut pressed me to hunch a bit even as I fought. I tore on regardless, pushing the Oto woman to keep up with a barrage of kicks Gentle and Ferocious alike. My bare left sole jabbed three quick times, for her head, then torso, then head again, and all were blocked – but with the third I sent a burst of chakra jolting into her arm. She hissed, and I swept my foot down and back as I lowered to the earth, spinning in a whirlwind of a combo to hack left heel for her ankles – she jumped – rising right foot for her gut – dodged – and at last leaving the earth in a sharp but smooth leap to launch my left foot toward her skull. Her toes had barely reached the ground when her arms snapped to block; she was thrown off her feet to roll back once, begin to stand–

And block my furious roundhouse kick at her side. Foot not returning to ground, I now struck out rapidly thrice more to be blocked beside her head and at her side again, once more at the head – and then I lurched to headbutt her fiercely in the gut. Toned abdominals gave under the sudden ram of force, and I heard her lose her breath in a sharp, outward wheeze. I snapped up so that my hard skull clipped her dropping chin, straightening her out once more, and then lunged to snag her wrist hard in my teeth. Growling, I pulled and whirled, releasing to hurl her to the ground again. She slid a ways, opened her eyes – and rolled to the side as my two strong feet slammed down heavily beneath me from a leap, demolishing the earth, in a crippling strike where her hips would have been. You crush both of someone's hips, and they're not going anywhere.

A strange twist of fear and excitement was glinting in her eye as she hurriedly guarded her head from my kick while she was down. The blocked blow sent her rolling again, and she rose as her back met a tree; my foot impacted the trunk with a crack as she slipped above the strike and nimbly scrambled up the tree. Whatever time she sought in which to recollect herself was lost as I launched a tremendous kick, hacking the fractured trunk in two in a single clean sweep.

I tackled her as she jumped from the falling tree, and we rolled. Ending on top, I bared my fangs and went for her throat. A quick fist rapped the side of my jaw, thwarting this attempt, as she jammed her knees up sharply below my ribs. I recoiled, and she gathered her feet against my belly and rolled back strongly, flinging me away with the shove of her legs.

I was upside-down when my back hit a tree, but I rolled as I fell to land upright – and drop beneath the swipe of her claws, ramming into her ankles to take her off her feet. She caught herself on her hands, however, and her feet touched down as she scrambled away to rise again, face me – and receive a solid boot to the gut.

My bare foot fell. Her knees buckled as she grunted through locked teeth, and I knew I had her as she doubled up, crumpling gradually to the ground. She fought for breath and swore quietly, but froze as I slipped to twist an arm behind her and roughly pin her down.

"It's over…" I panted.

"Nyaaa…" she complained with a note of pain. "You're so cruel, Wolfpuppy…"

"Save it," I growled, forcing her arm further. My claws – I would've preferred to end it quickly, but I didn't carry knives, her knives were silver, and trying to reform my claws now only made the silver wounds throb. It required either cursed chakra or my natural Youki, both of which were thrown into disarray by silver. For now I'd just have to knock her out–

"Well, you're actually right there – it is over, you see? Owari da!" she chirped, easily wrapping her free arm suddenly up behind her, astounding in her flexibility, and pressing a finger to her gloved palm. I heard a click, and ducked back reflexively as some sort of pellet was shot from her sleeve, sailing up just before my face.

My nose tingled.

The pellet began to smoke as it drifted past my eyes.

…Aconite?

BOOM!

An explosion of gas went off in my face, surrounding me – searing, tearing, clawing out my strength. For a moment I thrashed and staggered – threw open my mouth in horror as my lungs blazed, my throat itched, my nose dripped, my screwed-shut eyes ran and burned and burned and burned. The more raging power I summoned instinctively, uncontrollably to save myself, the more pain I was dealt. The poison felt like acid to my skin, gouging power from my pores or boiling it from the inside out. My arms flailed stupidly for anything to grab hold of; I lost all sense and found myself meeting the ground, stripped of all strength, choking and writhing as the world roiled and shook around me.

It was all I could do to scream.

I barely heard the voice crying my name.

Naruto ナルト

"Hinataaaa!"

I plunged into the thick cloud of poison without thought, heart racing both from the rush here and from something else. She'd been taking too long, but this… No question – this was Wolfsbane. The girl was in here screeching in the purest agony.

Locating her quickly both from her screams and chaotic energy, I slid to the ground at her side. She writhed on the ground, hands covering her eyes, pulling her hair and clawing her scalp as she shrieked like a mad demon, saliva running from her mouth. The markings of the han'you pattered her skin and squirmed as she convulsed, fading and expanding again as if forcibly inflamed only to be wrenched from her body.

"Hinata…!" Breathing this smoke could very well kill her. I tore out my sleeve, pressing the cloth over her nose and mouth, but she thrashed in alarm, catching me with a flailing hand. The breath I had been holding now slipped, and I coughed and choked; even if the poison wouldn't affect me long, it could still irritate for the time being. "G-get a hold of yourself, Hinata!" I cried. It probably went unheard. Grunting, I took the back of her shirt in both hands to clear myself from the range of her seizure-like flailing and dragged her along, streaming eyes shut against the volatile mist. Her energy was going nuts; I couldn't swap her along with me. It didn't matter. I had to get her out of there, and if I just ran straight we'd hit open air soon enough.

We emerged from the heavy cloud and into the safety of clean air, and I gulped in a grateful breath, blinking painfully. We made it–

"Oi."

I turned my head at the call, and glimpsed only a moment the Oto ANBU who had given it before her foot slammed across my face.

My neck popped; I lost hold of Hinata. Before I could react I felt two hands capture the neck of my shirt – and the woman rammed her knee into a place I really ought not mention.

I saw stars.

I howled in pain as my gut clenched, as my legs gave out and I went down, holding myself. A kick to the shoulder sprawled me on my back, and she was over me, pinning my forehead down with one hand.

"Lucky me," she snickered, and drove the heel of her palm into my jaw. "Another bounty for my trouble…"

I groaned as my vision swam, darkening, lilting. I turned my head a bit, parting bloody lips as my unfocused eyes found the face of the stunned, motionless figure beside me.

I wanted to reach out, to wrap her up in the safety of my arms. I yearned to. After that jaw strike, my body… wasn't responding…

"Hina…ta…"

It went black.

The air was dank and stale. My eyelids fluttered. It was dark… no, it must've been indoors. A guttural groan crawled up my thick throat.

"Holy – I think he's waking up again!"

"Calm down. We'll just double the next one…"

I lay flat on something cold and hard. I was tired… but a sense of urgency buzzed dully in the back of my skull. I turned my head, groggy eyes falling on a couple of blurry men putting something hot on my wrist.

"He's already getting eight times the regular dose…"

"And it's obviously not working. Double it again."

"Hai…"

I felt a needle pierce my arm. Suddenly it was getting darker in there…

When my eyes opened, I was moving. Definitely not on my own. A strong grip held either of my arms as I was dragged between two shinobi…

My eyes widened.

Chakra… Where's my chakra?

"Wh-where… What's going on?" I demanded, making my voice strong.

"Huh? Aren't you in quite the position to talk tough?" one of the men chuckled.

I ground my teeth, looking at the chakra-suppressing shackle on my right wrist. They actually caught us…

My breath froze.

Us.

"What've you done to Hinata? !" I shouted. "Where is she? I swear, if you–!"

I was thrown to the floor at the end of the dim hallway. I shuddered weakly, starting to push to my hands and knees – until a boot slammed down at my upper back, knocking my breath out and giving me a face-ful of the dirty stone floor.

"Shut your gab," the Oto-nin growled. He proceeded to clean his boot on my back. "We don't care that you're the Demon Illusionist. Get it?" he grunted, stomping again. "No tricks for you anymore. Right now you're just one loudmouthed brat."

He moved his foot, and the other man grabbed my arm and hauled me to my feet, shoving my cheek up against the wall. We were at the end of the hall, but there were no doors in sight; rather, the wall I was being pushed against was inked up with some kind of seal spell.

I heard the first man run through a quick set of handseals. Then his hand slammed onto the back of my skull – the markings on the wall lit up – I was gripped in some transportation jutsu–

And I was flung, stumbling, into a doorless room.

"Ch…" I rubbed my cheek as I looked up, examining my surroundings. Solid stone room, ten feet by six feet, average ceiling. Dim lighting, but I could see well enough. Barely noticeable, two grill-covered vents were a ways apart on the ceiling, one to pump air in, down what seemed to be a long shaft, and the other to let it out, I assumed. Neither was more than the size of my fist. The sole other ornament to the stone box was a bucket in one corner.

And the only other person in the room…

"Hinata," I breathed, hurrying to her prone form. I rolled her from her side onto her back. Her face was flushed and feverish, but chill with sweat; her hands shook steadily, and her entire body gave to trembles at its own uncertain intervals. She mewled and whimpered in her sleep like a small creature in pain. I bit my lip.

Gently I felt for wounds after confirming a faint but steady pulse, and lifted her plain prison shirt only enough to get a look at the nasty stab mark in her stomach. Strange – it was on the way, but why wouldn't it have healed by now? Normally it would've been handled in minutes at most.

I shook my head, lowering her shirt again and bending to place my ear by her parted lips. Her breaths were short, but also steady. I hugged her in relief, so carefully, whispering my thanks to whatever kami could hear.

Sighing, I sat back against the wall and rested her head in my lap, hoping she would be comfortable. I stroked her cheek once and spoke at a whisper; we were in a mess, but for now only one thing was important.

"You're alive…"

"Naruto-kun…?"

"Hey, you're awake?" I said gently. "How do you feel?"

Her eyes were bloodshot, pained as she cracked them enough to look up at me a moment. Nonetheless she managed a smile as she shut them. "I've felt better…" she said honestly. Her brow wrinkled. "So… they caught us, then?"

I nodded, looking to the chakra-suppressing bangles tight around both our right wrists. "Yeah…"

"I'm sorry."

"Don't you even," I scolded lightly. "That ANBU girl was prepared for you, ready to strike at all your weaknesses. Don't think about it too much; what's happened has happened. I don't know what they plan to do with us, but I'll bust us out before we have to worry about it, ne?" I said, stroking a stray hair from her face.

She placed her hand over mine, smiling. "Yes…"

I smiled back fondly, though her eyes were shut. That's right…

"We have each other. Together we'll figure a way out of here – I know it."

Lee リー

"What are you saying?" I hissed where I sat. My wrapped fists clenched at my sides. I was very angry.

"You heard me," Jiraiya said again, as Tsunade nodded solemnly. Kakashi-sensei listened silently without giving tell of his stance on the discussion. Kurenai-sensei's eyes were upset, at times lit with clear anger, but she held her tongue before the two sannin. At my side Gaara said not a word, but the shadowy scowl he maintained held all the impact of striking the toad sage with an eloquent bombardment of the most piercing of words. Jiraiya went on, his face firm. "You did well in getting your force and the prisoners out of there safely, Lee. You did all you could. It's unfortunate, but we don't have the time right now to split off a force to head back for them. We're almost done," he said slowly, as if to once more spell it out for me. "We slow down, we give them time to think, to organize – or if they're desperate, even slaughter every jounin we haven't gotten to. Besides, a rescue mission is exactly what they'll be prepared for. We aren't so reckless. Those two are important; you know it, and the enemy knows it. They'll be kept alive long enough for us to strike the remaining prisons on the agenda before we double back for them."

"How can you be so certain? !" I demanded. My hand clapped onto my chest. "Those two, as well as I, have become the face of hope for the resistance, have we not? ! The Sound may be marching them to a public execution as we speak! Do you realize what will happen to us if they fall–?"

"What, you think I don't know that?" Jiraiya roared, silencing me. His eyes were dangerous. "You think we're not all as worried about them as you are? You think I'm happy to leave them behind? They're strong – both of them. And if you know them as well as you claim to, don't you think they'd sooner suffer than be used against us? We all are shinobi, and we all risk sacrifice. For their sake, see this operation through to the end before you render all your sacrifices up to this point wasted!"

I challenged the man's gaze for a moment, teeth gritted. Then I looked away. "Excuse me," I muttered sharply, rising to my feet.

"Where are you going?" the sage called as I stormed away.

"To get some exercise!" I halted, however, fists clenching. Glaring, I looked back once more, meeting in turn the eyes of Kakashi, of Kurenai, of Tsunade, and at last those of Jiraiya as I spoke evenly. "I would like you – and you – and you – and you, to stop and for one moment think of where you would be, right now, without Naruto-kun and Hinata-san."

With that I strode away. Gaara hesitated, but his footsteps soon followed after me as he ran to catch up, stopping at my side, and blinked in surprise.

Water spilled from my chin.

I was… very angry.

Naruto ナルト

"Come on…"

From what I could reckon, about three days had gone by; good mental clock or not, I couldn't much keep track of time as I slept, and no sunlight could reach us down here, never mind that I'd been unconscious for an uncertain length of time before they tossed me in the cell.

Once a day… then again, maybe it was once a day, or maybe our captors went by some other interval – though I couldn't see why, unless for the express purpose of screwing with us… It irked me that my sense of time was slipping in here. Anyways, I can say for certain that once in a while a small bowl of rice and paper cup of water poofed into the room through the same means by which we'd been sent here. Each time Hinata took a few bites, perhaps a third or fourth of it, and allowed me the rest, insisting she wasn't very hungry. I figured it was the lingering effect of the poison. Whether it was or wasn't, I'd need to get her to eat her share sooner or later, or she wouldn't last.

