Authors Note: This is inexcusibly late, and I appologise. Way too many things were going on at once, making this low on the priority list, but for it to take more than five months to make an update? I might as well shove a rusty nail up my..nevermind, on with the story. No matter how good this chapter is, it probably wasn't worth the wait..
--

For some reason, Hanabi was unable to sleep. Her mind was too active, thoughts were spinning too quickly for any chance at rest. In less than thirty-six hours, many of her beliefs were shattered. Now, instead of the comforting solitude of the Hyuuga mansion, she was in a motel in a border-town. She probably dealt with more people in the past three hours than she normally would have in three weeks. Even more confusing to her, however, was the fact that she seemed to enjoy the chaos.

After living her entire life in a strict regiment, around people who knew her every mannerism by heart, this breath of fresh air 'intoxicated' Hanabi. From the uncontrolled, spontanious fight with Uzumaki, to the shock on the face of the inn-keeper as she lifted a crate that was at least three-fourths of her body-weight. Though the senin, Jaraiya, scolded her for that sort of showmanship, the young girl didn't care. Now that was a revelation. The normally respectful Hyuuga heiress didn't care that someone as renouned as the toad-senin was annoyed by her actions.

It was almost as surprising as her new-found knowledge of her sister's abilities. Hinata could blend into a crowd with ease, and become comfortable with any facade. Part of Hanabi wondered if her sister would have been happier as an actor instead of a shinobi. Then she remembered hearing the two guards outside her door, in the seeming eternity before Itachi and Kisame attacked. Hinata had managed to injure Neji, the genius of the clan..that should have been impossible for the timid konoichi. It was as if a dam had broken, and her fighting spirit had rushed out when she wasn't in a facade.

Staring at her older sister for a moment, watching her sleep, Hanabi couldn't help huffing in amusement, "Well, maybe on-ni-chan will be more challenging to usurp than I thought..good. I never wanted to be the clan head without some manner of effort."

Seeing a flash in the corner of her eye, the young Hyuuga looked out the window, her entire body tense. That flash..it resembled steel reflecting light. Very clean steel..like a sharpened blade.

Rapid footsteps pattered across the floor, like a group of people were running. Before she could even blink, Hinata slid out of bed with a pair of kunai in hand, mumbling sleepily, "Aren't you usually a heavy sleeper than I am, ni-chan?"

Hanabi twitched a little, whispering back with a blush, "I couldn't sleep in the first place. What do you think is going on?"

The older sister took a moment to activate her Bakuyugan, and shook her head. Dim light from the window showed that her mouth was in a light frown as she said, "These aren't ninja. Probably rebels from Mizu that happened to pick this motel. There are five men just outside the door, four guarding their center one, classic diamond formation. Two have wakizashi, two of them are holding tanto, and the final is pulling out a box of matches..so they plan to burn the building. We have to get out of here."

Hearing a bell ring outside, Hanabi felt her blood rush in excitement. "The town's militia is probably going to be busy out there, so..I say we deal with the fools inside ourselves."

Blinking a bit, Hinata could only say in dumb surprise, "Huh?"

Taking that as an affirmative, the younger sister burst through the door with a flash, Bakuyugan activated. Catching one of the tanto wielding men off guard, she slammed a chakra laced hand to the side of his neck, knocking him out before he could even yelp. The other dagger-man swung his tanto at the young girl, his blade missing as she ducked under it and gave him a charged open-hand chop to the knee-cap. Watching as he stumbled, she almost launched at him when her skull was yanked into a wall by her hair.

Dazed, holding her head in pain, Hanabi groaned to herself, "Great, father would probably give me a tongue lashing for that bit of tunnel vision. What good is three-sixty vision if you only pay attention to one direction?"

She heard it before she felt it, a sword flying out of its sheath, connecting with bony flesh. Then the pain started to register..and she tried to scream, but her lungs seemed parylized, out of her control. Her left shoulder had become numb, her hand spasming as a dull blade twisted and jiggled, trying to get dislodged from her bone.

A raspy voice from behind her sneered in annoyance, "Damn, I told Kotaru-sama that this was a bad idea. You don't go three days straight without taking the time to clean your weapons! Now my favorite blade is stuck in some brat!"

A calmer voice retorted, "Well, she did take down Goro, and managed to hurt Sani. This is no ordinary kid."

The weapon stopped jiggling, the pain died down a fraction, and Hanabi sucked in a breath of air. Her eyes saw a shadow on the ground, a shadow that seemed 'very' familiar. Looking up, she saw Hinata glaring at the thugs around the younger Hyuuga, holding two kunai threatingly.

