Adult-FanFiction.org : Naruto

Protector	By : djserani Category: Naruto > Het - Male/Female Views: 1759 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, and I do not make any money from these writings.

Chapter List
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Hinata swung the hammer with more force than was technically necessary. It was good to have something very manual that she could do to let her frustrations out. She’d been slowly building up to this for three days...since Neji left. With the rebuilding going on, every available ninja and villager had been dedicating their time to leveling the ground and putting up the basic structures. The Earth ninja had worked overtime to build up the land again so that they could begin building. Tsunade then consigned them to their homes to rest. As such, missions had been very few, and very far between.
So, after Hinata had gotten over her initial annoyance with Neji for his comment, she started to worry. This obviously wasn’t a simple mission, if Neji had been called in. He too was ANBU black ops, as she was, but she was in the Tracking Unit, so she wasn’t often called in. Not now anyway. She’d specially requested it, when she found a she had a real talent for finding people and things. But if they called Neji’s team in, they were expecting trouble.
So preoccupied with her thoughts and the poor unfortunate nails that were taking her abuse, she almost failed to see the three white doves flying over. It took her several seconds to remember how to breathe before she dropped her tools into the box and took off for the Hokage’s temporary offices. Jumping from one unfinished structure to another, she made it there in less than five minutes.
When she landed, she was greeted by Genma and Sai. Their presence did nothing to calm her fears. Genma knocked smartly and the three went in when they heard Tsunade’s “Enter!” Kneeling on one knee in front of the desk, Tsunade wasted no time in explaining.
“Neji’s team is late. We were supposed to get word from them by this morning and we have yet to receive anything. Their mission was to investigate an attack on a small village on the northern border near the Valley of the End. As you all know, it is not far and should have taken them less than a day to reach the village. They were to send word once they arrived and appraised the situation.”
“Sakura is on her honeymoon and currently unreachable. The only medical nin we can send right now is Ino. She will meet you on the north road in thirty minutes. I don’t need to remind you to be careful. The Valley is close to the Sound village originally founded by Orochimaru. We have reason to believe that Kabuto may still be near there and he is still, as yet, an unknown quantity. Find Neji’s team, and help secure the village.”
“Hai!” they chimed in unison, and then disappeared as quickly as they’d arrived.
Outside, Genma checked the sun. “Meet me on the north road near the old gates in 20. We have no time to lose.”
Hinata and Sai nodded almost imperceptibly and took off. Hinata practically flew to her house and once inside, kicked off her shoes and undressed on the way to the shower, leaving a trail of clothes in her wake. Not five minutes later, she was out again, dressing in her ANBU uniform. She took a few extra minutes to check her equipment and make sure she had everything she needed. She inventoried her kunai, shuriken and senbon. It never hurt to have a few extra items.
She tucked a small box of soldier pills into her bag, grabbed her lioness mask and headed out again. As she was leaving the family grounds, she crossed paths with her father. “Otousan,” she greeted him and bowed.
“Hinata. Are you off on a mission?”
“Hai. Neji’s team has not yet reported and they are concerned. I do not know how long I will be gone.”
“Be safe, Hinata,” he said and, to her surprise, laid a hand on her shoulder briefly.
“Hai, Otousan.” She blushed slightly, bowed again and took off.

Genma and Sai were waiting for her at the gates, and within a couple of minutes, Ino joined them. “What’s the rush?” she said, a bit out of breath.
Genma filled her in and they took off as quickly as they could. “What kind of attack was it?”
“We don’t know yet. There hasn’t been the hint of anything in the months since the Akatsuki attacked. Perhaps, someone or… something thinks it’s been quiet for too long.” He chuckled to himself. “I don’t mind helping to rebuild the village, but I have to say I don’t think I’d mind getting into a bit of a fight, either. Training is good, for what it is, but I’m feeling rusty.”
Hinata shot him a sharp glance. “Genma!”
