Hold on Hinata C5

This Photograph Is Proof
By: Sliverfall
Chapter 5
Goodnight Children

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
------

Naruto sighed and flopped onto his bed – no their bed. Hinata was finally back and he wasn't alone anymore. He sighed and rolled onto his side. She was different than he remembered, but that didn't matter to him. Before Hinata had returned, Naruto had begun becoming used to the gaping hole in his heart that Hinata had created when she disappeared from Konoha. He had been getting used to being alone. But now that Hinata was back he was more determined than ever to never let her get away again. She was his mate and the mother of his children. There was no way he was going to let her disappear again.

In the distance Naruto heard a high pitched wailing, and he leapt to his feet; instantly alert. That was the warning siren! They were under attack! Naruto scrambled across the room, pulled his Anbu uniform from the closet, and dashed down the hallway. He had to make sure the twins were safe before he could head out to the front lines. The twins were still sleeping peacefully when Naruto slid barefooted into their room. He performed protection seal after protection seal on the windows, and then he set up a genjutsu to make the windows seem like walls. He turned, worry etching lines into his young face, and kissed each child on the forehead.

Naruto walked out the door and closed it softly behind him. For a moment he just stood there, "God, please keep them safe." Then he turned and slapped dozens upon dozens of protection seals on the door and set them to release on either his or Hinata's command. No one else should be able to get in or out of that room, not even the twins. Naruto didn't want them to wake up and accidently stumble into danger. After taking a deep breath, Naruto slipped his mask on. "Hiraishin no Jutsu."

Just like that Naruto was standing at the East Gate next one of his special seals, and he didn't like what he saw. A great horde of foreign shinobi was bearing down on all of fifty Konoha shinobi. Naruto threw a kunai, "Hiraishin no Jutsu." Mud squelched between the toes of his bare feet when he rematerialized, he had forgotten to put on shoes. Beside him a random shinobi gaped at his sudden appearance, but Naruto didn't let the man live to regret his hesitance. Naruto's katana gleamed, and the man's head hit the dirt. The other shinobi around him had stopped. They were staring at him as if to say "Who is this foolish boy? Doesn't he know he's surrounded?"

"Tch," Naruto raised his sword, "For Konoha!"  

The Konoha shinobi didn't pause to see who had shouted, they already knew and they rallied at the sound of his voice. Naruto grinned and settled into a defensive position, his katana at the ready. They rushed him all at once.
-----
"Come on, Mara! Keep up! We can't let Hinata-sama down!" Taro screeched to the fox on his heels. The duo was racing through the abandoned streets of Konoha headed for the only safe haven they knew of, the bunker inside the mountain. Each fox had a child securely lashed to its back.

"I'm trying! He's heavier than he looks, and I'm not as big as you!" Mara huffed.

They didn't see the shadows flying across the roofs until it was too late. A giant man with glowing yellow eyes, landed in front of the foxes blocking their path. His head was covered with messy dark green dreadlocks, and his twisted smile was pulled too far on one side because of a white scar that ran clear to his ear. He wore only tight red pants decorated with a pattern of swirling black rabbits, a black choker wrapped around his neck, and combat-boot-like ninja shoes. There was also a black utility belt swung loosely around his waist.

Taro ran for the alley, "This way, Mara!" They didn't make it. Two more shinobi flashed down from above and they grabbed the foxes.

"Now what have we here? Two little foxes carrying the Uzumaki brats to safety? Like we'd let that happen," the giant chuckled. "Kill the rodents. Take the children."

A kunai flashed and blood splashed to the pavement.

"Taro!" Mara screamed, her eyes wide with terror. "No!" She bit her captor's hand. He yelped and released her tail. Mara ran for the alley. 'I'm sorry, Taro, but I must get this child to safety and warn Hinata-sama!'

