Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Cliche Guide to a Classic Romance ❯ Saving the girl Part 3 - Detective Naruto ( Chapter 15 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

“Alright For this mission there’s no leader, I want you all to work together. We need to get those scrolls back and I would be most pleased if everyone came back in one piece.”

“Are you telling me that I have to work with Haruno. . .again?! What did I do to deserve this?” Kiba complained mostly to himself then the others. He usually wasn’t one to complain about things like this. He knew he shouldn’t be especially if the Hokage herself was the one who got him out of bed at three am and told him he was need for a mission, but he couldn’t help it. He was just so tired.

“Zip it chow breathe!” Sakura snapped at his comment before turning to her boss. “I thought you were going to get Neji too.”

Tsunade nodded as she shuffled a few papers on the desk she had so kindly borrowed form another doctor, this time it was a new timid transfer from an allied village who was here to study there methods. “Neji has already headed out, He was sent ahead to scout for any traps, His mission specifically is to get the scrolls. Your top priority is to find Naruto, Hinata and her father. Then you are to continue with your original mission. Sakura I want you take some of the medical supplies from the hospital. We’re not sure what condition they will be in. I want this mission to be a success. I want everyone back here alive.”

“Right, Every Shinobi is a valuable asset to the village. Each having something unique to offer.” the pink haired konoichi recited, remembering one of the encouraging phrases from a text book she read.

“Nice try but actually I was talking about getting Naruto back here so I can beat him unconscious. Here are some maps of the areas, If there’s anything unusual make sure to mark it down.”

“Excuse me, lady Tsunade.” Shino spoke up for the first time, making Sakura jump a little. She had forgotten that he was even in the room. “wouldn’t sending Anbu or infiltration team be more appropriate for this kind of mission?”

“I would but Most of the Anbu are on missions or tracking down the ones who attacked our village and an infiltration would take to long. We need as much security in the village as we can get right now so I can’t afford to let anymore go.” She sighed despairingly.

“Understood. We’ll be on our way then.” Without another word he turned and walked out Kiba following behind him.

Sakura bowed to Tsunade before running out of the room yelling something about needing to gather medical supplies before the left the hospital.
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Both girls had crawled through small catacombs of tunnels and climbs up walls of rock to reach higher opening, and even at one point swam across a small stream of water. Takara had admitted to Hinata half way through their confusing trek that they were just making detours the whole time. That the direct path was considerably shorter, but she was trying to make it
difficult for anyone to follow them.

When the finally reached their destination Hinata slid down the rough wall of the cave, exhausted. They had been walking for a while now and the confusing twists and turns of the cave didn‘t help as she tired herself out mentally while trying to remember the directions. They had to have been at least a quarter of a mile into this cave and according to the younger girl there was still along ways to go to reach the other exist. However that wasn’t their current objective.

They still had to collect the scroll and find the others. Sighing Hinata tried to shake the thoughts of the mission out of her head to relieve some of the mental stress.

Takara was kicking over a few old pieces of burnt wood and inspecting the old make-shift bed. Hinata watched the girl dart back and forth in the cave for nearly ten minutes when the younger girl finally stopped looked over at Hinata “I have to go get some wood to get a small fire going, it’s already dark and it‘s only going to get colder.”

“. . .okay. . .Just be careful.” She mumbled tiredly, she didn’t have the energy or any reason other then the obvious to argue with the girl. She shifted slightly at the feeling of the jagged rocks on her back, but to sore to actually move away and sit up without the support.

The child gave the older girl a look of sympathy. She herself had been tired before but never to that extent it must have been awful to know that your life was in danger and you couldn’t do much about it.

Hinata nodded tiredly, but as she looked over at the bed she made no effort to get up. It wasn’t as if she didn’t want to go over there and lay down, she was in the middle of only god knows where and she was on the verge of collapsing. How could she even think about being so ungrateful? It was just that with all that exerted energy, after she sat down she didn’t want to get back up.

Besides she was a bit more worried about the girl going off alone. They weren’t that far away from the place they escaped from so the girl could have been caught easily. If she was caught the situation would become more complicated , but it did get cold and she couldn’t take anymore risks that could prevent her from recovering quickly.

The girl gave a small nod before darting back the way they came. Hinata watched the girl run out and waited a few minutes before she attempted to get up.

It had been at least a half hour since Takara had left and that ratty old bed was looking very inviting. Standing up shakily, Hinata stumbled her way towards the bed, loosing her footing after several feet and falling face first onto the hard floor of the cave. She cringed when she felt her jaw collide with a rock and her hands slide against small sharp pieces gravel.

She laid there for a second taking in a deep breath before she pushed her self up on to her knees and tried to stand up again. She succeeded in standing up only getting half way up when her legs gave out on her and she fell back down, managing to catch herself with her hands before she completely hit the ground.

Shifting she sat back on her knee’s looking over at the bed. How hard was it to walk twenty feet in front of you? Surly she was capable of making it to the other side, she made it this far what was another ten. She set her mind to a more positive out look and pushed her self up with a little more force then last time.

