𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐔𝐑𝐒𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐀 𝐇𝐘𝐔𝐆𝐀 𝐓𝐖𝐈𝐍

Getting Sasuke Back, Pt. 2

It was sunset, and Hanara had finally caught up to Shikamaru, Naruto, Kiba, and Akamaru. Seeing as Kiba and Akamaru had better noses than her eyes, she deactivated her Byakugan.

"-might wrap things up," Shikamaru said.

"I'll say! Two against three? No sweat!" Naruto cheered.

"What do you mean? It's four against two!" Kiba said.

Akamaru barked in agreement.

"Sorry, Akamaru. Yeah, it's four against two. I like those odds even better," Shikamaru said.

"Actually," Hanara interjected, smirking, "It's five against two."

"Hanara?" Shikamaru questioned, "What are you doing here? Weren't you on a mission in the Sand? Where are Choji and Neji?"

Hanara's expression quickly became unreadable, "On the way back to the Leaf, the Sand Siblings and I got a hawk telling us about what went down. Choji took his pills, Shikamaru."

"All of em?" he asked, eyes wide.

"I didn't see a single one remaining when I took in his inventory," Hanara sighed, "Medics are on their way though and with any luck, Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro should come soon."

"What about Neji?" Naruto asked, "He's got to be done with that creep by now!"

Hanara determinedly avoided eye-contact with the three of them, "I could watch most of the fight with my Byakugan. It was mostly evenly matched, but then Spider Man found the secret of the Byakugan."

Kiba and Shikamaru took in a sharp breath.

"Well? What is it? What is it?" Naruto asked.

"There's a blind spot," she informed him shortly, "Things went downhill from there. Neji got completely skewered and I couldn't do a thing about it because I was too far away. I killed Spider Dude before he could kill Neji, but... if he doesn't get immediate medical help..."

'Don't cry Hanara. Now's not the time. Emotions, go in a deep hole right now.'

"Medics were on their way, right? He'll be fine." Shikamaru said.

"Yeah," Hanara said shakily, "He'll be fine."

"Don't worry about a thing!" Naruto declared, "With my new jutsu, we'll clear things up in no time! Then we can head back to the village."

"Well, that's lovely to know," Kiba muttered.

"We're working as a team here, right? Well, let's just stick to the plan, then. The second one we worked on with Asuma-sensei, Hanara." Shikamaru said.

'That would work best in this situation.'

Hanara nodded.

"Hurry! We're just ahead!" Kiba yelled about an hour after nightfall.

"Yeah! We're gonna kick their asses and then take Sasuke back!" Naruto cheered.

"No," Shikamaru disagreed, "You and I are going to stay right here and maintain distance."

"What???" Naruto asked.

"Hanara and Kiba going into the dark won't be a problem for them, but us going with them will lower their chances of getting Sasuke. Both of them are sensor and tracking types with enhanced senses that let them navigate the dark as easily as navigating during the day. We might attack them or at the very least, we'll be hindrances. And, if things go badly, we'll at least be able to get Sasuke in the morning." Shikamaru explained, "Besides, you're no good if you can't see, Naruto."