Burning Courage: Hinata Shines! - 3

"Excellent work, Hikune," Tsunade was pleased with the young Hyuga's undertakings, "Hiashi-sama asked me earlier to send all incoming Hyuga back to the compound when they arrive. It seems now the only person we're still waiting for is his daughter."

"Hinata-sama?" He raised his eyebrows, "She was with the retrieval team?"

"Yes, and she and Uzumaki Naruto have not come back yet," She folded her hands beneath her chin, "I'm not certain if I should take that as a good or bad sign. But for now you should relax. Go home and assure Hyuga-sama that his daughter is in no danger while Naruto is with her."

He nodded compliantly, "Of course, Hokage-sama."

He bowed and then left the office. Tsunade watched him leave with an upraised eyebrow, 'Boy, if I was a few years younger…that kid is a looker!'

She quickly reverted to her previous, somber outlook, 'This still isn't good. Naruto may be distracted if he's reduced to protecting Hinata. And there's still no way to know how things will work out with Haku and Sasuke…'

The door opened again with no knock preceding it and a travel-worn Kakashi walked in, greeting Tsunade amiably, "The whole village is in a tizzy, Hokage-sama. Everything seems to fall apart when I'm not around."

She accepted the scroll he had retrieved for her from the Bird Country and gave him a sour look, "I don't think you could be any more right about that, Kakashi. I was informed that your nephew ran off after the retrieval team and nearly got himself killed."

There was a pause.

"Well…I wouldn't expect anything less of Sato."

Tsunade sighed, guessing his relationship with his nephew was still shaky. She then proceeded to fill him in on Sasuke and Haku's defection, and how the teams that had gone after them had fared.

"I recommend that you stay and rest before you decide to go out after them," Tsunade concluded authoritatively, "It wasn't my first choice to send an inexperienced team led by a chunin, and all things considered, even a jounin should consider himself lucky to return to this village after all that they've gone through."

Kakashi nodded silently, but inwardly he had other plans. After hearing Sasuke had been tempted by Sound he felt it was his ritual duty to fetch him from Orochimaru's clutches. Something told him that it was bizarre Haku had also left as well, with him being so attached to Jiraiya and his teammates, 'He doesn't seem like the type bent on power…'

All the same, he'd bring them back. But if he was going to do it, he couldn't waste time and rest like Tsunade wanted him to. Kakashi excused himself from the office when an intern from the hospital poked his head in, "Tsunade-sama, there is a request that you supervise Hyuga Neji's surgical procedure."

She stood from her desk, her brow furrowed, "Alright, go and tell them to begin when ready. I'll be there shortly."

*

Gaara looked up at the sky while he sat on a stoop of a residence on a quiet side street. He looked utterly out of place in such a cozy environment.

People walked down the road, unaware of his presence; unaware of what a lethal, powerful shinobi he was and how he had nearly had his heart crushed earlier that day. Something that could have proven fatal to anyone who crossed his path; except that he had taken charge, and trusted his emotions when violence seemed the most constructive.

He had calmed down once he had reached Konoha. His mind was clearer than it had ever been before.

And after returning Sakura to her distraught parents the thought of going back to search for Haku and Sasuke hadn't even crossed his mind. He merely sat on the front porch of her house, a loyal guard dog, unwilling to let himself stray too far from her.

He trusted Naruto and Shikamaru would organize an effective retrieval plan. Gaara highly doubted that Haku would truly want to leave the Leaf Village anyway, and he didn't much care what became of Sasuke.

Gaara had been loitering in front of the Haruno residence for nearly two hours before his brother and sister discovered him and loudly confronted him.

"Where the heck were you? You disappeared on us this morning and we looked just about everywhere!" Kankuro barked, his frown more pronounced with the strange patterns painted on his face.

"I had to save Sakura," Gaara replied simply, calm in the face of his brother's anger, "She vanished from the village the same time Haku and Sasuke did."

