Flower of the Abyss

by katomi-misamoto

Hinata had to go through pain before becoming a true warrior. She starts out as what you may remember, and blossoms into something greater. Powerful Hinata. Rated M for language, violence, and mature themes including abuse, suicide, self harm, and depression. No pairings, yet. ;)

14. Chapter 14: The Last Blossom

Chapter 14: The Last Blossom Until Next Sunrise

Hyuuga Compound: Hinata's POV

2 Weeks Until the Chunin Exams

Throwing my hands up in defeat and exhaustion at the amount of reading I had just done, I finally decided to call it quits and put away the book of macroeconomics and set it down next to my pillow. I promptly fell back onto my bed with a sigh and closed my eyes to silently meditate on life. It's easy to say life has been busy recently with me gearing up for the upcoming chunin exams and the possibility of me finally becoming a chunin which will put me in the position to become clan head if my father decides to step down. Pretty much everyone else is training their butts off for the exams even poor, sweet Naruto had to cut down on his ramen to train more and eat slightly more fruits and veggies. With a slight motivation from me, very politely of course, you know, for the sake of getting stronger and stuff, totally did not threaten to put laxatives in all of his ramen for an entire year, nah, not my thing.

What surprised me the most about Naru-kun was the fact that he managed to have his mission turn into an A-rank, borderline S-rank, and he managed along with his team, to survive. He didn't say too much more so I'll let him be silent on that for now, either way, I may be able to plan a group lunch or something with his team and mine, although I'm not too sure about his teammates. Getting up to stretch, I walk to my window to open my curtains slightly, glancing out at the cloudy day around the compound. A few birds are resting in a tree near my window, seemingly cleaning themselves of whatever is affecting them. It was pretty peaceful around the area, with a couple of maids doing the laundry. I frowned when I saw them, still in their roles that were forced on them with them having no other choice. They never had a chance in the first place, as soon as they were born, it was already predestined. I sighed and shut my curtains, soon they would be free, but it would take a bit of time.

Turning to my clock and seeing that I have at least another hour before sundown, I decided to go take a quick walk around our garden. Grabbing my lavender jacket from my closet and loosely slipping it on, I walk out of my room door. After a little bit of time, I find myself wandering aimlessly through the halls of my somewhat busy clan compound, smiling and greeting a few members as I pass on my way to our garden. I finally reached the door that led to the garden with beautiful flowers of many different colors and species. After walking out into the garden I let out a breath of peace, glancing over at some roses in a bush. With the amount of free time I have for this day, I still cannot decide on what to do. I could get more studying down, but I've done that enough for right now, my head will explode with more information. However, training for the upcoming exams would also be good, it would be better if I did it with someone though. Letting out a sigh in frustration at my boredom and busy teammates, an idea comes to me finally, "Hanabi shouldn't be too busy right now, Neji is probably tired from his team training." I said quietly, redirecting my intentions to find Hanabi for a little bit of tor…training. She usually is outside around this time, although she may also have a bit of homework to do or something, but we shall see. A few moments later I spy Hanabi sitting under a cherry blossom tree with her eyes closed dressed in her training gear, seemingly just got done training. With slight excitement, I pranced my way to Hanabi as quietly as I could, managing to get two meters behind her. With a shout from me, Hanabi hilariously jumped at least a meter into the air, "AAHHHH!" She shouted having the Kami scared out of her. "HINATA! WHAT WAS THAT FOR!" With a giggle, I kneeled to her level seeing she was reading a book but fell asleep. I picked up the book at the shrine of Hanabi, "Hanabi chan, you cannot afford to get lazy or this may happen while on a mission."