Hinata was healing well enough; the silver-inflicted wounds in her hands had taken on the appearance of burns, the direct path of the knife itself lined on either side by a stretch of raw, glossy red. Tending such wounds was tricky, and wrapping them could worsen their condition; still, slowly but steadily, her hands and stomach mended themselves as all her wounds did.

Currently I was focusing my chakra. The bangle on my wrist hindered its flow, but the more I practiced, the more use I could get out of it. At this point I could create a shadow clone by focusing chakra in my center and applying the same mental conjuration I had before. Still, I could do little else.

Naturally the fox had been happy to offer a simple solution; I could draw on its chakra until the restraint was overwhelmed, and then, with its power, be able to smash my way out of here easily. It had overlooked that the other individual in the small room would likely be killed the moment its chakra broke the restraint and battered everything around me with the probable fiery explosion of energy that would ensue, but I hadn't. The Kyuubi had told me that at least one of us would escape. I had shortly told it to shut up.

Hinata looked up from where she sat, ears standing. "Someone's coming."

I released the seal I was holding the moment before two Oto-nin popped into the cell. Seeing that I was standing, the one with a graying mustache and beard frowned and nodded toward the wall. "You – sit down," he grumbled.

Resisting an impulse to snort, I played good prisoner and lifted my hands before sitting at the wall. "You're the warden, then?" I asked, trying to keep their attention. If they were here to take one of us for questioning, or just to harass us – if they wanted to mess with us, I'd rather it be me. "To what do we owe the honor of your visit to our cozy abode?" I inquired tartly.

"Yeh talk a lot, don't you?" the old man scoffed. He looked to his comrade. "Well, Captain? You came to look at 'em; here they are."

"So…" There was something dangerous in the younger man's eyes. "That's the Purple Fox… then this one's…" He turned, eyes falling on the small form sitting at the far wall.

My skin prickled as he stepped toward her.

"You? You're the Black Wolf Fang?" he shouted.

Hinata met his eyes slowly. "I am…"

"Now, Captain, we're not here to kill anyone. Our lord Hokage–,"

"Oh, I won't kill her," the captain seethed. "Death is too merciful for the monster who took my little sister from me!"

Realization entered Hinata's stoic eyes, filling them with emotion as she regarded the angry Sound shinobi anew. "…I'm sorry."

SMAK!

"Oi!" I protested as a heavy hand knocked her onto her side. The older Oto-nin drew a straight sword sharply as I rose to my feet.

"Back," he spat. "Try to fight, and there will be consequences, boy. If you know what's good for your friend, you'll sit down…"

Scowling, I obeyed. Across the room Hinata opened her eye above a bruised cheek. She was too weak to move as he brought his foot to her gut.

My teeth ground as he yelled and kicked her again. And again. And again.

"The fearsome beast of nightmare that's terrorized us – the most gruesome murderer walking the face of the earth – You're only a sniveling brat, kuso! You filthy demon!"

A kick smashed deep into her side; Hinata's eyes burst open as blood escaped her mouth. My teeth were clenched so hard they hurt.

"Well, you sorry piece of sXXX? ! Killing, and then hiding behind the face of an innocent child…! Where're your claws now, Kurouga? Not so tough anymore, are you? !"

THUD!

"Guhf–!"

He stamped his boot against the side of her head and planted it there, pinning her skull at the junction of wall and floor and grinding his foot viciously. "Don't you have anything to say, bakemono? !" He stomped again. "You enjoy what you do, don't you? Answer me, dammit–! !"

He quieted a moment, his foot still on her head, to observe a peculiar rumble mounting in the air. Then Hinata turned her head the smallest degree, lifting her eyes from shadow and petrifying everyone in the room. Ten feet away though I was, my blood froze over at the palpable malice she directed at her tormentor from deathly black-and-white eyes as her teeth bared in a bloody snarl and fired a sharp and wicked growl that slashed horribly into the air. My stomach clenched. She was splayed on the ground, a boot at her head, and she alone gripped the room in the claws of nightmarish terror, declared all life unquestionably at her unstable mercy with a look and a growl, bottomless depths of her madly wide eyes offering a premonition of certain death.

The man screamed and staggered back as if burned, fear dripping from his face in streams of sweat, but he could not escape the chaotic violence of those eyes. He froze, perhaps under the weight of the air, and stared, knees shaking, as a high, cracking whimper was drawn from his lips.

The warden got a hold of himself, enough so to grab the frozen man's arm. "L–let's get out of here!" he grunted, and the two vanished from the room.

Silence followed. My throat was dry. I swallowed. Then my mouth moved.

"H-Hinata!" I hurried over. "Are you okay?"

Pained breaths passed through her mouth as she lay there, face turned down, shivering as if with cold. My hand met her shoulder, and in a sudden move she jerked from my touch, pushing partially upright and turning frightened white eyes on me. I shrank back, momentarily uncertain, but she shook her head wearily. "Sorry…" she whispered, eyes downcast. "I'm… fine."

"Hinata…" She started in surprise as I wrapped my arms carefully but snugly around her. Then the tension melted off, and she rested her head on my shoulder as she returned the embrace.

Lee リー

My face broke the surface in a chilled crash, and then hovered in the near silence. My eyes opened to take in patterns of rippling light, and I observed a school of the tiniest of fish as it passed by.

I withdrew my head from the pool with a full gasp, and water flicked from my hair. Lightly I shook my head, but I made little more an effort in drying it and looked up, hands fisted by my knees, letting the cool water run down and cut through some of the sweat that covered my bare chest and back. My head fell again, and I blinked at my image on the water's surface. Then my fist dropped so sharply to the bank that a quake of disturbance shook the water, casting my reflection from sight.

"Kuso…"

Gaara sat up where he lay a few yards off and looked toward me, his face glum. The wind blew, stirring at the water and sending a few small leaves fluttering to its surface. I shut my eyes and spoke.

"What is it, Guy-sensei?"

The redhead by my side started and turned big, surprised teals on the one who stood behind me.

"I… heard what happened, Lee," the jounin said softly.

"I see…"

"How are you handling it?"

"Well enough…" I muttered, setting about removing the worn and tattered wrap, speckled red at the knuckles, from my hands to replace. I hesitated, wincing. "It … hurts," I confided at last. "It hurts, to be so powerless…"

Though my eyes were not on him, I could practically sense his slow nod. "What does your gut tell you?"

I shivered once, clenching and unclenching my fingers in the grass. Gaara observed but remained silent as I thought. "It tells me…

"It tells me something is wrong, sir. That those two are not at my sides at this moment is a wrong in itself; even more so, something awful, unprecedented, is approaching them. My heart screams to act, before they are lost…"

"Then what are you doing sitting here?"

I turned my head a bit. "You are telling me to go against the judgment of a sannin?" I asked, painfully bitter.

"No. I'm telling you to follow your heart, and do what you must do."

My breath caught.

"You have become a splendid shinobi, Lee, as well as a man. You've earned the right," he finished, his voice stern but brim with warmth.

I stared ahead, a fire kindling in my eyes.

"Yes, sir."

Twenty-Two, Part Two: Imprisoned

Naruto ナルト

The first time it happened was one day – or night – there was really no way to tell – after I tried to break the wall.

"Okay…!" I grunted, sweat dripping from my face. I'd been at this for some time. My left hand darted rapidly about the right, molding released chakra until a whirring sphere took form in my palm. And now…

Rasengan! I thought, though in the wordless depths of my mind perhaps it was flung forth as a half-cocked prayer.

WHAM…!

The Spiraling Sphere ground and fluctuated a moment, barely weathering the stone, and burst, blasting dust clear of the wall.

I lowered my shaking hand, resting my head a moment on the stone. Even I could tell it was futile; with the restraint it was impossible to emit chakra in enough force to meet the jutsu's most basic requirements, let alone get it molded correctly. At least we now had one very clean wall.

With a sigh I straightened. "Looks like the Rasengan's a no-go," I said, turning. "We'll have to find some other…"

I trailed off, and paused.

Hinata was … looking at me. But not in the polite way you direct your attention at someone who's speaking. This was… odd. Intense.

"Hinata…?" I took a fraction of a step toward the girl seated in the corner and faltered, unnerved. She hadn't so much as blinked at her name. Her pale face was unreadable, but something told me not to approach.

If… if this is a joke, it's not funny… I swallowed hard. Those eyes… It was too strange. Finally I shook my head. "Hey, Hinata!"

She started, and in the blink of her eyes that alien gaze vanished and was again familiar. Pale lavender eyes focused a moment on my perturbed face, and she looked away, a hand rubbing her head. "It's nothing…"

I shrugged it off with a little effort; we were both getting antsy with the dark, dark stretch of time spent in this small, bare room. Coming to her side, I put a comforting hand on her shoulder – and was roughly shoved off as she glared at me from the corner of her eye, teeth bared in a small scowl.

My face didn't immediately betray my shock. As if she were a stranger, I automatically hid it from her, without so much as a thought.

When … had this happened?

Arms wrapped around her folded legs, Hinata directed her eyes toward the wall beside her. Okay. She was in a cross mood. That was all.

Hurt but not showing it, I retreated to the other side of the cell. She wanted to be left alone. I would leave her alone. She'd come around.

When we grew tired – it may have been night or midday – for the first time in a long time, Hinata declined to sleep next to me. She offered no explanation. She cried as she slept.

This strange instance was the first.

And as the days crawled on, she would continue to languish in there.

Lee リー

"I cannot."

Gaara crossed his arms, his face cold. I sighed.

"Stop that, will you?" I said. "This will be dangerous, Gaara-kun – more than dangerous. I will not have–,"

"So dangerous that you think you can go in alone?" he demanded roughly.

I frowned. "I will figure something out. Trust me. I will not have time to worry about protecting you…"

"Then don't," he said simply. "You've trained me yourself; all three of you have. You know I've grown stronger!" He paused, mouth wrinkling a moment as his eyes fell. His face was warm as his hand came to rest upon the pendant of the choker around his neck. "You three have taught me… have given me so much… and…" He met my eyes, resolute. "I can't leave my friends to suffer any more than you can. Besides," he added, "you're impulsive. You could use someone with a level head to keep you out of trouble…"

"Gaara-kun…"

"I've made up my mind. When you go after them, I will follow."

I held his raccoon eyes for a moment; luminous in the dark of night, they dared me to challenge. When he showed no sign of wavering, I finally had to nod.

"Alright."

Naruto ナルト

I woke to a crash.

My arms flopped out to steady myself as the floor seemed to shudder under me; blinking frantically, I looked to see Hinata at the far wall, low from a lunge, her powerful shoulder at the wall. She broke away, sliding a few feet on her toes, and with a yell leapt forward again to bring her fist to the stone. Blood spattered to the wall and floor.

She tore on in a rage, bringing obsidian claws screeching across the surface with little effect, throwing all her weight into a bombardment of reckless, angry fists, pounding and pounding to no avail. I snapped out of my confusion when I heard the crack of bone.

"Hinata!" I rose to my feet, appalled as she continued to thrash, blind and numb with rage. I swept to grab her from behind, and struggled to pull her away. "Hinata, snap out of it! You're hurting yourself!"

She twisted and got an elbow in my face before shoving me off with a growl, storming to the wall again. Before she could do herself more damage I grabbed at her shoulder, pulled hard, and slapped her sharply across the face.

I grimaced. I'd slapped her…

She grunted and swayed an unsteady moment, but the outraged han'you's fit of madness evaporated from her wild eyes. Then, with an airy exhalation, she stumbled and collapsed exhausted into my arms.

"Shh…" I soothed, lowering her to the ground. Her eyes were groggy as I lifted one of her hands and swore silently. Her clawed fingers dribbled blood, as did her knuckles; the sores on her palms had split and cracked, and now wept heavily. Her left arm was fractured; a region of her shoulder and back was bruising purple. "Okay," I said, tearing the left sleeve from my plain shirt. I bit it for a rip to start with, and began tearing the long sleeve into an inch-and-a-half thick strip. She shivered feebly and steadily, hollow eyes watching in silence as I set to wrapping her hands. "Why would you do that, Hinata-chan…?" I muttered, tearing off my other sleeve.

To my surprise she answered, though it seemed it took her a sizeable effort. "We have … to get out… Have to get out of here…"

"I know," I said. I warned her, and then pulled and set her arm bone in place. She hissed, teeth parting, face white. I got to wrapping it up in the coarse grey cloth. "We will. We'll find a way. Trust me…" For the moment, however, as I got a good look at her I frowned at the darkness under her eyes, the pallor of her face and her too-white lips. I felt at her ribs and swore at how sharply they stood out. Hinata only looked aside with a scowl.

I swallowed my shock and spoke. She'd been losing her appetite, but surely we hadn't been in here that long. "Hinata," I scolded, "the next bowl that comes, you need to eat."

"I told you, I'm not…"

"I don't care if you're not hungry. You're going to starve yourself, Hinata. Besides, when we do break out of here you'll need your strength."

Something was in her eyes as she looked wearily up at me. Still she didn't answer, but for a slight nod.

When the small wooden bowl of rice and cup of water came, I sprang up to bring it to her. I paused as her gaze met me with something like a glare. I set my jaw, eyes firm.

"Eat all of it," I said, placing it at her side but not helping her to sit up as I normally would've. Her tired face softened, and with an effort she turned over onto her front, pushed up, and sat. She eyed it for a moment; then her fingers dug into the bowl. I watched.

She brought a small bit to her lips. Her mouth came open oddly as she chewed. It was a careful, awkward affair, and reminded me of someone trying to eat something very hot, though I knew the rice was cold. She seemed not to want it to touch her tongue.

