Midnight

Chapter Twenty- Four

In the naked eye there was nothing to see. No building, no entrance, nothing. But Inuzuka was sure this was the place. He and Yamanaka proceed cautiously in the fear a guard would appear of nowhere. Yet no other soul was seen. He was ready to redden his eye, to make his presence known when the blonde pointed at an opening. There was a small hole where a trail of water was entering the ground. Sasuke jumped in, barely fitting with Yamanaka following. They tried to be quiet but the splash from their feet was heard in the silence. They waited but noone came. The natural hole led to an underground path big enough for their bodies to stand tall. He was used to this kind of places, they were Orochimaru's favourite, but his partner seemed on edge. She was trying to hide it behind her annoyance on the water on her clothes but he could see it.
Rocks covered with moist were forming a path that led to two opposite directions. She looked at him to lead the way. The decisive Sasuke Uchiha froze. With one wrong step he could sentence the capture woman to death. The blue eyes in front of him had a questionable look on them. He looked at both ways and closed his eyes. He tried to imagine the sculpture of the underground hideout but failed. He could only see her, covered in blood waiting for someone to come to her rescue. He shook his head as to throw the thought away. He saw her jumping on the lake and blamed the water that was heard from everywhere. Then he felt it. He sensed chakra coming from his right as a technique was released. It could be their team fighting but still it was a hint. He run to the direction without saying anything. He felt the woman on his back following him without asking. The lack of other foreign presences troubled him but he wouldn't stop to think it now. Hyuga was gone for hours and it was the first solid lead they had. Their steps echoed in the silence and he knew it was wrong they were losing their chance of surpise but as he was feeling the chakra coming closer he run faster. They passed by a door as the rocks were starting to dry but he didn't stop. He heard a noise behind him as wood was creaking by movement and then several voices feeling the silence. He shot a side glance at Yamanaka but she kept her serious stare in her front. She had felt it too and run in the same direction in the belief Hyuga was there. They took a turn saw other two doors on their sides. Before they bypassed them, one opened. He didn't know if it was misfortune or the commotion from behind that led the man opening the door to block their way. Four more exited and for a moment they stood still staring at the intruders. The first opened his mouth to shout only to close it again as Yamanaka's body fell on the ground.
"Success." He said instead as he turned around and punched his closest person to the face. Another tried to grabbed him by the neck but a kunai pierced his palm to stop him. Sasuke closed the distance in a second only to slit his throat in the next. The last one run, the distance between them enough for Sasuke to form a word. The man was covered in black flames before he fell lifeless on the floor.
He turned and grabbed the remaining man from the throat, his face smiling. A woman coughed and the smile replaced by fear. He closed his hand and a snap was heard.
"I'm glad you kept track on what I was doing." She said as she came closer. "I'm impressed."
He never responded as he run towards the direction of the burning body. If he was going in that way, that was the path they should follow too. He sensed multiple chakra signatures coming from different directions. The others had been discovered too. He tried to keep in mind the first one he was following. He was sure that was Hyuga. He heard steps coming in their directions, more obstacles they should overcome to finally find her.
His clothes stained from the blood of his opponents. He cut with his katana, crashed hands under his feet and still he was far away. Yamanaka kept her ground but she was slow as her technique wasn't meant for multiple opponents. Still she seemed to have found the loophole and targeted the one that seemed the most powerful leaving the others for Sasuke to handle. As his kunai was digging inside the flesh, the chakra he was desperately trying to point vanished. He removed the blade from the foreign body and touch the wall with his hand. His knees felt weak to hold the despair of his body. They were too late.
"What are you two doing?" A man yelled from their front but his voice was barely heard.
"Kiba." The woman replied in relief and run in his direction leaving Sasuke behind.
He couldn't move. All the training, all the effort he had put were not enough. He was not enough to help her. He knew it from the start but he had thought in a false hope that he could do it. Yet she seemed better. She seemed more calm, she smiled more often. She came everyday even when he had decided to give her some space. She came and brought a light with her. And now he could only see black.
"Uchiha what are you doing? Move."
The man approached him pointing with his eyes to the blonde to go ahead.
"There is no point. I don't feel the chakra anymore." He said blanky as all the emotions from before had vanished into the air.
"What are you saying? Hinata is alive." The man said angrily. "And we are going to rescue her."
He turned his tired gaze to the man.
"Sit here if you want. She is alive. She is a fighter. She would never die like this."
Sasuke grabbed his shirt.
"How do you still say that? What do you know about how she feels? Did you care all this time to check on how she truly is?"
The dog barked but stopped with one move from his owner's arm.
"Hinata is a fighter. She was one from the day I met her. She never gives up even if the world is against her. She tries and keeps on trying until she succeeds. She is stronger than you think. She is stronger than she herself thinks she is."
He put Sasuke's hand away.
"And I'm going to rescue her. Are you coming?"