Kankuro relaxed a bit, aware that Gaara had a great fondness for the pink haired kunoichi. Temari hadn't overreacted much at all, to Gaara's surprise, "I see. We heard what was going on a little while ago, so Kankuro and I offered to help. Your Hokage wouldn't have it. She said that she couldn't ask Sand ninja to interfere. What a load of garbage that was…"

Gaara smirked at her annoyed tone, "Tsunade-sama is right, though. So many ninja have been coming and going it isn't easy for her to keep track of them all."

Temari shrugged in response and then settled on the porch beside her youngest sibling, patting his head affectionately. With a sigh, Kankuro sat on Gaara's opposite side, relieved that they had finally located their brother.

"So…this is where she lives?" Kankuro asked after a moment, noting the potted plant in the window. It was so different from where they lived in Suna.

"Yes," Gaara confirmed it and added, "I don't think she'll be very pleased with me when she wakes. Her parents certainly weren't."

"I can imagine." Temari hummed with a mischievous smile, noting that Gaara would have to work especially hard to win over Sakura's parents in order to make things work with her, 'He'll figure something out. He can be surprisingly charming when he wants to be…'

"You're friends are still out there," Kankuro noted, "Are you sure they're going to be alright without you?"

Gaara lowered his eyes, considering it, "I think they will. Even now I don't believe I could find them if I went back to look."

Though he hoped that they would succeed in their endeavor, Gaara felt an unsettling feeling grip him in that moment, almost as if he could sense a changing of fortunes. It wasn't long after that he understood what the feeling meant.

'Naruto and Haku are in danger.'

*

It was strategically the worst place to fight.

Kabuto had led them farther north along the banks of the river that ran down the valley's center. The slopes were serrated cliffs with boulders and ledges jutting out every which way, and the added presence of water made the stones beneath their feet slippery and treacherous.

Naruto had wanted to tell Hinata to wait before attacking Kabuto, intending to draw him closer for a combined attack, but she rushed up to the high ground where the Oto nin had been waiting and slapped at him furiously, unwilling to stall another moment.

'If she's not careful he could tear her to pieces!' The blonde boy made a number of shadow clones before dashing up the hill after the Hyuga girl. He remembered fighting Kabuto and would not underestimate someone with such precarious medical jutsu.

"While I was in Konoha I studied the effects of Jyukken," Kabuto informed Hinata, smirking, countering her frenzied blows, "Try all you like, princess, you can't harm me!"

He slashed at her with his chakra scalpel, forcing her to back off. Hinata huffed, her indigo hair sticking to her face at odd angles, 'I'm not afraid of him or anything he says! This time I will fight to the end!'

When the enemy had grown comfortable with the distance he'd put between himself and his opponent, Kabuto paused and Naruto's Kage bunshin pounced.

"Don't forget me, bastard!" Naruto cried. He and his duplicates pummeled the Sound shinobi from all directions. Kabuto managed to destroy a few of them, but the overwhelming assault had backed him against a rock wall with a thud.

Cornered, Kabuto counterattacked, frustrated, and balked in surprise when Naruto and his clones withdrew. Hinata came rushing in from behind him, "Hakke Rokujuyon Sho!"

"What-?" Kabuto stumbled after the first two strikes, and Hinata proceeded flawlessly into the zenith of the bombardment, leaving Kabuto stunned with closed tenketsu.

She landed a solid blow to his gut, knocking him from the loose rocks of the slope, and he fell back, landing on a boulder below with a loud thud. Hinata straightened herself, panting, and she backed away to be closer to Naruto.

He smiled at the sight of her shaking shoulders, 'She's so strong! If she'd heard she'd be this way months ago she'd never believe it!' Even Neji would be thoroughly impressed if he had seen her, Naruto thought, and then wilted after thinking of him. His chest ached with guilt over what had happened to Hinata's cousin, but he knew they'd be satisfied after throttling Kabuto.

It was when the Oto nin stood up and brushed the pebbles from his shirt did panic settle in Hinata's spirit, 'How can he still be moving? I was sure I'd-!'

"Scared, Hinata-hime?" Kabuto asked sweetly, moving to stand atop a large rock, "Worried? I told you your little attacks won't work on me! My chakra control can cancel the effects of Gentle Fist."

"There's no way that's true!" Naruto barked, knowing that Hyuga taijutsu was among the most lethal in all of Konoha, "You're bluffing! She nailed you for sure! You'll fall on your face if you try to fight anymore!"

