Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Duty ❯ Chapter 11 ( Chapter 11 )

Chapter 11

 

The first thought that entered Sasuke's head when he opened his eyes later that afternoon was it was nice to be in a bed, instead of on the ground. Normally his wasn't all that concerned about material comforts, but he had to admit that he'd had just about enough of sleeping on the ground for a while. Even with Higashi he'd only had a simple straw mattress to keep him off the cold ground.

 

Seven months of first a mission gone awry, then a cozy little cell, then a ship, and a long trek across the globe had made him yearn for some of the simple things he'd taken for granted before. It's not to say that he'd treasure every moment in bed for the rest of his life, but it certainly felt fantastic at the moment.

 

His second thought was of his lovely wife. They'd spent a good portion of the morning getting reacquainted, until both finally collapsed into satisfied slumber. Hinata had been surprisingly energetic and insatiable for a woman about to give birth to two new lives.

 

Smiling and looking to his left, he expected to see her curled up in the soft after noon light on their bed. His smile faltered slightly when she wasn't. He shouldn't worry though, since he doubted she'd go far the day he arrived home.

 

Sighing, he sat up, realizing she'd probably had more than enough sleep after a full night and a portion of the day. In all likelihood she'd been up for a while now. He rubbed his head sleepily and wondered if he should look for her or take a shower first. The smells radiating from him drove him towards the latter. The smell of travel, exertion and sex clung to him in a way he didn't think Hinata would entirely appreciate, though he was a little pleased with the last of those smells. He hadn't smelled Hinata on his skin in so long he'd almost forgotten what it was like.

 

Rolling off of the bed, he made his way towards the bathroom. A quick glance out the window indicated it was probably nearing five o'clock. Naruto should even be back by now. He'd need to track down the blond man and Higashi soon. Plus Tsunade would very likely want to speak with him as soon as possible. He was a bit surprised she hadn't busted through his door yet or at least sent a lackey his way.

 

He stretched and wandered into the shower turning the water up to a wonderfully scorching temperature and sighing in content. His own bed, his lovely wife and a hot shower; he never wanted to go on another mission again.

 

***

 

Sasuke's frown was deepening by the second. He stood in front of Headquarters, his heart pounding slightly in what was probably needless worry. Hinata was no where to be found.

 

He'd finished his shower and hurried to the living room and then kitchen in search of her. She hadn't been in either location, which led to a larger search of the house and grounds. No luck there either. Finally he'd tracked down the housekeeper, who said that her mistress had gone off to the market to get something special for dinner.

 

That had been five hours ago. Hinata might be a bit slower with her advance pregnancy and all, but not that slow. Even Sasuke realized that and he hadn't been around a pregnant woman before. Besides, after her display of stamina for hours that morning, he didn't think shopping would be that much of a strain.

 

It was, nine o'clock, and still no sign of his lovely, very pregnant wife. Friends hadn't seen her, nor had her family, though everyone was very happy to see him. Unfortunately it was hard to find his wife with everyone hugging you and asking a million questions that had nothing to do with his missing wife!

 

He was definitely getting worried and with a frustrated sigh, realized it was time to take this to the Hokage, who'd very likely want a full report as well.

 

***

 

Hinata groaned softly, and blinked, trying to open her heavy eyelids. Her head was pounding and spinning, making her feel rather sick and disoriented. She tried to figure out what was happening, but couldn't seem to grasp onto any solid thought for more than a few seconds. She did manage to open her eyes enough to see two arguing men, or maybe it was just one divided into two? Her head throbbed and the room tilted alarmingly.

 

“Untie the old woman,” she heard one man demand. “She can look after the Uchiha woman.”

 

“What if she escapes and notifies Uchiha of our location before we're ready?” the other argued back. “The traps aren't completely set yet. We should be doing that instead of gabbing about what to do with her!”

 

“Well maybe you should be more careful when hitting someone over the head!” Man One growled. “For fuck's sake, look at her. She damn near ready to pop and everyone knows you can't stress a woman out when she's this close! I don't want to deal with a big mess if she decides to pop a kid out here.”

