Into the Woods

I hate this chapter, mainly because it's the beginning of the end of "Woods". People are gonna love me and hate me for this one, but I think you will all begin to be able to see the forest through the trees.

And keep voting for your favorite guy for the sequel! Gaara is ahead by a few, but Kiba is right on his heels. might have to make a bit of a fight for this one *teehee* Visit the ipoll! You can vote once every 12 hours (that's twice a day for you who aren't good with #'s)

http://www.imedialearn.com/imediapoll/poll.php?code=5cdc4ef96d7550ff4b6ccf9fd5467bad

I just got back from my own excursion into the woods. All I have to say is swimming in mountain stream waterfalls is fun...once you get past the cold...but 7.5 mile hikes to get too said waterfall pools bites the big one *lol*

alright...enough of that...on to the story!

~*~


Hinata woke up again, still snuggled up in his arms. Naruto was dreaming about something, nuzzling the back of her neck, the tickle of his breath driving her crazy. It was apparently an interesting dream as every now and again he’d grind himself against her backside gently. ’Maybe I’ll do him a favor and help this dream become reality’ she thought mischievously to herself, attempting to roll over in his arms to face him. As she turned toward him though, a shuffling noise in the corner caught her attention, causing her to freeze and grip his arm tightly in panic.

Naruto’s eyes shot open at that, wide awake and catching the look of fear in her own. Without hardly moving, he squeezed her reassuringly with his right arm, while the left hand reached just over the edge of the bed to the kunai holder he kept pressed between the mattress and the wall. Reading his eyes, she indicated with her own the corner over his shoulder where the intruder was hiding, preparing herself to get out of his way quickly. His eyes rolled slowly that way as he picked up the chakra signature, snapping back to her and blinking once in acknowledgment. He gently tapped a countdown on her arm . . . one . . . two . . . three . . .

Hinata pushed herself up off his left arm and back into the far corner, pulling the sheets up over herself as Naruto launched himself across the room with a feral yell. There was a struggle in the shadows and a muffled yell of protest. She closed her eyes, not wanting to see what happened, fearing in her heart it was Neji that her lover was now wrestling with, or worse-her father-shattering all hopes of her happiness. But then the sounds of fighting stopped and were replaced by arguing between the blonde and a voice she didn’t recognize. The lights went on and she peeked her eyes open spotting none other then . . .

“Jiraya-sama!?!?!” she squealed, pulling the sheets higher up and pressing herself further into the corner, her entire body turning a deep crimson at the thought that he’d seen her naked . . . or partially naked . . . well she wasn’t sure what he’d seen but she still didn’t enjoy the thought of it at all. The old sannin gave her a sheepish grin while rubbing his head, causing Naruto to slap him.

“Turn around you old pervert and show some respect for her!” the blonde growled at the frog hermit, never minding the fact that he himself was totally nude. Jiraya turned, apologizing profusely, but still unable to hide the grin on his face while the boy grabbed a T-shirt and shorts for his frightened girlfriend to put on. After the pair was once again clothed, he turned back to his sensei with an angry glare. “All right, Ero-sennin . . . explain yourself! What the hell are you doing sneaking in my bedroom in the middle of the night!?!?”

As he turned back he couldn’t help but smile at the site of the couple in front of him. Naruto standing protectively in front of her, his face red with a mix of embarrassment and anger, and Hinata nothing more then a pair of terrified eyes peeking around him, one arm wrapped around his chest to keep him close to her. He chuckled inwardly to himself. ’well Brat, it’s about damn time you opened your eyes to her. I wonder if I can use this in my new book . . . ’

“Well, to tell the truth I wouldn’t have been sneaking into your bedroom in the middle of the night if you hadn’t scared the hell out of me.” he replied with a smirk. They looked at him like he was crazy for a moment, causing Jiraya to chuckle. “Apparently you had your mind on . . . other things . . . when you came home last night. I had gotten this message,” he produced the letter from Tsunade, “stating that your life was in danger and I needed to return immediately. As I arrived back in the village, I decided to swing by to check on you, finding that door,” pointing down the hall to the front door that was hanging ajar, “hanging open and the lights out. I was afraid you had been attacked in your sleep and dragged out of here, so I came in to investigate before alerting ANBU.” Hinata let out a gasp and looked like she was gonna pass out. Naruto had relaxed at this point and put his arm around her, figuring there was no need to hide since they had been caught. Jiraya chuckled again. “I didn’t call them yet . . . in fact I’m surprised none of the patrols noticed it before I did . . . I’ll have to speak to the captain about that. Either way, I had no idea I was going to find you two in here . . . and I’m terribly sorry.” ’terribly sorry I didn’t get here earlier for the good stuff.’

