Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Cliche Guide to a Classic Romance ❯ Saving The Girl Part 5 - Struggle ( Chapter 17 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
Takara made her way through the tunnels, disarming bombs and avoiding traps that had been laid. While the hideout above ground was new the tunnel were not and she knew her way around the them by heart.

She knew she wasn’t supposed to comeback here. She had told her that she wouldn’t, but the older girl wouldn’t be able to comeback any time soon and she knew that she would be stubborn and comeback anyway, whether she was fully recovered or not. She was never good at keeping promises anyway, plus she didn’t want to risk her new friends life. With the tunnels connecting from one village to the other, it wouldn’t to difficult for her to run into someone she wouldn‘t be able to hold her own against in her condition.

The girl took a rock from the ground and threw it on the ground a few feet in front of her. She watched as different types of small weapons flew out of the walls, making loud noise as the clashed into each other and the walls. She had to duck quickly as one ricocheted off another projectile and nearly hit her. When she was sure they stopped coming out she took a few steps back and ran forward, jumping over an invisible obstacle. She landed harshly and winced as she fell.

Picking her self up she sighed in relief, reminding herself to work on her jumping when this was over. She walked over to a large rock and with much difficulty pushed it aside revealing a large hole in the wall. She walked into the passage. She turned around and double checked to see if anyone was following her before she moved the rock back in place and then broke back out into a run.

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Naruto was holding up the best he could. However he was having a hard time keeping his current pace and with each step the pain in his legs would double and he would had to clench his jaw shut so he didn’t yell in pain. The wound on his side had already gone numb from the pain, or maybe it was just because the pain from walking had over powered it, either way Naruto didn’t care, He just wanted to make sure Hinata was okay.

The older man wasn’t fooled by the blondes silence. He knew there was something wrong with Naruto. Earlier he had thought it was the boys exhaustion catching up to him, but Naruto was clearly in pain. He had already stopped running by the time they reached the underground, and now he wasn’t even talking. He wasn’t even complaining about the pain, which only meant that the boy was trying to hide it. He wanted to say something about it, but there was no point. The boy would just deny it, put a fake smile on and keep going forward. Either that or he would run off on his own and he would have to pay an unwanted game of hide and seek. Other then that Naruto couldn’t see that well in the dark so there was no way he’d be able to read a map and Hiashi himself couldn’t afford to waste his energy going all the way back and then try to continue his search without the teen, he would be drained by the time he got Naruto back to the village. So he would only turn back if Naruto either collapsed or spoke up.

“Hey there’s two paths which one are we taking?”

The man looked at the blonde who spoke, he could hear the boy breathing becoming labored. That was never a good sign. “We’re taking the one on the left. The other paths a dead end. “

Naruto nodded and started walking again. The pain was starting to become unbearable, it was spreading from his legs to his whole body. even breathing was starting to hurt, and he was a little nauseas. He had been in pain before but, he never felt like this from fighting. It felt like he had the flu, but it was accompanied by too much pain. Maybe he was getting sick.

He looked back at the older man. He couldn’t see his face but he had the feeling that the older man was looking at him. He probably could tell something was wrong, but decide not to comment on it. For that Naruto was thankful. Even if he would have liked to slow down or even stop to rest, he couldn’t, they had a job to do, and he told Hinata they would get the scroll back and he couldn’t go back now. Not after all this. He’d get those scrolls back if it killed him.

He just hoped Hinata was doing okay. He knew that there was a chance that she could be alive because she had escaped the room, but she could have just as easily been recaptured and if he wanted to get pessimistic. . . she could be dead. He shook his head, He really had to stop thinking like that. If he didn’t he might starting doubting his friends abilities to find her, and could start doubting Hinata’s strength as well.

Naruto paused when He felt the ground start moving, he looked around in the darkness, listened closer and realized the spot he had just stepped on was about to collapse. He tried to move his legs back, but he apparently took to long reacting because he felt Hiashi yanking him back into safety.

Hiashi looked down the hole and saw an already rotting body laying at the bottom. He went to lean forward to get a better view but didn‘t get any further when bars shot across the surface like a cage door. The older man stood straight and looked at the blonde haired teen. “Naruto didn‘t you feel the ground move. ”

Naruto shook his head as he stepped away from the hole. “No, I was a little spaced out.” He said looking down. Of course he had felt the ground move, he just didn‘t move as quickly as he should have. but how was he supposed to explain that to the older man. The Hyuuga would definitely make them turn back. No matter what the circumstances, He would have been forced to turn back because, if his reactions were delayed it could get them into trouble if the ran into anyone. He would just have to work twice as hard then he normally did and he would be fine. Then maybe the other male would focus on something else other then his condition.


The Hyuuga man looked at the teen carefully. Maybe he should take a few minutes to rethink the situation with. If Naruto was in worse shape then he looked, they might not have a choice but to turn around and go back. He wasn’t sure how long the tunnels were or where they lead, and the farther in the higher the chances got for them to be attacked. The way Naruto was now. . .he wasn’t to sure how the boy would be able to fight. But if those scrolls. . .the whole village could be in danger. He was sure that the Hokage would send another team on a retrieval mission, but could he be sure that they wouldn’t try to peek inside. It was like putting a piece of candy in front of a child and expecting them not to touch it. But the boy in front of him needed attention.

