Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Mokushita Hyuuga ❯ Chapter 36

Chapter 36


Hinata rubbed her arms. She was shivering, and had been since they crossed the border into the lightening country. Lightning and thunder flashed and banged in an odd orchestra, and the rain pelted down on them like no tomorrow.
Hinata yawned, but resisted the urge to stop jogging. They had taken next to no breaks, and the ones they did never lasted more than an hour. They were jogging on the ground right now, due to Keii running out of chakra. Hinata felt around her reserves, but she wasn’t at all surprised to see that she had bare minimum as well.
Glancing at Katoki, she saw weariness in his limbs, but the look of determination in his eyes surprised her. There was something there as well...Worry, Hinata thought. Jogging a little faster, she reached out to touch Katoki's arm.
"K-katoki-kun..." Katoki looked back at her and blinked.
"Yes?" Hinata paused to jump over a tree root.
"Can we stop, I can't stop shivering and we've been running for almost 2 days straight, besides, I don’t think Keii-kun has enough chakra to run much farther." Katoki looked at Keii. The honey brown eyed boy was panting, and his eyes were almost closed. Katoki shook his head.
"Hinata-chan...The gate is almost here; can you hang on for two or three more miles? Besides, I can carry Keii if he gives out." Hinata closed her eyes a little and shook her head.
"G-gomen...I was just..." Katoki put his arm around her and said,
"Why are you apologizing? When we get to Kumo, you can rest all you want. I don’t think that Yondaime-sama will make us do missions." Hinata shook her head again and said,
"I was worrying about the baby, baka." Katoki grimaced.
"Saa...I forgot...Alright, for ten minutes." Hinata smiled gratefully and stopped running. Keii fell over in an exhausted heap and fell asleep. Katoki took off his cloak and put it around Hinata's slumped shoulders. She welcomed the extra warmth. Pulling Katoki down to sit with her, she said,
"Katoki-kun...I have a question...You don’t have to answer it though..." Katoki looked at the woman, who was carrying his child and said,
"Hmm?" Hinata moved her arms a bit and said,
"You haven't had any memory fits lately...have you been remembering?" Katoki rubbed the back of his head.
"Some things. I find that I go to sleep, and wake up with memories more often. I had a small attack before we left Suna...They aren’t bad any more..." Katoki saw that Hinata was smiling. He smiled himself, but he felt far from happy.
"What have you been remembering? A-ano...If I'm not prying..." Katoki waved her off and said,
"Sounds, smells, colours, nothing substantial. Well, I remember a tall man, a really tall man...but I might have been a kid...He had tanned skin. But I can't remember anything else about him..." Hinata rested her head on his shoulder. A few minutes passed and Katoki started to feel a bit drowsy.
"...I'm scared..." Katoki's eyes snapped open and looked down at Hinata. She wore a tired smile. Her hand was rested on her stomach. Katoki reached around and slid his hand under Hinata's.
"Don't be. You aren't alone this time." Hinata smiled, and wiped away the tears that had made their way down her face.
Standing up, Katoki walked over to Keii and picked him up by his arm.
"Wake up, boy. We'll be in Kumo in a few minutes. Your jii-sama will take care of you then." Keii unsteadily stood up and yawned. Hinata handed a cloak back to Katoki, and he shrugged it on.
"Hinata, do you have enough chakra to use your byakugan?" Hinata nodded slowly. Katoki held his hand up and Hinata went through the seals. Veins stood out around her eyes making her look angry. Keii was fascinated as he and Katoki watched the woman look around.
"A-ano...I think I can see a few people...18...19 miles away. We have a good headstart." Hinata swivelled her head towards Kumogakure and said,
"There are people coming here. Four ANBU. They'll be here in a few minutes. Presumably to meet us, right?" Katoki nodded and sat down. Keii stood still, but gaped at Hinata. Hinata shakily sat down, but Katoki pulled her onto his lap. She welcomed the warmth and rested her head on his chest.
"You can see that far? For real?" Hinata smiled at the young man.
"Haaa...I can. I could see farther, but I'm really low on chakra." Keii sat down and gazed at Hinata's eyes. Wonder was painted across his face as he said,
"It's a kekkei genkai, right? Too bad, I would love to have eyes like yours." Hinata reddened a bit and she dug her face into Katoki's shoulder.
"Maa maa, Keii, don’t say things like that. When Hinata was young, Kumo nin tried to kidnap her for those eyes." Keii grimaced.
"Gomenasai..." Hinata shook her head. She was about to say something when Katoki's head shot up. An ANBU with a bear mask dropped down and said,
"...Katoki-san. Is it really you?" The ANBU said. Katoki looked at the ANBU and said,
"Kimiko-chan, of course it's me. Now, we passed the test, let's get into Kumo, Keii is sick already, and Hinata-chan's heading that way." The ANBU nodded and jumped back into the trees.
"Keii, do you think you have enough chakra to tree jump?" Keii shook his head and said,
"No, but I can try." Katoki grinned and nodded. The brown eyed boy jumped into the trees, and Katoki followed. Hinata gathered chakra at her feet, but when she jumped, she went no higher than five feet. Landing hard, Katoki heard a snap. Hinata moaned and rolled over.
"Kuso...Hinata-chan?" Landing beside her, she opened her eyes and said,
"I have...no chakra...And I think...my ankle…" Grimacing in pain, Katoki smoothed her hair back.
"Here, I'll carry you, get on!" Hinata rolled her self up and Katoki hoisted her onto his back. He jumped into the trees, and then joined the rest of the group on the treetops.