The two looked at each other for a moment before turning back to him. “All right . . . I suppose it is partially my fault . . . ” Naruto admitted sheepishly. “But I swear if I hear rumors going around . . . we’ll know where they came from!” he said as he shot him another angry glare.

“Please . . . ” Hinata piped in shyly, “We haven’t told anyone about . . . well . . . if. . . if you could keep this quiet . . . ” The old hermit noticed the fear in her eyes, and thinking back on who her family was realized why they were so upset. He let out a sigh and put up a hand in resignation.

“Hai, hai . . . your secret will be safe with me. But . . . unless your family thinks you’re staying with someone else I suggest you’d better hurry home. The sun will be up within the next hour.” She turned horrified toward the window and looked quickly back to her love.

“Go ahead, don’t worry about it just get home.” Naruto squeezed her tightly for a moment, planting a kiss on her forehead before watching her rush out the door in his clothes without stopping to put her sandals on. Jiraya smirked to himself and turned to the blonde who was starting to turn a little pale, still staring at the doorway.

“Think she’ll make it back before they notice?” he asked, his voice cracking slightly.

“Those people can see through the backs of their heads . . . they’ve probably already noticed.” the old man mused.

“Think she’ll come up with a good excuse?”

“Not one they’re likely to buy.”

“How much longer do you think I have?”

“If you’re lucky you can hide from the lynch mob till around till lunchtime . . . ”

They looked at each other for a moment.

“Good to see you’re staying on your toes though.”

“Yeah well...you never know when some pervert is going to show up in your room in the middle of the night...”

They grinned.

“Breakfast? A dying man deserves a last meal.”

“Sounds good to me.”

~*~

Hinata flew across the village toward her families estate, channeling quick bursts of chakra through her feet to propel herself further and faster across the rooftops. ’Why do we have to live on completely opposite sides of town?’ she groaned inwardly, never having noticed exactly how much distance there was between their two residences. She shook her head, realizing if wouldn’t be so far if her family wasn’t so prominent, and wished for the ump-teenth time in her life that she could have been born into a normal family. Finally she reached the sprawling complex and made her way quietly around to the back of the property where she could sneak in undetected, and quickly went over the perimeter wall.

Once inside the protected grounds she made her way through the trees a bit till she collapsed at the foot of one. Exhausted and gasping for air, she leaned back with her eyes closed as she tried to catch her breath and still her racing heart. The excitement of the previous days homecoming, the party with her friends, and of course, the actives with Naruto finally catching up to her.

“Maybe.....maybe I should have listened to Neji-niisan and the others more.” she lamented, starting to feel a little dizzy. Tsunade had warned her father not to push her or over exert her for the next week or two. Being out of commission for a month had really messed her up, and it seemed that mad dash across Konoha had been the last straw. Looking up at the dawning sky, she contemplated how she was going to pull off getting back inside without setting off anyones suspicions.

Neji would be up by now, as well as anyone else in the family who had missions to leave on today. Maybe she could slip in as if she had just gone for a stroll in the garden and join him at breakfast. No, he’d know these weren’t her clothes and figure it out....damn genius cousin. Many of the women, and some of the older men, meet at sunrise for calisthenics by the larger pond. She had often times joined them, so if she showed up they wouldn’t think anything of it. And if they shooed her back inside saying she needed more rest, well she’d have a perfect excuse to go to her room and to bed. She yawned, thinking that was the best idea. Now she just needed to wait for them to get started. Hinata sat there against the tree, her eyes closed to the rising sun, not realizing she was slowly losing herself to her exhaustion, and she would never make it to the pond.