He had to make a decision and He had to make one quick. Of course he wanted his family to be safe again. He wanted everyone in the village to be safe again, but to ensure their safety they had to take back what was stolen. If anything happened to Naruto, that would only be one life versus thousands of others, and what would they lose? Aside from the fact that the young blonde was strong and had a lot of potential, he was just another ninja on the team. The loss would be tragedy there were people in the village who had grown found of the boy but, it was always a possibility for a ninja to leave on a mission and not return.

However, it was unwise as a responsible adult to ignore the signs of the boys condition. It also wasn’t good to rule out the crisis in waiting. If he went back now there was very high chance that he would never see that scroll again and that the village would be under attack within the next few days. On the other hand, if he ignored Naruto’s injuries got back with the scroll, Naruto could die before they even got the scroll.

“Hurry up old man, your not even injured and your walking slower then me!”

Hiashi looked at the boy who was using a look of impatience to over up the pain. The small fact that the boy was hiding it was enough for the older man to want to yell at the child. “Sorry, I was thinking about the situation.”

“What? It’s been hours and your just now thinking about the mission?!” he shouted at the man, making it clear to the other that he had no idea what he was really talking about.

“Not exactly.” Hiashi replied, avoiding giving the boy a real answer. He was unwilling to let the boy know his real thoughts, it would just cause the boy to get angry and possibly run off. The boy was stubborn and determined, which wasn’t a good combination right now.

Confused and a little frustrated with the answer Naruto thought about it. It didn’t take long for his blue eyes to light up and look at the other male again. “Are you thinking about Hinata?”

Hiashi looked at the boy, keeping a calm face up and falling silent again. No he hadn’t. he thought about her well being and hoped for the best, but he never thought about her opinion on his current train of thought. Surely his daughter would be more worried about the blond then a small scroll, but would she rather save him or the people of the village.

She had told him she wanted to get the scrolls back to protect there people. Now that the blond was injured she would want him to go back to the village and get medical attention. However, the blonde had come all this way and because he was so devoted, stubborn and too eager to help she wouldn’t have the power to speak up or take him back force. Naruto wouldn’t give up because he wanted Hinata to be happy and he knew that having those scrolls safe again would make her happy.

Both of them were unwilling to step up or in Naruto’s case step down, because they wanted the other to be happy. But if Naruto died Hinata would be devastated and it would be the same for Naruto if anything happened to her. Resisting the urged shake his head in disapproval Hiashi made up his mind.

Why couldn’t his daughter like some one with more of a reasonable, less stubborn state of mind?

He walked up behind the blond silently, He knew the boy wouldn’t be happy when he woke up, but what other choice did her have. His hand stopped just as it had been brought up. The blond had went completely still and swayed before falling onto the stone floor. Naruto had fainted.
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Hinata jumped out of the way and watched as another crater was made into the ground.

She had made it out of the cave without any trouble, but it was long before the woman had caught up with her. She was thankful that there were so many trees, it made it harder for the woman follow her. However she wasn’t to fond of her growing headache and the dirt that clung to her raw hands was making them burn.

As soon as she landed she started running again, darting in different direction and ducking behind trees trying to confuse the woman. It wasn’t working as well as she wanted it to. The woman didn’t seem confused, just irritated and a result she just knocked down any tree that was in the way. It wasn’t looking to good for her, she needed to think of something. But what could she do, she couldn’t gather enough chakra for an attack and she didn’t have any sort of weapon. There wasn’t very much to work with other then the forest it’s self and she barely could run. She turned sharply hiding behind a few trees that were clustered together and took cover as they became victims of the older woman anger. Hinata stood and began to run again.

“You can’t keep this up much longer, your out of chakra and a bet by now your legs are about to give in. Maybe if you stop running I won’t kill as slow as I was planning before, but don’t count a quick death, I have to have some fun after all.”

Hinata didn’t know whether she wanted to cry or laugh at the offer. Did the woman really expect her to just hand herself over? She wasn’t the crazy was she? The woman could at least lie, not that she would hand herself over either way. Maybe if she got far enough away form the woman she could find somewhere to hide until the woman was out of range. But how could she get away from the woman if she was right behind her?

Another tree was smashed followed by a boulder and still the younger girl couldn’t get the older crazy one to slow down. She started running again what was she going to do. She had to find a way to defeat this woman, find the scroll, get back to her friend and father. How was she supposed to accomplish that if she was completely drained.

Hinata’s thoughts had distracted her and it took a few seconds for her to register the absence of footsteps behind her. She stopped and looked around. The woman was gone. Maybe now she could find a place to hide. No, there was no way she could have lost her , the woman was too fast. She was hiding, waiting for her to let her guard down.

Standing still, she waited for a sign of movement, any kind of noise. She looked around, hoping to spot the woman before she attacked. She started to panic when smoke started filling the air. She had lost one of the two things she had left to defend herself. She heard a couple loud explosions, she instantly suspected they where to cover up the noise of the woman’s movements, and she wasn’t wrong.

