Chapter 48
Hinata and Ino watched from afar. Everyone was clumsily brushing up against the cobwebs, except Sakura who sneaked round the back to where Sasuke laid against the tree. He was unconscious, gagged and bound, except for his feet. The six armed man, Kidomaru sat by his side, his fingers twitching.
"None of those guys we fought had been Omegas," Tayuya complained, brushing sweat from her brow. "I could use a good Omega right now."
"How vulgar," Jirobo scolded. "We may have presented early due to the curse marks, but it doesn't mean we have to be ruled by how inner selves."
"Shut up, fatty. Just because your Alpha is nowhere near as tough as mine doesn't mean I have to be a whiny bitch like you," Tayuya sneered, glancing over Sasuke in a way that made Hinata shiver. "I wish I could have my way with him."
Ino bristled. "I swear if she touches my Sasuke..." she hissed quietly.
Hinata paused. Her Sasuke? Weren't Naruto and Sasuke mates? Or Sakura, Naruto and Sasuke? Hinata wasn't sure.
"Don't be a pig," Kidomaru scolded. "Sasuke isn't for you. He's Lord Orochimaru's, so control yourself already."
"Besides, I think one of these might be an Omega for you, Tayuya!" Sakon threw a kunai with explosives tied to it.
Hinata was blinded by the explosion for a painfully long time. It made her twitchy, but finally she could see Shikamaru and Neji land in front of the Sound ninjas, a little bruised but otherwise not too hurt. Thank goodness.
"I was expecting a snake, but it turns out it's just a couple of bugs." Sakon smirked.
"Wait!" Shikamaru cried out, hands up in surrender. "We just want to negotiate!"
"Then explain this!" Kidomaru yanked his arms forward. String pulled Naruto, Kiba and Choji from their hiding places.
Hinata could see who she assumed was Urushi and Akino still watching from afar like they were doing, but Sakura was sneaking her way forward to Sasuke's side, but she was still quite far back, carefully avoiding traps. Kiba threw down the smoke bomb as Kidomaru slammed the three into the dirt beside Shikamaru and Neji.
"You can't run from me!" Kidomaru taunted. "It's string that is thinner and stronger than a wire, which I doubt you guys can see easily. I put it everywhere!"
"Well it's a good thing we noticed that already," Shikamaru mused. "It's also a good thing we have our own tricks up our sleeves too."
"What is that supposed to mean, Omega?" Tayuya sneered, but froze. "Wait, what?"
Hinata smiled. Ino cheered quietly. Shikamaru's shadow had captured all the Sound ninja.
"Yes. Captured already. Good job, Shikamaru," Ino whispered.
"Nice one, Kiba, Shikamaru!" Naruto cheered, then looked to Sasuke. "Now I'm taking him back home-"
"Interesting," Sakon mused. "But I do have an interesting ability too."
Hinata gasped.
"Don't give away your position," Pakkun warned. "Shikamaru has people to protect him down there. You're the back up in case other things go wrong."
Shikamaru got sliced in the arm by shuriken from behind, forcing him to release his shadow possession jutsu. Choji snarled, instantly at his back, but the presence was already retreating away.
Ino growled. "That asshole. He touches my teammate again and I'll break his mind."
Jirobo slammed his hands against the ground. "Earth dome prison!"
A dome rose up around the others, trapping them inside. Hinata grimaced.
"Dammit, fatty!" Tayuya complained. "You locked the Omega up too. I was going to have some fun with him."
"Well they're mine," Jirobo said. "I want to recover my strength."
"Urgh, fine, you fatty. But if we run into another Omega they're mine!" Tayuya snarled.
"Eat quickly and catch up with us again," Sakon ordered. "The rest of us are moving on."
Kidomaru picked up Sasuke again and they were off.
"That's not good. Sakura didn't have enough time to grab him!" Ino hissed.
Hinata could see chakra pouring out of the dome, into Jirobo's hands. She gasped. "He's stealing the others chakras!"
"Then I'm taking over his mind right now!" Ino stood up. "Look after my body, Hinata."
"R-Right!"
"Mind transfer jutsu!"
.::.
Shikamaru rubbed his ears. Naruto was screaming like a banshee, or more like his mum. But still, either way, it was giving him a headache. But the walls trembled and the dome began to wall apart, and Shikamaru smiled.
Choji grinned. "The girls did it!"
"Hi, Shikamaru, hi, Choji." Jirobo waved cheerfully, then placed his hands on his hips. "Sadly they took off with Sasuke before Sakura could grab him. Kakashi sensei's hounds are back on their tail. Hinata's keeping my body safe right now with Pakkun. We also found out that the growth on that Sakon guy is some kind of copy of him, which is so gross by the way."