The raspy sounding thug mumbled, "What's going on here? That girl has weird eyes too! It's as if there's a freak convention or something!"

Hinata didn't say a word, and didn't move, just glared. Chuckling sadistically, the raspy thug asked, "What's with that look, cutie? Pissed that your friend here was hurt? Don't be, it's her own damn fault for attacking us!"

When Hinata spoke, it wasn't the timid tone Hanabi was used, or the confident one she'd heard earlier. It could only be described as cold anger, bringing a chill to the young girl's spine. "You have three chances to leave quietly, and let me bandage my sister."

The sound of steel pulling out of leather filled the air, and the calm sounding thug asked, "What do you plan to do if we refuse?"

One of the kunai went flying, and Hanabi could have sworn the sick thud was more scary than the blood-curdling scream from the raspy man.

A third voice rang out in mild amusement, covered with experience and respect..that guy must of been pretty old. "So, you're prepared to fight all of us? It's four on one, not in your favor. Yet, on the other hand, our mission wasn't to fight foreign shinobi in a motel, and we're only lightly armed. I must appologise for my subordinates, they are a little..head-strong. However, we 'did' have a job to do, and your sister 'did' interrupt. You can leave with your sister, and whoever else may have accompanied you, as long as you don't continue to impeed our progress."

The raspy man sputtered in pained indignity, "Hey, what are you 'doing'?! Those Shibana cowards may have 'hired' foreign shinobi as their defense! You could be jepordising the entire mission! Are you out of your senile mind, Hisho?!"

Hearing the old man snort, Hanabi could easily imagine a derisive expression on a wrinkled face as he said, "You are truly a fool, Takire. Not only are they of the Hyuuga clan, a blood-line clan, they are from Konoha, a country that wants as little to do with our chaotic land as possible. No, this was just poor luck."

Seeing Hinata twitch, Hanabi mumbled, "Apparently our poor luck..there goes our cover."

The sound of steel clashing downstairs filled the air, and the man now known as Hisho said determinedly, "We'll fight off the Shibana while you get your companions out of here. I can't promise that word of Hyuuga being in the city won't spread, and you may be hunted by our enemies. Whatever your reason for being in this land, you should leave quickly. I wish you better luck than I expect you to receive."

Just as she was about to say thanks, Hanabi felt the sword in her shoulder get pulled out, making her scream in agony. She barely registerd the sound of the men behind her running, or the surrounding chaos, or even the balm that Hinata had just started to apply to her bleeding shoulder. Her mind was focused on the pain, even as it died down. It seemed so familiar somehow, but..she'd never been cut like this before. Was this feeling of deja-vu a repressed memory from the Tsukoyami? Did one of Itachi's tortures involve being impaled? How many different tortures did she forget?

Slowly, she began to breath normally again, and mumbled, "I could have beaten them all if I didn't fight like it was one-on-one."

Hinata paused suddenly, and drew her hands away from her sister's injury, swiping the remaining balm from her palms..then slapped Hanabi's left cheek.

Head spinning after the harsh slap, Hanabi didn't know which was more surprising. The fact that her timid sister hit her so hard, or the fact that her chest sent a twinge of pain when she was hit in the face. Was this some sort of secret attack she hadn't been taught? Why should her heart feel pained when her head was struck?

She was further surprised when Hinata grabbed her by the shirt and said in a firm tone the older girl probably didn't know she was using, "If you ever do something that reckless ever again, I won't be so lenient. Hell, be glad I didn't put any chakra behind it like I 'wanted' to! You could have been 'killed'!"

Putting a hand to her already bruising cheek, Hanabi spat defiantly, "I'm not a weakling, on-ni-chan! I have some skill in the family's style, unlike 'you'!"

Hinata gasped, tears building in her eyes. If she was a normal child, Hanabi might have felt guilty about that. If she was in her right mind, the younger Hyuuga wouldn't have lashed out at someone who'd saved her! All she felt was annoyance as she continued. "Maybe when 'you' were my age, you were fragile. I, however, am not a frail person. No matter how much you've improved, I can surpass you if given the time."

Shutting her eyes, putting a satisfied smirk on her face, the younger girl wondered how her sister would react. Would it be with aggression, acceptance, or sadness? The first two could prove interesting, the third would just show that no matter how much she tried, Hinata was still just an emotional failure, bound to always be second-rate. That would be..annoying, concidering the circomstances.

Too bad Hinata's reaction didn't come 'close' to what Hanabi expected. "You..called me on-ni-chan. You're finally acknowlaging that I'm your..older sister?"

