You Don't Know My Name: Chapter 9
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and/or its characters.
You Don't Know My Name: Chapter 9
She let out another sigh of frustration.
Hyuuga Hinata wasn’t getting anywhere. She had been trying to escape for what seemed like forever. She found the sun was getting closer and closer to the western horizon.
This wasn’t working. Each time she tried Kaiten, she only failed and injured herself more.
Of course if she was Neji, this would be no problem, she told herself. In fact, if she were any other Hyuuga, she could have escaped already. However, Hinata was Hinata. And Kaiten was not a move she excelled at. She found it hard to open all of the chakra holes she needed at once and always ended up overcompensating for it, depleting her chakra faster than a normal Kaiten would. But that was not the thing that was making it hard for her to escape.
Of course her countless attempts at using Kaiten were going to fail. She knew this before she even attempted. There was no way for her to gain momentum or begin the whirl while she was stuck to the tree. But, in a last ditch attempted, she had hoped that it would be her trump card.
She wanted to wallow about how useless she was, but there was no time for that. Her teammates were depending on her. Her life was depending on her.
‘If only there was something I could do…’ she thought as she looked down at the pure chakra binding her to the tree.
Her mind traveled to her father and Neji. She had watched the two and their constant training matches which she would never be invited to join in. All she could do was bring them tea. She understood that training Neji was to benefit her because he was her protector, but the logic behind it all was wrong. She should also be able to defend herself.
Or, at least she and Neji felt that way. That was why he began training her in secret. Those countless hours of chakra exercises…
“It saved my life to know the basics.” Neji told Hinata as they finished up their training one day. He placed a hand gingerly over the wound he received while trying to bring Sasuke back. “Never forget that, Hinata-sama.”
Wait! That’s it!
Neji had drilled these types of exercises into her head for a reason. How could she have gotten so caught up in the moment and forgotten them!
Hinata found a smile forming on her face. She could do this.
------
“Gaara, you bastard!!!! SANDWORMS?! What the hell is wrong with you? Are you trying to get us killed?!!” Naruto yelled at the top of his lungs as he pulled his giant shuriken clone out of the remains of the poor, dead creature. The clone puffed out of existence as soon as it was free.
Naruto looked over at the rest of his teammates as they pulled themselves together. The destruction around them was not as bad as they had originally thought, but the sandworm was vicious. The sand ninjas that were attacked all turned out to be some type of bunshin or other, ranging from regular bushins, sand bushins, and kage bushins. It now made sense why some disappeared quickly when others took a few more hits before disappearing.
“Calm down, Naruto. Cursing Gaara isn‘t going to make our mission any easier.” Sakura told him sternly as she shook the sand from her sombrero and then placed it back on her head. Although she shared Naruto’s sentiments and hoped that fate would pay Gaara back one day.
Kiba was the only teammate who stayed quiet for the moment as he took a swig of water from his canteen. He offered some to Akamaru, who happily accepted the drink. “You guys should drink some water too. You won’t be able to fight well dehydrated,” he explained as he drank some more water.
Sakura was about to open her mouth to snap at him for telling her what to do, but stopped herself. Kiba was right. Being dehydrated would not help in their search for Hinata. It would only hinder them and probably kill them.
Again, Sakura was amazed by Kiba. She was slowly beginning to understand the caring aspect of his personality. While his actions could be taken as condescending, he was actually watching out for his team. Even if he wasn’t very fond of her and Naruto, he would still watch out for them because they were a team.
But now was not the time to be reevaluating her perceptions of the dog carrying ninja. So she reached for her canteen as well and drank her fill before replacing the cap and screwing it on tightly. Naruto followed suit, giving a refreshed sigh when he was done.
Kiba stretched he body a little as he looked over at the other two.“What should our next course of action be?” He figured he should ask since Sakura was the brains of this team and Naruto might just get carried away with the rescue part of the mission, forgetting to make a plan.
The pink haired kunoichi looked at him thoughtfully before providing her input. “Well, it would be best to travel and set up camp in the next few hours.”
“But wouldn’t that use up our daylight?” Naruto interjected. Didn't they understand that Hinata's life was at stake here?
