CHAPTER TWENTY ONE
Retrieval Part-2
Inuzuka Kiba squatted next to a dark rod protruding from the snow in the Hyuuga estate. The police force had been deployed there to respond to an abduction, but Kiba would have come on his own regardless. His old teammate, Hinata Hyuuga was reportedly taken by an unknown entity mere minutes earlier. Standing upright, he signaled a nearby officer to retrieve the metallic rod impaled into the ground.
This is like the chakra receivers Pain used , he thought to himself while observing the rod being placed into a safe to be transported and studied. Kiba turned around and walked over to his colleague, Sai who was busy interrogating some Hyuuga clansmen.
"How's her sister?" Kiba asked Sai who was taking down some notes.
"Hanabi is very distressed, she was in no shape to cooperate when I tried to ask her some questions earlier"
"It's understandable, she still needs time to get herself together."
Sai zipped his bag close and exhaled, looking towards a group of medic ninja. "We had 14 casualties….5 dead and 9 wounded"
Kiba felt his chest tighten. "And Tenten…."
"She has been evacuated to the hospital"
Sai's words brought relief to Kiba, who started walking towards Hiashi Hyuuga. He greeted the clan heir and proceeded to interrogate him to gain any information they could use to track down Hinata and her abductor. The clan heir was equally stumped as to who his daughter's abductor was or why she was taken, but he mentioned Isshiki talking about a "Tenseigan", which neither of them could understand.
After the investigation team was finished, Kiba ordered the group to move out and allow the clean up team to work. As he walked back to the station, the Inuzuka was deep in thought. He had gotten a description of Hinata's abductor and based on what his team was told, he was likely related to Momoshiki from weeks ago.
Who are these people? Why are they coming here?
"I'm home!"
Naruto stepped through the entrance of his new house that night, bottle of liquor in hand. He had a bright smile on his face as he remembered the events of that night. To his surprise, Sasuke had invited him over…..which was simply something that never happened. Nothing prepared Naruto for the news his friend decided share with him that night.
Sasuke and Sakura were engaged.
"You lucky bastard…." Naruto said under his breath, then he laughed to himself. He was truly happy for his two friends and he wanted to share the news with everyone.
"Hinata, you won't believe this!" he called out. "Now I know you're a really light drinker but this calls for a celebration I think" he added with a laugh.
Naruto placed the bottle on the centre table and looked around for signs of his girlfriend.
"Hinata, are you busy?"
Still receiving no reply, he went upstairs to check if she was asleep. No sign of her there led him to believe she was at friend's place. Naruto considered scanning the village for her in his sage mode but hesitated, feeling it was a breach of her privacy.
She'll be back soon anyway
He was about to put the liquor in the fridge when he heard a knock on his door. Opening it, he was surprised to find Sai and Kiba standing on his front porch.
"Kiba, Sai, what's up?" he greeted his friends, stepping aside to let them in. To his surprise they remained outside.
"Have you guys heard the news? Sasuke is-"
"Naruto, have you heard from Hinata?" Sai cut off the blonde to his surprise.
"Well, I think she's at a friend's place cause she isn't at home"
Kiba ran a hand through his hair in frustration. He knew personally how much the couple had gone through in recent times and he wasn't sure he had the stomach to break Naruto's heart yet again. Luckily for him, he didn't have to worry about hurting his friend.
"Naruto, Hinata was abducted from her father's house" Sai announced in a single breath.
Naruto froze, unsure how to react to the news.
"Abducted?"
He felt beads of sweat begin to form on his forehead and made his way to a chair to sit down.
"By who?" Naruto asked the two young men who had entered the house at this point.
"We have reason to believe it was one of Momoshiki's people"
Naruto stood upright in an instant, covered in a orange chakra cloak resembling bright flames. At the same time his eyes were highlighted by an orange hue. He turned to Kiba with a determined look.
"I'll try to find her"
He closed his eyes and meditated, scanning the village for Hinata's chakra signature.
No sign.
With a frown, Naruto meditated harder, eventually expanding his reach to the entire land of fire. Frustrated with the lack of results, he stretched his sensory reach to the nearby land of wind and even reached the hidden mist when he finally gave up.
Hinata was gone.
"We don't know why they targeted her specifically, but we're going to get her back" Kiba placed a reassuring hand on Naruto's shoulder.
He wasn't sure how yet, but he was going to find a way.
Mikasa opened her eyes to find herself in what appeared to be a well furnished bedroom. She looked outside the window to find darkness, it was still night.