With a huff, she crossed her arms and glared, "I'm not on a mission right now, why does that matter?" She said while getting up, seemingly wanting her precious book back. "Tch...tch…tch…you know, you gotta remember to be on your guard at all times, even when you think you're safe," I said moving the book behind my back. "Come on, give it back my book, it's important," She said as she started to give a few jabs that I easily dodged. "Oh, important eh? What is this book even about anyway?" I asked. After asking that, I didn't miss the slight blush on her face making her look like a chibi tomato, "It's important for my homework, just give it back already." I jumped back slightly out of her range and then glanced down at the book still behind my back. What I managed to see was an orange cover with some character kneeling in a weird pose. I couldn't fully see the title of the book as I turned to see Hanabi rushing at me at what I assumed was her full speed due to the steam coming from her red ears, at least, I think that was steam.

Quickly moving to the right to dodge a sharp jab she changed her trajectory to launch a kick with her left, then jumped into the air for a spin roundhouse kick with her right, which took me by surprise but I was able to also dodge that without too much problem. "You seem to like using kicks, Hanabi…" I said, dodging more of her attacks. "Our clan's fighting style bores me too much…now stop changing the subject!" She said as she moved in to launch a combo. With one arm and the other behind my back keeping the book out of reach, I managed to block or deflect all of her jabs to, of course, her annoyance. She launched another long jab, but to me, she managed to slightly overreach as I capitalized by grabbing her arm, pulling her in my direction while moving my left leg in between her legs, and using my hip to deflect her entire body. With this, she managed to get herself restabilized as she growled in frustration, "Why do you want that book so bad?" She asked, ironically. "Um, well, I should be asking you that, chibi-hime…" I responded.

That set her off as she rushed at me even harder with her Byakugan now activated, "8 TRIGRAMS, VACUUM PALM!" She shouted releasing pressurized wind from her palms. In shock at the advanced technique coming from someone so young, I just barely managed to dodge the attack, "Hanabi-chan, you know that attack already?" I asked in confusion and slight pride. She grinned slightly, "Yeah, you forgot you gave me that scroll, it kinda made techniques that are seen as advanced by other members of our clan, but it is much easier for me to learn." At that statement, I looked closer into her eyes, finally noticing a slight bluish-green glow that is not normal for the normal Byakugan. I smiled in full-on pride, "So you unlocked them too…" I said. Hanabi answered back with another rush toward me, although she seemed to be getting slightly winded. Adopting a more serious look to my face I ready myself for a counterattack at the first moment of opportunity. Hanabi aimed a strick from her left at my midsection that turned out to be a fake as she then aimed a wide strike with her right hand, then a sweep kick with her left leg. Quickly dodging out of the way of the unpredictable attacks, I managed to see her aiming another few jabs, as I deflected and blocked them, adding chakra to my arm to prevent my points from being shut down. Deciding to end this, I quickly struck out with my left arm too quick for her to react, hitting her in the solar plexus and knocking the wind out of her, I then moved to sweep her right leg as she fell to the ground.

"You've gotten good, Hanabi, that was actually a good workout for me," I said honestly as she sat up and glared, "That was nothing for you, you could have ended the fight earlier." I shook my head, "Well, you made it pretty hard for me to do that." She stared back at me in confusion, "But didn't you beat Father with ease with that technique that can shut off his chakra for some time?" She asked. I nodded, "I did, however, if it was a one-on-one like with us, I might've lost, I only really won because of surprise, not too many expect someone to just shut off their chakra out of nowhere after all." She stared back at me still with a face of confusion, "Do you only use that technique?" She asked. I nodded somewhat shamefully, "I did on my last mission, in all honesty, I find myself too reliant on that technique, I'm gonna start working on improving my other skills." I said with a sigh. While being slightly distracted by remembering my laziness, I didn't realize Hanabi had finally gotten up to retrieve her book from behind me until it was too late. Noticing the lack of a book in my other hand, I huffed in exasperation, "Spoilsport…" Hanabi blows me a raspberry in response, "I told you already, I need this for my homework and stuff." Noticing her red face I asked, "What is that book even about anyway? I didn't remember my class using some orange book." I asked while glancing at the cover, "Icha Icha?" I said incredulously as I saw Hanabi move at the speed of sound, she quickly hid the book behind her and ran away despite her tiredness, "IT'S HOMEWORK I TELL YOU!" I sweatdrop as I wave my hand in front of my face to block the dust being kicked up in her wake. "Hm, kids these days…" I said as I made my way back into the compound now that the sun was starting to go down.