Finally she swallowed the morsel. Without a word but with much care, occasional moving of her head, cringing, and putting her hand by her mouth to catch bits that fell, she continued. There was something like anger – dull, but angry all the same – in the way she ate, lips drawn back, sharp teeth gradually breaking up the grains, with an occasional snap. Her tongue flicked oddly, squirmed with apparent discomfort; thick saliva began to run from a corner of her mouth.

Then, on her fourth small bite, her body rejected it. Eyes widening briefly, she shuddered and turned, retching out a white splash of mushy rice and fluid. It hit the ground with a splat; after grunting and heaving emptily once, she ducked her head and vomited again, losing all she'd taken in.

Suddenly I understood.

"Hinata… before they caught us… When was the last time you went hunting?"

Panting after a few coughs, she looked up at me a moment and cast her gaze down again, shutting her eyes, slowly shaking her head.

"Why didn't you say anything?" I demanded in concern, bringing my hand to the back of my arm. A sip of blood was to her like skipping breakfast for a spoonful of sugar, but it would be better for her than nothing–

The moment before my nail could nick my flesh, Hinata's gaze came smashing against me.

"NO!"

With her booming cry there was a flurry of movement – the wind was knocked from my lungs by a crash of force – the bowl of rice went careening, breaking against the wall. And my back was slammed into stone as I was pinned to the wall, hands locked firmly above my head. I kept very still, daring not breathe.

Hinata's head was low, her face hidden from me. Her breath shook. "Do… not…"

"Hinata…" I whispered quietly. A bead of sweat rolled down between my eyes.

"Y-you… reek." She looked up, eyes wild as they met my own, salivating as she gripped my arms now painfully. I withheld a tiny grunt. "Your s-scent is too much – it's strong enough – as IS–!"

She shuddered and growled, ducking her head – and at once flung me across the cell. My skull rang as I collided sharply with the wall and flopped to the ground on my side, gasping for breath. I coughed, trying to push myself up. "Hinata–!"

"Stay back."

Hinata remained facing the far wall I'd been pinned against, hands spread, her tense form twitching. "I – I know you want to h-help – Naruto-kun – but don't do anything stupid."

She slammed her head loudly into the wall – was still a moment – and crumpled boneless to the ground.

For several minutes I did not move.

When I did … I couldn't get myself to check if she was alright.

Hinata ヒナタ

When I woke, he looked at me once and only once from where he sat. I didn't look away from him as I sat up, and at my first movement I caught it – a flicker of wariness in those sharp violet eyes. I held his gaze for a bit once I settled, not sure what he was thinking, not sure what to say.

Before I could figure it out he looked away, resting his eyes on a corner of the room. He may as well have walked through a door, and shut it quietly behind him.

I watched him only a moment longer. Then I looked away, scratched my head a moment, and got to my feet.

Naruto ナルト

When she woke, I looked at her only once. She looked at me as she sat up, and inwardly I cringed.

I looked away, for fear of conveying something I felt but did not want conveyed.

It… wasn't her fault. She couldn't help instinct. Still, I – I had to think…

I watched discreetly from the corner of my eye as she stood up. In a few steps she bent to pick up the largest fragment of the bowl that had been kicked across the room. She trudged back to her wall and sat down, turning to the side. I looked down again, and the cell was left silent save for the chipping of claws on wood. I resigned myself to thinking.

Eventually something clattered across the cell floor to land near me. She'd tossed it.

"I want you … to keep that with you."

This was what she'd fashioned: a curved wooden stake, whittled to a wickedly sharp point. I met Hinata's stern eyes and answered simply.

"I won't."

I started as her eyes flashed threateningly, but I held my ground. "I'm not afraid of you, Hinata."

"Of course not," she growled lowly, something of an amused chuckle in her voice. Her mouth snapped shut, but my skin was crawling. "I'm not asking you to be afraid of me," she pressed again, "Just keep it on you. As a… deterrent."

She was standing; our eyes were locked as she slowly crossed the cell. Her teeth were bared slightly as she stopped a short step away, looming over me. Her claws twitched. I held firm. The untouched stake was the only thing between us.

"You won't hurt me, Hinata."

"You…" She looked to be seething silently. Her pale face was glum, but coolly fierce with frustrated anger. Softly, she spoke. "Are you sure about that?"

We held each other's eyes.

I did not answer.

There was no way out.

As we had no other means of gauging time and no solid guarantee that the food was really sent once a day, I took to counting the rice bowls.

I had arranged the bowls that I alone had emptied at one spot in the cell, stacked them up by a wall. In the last two bowls we had tried everything we had. The Chakra Concussion Blast, a number of attempts at Rasengan, a Weight of Spirit laden shoulder smash (Hinata's restraint didn't so strongly hamper her youki, at least) that simply didn't have enough charging space for her to do more than reach the wall at a fast walk and turn her shoulder against it, shaking room (or simply tripping) – all of this, and the wall stood strong, barely scratched.

There were now eight bowls that we'd spent in here – seven stacked aside and the broken one that had been reduced in one part to a stake and the rest material for Hinata to hone her teeth on – wait.

Wait.

Eight…? The last time I'd counted it had been eight bowls, but surely one had come since then? I'd thought…

I counted again. Seven plus the stake on the floor. I looked up–

She was staring at me from across the room.

She didn't even flinch at being caught; rather, Hinata continued exercising razor sharp teeth on a piece of wood in her hand, absently eyeing me. She was like a puppy – a very hungry puppy. Restless. Anxious.

But…

That fragment she was gnawing – it was bigger than the one she'd been working on a bowl or so ago. I looked at the stack of bowls at my side, and back to her again.

"…Did you … take a bowl from over here?"

"Yup."

Not 'I did,' not 'yes,' not even 'yeah.' Just 'yup.' Why would she even… Surely she knew I was using them to keep time, right? No – maybe she hadn't realized. I was being paranoid. "I didn't notice…"

"You were 'sleep."

I gulped. She kept on watching me and sharpening her fangs.

My mouth opened, dry. She'd snuck up right next to me – while I was asleep. "Could you not… mess with stuff–," Like the room had so much to mess with, "–while I'm asleep?"

Full consciousness sparked in her eyes. For the first time she lowered the fragment to speak. "Okay…"

I nodded. She went back to watching me and sharpening her fangs.

I could only stand to watch her watch me and sharpen her fangs for so long. Silently I wove my fingers behind my skull, rested my forehead on my knees.

In the next few bowls she spent less time helping me brainstorm and more time watching me brainstorm – and sharpening her fangs.

There really was no way out…

But there had to be a way out.

I would find it.

We had to get out of here, before Hinata either starved or lost contr– starved.

This bowl was also here off-schedule, no question. The last had been late, and then this one comes early. I knew it.

They really were just screwing with us!

There were twelve bowls – nine stacked up, an untouched stake, and two that had been torn up – when Hinata first mentioned autocannibalism.

She was in an awfully laid-back mood as we sat across from each other, I thinking, her drawing a clean cut across a bowl fragment with a fang. She'd been talking to herself, on and off, since we'd woken up. She was getting delirious, I guessed. But at some point, her rambling musings turned… unnerving.

"You know… I could take a sip of my own blood, a nibble of my own flesh – but the energy gained would hardly make up for the energy spent regenerating it…" Her bitterly amused tone was that of one who doesn't know whether to laugh or curl up and cry, steady and pitiful. She looked at her hand, and at the shiver that was becoming its constant companion. "'Conservation of energy' or whatever, right? Hehe… You must think I'm sick."

I opted not to reply.

"But then… I can live without an arm," she fancied grimly, tossing the idea around. I saw her look briefly at her right arm and left in turn, debating.

"All it's doing… is using up energy. But if I were to…"

Her eyes were intent; her claws hovered at her left shoulder as the thought trailed off, hanging in the air. That was when I blew up.

"Shut the fXXX up, will you? ! Just stop it already!"

She jumped in surprise, as if snapping out of a daze. "Naruto…?"

"Just – stop talking, Hinata. Please."

Without waiting for a response I buried my forehead in my hands. What the hell. What the hell.

Was she seriously considering it, or had it been an act? What game was she playing with me here?

What the hell do you do when she starts talking like that? Offer your own goddamned arm?

When I opened my eyes, it was dark.

It was dark, and the air stank of copper.

I turned my head as a splash of blood peppered the floor. The wet crunch of flesh met my ears as a demon tore into her prey. Her tail flicked, knocking into a heap of fresh-stripped bones – what had recently been a left hand and arm – as she snapped and snarled, feasting on her victim's shoulder. The dark figure pulled away with a deep moan, head tilting back – and then lifted her own remaining arm and slammed claws across the corpse's torso, so violently that blood splashed against me. Greedy fangs dived and attacked hungrily, crunching and slurping, before she lifted her head with a dripping length of intestine in her teeth, tore it loose, and snapped it up until it was gathered in her mouth to swallow.

I wanted to speak. No words came out. Heart pounding, I drifted nearer.

The body was splayed in the part of the cell where I typically slept. His entrails were being made a meal of as the contents of his open belly were devoured. The torso, the shredded shirt, and the ground around it were little more than a mess of deep crimson. The arm I could see had been stripped nearly bare of flesh; across the throat lay a vicious, jagged gouge. And as I saw the face…

I saw my own gore-spattered face and glassy purple eyes, and opened my mouth in a soundless scream.

When I really woke up, I was really screaming.

I slapped my hand over my mouth – felt about my sweat-soaked face, my intact neck – breathing – I needed to slow down. I would hyperventilate. My arm was undamaged. I was alive. She – she'd never do that to me! I was alive! Of course I was alive!

"What's wrong?"

I looked across the room and didn't even care that she had probably been staring at me. Both arms attached – she was in one piece. I ran across the room and threw my arms around her. She whipped her head around in surprise, striking it so sharply against mine that I recoiled with a grunt and toppled to the floor. She scowled, confused. It didn't matter. ShXt!

I scrambled back to my spot and fell over on my back, hands grasping my hair as I laughed aloud and bawled in terror.

Oh my gods. Oh my gods.

If her actions were being dictated by survival…

–"You can have the rice. I'm not hungry…"–

Even way back then – had she been looking out for me, or already looking out for the food chain?

No-no-no-no-no. I was not being fattened up. With so little food, I was actually losing weight. Surely surely surely I wouldn't taste any better than I would've before.

On second thought, the above doesn't make much sense. Logically she could just be planning to stay alive for as long as possible. Hypothetically speaking, of course, if she were to wait until the brink of starvation, twist off my arm while I slept, and stopped the bleeding before taking her meal, she could last however long until she was hungry again, lop off the other arm, keep feeding me rice, hack off a leg, and, and … yeah.

If she were to hypothetically do that and eat me bit by bit, just imagine how long it could hypothetically take me to hypothetically die!

I buried my face in my hands.

"Stop pacing."

I halted, blinking as I looked up. "Huh?"

My companion's eyes were stony; she sat with her arms around her knees, head down so I couldn't quite see her mouth as she spoke. "It's bothering me. Stop it."

My brow furrowed; Hinata had never been one to give orders to someone. Still, I had to shake my head. "It helps me think. If it bothers you that much why not stop gawking at me?"

She snorted roughly. Like that would be happening.

Teeth clenched, I continued to pace longwise down the ten feet of cell floor. Far from looking away from me, the girl seemed to study me all the more intently as I inevitably approached her on my course; she traced every muscle with every step, every move of my arms, every breath in my lungs.

I paused before the wall, a short arm's reach from her side, and my eyes edged down.

The predator's icy eyes were studying my movement, and the pattern of course demanded that I now turn my back.

If I showed her fear, all would be lost.

My back turned. I counted my steps to the far wall, ten feet away.

Tmp…

Her eyes, boring through me.

Tmp…

Her teeth, bared.

Tmp…

Seeing her rising to her feet, claws out.

Tmp…

And now springing surely, silently, across the room.

Tmp.

The wall. I would turn. I would now turn, and with deathly precision her claws would be slitting my throat.

She was sitting at the far wall, staring at me, unchanged.

I fell back against the wall and slid dizzily to the floor, unblinking. I resisted letting myself breathe fast as my body wanted to. We had to get out of here. We had to get out.

Lee リー

I moved through the treetops at a noiseless dash, sandaled feet meeting and leaving branch after branch in blinding succession as my body cleared the distances between them with swiftness but unerring precision. Eyes set determinedly ahead, I darted forward along a number of trunks before springing in a final grand leap, flipping once in the air before my feet meshed silently into a branch shadowed by foliage.

I was upon my destination.

The guard had been upped dramatically since the raid that had freed fifteen jounin nearly two weeks prior; that I could tell so easily it had doubled gave tell of the importance of the ones held captive inside. Quickly I counted the number of Sound shinobi overtly stationed in the open about the building's parameter, and in a moment more picked out a number well to poorly hidden. I also took note of patrols.

Of particular interest to me was a lone Oto-nin passing with a yawn beneath my branch.

I slid from my perch; he never looked up. Before he knew what had hit him the man was greeted near soundlessly by the damp earth, my hand locked over his mouth. With him I shoved quickly into the cover of a large tree trunk and the bushes that lined its back.

An intended yell died young in his throat as he felt the cold steel resting keenly across the corners of his mouth. My voice was stone.

"I will move this blade, and you will not cry out for help."

I did my part, and he did his. Before he could so much as sigh in relief the wakizashi in my hand was under his chin, pointed at his throat. He blinked at me, fear in his eyes. "Y-you're the…!"

"Never mind who I am. Where are they?"

"U-um… who–?"