Where am I? , She asked herself, gingerly carrying herself down from the grand bed. To her surprise, she discovered that her injuries had healed.
"How?" she said to herself, noticing she was no longer wearing her blood-stained overalls from earlier. She admired the elegant night dress she found herself in through a mirror, then decided to step out to explore her new surroundings. As she opened the door, she found herself standing in a long corridor that stretched in both directions. She decided to turn left, walking until she spotted what appeared to be two maids.
"Excuse me, hello" Mikasa called out to the two servants as she ran up to them, determined to get some answers. The two women stopped and turned in her direction. Mikasa finally caught up to the pair and opened her mouth to speak before she froze, her words never leaving her throat.
What appeared to be two women were infact, two life-size puppets. Mikasa took a step back in shock and observed the two puppets some more. To her surprise, one of them began to speak.
"Lady Mikasa, how may we serve you?"
"I'm not allowed to leave this place?"
The question came from Hinata and was directed at the servant puppet accompanying her as she explored the grand mansion she found herself in.
"No, the lady of the house does not permit you to leave, Hinata Hyuuga"
"And who is this lady of the house?"
The puppet opened it's mouth to speak when it hesitated, focusing in the distance at the bottom of a grand staircase. Hinata followed it's gaze and directed her attention to the large room at the bottom of the stairs. She felt a rush of excitement as she spotted what appeared to be a beautiful young woman dressed in an expensive looking nightgown, walking with her back to her and accompanied by two puppet servants.
She must be the lady of the house, Hinata thought to herself as she ran down the stairs.
"Hello, pardon me madam" she called out to the woman who had stopped at the sound of her voice.
"Excuse me, but I'd like to-"
Hinata's words never left her throat, for the woman in question had turned around to face her, focusing on her with her piercing green eyes that seemed to bore inter her soul.
Hinata felt her breathing accelerate rapidly, and the hair on the back of her neck rose.
"You…"
Kakashi slammed his stamp on a document and handed it over to the person standing in front of him, who turned out to be Sakura Haruno. She accepted it with a bow and walked back to reunite with the group of shinobi assembled in the Hokage's office.
"Your mission is to track down the location of and possibly recover one of our own ninja, who was abducted from Konohagakure last night." He rose from his seat and walked up to Sakura, who he had assigned the role of team leader of taskforce Hinata. Comprised of the old team 7 and supported by the fully recovered Tenten, they were further reinforced by the inclusion of team 4 who the elders council had pushed to be sent on the mission as a way to fast track their promotion to Jonin. Kakashi still opposed that move which he saw as nothing more than eye service. The heiress of the prestigious Hyuuga clan and the grandson of the third Hokage would look better on their books as elite Jonin instead of the Chunin rank they were currently at. But regardless, he wasn't opposed to assigning team 4 on this particular mission. Especially Hanabi, they were close to Hinata and would perform to their best abilities to bring her back.
"Thank you again for making me a part of this mission, Hokage-sama" Hanabi thanked Kakashi with a courteous bow, getting a nod in approval from the Hokage.
"I have made contact with the other nations and we have reached an agreement. You will be granted right of way through their lands in your search but the condition is you will be accompanied by shinobi from their hidden villages during your stay in these foreign lands. You are free to embark on your mission once you are ready, but it must be within the hour."
"Understood Lord sixth" Sakura bowed in greeting and exited the room with her team. They did not know exactly what they were getting into but the fear of the unknown wasn't going to stop them. She frowned as she remembered how excited she was to break the news of her engagement to Hinata that morning only to find out about her abduction at the hands of Isshiki the previous night. A part of her was afraid of what might be happening to Hinata in that moment, but she used that fear to fuel her resolve to bring her back home.
Back in the office, Kakashi retook his seat and bowed his head in frustration. The past few months had been hectic, and the security threats to Konoha never seemed topped coming.
Only this time, it might be the whole world at risk and not just the village.
Kakashi reached for a picture on his desk and looked at it with a sigh. In his hands was a photo of him with his wife, Anko Mitarashi. She was holding up a scan of their unborn child with a smile, and the background of the photo indicated it was taken in the general hospital.
Kakashi let a small smile spread across his lips as he looked at the picture in his hand.
"What kind of world are you going to be born into, little one?"
Mikasa looked at the dark haired girl in front of her with shock. She recognized her as Hinata Hyuuga, the same person she was sure had died by her own hand months prior.
"How are you even….."