Training Ground 8: 1 Week Before Chunin Exams

Nimbly back bending under Kurenai's kick as I back-flipped out of her range to get some room, I looked back up at her with fierce determination while breathing slightly ragged. Kurenai didn't look much better than me as she responded, "You move at great speed, but you need to practice more to improve muscle memory." Panting slightly after the training round, I nodded in understanding. Kurenai sensei has been training us into the ground for the last week. "Kiba, Shino, come here, it's time for the free-for-all round!" She said with a sadistic grin not bothering to hide her pleasure. "Yes….ma'am." Replied Kiba, breathing heavily as Shino followed also looking slightly out of breath, "This….is a very effective workout, sense." Shino quipped up. Kurenai's smile widened, "Indeed, and that's why I will get you three to the finals." I, along with Kiba, and Shino got back into our stances, although shakily awaiting her signal. Kurenai also got into her ready stance, "Everyone ready, begin!" She shouted with slightly too much enthusiasm than needed.

Not waiting any longer, we immediately rush to sensei, deciding to eliminate the biggest threat. Shino let loose his bugs as Kiba and Akamaru boxed Kurenai on her sides as I went in for close-range combat. I immediately canceled her wide-ranged genjutsu that tried to confuse us about her exact location, then lowered my stance slightly, "8 Trigrams, 32 Palms!" I said as I quickly went to strike. She was able to dodge the first 4 strikes and I finally struck her a few times. Our dance lasted for only a few moments as I managed to land a few strikes on her shutting down a few minor chakra points. Kiba took the advantage, "TRY TO DODGE THIS!" He shouted as he and Akamaru initiated their joint drill attack. The attack landed as Kurenai burst into flower pedals and reappeared a few meters away in a shunshin no jutsu. Shino went in for his attack by managing to land one of his female insects on her, slowly attracting other insects to drain her chakra.

We went on for some time until we finally managed to slow her down enough for me to activate my Byakugan and quickly shut down all of her bottom chakra points to stop her from moving. As Kurenai fell over, Kiba and Shino went in to place their kunai to her neck, signaling the end of the fight. "Great job all of you, you got me down slightly faster than before, oh and Kiba, you've done a better job with your patience this time." She said with a smile as I worked to reactivate her chakra points and helped her stand back up. A great emphasis on I, because Kiba and Shino fell over out of exhaustion. Kurenai giggled slightly at the site, "It also seems you all lasted slightly longer as well." She looked towards me, "You're a chakra monster as always." I smiled despite being winded and went to sit down next to my fallen comrades for rest, Kurenai joined me on the other side next to Shino.

Chunin Exams Beginning: Hinata's POV

Waking up to an annoyingly bright, clear day, I quickly got myself up for a shower, today was the day of the exams. After even more work, O have finally made it to a point where I will become a chunin, although I need to get through this test first. Taking a quick pause to look at myself in my bathroom mirror, what looked back at me was no longer a weakling. Now, what I saw was a mature, beautiful woman who went through far, far too much, more than anyone should go through at my age. Taking out a band that held my hair in a ponytail and letting my long hair flow down to my lower back freely, I glanced deeply into the same pale eyes looking back at me. Allowing a small smile to appear, along with a sigh, I finally make my way to my shower.