Sakura sighed. She had almost forgot she was dealing with the world's number hyperactive ninja here.“That’s the point, Naruto. It would be better for us to move under the cover of night. It will be cooler and we can gauge our movements by the placement of the stars.” As if to solidify her point, Sakura pulled out the star chart she and Hinata copied the night before.
Nodding his head to show he understood, Naruto then turned to look out at the vast desert that was in front of them.“But where would we camp?”
Kiba moved in closer to the other two. “Akamaru has picked up the scent of an oasis a few miles away from here.” Akamaru yipped twice to confirm Kiba's speech... or at least that was what Sakura and Naruto thought he was doing.
“Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!"
-----
Gaara watched, amused, from his perch a couple of meters away from where the Hyuuga heiress struggled with her binds. Many of the other shinobi had given up on escaping. Others had hurt themselves so badly that they could no longer move. But not this kunoichi. She was still going at it.
While it was not visible to the eye, Gaara could tell that she was expelling chakra from tenketsus in her body as the ropes around her slowly became looser and looser. She was trying not to draw attention to herself. Little did she know that she already had Gaara's.
He couldn't really explain it, but the Hyuuga heiress had always interested him. He remembered his first Chuunin Exam where he watched her beaten mercilessly by her older cousin. He also remembered how she would still continue to get up. It impressed him, to say the least. And impressing Gaara was a feat most could not achieve, especially at that time when he just thought of humans as food for his sand.
He didn't quite understand it at the time, but he felt like she was fighting for him. Her cousin had told her than she could never change fate, but she continued on. He called her weak, told her to give up, but she didn't. He almost felt as if she was fighting for him as well. Telling him that he did not have to be the monster everyone told him he was. But that feeling left after she was taken away to the medical ward.
Then Naruto reminded him of that lesson after beating the Shukaku out of him... or rather vice versa.
Gaara focused his eyes back on Hinata as she managed to remove herself completely from the chakra ropes with a well timed Kawarimi no Jutsu, leaving a log the same size as her in her place before racing away from the oasis. He watched her leave before turning his attention back to the other victims left in his 'care.' He yawned a little before leaning back against the tree he occupied.
This was going to be another long, boring night.
-------
Hinata ran at top speed through the desert. She had used her Byakugan to scout the area ahead of her in search of her team, but they still were no where in her range of vision. She couldn't even see Sunagakure from where she was.
She ran for a good hour and a half. As she gained enough distance away from the oasis she was held captive at, Hinata slowed her pace to a complete stop. She took a deep breath, releasing it slowly to calm herself down. She need to figure out where Sunagakure was and work from there to find her team.
She threw her head back and looked up at the sky. Night had already fallen, the chill penetrating the holes in her cloak that the chakra burns left. It was a clear, beautiful night as all the stars twinkled down at her. She gave them a slight smile before digging into her weapons pouch and pulling out a copy of a constellations chart she and Sakura had found the night before in Gaara's study. Both of the girls felt it would be useful to have this information because the trend of the Chuunin exams was to have a survival test somewhere in there.
After studying the map for a few minutes, the Hyuuga scanned the sky for familiar constellations. She found the Big and Little Dippers almost immediately followed by the North Star. She remembered that Sunagakure was in the southwest of the Wind Country. However, by the placement of the North Star and the little foliage around her, it seemed as if she was closer to the northern border with the Earth Country.
She plotted her course and began taking off again in the general direction of Sunagakure. Hinata looked up at the stars again as she ran. She prayed that the rest of her team would be okay and that she would find them soon. They would make it through this and she would not hold them back.
______________________________________________________________________________________
Well I hope you enjoyed this chapter… I tried to make it longer than the last one. I seem to have gotten used to writing short fics again. Ah well.
You all know how well I am with updating and such… but I’ll try to get a chapter out every 1-2 months. I wish I could say every 2 weeks, but a lot of things are going on with me and I don’t have all that much time for writing.
Also, anyone willing to suggest a new name for this fic? o-O I can't seem to think of one... Leave suggestions, if you want/can, in your reviews please. Thanks.
Last, but not least, special thanks go out to Darth-Taisha, datubaman, Dragon Man 180, and Kai for reviewing the last chapter. Thanks so much and I hope you enjoyed this one too.