Neji was all set to leave for his mission, with some time to spare. He had originally planned to wake Hinata and have her join him for breakfast, but decided to let her sleep in. Tenten and him had had a little talk on the walk home about the blossoming relationship between Naruto and his cousin, and he still wasn’t sure what he thought of it. At first he’d been a little angry to find out there was a possibility there had already been some fooling around going on between them, till Tenten pointed out that Hinata was a fairly modest girl and she wouldn’t just jump blindly into bed with anyone. And they certainly hadn’t been acting like there was anything like that going on the whole of last evening - no sneaking kisses or groping each other when no one was looking, no trying to sneak off for a few minets alone together. He hadn’t even caught them holding hands at any point. In fact the only thing he had noticed (other then the fact that they could now both acknowledge and speak coherently to each other) was slight blushing whenever they would make eye contact. After a night to think about it, he had to admit that maybe this would be good for his timid cousin. She had pined for Uzimaki for so long, it was about time to see if this was a silly crush or something more. And she had already seemed much more sure of herself last night. Still, he felt it was his duty not just as one sworn to protect her at all costs, but as her “Neji-niisan” to sit down with her and give her some, well...brotherly advice. And of course, he had a “friendly” warning for Naruto as well, but that could wait till his return.

He stood outside her room and knocked on the door frame. When he received no answer, he knocked louder, figuring she was still asleep. “Hinata? Are you awake?” Still no answer. Neji slowly slid open the door. “Hinata, I was...” but he stopped as he looked inside. The room was empty. The bed was made. He stood there in shock, trying to figure out where she could be. The first thing that popped into his head wasn’t a good thing. He remembered the two of them walking off together, but he couldn’t picture her being so stupid as to not come home. Naruto, on the other hand... his fist clenched at the thought. He would definitely be having a a talk with Naruto.

“Is there something wrong, Neji?” The young man stiffened at the voice behind him. He turned, spotting the family head standing a few doors down with a concerned look on his face. Realizing it didn’t look good to be standing there staring into Hinata’s open bedroom like this, Neji bowed low.

“No, Hiashi-samma. I was just hoping to say goodbye to Hinata before I left for my mission, but she appears to already be up.” The elder came over and looked into her room as well.

“Odd, with as tired as shes been I would have thought she’d be resting still.” He looked thoughtful for a moment. “And you didn’t see her at breakfast or on the way here?”

“No Sir.”

Hiashi contemplated this a bit longer before nodding toward the boy. “All right, you go ahead and focus on your mission. I’ll worry about locating Hinata.” Neji growled inwardly to himself, knowing he’ll get hell for allowing this to happen, but he couldn’t keep silent.

“Hiashi-samma, I..”

“I said don’t worry anymore about it, Neji. Go take care of your mission. Besides, she’s probably just out in the garden enjoying the morning.” And with that, he turned to go look for her. The younger man watched him before turning to get his things and leave. ’Hinata...I hope for both our sakes you’re somewhere in the compound.’ He was seriously going to have a talk with her when he got back.


A while later, Hiashi had enlisted the help of Hanabi and a few other members to check the estate. Her shoes were missing from their cubby in the entrance hall, confirming his suspicion she was outside somewhere, but after checking most of the grounds and still not finding her they were beginning to get panicked. Due to privacy respects there was a house rule restricting use of Byakagun on the premise outside of training, which was slowing things down considerably. After an hour of searching, and no reports of anyone having seen her since the previous evening, concerns were rising that something had happened to their heir. After two, there was talk of alerting the Hokage. Aside from missions, which she was relieved of, Hinata almost never left the compound without informing someone, and certainly she never slipped out before sunrise. Not to mention all her friends and teammates were back to work again, so there wasn’t any reason for her to leave at this point. A decision was reached: they would check everywhere one last time before getting the authorities involved.

Hanabi was getting irritated by all this. Just when she thought they were finally going to stop fussing over her drama queen of an older sister and let life get back to normal (aka- them complaining about her drama queen of an older sister), Hinata goes AWOL on them. ’Damn you Hinata...I have better things to be doing right now that gallivanting through the property playing hide and seek with you and the rest of the clan.’ The 10 year old kunoichi in training was due at the academy any minite for class, and she groaned at the thought of the reaming Iruka-sensei would give her when she finally arrived...whenever that would be. She just didn’t understand what all the commotion was about.