Konoha Academy, Hinata's POV

Making our way to the entrance of the academy, I spot Mr. King Duckbutt and the Haruno, who seemed to look not too different from when we all were still in Iruka sensei's class. With an evil smirk, while walking past, I gave Sasuke a wink, and Sakura gave me a stern look, clearly territorial of her precious package. I decided to fall back slightly from my team as Kiba remained focused and excited looking ahead to the exams, and Shino, along with Kurenai sensei, also seemed determined in their own way and continued to look ahead at the entrance. *SMACK!* A loud sound reverberated out loud as when I was walking past Sakura, I decided to lay a 'gentle' smack to that somewhat plump, rear end of said pinket. With a surprised yelp from Sakura and a shout of "PERVERT!", I sped back up to my teammates and continued my journey into the academy whilst they remained oblivious, not noticing the arrival of Naruto and the gobsmacked look on Sasuke's face at the act.

Reaching the entrance of the building, Kurenai, who was slightly ahead, turned around with her hands on her hips, her chest slightly poked out, and a proud look on her face aimed at us. "You guys made it, now, do not think this is it, it will only get harder from her, but I have my faith in you all." She said with a smile to her gorgeous face. "YOSH!" Kiba shouted as Akamaru barked. Shino, standing to my left moved over to me and spoke, "There seems to be a genjutsu trap ahead, to my knowledge and what sensei said, the class we are to report to is on the third floor correct?" I turned to him and nodded, "I'll do a scan." I replied as I activated my byakugan, my vision reaching far out to the corners of the village, and being able to see the apparent genjutsu trap on what seemed to be the second floor, not paying immediate attention to the curious look on sensei.

After my scanning, I looked around at the other contestants, seeing no one standing too close to us, I deactivated my eyes and addressed sensei, "Sensei, there seems to be a trap, a low-level genjutsu, how should we proceed?" I asked wondering what to do. I got a response I didn't expect. "Hinata, I give you the rank of captain of this team, your tracking abilities are especially excellent, as your ability to maintain calm, your overall skill, and your ability to work with your teammates, prove to me you're a great fit for team leader, are you fine with that?" With a shocked look on my face, along with Kiba, I stood in silence. I glanced at Shino, earning a nod from him, "You are indeed splendid and a good fit to be a leader, this is a logical choice of sensei," He said. I then looked to Kiba noticing slight apprehension on his face as he seemed to calm down from his earlier jubilation. "I-I also believe she's great, she can sure kick my ass, too," Kiba responded with a resigned smile and an approving bark from Akamaru. Turning back to Kurenai, I nodded with a hesitant feeling inside me, not feeling as if Im good enough yet, but, I had no other choice now.

I took a breath and adopted a stoic expression on my face, earning an approving look from sensei. She stepped out of the way and bid us farewell on our journey, as we finally made our way through the entrance of the academy building. I cleared my throat and spoke quietly but commanding, "I'm sure this genjutsu is some kind of test before the main test, let's ignore it and make our way to the actual room, let's try to keep our heads down and not make a scene, we have to keep our cards close to us, got it?" I said, earning nods from both Kiba and Shino as we made our way past what seemed to be two chunin blocking a random door as some other chunin hopefuls tried to get in with no success. As we made it to the actual room where the test would be held, I halted both Shino and Kiba with a raised fist, "As soon as we enter, try to remain calm, a door opening tends to get people's attention. Shino, as soon as I open the door, send some of your insects and make them scout around and get a feel for our competition. Kiba, Akamaru, sniff them out to get a taste of their chakra nature. After we enter, try to look down and follow me to an area where we won't be seen directly." After my commands, I got three nods from my teammates as I turned to the door. With a breath, waiting for everyone to be ready, I opened the door calmly, trying to keep my gaze downward after a quick glance around.

I walked in calmly as everyone followed, the feeling of their gaze weighed heavily on me and I can assume it made Kiba and Shino uncomfortable, however, I have a history of stern gazes so it didn't bother me too much. Maintaining a stoic expression, I found a spot slightly out of the way near a hallway at the far end of the room and started moving towards it with my team following me. As we made it to the spot, we kept quiet as everyone else went back to their conversations, quickly forgetting about our presence as planned. However, as we waited I could feel chakra that I had never felt before, it felt…wrong and disgusting. I glanced at Shino before glancing at the source of that chakra, seeing someone with a straw hat on and who seemed to be looking in the direction of the door like they were waiting for something or someone. I turned back to Shino as he spoke quietly near my ear, "My bugs are telling me that there are some strong opponents. The one you seemed intrigued by is one of, if not the strongest one here. The red-headed one over there seems to be the second strongest."