That made Hanabi freeze up, reviewing her words mentally. She always called Hinata 'ni-chan', or something that put her down in her presance. This actually 'was' the first time she'd ever called her on-ni-chan, older sister, to her face.

Opening her eyes cautiously, she felt a new sort of fear when she saw the wide smile, and teary eyes of the older girl. Oh no, that reminded her way too much of that crazed team-mate of Neji just before he..oh please don't say Hinata was going to do 'that'!

She did. Almost tackling the smaller girl, Hinata hugged her so hard it was painful. Was the pain coming from her still unbandaged shoulder, her spine as surprisingly strong arms embraced it, or her sore cheek as it was rubbed against firm breasts. Practically going into song, the older Hyuuga gushed out, "Yes! I finally have my ni-chan showing appreciation for me! Thank you, thank you, thank you! When we get home, I'm going to-"

In an attempt to get out of the death grip, Hanabi had bitten one of Hinata's 'very' prominant breasts, and clamped down on it hard. She could feel the older girl's arms become limp, falling to her sides, and her back become tense. The sound from her sister's mouth was an almost silent squeal, and Hanabi felt a small amount of joy at that. That would teach her to even 'concider' hugging Hyuuga Hanabi.

Releasing the bite, backing away 'very' quickly, that joy died down as she saw Hinata's furious expression, and heard the older girl hiss, "What the 'hell' was that for?!"

Trying to muster one of her confident smirks, hoping she didn't let her fear show, she mumbled, "Well, it got you off of me."

Eyes flaring, looking ready to pounce, Hinata asked shrilly, "You couldn't have just 'asked' me to let go?!"

This time, Hanabi giggled as she retorted, "But that worked so 'well'! I doubt saying 'let go' would have been as quick!"

The sound of dozens of feet rushing towards them interrupted the siblings, and Hinata grabbed Hanabi by the hand, starting to run as she snarled, "We'll finish this later, brat."

For some reason, being called a 'brat' wasn't that insulting..it brought a warm feeling to her chest, really.
--

Swerving in mid-run to avoid a spearman, Naruto couldn't help wondering why he had to deal with the fighting downstairs. Jiraiya didn't even give a reason why he got to fight in an area that few of these guys could reach. Stopping his sprint, looking around to see he was appropriately surrounded, he pulled out an explosive note and asked, "Are you sure you want to deal with me?"

He expected to see them run at the realization that he was actually a shinobi and armed with explosives, not become berserk. Throwing the note at the crowd near the door, he put what he hoped was enough energy for a three second delay..and it went off after one-and-a-half, catching him in the shockwave. Slamming into a wall, groaning in pain, he mumbled half-heartedly, "Damn, I 'really' haven't improved much at chakra control."

Ears still ringing, body throbbing, he looked up with a grim expression on his face. A good chunk of people were dead, about twelve. Another fifteen were injured but getting up, still shell-shocked. Now to do what he'd learned far too well in his time with the toad senin..kill.

Pulling out a pair of kunai, he mumbled, "That will make it twenty-seven in one day, making the total I've ever killed up to seventy-nine. Great, now I know why Tsunade-oba-chan was so shaken by blood..it gathers quickly."

Moving from one dazed person to another, he decapitated each with painless speed, all the way until he reached the last one. Something about that one seemed so familiar. Female, dark hair in buns, nice sized breasts, looked about a year older than him, chinese shirt..was that Tenten? Looking closer, tentative, he saw the girl shake her head, getting the cobwebs out. Huh, amber eyes. Definitely not Tenten, but still..close enough to make him feel mercy.

That hesitation nearly cost him his nose, she grabbed one of the kunai from his holster and took a swipe at him. If it wasn't for his well-trained reflexes, he might have been killed! In a duel of kunai, Naruto tried to disarm her while she tried to 'remove' his arms.

After a long exchange, Naruto stopped trying to disarm her, and girl halted her attack, doing minor probes at his defenses. For what felt like an eternity, the pair swung and dodged, neither putting everything they had in the attack. The girl's eyes looked wild, frantic. For half a moment, he concidered trying to talk some sense into her, but thought better of it. He'd just slaughtered all of her comrades, anything he could say wouldn't change that. Yet he still didn't want to kill her, either. He'd spent too long fighting her with his conscience to return to the cold killer.

The stalemate ended as she launched a foot, catching him in the gut harshly. Damn, was she wearing a steel-toed boot? Going on instinct, he swung one of his kunai upwards, and fresh blood was spilled, a vicious cut to the girl's jawline. Before the guilt could register, she leaped at him with her eyes narrowed in fury. Side-stepping her, Naruto kicked the point he'd sliced with everything he had, hearing a sick crack.