 

“What do you mean everyone knows? Who knows that kind of thing? Besides your plan was to tackle her and tie her up. Like that would have been a better idea?” Man Two yelled flinging up his hands.

 

“I'm not in labor,” she finally whispered, very nearly into the wood of the floor. She couldn't lift her head. If felt too heavy, making her wonder what Man One had hit her with. “So stop yelling. It hurts my head.”

 

Man One turned sharply to look at her. “I'm cutting the old woman loose to look after Uchiha, Jiro. “She'll be of no use to us if she dies before he gets here.”

 

“She won't die,” Jiro grunted, rolling his eyes. “Gods you're so dramatic Ichiro.” He finally sighed and shrugged. “Fine, get grandma in here, while I go finish up the traps for Uchiha. It shouldn't be long anyway. He's been gone for months, so I don't doubt he'll be wondering where his wife is at the moment.”

 

Ichiro muttered to himself, while Jiro disappeared from the room. Hinata watched through shuttered eyes as Ichiro stalked into the next room and returned moments later, hauling along a small elderly woman. Hinata groaned softly when she realized the woman, Ayame, was one of her family's servants. The woman's family had been healers for centuries and lived near the Hyuuga compound. They weren't precisely like medic nin, since they didn't use chakra, but they did a decent job using herbs and potions. Hinata was both terrified, for the life of a loyal servant and relieved to have a competent woman present if she did indeed go into labor here.

 

“Oh madam!” Ayame cried, her shaking hand coming to her mouth in shock. “What have you done to her you bastard?” she cried, pushing Ichiro away from her with surprising strength. “Monster!” she yelled at him, before turning and hurrying to Hinata's side.

 

“I didn't do anything madam,” Ichiro muttered. “Lay it all on my brother if you like. Regardless, you will watch her and make sure her condition doesn't worsen before Uchiha arrives. Don't try to escape or I'll take it out personally on your lovely granddaughter in there,” he snarled, leaving little room for doubt on the matter. Ayame nodded stiffly, swallowing and helping Hinata scoot onto the pallet he'd previously occupied that morning. He snorted and left the tiny cottage to find his brother, leaving the women alone.

 

“Ayame,” Hinata groaned softly. “Please, just get yourself and young Natsuki out of here. Sasuke will come for me. I don't want you to get hurt by these men, please.” The whole room dipped and whirled, unsettling her stomach to the point she nearly retched up her last meal on poor Ayame.

 

Ayame clucked her tongue and soothingly stroked Hinata's long hair back. “I'll do no such thing mistress. We'll just wait for your husband to come and then we'll all be safe, now won't we. In the meantime,” she said steadily, “let's check you over.” She settled Hinata on her side gently and quickly set to work.

 

With a gentle, professional manner she felt over Hinata's hard belly, frowning softly at the tautness. She rubbed Hinata's back soothingly and hummed softly. “I need to you relax mistress. Your belly is as hard as a rock. It's not good for the babies.”

 

After a few moments of relaxing humming and massaging she asked quietly, “May I check for any blood?” Hinata nodded slightly, blushing a little. Really she should be used to all the prodding at this point with Sakura visiting her once or twice a week. Ayame did her job quickly and happily announced she'd found nothing worrisome. “Just breathe and rest and the tummy should loosen right up,” she assured Hinata gently. “With two babies in there, we want them to stay put for as long as possible don't we?” she coaxed, carefully massaging Hinata's belly until it began to soften a bit and Hinata melted into her soothing embrace. “Those men should be more careful with a pregnant mother,” she scolded no one in particular.

 

Hinata sighed, “I suppose I should have been more careful with my husband as well. He returned home early this morning after seven months away. I was happy to see him,” she admitted softly.

 

Ayame chuckled at that. “I can imagine you would be.” She patted Hinata's relaxed tummy gently. “But don't you worry. A little sex doesn't hurt. Getting banged about by two brutes does though. When they come back, no matter what, you need to try to stay calm or you'll be delivering your little angels on my hearth. Just trust me to handle them until that husband of yours comes to save the day, alright?” She smiled when Hinata nodded a bit. “Good, now let me find something safe for that head of yours.”