"Let her go. One brat is enough to demoralize the future Hokage of this village."
------

A battlefield lay before Hinata's eyes, and it was gruesome. The Konoha shinobi were almost completely overrun, most were lying motionless on the ground their bodies bent in unnatural poses. The ground had turned a muddy brown, but it wasn't water that had soaked into the soil. The enemy wasn't even taking the battle seriously anymore. They were just playing with the surviving Konoha ninja. "Yuurei no Jutsu," Hinata whispered and she jumped down from her perch on a nearby building. In mid-leap her body became completely transparent. The first man never knew what hit him. He fell to the ground with a jagged gash across his neck, and everyone just stopped.

"Who did that?" An enemy asked. Hinata snapped his neck.

"Who's there?" A woman held a kunai out defensively, her hand shook slightly. Hinata grabbed her wrist and twisted. It shattered with a loud crack, and Hinata drove the woman's own kunai into her chest.

"I'm here," Hinata whispered into the dying woman's ear. "You bastards should have never tried to attack my children."

"It's a woman," one of the enemy shinobi shouted.

"Kai," Hinata's jutsu released, and she smiled at the man. "My name is Hyuuga Hinata." The man went deathly pale and began to back away.

"Y-you're t-th-the Kyuubi's w-wench."

"His name is Uzumaki Naruto!" Hinata used shunshin no jutsu and rammed her fist into the man's stomach. He collapsed to the ground, clenching his abdomen. A second later Hinata slammed a katana through his head. "Anybody who wants to get to Konoha has to go through me." She pulled her katana free and it disappeared in a puff of smoke. "Who's first?"

The whole lot charged her all at one. "Gee, and I was hoping we could do this the easy way."
-----

"Godaime-sama, both the East and North Gates are being retaken," Shizune set a report on Tsunade's desk, and Tsunade pinned it with a resentful glare. "It seems both Hinata-san and Naruto-kun are each holding a gate almost single handedly." Tsunade nudged the report with her pinkie, and it slid off the side of her desk. It clattered to the floor, spreading papers everywhere.

"What about the West Gate, is it holding?" With the evil bits of paper safely filed away, Tsunade folded her hands and rested them against her chin.

"The advancing force has been slowed, and Sasuke-san, Neji-san, and Tenten-san have been dispatched," Shizune informed even as she began to pick up the offensive pieces of paper.

"Alright!" Tsunade jumped to her feet and slammed her hands on her desk. "Let's get to the hospital; I have a bad feeling about the amount of causalities. Oh, did you send Sakura?" Shizune set the freshly rearranged folder back on the Hokage's desk.

"Of course, she's already at the hospital. She's directing the operation as we speak."

"Good, good," Tsunade nodded vigorously. Her fingers stealthily found the folder again and whoosh! It soared off the table and fluttered out the window. "Let's go, the hospital needs us!"

"Yes, of course, Tsunade-sama." The Hokage marched out the door. As Tsunade walked while basking in the glory of her small victory, Shizune slipped an identical folder from the folds of her clothing and set it on the desk. When it came to paperwork and Tsunade, Shizune found it was essential to follow one rule absolutely.

Always have a plan B.
-----

Sasuke, Neji, and Tenten raced across the heavily leafed branches of Konoha's trees. Just ahead they could hear the sounds of battle. That was their destination. They stopped just short of the tree line to access the situation. Only a handful of Konoha shinobi were left on their feet and fighting. The rest were either dead or nursing particularly gruesome wounds. The opposing force was humongous.

"I don't think the odds are in our favor," Neji pursed his lips and activated his bloodline. "Even with my Byakugan, I can't see where their troops end."

"The odds are never in our favor, but that's never stopped us before," Sasuke smirked. "I'll race you to the other side of that army. The loser has to buy the winner free dinner for a week."

"You're on," Neji challenged and jumped into the fray after Sasuke.

Tenten did a face palm, "Boys…. Do they ever grow up?"
--------

A blond haired man sat in the mud. He had one barefooted leg stretched out in the mud and the other bent at the knee. His arms supported him from behind. His head was tipped back and his shaggy hair covered his eyes. The man's once black body suit was in tatters, and he was covered in blood and dirt. His chest heaved in and out with his heavy breathing.