"Really?" Kabuto narrowed his eyes at Naruto threateningly. He suddenly ran up the slope, far faster than before, and planted a super-powered kick to Hinata's stomach. She made a soft noise of pain before she was sent hurtling down the hill, past Naruto, and she landed in a thicket of weeds near the water's edge.

Naruto froze. He knew that rushing to Hinata would give Kabuto another opening to attack, and with the alarming new power he was displaying it could prove fatal. Hinata was slumped over in the brambles, wiping the blood from her mouth and trying to untangle herself from the thorns.

Kabuto rested his hand on his hip, grinning, light catching his glasses and hiding his eyes, "I'm not in the habit of lying, Naruto-kun. It's actually simple enough for you to understand, really. She may seal off my tenketsu and attack vital organs, but I can easily heal myself from any wound she can inflict…and opening my chakra gates instantly reopens any tenketsu she can seal." He laughed heartlessly, "Hinata-hime is useless to you in this fight!"

'So that's it…he can open gates too just like Fuzzy-Brows!' Naruto's eyes gleamed blue fire, 'But that doesn't mean Hinata's useless! It just means she's at as much of a disadvantage as I am…so we've got to work together!'

"We'll see who's the real waste of time!" Naruto shouted, and bit his thumb before summoning a large battle toad to the hillside. One of his shadow clones leapt up beside the toad, looking expectant.

Kabuto frowned at the sight, 'What does that idiot think he's doing?'

"Toad Flame Bullet!" Naruto's clone leapt ahead and detonated after the toad spat a mouthful of oil, and ignited the jet of fuel streaking through the air. Kabuto nearly moved too late to avoid the fireball, and Naruto noted that his attack was more of a bomb than a fire jutsu, 'That clone blew with too much chakra…anymore and it could've burned me and Mr. Toad here!'

The ball of flames slammed into the side of the valley wall, knocking loose a number of boulders and rocks, unsettling the already treacherous landscape. Surrounding trees were left smoldering and leafless, and most of the rocks on the hillside were looking much worse for the wear.

Kabuto had found a stable route up to the top of the rocky slope, and immediately attacked with a round of shuriken and kunai. Naruto's summoned toad was hit squarely between the eyes with the projectiles and vanished in a puff of smoke.

The Leaf ninja was frustrated one of his mimicry-attacks of Gamabunta had failed, and began to charge a Rasengan as he weaved his way up the slope with less-than-sure footing. Once or twice he slipped, but he continued on stubbornly, refusing to keep his distance from his enemy. He felt at least one tail of Kyuubi chakra coursing through his body as he closed the gap.

"You just make things too easy for me, Naruto-kun!" Kabuto's gate-assisted strength enabled him to knock free a rockslide from the edge of the slope, and it tumbled down with a crashing roar as Naruto continued up tenaciously.

Hinata had clambered out of the nettle and made a blind dash ahead to help Naruto. She skidded to a horrified halt as half of the cliff caved in on top of the blonde boy, "Naruto-kun!"

It had been his Rasengan that had saved him. Cleverly, Naruto held it above him as the stones rained down, and let the massive amount of chakra in the spiraling sphere tear the rocks apart into dust.

The counter had left a mess, though. Naruto had to inch out of the debris and mud, cursing the unstable terrain all the while, 'This is worse than I thought. Out here everything can fall apart in a second…'

While Kabuto had been distracted with crushing Naruto, Hinata had returned, scaling ledges up to the top of the valley wall and she dove for Kabuto, resorting to the most powerful strike in her possession, "One Hundred Palms of Fury!"

The Sound ninja quickly turned to face her and counter, but he had let his guard down, and one of her shadow clones had seized him from behind, securing him in his place.

Her attack was ruthless and blindingly fast, but it had purpose. Hinata had recognized that Kabuto was most dangerous with his abilities in medical jutsu, and aimed specifically for points in his main arm that would render it unusable.

After damaging his arm she moved for chakra points in his chest, wanting to crush lungs, arteries, everything and anything that would cause severe damage.