I glanced at Kiba as he nodded slowly, "I agree, they seem to be the most trouble out of everyone here, everyone else doesn't seem to be anyone we cannot handle." I nodded and spoke quietly with a hand covering my mouth pretending to yawn, "Don't get complacent, let's try to avoid those two who may cause the most trouble unless we have no choice, let's try to get as much information about them as we can before facing them." My team nodded slightly and returned to observing everyone in the room and entering the room. We were briefly interrupted by the arrival of Naruto's team and the shouts of Ino and Sakura yelling over the Uchiha. With a sigh I looked toward Naruto, getting a defeated look in return from from him as he caught my gaze. I smiled slightly at him as he pouted in misery at his predicament. Later, some suspicious-looking guy with white hair and glasses approached them and seemed to be showing off some kind of cards. After that, some rain team attacked him, making him fall over to the ground with his glasses broken. Later the examiner, Ibiki, finally arrives brings order to the room, and announces the start of the exam.

Exam Room: Hinata's POV

As we sat in our seats ready to begin the test, I sat thinking over the information that my team was able to get from that short period, that white-haired guy, Kabuto, apparently smelled similar to that person wearing that straw hat, according to Kiba. He is not to be trusted and for now, avoided. Not much is known about the one in the straw hat so they also need to be avoided and watched. Gaara, the red-haired one from Sunna, apparently never got scratched in his missions, which doesn't surprise me due to me now knowing his status. He seems to be similar to Naruto since he also has two different chakras, one of which is similar to the chakra that is within Naruto. With a determined expression, I turned back to the front of the room, waiting for the start of the exam.

The test went about as confusing as I imagined, outside of the noble speech from Naruto near the end. Ibiki turned towards the window with a sigh as everyone followed, seeing some kind of black ball hurling its way at the window. With a loud crash, a black banner quickly spread its way across the ceiling as a purple, very attractive and crazy-looking kunoichi made herself known. We all sat in shock at her antics, Anko, apparently is the second instructor of this exam. "ALRIGHT YOU SNOT-NOSED BRATS, MOMAS GONNA HAVE TO LOWER YOUR NUMBERS DOWN TO SOMETHING MORE MANAGABLE! FOREST OF DEATH, NOW! ANYONE NOT THERE IN THE NEXT 15 MINUTES IS DISQUALIFIED!" She shouted as she jumped back out the window with Ibiki face palming in annoyance.

Forest of Death: Hinata's POV

As we neared one of the tallest gates in all of Konoha outside of the village's front gates, the forest of death sat there as I could hear the many different deadly creatures all around. With a sigh at more work and dangerous animals, I turned to my teammates, seeing Kiba with a face of excitement, clearly riled up and ready to get into the forest. Shino stood still as usual although I could hear him buzzing slightly louder in excitement, in his own way of course. In a matter of time, Anko, the 'super sexy kunoichi', finally arrived. "ALRIGHT BRATS! This is my domain, paradise, now here's the rules for this test. One, don't die unless you have a passion for being food for nice, big, beautiful monsters with a need to dull their teeth. Two, remember lesson one. And three, well, no more rules."

Hearing this, everyone, maybe even Shino's bugs, collectively sweatdropped at the antics of the purple-haired examiner. We continue to stand staring back at her incredulously. "Hehe, um, well, MOVING ON! Your teams will be given one scroll, either Earth or Heaven. Your team's mission is to capture the opposite scroll that your team has from another team and reach the large tower in the middle of the forest within 72 hours, oh and remember, killing is allowed." As expected, I heard many other genins gasp in surprise and perhaps a bit of fear. At that moment, Choji decided to speak up, "But what do we do about food?" Anko turned to the poor, virgin genin with a dark smile, "Well, you'll probably just have to eat each other or one of the animals in there. NOW, LINE UP AT THE TENTS TO COLLECT A SCROLL FOR YOUR TEAM!"