Feeling a new lump in his throat, he was almost glad he heard approaching feet and fresh battle cries. Checking her for a pulse, feeling a steady one, he sighed. Well, she was still alive. He may have broken her jaw, but he hadn't killed her. Was this how Haku felt whenever he had to fight for Zabuza? Empty whenever he killed, glad whenever he could spare someone..how could anyone live this way, with this much blood on their hands?

Just the thought of Haku made the boy sigh in depression. When was it that he lost his bright view of the future and became bitter inside? When Sasuke left, or when he killed someone with his own hands for the first time? Had it already started when Zabuza and Haku died just as he started to respect and like them? How many of the people that died because of him already could have been his friends in different circumstances?

Five men ran into the room, one with a kunai already in his shoulder. Staring at them with a detached expression on his face, he mumbled to himself, "That will make the count for the day thirty-one, and overall count eighty-three."

Jumping at them, face strangely serene, he wondered how the other genin would react to this new side of him. Would they compliment him for becoming more mature about the grim parts of life..or be scared at the lack of his once customary energetic glow? At the monster he'd become in so little time..
--

The streets were barely any less chaotic than inside the buildings. At least outside, Hanabi didn't have to worry about enemies hiding behind the next door..they were all in the open, clashing. There didn't seem to be any real tactical point to it, like every one of them was only concerned with causing more slaughter. For a moment, the young girl felt glad she had a poor sense of smell. Otherwise, she might have nightmares every time she had a papercut after this.

Hinata stood close by her, slowly leading her towards the outskirts of the village, slicing anyone who came in their way across the wrists. Either she didn't know some of them could die from the resulting blood-loss and distracting pain, or didn't care. She seemed to have a single objective in mind: get Hanabi to a safe area.

The few that managed to get around the older Hyuuga, or just had the poor luck to leave a building and meet Hanabi, were each knocked out cold by chakra laced palms. Yet despite their efficiency in dealing with attackers, their speed left something to be desired. No longer were they running, they weren't even doing a decent walking pace. Hanabi could swear she could 'crawl' faster than this.

Another managed to get by her sister's notice, and Hanabi caught him in her divination. Launching sixteen well aimed chakra-hole slams before she lost the hold over his legs, she then used the man's pained stumbling to her advantage, driving one final shot under his chin.

Hinata's voice sounded a little disturbed as she asked, "You honestly have a divination at your age? What's its range?"

Ignoring the sound of someone screaming as the older girl nearly removed their hand all together, Hanabi said in a nonchalant tone, "It's one-and-a-half meters forward, twenty-three centimeters behind, and almost nonexistent at the sides. What do you have?"

Hinata visibly flinched, cutting off some poor samurai's fingers in the momentary lapse of concentration. "Three-quarters of a meter all around, and even then it doesn't hold them well. Last time I showed father mine, his exact words were.."

Clearing her throat, Hinata did an overly deep, extreamly fake male voice as she impersonated their father. If it wasn't for the sounds of battle, and the constant threat of death, it might have been humorous. "'If you are unable to do it correctly, do not waste my time and your energy. That might work against the canine that the Inuzuka in your team owns, but even a four-year-old child can walk up to you with that disgraceful aptitude.'"

Now Hanabi felt the need to cringe. "Yes, that sounds like his sort of evaluation. If it isn't perfect, he'll turn even a minor slip into an embarrassing lack of attention and ability. Still, I tend to feel good when there are details he doesn't complain about."

Ducking under an ax, cutting yet another wrist, Hinata sighed. "So, you get verbal beatings from him as well?"

Making a similar exaggerated voice, the younger girl quoted one of the most common lectures she received. "'The Hyuuga clan is known for its power and intellect. If you don't think out each move carefully, any strength you may have will be beaten by someone who uses it against you. Look at the example of Nara Shikamaru, a recent chuunin. His physical abilities are pathetic, yet his tactics are brilliant. If you continue in this path of improvement, you'll damn yourself to be outsmarted by someone far weaker than yourself. Don't continue to be such a fool, be the one who dictates the pace of the battle.'"

Either the fighting was getting thinner, or people were starting to get out of Hinata's way. In what was perhaps the first time she didn't have an attack to repel, the older Hyuuga sounded sympathetic. "It kind of says something when he even demeans his supposed favorite. Maybe he was hoping for a son.."

Chuckling hollowly, Hanabi retorted, "That can't be it at all. Men are more likely to have my mentality of 'beat the enemy into submission', instead of the psychological stuff he was trying to drill in. Maybe he just wants a younger version of himself?"