The steel tip was pressed so firmly at his throat that he dared not speak another word. "You know of whom I speak. Now if you please, make both of our lives easier – well, in honesty, make my life easier and your life longer."

The moment I eased up on the pressure he sang like a fast-whispering bird.

"Four levels down – it's the cell we call the Coffin. The third basement level, actually, there's only one path – there's a trapdoor on the east side, a short drop into a hallway that leads to a dead end. The Coffin's on the other side of three feet of stone, sealed up from the inside and out for reinforcement– only authorized personnel can activate the transportation spell to move to or fro-o-om–!" He croaked to a halt as the flat of the blade pressed hard against his windpipe.

"Arigatou," I said, and withdrew the blade whilst shoving the back of his skull into the base of the tree trunk.

My arm and leg weights were stacked neatly on the ground. I rose, slipping the short sword back into its sheath. Then I strode into the open air and sunlight.

Dozens of sets of eyes were on me in seconds. Whether prison raids were as of late becoming a regular threat or not, never before had they seen one walk as I now walked, alone, calmly into the open.

The mark of the Leaf glinted at my forehead. Snapping to, the guards about the perimeter gathered at the side of the prison I faced to confront me, weapons up. I halted twenty yards away; my level eyes slipped left and right momentarily as whispers crept into the air.

Finally, a man at the prison wall spoke. "Who… Who are you? !"

My mouth opened. "I am called … the Green Beast…"

I met their eyes, fierce.

"I am, now and forever, a shinobi of the Village Hidden in the Leaves!" I bellowed. "With these two blades of Kozue Kuri of Stone, with this wakizashi passed down from the harsh lands of the samurai – with the discipline of Might Guy-sensei and Washi-shishou of Mist and Iron that has been beaten and tempered into these bones, and with this one body that I make as strong as it may possibly be – with these two callused fists, with one unconquerable spirit, and with the fearless HEART of a FRIEND I stand now before you! And I, ROCK LEE, with all that I am, hereby CHALLENGE EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU! !"

For many seconds there was silence. None moved; none blinked. Then, with a snarl of scorn, the shinobi who had demanded my identity sprinted toward me, darting left and right, slipping a dagger from his belt.

My fingers were brushing a katana hilt as he lunged, furious.

SNCKT…

The dagger clattered to the earth as he staggered past me. The man's eyes edged toward me, his mouth open as he lost his footing.

At my side his slit throat exploded with crimson. A sharp streak of blood met my face. He thumped to the ground.

I was confident none had glimpsed more than perhaps a flash of light in the instants the sword was drawn. Such was Iaidou.

Art of the Quickdraw…

Ignoring the blood on my face, I looked up. "Next."

The next came from behind. I turned my head. The shuriken he hurled were repelled by a wave of invisible steel before I turned halfway, shoulders to the side, my calm eyes alone facing him head-on.

…His running form was poor.

My foot snapped around high, and he was thrown away from me with his jaw soundly crushed.

"Well?" I called, glancing around. I spread my arms. "I am alone. I have not a single ninjutsu nor genjutsu; all I have I have already told you. I will not engage someone who intends not to attack me, but by all means, if you feel you are a match for me, come forward!"

Four blurring forms scattered and approached, racing from different directions. One was apparently the leader.

"You three! Get ready to–!"

At this point a shuriken in the ground near my foot had been caught under the lip of my sandal, flicked curtly upward, plucked by my fingers from the air, and loosed powerfully. It lodged deeply in his throat, and his rage-red face went white as he fell.

"Gozu-san–!" a kunoichi cried. Letting their attention flicker toward their dropping comrade as they stumbled unwittingly into range was their last mistake. A Quickdraw later my katana clicked into its sheath as I resumed full height. Gouges at once riddled their bodies and the earth, and the three fell.

Then my hands were grazing both hilts; another was charging, head-on, with impressive speed. The man was speared on my blades as I ducked forward and whisked them out; the right-hand blade was hilt-deep through his abdomen just to the left of the left-hand one: they were crossed, as were my wrists. The man sputtered.

"Acceleration," I muttered, and swept my arms out to scissor him in two.

I stepped over the divided body after both pieces had thudded to the earth, curved swords spinning at my sides as the hilts were rolled about my hands. I caught them with a snap of metal on air, whipping blood clear. My gaze challenged stunned onlookers.

"Well?" I demanded again. "Who else can match me? You?" A man twenty-five yards away staggered back in fear under my firm gaze and the katana suddenly leveled at him. He stumbled and tore off his weapons holsters, casting them to the ground. "Then you, perhaps?" I tried, pointing to another. The kunoichi jumped in terror, as if my eye and blade combined held the potential to smite her where she stood.

I lowered my weapon. "Is that it, then?" I asked of them all. "If no more are willing to step forth upon my challenge, I will be on my way."

My stepping in the direction of the prison woke them up. "Idiots!" a shinobi barked. "If we fail, Orochimaru-sama will throw us to the beasts!"

Beasts…? I puzzled, observing as a chill of fright swept through their faces. I frowned. "Throw down your weapons if you do not wish to face me," I ordered. "Better yet, give me what I seek before I am made to take them from you. Oto or New Oto, if you will fight for Konoha we will shelter you."

They wavered. The one who had spoken was white-faced, teeth clenched. "Liar!" he hissed, "You lie!"

Together, furious and desperate, he and many others charged.

Kuso… I flung a katana into the air and darted ten meters in a flash. The surprised Oto-nin's punch was dodged as I slipped aside, folding my left arm over and around the attacking one so that I could plant left hand on the back of his skull and force his head against my shoulder. My right snatched the spinning blade from the air as it fell – and plunged it heavily into his back. My right foot lashed up at his side, kicking another rusher even as I pulled the sword free and pointed it high in the air. The man was doubling over at his gut as the first fell, and my falling blade Accelerated to a slash, gouging its length beside his neck.

Sharply I flipped the blade in my left hand, pointing it right. I lunged into an attacker coming at my right side, meeting his throat with an upraised elbow and his abdomen with a stabbing sword; kicking away to free my weapon, I spun sharply to run my other katana across his throat before snapping into a jump kick that sent his body crashing hard into a living comrade's. I landed sheathing both swords, and turned to draw my wakizashi whilst cutting blindingly past another. The blade held level, I slid to a halt in a low crouch; the man's head and body landed quite separately behind me.

"Come!"

I rose, leaning outside a stabbing kunai knife and grabbing a firm hold of the back of my attacker's shoulder. I whirled, spread my feet in the dirt, and with a roar of might swung my arm around and hurled him away.

The man's flung form collided with a charging kunoichi with a dully solid crack. After a pause of resistance both went shooting into the wall of the prison twenty more meters away with a tremendous crash, blasting a plume of smoke into the air.

Naruto ナルト

"Rasen–!"

BOOM!

Thirteen stacked wooden bowls fell over as the room shook; the feeble Rasengan burst in my hands, and the shadow clone I'd thought to have help me shape it dispelled with my surprise as I stumbled off my feet. "Wh– what the heck was that?"

Hinata had sat for the last hour with her back at the wall, leaning into it with her head back, sometimes staring into the ceiling, sometimes shutting her eyes while awake. Now her ears twitched; slowly she got to her feet, still looking up. "Something happening… above," she muttered, blinking dully.

"Above…?" Getting to my feet, I grinned. "They're coming for us! That's got to be it!" I exclaimed, grabbing the girl's shoulders gently. "We're getting out of here, Hinata! Isn't that great? You'll be okay – pretty soon you'll be able to get some meat in your belly–!"

She hadn't looked at me since she stood up; her head hung, and messy bangs hid any view of her eyes. She had grabbed my arm a little after I'd taken her shoulders, but still I wondered if she was hearing me. Whether she was or was not, at the word 'meat' her weak hand clenched at my forearm with bruising intensity.

Coincidence. It was just a coincidence. Her head was a little mixed up – she'd gotten dizzy, and so had tightened her grip. That was it. There really was no reason for the sweat that broke out at the back of my neck.

Still I moved my hands slowly from her shoulders. Her hand followed, staying at my forearm even when my hands had fallen to my sides. I swallowed.

"Hinata-chan … so, you can let go of my arm now…" When she gave no answer I tugged carefully, a spontaneous flailing of instinct – escape. Still, an unyielding moment after, I tugged harder. Silently the girl who hung her head wearily, who had been feeble and lethargic minutes prior jerked my arm back, and as she reaffirmed her grip I felt my bones soon to breaking.

She would not let go.

I opened my mouth to speak her name, but no sound came out. I meant to try again. Before I could, it happened.

She looked up at me with murder in her gleaming eyes, hot breath steaming past two pointed fangs just barely visible in the shadows.

I can tell not if she lunged then or if my recoiling from the sight pulled her along, but she came toward me. Training took over. I flipped over her, twisting her arm behind her back as I knocked and pinned her to the ground. I paused a moment, breath catching – and levered my elbow clean into the base of her neck. She stiffened, and dropped unconscious to the floor.

I stared at her for a minute, breathing too fast. Never… never had I been looked at in such a way. This wasn't a scornful old villager glaring at me as I passed – this was sheer starving bloodlust, the wild hunter sighting prey.

She'd been too weak – she wasn't that weak. I knew for a fact. I'd been able to knock her out – this time – because she let me, I realized, whether fully to her consciousness or not.

But when she woke – when she woke, who would she be? The girl, or the beast? And I her friend, or little more than a heap of fresh meat?

I shook my head, lips parted, a hand sliding down my sweat-streaked face and resting about my mouth as my teeth trembled, my stomach shook.

Calm down. Calm down. My eyes focused.

My eyes focused, and I found myself looking at a curved wooden stake, untouched on the floor.

Hinata ヒナタ

When my mind stirred, the first thing I felt was the perpetual hunger twisting a gaping hole into my gut. It hurt. If I got pulled in by it, I forgot to breathe…

I groaned and opened my eyes. I was situated against a wall.

At the opposite wall Naruto was sitting with his legs folded up to his chest, arms around his knees. I couldn't see his mouth or much of his nose. Only wide, wary purple eyes, studying me carefully.

I cringed, eyes trying not to water. I remembered. I had looked at him, but I hadn't been me – and he hadn't been Naruto at that moment, not to my eyes. Just… just… What could I say? How could I explain it in words the human would understand?

No – no, no, no, not the human. He was human. I was human. We were no different. Humans. So he was not the human. He was Naruto-kun, just Naruto-kun, and everything that made him just that had drawn me to love and to stand by him. And now…

He thought I was a monster. I could see it. Even as emotions cowered in my eyes, his objective gaze did not let up, not for a second.

No words were spoken; I wanted to, I knew I could, but I simply could not. I had to look away.

The stake. It was nowhere to be seen. So, he'd taken it, had it on him. That was good, I told myself, even as my heart sank. I'd told him to hold onto it from the start. I was dangerous; I shouldn't be trusted, as I was. Timidly I met his staring eyes, trying to convey … something. Approval? I couldn't trust my own mouth. If I opened it, would I tell him I was glad he had finally taken my advice, or would I sneer, taunt the fear he concealed, and chuckle that he might think that thing enough to overcome me if I so chose to end his miserable existence?

My teeth clenched hard. I looked down; perhaps I could not trust my eyes.

The great moon was coming, stoking my wild half, rousing it and demanding action. I could feel it. It would rise tonight, but already I could feel it, rising, howling in my veins. I had to fight it. I wrapped my arms around my aching stomach. I had to fight.

I looked at him again with yearning in my eyes, yearning for him to understand what I felt. It was useless. I didn't need sympathy now, and I didn't need trust.

I needed him to fear me. Even to hate me. If he did, he wouldn't lower his guard. And if it came down to it, he would put himself first. He had to…

Whatever I may have been trying to convey was lost to us both. Still not a word was spoken.

We could get little more than ten feet away from each other.

We had never been so far apart.

Lee リー

My weighted sword crashed into a blocking blade at a man's side, and I pushed my chakra to void the first weight magnification seal. The shinobi was in turn driven into another Oto-nin as I whirled, and the two into another; with each impact I released one additional seal. Then, with all three stacked up, my chakra surged to nullify the remainder. "Acceleration!"

The blocking knife shattered under the blast of force; the three were slashed and sent sailing away.

I… Sweat burned in my eyes. I must not lose.

The sturdy wakizashi flashed from its sheath, darting, hacking, parrying in coordination with a katana as I fended off and felled enemies in opposite directions. Not a movement was wasted.

For those two…!

Something impacted the back of my skull; the second I flinched they were falling upon me. I blocked a knife, and a fist met my cheek. Shoving out hard with both katana, I forced most a few steps away and whirled in time to leap clear above the lunging stab of a longsword. I locked the blade passing beneath me between two notched hilts above and the crossed blades below. Then my feet shot forward into his face, and with a cracked neck he fell. I backflipped over a flurry of shuriken, twisting into an axe kick that smashed the thrower's skull. My feet met the earth for an instant, and I sprang high, away from the converging mass – and plunged into a Dynamic Entry that wiped out two more, driving them through the dirt.

I rolled as I hit ground, rising to my feet and whipping out blades, backpedalling swiftly to parry furious blows thrown by the rushing straightsword of an elite. I blinked – blocked with one sword, gutted him with another – and turned to two more elites on the attack. They wielded their knives in concert and with fury, and I fought to parry both with my twin blades. Converging – I was not moving around enough. More were closing in. I would be trapped. White-hot pain nicked my shoulder.

But… I must not LOSE–!