"Yondaime-sama! People are here to see you!" A young chuunin burst into the office of the Raikage. The old man sleeping on his desk abruptly shot up and said,
"Ah…Well...Let them in you silly boy." The boy blushed and skittered out of the room. Yondaime rubbed his eyes and yawned. The doors opened again, and two soaking wet ANBU walked in, followed by a soaking wet young man, and an older soaking wet man, carrying a soaking wet woman on his back.
"...Katoki?" The man nodded and Yondaime's eyes looked at the younger man.
"...KEII! You are in SO much trouble, young man." Keii winced, and Yondaime continued. "Tomorrow. For now, rest. Keii, you are to stay at Katoki's apartment tonight. Rest well; I will see you tomorrow night. I will send a medic nin to your apartment sometime around noon." Katoki nodded and sighed. Hinata shifted a bit, but didn’t wake up. Keii dragged his feet, and yawned the entire way back to the apartment.
"So this is where you live? Where does Hinata-san live? Do you think she would mind staying here?" Katoki rolled his eyes as he dug his key out.
"Hinata-chan lives with me. She's my girlfriend, Keii." Keii nodded and yawned again. Katoki finally unlocked the door and as he moved towards the bedroom he said,
"You can sleep on the couch. Help yourself to some food if you want, and the spare blankets are under the couch. I'll see you in the morning." Keii nodded and was about to sit on the couch when he realized that his clothes were still soaking wet.
"A-ano...Katoki-sensei?" Keii called out tentatively. Katoki opened the door to the bedroom and threw out a large tee shirt and sweat pants. Keii thanked him, and Katoki shut the door. Looking at Hinata, he sighed.
"Nnnn...Katoki-kun..." Hinata sat up and put a hand to her head. "I have a headache...and I'm wet...Ah! When did we get home?" Katoki knelt down and helped Hinata take her jacket off.
"We just got back. You fell asleep on my back, but it's ok. Yondaime-sama told us to come back tomorrow. Well, me and Keii. You need to stay here and rest. Medic's can't cure colds but they can look at your ankle, besides, you need to take it easy for the baby." Hinata pouted and making sure to stay under the covers, she carefully slid her sodden pants over her bruised and aching ankle. Rubbing her face, Hinata tried to get the blush that had made its way onto her face to go away.
Katoki changed quickly, carefully wrapped Hinata’s ankle in a tensor bandage, and took out a load of heavy winter blankets from the closet. Laying them out on the large pallet, Hinata scrambled under then and shivered. Katoki slid under the blankets and hugged the woman, trying to give her some heat.
"Mmm...Katoki-kun?" Hinata said quietly. Katoki moved his head and said drowsily,
"Mmmm?"
"You're really warm..." Katoki smiled and nuzzled closer. Hinata smiled softly and sighed in contentment.