"Nice work, Ino. You really saved our hides there," Shikamaru said. "Right, knock out this guy and we'll compare notes."
"Right, I'll-" Jirobo gasped, then he roared and grabbed the earth, pulling a huge bolder above his head. "Sphere of graves!"
"Shit, Ino must have gotten ejected!" Shikamaru cursed.
"CHA!" Sakura appeared from the sky, her fist raised, and whatever the hell Izumi did must be working, because she destroyed the bolder with several swings of her fists.
But Jirobo had disappeared within the dust storm.
"Shikamaru, below you!" Hinata yelled.
Shikamaru dodged, just in time to avoid being snatched up. He retreated to the others, as Sakura rejoined them.
"Three times now your squad has had to save you," Jirobo mocked. "Omegas as squad leaders, I'll never see why. Lord Orochimaru is the only Omega who has ever surpassed your lot expectations. You're such a useless waste of space."
"You asshole!" Naruto snarled. "I'll kick his ass, here and now!"
"He's mine!" Choji snarled.
"What? Choji-" Shikamaru frowned.
"Nobody disrespects my best friend and pack mate," Choji growled lowly.
Sakura nodded. "I've failed to protect Sasuke, now I've failed to take him back. I'll stay behind with Choji and fight. At least I can do some damage here."
Choji nodded, and shuffled through his pockets. "Shikamaru, take these food pills for everyone for when you need them." He got in between them and the group, Sakura at his side.
Shikamaru froze. "Wait, you're not going to-"
"It's okay, Shikamaru." Choji smiled. "I have a secret weapon of my own."
"I'm here with him," Sakura said. "We'll do our best, Shikamaru, so the rest of you go bring Sasuke back home. Please!"
Choji stopped Jirobo's charge, and Sakura came in from above, and sent him crashing into the ground with a good solid punch.
No, this was fine. It had to be fine. They were working together. Choji wasn't alone. He wouldn't need to take all the pills.
"Alright," Shikamaru breathed out.
But he made sure to whisper to Sakura as he ran by about the last of the pills, and not to let him take it. Sakura nodded. They rushed back into the threes, the darkness beginning to brighten up around them.
Hinata, Ino and Pakkun rejoined them, but Shikamaru didn't miss the worry on Hinata's face.
"Hinata?" he asked quietly, aware he was right behind her.
"It'll be fine," Hinata said softly.
.::.
Sakura's fists had already been bleeding, her chakra network in the joints of her hands pulsing violently, all sharp and fluttering weakly. Hinata winced, her head throbbing, her eyes straining.
"Hinata, don't over do it. I've got my nose, remember? Mine and Pakkun's," Kiba warned.
"Yeah, you did well protecting us for that first encounter," Shikamaru said. "Take a breather and let us work on scouting for a bit."
"T-Thanks," Hinata breathed out, and allowed her Byakugan to finally go off for a bit.
The relief was immense and she could have cried at how sore her eyes were, but she stopped a sob just in time. They had to keep moving. They needed to catch up again.
"Choji and Sakura are going to kick his ass!" Ino yelled. "You hear me? Kick his ass you two!"
.::.
Sakura and Choji grinned at Ino's yell.
"I guess we heard her." Sakura clenched her fists again.
They felt as if she had put them into a fire and let them burn. They were pulsing painfully, throbbing and breaking, but she ignore her hands. These hands would fight, she would fight, and they would get Sasuke back and go home.
Jirobo climbed out of the hole, glaring at them.
They were all going home.
.::.
"Shit, Jirobo is taking forever to catch up!" Tayuya snarled. "We were going to force feed the Uchiha his pill."
"Well we'll just have to wait. I want all of us there for the barrier," Sakon said. "We cannot risk killing Sasuke."
Sasuke blinked sleepily against the crook of Kidomaru's neck. One of them was gone? Where? What did that mean? It was so hard to think. He couldn't even lift his head.
He was so tired.
.::.
Shikamaru scratched out the sign for which way they were heading and smiled. "They should hopefully catch up soon, and by then we'll have Sasuke back."
"Yeah!" Naruto was carving out his message, as was Kiba and Ino.
Hinata smiled warmly, while Neji watched them quietly.
"Right, let's go."
"Alright." Hinata nodded, and they quickly moved on, Kiba and Naruto squawking behind them.
.::.
Pakkun was pleasantly surprised. That Ino girl was a surprisingly good actress. She must have analysed Jirobo's personality when she was inside his head. The other three handed her over Sasuke, Kidomaru stretching out his arms.
"He was a comfortable weight against my back for a while there," Kidomaru admitted. "I've never held an Omega like that before. It's actually pretty soothing."
"Wait, really?" Tayuya startled.
"Yeah, he's so soft." Kidamaru smirked. "Jealous?"