A sickening throaty sound came from Kabuto after she'd knocked him across the clearing with a finishing blow, sending him crashing through a tree and down into a gully.

For a moment she stood staring at the fallen Sound shinobi with her Byakugan, not trusting that her attack had been effective. But he did not move and after a few tense moments she deactivated her Kekkei Genkai, relieving herself from the excruciating pain that came with it.

"Hinata-chan!" After hearing Naruto call for her she moved to the side of the hill, and looked down to him, seeing he was still clawing his way out of the muck and rocks, "You okay?"

She felt alright. Adrenalin was making her a bit jumpy, and her eyes had felt the same as they had for the past day, but Hinata was unsure if she still was fighting-fit, "I'm alright, Naruto-kun! But I…I don't think I can fight any longer."

"Good!" He grinned up at her, "Sounds like you got him! Just give me a sec to climb out of this crap and then we'll go help Haku-kun!"

Doubt settled in again. Hinata didn't know what good she'd be to Haku and Naruto trying to bring Sasuke back to Konoha, and she felt a dreadful obligation to go search for Neji's body and bring him home. She didn't feel any vindication on her cousin's behalf after defeating Kabuto, and she felt terrible that Tenten had suffered at the Oto nin's hands as well, 'Tenten-neechan was so good to me and looked out for everyone! I can't believe that…that…'

Naruto had climbed out of the debris, his orange pants and majority of his jacket muddied. He moved carefully up the slick ledges up the side of the valley wall, still unsure if Hinata was fine, 'Her eyes are probably killing her, I bet. I hope there's something we can do about it when we get back home.'

Hinata's back stiffened in fright once she sensed a great upwelling of chakra from behind her, and it was then, even without using her Byakugan, that she acknowledged Kabuto had again reopened his tenketsu, but it had taken him longer to do it.

She wanted to be brave, as Naruto would be. Hinata stood her ground and took a defensive Jyukken stance, which was promptly broken as Kabuto lunged for her with an even greater speed, and attacked with his chakra scalpel.

His attack raked her arm and chest, stunning her muscles, and she froze up, unable to stop Kabuto from hurling her down the side of the ravine.

"No!" Naruto had seen the struggle and made a strained, last second leap to catch the Hyuga girl as she fell from the top of the outcrop. He was inches away, his hands stretched out to her, and his eyes were still locked with her pearly orbs as he felt a number of kunai sink into his right side and arm.

He flinched from the pain, regrettably, and missed her as she slipped by and hit the rock slope with agonizing force. Naruto could only watch her tumble bonelessly down the remainder of the hill as he too plummeted, stunned by Kabuto's devious attack.

"Ugh!" Naruto landed on a stone ledge below on his back, his eyes still focused on Hinata. The girl had tucked her arms in close to her body, already badly cut from hitting stones on her way down. Naruto's heart halted in terror when the back of her head collided with the flat face of a boulder with an audible crack.

Alertness faded from her eyes and she slipped from consciousness after the knockout blow had connected. Naruto called out to her a few times to try and rouse her while pulling the knives out of his side, ignoring the blood it drew. Yet she did not respond in any fashion, and it was then he knew he was in this fight alone.

"Hm, how interesting! Only four chakra gates are needed to nullify Jyukken strikes. That really gauges the power of the Hyuga clan, I'd say." Kabuto chuckled, watching Naruto remove the kunai from his arm as well, "Either that or Hinata-hime was just plain weak. They said she was the puniest of all her clan!"

"What did you do to her?" Naruto demanded, struggling to his feet.

The Sound ninja adjusted his glasses that had shaken loose from his nose during the fighting, "I simply attacked her heart, Naruto-kun. Soon she'll end up just like Neji-san…and you too, before long!"

He stared out to Hinata who remained unmoving at the bottom of the hill. Naruto was distraught, knowing there was no way he could help her when he knew nothing about medical techniques. Kabuto delighted in cutting down shinobi after playing games with their emotions, and Naruto was beyond the point of tolerating it any longer.

All that was left was to finish it.

The wounds on Naruto's side and arm healed up within seconds, and his ruby gaze rested on his enemy. Red chakra hissed through the air and a ghostly howl echoed against the slopes of the Valley of the End.