After grabbing an Earth scroll, I made my way back to my team, sitting casually on the ground. Looking around at the possible threats that we determined earlier, I adopted a serious face and knelt down in front of them. "Here's the plan, let's try to stay away from Gekko, Alpha, and Beta if we can, we help out any fellow Konoha teams if they wish, we focus on getting an Earth scroll, then, we swiftly make our way to the tower as soon as we can." Kiba, Akamaru, and Shino stared back at me in confusion, "whats with the code names?" Asked Kiba. I giggled slightly awkwardly for not remembering to tell them the names I'd given to the biggest possible threats in the exam, I quickly glanced around, seeing that there were teams still getting their scrolls and no team was too close to us. I continued, "Forgive me for forgetting to tell you. Gekko is for that one person with the straw hat that we saw earlier." I paused to see if they were following, earning a nod from both of them. I then continued, "Alpha is for that red-haired kid, Gaara I think, he seems to be the second biggest potential problem. Beta is for that white-haired kid, Kabuto, I'm not too sure about him, but he is also very suspicious, let's just try to avoid them if we can and focus on the main objective."

Shino and Kiba nodded before Shino added, "I assume you would also wish for me to send out some of my insects to scout out ahead and keep watch on the potential threats, correct?" I nodded, "Yeah, that would be greatly appreciated. Kiba, you and Akamaru should also remain on our flanks and scout around, I will remain on the rear and will activate my eyes occasionally to keep watch from all directions, am I clear?" I asked getting more nods from them, "Good, now let's check our gear, we will rest every hour, but only for a few minutes, we've got dangerous people here and it's best if we finish this as soon as possible." Kiba looked down, slightly disappointed, and spoke, "I really want to get a good fight in, we all got pretty good and stuff." I looked at him in understanding before putting a hand on his shoulder, "We have gotten very strong, all of us, our team is probably the best out of all other teams from our village, but we still have ways to go, sometimes it's best to pick your battles wisely, even if it's someone who doesn't look threatening."

Kiba looked back at me, "Jeez, Hinata-chan, you seem to like your position as captain, and you seem to be pretty good at it too." He said with a mischievous smile. I felt my face heat up slightly and studdered out, "S-shut up! Let's just get ready, remember the plan." Shino, seeing this take place, does something that I would have never believed, he giggled, very quietly, but for him, it was about as loud as Naruto going on one of his ramen speeches. I, along with Kiba, stared in shock, even Akamaru whined in confusion. Shino gracefully, clears his throat then goes to check his ninja pouch. After standing in shock for a few seconds, I decided to move on and also check my pouch as Kiba followed.

The Beginning, Forest of Death Test: Hinata's POV

We stood in formation, waiting for the gate to open up, our scroll safely tucked into Shino's pouch since I decided that I might be more of a target since I am the captain and everyone else already may have seen me walking back to my team from the tent with the scroll in my hand. I felt a slight rush of excitement for what was about to happen, allowing myself to close my eyes and breathe slightly. I then reopened my eyes and looked to my side to Naruto's team, Naruto gave me a small smile, and his teammates looked the same, I returned the smile and waved back at him. Anko made her way back to the front of the gate. "NOW, REMEMBER THE RULES, AND…DON'T DIE!" She yelled out as she lowered her hand, signaling the start of the exam. The large gates flew open as my team rushed in along with the others.