~minimerc
You Don't Know My Name: Chapter 9
She let out another sigh of frustration.
Hyuuga Hinata wasn’t getting anywhere. She had been trying to escape for what seemed like forever. She found the sun was getting closer and closer to the western horizon.
This wasn’t working. Each time she tried Kaiten, she only failed and injured herself more.
Of course if she was Neji, this would be no problem, she told herself. In fact, if she were any other Hyuuga, she could have escaped already. However, Hinata was Hinata. And Kaiten was not a move she excelled at. She found it hard to open all of the chakra holes she needed at once and always ended up overcompensating for it, depleting her chakra faster than a normal Kaiten would. But that was not the thing that was making it hard for her to escape.
Of course her countless attempts at using Kaiten were going to fail. She knew this before she even attempted. There was no way for her to gain momentum or begin the whirl while she was stuck to the tree. But, in a last ditch attempted, she had hoped that it would be her trump card.
She wanted to wallow about how useless she was, but there was no time for that. Her teammates were depending on her. Her life was depending on her.
‘If only there was something I could do…’ she thought as she looked down at the pure chakra binding her to the tree.
Her mind traveled to her father and Neji. She had watched the two and their constant training matches which she would never be invited to join in. All she could do was bring them tea. She understood that training Neji was to benefit her because he was her protector, but the logic behind it all was wrong. She should also be able to defend herself.
Or, at least she and Neji felt that way. That was why he began training her in secret. Those countless hours of chakra exercises…
“It saved my life to know the basics.” Neji told Hinata as they finished up their training one day. He placed a hand gingerly over the wound he received while trying to bring Sasuke back. “Never forget that, Hinata-sama.”
Wait! That’s it!
Neji had drilled these types of exercises into her head for a reason. How could she have gotten so caught up in the moment and forgotten them!
Hinata found a smile forming on her face. She could do this.
------
“Gaara, you bastard!!!! SANDWORMS?! What the hell is wrong with you? Are you trying to get us killed?!!” Naruto yelled at the top of his lungs as he pulled his giant shuriken clone out of the remains of the poor, dead creature. The clone puffed out of existence as soon as it was free.
Naruto looked over at the rest of his teammates as they pulled themselves together. The destruction around them was not as bad as they had originally thought, but the sandworm was vicious. The sand ninjas that were attacked all turned out to be some type of bunshin or other, ranging from regular bushins, sand bushins, and kage bushins. It now made sense why some disappeared quickly when others took a few more hits before disappearing.
“Calm down, Naruto. Cursing Gaara isn‘t going to make our mission any easier.” Sakura told him sternly as she shook the sand from her sombrero and then placed it back on her head. Although she shared Naruto’s sentiments and hoped that fate would pay Gaara back one day.
Kiba was the only teammate who stayed quiet for the moment as he took a swig of water from his canteen. He offered some to Akamaru, who happily accepted the drink. “You guys should drink some water too. You won’t be able to fight well dehydrated,” he explained as he drank some more water.
Sakura was about to open her mouth to snap at him for telling her what to do, but stopped herself. Kiba was right. Being dehydrated would not help in their search for Hinata. It would only hinder them and probably kill them.
Again, Sakura was amazed by Kiba. She was slowly beginning to understand the caring aspect of his personality. While his actions could be taken as condescending, he was actually watching out for his team. Even if he wasn’t very fond of her and Naruto, he would still watch out for them because they were a team.
But now was not the time to be reevaluating her perceptions of the dog carrying ninja. So she reached for her canteen as well and drank her fill before replacing the cap and screwing it on tightly. Naruto followed suit, giving a refreshed sigh when he was done.
Kiba stretched he body a little as he looked over at the other two.“What should our next course of action be?” He figured he should ask since Sakura was the brains of this team and Naruto might just get carried away with the rescue part of the mission, forgetting to make a plan.
The pink haired kunoichi looked at him thoughtfully before providing her input. “Well, it would be best to travel and set up camp in the next few hours.”
“But wouldn’t that use up our daylight?” Naruto interjected. Didn't they understand that Hinata's life was at stake here?