Gaara approached Tsunade's quarters and was not happy, but not surprised to see the green door hanging off its hinges and missing its lower half. The splinters were stuck in the opposing wall. Gaara glanced at them, but dismissed them. Ducking into the room, he saw that everything had been torn up, and thrown about. Papers covered the entire floor, and ink was splashed on the left wall. The bed was broken in half, one half was stuck in a wall. Tsunade sat in the middle of the room, a bottle of sake adorning her hand.
"Tsunade." Gaara said. The blonde woman looked up at Gaara; her eyes were narrowed and full of anger.
"They got away." Gaara nodded. He wasn't particularly happy to have found that out as well.
"They are headed for Kumogakure. Perhaps it's a good thing." the bottle in Tsunade's hand smashed. Sake and blood dribbled down her hand onto the floor.
"I got her back, and I lost her. Not just that, but she shouldn’t be travelling like this! She's carrying a child for kami-sama's sake." Gaara blinked, not expecting that statement.
"I can send a letter to the Raikage, requesting for Hinata-san's return." Tsunade shook her head.
"No, I don’t want her travelling any more. I will send a letter requesting for Hinata not to participate in any missions, and to be watched around the clock. I will personally retrieve her when this war is over." Gaara nodded.
"Did you want some paper? Your supply seems...empty." Tsunade threw a crystal inkpot at the red head, but his sand stopped it.
"Get out." She snapped. Gaara's lip twitched into an amused smile.


A crack echoed throughout the near empty cell, Sasami jolted awake, and Doumeki screamed. A large explosion rattled the room, and small rocks and dust fell on the two girls. Doumeki clambered into Sasami's arms and shivered. Few more bangs, and the door fell off. Light flooded the room and a voice said,
"They're in here!" Hope filled Sasami's chest as her eyes focused on the individuals breaking into her cell.
"Are you two ok?" Someone said. Sasami vaguely nodded.
"W-who...?" Sasami managed to get out, just as one of the men started to walk towards her.
"We're friends. Now let's go, Raiden-chan is waiting." Sasami perked up and Doumeki stopped whimpering. The man looped his arms around Doumeki's waist, but she started to shriek. Letting go, Sasami shrugged. The man clicked his tongue and said,
"I can’t carry you both, and neither of you are in any condition to run, let alone walk." Sasami looked down at the dark skinned girl. Her eyes were dark, and no trace of the amber colour that signified her doujutsu was left in them.
"Doumeki-chan...I won’t be far away. And I promise I will cuddle with you all the time when they get us out." Doumeki looked panicked, but let go of Sasami's waist. The man looped her around the middle and hoisted her onto his back. A taller man did the same to Sasami. Sasami winced as he seemed to touch every bruise she had.
"Gomen, hime-sama..." He muttered. Sasami almost rolled her eyes.

Two or three painful hours later, and Sasami was finally let off the man's back. Her legs were wobbly and she could barely walk. Sitting on the ground, the man who had talked to them first let Doumeki down, and she scrambled into Sasami's stomach. Sasami sighed. The journey was relatively smooth...even with one of the kidnappers’ interference.

"OI! NO ONE STEALS MY HOSTAGE!" A voice raged from down the hall. The man carrying Doumeki started to stop, but the third man raised his hand. The man carrying Sasami nodded and the unburdened man formed a bunch of seals almost too quick for Sasami to watch. He turned dark and melted into the ground, almost like a shadow.
A few moments of silence was heard before a loud squelching sound bounced down the hall. Sasami flinched and Doumeki cupped her hands over her mouth. A small black spot on the ground crawled up to them and materialized.
"Target has been eliminated." The man carrying Sasami said quietly,
"Which one was it?" "Kasumi of the Hidden Mist." Doumeki let out an audible sigh and stopped trembling.