With deadly speed a wave of sand blasted past me, veered and whipped around – snatching up enemies in a radius about me and diving, twisting up into the air. Gaara materialized in sand before me, sliding a short way in a crouch on his feet, arms crossed and straight as the great missile shaped at its fore a draconic head. It gaped only a moment as if to roar, and then doubled and twisted in on itself, the entire mass of sand and bodies corkscrewing as it fell–

"Hah!" Gaara grunted, flinging his fists out – and with a booming crack the sand compressed and exploded, a bloody firecracker, flinging a shockwave across the earth. It rained red.

The Suna boy looked back crossly. "You snuck off…"

"I… I did. I am sorry."

"You're sure you wouldn't like to order me to flee?" he sneered, turning his back to mine and glaring at a scattered bunch of enemies on his side.

"Yes, now let us fight!" I cried.

The boy actually smirked as he raised his arms, wrapping himself in a column of sand and melting to the earth. The sand puddle spread thin as it swept forward along the ground – and erupted in the midst of the foes he'd been eyeing, throwing five into the air to be shredded to pieces. Churning sand surged beneath Gaara's feet at his bidding, carrying him toward others in a wickedly curved path, and he surfed a ways before kicking it forward to blast them away. The missile then arced skyward, forming a cloud a ways above before unleashing a deluge of violent rain. "SAND Shower!"

BOOM-BOOM-B-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!

That is right…! I thought, readying my sword as I faced another throng of foes. Together they charged.

Whether or not it is my fault as the older brother for allowing them to be captured… trying to do this on my own…!

I leapt and slashed, leapt and slashed, kicked, hacked, leapt and slashed – dancing madly about them as a beast of battle, felling each rusher as he or she came in one valiantly sharp stroke of my sword. Trying to save them on my own…

Would just be selfish!

I shouted, cutting another down.

Many remained yet. The guard here was ridiculous, a testament to how highly the Sound valued its possession of these prisoners. Still I fought, with Gaara at my side, with all that I was and all that I had.

And still they fought, half-mad with the fury born of desperation.

One of my arms dripped with blood; they pressed on in attempt to overwhelm me with sheer numbers. A kunoichi I stabbed gripped my sword in her dying breaths to keep me from pulling it free. I felt the depths of their desperation, the height of their ardent fury, their incredible oneness as hands grabbed at my arms and clothes and hair, fighting to immobilize me as others punched and kicked and brought weapons to my flesh. With a roar I thrashed like a man possessed, lifting clinging people from the earth; I stomped, and the earth quailed; I kicked and shoved and swung with all my might, beating and pounding them back in a struggle to break free.

When all were flung off in a heave of force, I lashed my katana instinctively toward a new rusher barreling in fast. Having had ample time to prepare his jutsu, the shinobi stood hulking in an armor of stone, but still charged at great speed.

My sword glanced off an armored arm. Then a stone-coated fist smashed my stomach in.

Blood shot from my mouth. I barely felt him grab a hold of my head before a huge foot kicked up, nailing me in the gut and lifting my feet from the earth.

N-no!

A hand at my upper back – and I was shoved and smashed straight into the earth. A horrible crash of shattering stone and shattering bone struck the air. I broke in more than one place.

Chikusho…! I thought as crimson exploded from my mouth. People shouted and ran up. I lay shaking as some stepped on me, grabbed my arms, as one pressed a knife to my neck, barking at me not to move.

It cannot… end like this–!

"LEAF! GREAT! HURRICANE! ! !"

Whop-thak-crk-thop-bam!

"Haha! That's four for me, Ka-kashi! Make sure you keep count – you're already behind!"

"Yeah, yeah…"

Is this… happening? I wondered, blinking at the sandaled feet that had landed in front of me. Gingerly I pushed myself up, turning my head to see the messy-haired man look my way with warm eyes, face strong and proud… of me? "S-sensei…?"

He flashed a thumbs-up, giving me a top-notch smile. "No student of mine's going to charge into a maximum security enemy prison without a little backup!"

Moisture pooled in my eyes, and I sniffled. S-so cool!

"Can you stand?" A hand came to my shoulder, and I looked to see Yuuhi Kurenai knelt at my side, red eyes trained calmly on our daunted foes. Gaara blurred in and backed nearer to us all, staying alert.

"I – I think so. Sensei, you three – how are you here? Jiraiya-sama…"

"It would be poor form on our part to turn our backs on our students…" Kurenai-sensei began coolly.

Hatake Kakashi nodded, popping his neck. "No matter what Lord Jiraiya may think of our actions, I'm not particularly fond of leaving a comrade behind. As soon as one person – one crazy kid set off after them, my mind was made up. Now I realize how foolish we were. We've called you three the face of the resistance, but you're not just some trophy image for us to brandish and flaunt as we please. You're not our face; you're our heart. Our spirit. They thought so, too," he added offhandedly, glancing back.

"They…?" I looked back confusedly. In a few moments my searching eyes widened. Hidden among the leaves were dozens of pairs of cool eyes, rugged and menacing figures huddled motionless in the shadows. "For us…?"

"The idea of following you was met with remarkable enthusiasm back at base," Kurenai explained with a hint of a smile. She helped me to my feet.

"Exactly," Guy-sensei growled heartily. "They think to demoralize us, but we're not the scared pile of prisoners we were. As Kakashi said, you three splendid youths embody our heart, the roaring flame of our spirit! We're here to inform the Sound that we do not appreciate them messing with that…"

I could hardly believe it; still, I was unable to shake a sense of urgency. "We need to hurry," I said, though not even certain what exactly inspired me to voice it. It was a gut feeling, then. I would follow it.

Kakashi nodded at me. "Your orders, then, Commander?"

I was startled a moment; there was no sarcasm in his tone when he addressed me then, no jesting mockery in his eye. There was calm and honest loyalty, nothing more.

My jaw set; I drew a katana from its sheath. That is right; we are not alone anymore.

The blade was thrust skyward. I inhaled deeply.

We have become shinobi … that people can believe in.

"CHAAAARGE!"

"Aa!"

Naruto ナルト

I stood up quickly – maybe too quickly, I realized belatedly, perspiration at my brow.

S-sudden movements…

But what was I supposed to do, keep seated while she trudged toward me? By the look of it, though, my startled slip hadn't provoked her as it could. I still couldn't relax. That didn't necessarily have to mean anything.

Who… who are you, right now? Hinata the girl, Hinata the beast – I couldn't tell. Her head hung as she walked – a short ten feet, and she closed the distance slowly, so slowly, while fully capable of crossing it in a single strong bound. My shoulder blades pressed tensely against stone. My mouth fought to open – my throat fumbled with the air–

"You don't like me anymore, do you?"

I blinked. The sunken eyes that had met mine were milky, blankly woeful and distraught. There was a strange light to them, an intensity without focus; they betrayed nothing more, but still they drew me into their unnerving depths with a petrifying allure. I wanted to reach out, to fold her in my arms and rock all her sorrows away – to shelter this hapless, desolate being from harm. So striking was this urge that I nearly forgot she'd spoken.

"No… no, of course I do! I love you, Hinata… Why – why would you say that?"

"You're lying…!" Her voice was a whimper; the nymph's quivering eyes made my heart fold. "I can smell it on you – fear, disgust… I'm nothing b-but some repulsive creature to you now…"

I gripped her shoulders. "Don't say that – that's not how I feel…!"

Her smile was watery as she looked up at me and brightened tentatively. "Th-then…!" She pressed forward suddenly, resting her hands on my chest; her eyes sparkled with yearning, but beyond their pained depths something like unforetold mischief arose. "Then would you… kiss me, Naruto-kun?"

Her nymph's voice lured me in. Before I could answer my head was moving forward, and she met my parted lips passionately with her own. A thrill went through me as the kiss deepened quickly, fiercely, and our bodies pulled together. There was no tenderness here; there was yearning, lust, and strife. I gripped her short hair in my hand and quite possibly bruised her pale lips with mine, and she murmured serenely. I didn't even care that she could probably feel my excitement against her. It was the hottest exchange we'd ever shared.

Then, in the midst of this glory, with a certain uncanny deliberateness – her arms moving to encircle my ribcage, in a manner just a bit too peculiar for the standard embrace, and a keen point brushing along my lip – these sensations combined to scream at me so sharply that I broke the kiss and shoved her away, hard.

She stumbled, but gathered her footing too swiftly, with far too much ease in lightfooted grace for someone in her condition. She cocked her head playfully, looking to me with laughter in those tired eyes. I hadn't been able to tell before, but now that I'd gotten a hold of myself that alien kiss made it clear enough. This wasn't my Hinata – not right now. Her voice came to me from weeks past; it was this knowledge I had chanced to call on now, and it had probably saved my life.

–"One of the worst things you can do, if I'm not myself … is to let me get my arms around you. Your ribcage or your neck, and you're as good as dead…"–

"What's wrong?" she asked sweetly. She didn't even bother to hide her prominent fangs now when she smiled softly, as she had before.

"You – did something to me," I managed, throat dry.

"What, that?" she asked with a nod toward my pants, and I frowned through a startled blush. She stepped toward me again, arms hanging, back hunched, and again offered a smile. "Come on, can't I just breathe you in for a bit, Naruto-kun? Won't you let me listen to the music of your heart? It's beating so quickly…"

"I don't think that's a good idea just now, y'know?" I said, trying to stay calm as I backed along the wall and the focus wavered in and out of her eyes. She followed with that weary but lilting gait, fumbling forward as I stepped back – that watery smile not once leaving her face. My back met resistance, and in a single motion at once rough and silken she was before me, hands meeting the perpendicular walls beside my head. I was in a corner.

Her left hand met my face fondly and rose to play at my hair as she placed her head against my chest, breathing in deeply. "You're sweating, Naruto-kun…" she observed at a whisper, her breath rolling hot along my collarbone. Her nose nuzzled softly and drifted up along my neck, trailed gently by the tip of her tongue; she lapped again, tongue sliding hungrily from the corner of my mouth to my temple. "I don't mind, though… It's salty…"

She'd cracked.

I ducked under her upraised arm and slipped by before her tantalizing breath and strong, captivating tongue could caress my neck again. My hands were fisted as I backed up my safe few feet, and she turned her head with a smile before shuffling on in gradual pursuit, breath ragged, eyes aglow, an arm at the wall for support.

–"If it's big prey, or something likely to put up a good fight… well, that's where the Demon's Bite comes in…"–

"Hinata," I tried carefully, ducking neatly to change direction, stepping back again. "You know who I am…" She snarled in response, apparently unwilling or unable to speak. Her lips drew back from her cracked grin; her dripping tongue flashed across a row of sharp teeth. Each breath was frantic. We were moving faster.

–"It only takes seconds … for it to be weakened, and finally subdued, by the daze."–

Now or never. I was stepping back – she was stepping forward – I would dart past, capture her arm–

My foot slipped on a fragment of wood.

It was all she needed. A living mass of force bulldozed violently into my torso, smashing the wind from my lungs; my back hit the floor with a crash. She was on top of me, straddling my sides, heavy claws biting into my shoulders as she tossed her head back with a cutting snarl that boiled with ferocity. Then she lunged, and her fangs slammed savagely into my neck.

I screamed.

My teeth snapped shut, along with my eyes. I turned my head away as best I could as my eyes stretched wide, and a groan rose in my throat; my neck muscles strained and tensed as I gasped for breath. It was happening – I was going under, and the world was turning mad. It was a feeling so attractive that the idea of resisting it suddenly became the epitome of insanity. Through the pain of her jaw's steel grip I was assailed by wave after wave of giddiness, so strongly that I was brought nearly to laughing in elation as she drank. But this wasn't a sip or quick boost. She was draining me, body and soul. The adrenaline was pumping from the moment I'd been pinned down, but that wouldn't last me long. I had to act now.

"S-st-stop it – stop…! You're hurting me! Hinata!" My pleading fell on deaf ears. I tried to push her away, futilely; I kneed her in the gut, but the blow was weak. Clammy hands pulled uselessly at her hair as I called her name again and again. It was useless, everything useless.

"H-Hinata… Hinata…!"

I was going … to die in there–

'Let me OUT! Let me kill her!'

I shuddered at the feral roar that seared in my skull. F-fox–! Suddenly I was warring with two demons; the Kyuubi's power surged and flared, claws of burning pain twisting and writhing furiously at my gut, thrashing to break free, but I suppressed it. The great beast screamed, trying to wrest my mind from me. I never – asked for your help!

'I'm NOT dying in here, fool! It's us or her! Dammit, I'll take off the wolf-bitch's head–!'

With a shove of will the fox was silenced.

Do not…

…Call her that…

My hand fell from her hair, shaking.

I blinked slowly, taking note of the object pressed against my hip.

A trembling hand quietly drew a sharp, curved wooden stake from the lip of my pants.

I want… to live…

My hand rose silently, my grip so intent that my knuckles popped. She was frenzied with her thirst, singularly focused. She didn't see it coming. Darkness danced at the corners of my vision.

I want… to survive!

Water fell onto my cheek.

In that moment, my hand faltered.

Y'know… I freaking hate it when you cry.

Hinata's tears were falling upon me, from wild eyes, even as she drank.

The stake fell to the floor.

"How did… this happen, to us…?" I breathed, feeble hands struggling to rise until they could cradle the head of the one who was killing me. My chin nuzzled against her hair as she wept. "You're still in there, aren't you? You just… can't stop, this time…"

My eyes were watering as I kissed her forehead. I was getting… tired. "And it's not y-your fault, y'know? But still, knowing you… you're gonna do a lot more crying when this is over. Even if I tell you not to… if I say 'It's fine, so don't feel bad…' You're still gonna beat yourself up over it. Don't," I reiterated, no matter how pointless it probably was, bopping a knuckle weakly against her head for emphasis. I blinked groggily. It was like … falling asleep…

"But even so… I was a fool, to think any different… when the simple truth is…"

A defeated smile crossed my face as I stared into the ceiling, as exhaustion fell down on me.