Outright groaning in disgust, finally a good distance from the fighting, Hinata mumbled, "Don't even 'try' to make me imagine what he was like at our age. It's disturbing..will you be all right on your own if you stay here?"

Taking in her surroundings, Hanabi took note of each hiding place and defensive position. Mostly one-story buildings, an apple tree between each one for at least two-kilometers. The fighting was surprisingly far behind them, so it couldn't be too hard to avoid trouble.

Deciding on an empty bank, Hanabi pointed to it and replied, "I'll go behind the counter in there, you can go back and get Jiraiya-sama and Uzumaki-san. It wouldn't do for us to get separated from our so-called 'guards'."

Nodding, the older Hyuuga ran back towards the core of the war-torn village. As the younger girl moved to hide in the building, her eyes saw something in one of the window reflections. There was someone jumping from roof-tops..someone with an orange jumpsuit.

Her incredulity was astronomical. He was clearly not in the motel anymore..and Hinata wasn't going to know that. Starting to run towards one of the many uniform two-story buildings some blocks away, a little impressed at the speed he was moving, Hanabi mumbled, "Sorry, on-ni-chan. You might have enough sense to leave the building if you can't find him, but..I can't risk that. Not when things between us have been getting so interesting. It shouldn't be too hard..just cut him off when he's moving like a squirrel. I have to run faster than I ever have before for what looks like a seven kilometer distance, too.."

It didn't help that she had to keep her pace frantic, her direction straight, and try not to be killed by the surrounding war-zone. Her breathing started to become ragged after she'd covered maybe an eighth of the distance..not a good sign. Wait, he was starting to get bogged down fighting on one of the roofs. It never crossed her mind to wonder why there were combatants on the roofs until she felt something skim through her long hair..an arrow.

Adrenaline spiked in her blood as she moved with a new purpose, and renewed vigor. Maybe trying to be a hero wasn't such a good idea..
--

Jiraiya was many things, but not a moron. This was too chaotic to be a battle, most of the fighters were civilians with rusty blades and poorly carved arrows. Some of them didn't even have a bow to shoot the arrows with, and some of the fighting didn't make sense, with people who'd fought side-by-side turning on one another in an instant. Then there was the fact that so many of the fighters seemed mindless, uncaring that they might die, only caring about causing damage. Hell, he'd even seen some of the clashing people biting one another in their ferocity. Someone was using this as a cover..but how did they make civilians so aggressive, and why would they need this much chaos in a border town?

He heard an almost childish giggle behind him, cold and calculating. "So you are the great toad senin..impressive. It appears that the Hyuuga-hime chose their protectors wisely."

Turning around, Jiraiya saw nothing but shadowy mist, and a tall figure obscured by it. Cautious, he mumbled, "Wasn't Itachi and Kisame assigned this one by your organization?"

The strange man's head swung from side to side in the darkness, tone amused. "So sorry, the nine are not your only enemies. In fact, they may be your most valuable allies in the storm to come. A shame, really. If they'd captured the girl, Hinata, or the Uzumaki boy, they could have stood a chance at slowing us down."

Eyes narrowing, the veteran shinobi asked, "What is so important about that girl? She's considered a failure in her own clan, has barely above average chakra in her body, and a pair of good eyes that they could have easily taken from her sister!"

What looked like a metalic wing came from the stranger's shoulder as he answered the senin, making soft clicks. "Concider her a..port for damaged ships. Given enough time in her body, with its unique energies locked away, even the most mangled of powerful objects will be restored to its original state. While she was in the hospital during the Chuunin exams, one of our men implanted a piece of one such item into her. It hasn't had time to fully restore, but if used in the correct way, it could still hamper our assault. Yet it remains an important part in our plans..plans that the Kyuubi tried to halt so long ago. Once again, someone that may have been a great ally to you, who feared what we could bring, and your people prevented it from finishing its work."

Feeling his blood run cold, somehow keeping his voice level, Jiraiya asked, "What sort of plans would make a demon that powerful afraid?"

Chuckling, another wing-like appendage came from the man's other shoulder. "That isn't your concern at the moment, old man. What you should be worried about is saving the Kyuubi's holder and the younger Hyuuga-hime. They're almost in position, almost where their true nightmare begins."

The clouds of shadows around him began to slowly move towards the senin, and Jiraiya could hear more of the crazed people from outside rush to their position. Preparing to use a rasagan, he almost didn't hear the man in front of him start to cackle loudly, pulling out a weapon he'd never seen before. Strange, curved handle with a cylinder, small hole with barely visable curves inside the barrel..most likely a projectile weapon.