The youngest daughter of Hiashi hadn’t been born at the time of the attempted kidnaping of Hinata, and no one had ever told her of the incident. Since her birth she had been guarded and sheltered, and pushed through the most rigorous of training. She never knew fear or pain, because nothing had ever happened to her here within the protected walls of the Hyuga clan. Even in her years at the academy now, nothing they’d shown her yet seemed that bad. She never understood what her sister was so terrified off all the time, always hiding and stuttering like a fool.

The young girl kicked a rock off the path and into the bushes, scaring a rabbit out of them. She laughed quietly as she watched it run off across the path and leapt over something white sticking out from behind a tree... ’Wait a second...what is that over there?’ She was quite a ways from the house, in one of the wooded corners of the property. The perimeter wall was visible running parallel to the path she was on, but she new the next section came up just a few meters father. Hardly anyone other then the gardeners came back in this corner, and even then it was just to do their work and then leave. She slowed down as she looked at the funny shape obscured by the shade of the surrounding foliage.

’That’s funny...’ she thought to herself, ’It almost looks like it’s got toes.’ As she made her way closer she was startled to realize....they were toes. Her breath caught at the site of the dirty underside of two small feet attached to slim, pale bared legs. As she stared at those legs, Hanabi suddenly realized how very quiet it was in this corner of the property, the birds no longer singing, no crickets or other insects making any sound. Shaking that thought from her head, she bent down a grabbed another stone from the walkway. ’She’s probably messing with my head.’ she thought to herself as she threw it at the limbs before her, yelling out.

“Ok Hinata! I found you! Come out and face father...” but her voice trailed off as the rock hit it’s mark and got no response. Not even a twitch of a single, white toe. “Hinata?” she called again, taking another step closer, an odd, cold feeling creeping slowly over her. “All right thats enough now knock it off.” She growled as she stormed forward, clearly not amused by this. “If you think you’re going to get any sympathy for this, Hyuga Hinata, you’ve got...” Hanabi had reached the tree and had bent down to grab the offending feet but stopped when her hands met the cold, clammy skin. Her eyes traveled slowly up the legs, the rest of the body was slumped oddly against the trunk and roots. Bruised arms lay limp on the wet grass, but what scared her most was the fact that from the angle she was looking at it, the head seemed to tilt back unnaturally. Without anything further she turned and ran as fast as she could, faster then she ever had, back down the path towards the house, screaming for her father as soon as she broke the tree line, thinking for the first time in her life that maybe her sister had it right to be afraid.

Hanabi had been near hysterical when she got back to the others. She just kept pointing off toward the oak grove, muttering about under a tree by the wall before deteriorating into sobs. She was left with some of the aunts while the elder men went to see what had the girl so rattled. They had all froze in place when they spotted the legs poking out, afraid of what they’d find on the other side, till finally Hiashi went forward. He couldn’t believe his relief upon discovering that, while she was unconscious, she hadn’t been raped and murdered as they’d all been starting to fear. In a scene reminiscent of years gone by, her father scooped her limp form up into his arms and carried her carefully back to the house.

Hinata was given a quick once over to determine she hadn’t been attacked and tucked back into her bed. Now the adults were arguing about if she should be taken to the hospital for further evaluation and wondering how the hell she got out without anyone noticing her, and just what was she doing back in the far corner of the property anyways. Hiashi sat quietly, watching her and ignoring the bickering going on in the hallway. He could swear some of them lived purely to annoy the others with these whining arguments. After a while Hinata finally stirred from her sleep, causing her father to rise from his chair and move closer to the bed. The others ceased crowded around the doorway to see what she would have to say.

As her eyes opened she was confused at what she saw around her. Especially when she saw her father hovering over her. As he leaned down to her she let out a small squeak of fear. ’Oh no....he must know...Neji must have said something...’ Hinata shut her eyes tightly, waiting for the explosion of outrage for her actions. Instead she was surprised by a hand gently pressing the hair away from her face. She peeked back up at him, surprised by the calm look he had.

“Are you alright.” he asked gently, without a sign of anger irritation in his voice. In fact, his normal harshness seemed gone completely. She realized her muscles were tensed, braced as if she had expected an assault. Willing herself to relax while fighting her confusion she realized he was waiting for an answer from her.