"…I can't kill my Hinata-chan."

The ceiling rolled and rippled above me, roiling emptiness drowning in my ears as I drew a hollow breath. My eyelids twitched. My arms were limp around her.

I guess thisses it, then…

My shallow breaths grew chaste, useless.

Well… for me, anyways…

My mouth was hanging open. My eyes began to drift heavily shut.

You and Bushy Brow, though… you've still got a village to save…

A whole world out there… to conquer…

I didn't even feel when her fangs left me, but as I registered the sight of her pulling away, I guessed what was coming next.

Ah… I wonder if Lee… would become Hokage, for me…?

The anticipated claws tearing open my throat never came.

Instead, my eyes snapped wide in alarm as Hinata cried out over me, wailing in grievous despair.

I … wasn't dead yet. But the blood loss – could the daze from the Demon's Bite have been causing me to black out faster? I blinked dizzily.

The han'you was sobbing as she bent over me again, tongue flicking once across the wound at my bruised neck. My skin prickled there as puncture marks began to seal. "I'm sorry," she kept repeating at a shameful whimper, weeping pale lavenders bright with concern to the point of terror. Her yearning hands cupped the sides of my head, carefully as if she feared she might break me, what with the fragile ol' human I was. "I'm sorry…!" she said, thumbs gently rubbing my temples. "Just s-stay with me, Naruto-kun! I'll do anything – just don't l-leave me…! N-Naruto-kun, say something, please! Naruto–!"

"You… stopped, didn't you?"

Eyes trembling wetly, she shut them and gave a tiny nod with an affirmative-sounding whimper. They remained tightly shut, and her head hung as if she were afraid to look at me.

That wouldn't do. I reached up slowly; it was hard to move my heavy arm, but not impossible. With an amount of effort I folded it above the back of her neck and let it fall again. Her forehead was brought against my chest, and she opened her streaming eyes in surprise. Honestly, like a bawling puppy…

"What'd I say to you … about crying?" I asked flatly.

She choked back her tears, seizing up in another sob. "Hai!"

"That's my girl…" I murmured, weak fingers ruffling her hair.

To be honest, I wouldn't have minded staying that way for a time, sprawled lazily with Hinata's warm body half on top of mine; heck, I was woozy enough to fall asleep. Unfortunately, we had more pressing matters to attend to – not to mention, I apparently thought very well under enough pressure.

"Hinata-chan?"

"H-hm?"

"What wouldja' say if I told you… that at the most hopeless moment possible, I figured out the way out of here?"

Lee リー

Panting, I raised my head.

"This is your final chance," I addressed at a solid bellow the scarce number of the enemy who remained. "Those who will join us are not to be harmed. Stand aside."

A boy among their thinned ranks who wore the mark of New Oto looked momentarily to those at his sides and stepped forward, unstrapping knife pouch and shuriken holster. These he dropped to the ground, and he turned, watching his Sound comrades warily as he backed away from them, and finally strode to join the group standing at the side.

He was like a trigger; all but a few of the New Oto-nin, the former Leaf shinobi who remained, as well as a few Old Sound ninja, lobbed their weapons to the earth between our forces and moved to stand clear of our path. My force stood still, steadily observant but all at the ready; our level gazes were strong. Eventually the migration from enemy to comrade trickled down and ceased. Seven Oto-nin faced us.

Then, teeth clenched, the frontmost one turned and bolted for the prison. The others scattered smoke bombs and followed suit. My line surged, and a rain of shuriken shot into the smoke to no avail but the ring of metal on metal. The screen faded to reveal land littered with deflected throwing stars, the shinobi nowhere to be seen.

I took off in pursuit. "Kakashi, Kurenai, and Guy-sensei! We are going in!"

"Right!"

Could it be that those Sound shinobi … are going after them?

Hinata ヒナタ

"Youkai Hou: Weight of Spirit."

My body felt airy and insubstantial as our bleak cell's walls were blanketed in light by the innumerable luminous droplets expelled from my being. Naruto started; I gasped, suddenly lightheaded, and blinked carefully.

My body was weak and shaky, my stomach all hollowed out but for what I'd stolen of Naruto's powerful blood, but this much I could do. I had to. We were getting out of here.

"…Weight of Gut."

Naruto's half-limp weight on my back grew abruptly insignificant as the reinforced floor buckled under my squared feet. I growled and fought not to drop where I stood, raising my head and glaring determinedly at the wall a short ten feet away.

"Ready?" I grunted.

Naruto nodded, weak arms draped about my neck tightening securely. "Let's go!"

I started gradually forward with my passenger, face burning with effort as I got moving. By the time I'd crossed the room I'd come only to a sluggish walk, but ignored when I was about to collide with the wall; my job was to simply keep moving.

Naruto's was to swap us both back across the cell.

I felt the effort it took him to pull along my body with his, laden with strange power as it was, but with weakened chakra or not he successfully deposited us back at the starting point, momentum uninterrupted. Acceleration was painfully gradual in the confines of the cramped space, but it continued slowly and steadily. The interval between Shadow Substitutions plummeted as the ten feet were covered with rapidly increasing speed; the imprisoning room that for a time had comprised the glum extent of our world was shaking around us as recently solid stone was beaten and weathered, torn asunder beneath my racing feet.

"Ready!" I growled, rearing my shoulder back, and after one final substitution Naruto pushed from my back – before I cleared the floor in one strong bound to bludgeon my shoulder into the wall.

Naruto ナルト

I coughed on the dusty air as I got to my feet. Leaning on the wall for support, I started shakily forward and on through the exit that had been bulldozed through three feet of solid stone. With haste I staggered up the bare hallway I'd been dragged down what seemed like ages ago, blinking dizzily. At the end of the twenty meter path, Hinata was easing herself from a sizeable crater she'd blown into the wall, but slipped and stumbled, toppling onto the ground and panting with fatigue.

We actually… made it…

Hinata's weary gaze turned upward with a flutter of her ears – and her eyes focused. She rolled sharply aside just as an Oto-nin fell from the trapdoor above, boots crashing down where she'd just been. On all fours she sprang back and darted over to rise into a low crouch in front of me, facing the enemy with a protective arm out as six more Sound-nin joined the first. Hinata's knees shook, however, and her threatening growl wavered; as she fell to one knee and coughed weakly, the seven who'd been initially daunted by the han'you's display of ferocity smirked in confidence.

"What do you think you're doing out here, huh?" the first who'd come down asked, stepping forward and beginning a string of hand seals.

I was critically low on blood, and she was half-starved. Kneeling by Hinata, my hands at her slumped shoulders, I met the shinobi's sneer and swore quietly.

The man finished on the sign of the Snake. "Doton: Great Crusher–!"

In a flash of cascading green and deadly silver, the man was torn apart by a slash from shoulder to side. Drenched in sweat and more than a little bloody at the mouth, Lee lifted fierce eyes from behind the wild spattering of crimson. Brief emotion flickered across his face as he met our shocked stares – and he whirled to engage another foe as Kakashi, Kurenai, and Guy dropped into the fray. Every wet slice, sharp thud, airy evasion, and forceful crack of elite ninja clashing in such close quarters was audible; Hinata and I stayed out of the way, huddled on the ground, and in a minute the final Oto-nin was felled.

Lee's eyes found us again.

"Naruto-kun, Hinata-san!"

Twenty-Two, Part Three: Encounter

The comfortable grip I had on my naginata tightened for a second when we stepped outside. Squinting, I blinked my blinded eyes.

Sunlight…

Kami – we'd only been locked up for some two weeks! What it had been like for Jiraiya or for our jounin I dared not imagine. Gaunt and dark-eyed, the girl leaning on Kurenai-sensei for support looked similarly dazzled by the afternoon sun. I shook my head, and with my arm around Lee's shoulders continued forward after Kakashi and Guy, who'd been first to exit.

My eyes adjusted, and I blinked in surprise. I looked to Hinata, managing a smile, and feeble though she was she mustered up one in return. Then we looked forward upon the Leaf shinobi again, and I raised my staff to rouse from the army a collective bellow rife with fighting spirit.

Our nightmare… is finally over…

With a prepared seal scroll, Kakashi nullified the effects of Hinata's chakra inhibitor before moving on to me. The first thing the girl did was summon Kurogiba, who nearly tackled his little sister for the worry she'd given him; she wrapped her arms around his strong neck in an embrace, and I knew they could only be connecting mind-to-mind as she rested her head for several moments against his. Soon he nodded, looking to us as Kakashi worked on my restraint.

"The two of us need to go hunting. Immediately." He wasn't asking anyone's permission. "Shouldn't take too long, but if you've moved we'll catch up by scent."

"Okay," I said, not leaving anyone room to object. The jounin didn't know of Hinata's dietary needs. I'd wager no one knew what it was like to be stuck in a box with a hungry wolf demon, and I prayed none ever found out. I caught the silent han'you's eerily dull white eyes, and she shrank uncertainly under my gaze. I shook my head, smiling. "It's gonna be fine now. Get better, okay?"

She wrought up a pale but sincere smile and nodded slightly. "Yeah…"

Her right ear twitched in the most delicate of flutters; her eyes blinked as she absently turned her head.

It happened so quickly. The nervous group of surrendering Oto and New Oto-nin were run through by a blast of violent wind. Those few who had narrowly leapt from the path of the blinding ninjutsu weren't given time to notice one of their number turning against them with the smoothness of certain premeditation; by the time we could cry out, they were finished by a blur of knife work.

The cat ANBU known only as Koneko slid back on her toes from her handiwork – and fell to one knee, ducking her head slightly in deference, though a sly smile remained on her face. Before I could wonder to whom she bowed a grand nightmarish snake exploded from the earth, harsh purple scales glinting red in the sun. It screamed once, stretched to an enormous height, and tore down into the scattered bodies of Sound shinobi, some dead, most merely wounded. It lunged in a vicious snap, and a man howled in terror as he was seized and lifted within massive jaws. Crimson rained from the serpent's maw as it clamped down firmly, teeth piercing his body, and an agonized scream was at last drowned as the beast threw back its head and swallowed whole.

Lee was shouting. Kakashi-sensei swore, and I was shocked to see his wide eye lit with dread as he spoke. "That snake…!"

"Easy, pup," Kurogiba was saying. Hinata's hands were grasping at her face, her forehead, as if to steady her; I saw her grimace behind her hand, eyes bulging, as she opened and shut her mouth, took a sharp whiff through her nose.

"Th-that's a – l-lot of blood…"

"What's going on?" I asked Kakashi. "What's that snake mean? Who summoned it – was it the catgirl, or–?"

"No. She… didn't summon it." The man lifted his arm, pointing a finger bleakly forward. I'd expected him to continue; when he did not, I followed his gaze.

My eyes first found again the towering snake that feasted on the wounded or dead, and the Leaf shinobi who fought to stop it. In confusion my lips parted; then I noticed the solitary figure walking before the beast, imposed before this background of carnage, coolly passing the kneeling ANBU girl, and my lips pressed into a firm line. An obscene word crossed my mind.

"Kukukukuku… Honestly, these people let such very special prisoners be freed right before my visit, and then they try to cozy up to the enemy…"

He spoke loftily to a Sound-nin who lay bleeding at his feet, gouged and immobile from the hacking of his wind jutsu. The girl couldn't have been out of her teens.

"Ahh, you… I have trouble remembering… Who was it exactly who picked you, a frail, sniveling child, from a gutter in the streets…?"

"Y… you, my lord, my glorious ruler, in your unmatched benevolence…"

A serpent's sneer crossed the man's face. "You're pitiful…" he said simply, golden eyes flashing so casually with murder. The sole of his sandal nudged and settled on the shivering girl's head. None moved. The man went on uninterrupted, as he'd known he would. "I loathe pitiful creatures."

A sharp, wet crunch cracked into the air.

His own… shinobi…

Orochimaru lifted his gaze and presented before us all a sleek smile that teemed with mirth. His eyes were laughing as us – we were an army, and he one man, and yet he laughed at us with our stunned faces, our fear-frozen joints. He surveyed our number in a lazy flick of the eyes – and then his gaze shifted alarmingly toward Lee, Hinata, and I. "So… these are the famed pups who oppose me so…? Kukuku… I must say, I'm disappointed!"

A chill hit the air and flushed the wind from my lungs. Murderous intent became a tangible pressure on the air. But this was not of the snake's doing.

I could not see Hinata's face well from where I stood, but she and Kurogiba were very, very still. Darkness thickened in the air around her. Her head was down when her lips moved.

"Hmm…?" Orochimaru prompted in a voice like syrup, "Speak up, child. I didn't hear–,"

"You."

It was barely a whisper, but held all the wrathful might of a great and foul being's utmost rage. She lowered her head, slouching. Something bad was happening here.

"H… Hinat–?"

"GWOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAARRRR! ! !"

Her roar was the resonant shrieking of a thousand maddened otherworldly beasts; it shook the earth beneath our feet and erupted in a piercing pillar of ghastly black that darkened the world, struck into and shattered the heavens above. My soul was gripped and rattled by the monstrous utterance – I pinned my hands to my ears as my skull hammered, as the Kyuubi yowled in sudden rage. I saw Gaara crumple, curl into a ball with his hands in his hair. All around us jounin sank or toppled enfeebled to their knees, buckling under the sheer and brutal force of immeasurable and unadulterated hatred.