Practically feeling the shadows try to grab onto him, hearing swords leave their sheathes behind him, the silver haired veteran finally finished creating a rasagan as the enemy in front of him whispered, "Now, let's see how the great toad senin, Jiraiya, can hold off the Tsviet, Nero the Sable."

And with a twitch of Nero's finger, the weapon made a sharp crack..
--

Another thirteen dead by Naruto's hands, and he started to notice something. Very few of these people were orginized in any way, and they didn't seem to be focused on any particular area. Hell, when he tried to take a leak, he'd seen at least five bodies and two men beating one another with severed limbs! He wasn't the sharpest person, but even he could realize that this made no sense. Even in a battle between hate-consumed armies, there would be a 'fraction' of the people running away!

So now, here he was, jumping from building to building in what could only be described as a sensless riot. For a moment, he concidered running out of the town all together and waiting for the fighting to die down..then he saw the girl he remembered was named Hanabi running through the streets, arrows nearly hitting her with every step. Cursing his luck, he leaped towards her on the building tops, throwing kunai at each archer he could reach. Most of them didn't pause even as the blade sliced off a few fingers, confirming the idea that something wasn't right with these people.

Snarling, crossing his index and middle fingers into an 'X', he screamed hurridly, "Kagebushin no jutsu!"

Dozens of shadow clones formed around him, each leaping at an individual fighter with the intent to cover the original and Hanabi. The resulting mass of orange was almost blinding to even Naruto, but he kept focused, even as some of the clones were dispelled without warning. Grabbing the young Hyuuga girl from the street, he dashed into what looked like an empty bakery with her in hand, then shut the door with a flash.

Feeling the memories of the clones rushing into his mind with more frequency, the blond dropped the girl without a thought and mumbled to himself, "Great, there's a moving shadow out there and it's slaughtering the kage-bushin faster than they can move. Seems to be able to attack two at a time, and aim for a new target within half a second. As long as the door stays shut, maybe it can't come in."

Hearing Hanabi say something that sounded like a grudging thanks, but not paying attention, something caught his eye. Part of a green metal sign, out of place in the bakery. Written across it in worn out paint was romanji, and it didn't make sense to him. 'araS raM ot emocleW'.

He almost jumped out of his sandles when Hanabi spoke again, her breath tickling his leg through one of the arrow holes, reminding him that there were plenty of close calls out there. Shaking the strange thoughts out of his mind, he mumbled, "Can you repeat that, I'm kind of on an adrenaline high."

Where he expected a snort of derision, the young girl whispered, "That's understandable, given the situation. How can anyone 'not' be dazed after a battle like that?"

Before he could voice his thanks at her understanding, she continued, "I think that it's written backwards, the capital letters are on the oposite ends..'Welcome to Mar Sara'..what do you suppose that is?"

Shaking his head slightly, trying to remember some of his senses, Naruto mumbled back, "I can't tell, but I've got a bad feeling in my gut. The same sort of sick feeling I got just before the fighting outside started, only..unfocused. As if instinctually, I know I should stay away, but I don't know why."

Neither moved for a moment, the only sounds in the building were the ragged breaths as they recovered from moving quickly without a moment of pause, and the clashing outside. Naruto started to notice something about the sounds out there. Some of the people sounded sane, yelling comments to one another and asking what the hell was going on. So there 'was' an attack sent by regular people..but why were there so many crazed, impossible to predict people that only seemed concerned with their next kill, not caring who it was or how likely they'd die to do it? Did that happen before, or after the normal armies started to clash? Were those armies, whatever they were, still fighting one another despite the insanity engulphing the town? Or had they temporarily joined forces to repell the berserkers?

All thoughts of what was going on ended as he heard footsteps above, more deliberate than all of the others, from someone light-weight. It was like a shinobi was looking for someone, and didn't want to hide their presence..if it wasn't for all the blood that hovered in the air, Naruto could have probably found out who it was by scent. Still, he took a guess and yelled, "Hinata, is that you up there?"

The footsteps halted, probably trying to figure out where he was before trying to move..then he heard quicker footsteps, like the person was running, and before he knew what was going on, a woman burst through the very door they'd come in through..and it wasn't Hinata.

Though similar in build, this girl had a satisfied smirk that Hinata would never have, and a sword strapped to her hip at an angle. Her clothes were hard for him to identify, tan and covering her from upper thigh to lower neck, like a one piece suit, with elaborate, decorative buttons going down the middle. Putting a hand to her raven hair, just barely longer than Sakura's had been before he'd left, the woman mumbled, "So, you're the pair that Nero wanted to get rid of. It's convenient that you went into hiding here. Before I..send you two off, do you have any last words?"

Pulling out a pair of kunai, Naruto snarled, "Whoever you are, you won't take me down without a fight!"