They had just kept coming. Naruto slumped to the ground and splayed his arms out. Never in his entire life had he seen so many shinobi. Where were they finding these people?

"Naruto-sama?" A genin's face appeared in Naruto's vision.

"Hai?" He didn't bother to move. He just looked at the boy and waited.

"Tsunade-sama sent me to tell you that she's received word that the enemy is retreating, and that she wants to see you immediately."

"Thanks, kid. Now go home, you shouldn't see any more of this than you have to," Naruto sat up with a groan and then smiled at the boy. He stood up and put his hand on the boy's shoulder, "Innocence is a terrible thing to lose." Naruto gave the boy one final glance and then he vanished.
----------

Mara rocketed into the bunker, slid across the floor, and crashed at Ino's feet. The little fox was gasping desperately for breath and she was shaking from exertion. "Take him, please," she choked.

Ino nodded calmly and untied Ren from Mara's back, "Did Hinata send you?" Mara nodded. "Wait, where's Hina?"

"They have her!" Mara's eyes went wide with distress and she scrambled away. "I must tell, Hinata-sama!"

"Oh, shit," Ino cursed. "When Naruto and Hinata find out that one of their kids is missing all hell is going to break loose." She looked down at her own sleeping children, and knew if one of them were to go missing she'd be just as angry as Naruto and Hinata were bound to be. The only difference was that the whole village would be in outrage once they heard little Hina was missing. Naruto was the village's hero! Most people assumed that he would someday assume the role of Hokage. By hurting Naruto, their enemy was hurting all of Konoha.

"Where am I?" Ren opened his eyes and rubbed them. "Ino baa-chan?"

"BAA-CHAN?!"
-----

"Hitomi, where are you going?" Jay moaned from underneath the pillow he had smooshed over his head in his sleep when the sirens had started going off. Hitomi cocked an eyebrow that he couldn't see and pulled her remaining boot on.

"Konoha is under attack," she responded. Jay shot straight up, lost his balance, and tumbled out of the bed. "I am going to find my sister and help her. You can stay here and sleep if you want."

"No, I'll catch up. Go on ahead," Jay said as he slipped his shirt on. Hitomi jumped out the window and made a mad dash across Konoha. She could sense her sister's unique chakra anywhere. In just moments Hitomi was kneeling on the same rooftop Hinata had initially launched her attack from almost a half an hour ago. She didn't dare go any further. She would just be in the way.

Hinata stood in the center of a muddy clearing dealing out killing blow after killing blow. She was using her gentle fist style. She wasn't even bothering with her weapons anymore. Hitomi activated her Byakugan. Hinata had a look of pure and controlled rage on her face which meant she was in a no mercy kind of mood. What had those fools done to upset her sister so much? Hitomi concluded it really didn't matter anymore because the shinobi were beginning to flee.

"Oh she is good." Hitomi jumped, landing four feet away from her original position on the ledge. A few inches from where she'd previously been kneeling, Reina was perched and she was intently watching the dregs of Hinata's battle.

"R-Reina! What the hell?"

"Oh, I just dropped by to ask why there was a half naked man in your bedroom at such a late hour," she said with a mischievous grin.

"Seriously? You want to talk about my love life while Konoha is in the middle of fending off an attack?"

"Yes, and in case you haven't realized the "oh-so-mysterious" enemy is running away. So, battle over," Reina pointed to the running forms, "Now, spill."

"This is so wrong…" she sighed. "Fine, but only because I know you won't leave me alone until I do. We were just talking, and we fell asleep. That's it."

"Why was he shirtless then? Hmmmm?"

"I have absolutely no idea."
--------

"Sasuke, behind you!" Neji roared as a beast of a woman swung her sword at the Uchiha's head. Even with his monstrous speed, there was no way Sasuke was going to block in time.