She clenched her jaw when a sharp pain shot through her ankle. She tested it a bit, trying to figure out if it was just a twisted ankle or something worse. She slowly moved forward a couple steps and then sped up her pace before she could run out of energy and focus.

When she made it to the bed, she let her self fall, this time however her landing was soft and she smiled relieved. She could still walk on her ankle, that was a good sign.

She sighed closing her eyes and falling asleep, for now it was all she could do.
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In the past hour or so that he had been walking around, He had learned something in this place that maybe they should have talked him through back in the academy. Like how to feel your way around a dark mansion-like home that held one too many breakable objects that echoed loudly when they smashed the floor.

Naruto walked around the place with one hand on the wall and the other out in front of him slowly and carefully trying to feel his way around. It was a frustrating, it was time consuming, and it was just not right. He was a ninja, a warrior that worked in the in the shadows, behind the scenes, In the dark and relied purely on strength, stealth and vigilance. This was ridiculous.

And if his side didn’t feel like someone was poking him repeatedly with a porcupine with red hot quills, it would have helped immensely.

A scuffing noise caused by the sudden stopping of shoes came from down the hall and made the boy halt in his own foot steps. Naruto’s hand glided to his pouch on instinct and pulled out one of the many shuriken. He held it back waiting, hoping that the person didn’t notice his presence.

However the other chakra spiked suddenly and the blond threw the weapon to prevent the attack. There was a flare of light as the chakra was formed into a dome surrounding the human target.

Naruto froze recognizing the technique. It was the rotation technique that only Hyuuga’s used. Maybe Neji and Sakura came looking for him or the enemy read the scrolls and learned it. Hesitating for a second Naruto grabbed a couple more shuriken and threw them rushing in after them, his fist raised ready to strike.

The shuriken were reflected easily, his fist was caught in a whirl of chakra and he was thrown mercilessly into the wall. He stood up quickly and backed up a few steps. “Neji?”

“Naruto?”

Naruto’s eyes widened at the voice. “H-Hiashi?” He asked nervously, somewhat hoping he was wrong. Unfortunately another flare of chakra told him otherwise as the older man activated his Byakugan. “Ha ha. Whoops. . .”He stated as let out a nervous laugh.

An irritated sigh came from the older man. “Where are the others?”


The blonds laughter died and he froze. He stood there for a few seconds before even attempting to speak. “Uh, well you see. . .there was an accident, well more of an error on my part. . .”

“Naruto what happened?” the older male asked in a harsh manner, wanting an answer quickly. He didn’t have time to wait for excuses to formulate in the child’s mind.

Naruto looked up at the Hyuuga leader a guilty expression breaking the sheepish one he was displaying earlier. He looked back down to the ground. “I wasn’t paying attention to the others and I was being attacked from behind. . .” He trailed off for a second trying to find the courage to tell the threatening man the truth. “Hinata. . .she tried to protect me. . .She was stolen. . .but that’s why I’m here I was looking for her!”

Hiashi wasn’t sure if he should strangle the young man or not. It was the second time his daughter had gotten stolen while in his care, and this time it was his fault. Would he really be a bad person to go back on his agreement with Hinata and tell her she couldn’t be with Naruto. Would it really make him that bad of a father?

The older male took a calming breath and turned away from the blonde, walking down the hall he came from.

Naruto followed after him. “Uh. . .”

“If you just came from that direction then there’s nothing down there. There’s another part of the mansion down this way that I haven’t been to yet, the scrolls should be down that way.”

The teen glared at the back of the older man. “What about Hinata? Or does she not matter.”

“I could say the same for you. . .” the man shot back, looking over his shoulder to give the boy a glare of his own.

His steps faltered at the comment but he shook his head. “No you can’t. I didn’t know Hinata was going to get taken away. You on the other hand know your daughter in trouble and could care less!”

“Naruto the scrolls are-”

“Who cares about the stupid scrolls! Hinata’s your daughter aren’t you worried at all? What kind of father are you?!” He yelled angry, only getting more infuriated when he saw the older man giving him a sympathetic look.

The man sighed.. “I understand Naruto, But surely you understand as well. As much as I love my daughter, I need to get that scroll back. Hinata’s life is no more important then anyone else’s.” he said turning back around to face the blond. “I can’t tell you what in those scrolls but I will tell you that if they figure it out there will be a war, and our village might not make it.”

Slowly Naruto nodded. He understood that, but he still didn’t understand how you could put your own daughters life at risk. Even if it was for the sake of there home. The man could have at least showed a little bit of worry, or acted concerned. It would make Naruto a little more satisfied to know that the older man was afraid for his daughter. The man didn’t look even slightly scared. It angered Naruto, It was like when Neji decided to follow Sakura back home instead of looking for his cousin.

Was it just him or did everyone think that a slip of paper was more important then a human life. Yes their home could be put into danger if the scroll was figured out. But that was a huge maybe. Would a true ninja really write something down that was so powerful that it was actually consider so dangerous that not even the Hokage could look at it , and make it so easy to put together? Yeah, sure it was easy to decode enemy traps and translate made up languages of other villages but, if their own leader ever even touched the paper how would something like that get around, nothing in the scroll could have a match to anything that was currently on file. So to him Hinata was his main priority. He just had to figure out how to get to her.