 

***

 

Sasuke paced to and fro in front of Tsunade, who was yelling orders into her intercom. He'd given her a brief overview of his time away before demanding help in finding his wife. Tsunade had frowned at first, but then as the pieces started coming together in her head, she figured that the plot on Uchiha's life had finally all come to a head.

 

Within five minutes she had two Chuunin standing before her desk. “Why are they here?” Sasuke growled. “Why are you wasting time?”

 

Tsunade ignored him and frowned at the men. “Who has entered the city in the last few days?” she asked seriously.

 

“Uchiha here, Uzumaki with some old man, and Healer Ayame and Natsuki with two blond men,” one of them said hastily. “It's still cold so few are traveling in and out, so they're the only ones.

 

“The old man is Higashi,” Sasuke said with a shrug. “He was my companion for a couple of months. What about the two men?” he asked. “What did they look like?”

 

“Tall, blond, spitting image of each other,” the second Chuunin said firmly. “One was sick and Ayame was taking him home with her.”

 

“Twins?” Sasuke growled. “Well fuck,” he groaned. He'd made it home but the whole mess still wasn't over. Oh no, he couldn't be that lucky, could he?”

 

Tsunade made the connection as well. “Do you think they're that Ito guy's sons; the ones after your Sharingan?” she asked seriously.

 

“They must be,” Sasuke said firmly. “They weren't recognized, so they must be outsiders and I doubt Ito went to so much trouble to get me in the first place, just to let it go after I attacked him. If anything it probably pissed him off more,” he growled in frustration. He just wanted to get back to his normal life; his wife, training, his friends, a few missions in between…was that asking for too much really?

 

“Where did Ayame take the two men?” Tsunade asked sharply.

 

“Her house I believe,” the first man said. “That's were she usually cares for the sick anyway.” He shifted nervously under the blond woman's gaze as she tried to puzzle out what to do with them. They had let a stranger in after all, three of them actually.

 

“Sasuke, take Team 7 to Ayame's home near the Hyuuga compound,” Tsunade said finally. “I wish I could send more, but frankly we don't have many teams even close to Konoha right now. Guy's team just returned this morning, so if you need more people, take them.” She punched her intercom button again. “Shizune, send messengers out to gather Kakashi and Naruto. Have them bring Naruto's guest to me as well, so he's not left wandering alone. Send Sakura up immediately as well.”

 

“Yes ma'am,” returned Shizune's voice.

 

Tsunade turned to the two Chuunin. “You two need to be more watchful about who you allow inside. With Naruto you were fine, as he is a high level shinobi and very reliable, but with Ayame it is clear she was duped by these twins. As punishment you will both be on border patrol for two months, starting in the morning.”

 

“Yes Hokage,” they said, bowing and hurrying out of the room.

 

Sasuke and Tsunade waited in tense silence for ten minutes before Sakura burst into the room and launched herself at Sasuke. “Oh Sasuke! Naruto said you were back but I've been in surgery all day!” she cried, squeezing him tight. She looked exhausted, dark circles under her eyes and her hair pulled up in a haphazard bun. “How are you?”

 

“I'm fine,” he said gruffly, “But Hinata has gone missing, so the drama continues.”

 

“Hinata?” she asked shocked. “Since when? I saw her just last night.”

 

“Some time around mid day we think,” Tsunade said with a weary sigh. “Two of the men involved in Sasuke's kidnapping have managed to get into the city, and we believe they took Hinata. Once Kakashi and Naruto arrive, Team 7 will retrieve her and take the two men into custody.”

 

“Or take them out,” Sasuke growled.

Tsunade shrugged and leaned against the front of her desk. “Whichever happens first. Either way they won't be leaving these walls. They managed to find Konoha and can't be allowed to spread tales about it.” She looked up at the door as Naruto and Kakashi wandered in, Naruto grinning at Sasuke and Kakashi looking a tad surprised. “Ah good,” she said. “Sasuke brief your team on the way to Ayame's and report in when you've completed the mission,” she said waving them out before the last two had made it three feet inside.