Holding a small controller like one for a tv set, pointing it at him, she mumbled confidently, "Who says I have to 'fight' you?"

Eyes widening in confusion, hearing a buzzing sound behind him, he almost didn't hear Hanabi scream in terror. Spinning around to look at her, his mind almost didn't register what he saw. A purple mist was coming from the green sign, growing, swirling, and his body felt a strange pull towards it. Within seconds, the sign was completely engulphed, and the mist was still growing. Hanabi grabbed onto a shelf, no longer screaming but staring in disbeleif as her legs started to rise, pointing towards the mist. Naruto felt his own body start to lose weight, slowly drifting towards the mist, and he grabbed onto the same shelf. Why didn't he feel wind, why was he almost floating towards it?

Just as he felt things couldn't get worse, he saw Hinata jump through the door, throwing a fist at the strange woman, knocking them both towards the mist and making the controler fly inside. The young Hyuuga didn't even have a chance to land on the floor when she started to float closer to the mist. Watching in horror as both young women floated in, the brunette was the first to touch it, and she screamed in pure agony. His mind was screaming to help Hinata, but she was too far for him to reach. The only way he could have a chance at grabbing her hand was if he floated off after her. That would doom him to the same fate.

Hanabi apparently didn't care as she practically launched after her sister, the two girls grabbing one another's wrists, and the younger sibling grabbed Naruto's leg just below his kneecap. The sudden weight made him lose his grip, and if it wasn't for his quick reflexes then he wouldn't have grabbed the still open door. For half a moment, he wondered if he should be glad that the pair were safe..then he decided to just yell, "GIVE ME A WARNING NEXT TIME YOU PULL A MOVE LIKE THAT, BRAT!"

Hanabi winced at that, mumbling, "No need to shout, it's not like that thing is making any noise, and I'm not deaf."

Before he could think of an appropriate retort, an arrow flew through the open door, catching him in the left armpit. Letting go with a yelp, pulling the arrow out without a thought, he heard the two girls scream and looked with a mix of guilt and fear. Hinata's body was almost completely covered by the mist, with only a small part of her arm and her face above it, shedding tears from the sheer amount of pain. Hanabi's face was just as pained, and only the tips of her fingers had touched the purple smoke.

Though it happened in less than a second, it felt like an hour as he watched Hanabi's grip falter, and the sisters were separated. Feeling the young girl grab onto his leg with both arms now, feeling her pained sobs, he braced himself for what he thought would be a violent death as his own body began to touch the mist.

The nerves on his legs felt like they were on fire, elicting a roar of furious agony from the blond. It went straight to his brain, nearly blinding him with its intensity. Just as he was about to try something with his chakra, anything to get out, the Kyuubi's mental voice boomed through his skull loud. Don't struggle against it 'now', you fool! We'll be between worlds!

Before he could mentally ask what the demon meant by 'between worlds', he passed out.
--

Sore beyond imagination, Hanabi slowly opened her eyes, not completely awake. Desert wastelands as far as she could see, not a single living creature in sight other than Naruto. As the knowlege that Hinata wasn't there sunk in, a cold burn went through her heart. Her sister was gone, just as things were getting interesting between them. All of the possibilities between them were null and void, and the sisters might have been thousands of miles apart..her anger at the situation turned to Naruto. 'He' let go, and sent them all to this strange place.

Standing up slowly, glaring at him as he got to his knees, hearing him mumble something about not being trained for the desert, Hanabi snarled, "You stupid excuse of a shinobi, how the hell could you let go and send us here?!"

The blond winced before he stood up quickly, growling back, "How could I let go? I was fucking SHOT in the ARMPIT! Besides, I'm not the one who let go of Hinata because my fingers felt a little sore, brat!"

Quickly walking up to him to stomp on his foot, irrate that he claimed she 'consciously' let go of Hinata, she almost concidered not saying a word with the way he yelped. Almost. "I meant the shelf, whisker boy. A shinobi is supposed to be able to react quickly, and last time I checked, you shouldn't let go because you felt 'surprised' that someone else grabbed onto you!"

He just spat on her face in response, and Hanabi recoiled in disgust, swiping the moisture from her nose before tackling the blond. Putting everything she could into each hit, not caring if she killed him, all the young girl wanted was to feel in 'control' of a situation. Control, something she had lost for the first time when Itachi held the knife to her throat, a seeming eternity ago. The fact that Naruto was fighting back, and the pair rolled around hitting one another just further frustrated her. He had no right to retaliate, no right to even think he was on 'her' level. She was a Hyuuga, a member of the strongest clan in Konoha, and a boy with a nothing name like Uzumaki should know his place!