Sakura sighed. She had almost forgot she was dealing with the world's number hyperactive ninja here.“That’s the point, Naruto. It would be better for us to move under the cover of night. It will be cooler and we can gauge our movements by the placement of the stars.” As if to solidify her point, Sakura pulled out the star chart she and Hinata copied the night before.
Nodding his head to show he understood, Naruto then turned to look out at the vast desert that was in front of them.“But where would we camp?”
Kiba moved in closer to the other two. “Akamaru has picked up the scent of an oasis a few miles away from here.” Akamaru yipped twice to confirm Kiba's speech... or at least that was what Sakura and Naruto thought he was doing.
“Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!"
-----
Gaara watched, amused, from his perch a couple of meters away from where the Hyuuga heiress struggled with her binds. Many of the other shinobi had given up on escaping. Others had hurt themselves so badly that they could no longer move. But not this kunoichi. She was still going at it.
While it was not visible to the eye, Gaara could tell that she was expelling chakra from tenketsus in her body as the ropes around her slowly became looser and looser. She was trying not to draw attention to herself. Little did she know that she already had Gaara's.
He couldn't really explain it, but the Hyuuga heiress had always interested him. He remembered his first Chuunin Exam where he watched her beaten mercilessly by her older cousin. He also remembered how she would still continue to get up. It impressed him, to say the least. And impressing Gaara was a feat most could not achieve, especially at that time when he just thought of humans as food for his sand.
He didn't quite understand it at the time, but he felt like she was fighting for him. Her cousin had told her than she could never change fate, but she continued on. He called her weak, told her to give up, but she didn't. He almost felt as if she was fighting for him as well. Telling him that he did not have to be the monster everyone told him he was. But that feeling left after she was taken away to the medical ward.
Then Naruto reminded him of that lesson after beating the Shukaku out of him... or rather vice versa.
Gaara focused his eyes back on Hinata as she managed to remove herself completely from the chakra ropes with a well timed Kawarimi no Jutsu, leaving a log the same size as her in her place before racing away from the oasis. He watched her leave before turning his attention back to the other victims left in his 'care.' He yawned a little before leaning back against the tree he occupied.
This was going to be another long, boring night.
-------
Hinata ran at top speed through the desert. She had used her Byakugan to scout the area ahead of her in search of her team, but they still were no where in her range of vision. She couldn't even see Sunagakure from where she was.
She ran for a good hour and a half. As she gained enough distance away from the oasis she was held captive at, Hinata slowed her pace to a complete stop. She took a deep breath, releasing it slowly to calm herself down. She need to figure out where Sunagakure was and work from there to find her team.
She threw her head back and looked up at the sky. Night had already fallen, the chill penetrating the holes in her cloak that the chakra burns left. It was a clear, beautiful night as all the stars twinkled down at her. She gave them a slight smile before digging into her weapons pouch and pulling out a copy of a constellations chart she and Sakura had found the night before in Gaara's study. Both of the girls felt it would be useful to have this information because the trend of the Chuunin exams was to have a survival test somewhere in there.
After studying the map for a few minutes, the Hyuuga scanned the sky for familiar constellations. She found the Big and Little Dippers almost immediately followed by the North Star. She remembered that Sunagakure was in the southwest of the Wind Country. However, by the placement of the North Star and the little foliage around her, it seemed as if she was closer to the northern border with the Earth Country.
She plotted her course and began taking off again in the general direction of Sunagakure. Hinata looked up at the stars again as she ran. She prayed that the rest of her team would be okay and that she would find them soon. They would make it through this and she would not hold them back.
______________________________________________________________________________________
Well I hope you enjoyed this chapter… I tried to make it longer than the last one. I seem to have gotten used to writing short fics again. Ah well.
You all know how well I am with updating and such… but I’ll try to get a chapter out every 1-2 months. I wish I could say every 2 weeks, but a lot of things are going on with me and I don’t have all that much time for writing.
Also, anyone willing to suggest a new name for this fic? o-O I can't seem to think of one... Leave suggestions, if you want/can, in your reviews please. Thanks.
Last, but not least, special thanks go out to Darth-Taisha, datubaman, Dragon Man 180, and Kai for reviewing the last chapter. Thanks so much and I hope you enjoyed this one too.
~minimerc