 

“The ramen lady?” Naruto asked in surprise. “Why the hell are we going to her place?” he asked as they hurried down the hall.

 

“Not that Ayame,” Sasuke sighed. “Healer Ayame, with the Hyuuga clan. Hinata is missing and we believe that two men Ayame took in have her.”

 

Naruto's face darkened when he heard that Hinata was in danger. “Hinata had better be okay or I'll kill those bastards,” he growled.

 

“The Hokage implied that would need to happen anyway,” Sasuke grunted. “They aren't going free after this.” He was trying to fight down a growing sense of panic, knowing that far too much time had already been wasted. She'd been gone for nearly ten hours. Anything could have happened at this point. He didn't even care much for the status of the twin brothers' future, his primary thought being Hinata and his unborn children. “Do what you need to do. I'm going for Hinata. I don't care what happens to the two men,” he said grimly.

 

“Understood,” his three teammates responded, mouths setting into thin lines of resolution. “I'll need to check Hinata as soon as possible though,” Sakura said after a silent moment of skipping across rooftops. “Not to add more to the situation, but this could have sent her into early labor.”

 

“I'm aware of that,” Sasuke bit out. “Do what you must, but neutralize the twins quickly. I'm tired of this shit and I just want to get back to my life.”

 

Not two minutes later they realized it was about to begin as Naruto nearly set off an exploding tag. The blond had skid to a halt, just shy of a nearly invisible trip wire in their path. After a tense moment of looking around they discovered the tiny cottage was rife with them. “Damn it,” Naruto growled. “Don't play very nice do they?”

 

“We could really use a Hyuuga on this one,” Kakashi sighed. “Neji has always been rather good at finding the source of a trap.” He thought for a long moment and then nodded. “Hold tight a moment and I'll be back. He should be home this time of night and we're close to the compound anyway.” Before anyone could protest otherwise, Kakashi was gone in a swirl of dust and chakra.

 

“I don't know how many delays I can take,” Sasuke growled in frustration. He paced back and forth over the roof, chafing at the wait, but knowing that it was wise. Neji would not only be able to find every tag so they could disarm them, he'd also be able to check on Hinata's state from a distance.

 

Good on his word, for once, Kakashi reappeared with Neji five minutes later. Neji looked like he'd just rolled out of bed, his hair falling in long cascades down his back and dressed in a simple loose shirt and pair of pants. Despite that, he looked ready for anything, his headband in place and his weapons pouch on his thigh.

 

“Uchiha, glad you're back,” he said with a nod. “The family has been concerned.” Sasuke nodded in return before turning his gaze on the cottage again. “So Hinata is in there?” Neji asked. At the group nod he sighed and focused on the building. “Byakugan!”

 

Hinata was easy to pick up, along with the signatures of four other people, only two of which had strong chakra. “Hinata appears to be lying down. Her chakra coils are running a bit erratically, but overall she looks okay. Her babies also appear slightly stressed, but unharmed and resting inside her. A woman, I believe, is caring for her. Doesn't Healer Ayame live there?” he asked studying the people inside.

 

“Yes,” Sakura said nodding. “She's probably the one with Hinata. Her granddaughter is also there.”

 

Neji nodded, deciding the awkwardness of the second weak signature suggested that the girl was tied up. “Yes she appears to be the one tied up in the second room. The two men are near the door of the cottage and are actually fairly strong, if their chakra coils are anything to go by. They might be arguing though, since they're waving their arms and their hearts are beating quickly. That could be an advantage. If they're divided on something and arguing, an attack now would throw them off guard.”

 

“But there must me fifty exploding tags out there!” Naruto protested. “Look at all the trip wires.”

 

Neji glanced around. “There are ten actually, but I think I see a gap in their lines, probably where they were standing when they set the last trap. They're good, but they are a bit sloppy. We should be able to get into the cottage without tripping anything.”

 

“But if we have to fight them, the trip wires are a definite problem,” Sasuke mentioned thoughtfully. “It shouldn't take long to disarm ten tags. If you say Hinata appears okay, then we will do this right and get rid of the traps. I don't want to risk anyone getting hurt because I'm in a hurry to get to my wife.”