"Oh no you don't," Uchiha Itachi flashed into existence and blocked the blade with a kunai. "I am the only person who has the right to kill Sasuke." The woman attempted to overpower the older Uchiha, but she couldn't get her sword to budge.

"What are you doing here, Itachi?" Sasuke growled with annoyance even as he relieved a man of his left arm.

"What? I can't use my god-like ninja skills to save my little brother?" He was using an innocent, joking voice that was a tad inappropriate for his current situation.

"Pfff, whatever. I didn't need your help! After all, I am the superior shinobi in the Uchiha clan," Sasuke boasted and continued to hack away body parts.

"Oh yeah? Well I bet you can't take down that nasty looking giant guy over there! He'd be waaaaay too strong for you!" Itachi pointed to a man that easily cleared eight feet and had limbs like tree trunks.

"Him? No sweat, I could have taken him down when I was just a lowly genin!" Sasuke flipped over his brother and sprinted towards the man. "He won't even last two minutes against me!" Leaping back into the air, Sasuke landed on the head of an enemy shinobi and proceeded to step on heads until he was facing the giant. He launched a flying kick and connected with the giant's chest.

Nothing happened. Instead Sasuke bounced off the guy's chest and landed face first in the mud. "Ehhh?" the giant looked down at Sasuke, "Were you trying to hurt me, little shinobi?"

Sasuke lifted his head from the mud, "Yes, I was, but I didn't count on you being built like a freakin' brick."

"Really? Were my outrageously big pecks not a big enough of a clue for you?" he flexed his muscles for effect.

"Those are muscles? I thought that was flab!" Sasuke chimed and flipped to his feet.

"Flab?! I spend hours in the gym working on these beauties! How dare you insult me!" his yellow eyes flashed with outrage.

"Ah, boss, shouldn't we be going?" a shinobi squeaked, "We have that, ah, package to deliver, remember?"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. You don't need me to make it back to Katsuro. Just take the kid and leave. I'll catch up later," he cracked his knuckles, fixing Sasuke with an evil glare. "I have something I need to take care of."
-----

"Cowards," Hinata let her arms fall to her sides and stared at the retreating force. She turned her back on the enemy and dropped to the nearest wounded Konoha shinobi. Hinata placed her hands over the wound and started healing it. She was so intent on her task that she didn't see Mara until she was only a few feet away. Maybe Hinata was a little more tired that she wanted to let on. "Mara?"

"I'm so sorry, Hinata-sama," Hinata stumbled to her feet and looked down at Mara with an expression of dread. "I couldn't stop them."

"Stop who? What happened, Mara?"

"They killed Taro and stole your daughter, Hinata-sama!" the little fox was crying. "There was nothing I could do."

"Is Ren safe?" Hinata's voice had become almost inaudible.

"Hai, Hinata-sama," Mara nodded.

"You did well, Mara," she said and pet Mara's head. "Thank you, you can go home now."

"Thank you, Hinata-sama," Mara bowed and disappeared in a puff of smoke. Hinata immediately fell to her knees, and her palms sunk into the mud.

"No, no, no. no." she murmured. Tears fell from her eyes and splattered on the saturated ground. She whirled to her feet and slammed her fist into the nearest tree. It toppled with a mighty crack. Again, Hinata's knees found the dirt just as the heavens opened up and let loose a drenching rainfall. She screamed.
---------

"Sakura, get that man moved up to room 345, and make sure you bandage up Mr. Missing Fingers and send him home with a lollipop!" Tsunade bellowed at the pink haired medical nin.

"I'm on it, Tsunade-sensei!"

"Oy, Baa-chan, you wanted to see me?" Naruto leaned nonchalantly against the wall and pinned Tsunade with an expecting stare.

"I need more help here, get to work!" she barked at him. Naruto's jaw fell open.

"What?! I can barely stand up and you want me to haul people around a hospital?"

"You used Hiraishin no Jutsu to get here, didn't ya?" Naruto nodded, "If you can do that then you have enough energy to help! Now get!"