I blinked with a start as I remembered to breathe. I was on the ground – the air was leaden with malice. Still I shakily lifted my head … to look upon the young demon who stood, fantastically terrible, ears back, tail down, black hair standing and stark white fur bristling as murder rumbled past bared black fangs, from the depths of her throat. Her eyes were insane as they were intent, matching those of a blazing wolf poised at her side, hackles up, pawing the earth and tensed to attack. Only one other person existed to them now.

The object of their hatred only smiled a disgusting smile. Excitement glinted in his evil eyes. "Ohh? So you would be the dear child my Neji-kun regards with such fixation? You seem rather angry about something, but–,"

The ground exploded by me in a blast of dust and wind – and with this fearsome shockwave she was gone.

"Hinata, no–!"

"Milord–!"

An all but invisible blast of force that resounded like the crash of boulders shattering against a cliffside tore the ANBU Koneko from her feet, swatting her aside to send her tumbling rapidly for a harsh distance. With this horrific backhand Hinata came into brief focus with claws drawn back – inches from Orochimaru's face.

BOOM!

Her momentous strike sent the man shooting and skipping along the earth, in a flash lost in the trees and great buffets of dust his thrown body had shocked from the battered earth. Hinata landed on all fours with a savage snarl, simmering in an aura of darkness as she glowered into the distance.

My eyes widened as a blur smoothly took form a few yards from her back.

"Behind you–!"

THAM!

Her head turned just in time to squarely receive the lunging blow of a smashing fist.

Blood was strewn from her mouth by the solid strike – and her hand snapped onto Orochimaru's forearm. Without delay his free hand fired a terrible punch deep into her stomach, but if he had thought to cause a waver in her grip he'd thought wrong. The small demon was moved perhaps an inch – a gurgle of black spilled from her lips. And her other hand latched onto his wrist.

Both arms seized in a crushing grip of steel, he met rising black-and-white eyes, dangerous and feral, and cringed.

Orochimaru's mouth burst open in a yell as Kurogiba's razor-lined jaws closed on his torso with devastating force. The blazing wolf flashed red. Then Orochimaru's skin rippled with the texture of bubbles crawling and swelling beneath it, darkened and steamed from every pore, and with Kurogiba's fierce growl the howling man vomited fire, convulsed, and exploded in flame, all as Hinata ripped his arms in one violent wrench from his body, casting both aside. With this the executioners released the disfigured heap of burning flesh, letting it topple to the earth.

"D–did they get him?"

Apparently Hinata felt otherwise. Claws sank into her right shoulder and withdrew dripping with blood; she growled as her fingers spread. The armless form on the ground swelled grotesquely, and his chin jerked straight out. She lashed down at him with the blades of darkness, but the instant before they could hit his jaws parted impossibly – unhinged – and a fresh new Orochimaru, coated in a film of slime, dived out and beyond harm's way in a flash, slithering in swift retreat. He reared up as the pair of demons lit off in pursuit, opening his mouth to vomit upon the ground, from who knows what corner of Hell, an incredible number of darting serpents that rushed upon his foes in a mass of long, hissing, writhing bodies.

Roaring in scorn, Hinata swung her arm sharply to send blades of raw energy hacking into them once and then again, battering and blasting the speeding reptiles back before they could reach her. Kurogiba came to her side, and together they hurled from their mouths a single barreling jet of flame that seared a gap though the serpents' ranks.

The man himself formed the sign of the Snake and brought a fist to the earth, erecting a wall of stone to block the heavy fireball. Kurogiba's charging form leapt ahead, morphing to spiral and rocket full force into the shield as a missile that shattered it in a blaze of black. As the barrier was felled Hinata blurred past with a mad shriek, launching into a dynamically whirling, thrashing flurry of blows even as she sailed. The laughing sannin sidestepped, shifted, backpedalled, escaping it all in a deathly dance of evasion.

He leapt high above a strike, flinging a trio of knives down at the girl; no more than a roar of might – a rippling shockwave of power, tearing at the air – sent them careening off-course before she spat three bursts of flame in response. Thrown upward, Orochimaru spun in the air to dodge them all before his tongue shot and extended from his mouth with pinpoint accuracy, locking around her neck. He landed and turned, slinging her high into the air before slamming her into the earth. Once more he lifted her – now to throw her down hard against the lunging Kurogiba, sending both to the dirt. His tongue withdrew, and he flung out his arms to send serpents stretching from his sleeves, binding girl and wolf alike.

"Kuso!" I swore, "She needs help–!"

Lee, a number of jounin, and I leapt from the path of a massive, sweeping scaled tail as the great snake lashed out. The Oto-nin that it had gotten to were nowhere to be seen: only their blood remained where they'd been.

"Not so ffassst…" the kingly serpent grumbled. "I haven't yet eaten my fill; you lot will have to do…"

"Naruto…" Kakashi-sensei said, tensing in his stance.

"Yeah, I know!"

Hinata ヒナタ

"Have you calmed down? Honestly… My Neji-kun has given me more challenging sparring matches…"

"B…Bastard…! You give him BACK!"

"What's this…?" Another snake slid around my thigh, my waist, and sank burning fangs into my side. Already others were wrapped around my limbs, waist, and neck, biting beneath my jaw, in the meat of my shoulder, in the back of my thigh, my bicep, and I panted as my body burned their pathetic venom. I thrashed once; their cumulative strength held me fast. "Kukuku… You mean to challenge him, don't you…? As you are now, you won't be able to entertain him for long…"

Kill – I had to KILL this foul man! This filthy, festering disease of a creature that had turned everything so wrong, that had nested in my home and set it to rot, that–!

"Still, what a delightful specimen you are…" he mused, the swine. "I only wish I had time on my hands to study you… You've done strange and amazing things with my mark, and acquired a handful of traits and tricks my Neji-kun may never know–,"

"He's not 'yours.'" My voice was a roughly shaped growl, low and dangerous.

"Hm?"

"Don't you dare speak of my cousin like he belongs to you!" I snarled out, "Especially not in front of me! With what you've done to him– Your stinking lips aren't fit to utter his NAME!"

With a growl Kurogiba evaporated in flame, escaping his bonds and reforming in a blazing crack to slash the murderer in two.

Shocked golden eyes stretched wide as the snake's upper body began to sail, independent of the lower.

The snakes around me did not weaken.

"Just kidding."

What was he, made of goddamned snakes? ! They stretched between the two halves, interlocked and pulled, and with much hissing, clicking, and a sharp, moist crunch his body was reunited. A blur of seals – without releasing his hold on the vile serpents that restrained me – and he whipped his neck around to spew a bullet of water straight through Ani-ue's body. He yelled and staggered, fighting to reshape his medium before he was dispelled.

"You're not human…!"

"And what are you, child, hm?" Orochimaru chuckled. "So this is the finest force that bothersome old wolf could summon to stand against me, to thwart me? She herself could not compare… so she sends two fool pups, one of whom has already perished at my hand? She's doomed you to failure!"

My gaze went wild, my face contorting itself in an animalistic snarl, as something clenched and reignited within me, within us both, thundering and screeching.

This man–!

'–Must DIE! !'

"BERSERKERGANG!"

"POSSESSION!"

Never had we made the shift so smoothly, so seamlessly. It may have been in part that I forgot in my fury to concern myself with safeguarding our souls, and he didn't have the caution to check. More than anything, though, that was because we were never so purely as one as in that moment when we seized both upon a singular desire.

Kill.

The snakes were shredded as my body thrashed with new and boundless vigor, with new might, with new intensity. Then we were attacking, dissolving into a chaotic chain of assault by fang and claw, fist and foot, every inch of one body being brought to its fullest capacity to hurt that man, to inflict pain, to kill. He slipped and flitted from our thrashing rage, mocking us with the laughter rich in his eyes. We raged on insanely, striking on scent and sound, breathing the very flow of his aura.

The snake tried at some manner of illusion, and I scorched it from our mind – and at last our claws tasted his side – caught upon his flesh and violently gouged it open in a shower, a crimson explosion of splitting life as we blazed past – he turned, to see his thigh muscle mauled in a single jagged pass of spread claws, great veins ruptured to loose their gloriously filthy bounty in great gouts upon the dirt – we sprang from behind, both feet impacting his back in a supreme crunch of snapping ribs – arm hooked around his neck, and wild hand smashed into his skull, fingers spread, unimaginable strength soundly cracking, twisting his shattered neck.

We pinned his body to the ground, drew back our claws – and he shot from beneath us, along the earth, his body liquid as he righted himself, head snapping upright and around, twisting into place – the tongue shot out, around our waist, yanked us to him to be thrown by a heavy swing to the face. Taste of blood, a bounce, a roll – on our feet – yowling, lunging, slashing.

Behind.

"You say you want me to give him back, but Neji-kun joined New Sound of his own free will. What have I done, really, but grant the fool boy his own desires?"

"You MANIPULATE him–! !"

He vanished again as we lashed around. A stride from our back. "Perhaps. But that troubled child had curled up and found his solace deep within the folded palm of Darkness well before I became his world. His regal hatred… his blackest outrage… I was truly fortunate to chance upon so rare and fine a gem. I have merely… refined it."

"You… YOU BASTARD–!"

I grunted, body snapping rigid as pain surged like lightning from the base of my neck, a clot of agony twisting, tightening, locking me in place. The man only smiled; he began to tease an outstretched obsidian claw in his fingers, taking a lofty moment of observation.

"What is this? !"

"You don't understand…?" He chuckled, and then laughed aloud. "You mean to bring him to the light, yet you yourself dance with darkness?"

"Grrrr…!" I withheld a yell as pain jolted through me, again and again, tearing me apart.

"What a tragic case you are!" he laughed, delighted in my suffering. "When the fight began I couldn't so much as touch your curse, but look now at how swiftly you've fallen! You mean to destroy yourself, body and soul, in this worthless endeavor?" He laughed aloud with mirth, piercingly.

"I will…"

"Hm?"

"I will s-save him! Whatever the cost!"

Incredibly – miraculously – I broke free of his hold.

And I brought my claws heavily across his face.

He leaned away and rolled with the gouging blow, so that my claws only grazed his flesh. He had turned, a sharp spin of evasion – and savagely snapped the rest of the way around, a sword protruding from his mouth.

I hadn't had time to move a muscle. Wide eyes blinked once – I shuddered – and pain lit along from my hip to my shoulder as a blast of black sprayed out from my torn body, splattered profusely to the earth.

The longsword was released from his mouth, and caught in his hand at the peak of the swing. Pained and enraged, I began to move – to attack – when pulsing agony drilled into my neck, locked my joints, rooted me in place. In a violent flash he whirled in place, and a level blade slashed me deeply across the abdomen, drenching my fur, painting the earth with a second outpouring of black blood.

I grimaced. My knees were giving out. He was drawing back again, glee in his eyes.

SHLUGK! !

"A-ah…!"

The sword's thrust had speared my stomach, all the way to the hilt. With this my collapse was caught short, and with only the cutting edge to support me he lifted me to full height and then onto the tips of my toes. One eye screwed shut, I stifled a cough that stained locked fangs and fought to glare at my tormentor. He smirked coldly.

"Hmph…"

With a curt move of the wrist he angled the sword upward rather than straight out – and I screamed as the keen edge beneath my ribcage extended rapidly through me, sawing against my own weight. My eyes spasmed in their sockets and tipped upward, hazy vision flashing as my body seared, but I could not pass out.

I was choking on blood, rigid body shaking and eyes bulging as I sensed he'd stopped – when he dug his cold fingers into my hair, clasping to jerk my neck back before he leaned to whisper into my ear.

"It was fun, wolf-child… I do hope we can do it again sometime."

My mouth stretched wide, every muscle in my body tensing as he at once freed his sword and roughly kicked me away.

I drifted through the air, sailing, sinking, falling… I hit the ground with a heavy thud, splayed and strengthless, mouth hugely agape, and there I lay stunned.

"I'm sure my Neji-kun will enjoy toying with you even more than I have…"

Can't… move… …

"Lightning BLADE!"

Naruto ナルト

Gamabunta crashed down with a sneer of triumph, the earth roaring at the impact. Beneath the Chief Toad the great snake Manda screeched once, and was dispelled.

"Nice one, Chief!" I yelled. Now…!

Already accustomed as a team though they were, Kakashi, Guy, and Kurenai-sensei were taking a bruising as they fought valiantly to hold Orochimaru off; they were good, but already worn from battle. The battling shinobi moved in blurs, slinging an occasional jutsu on the fly as they rushed and attacked. The sannin was cautious with them, but maintained his grin as he taunted and occasionally lashed out at his foes. They weren't doing much damage.

Even if they could land a few blows, what good would it do? He was a freak; Hinata's most brutal efforts to tear him apart had barely fazed him. If we were going to defeat this guy, we'd need to hit him hard.

My teeth clenched. "Bushy Brow! I've got an idea!"

"What is it?" he demanded, coming to my side.

I held up my hand, palm up, as I met his eyes. "Rasengan."

He frowned, but then something in his eyes flickered as it clicked. "You mean…?"

"Yeah," I said, getting chakra to seep from my hand. "We'll need to get on the same wavelength, but for us that part shouldn't be much of a challenge!"

"Yosh!" he said, extending his hands.

Why didn't we think of this sooner? He's got the speed, but not the right chakra output. I've got plenty of power in chakra, but not the speed to shape it, and Hinata was landing somewhere in between. But if I just let loose on chakra, and Lee shapes it…

Then maybe…!