Forest of Death, 20 Minutes Later: Hinata's POV

We sat in preparation for our attack on a Suna team. One was pretty tall, somewhat strong-looking, and had gauntlets on his wrist. Another was an average-height girl with sunglasses and a short tanto blade strapped to her back, almost like those ANBU ninjas I see around Konoha. The last one was another tall but, um, wider, looking one without any obvious weapons. Shino sat to my right as we were all positioned in a nearby tree several meters from the Suna team. I glanced and nodded at Shino, bidding him to release his bugs around the perimeter. I then glanced at Kiba and nodded as we prepared ourselves for our attack. I lifted my hand in a fist, I paused for a moment taking a deep breath, I then extended my hand in a chop, initiating our attack.

Kiba, Akamaru, and I dashed forward as we split up aiming for our own opponents, Shino followed behind us trailing behind by a meter. Aiming for the larger opponent without weapons, I dashed off with speed, in a short amount of time, I reached my opponent first, being the fastest of our group, with my Byakugan activated along with activating Shinsei na Ishi to quickly shut down my opponent's arms. Unfortunately, despite being so large, he seems to be just as light on his feet as I am as he just barely dodged out of the way, alerting his teammates at the same time. Kiba and Akamaru reached their opponent, as he was not as fast, and was taken by surprise by Kiba and Akamaru's drill attack, knocking him away a few meters. Shino reached his opponent and locked Kunai with her as they started their battle. I turn my focus back on my opponent, who seems to be slightly surprised at my sudden attack. Taking this opportunity, I reactivated Shinsei na Ishi and dashed at him, aiming for his arms once again. "SHIT!" He shouted as he once again, barely managed to dodge my attack. I then ducked down low to go for a sweep kick as he then jumped back. I quickly right myself and once again strike out at his midsection. Since he was already moving around a lot, he was now slightly winded which made it to where he didn't fully dodge I managed to land a hit to his side as he was moving away.

"AH…Kami Damn it…you damned Hyuga's, man!" He yelled holding his right side. I looked on in slight surprise as I saw that he used Earth nature to harden the area I was aiming for, making it to where he didn't receive my full-force attack which would have seriously injured him. I let out a breath of annoyance, "I'm not done yet porkchop, 8 Trigrams, 64 Palms!" With a face of surprise, he cursed, "Damn it not again!" I dashed at him with low jonin speed and quickly let loose my attack, "2 palms!" I struck and missed both. "4 palms!" I struck and missed three of them. As he moved around his feet were on fire. "8 palms!" I struck and missed 4 of them. He yelped in pain as we continued the dance. I hesitated slightly as I noticed something. I noticed that his entire body seemed to be expelling Earth chakra, I could no longer see his internal organs like I could with anyone with my eyes activated. Coming to the conclusion that this must be some kind of clone, I re-engaged, "16 palms, 32 palms, 64 palms!" I struck out and managed to land most of them, causing him to explode into dust I then saw in my rearview vision, him jumping out from the ground and aiming a punch at my back.

With a slight growl, I quickly dodged out of the way as he hit the ground with his fist, causing a large crater and a booming sound to occur. I gracefully landed a few meters away, glaring coldly back at him, "Surrender and forfeit your team scroll, I do not wish to harm you further!" I spoke as he righted himself. "Hurt me more? AHAHAHAHAHAHA! You're fast…but don't get too high of yourself, man!" He responded as he then shouted, "Earth Style, Bullet Flow!" With a curse, I activated Kami no Tate as I dodged and deflected his jutsu. Moving to the left and deflecting a stone, I mentally formulate a plan. I used my Byakugan to find a nearby log several meters away into the forest, I then Kawarimi with it, gaining a bit of time to think while he finished his jutsu. I quickly scanned around, and my eyes landed on Kiba and Akamaru, who were roughly 15 meters away, seemingly finishing their fight with some effort. I then turned my attention to Shino, who was also around 20 meters away as he seemed to be finished as his opponent lay face first on the round. With a nod, I check inwardly at my chakra level, noticing that I only had enough for a few more S-rank jutsus. Deciding to be conservative with my chakra for later, I decide to reach into my pouch for wire and string getting ready to set up a trap.