Looking up at the man who had rescued her, she studied him for a second or two. His hair was shaggy and green.
“Who are you? And where is Raiden-kun? You mentioned him earlier.” The man knelt down and said,
“I’m Raiden-chan’s Onii-chan. He’s in the next tent, if you want to see him, just try to be quiet, he’s still recovering.” Sasami almost grimaced, but she carefully moved a now sleeping Doumeki off her lap. Raiden’s brother helped her hobble into the next tent, where Sasami gasped. Raiden was hooked up to numerous tubes and wires, a monitor beeped with his heart, and an IV bag dripped into his arm. A series of seals that were plastered over his face and arms were glowing slightly.
“What…What happened?” Sasami whispered harshly, touching the boy’s arm. Raiden’s brother ran his hand through his hair, and said,
“Those people, they tried to steal his hyper-affinity. That’s why you were all captured. I don’t know what the leader of this organization wants to do with them, but he put a lot of effort into capturing you. They tried to get me, but I faked my death.”
“That explains the look on Raiden-kun’s face when he talked about you….wait…All of us? I have a hyper affinity? Doumeki-chan, too?” The man nodded and said,
“That little boy-“
“Girl.”
“…Girl…Yea, she is from Kiri no kuni? You are from Hi no kuni? You probably have a fire based one, that girl, a water one. It makes sense…Raiden-chan and I have lightening, and one of the bodies we found had the kanji for ‘Earth’ carved above his heart. How could you not know, Hime-sama?” Sasami blushed and looked down.
“I…I don’t know any katon jutsus…” Raiden’s brother laughed and Sasami glared at him.
“Here, here…do these hand seals, and say, Katon: hidama no jutsu.” Sasami nodded and moulded a small amount of chakra.
“Katon: hidama no jutsu!” A large flame ball twice the size of her head flared up before Sasami squeaked and released it.
“See? You used barely enough chakra to make a ball the size of your fist. Now try with next to no chakra.” Sasami nodded and slowly went through the seals before using a pinch of chakra. The result was a flame ball the size of her fist.
“Crazy…I can’t believe I went through life not knowing this…” The man grinned and Sasami blushed slightly.
“Erm…Raiden no onii-san, what is your name?” The man stood back and said,
“Mmm, Raitarou. I’m 21 years old, and I like tempura, but not sushi. My favourite colour is green, and I enjoy long walks on the beach.” Sasami coughed and Raitarou started to laugh.
“I was just kidding, Hime-sama. I ask for your forgiveness.” Sasami scrunched her nose up.
“Please…Just Sasami.” Raitarou nodded his head and helped the pink headed girl hobble back to her tent.

Kouden stood up for the first time in nearly a month and a half. Bending from side to side, he winced slightly, but was overall happy with his health.
“Kouden-kun, be careful. Your ribs are still bruised.” Kouden grinned at the white-haired woman, and stretched again.
“Show off.” A dark voice said. Kouden grinned wider and sat down, facing the owner.
“And how is Shiro-teme feeling?” Shiro rolled his eyes, and slowly sat up. His entire chest, arms, and forehead was covered in bandages.
“Like crap. Natsumi-san, how long do I have to wear these? They itch like crazy.” Natsumi rolled her eyes and brought over a bowl of soup. Handing the bowl to Shiro, he placed it on his lap.
“Another few days…I can take the ones on your face off now. You don’t have many permanent scars. You probably won’t be up for another 3 or 4 weeks. You broke both your legs.” Shiro sighed and shovelled a spoonful of soup into his mouth.
“Ne-chan, where is Ero-sennin? He hasn’t been here in a week.” Natsumi shrugged and said,
“Mama said he was leaving you two in my care for a bit…But I don’t know how long that is. Why? Am I not good company?” Kouden flushed and said,
“No, you are! I like you just fine! It’s just this feeling I have…Like, something is wrong, somewhere, with someone I know…I hope Oka-san and Sasami-chan are ok…” Natsumi smiled and handed another bowl of soup to the blonde.