“Y-yes...father....I’m alright.” He continued to look at her, as if not sure to believe her. “I-I’m fine...just tired. Did something...happen?” She spotted the others and her mind went into a panic. She realized she was still wearing Naruto’s clothes. ’They must suspect something if they don’t already know...oh what am I gonna tell them?’ Her hands started shaking on the blankets, and she fought to keep them from betraying the fear she had of her family at this moment.

Hiashi could see how upset she was getting, more so then she usually did when talking to him. “It was discovered you were missing this morning, the entire clan has been worried for your well-being. Hanabi finally found you laying in the grove, I must say you gave her quite a scare-she was convinced you were murdered.” He watched her reaction, the way her eyes drifted downward with guilt at the last part before they came back up to watch him again. He was surprised that she was able to look him head on, normally she kept her eyes averted. “Hinata....what were you doing out there before sunrise?”

’Oh god....this is it isn’t it? He knows and he’s looking for a confession, and I’m going to have to tell them all..alone....aren’t I?’

She had hoped to have more time to come up with some kind of acceptable presentation of Naruto, something that might keep him from being to angry with her. And she had always thought either he or perhaps Neji would be there to back her up...she never thought she’d have to face him alone. Tears welled up in her soft grey eyes as a sob got stuck in her throat. She pushed herself upright, grabbing his hand and pressing the back of it against her forehead as she began to cry and beg.

“Gomen....Gomen nasai, Father....please....I didn’t mean to shame you...” Tears poured down her face as she pleaded with him. “I should have listened to Neji-niisan and the others...I thought I could keep it secret....that I could get back before you found out... but it was too far and I’m too weak... I pushed too hard and used to much chakra and... and now you all know...” Her shoulders shaking, her breath in ragged gasps. She hated herself for how pathetic she was at that moment, but she was terrified of what they would do to her. “Please Father....please forgive my transgressions.”

Hiashis’ head was spinning trying to process the information blurted out of the distraught girl in front of him. She was folded over in front of him, clinging to his arm. Between the sobs and the fact she was almost pressing her face into the mattress he could barely make out what she was saying. ’What is this? Shame me? Too Weak? Chakra?? Wait...don’t tell me she...’

“Hinata...you mean to say you snuck out in the middle of the night, after a month in the hospital....to train?” But she just stayed there, sobbing and begging repeatedly for his forgiveness. He looked back at the others who stood there, mostly dumbfounded, although a few of the women shot him accusatory looks as if to say ‘see what you’ve done to her.’ Hiashi pulled his hand free and reached for her shoulders...

Hinata hadn’t heard his question, she was too lost in her own self-loathing. When he withdrew his hand from her grasp and she felt his hands on her arms she cringed, expecting to be thrown from the room, or slapped, or some other sign of disgrace. The last thing in the world she expected was for him to pull her up and embrace her. She sputtered in shock and disbelief, trying to choke back the tears and comprehend what was happening.

“No, I’m the one who needs forgiven. I’m the one who’s pushed you into such self-destructive behavior, out there in the night in your condition...” he let out a sigh. Now Hinata was really lost as to what he was going on about.

“Anou....Father...you don’t...” but her shushed her before she could correct him. She had no idea what he thought she was doing out there, and she hated lying to him, but then again she it wasn’t really lying if she didn’t say anything....was it? She decided to bite her tongue for now and see what happened later.

“You’re right you should have listened to Neji-san. He’s looking out for your best interests. I want you to stay here an rest for the remainder of the day. I just got you back from the dead... I don’t want to go through that again.” It was awkward for him to hold her like this, she’d been so much smaller the last time he had. The feeling of guilt washed over him again as he patted her on the head and pulled himself away. “We’ll talk more later. For now, sleep.”

With that he stood, chased the family away from her doorway and left her alone in her room. As she slumped back down among the pillows she could feel her head beginning to throb from the effort of trying to sort out what in the world just happened.

~*~

Breakfast had actually been rather pleasant. Naruto and Jiraya did quite a bit of catching up, as well as taunting each other. Afterwards it was decided that it might not be a bad idea to get the blonde away from the “crime scene” so the old sannin brought him with to see Tsunade and find out just what the hell was going on. It had seemed like a good idea at the time, but Naruto hadn’t figured on being banned to the hallway for two hours. It was true Naruto had calmed down a bit over the last few years...but his patience still had limits.