"But Baa-chan, I-"

"Nope, not listening! Go wrap bandages!"

Naruto's ears perked up and he turned to stare out the window. His carefree grin melted from his face and was replaced with a look of utter worry. Then he became completely serious, "I'm sorry, Baa-chan, but I can't help you right now."

"Why?" Tsunade asked quietly. It was easy for her to forget just how much Naruto looked like Minato. It was in moments like this, when Naruto dropped his happy-go-lucky façade, that he reminded Tsunade the most of his father.

"Something has gone terribly wrong," he said. "Hiraishin no Jutsu."

Naruto's ragged clothing was soaked through within seconds, but he didn't care about that. Hinata should be right next to him, but he couldn't tell because of the down pour. He had given Hinata one of his special kunai so he could always find her. Then he heard a soft whimper, and he saw Hinata on her knees staring up at the sky. He touched her shoulder and fell to the dirt in a heap of emotional pain.

Such loss, such sadness, and such hopelessness she was feeling! What did this mean? Naruto reflexively started to brush away his unintentional tears, but then he realized it was pointless with all the rain. He crawled over to Hinata and took her hands, and she looked at him with her pain filled eyes.

"What has happened, love?" he squeezed her hands.

"They took our daughter, Naruto," her voice was cold, devoid of all emotion and Naruto began to understand.

"Hina? They took her?" panic filled his eyes, "What about Ren?"

"He's safe. Mara got him to Ino," she said quietly.

"Who? What?" Naruto questioned.

"When I came back from my meeting with Tsunade-sama, there were three men in our house, Naruto. They were trying to get into the twins' room, and they would have if I'd been a few minutes later. I stopped them, and I sent Ren and Hina to safety with my summons. Or that's what I thought," Hinata explained. "This is all my fault. I should have taken them myself!"  

"It's not your fault. It's mine," Naruto chided. "I left them alone."

"You thought they were safe," Hinata mumbled. "So did I." Naruto got to his feet and pulled Hinata up with him. She lurched forward into his chest and wrapped her arms around him. "We have to find her."

"We will. I promise you that, Hinata. We will find our daughter."
-------

"You've strayed awfully close to the battle, Katsuro-sama," a skinny, almost gaunt looking shinobi mused to the back of a man.

"Where is Hyosuke?" Katsuro asked in a dangerous tone. The skinny dude visibly shuddered.
"He was delayed by a Konoha shinobi," he gulped.

"Heh, my brother never could walk away from a fight. Did you complete your assigned task?" the man named Katsuro turned. He was fairly tall, sported long green locks that just couldn't be natural, and had fierce yellow eyes. A faded white scar stood out on the tanned skin of his neck. He wore a sleeveless red jacket that fanned out around his legs. The edges were trimmed in black and his back was covered with a churning design of black rabbits. His pants were simply black and his feet were bare with black painted toe nails. His finger nails were painted to match, and a blank forehead protector was wrapped around his head.

"We captured the girl child, but the boy eluded us, Katsuro-sama," the man motioned for his associate to step out from the shadows. Uzumaki Hina was carefully cradled in his arms. Katsuro stepped forward and plucked her from the man's arms. He examined her with a careful eye.

"So this is Uzumaki Hina, the spawn of a man who one day stands to become the leader of our greatest enemy? Such an innocent looking child, I'm almost sorry for what we're about to do." He lifted Hina up into the air. The moon light made a glowing ring around her head. "Bring me a kunai, Dunst. The Kowareta are going to send a message to Konoha."

"Here," Dunst, the gaunt shinobi from before, handed Katsuro a kunai, and Katsuro gave Hina back to Dunst.

"Secure her so she won't flail about, and then wake her up. I want the child to remember this. I want her to tell her father exactly what happened to her."

Hatake Kakashi sat on a rock, book in hand while he nonchalantly directed people towards the mouth of the hidden bunker. "Right this way. Watch your step, there's a rather large crack there." At that moment a small child just happened to crawl right towards the crack he had been talking about. So he scooped her up by the back of her diaper, and held her out at arm's length. "Somebody lose something?"