Taking a vicious punch to the cheek that would definitely cause a bruise, Hanabi slammed her knee into his groin in retaliation, and slammed an open hand into his chest. Warning alarms went off in her head when she didn't feel a burst of chakra go through her palm, making her hesitate long enough for Naruto to stand up, lifting her by the hair, then tossing her face first into the harsh sand. Trying to soften the landing, she tried to focus chakra into her palms as she landed..and no chakra gathered at all, letting her hands get cut open on some of the sharper grains of sand.

At that point, both paused their struggling. Naruto was breathing hard, eyes narrowed in still unvented frustration. Hanabi, on the other hand, was scared out of her mind. From the age of five, she was completely aware of her chakra system, and the amount inside of her body. Yet, for some reason, she couldn't feel 'any' inside of her. It wasn't the same as exhaustion of her reserves, that would make her groggy and barely conscious. This was more like it was sealed from her reach, outside of her ability to feel. Her already shaken mind felt ready to outright shatter, as if she'd lost the sense of taste. No, taste was more of a pleasant sense, this was like losing the use of one of her ears, a very part of her being. Desprite to feel 'something', she began the handsigns for the Bakuyugan, feeling nothing go between her fingers, or across her body..not even her eyes. In her frantic state, she didn't see Naruto kick out at her until it was too late, and she felt his leg slam into her gut. If she'd been in her right mind, Hanabi would have grabbed the foot and bitten into it, using his own attack as a chance for her own. Instead, she let it hit her as hard as it possibly could, rolling across the sand from the force, feeling tears start to come down her eyes.

After what felt like an eternity, she heard her companion mumble, "Look, I know losing your sister has to hurt..who am I kidding, I DON'T know. I don't even HAVE a family! Just..listen. Fighting each other isn't going to do her, or us any good..well, it might make us feel a little better, but not improve the place we're in or how we got here. Look, do you understand what I'm 'trying' to say at least?"

All she could think to say was simple, and even she had a hard time hearing what came from her mouth. "No chakra.."

The boy paused, a strange expression passing over his face as she said that. A combination of worry about how they could survive, and releif from a burden. Whatever that burden was, he tried to keep his voice even as he asked, "Can you repeat that, kid?"

A little louder, voice borderline shrill as she began to break down, Hanabi said as clearly as her frazzled mind could, "I can't use chakra, I can't 'feel' chakra. I..I'm scared, without chakra..I'm nothing! Just a 'weak' little kid, someone who can't do 'anything' useful!"

Shutting her eyes, letting the sobs shake her body, the young Hyuuga felt helpless. Nothing she could do was important, there was no way she could fight a serious enemy, or look beyond walls, or..'anything'!

Feeling a strange pressure on one of her hands, Hanabi opened her eyes to see Naruto putting a torn piece of his jacket on it, making a very basic bandage. It was too loose when he finished tying it, like he'd never had to treat a wound before and didn't want to cause any more pain than necessary. "Look, for most of my life I was concidered a loser. I learned the hard way that just because you don't always come on top doesn't mean you're bad. So..just do what you can each day. It might not be much, but it's better than nothing."

Letting him start on her other hand, not bothering to tell him of his rudimentary mistake about the tightness of the bandage, she asked, "Why are you suddenly being so..so kind when I drove my knee into your crotch less than three minutes ago?"

Putting on what could only be described as a fox-like smile, filled with mischeif and confidence, the young boy's next words would stick with Hanabi for the rest of her life. "We're going to be seeing a lot of each other around here, and we might as well work together. No sense in fighting your only companion when you can avoid it, right?"

Feeling her respect for him grow conciderably, and the frantic terror in her heart lessen to a managable level, the young Hyuuga decided that perhaps being stuck with this boy wasn't so terrible..he may be a brash fool with no major standing back in Konoha, but there was definitely something about him that made him stand out from the crowd. Not the orange jumpsuit, but something about his attitude towards life felt..reassuring to her. Besides, he was a shinobi. No matter how low of rank, he was still trained to deal with hostile environments.

Her growing mood took a nose-dive, however, when she noticed something. Something that should have caught his attention the moment he grabbed a water-flask from his jacket, and made her think that they might not survive. "Um, why are you trying to drink from a flask with an arrow through the bottom?"

Cringing, Naruto groaned helplessly, "Shit, I thought that wet feeling was my sweat from fighting back in the village!"

Staring in disbeleif, watching as he threw the dry flask to the ground dismissively, Hanabi had the sudden thought that chakra wouldn't have been able to help them. Not with a guy that unobservant, anyway!