She felt a fist dig into her side pushing against her ribs. She grabbed the wrist and tried to push the fist off her side, but she didn’t have anything left, she coughed up a little blood, and she didn’t have to look at her enemy to know she was smiling. Another punch connected, then a kick and she flew into a tree.

She could hear the woman laughing at her calling her pathetic, talking about how painful and long her death would be, mocking her own personal vows to never run and never giving up in a high pitched squeak. The woman kept going on and on. The insults, degrading remarks

Ignoring her pain she tried to pick herself up off the ground. She got onto all fours and reached out to a nearby object to support her self. Before she could touch she scream as something was practically impaled into her shoulder.

She felt a foot kick her onto the ground and roll her onto her back. She knew the lady was standing over her the kunai ready to come down again.

Without thinking she kicked as hard as she could, it was a blessing and a mistake all in one. The blessing was she actually hit the woman knocking her off balance. However the kunai was now lodged into her leg. Hinata got up quickly and yanked the weapon out of her leg without a second thought. She held in front of her in a small attempt of defense.

Were was the woman now? Was she hiding again? What was her next move going to be? Even more questions ran through Hinata’s mind but every answer was a negative one. Every answer ended up with her being hurt, she knew she shouldn’t have been standing right now. She was running on pure adrenaline and willpower.

But she wasn’t sure if that would be enough to get her out of this mess. She had no chakra, no real energy, Her hands were in painfully bad shape, se was sure if she wasn’t in a life threatening situation she would be crying. Plus her only weapon was the small barely useful Kunai clutched in her burning hands and she couldn’t see.

None of that added up for a successful victory. . .

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Sakura was following behind Kiba, she was a little confused about what was going on, He didn‘t have Akamaru but He was running around like he knew where he was going. “Hey, Kiba, do you even know where your going?” She called out to him.

Kiba looked back at her with a grin. “My nose might not be as good as Akamaru’s but I can pick up Hinata’s scent. We just have to hurry before it starts to fade. If that Happens we‘ll have to turn back.”

“What do you mean? ” She asked as he sniffed around the air. If they weren’t on a mission she could have laughed at him and remarked on his behavior. She wondered if Hinata ever laughed at him before.

“A scent usually doesn’t last any more then a few days outside, I’ll only be able to pick up Hinata’s scent for a few more hours. If we don’t find her by the time it fades I’ll have to use Akamaru to track her down. There’s two other scents but I can‘t tell if it‘s an enemy or not.” He explained as he followed Hinata’s scent. He worried about his friend, He didn’t smell much blood but the fact that he smelled any blood was worrying him. “She has to be close by the scent is stronger around here.”

“Really can you tell how far away?” the pink haired girl asked.

“No, but we should be able to find her soon, just keep your guard up. “

Sakura did as Kiba said and started looking around more intently then she had before. However it was hard to get a good view of the area, she could barley see past all the trees and plants, let alone look for anything out of the ordinary. What should she be looking for, traps, illusions, people? Or tree’s. . . falling over?

Both Kiba and Sakura stopped and took their time watching a few trees fall over, followed by a few more loud crashes. Sakura looked over at the boy a frightened expression was clear on her face. “You don’t think. . .”

Another loud sound, an all too familiar scream and Sakura didn’t get a response. Kiba had ran off even before the scream had stopped, running faster then she remembered him being able to. . The pink haired female ran after him finding it difficult to catch up to him, but she was able to keep a close eye on him with ease.
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Shino calmly followed Akamaru, letting the giant canine lead the way. He was a bit worried because the dog would whimper every so often and he unlike Kiba he couldn’t understand Akamaru. A small part of him wished that Kiba was here so he could ask him what Akamaru was picking up from the scents, from there he would be able to think of a plan. Being teammates and friends with Kiba for years might have allowed him to pick upon a few things about Akamaru but there were many more things only an Inuzuka could understand about their canine counterparts through their strong bonds. The Aburame supposed it was the same way with his clan and there insects, but he had high doubts that Kiba understood anything about them.

Akamaru whimpered again as he stopped and sniffed the ground. Shino could only guess by the whimpering that it was a bad sign. Suddenly the dog ears moved, the canine tilted his head and barked. Shino was once again stuck on what the dog was trying to say. He hated not knowing something. Sure he was a calm person. He never showed any more emotion then he had to, and mostly he hid his personal feeling. But just because you can’t see something doesn’t mean it’s not there. And right now He felt frustrated, angry and so much irritation that it should have been lethal.

But, on the outside he stayed calm, collected, and focused on his task. Because, he wasn’t a teen dealing with all those lovely phases that normally comes with becoming an adult, He was a Ninja.

So he held back a frustrated sigh and just waited for Akamaru to move, which didn’t take long. It only took two seconds for him to dart off, not even seeing if the bug user was following. He was positive that Akamaru knew he would follow, but would it kill him to make sure. Then again Kiba was the same way. . .but did Kiba get the behavior from Akamaru or was it vise versa? How many habit’s could the two have picked up from one another.

On second thought Maybe it was better left unknown.