“Yeah, yeah. You know I don’t really mean it. Perhaps I’ll actually start sparring a bit with a few of the others. Not quite the same, but hey…” he trailed off and went back to chewing on his needles.
They travelled for quite some time in silence, each lost in their own thoughts, trying to push their speed. Hinata’s mind often wandered to Neji and she had to forcibly bring her mind back to the mission and concentrate on it as a mission. If she let herself focus too much on her worry, she’d lose her edge and that was very, very dangerous. Not only for her, but for the rest of her teammates, as well.

Four hours after they left, Hinata raised her hand and they all paused. She signaled to Genma that she was going down to investigate. Hinata closed her eyes briefly, sending her chakra to her feet, then leapt lithely to the ground, not even touching the blades of grass on the forest floor. She crouched and studied the area. Slowly moving her eyes from one side to the other, she took in every detail. There were tracks, but she was certain they were three days old. She jumped back up to the group.
“They got this far. The tracks down there are three days old. We should keep moving.” Genma nodded shortly and they took off again. This time, however, Hinata didn’t allow herself to think of anything except her tracking. Even at the speeds they were going, she watched the ground and surrounding trees. She saw the normal tracks from traffic on the road, but disregarded them immediately. Too many people travelled that way for her to be able to distinguish one set of footprints from any other.
There! She paused on a branch a bit higher than the rest and pulled a few small threads from the bark. ANBU colors. Examining the rest of the bark, she saw the faintest traces of blood.
“Byakugan!” she whispered, and there, just ahead, she could see the traces of chakra residue. Knowing Genma was watching her, she took off in the direction of the chakra. When the others caught up she said, “we’re not far and they’re hurt…” she didn’t finish the sentence. They all knew what wasn’t said. Or were…
“Sai. Take to the sky.” Genma said, glancing over his shoulder. With that, Sai dropped off and pulled out his scroll. A moment later, Hinata saw him fly above her on his inky bird. “Ino—“
“I’m ready.” She said, quietly. Hinata still wasn’t used to seeing Ino – loud, obnoxious, generally light-hearted Ino – so serious.
A few moments later, they stopped again. This time, she didn’t need her tracking skills to see the blood and her blood ran cold. She tried not to let her mind jump to the conclusion of whose blood it was, but in moments like this, it was very difficult. She took a deep breath and focused on the area. Dropping to the ground, chakra at her feet to keep from disturbing the evidence, she started analyzing the clues.
The blood pattern was in spatters that went along with Neji’s Gentle Fist. He must have made a few key hits, but there was no body so either the enemy managed to get away, or they were carried away. Examining the crushed grass, Hinata was able to discern at least five separate sets of footprints. She held her hand up and Genma and Ino jumped down. A few seconds later, Sai landed.
“There’s no sign of anyone from the air. I can just make out the village in the distance, but no details yet.” Genma nodded and turned a questioning look at Hinata.
She briefly went over her findings. “Five. That means at least 2. But if there were only two, why was it even a problem for them?” Hinata’s mind worked furiously. “There must have been more than two. But why can’t I find any evidence of it?” She closed her eyes, concentrated on her chakra and activated her Byakugan again. There, she counted the chakra signatures. One, two…there’s another, three. There’s Neji’s—that’s four. Another one—five, and that one…that’s odd. What is that? Not human, but…it has chakra. “There’s at least one more…being. It’s not human, but it’s got chakra, so I don’t know what they’re up against. It does explain, though, why I didn’t see its tracks. I think it’s flying.”
Sai looked up at this. “I saw nothing in the sky. So whatever it is, it’s either dead or gone.”
Genma looked from Hinata to Sai. “Something? It flies?” He didn’t look like he wanted to believe them.
“Come on, Genma, you’ve seen far weirder things.” Hinata rolled her eyes and went back to searching the landscape.