Maybe he could pull a disappearing act like he did with Sakura and take a different route. Surely there were secret door and passage the old man had found yet.

Would Hiashi even try to stop him? Even if he didn’t would he tell Tsunade about it. The blond paused thinking back to when he slowed down his pace and broke off into another direction on his way back home with Sakura. The loud angry scream she let out when she cursed his name and threatened his life.

He was already in trouble so that didn’t matter. Tsunade probably already got word of his renegade mission, so either way when he got back he was going to get in trouble.

Maybe he should just listen to the older man, Maybe it was best to just follow him get the scroll, then find Hinata.

He already knew he was overreacting, It was a habit he had always been aware of, but he had never been able to stop himself. It had gotten him in trouble so many times he couldn’t remember how many time he got lectured by the teacher and his peers.

It was just in his nature to think about the here and now then worry about the future. He was currently worried about Hinata because Hinata was the one that was currently in trouble, and if the village ever put under attack he’d worry about that then.

However the scroll was with the enemy and didn’t that in a way put everyone in danger now?

Naruto shook his had rapidly in frustration. The situation was getting to confusing. Maybe if he stayed with Sakura he could have asked her view on it. Even if he already knew her answer, of course she would have told him it was only right to take care of the main mission before taking care of his personal problems. She would also go on another one of her “A Proper Ninja” lectures and soon he would start tuning her out and nodding his head here and there to make her think he was listening.

“Naruto Keep up.”

The stern voice mad Naruto’s head snap up. It took a few seconds for him to notice that the older man was over twenty feet away from him. Shaking his head Naruto jogged to catch up, however his foot caught on something and once again found himself falling face first on the ground. ‘there’s one more line I can add to the tally sheet. Hinata’s dad must think I’m a complete klutz.’ He though with a blank look, taking in a deep to try and calm his nerves he stopped abruptly. He quickly pushed himself up onto all fours and brought his nose down to the ground were his face had been.

In some odd way him being down this close to the ground reminded him of one of those old detective novels that sat on library shelves collecting dust. The ones where they would get down as close as they could to the ground and look for clues that anyone else would have missed even if it was big enough for the world to see.

He sniffed at it carefully still think about the books. Had had this been a novel he would have at this point, felt around for the source of the smell stuck his finger in the substance brought it to his nose fore a quick smell and then placed it upon his tongue to confirm his theory.

His lungs filled with air and his nostrils filled with a metallic smell that he would recognize till the day he died.

How ever this wasn’t a Mystery novel and Naruto had no vampire like urges what-so-ever. The metallic smell of it was enough to convince him that it was blood and the thick sticky feel of the slowly congealing liquid let him now that it was recent.

He stood up and felt around the walls, His hands at one point making contact with nothing.

“Hiashi. . .there’s blood on the floor. . .and a hole in the wall.”

Hiashi turned round to see what the nuisance of a teen was going on about. He looked at the gap in the wall that he had noticed earlier. “Someone broke down a door.”

“But what about the blood o the floor?!” Naruto shouted pointing to it.

“That’s the door, Naruto. The bloods probably from the desperate escape.” He said trying to remain patient as he watched the boy walk into the room, hearing a few sounds as he bumped into thing a knocked them over. The Hyuuga leader closed his eyes and slowly opened them. Had this been anyone else he probably would have left him behind, the blondes curiosity was a hindrance in the mission, but Naruto was important to Hinata. Whether it was karma or some cruel joke his innocent daughter and the delinquent child were playing on him he didn’t know. Although he would have much rather not be anywhere near him. “Hurry up we have something to take care of.”

“Right, sorry!. . .uh?”

Hiashi watched as the blond walked out of the room holding onto something. “What do you have?” He asked.

Naruto stood still for a second before he held the bag out in front of him, not knowing where exactly the Hyuuga was. Hiashi grabbed the bag. He heard the clanging of metal and rustling from the bag. He opened it up and looked inside. “It’s Hinata’s shuriken. Judging by remains of the door, she had to have used a powerful attack.” His voice trailed off wondering where his daughter got that kind of strength.

“Really?!” The boy asked excitedly, grinning. Then he seemed to have a quick mood swing when he frowned. “How do you know it’s Hinata’s?”

Hiashi opened his mouth, paused and closed it quickly. “Her name’s in it.”

“So that means she might still be alive right?!” He asked his excitement coming back, doubled.

The man looked down at the boy. “Yes. Now lets go.” He said spinning on his feet quickly and continuing his search for the scroll listening to the blondes whispered shouts of joy. Gods forbid he tell the boy what was written in the bag. He himself knew he would never get the fancily drawn ’Hinata and Naruto’ heart out of his mind.


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Hinata’s eyes snapped open at the soft footsteps that were accompanied by a high pitched scraping noise echoing of the cave walls. She jumped up ignoring the slight pain from her ankle. The rest of her was still slightly sore, but she couldn’t ignore the way her hands burned. She held back her pained yell as she slipped into the shadows of the cave, activating her Byakugan. A figure was making it’s way into the opening where Hinata had been.