“If I’d known they’d do this to me I’d have rather stayed home to face the Hyugas.” he muttered to himself from his spot by the door.

“And why would you need to worry about facing them?” came a curious, yet bored voice from beside him. Naruto looked up suddenly to see Kakashi there, leaning against the wall with his book out.

“No reason.” The blonde grinned up at him. “Just making a statement. Can’t a guy make a death wish without being interrogated for it?”

“I suppose...but I would think you’d want to hang around here a bit longer. I’m sure it’ll be worth your while.” The jonin put the book away, stepped around his former student and knocked on the door to the office. A muffled voice told him to enter. As he opened the door, Kakashi looked back down again. “Well? Are you coming?” Naruto blinked up at him for a moment before jumping to his feet and happily following him inside.

He wasn’t prepared for the grim faces he found inside. Tsunade was sitting behind her desk in her normal thoughtful pose, her hands folded in front of her face with a worried look. Jiraya was leaning on one of the bookcases, also seeming somewhat troubled. Kakashi walked over to his usual corner, leaning against the wall and looking bored. Naruto looked around, noticing a single chair sitting vacant in the middle of the room. The Hokage gestured to it, so the boy went and sat down. She smiled at him fondly for a moment.

“I hope you’re feeling better, Naruto. We’ve got a lot of things to discuss.” He didn’t like the tone to her voice, or that look on her face. He knew she was old enough to be his grandmother, but at that moment she looked older still. He nodded quietly, suddenly wishing he wasn’t going to be privy to this meeting. “You know firsthand about that virus you picked up in the wave country, and it’s devastating effects. What you don’t know...” she sighed, “is that this isn’t a normal virus. Do you remember when Akamaru was infected by those foreign ninjas, and we nearly had to terminate him to save the village?”

Naruto looked up at that, a sick realization slowly sinking in. “You called it a....biological weapon?” She nodded slowly. That kind of thing isn’t something you forget. “You’re saying...that this was the same thing?”

“Not the exact same thing. A different virus meant for the human population, but the idea behind it is the same thing.” She could already see the dread on his face, his hand slowly clenching into a fist. “Enemy shinobi infiltrated the other village, and then proceeded to infect them, as well as you and Hinata on purpose. I’m sure I don’t have to tell you who is behind such an insidious plan as this.”

A low growl escaped him at that thought, that Hinata had been attacked like that. “Orochimaru.” She nodded again.

“Thanks to you, this particular virus is no longer a threat to our village. We’re working on enough vaccine to protect not only the people here in the fire nation, but also our allies. However, if he had this virus ready for deployment...”

“What others has he been working on in those labs of his.” Naruto finished. He was getting angrier by the moment. “But why are you telling me all this? What does it have to do with me? Isn’t this something for ANBU to worry about?” A short laugh from his left pulled his attention from the lady behind the desk.

“That’s definitely true, however...there’s more to this that does actually concern you.” Jiraya moved out from the side and came to sit on the desk in front of his young student. “You know I’ve been away keeping tabs on the Atkatsuki.” He received a nod in response. “And you also know that Itatchi and the others have been trying to collect the various demons from their vessels, such as you and Gaara.” Another nod. “Well, they’ve managed to succeed in capturing two of the nine, and they’re getting ready to turn their attention back to Kyubi and Shukaku again now that they’ve got their confidence built up.”

Naruto stiffened at this, he’d hoped he’d have more time before they came back. He’d at least hoped to have Sauske back and not have to worry about the snake in the grass anymore. He’d remembered what a mess it had been the last time Itatchi and Kisame had been in the area. “Why do I have a feeling you guys already have a plan?”

Tsunade sighed again. “With Orochimaru getting bolder with his moves on Konoha, we can’t afford to have Itatchi taking advantage of the situation and getting his hands on Kybui. You’re not strong enough yet to face him alone, and we’re stretched to thin to properly deal with both threats at the same time. So yes..we’ve come up with a plan for you.”

“You’re going to get to go on a special.....training mission.” Kakashi spoke up finally, having moved to stand behind Naruto, placing a hand on his shoulder.

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See, you all know where I'm going with this right? *sighs* Only two more chapters to go... don't hate me too much. And remember, http://community.livejournal.com/teasingkyubi/ is open for all your bitching needs :)