Hinata had begun to hyperventilate at that point, and her expression had changed from astonishment to rage. Mikasa was not looking forward to a rematch with the Hyuuga, especially when she didn't even know where she was.
"Hinata my girl, it's great to see you're alive and well" she said with a smile before adding, "How have you been holding up?"
Her question seemed to irritate Hinata more, and tears had begun to stream down her cheeks. Mikasa quickly scanned the area for an exit while trying to maintain her focus on the person in front of her. She found a door on the far side of the floor, behind Hinata and two more on her right that led into rooms she hadn't explored yet. She suddenly realized the puppet servants had retreated from the two women staring each other down.
Cowards
"Look, don't you think we can y'know…talk this out? I mean, we don't even know where we are, surely we've got better things to do now than fight?"
With a deep breath, Hinata finally spoke.
"I'm only interested in killing you, Kurosaki"
With that she placed one hand in front of her, and the other at her waist, preparing her gentle fist stance. It was now Mikasa's turn to panic. Clearly, Hinata wasn't interested in talking. She frantically looked around for anything she could use as a weapon and spotted a tall lamp to her left. If she was fast enough she might be able to reach it….
Hinata attacked first with a strike at Mikasa's head. She was able to dodge the blow and rushed for the lamp, grabbing it in both hands and swinging it at Hinata. The Hyuuga dodged Mikasa's swings and sent her flying into one of the nearby doors with an air palm.
"Dammit" Mikasa cursed under her breath, as she slowly rose back to her feet. Hinata's attack had sent her crashing into the next room, which appeared to be a dining room. Mikasa crashed onto a long table laden with food, knocking down several plates as she streaked across it's surface. After getting back on her feet, she looked up just in time to find Hinata storming into the room.
Mikasa grabbed a plate and threw it at her, but the Hyuuga simply dodged it. Cursing, she picked up anything she could find on table, plates, cutlery, even a whole roast turkey.
[Eight trigrams: protective 64 palms]
Mikasa watched all her projectiles harmlessly bounce off Hinata's protective jutsu and reached for a bread knife near her foot.
"Hinata, just listen to me!"
But Hinata wasn't about to hear whatever she had to say. Molding chakra to her feet, she leaped onto the ceiling, avoiding a table lamp Mikasa flung at her and darted across it before jumping downwards with a kick. Mikasa managed to put up her arms to shield herself from the kick before it connected with her head.
Falling off the table with the force of the kick, Mikasa ducked into a roll and got back on her feet as fast as she could.
"Look you stupid girl! We don't even-"
Hinata descended on her before she could complete her sentence. Mikasa deflected four palm strikes from Hinata but she caught a jab to the face. Slightly disoriented, she reached for Hinata's neck but her effort was blocked by the Hyuuga who responded with another blow to the jaw, then sent three strikes with her fingers along the length of Mikasa's torso, the final blow sending her crashing into a coffee table.
"Shit" Mikasa cursed, slowly picking herself up and barely able to feel her right shoulder. In front of her, Hinata was already closing the distance between them.
"You'll pay for all your crimes Kurosaki!" she said with a determined look and lunged at Mikasa, who had closed her eyes, bracing for impact.
Then a dark portal manifested itself at the end of the room.
Hinata stopped in her tracks completely, and she could feel goosebumps begin to appear all over her skin. Her breathing became more panicked and she had begun to shiver in fear at the great presence she sensed behind her. In front of her on the floor, Mikasa stared wide-eyed behind her, mouth open and closing silently. Slowly, Hinata turned around to face the pair of eyes she could feel focused on both of them.
Behind her was a pale skinned woman dressed in elegant white robes. Her eyes contained the signature hue of the Byakugan, and her long, white hair billowed in a wide arc behind her. The woman moved completely silently towards them, her feet never touching the ground and Hinata began to feel her knees weaken.
Behind the strange woman, a servant puppet made it's presence known. "The lady of the house will speak with you now"
"It's….. it's…." Mikasa struggled to get the words out in the presence of the entity before them.
Finally the woman spoke, addressing Hinata.
"On your knees"
Hinata all but crashed to the ground in a courtesy and Mikasa followed suit. Trembling, the Hyuuga felt the woman's gentle voice reach into her soul.
"Rise"
Hinata carefully steadied herself on one leg and brought herself to a kneeling position, her head still meekly lowered. The woman gently reached for Hinata's cheek, raising her gaze to meet hers.
"Why must you creatures resort to violence so eagerly?"