"I want to hold him!" Tayuya scowled. "Oi, fatso, give him here!"
"Actually, I think it's time we feed him his pill." Sakon fished out a container from his pocket. "Let's go down and have Sasuke die."
Pakkun froze.
And unfortunately Ino didn't stop her gasp. That immediately set off the other Sound ninjas. They attacked, tearing her away from her disguise, but thankfully Naruto, Kiba, and Neji dived in, forcing the others back. Shikamaru dropping down beside Ino.
"Ino, get Sasuke back!" Kiba yelled. "Fucking hell, I thought they were going to bring him to Orochimaru, not kill him."
"You bastards!" Naruto growled, his eyes tinged red. "I WON'T LET YOU KILL SASUKE!"
"The Omega's back!" Tayuya smirked. "Finally, it's my turn to play."
Shikamaru chuckled. "Oh no, come near me, I'm defenceless."
Pakkun rolled his eyes. The girl wouldn't fall for that. She wouldn't get so close to be possessed by his shadow. Now, all he had to do was get to Sasuke and let Kakashi know-
He couldn't move his paws.
Pakkun cursed. Cobwebs had caught on to his legs, pinning them down. Dammit, he should have remembered, Izumi and the others had been caught by this earlier except for him because he had been perched on Bull. Izumi had freaked out.
He had been careless.
Ino landed beside him before he could warn her, but she tripped and got herself even more pinned by the webs, and Sasuke laid still in her arms, out cold.
"Throw him to me!" Pakkun yelled, but Kidomaru swung in too fast and snatched Sasuke from them both.
Shikamaru attacked from above, the pair colliding. Shikamaru managed to catch Sasuke, but cobwebs caught him as he fell, leaving Shikamaru and Sasuke pinned.
"Dammit!" Shikamaru cursed.
"Nice try, Omega," Kidomaru laughed, grabbing Sasuke from him.
Hinata struck him from the shadows, earning a yelp as she cut through the webs holding Kidomaru up. He fell, scrambling for another web, which barely caught on to another tree before he hit the ground.
"Where the heck did you come from?!" Kidomaru cried out, and swung up, tossing Sasuke to Tayuya. "Take him-"
"Like hell! I want to fight the Omegas!"
"Just move, Tayuya," Sakon ordered.
"Dammit, fine!"
The pair rushed off, once again with Sasuke in tow.
Pakkun scowled. At least Urushi and Akino didn't get caught, but still. This was bad. They were getting further and further away from Konoha. They kept Sasuke dangled just out of reach, and the pup was still out. He must have been sedated to keep him quiet.
"Well we always knew this would be a fight best suited for Lady Hinata and I," Neji said, landing beside Hinata.
"R-Right. We'll keep him here," Hinata said softly. "You can all go after Sasuke."
"Heh, guess I don't mind this battle too much considering I get to keep the company of a pretty Omega girl," Kidomaru chortled. "Hinata, was it? Such a pretty name for a pretty girl."
Hinata flustered, shying away, and Neji growled lowly, his eyes flashing murderously.
"It's not her company you should worry about," Neji said coldly.
"Kick that bastard's ass, Hyuga!" Kiba barked.
.::.
Izumi stopped beside Choji and Sakura, gasping for breath, sweat pouring down her back and her head. The pair laid limp before a sign carved in a tree, the pair almost lifeless apart from the very faint breath coming from their lips. She tucked her kunai away and picked them both up, Shiba panting next to her.
"They need urgent medical attention." Izumi panted harshly. "I'm sprinting back full force, Shiba! I'll catch back up to you."
"Don't overdo it, Izumi. You were already on the other side of Konoha, you're exhausted."
"Take a rest here. I'll be back." Izumi ignored him and pushed off, racing through trees.
She would be back. But first she'd ensure none of the kids died in the process, otherwise Sasuke would never forgive himself. She would not cause him pain if she could help it. Sasuke just had to hold on. She was coming for him and nothing would stop her. Izumu wasn't going to lose him. She'd kill everything and everyone in her way before she lost the last member of her family.
.::.
Sasuke was being carried by a different set of arms now, and now bridal style rather than on their back. Sasuke felt better, not a hundred percent, he still felt exhausted, sore and his head was fuzzy, but at least it was somewhat better.
"We're used up over half a day and we're only one third of the way there!" Tayuya snarled. "We're taking too long. We've had way too much interference."
Sasuke admittedly was glad about that.
"Yeah, this is bad! We don't know if we'll make it in time at this rate," Sakon complained.
Good. Hopefully Orochimaru died. That would be Sasuke's perfect dream right now, because being beaten up by some assholes, (along with Sakura), drugged and kidnapped was putting him in quite the nasty mood.