Bokuro Kenji's POV

That Hyuuga girl is pretty good, too good. Like an annoying fly that won't die. Except this fly, in all honesty, is kicking my ass damn well, man. Breathing heavily with my heart, along with my sides hurting like hell, nearly making me pass out in pain, I look around the forest in slight fear at the power of this girl. Noticing that my teammates must be either dead or unconscious due to that damned Hyuuga's teammates, I stand alone, beaten and battered, only standing up on sheer will. Hearing a noise to my right side in the bushes, I pulled up my kunai as fast as I could and froze. Nothing. Nothing is there. Taking a few more glances around the area to see that it was clear, I slowly and cautiously made my way to the bush to check on whatever that was as fear started to grip me more and more. Reaching the bushes and spreading the branches to the side only to see, once again, nothing. With a sigh, I moved back…."AHHHHHHH", I screamed as I was pulled up by some kind of rope, causing me to dangle upside down from a tree, only to now see the form of the Hyuuga coming closer to me with a face of stone.

Hinata's POV

Before speaking to my victim, I saw with my Byakugan a large, dark pulse of chakra coming from the west. Looking in the direction of the chakra and using my visual range to zero in on what looks to be Sasuke, bent over in pain grabbing his neck as I also saw enemy Gekko, the person with that dark chakra from earlier, running in a different direction towards the forest exit. "Shit," I whispered, earning a confused look from my current victim. Deciding to hurry this up to check on my comrades, I decided to try to secure this team's scroll. I reached into my pouch to retrieve a kunai, I made my way to my target and placed my kunai on his neck, "Give me your scroll, and you will be freed." I said coldly. He looked back at me with what I could clearly see as fear, "O-O-OK W-Wait, You got me, you got me!" He responded. I growled and pressed my kunai slightly harder on his neck nearly drawing blood, "Where is your scroll, your time is running out." I added. "In my pouch, IT'S IN MY POUCH, please, don't kill me." With a small hum, I reached slightly up to open his pouch and retrieved a scroll, which happened to be the exact one we needed to get to the tower. With a small smile, I responded, "Pleasure doing business with you." Before cutting the rope that held him in place, causing him to fall to the ground on his back, letting out a squeaky moan of pain. I quickly put away the scroll and rushed to my teammates in order to move out and see what was happening to Naruto's team.

Hinata's POV: Moments Later

"Orochimaru? You said Orochimaru attacked him?" I asked, completely puzzled at the situation with team 7. "Yes, He was like a super creepy snake, that bastard bit Sasuke's neck," Naruto responded, further clarifying, somewhat, what had happened. With a sigh had couldn't stop myself from rubbing my temples in frustration. This is not good. After a few moments of everyone being silent in shock, I quickly got myself back in order, "Shino-kun, can you send a message to the Hokage with your bugs?" I asked. He nodded silently as he gathered a few of his insects. I quickly halted him before he could continue, "I'll write the message on a small slip of paper, is that fine?" I asked, Shino nodded again in return as I quickly ripped a piece of paper from blank paper in my pouch before writing a short code on it to get the Hokage's attention and giving it to a few of Shino's insects. After sending my message, my team along with Naruto's, started making our way towards the tower in the middle of the forest.

End of Story

A/N:

I am truly sorry for not uploading last Thursday, I had to deal with some good ol' depression and that prevented me from getting some work done. I also do feel as if this story ended too early for what I wanted originally, but I may likely do a sequel to this story later on if I have the time. I do appreciate those who read this story, this was my first story and I do intend to upload more in the future with many different themes. Some of them may not only be Naruto-related but may span across a bunch of different anime. I already am working on one idea right now and will probably have it uploaded all at one time in the future, but I will make some short stories in between. Life is getting pretty busy so don't hold your breath on me uploading constantly, but I will finish whatever story I will upload. Please leave a review so I can improve for future uploads, it helps a lot. You can also leave some suggestions for stories if you would like, I will see if I can get to it at some point. Well, that's it for now, Katomi signing off.