 

“Alright,” Neji said seriously. “There are five trees around the cottage, each bearing a tag. One is on the window of the cottage, two on a boulder near the door and two on the roof. Split up and take out the tree tags first and then the five around the building itself. The tags on the cottage might be fake anyway, since I doubt they wanted to blow themselves up as well. If I see anything out of place I'll signal you,” he said firmly.

 

***

 

Hinata grateful accepted a bowl of thick stew from Ayame and leaned back against the wall near the fireplace. She was exhausted after a long day of stress and listening to the twins. They argued almost constantly about every detail of their planning. If her chakra weren't so erratic from her pregnancy, and if she weren't so unbalanced, Hinata had no doubt she could have taken them out at least five different times that day. For twins, they certainly weren't of one mind on anything but killing her husband.

 

She knew that Sasuke would come for her eventually. He should have been looking for her for hours at this point, so she didn't doubt she'd be home by morning. It was just a matter of waiting it all out and hoping her babies stay put. Not to mention hoping the twins wouldn't change their mind about hurting her. So far it seemed that they planned to let her go as soon as they captured Sasuke, but she didn't know how they planned to get him out of the city. They might have gotten in easily, but she didn't think carting a pissed off Sasuke through the gates would fly very well.

 

Hinata ate quietly and watched the twins arguing. They were fighting about whether to go outside or not. Ichiro thought they should stay inside to shrink the playing field and avoid long range attacks. Jiro insisted that they should hide in the trees and watch for any movement around the house. She didn't understand why they didn't just split up since there were two of them anyway. But then, it's not like she was going to mention it to them.

 

About twenty minutes later she had set her bowl aside and was chatting quietly with Ayame when she saw a spiky shadow ghost past the window. Fortunately both of the men were too occupied with glaring at each other to notice anyone outside. From their arguing she'd picked up that they expected their tags exploding to alert them. Clearly they'd had some training, but didn't quite grasp just what a true shinobi was capable of. If they were already surrounding the cottage, it was likely that the tags were already gone.

 

“What are you smiling about?” Jiro growled at her.

 

“Nothing,” she said, mentally smacking herself for the smile that had touched her lips at thoughts of Sasuke coming to her rescue. “I just know that Sauske will come and get me and I can go home soon.”

 

“You'll be going home, but not because your husband takes you there. He's coming with us,” Ichiro muttered, slumped at a small dining table in the corner.

 

“How do you think you'll escape?” she asked softly.

 

“Walk out the gates,” Jiro said with a smirk. “Just like we came in.” His eyes flicked to Ayame who flinched and lowered her eyes in shame. She'd apologized to Hinata over and over all evening. Hinata couldn't be angry with her though, even if she were the type to ever get angry. Ayame was a healer, so of course she'd take in a sick man. She did it all of the time; only this time it hadn't worked out so well.

 

“I'm sure that'll work very well,” she said mildly. “I mean, I'm sure the guards wouldn't possibly notice you leaving with Sasuke, especially with them on alert for such an occurrence.”

 

“What are you talking about,” Jiro growled.

 

“You've never been to a shinobi village have you?” Ayame asked snorting softly. “I'm surprised they let me bring you in, but by now the guards have reported your entrance into the city. You won't be able to just leave now. This isn't just a regular town where you can come and go as you please.”

 

Ichiro and Jiro glanced at each other uneasily. Hinata smiled softly at them. “Don't worry, they won't kill you if you give up now,” she assured them. “You won't be leaving here alive otherwise.” Actually there was probably a fair chance they'd be killed no matter what they did. They were foreigners with only ill intentions for Konoha's citizens. She doubted they'd get off easily.

 

“No?” Ichiro asked suspiciously. They hadn't quite thought this one out thoroughly, and following their father's orders wasn't worth getting killed over. He mentally groaned and decided staying home would have been so much more pleasant, pissed off father or no. Listening to him gripe all day was preferable to the cold winter of the mountains and the very real risk of being killed before the night was out.