"Here we go!" I said, blasting one final surge of chakra as Lee's darting hands blurred near invisibly about my palm, long-accustomed as he was to the speed and precision needed to wield Infinity's Blade. The air hummed as a compacted sphere of spiraling chakra, violet and flashing blue, took form in my hand. Controlling my chakra, I held it steady and maintained it as Lee pulled away.

"It worked…" he murmured, and I nodded.

"This is it!" I said, raising my free hand. I paused as at that particular moment an uncanny thought occurred to me. Well, why not go nuts with it?

My hand swept down as if to strum a guitar, and as it passed the intense Spiraling Sphere in the direction of rotation three briefly extant clones joined around me in at once brushing a sharp burst of wind chakra into the sphere.

"Shoot!" I yelped as the earth buckled, the jutsu jumping in fury and the hum in the air at swiftly intensifying to a strange, ethereal buzz. Lee had jumped away in surprise.

"What did you do? !"

"I don't know!" I answered, steadying myself and keeping control of the cyclonic chakra, one hand above it and the other below working to maintain it. A few prickles of energy, like four tiny shark's fins of searing white light, danced about its circumference. "But I think it worked! Cover me, Lee!"

Together we charged to the battle, Lee in the lead while I trailed fifteen meters, directly behind. Orochimaru kicked Kurenai aside as she lunged to Kakashi's aid – before his eyes settled upon Lee, leaping fantastically into the air, swords flashing from their sheaths as he whirled and extravagantly fell.

The sannin was looking up, at the faster runner, at the nearer and more immediate threat. He would have to have spotted me. However, I'd bet he had never seen a Shadow Substitution before.

If not for my recent practice in swapping Hinata's youki-laden body with mine, I might have actually lost the compressed cyclone of chakra that was the Rasengan in the transition.

Orochimaru was preparing to engage the sailing swordsman when I drew both hands back at my side, lunged, and thrust forward. For a single instant a shadow clone appeared just before the man, thrust-out palms stretched forward. Then I swapped, and the speeding Rasengan plunged into contact with his gut.

WHAM-AM-A-A-AM-AM-AM–!

The bright violet sphere began to sink into him, shredding flesh with sheer intensity of whipping, cataclysmic energy. The ground depressed beneath us as the air shook with the impact – freezing a moment, and then caught up in the flow of energy and flung to whirl in a rapid tumble of wind around us. The man's eyes grew, his mouth opening as he grimaced furiously at me.

"Th-that… jutsu is–? !"

I hastened the flow of my chakra, and the slashing sphere expanded, flickering crazily, beginning to lift his feet from the earth. I growled.

"RASENGAN!" I shouted, and with a final surge of violet chakra from both my hands the sannin was blasted away.

Orochimaru's body cracked into a tree – and went up in smoke. Splintered fragments of what had probably recently been a log thudded dustily to the earth.

"Kuso…" I swore, panting, as Lee landed behind me.

"Naruto…" I turned to see Kakashi-sensei, whose eyes were shocked. "That– You just… your first Rasengan, a-and you…!"

"Save it for later, sensei," I said, focusing on the figure that trudged into the open.

His hand covered a severe and bloodied burn at his stomach; with a grunt he straightened. "A close call… almost," he mused, smiling though his face was taut with pain.

This guy…

Orochimaru's eyes surveyed the Leaf shinobi. "Now… What to do with you–?"

He snapped to the side. An arrow of some sort pierced his shoulder, passing through in a flash and tearing off into the trees. He grunted, glowering with a frown of confusion. "You…!"

"What was that?" I cried, chancing a look around. Lee turned, and gasped.

"What– what are you doing here? !"

Lee リー

"Hah! So, we finally catch up with you three punks, and look at what a jam you're in!" Sakon sneered from the prison rooftop, arms crossed as a frowning Kidoumaru lowered his bow.

"I can't believe we're actually doing this," Tayuya muttered sourly as she scooped Hinata's stunned form into her arms. Jiroubo stood at her side, ready to defend her if need be, before both leapt back to stand level with Naruto and I. The two on the roof followed suit, flickering to join us; I bit my lip uncertainly.

"If you four have an explanation for this treachery, do tell…" Orochimaru said darkly. The Sound Four apparently held no fear for him, however – or if they did, they did not show it.

"Are ya' really all that surprised, old man?" Kidoumaru spat. "We've had it with being yesterday's news!"

"It was our mistake falling for all those empty promises you used to reel us in," Tayuya continued crossly. "Maybe we were of value to you at one time, but all you're interested in now are your New Sound brats, and your fXXXXXX wolf-boy and Uchiha!"

Sakon nodded. "We thought perhaps you might resume interest in us as the next best thing when Kimimaro's disease finally got the better of him, but we regarded your word too highly back then. Now you've already got your perfect vessels in order, and your true nature shows through! Gathering a posse of little Leaf morons for your image, and sending us – us! – to guard outta' the way prisons like scraps of bothersome trash under your feet–?"

"But no one plays us for worthless extras!" Kidoumaru pitched in. "See, we don't quite appreciate being discarded so easily…"

"Not to mention…" the sturdy Jiroubo added, glancing down toward me a moment. "These guys… aren't half-bad, we think. So we decided: you wanted us out of your way, Orochimaru, and now we are."

"So, reintroducing…!"

"Kidoumaru, of the East Gate!"

"Sakon, of the West Gate!"

"Tayuya, of the North Gate!"

"And Jiroubo, of the South Gate!"

"The Leaf Ninja Four!" they declared together.

No way…

Still glaring gruffly toward Orochimaru, Jiroubo lowered his voice to whisper behind his hand. "So, will you protect us if… well…?" he asked toward me, and I sweatdropped. Well, they probably had good information to offer…

An unnatural chill permeated the air. Orochimaru was flaunting his chakra, and a foul chakra it was.

"Kukukukuku… Gaaahahahahahaa!" he howled aloud, a wicked smile of unending amusement splitting his face. "The temerity of you ingrates! No – I know not whether to name it temerity or IDIOCY! !"

I tensed nervously, muscles preparing. At least, I hoped they were prepared, but was unwilling to test it. The madman only chuckled in mirth.

"I won't kill you now; the appropriate time and place are not upon us. You Leaf people may gather your armies as you please, but no amount of preparation can ready you for the battle to come! You've fallen so tragically beyond salvation, naught can be done for you anymore. Strike New Sound when you will, and you shall crumble under the full horror of my limitless power! Come, Leaf shinobi, you who will resist me! Your fall, your noble charge and dying roar, shall herald the blazing DAWN of the New World – MY world! !"

With that he threw back his head and laughed once more. His terrible cries were resounding across the land even as he melted in white flames, evaporated and vanished.

Naruto ナルト

The round moon shone starkly above our quiet camp in the chilled night. Base had moved to us with the rest of our shinobi when the day's work was fulfilled, so we hadn't had to travel far. I guess I should've felt rejuvenated, what with this and the square meal I'd worked to get under my belt, but I didn't feel it. Maybe it would take a little while.

"Hey."

I didn't shift when he joined us by our campfire, didn't look at him as he spoke, but I think he could tell it wasn't to be rude. "Hi…"

"Kakashi says you mastered the Rasengan."

"…I guess I did. Huh…" My gaze left the moon now, but not to study Jiraiya. My eyes fell from the full moon overhead, and rested upon Hinata.

The girl lay ill and shivering, eyes clouded heavily, hardly strong enough to speak. I had tended the grievous that would have long since killed any other girl before Tsunade arrived with base and took over. Her torn-up body was effectively mummified from the waist to the neck. She would bear scars, and bad ones. Her skin was a white to rival the bandaging, but aside from bruises and old scars completely unmarked: now beneath the full moon though she was, she appeared perfectly human but for the telltale wolf ears and tail of the han'you. Complete exhaustion.

Why… why would you charge in alone…?

Kurenai's eyes remained upon her as if to ensure she made each breath; Asuma-sensei sat at the woman's side, a big hand resting atop her smaller one. Lee's eyes were lost in the crackling flames he tended. Gaara peered over a bridge of fingers, deep in thought. It was Kurogiba who finally spoke. Not a word had risen from him in a long while.

"This is… the product of my own weakness," he began, his voice a solemn overtone to the gently rolling flame around which we all were seated. "I should have stopped her. I shouldn't have let her Berserk. But the moment we saw him, and our boiling hatred overlapped… erupting in the pup, and thus inflaming my own… we were lost." He shook his head, eyes downcast. "Difference is, she can die. I can't." Whether he was speaking more to us all, to his sister, or to himself was unclear.

The youkai picked up the hare he'd been roughly skinning and dropped it in front of the trembling han'you. Kurenai alone began to protest in confusion, but fell silent as the girl's weary eyes lit up hungrily, as she reached out and accepted the fresh kill and tore from a strip of raw flesh in her fangs. Kurenai could only gaze on in wonder as the hungry child, with a frail but certain fierceness, continued to eat.

"He seemed…" My eyes slid to Lee as the older boy spoke. "He just, sounded… so sure of himself. Why? At this point, could he truly have some ace up his sleeve? Or…"

"It doesn't matter what he's got."

"Naruto…"

"But…" Gaara began. "You saw how the monster fought, and he's got a village behind him. It may be that we aren't strong enough after all… And if that is so, what will we do?"

My eyes were on Hinata, her bloodstained mouth as she worked steadily on her hare, quietly ravenous. She was grievously wounded – but she would get through this, if not simply because that's who she was. She was a fighter; she had made herself one. She knew her goal. Surely as she was eating right now, surely as she had the will to survive, she would get up tomorrow, or just maybe the next day, and she would keep fighting.

I looked around the ring of uncertain faces, and I sighed. "Really…

"It doesn't matter what stands in our path – we'll keep at what we've been doing all along, since the very beginning."

"Oh…" Lee said, understanding. He cracked a grin. "Of course – it is the very thing that makes us dangerous, after all. So, you mean…?"

I nodded, my gaze set.

"We get stronger. And then, we fight."

ナルト / リー / ヒナタ \ ハナビ \ ネジ

End Chapter Twenty-Two

Lee: I will defeat you… because I am a master of the Quicksword and the Windcutter!

Hinata: What does that even mean?

Lee: I have no idea!

Naruto: Gen'ei no Naruto – the Phantom has arrived!

Miria: Nickname thief!

Hanabi: Whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa – who the heck is that? ! It's like she's in a totally different style!

Neji: A real, actual character from an, an… (looks dramatically to audience) other… anime–? (Brick to the head)

Hanabi: NO! We are NOT doing this again – I'm too young to find out my life is a lie!

Lee: Okay, just do not make eye contact!

Hinata: G-guys, the fourth wall is–

Miria: Alright! Let's find out which of us deserves the name Phantom!

Naruto: We could do that, or we could FUUTON-RASEN-KAMEHAMEHA! !

BLAM!

Hanabi: And don't come back, please!

Claire: Miria, who are these strange looking– oh no. Don't tell me they're characters from another ani–?

Neji: JUST RUN AWAY!

Goku (instant transmissions in): Hey! Did someone say Kamehameha?

Naruto, Lee, Hinata, Hanabi, Neji: NOOOOO–!

(–static–!)

Jiroubo: That girl… how do you think it is that she wields Orochimaru's curse, even without being bound to Orochimaru?

Tayuya: How should I know?

Jiroubo: It is kind of interesting… Hey, Kidoumaru, do you wanna ask her?

Kidoumaru: What? If you're so curious, why don't you ask her?

Hinata: …I wonder if I should tell them I can hear them from here…

Neji: The rebels are getting full of themselves, m'lord… We can't let them get away with this.

Orochimaru: Oh? What do you have in mind, Neji-kun…?

Hanabi: Sasuke… Just what are you saying?

Neji: Now watch, chuunin – watch from among them as New Konoha trembles…

Naruto: Next up is Chapter Twenty-Three.

Neji: Uchiha, Uchiha… What will you choose…?

Finished! (boogie) This turned out a lot longer than I thought it was while it was still in the notebook, you know? I guess I'm not used to college rule XD

So, now you see why some guesses had me cracking up a bit, mostly because I didn't see them coming. From the preview last chapter, a lot seemed to be expecting 'trapped in a box with a bitch in heat.' However, a few did guess 'trapped in a box with a hungry wolf' would be the scenario. But don't feel bad if you were off a bit! Your only hint last chapter was the point toward the end of it in which Naruto mentions something along the lines of 'We were so busy these days, I practically had to bark at Hinata to remind her to hunt.' ;P

Goood times. XD I am sorry to break up some of the positive mojo that was going throughout the last chapter, but we still have a little more adversity to get through before the big conclusion.

How was the chapter? The angst, the drama, the pinch of horror? I feel like it was a bit sloppy… It didn't turn out exactly how I envisioned it, but stuff rarely does T.T Not my best, but not the worst… Okay, I'm not even sure what I think of this one. So, time to spew some memory refreshers and hope you'll tell me what you thought!

Was the pace alright? The opening, with the storm (I know it was a couple several thousand words ago). Hinata versus Koneko/Kitten? Lee's personal journey, and Gaara's support? Of course a huge part is the interaction between Naruto and Hinata in the prison; was it smooth/ believable? How was the emotion, the tension, the estrangement, the climax? Nice and disturbing? Or just plain weird? I had a blast writing Lee going all beast mode at the prison, but did you enjoy reading it? Thoughts on the Quickdraw? Was his action good, bad, confusing? Were the jounin believable? How was Hinata vs. Orochimaru? Naruto mastering the Rasengan with change in nature – any thoughts on that? How about the Sound Four? Overall view, or details, or questions, or comments, favorite part, least favorite part, etc – Please feel free to review, about anything!

See ya!

Hinata0321