Sasami woke up feeling refreshed. She was still sitting in the small camp, but the bruises that had mottled her skin had been easily healable when her chakra returned to her a few days after landing in the camp. She continued to practice her new found fire technique with Doumeki, who, as she learned the hard way, was very adept at her water skills. Raitarou didn’t know any other katon jutsus, and neither did his partners, but she was fine with the one she had.
Hearing a low murmur coming from outside her tent, she lifted the blankets and Doumeki’s needy hand from her stomach. Rolling off her futon she stood up slowly, and held back the grumble from her stomach.
Pushing back the flap to the tent, the first thing she saw was Raitarou talking to a strange and tall old man. He had long red stripes on his face from his eyes to his chin. The look on the old man’s face was one of seriousness, but it softened when he saw her.
“Ah…So this is the pretty little thing my apprentice loves.” Sasami blushed and stepped out of the tent, gravitating towards Raitarou.
“Hime-…err, Sasami-sama, is there something I can do for you?” Sasami sighed but said tentatively,
“C-can I see Raiden-kun? Is he awake yet?” Raitarou looked at her with sympathy in his eyes.
“You may…You know to be quiet by now…but I’m afraid there hasn’t been a change in his condition. When you get there, please wait there. Jiraiya-sama needs to talk to you when I am done here.” Sasami nodded shyly, looking at Jiraiya.
Heading to the tent that contained the still form of her friend, Sasami looked over her shoulder at Jiraiya. He was talking to Raitarou again, and his face was serious.
Pushing the flap to Raiden’s tent, the first thing she noticed was the steady beeping of the monitor that showed Raiden’s heartbeat. Sasami noticed that the boy didn’t have an oxygen tank on his face anymore, and colour was starting to return. Sitting on the ground by the futon, she stroked the boy’s face and sighed.
Raiden’s cheek twitched and Sasami paused, but nothing else happened. Looking from right to left, she quickly went through a series of seals before placing her now glowing hand on Raiden’s forehead.
No internal damage to his organs, other than a lot of the chakra channels that surrounded his heart, liver, and one of lungs were almost completely destroyed. It seemed to Sasami almost as if someone had pulled on them until they snapped. The seals on his face and arms were pumping a constant stream of chakra in pre-designed pathways around his organs, keeping him alive.
Feeling closer at the pathways, she was amazed to find that in some areas, Raiden’s own chakra was slowly forming itself around the foreign chakra, slowly, but surely healing themselves.
Releasing her chakra, Sasami sat back and sighed again, just as the flap opened with a small whoosh. Jiraiya walked in, and Sasami stood up and bowed. Jiraiya waved his hand.
“Nonsense child. You are a queen, and thus have more authority to me; I should be the one to bow, not you.” Sasami grimaced.
“Jiraiya-sama? You are teaching Kouden, right? How is he? Where is he? I haven’t seen him in two years…” Jiraiya sighed and sat down. Sasami started to feel apprehension building in her gut.
“He’s alright now.” Sasami’s heart sank to the floor, and she choked out,
“Now?” Jiraiya nodded.
“He was grievously injured. In fact, had I not ran into…an old acquaintance, he would probably be dead. Shiro too…Although he was still unconscious when I left them in the care of my…Natsumi.” Sasami felt faint. Putting a hand to her forehead, she said in a low voice, through clenched teeth,
“You are supposed to be their teacher and protect them!” Jiraiya had an almost amused look on his face.
“I’m here to escort you and that little girl you are so close to back to Kumo…well, you, as Doumeki-chan will be meeting her escorts at the border of Hi no Kuni.”
Sasami sucked her breath in and looked at Raiden.
“When?” Jiraiya looked at Raiden as well and said,
“I took a look at those seals. I’m no medic nin, but I grew up with one. That boy will be just fine, his reserves might be a bit smaller than before, but nothing a bit of training can not fix. Don’t worry.”
“When, Jiraiya-sama.”
“Now. Get the girl up, we leave in ten minutes. Pack a cloak, no more. We need to get to Kumo tomorrow.” Sasami gaped. Tomorrow? It takes at least three days from here, if she thought correctly about where she was. Sasami opened her mouth to argue, but closed it and stomped off. Jiraiya laughed and looked at the boy sombrely. Putting a hand to his forehead he said quietly,
“I had to break it to her nicely, boy. She doesn’t need to know that you will probably never be able to use enough chakra to pull up a proper bunshin. Your hyper affinity is gone too, but you’ll manage. Buck up, and have a good life, brat.”

“Dou-chan, Dou-chan, wake up.” The dark skinned girl rolled over and groaned. Sasami sighed and said,
“Doumeki! Get up!” Doumeki shot up, her dark green eyes looking around wildly before meeting Sasami’s brown ones.
“Ne-chan? Wha? Is something happening?” Sasami nodded and tossed a thick cloak to the girl.
“Here, we have to leave with Jiraiya-sama. We are meeting your escort group tomorrow.” Tears welled up in Doumeki’s eyes, but she blinked them away.
“I don’t wanna leave you, Ne-channnnn!” She whined, but Sasami shook her head.
“We leave in five minutes, get up, get dressed, and get the cloak on.” Doumeki nodded slowly, and Sasami left the tent, her long black cloak flapping around her ankles.
“Is she ready yet?” Sasami shook her head and said,
“Give her five minutes. She’s 7 for kami-sama’s sake.” Jiraiya rolled his eyes. Looking over at Raitarou, Sasami slowly walked over to him and gave him a quick hug. Blushing, she said,
“Thank you for rescuing us, we are both very grateful. I hope that you and Raiden-kun stay safe, and tell Raiden-kun, when he wakes up, that I will miss him, and he is allowed to visit me anytime he wants, you too, if I am still stuck in the palace.” Raitarou nodded and grinned. Ruffling the small queen’s pink hair, Sasami giggled and blushed, and turned back to Jiraiya, who was waiting patiently with a ruffled looking Doumeki.
“Are we ready?” The girls nodded, and Jiraiya raised his fist.
“Then shall we?” Jumping into a tree, Doumeki and Sasami were both soon to follow.

End Chapter 36


8D! It’s finally here!