A woman dashed through the crowd and snatched the child from Kakashi's grasp, "Oh thank you, thank you!" She held the child close to her chest, "Kumi-chan, I've told you never to run off! You scared me!"

"This is so boring and pointless," Kakashi thought as he went back to his orange covered book.

"Kakashi-sensei," the young Konohamaru looked up expectantly at the white haired shinobi. Kakashi's one visible eye rolled up from his book and focused on the middle school student.
"Yes, Konohamaru-kun?" he drawled.
"Anko-sensei is behind you," Konohamaru pointed, and Kakashi could see her looming shadow on the wall.
"WHAT?!" Kakashi flew into the air and spun. If Anko saw his precious novel she would pluck it right from his hands and destroy it. He jumped so high that he smashed the back of his head on a low hanging portion of the ceiling. He crashed to the floor and landed in an unconscious, drooling heap… Or at least everybody thought he was unconscious.

"That's it, I'm changing professions. No more silly kids playing pranks, and no more Anko lurking behind my back every minute of the day. It's bad enough that we live together. But what should I do? Hmmm… Circus performer? No, too many clowns. Computer technician? No, I even know what that is. Ouu! Hokage? No, Tsunade's not dead yet, but I could fix that. No, that would be wrong. Evil henchman? Nah, terrible pay. Wait, I know! I know! I know! I'm going to be a writer! Hehehehee…. Then I can do 'research'."

"Oy, moron, get up!" the heel of Anko's foot rammed into the side of Kakashi's head. "I know when you're faking! On your feet you lazy one-eyed lecher!" She kicked him again and again and again.

"Ano… Anko-sensei, I think you're killing him," mumbled Konohamaru in a weak voice. She got right in his face.

"Did I ask for your two sense? No, so get before I summon one of my snakes to devour you." She brushed one pale hand down Konohamaru's face, "It's been so long since I let them have anything so… tender." Konohamaru turned ghastly pale, and then he bolted. You just didn't mess with Anko – ever.   

Anko smirked with triumph and then brought her attention back to the unfortunate male shinobi she considered her significant other. That's when she noticed something orange and square peeking out from the pocket of his jounin vest. It was one of those Icha Icha Paradise books! She thought she had destroyed every last copy he owned. Anko reached for the book and slap! Kakashi's hand wrapped around her wrist and pulled. In an instant Anko was lurching towards the floor and Kakashi was flying upwards. His feet crashed into her face and she went down – hard.

Kakashi leapt over her moaning form and ran for the entrance arms flapping madly in the air. "You will never catch me, Anko! And you will never get my book!"

Anko sat up and licked away the blood from her now split lip. She smiled eagerly and raced after Kakashi, "I love it when they run."
------

Wheels rolled across a tile floor, hands gripped metal handles, and white sterile walls whipped by. Lights flashed over head, one by one, and the people had hidden faces. He couldn't feel his toes and cold was seeping into his every limb. He tried to tell them, but his voice got caught in his throat. It was quiet, too quiet. Why couldn't he hear anything? What was going on? He lifted his hand to grab one of the faceless people, and he felt a new sensation. Pain. His arm invaded his vision; it was covered in red bandages. That wasn't right. Bandages weren't supposed to be red, but he couldn't remember why.

"Get that bleeding stopped or we'll lose him before we even get him to surgery!" Surgery? Bleeding? He tried to wrap his mind around the concepts, but it was too difficult. He didn't understand. Why couldn't he understand? What was wrong with him?

"Oh god! No!" He turned his head towards the voice. It hurt, but he couldn't stop himself. He had to look. The voice sounded so familiar and so full of hurt, and for some reason he didn't want to hear that voice full of pain.

"I'm sorry, but it's better if you let us handle this," another voice said. No it wasn't, he wanted her. Red bandages reached out and grabbed a pale arm.

"Help me… Sakura." And then the world was gone.