 

“I kind of pictured us trading the woman for Uchiha and dragging him back with us,” Jiro said after a moment. “I suppose this changes things a bit doesn't it?”

 

“Yes it does,” Ichiro said slowly sliding a knife out of his belt. “It changes everything quite a lot actually.” He grinned at his brother as Hinata's eyes widened. “Get the girl.”

 

“No!” Ayame screamed, throwing herself at Jiro as he headed toward the room where Natsuki had been tied up. He growled and thrust her away from him harshly, continuing through the door. Hinata cried out and scrambled on her hands and knees to the old woman as her head glanced the edge of a cabinet and she went down hard.

 

Hinata touched the woman's head tender and gasped as her fingers came away bloody. Even though she was trained as an emergency medic, she wasn't sure if she could control her chakra enough to actually heal the damage. “We need a medic!” she cried, turning towards Ichiro. He simply flicked his gaze uninterested over the older woman and then shrugged uncaringly. “What kind of monster are you?” she gasped, struggling to her feet.

 

“The kind that will kill a pregnant woman if she doesn't shut the hell up!” Jiro growled as he dragged a struggling Natsuki back into the main room. “We might have miscalculated this plan a bit, but we still don't have a problem completing it any way we can. You wouldn't be the first women we've killed, so I suggest you cooperate.”

 

“That won't be necessary,” a deep male voice growled. Hinata instantly recognized Sasuke's voice and spun to see him in the doorway. “Drop the weapon and I won't kill you.”

 

Jiro and Ichiro spun, Jiro gripping Natsuki fiercely by the neck. The girl squeaked and scrambled to keep her bound legs under her. “Uchiha, finally we meet face to face.”

 

“Yes,” Sasuke said flicking his gaze to Hinata and the blood on her hands. His stomach clenched, wondering if she'd been hurt after all, but then he was Ayame on the floor. “Sakura,” he called over his shoulder, “The healer is injured.”

 

Sakura pressed inside, glaring at the twins. They watched her carefully as she edged away from Sasuke. “Stop right there,” Jiro growled, jerking Natsuki roughly. The poor girl was trying to cry, but didn't have enough air to really do it. Instead she could only choke harshly as tears streamed down her face. She looked at Sakura, pleadingly and Sakura froze.

 

“Who are you?” Ichiro asked twirling his knife slowly.

 

“Sakura, a medic nin,” she replied vaguely. “I'm just here to care for the injured, nothing else. I swear I'm not even a very good fighter, but they sent me because I'm so good at my job. You don't need to hurt me. I won't hurt you,” she assured them softly, not bothering to hide her anger in the least. “I just want to get to the woman.”

 

“Fine,” Ichiro growled waving her off.

 

Sakura hurried to Ayame and immediately checked her over, smiling reassuringly at Hinata as the young woman knelt beside her. “Can you take a peek outside and see where the others are?” she whispered as she began to heal Ayame.

 

“No,” Hinata said quietly back. “I can't control my chakra well enough to use my Byakugan.”

 

Sakura sighed. This was the reason so many shinobi women had to take time off as soon as they got pregnant. Many of them lost their ability to control their chakra very well. Sakura had been lucky and she'd barely noticed a difference with both of her girls.

 

“Why don't we take this outside?” Sasuke suggested coolly. “Leave the women here and we'll work this out between the three of us.”

 

“Fine,” Jiro said, tossing Natsuki to the side and gesturing towards the door. “Let's just get this done so we can go home,” he snarled when Ichiro began to protest. “We'll fight him and hopefully he'll be injured enough we can take him home with a little less fuss.”

 

“Whatever,” Ichiro growled and stomped past Sasuke and into the night. Sasuke raised a brow at the women and then followed him, Jiro right behind.

 

“I don't think those two are very stable,” Hinata said softly. “Their moods and thoughts swing wildly back and forth. Sometimes I thought they were going to get violent and others I could actually speak with them quiet calmly. Something isn't quite right in their heads.”

 

“Can you fight if need be?” Sakura asked gently. She stroked Ayame's grey hair, pleased to she the woman was slowly recovering. She moved to the sobbing young woman next, looking at Hinata in question.