“Yeah, yeah. I guess I just wasn’t expecting it.” He turned to look at the places that Hinata had pointed out. “Okay, well, we’re not going to find any more information here. Let’s go.”
Again, they moved out, swiftly. Sai took to the air on his bird and the girls and Genma began leaping from tree to tree again. As they approached the village, they didn’t see anything out of the ordinary, at first. Landing in front of the gates, they looked around. “No guards,” Ino said quietly. “What does that mean?”
“That we keep on our guard.” Genma answered. “Spread out.” Sai flew higher, taking in the whole village at one glance, then circled lower, looking over each of the buildings and streets.
Landing again near Genma, he said, “There’s no one here. No one. I can’t see anyone on any rooftops, nothing moving in the street.”
Moving silently, they followed Genma’s lead and slipped into the gate and off to the side. Splitting up, Hinata and Ino went one way and Genma and Sai the other. Hinata watched as Sai pulled out another scroll, drew something quick and activated his jutsu. Hundreds of small mice took off in every direction, skittering along the shadows, gathering their information. Sai stayed squatted next to his scroll, eyes closed as he followed his mice in his mind.
The moments passed interminably. Irrationally, Hinata wanted to run through the village streets, calling Neji’s name. Terror hung on the edges of her mind while she fought to keep her cool and not endanger everyone.
After what felt like an hour, but was only a few minutes, Sai’s mice came back and he opened his eyes. “No sign of the enemy, but there doesn’t seem to be anyone else, either. The village sits as if everyone vanished in the blink of an eye.” Getting to his feet, he stowed his scroll and looked to Genma for direction.
Hinata and Ino slipped across the gate. “Let’s take a look around. There should be some trace of Neji’s team here.” Genma pointed to his right, “Ino, Hinata, you go that direction. Sai and I will head this way.” The girls nodded and took off.
“Hinata, it’ll be okay. I’m sure we’ll find them safe.” Hinata looked over her shoulder at Ino, surprised. She thought she’d hid it well. “We’ve known each other for a long time, Hinata. We may not be close friends, but I know worried when I see it.”
Hinata sighed. “I know he…they’re fine.” She caught herself just in time. It was one thing, in the privacy of her own thoughts, to recognize that she was worried for Neji first and foremost. It was another to admit it out loud.
Hinata activated her Byakugan again and scanned the nearby homes. Seeing nothing, they moved from building to building. They found nothing but half-eaten meals, half-finished tasks. This made no sense. Finally, a building at the end of one street had its front door left half-open. Hinata deactivated her bloodline limit. She didn’t want to risk giving them away, if anyone was looking for chakra.
She signaled to Ino and they silently crept up to either side of it. Squatting, Hinata examined the dirt in front of the door. Someone had been here. Very recently. Taking a deep breath, she pushed the door open silently. There, in the other corner, was Neji, Lee and Tenten. Neji was unconscious, Lee and Tenten poised to attack.
Hinata had to grasp the doorframe briefly to keep herself upright. She looked from Lee to Tenten to Neji, expectantly. They relaxed their stances and Tenten said, “I’m so glad you’re here. Ino, hurry!”
Ino pushed passed Hinata, who seemed rooted to the spot, her eyes fixed on Neji. She watched as Ino placed her hands on Neji’s chest and began examining him. Neji coughed slightly and the sound propelled Hinata forward. She was next to him in an instant, holding his hand and praying silently for him to be okay.
“He’ll be fine, Hinata. Go find Genma.” Hinata shook her head silently, her eyes glued to her cousin. Ino sighed, “Lee? Genma and Sai are here. They went North from the gates. Would you go get them?” Hinata didn’t see the look that passed between Tenten and Ino.
“Hai!” He stood up and saluted formally. He spared a glance for Tenten before running out of the building.
Neji coughed again. And Hinata shook herself. She realized she’d been holding her breath and took a deep one. Bringing herself back to the situation, she turned her attention to Tenten. “What happened?”
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