 

“No, not at the level needed with those two. I could use longer range weapons, but my balance is all wrong so no hand to hand combat. If you have some spare kunai I could use those,” Hinata said. “I'm sorry. It's so frustrating to have the skill…right here…but be unable to complete any thing,” she said tapping her head gently.

 

“It's okay. Naruto, Neji and Kakashi are outside too, so you'll be fine. I just wanted to know because I'm going to go help out,” Sakura said handing her some kunai and shuriken from her pouch. She checked the girl out and untied her quickly, soothing her gently as she worked. “If they get too close, I'll come back.”

 

Hinata nodded, “Alright.” She started as a huge explosion rent the air, signaling that someone had made their move finally.

 

“If it looks like the area is clear, I want you to get these two out and all of you should head towards the Hokage's Tower. You won't be safer in any other building in the city,” Sakura said standing and heading towards the door. “I know you're at a disadvantage right now, but don't forget you're a shinobi and it takes more than fancy attacks to be a good one. You'll be fine.” With that she disappeared through the door, leaving the women alone.

 

“Is there anyway out of here beside the front door?” she asked Natsuki gently. The girl crawled to her waking grandmother and shook her head. “No, we've been meaning to have another door put into the other room, but money has been too tight lately.”

 

“Alright,” Hinata said nodding thoughtfully. “It's likely that they'll soon be too busy to pay much attention to us. You'll have to trust me completely. If I say run, run for all your worth, but if I say stop, no matter what, you must stop immediately. If there are trip wires you could stumble into one if you don't listen. Understand?” she asked the girl. Natsuki nodded biting her lip. “Good, help me with your grandmother then.”

 

Both young women pulled the stunned older woman to her feet and moved towards the door, slowly edging outside. Only twenty feet away she could see Neji and Sasuke fighting the twins. The identical men were surprisingly good, but they also looked angry and frustrated. That kind of break in concentration would get you killed against full-blooded shinobi like Sasuke and Neji. Both men had no qualms about taking out an opponent; Sasuke had done plenty of that during his time with Orochimaru and afterward and Neji was ANBU so it came with the job really.

 

She very nearly screamed when Naruto landed directly in front of them, looking more serious than she'd ever seen him. “Are you okay Hinata?” he asked grasping her shoulder gently. “Did they hurt you?”

 

“No, but Ayame got hurt and Natsuki a little too,” Hinata said gently. “Sakura healed Ayame, but she's still really weak. I want to get them both out of here if we can.”

 

Naruto glanced back at the battle scene as a flash of pink joined the fray and one of the twins flew screaming through the air shortly afterward. He smiled slightly. “I think they have it more or less under control and Kakashi still hanging about somewhere. I'll help you get them out of here.” He gently pulled Ayame up onto his back, ignoring her weak protests that she could walk and the group cautiously set out, trying to escape the destruction zone as quickly as possible.

 

They moved quickly, but it seemed that no matter how far they went through the trees toward the more heavily populated part of town, the battle kept coming closer. Finally the three were running hard, Hinata unable to take to the trees because the young woman stumbling at her side. Naruto didn't dare leave them alone either, so he plodded along next to them.

 

Finally growling in frustration he told Nastuki to hold on tight and grabbed her up. “Hinata you need to run faster. We're almost to the edge of town. Can you run across the roof tops?”

 

Hinata opened her mouth to answer, but choked and faltered as a surprising pain ripped through her belly. She gasped and stumbled, falling to the ground as she hit a rock.

 

Naruto was at her side immediately, lowering his charges to the ground. “What happened? Did you trip? Come on,” he urged her, hearing the clashes of steal close by, “we need to keep going.”

 

Hinata trembled and bit her lip. She groaned low as a cramp assaulted her lower back and belly. “Oh gods,” she gasped, her eyes watering as she felt an odd sort of shift inside her and suddenly her pants were soaked through.

 

She could see Naruto blink at her in the pale moonlight and hear his curious intake of air. “Well fuck,” he muttered.

 

“I think my water just broke,” she whispered in shock.

 

“Yeah, I'd gathered that,” he sighed.