Alright ladies and gentleman, children of all ages and farm animals! The following is a challenge issued by Chewie cookies to develop a story based around Naruto going feral and Hinata helping him to return to normal.

That is the gist of it anyway…if you want more info on the challenge visit his profile and check it out.

This is my humble attempt and hopefully it will meet with people's taste…or lack there of as you will see in other chapters.

Summary:

Naruto was kidnapped by root and his mind was wiped. He for all intents and purposes was remade…no memories, no life…nothing.

In that time he went feral and became more animalistic then ever before.

Hinata searched for her lost love, and found him accidentally.

The question is can she put the pieces back together again?

To soothe a savage heart

Chapter 1

Naruto's eyes opened and he stared up at the ceiling.

The sun wasn't up yet, but something woke him up, he just couldn't place his finger on what it was.

He thought about getting up, but he really didn't want to so he lay quietly staring at the ceiling.

He would have to get up and hunt soon…but for some reason today he felt lazy and didn't want to move from his spot.

After a few seconds, Naruto's mind began to drift…to see things from the past…

Flashback

Naruto hurried down the street, rushing to his favorite ramen stand to indulge in some much needed dinner.

His stomach growled constantly while he was in detention, (Stupid sensei) and when he was finally released, (It was just a little prank) he hauled his butt out of the school as fast as he could. I mean come on…I'm a ninja now…not a student! How did I get stuck in detention? He thought to himself. Well at least I'm out now…and it was good to see Iruka sensei again.

Not paying much attention to where he was going, Naruto whipped around a corner…visions of fat noodles in delicious broth dancing in his head…right before an arm closed around his throat, and he felt a pinch in his neck.

Naruto staggered and felt sleepy as his legs and then his arms stopped responding to what he wanted to do.

Naruto guessed there was no reason he couldn't lie here and sleep for a while…it wasn't like anyone cared about him anyway.

A little shut eye wouldn't hurt…but why did his neck hurt?

O

Danzou sat in his chair and smiled in satisfaction as his men dropped the Kyuubi brat in front of him.

If only Sarutobi had listened to him when he was younger, then he could already be programmed and ready to do his bidding…but no. Kami forbid the shortsighted fools would see the potential that was there.

Danzou let out a sigh before he nodded to his men who stripped then drug Naruto off and threw him into a holding cell further in the facility.

Standing slowly he looked at one of the medical doctors he relied on and nodded. "Begin the procedure…I want to begin programming him as soon as possible."

The doctor nodded as he turned and walked off in the same direction that Naruto was taken and Danzou smirked. "Soon…I will have my weapon, no one will be the wiser, and then I will be hokage. Then…I will bring peace to this land!"

The demented man threw back his head and laughed, but no one cared as only his ROOT warriors were there to hear it, and they didn't react at all.

O

Two months later…

Danzou frowned at the man standing in front of him before he growled out, "What do you mean you failed? Explain this to me!"

The man nodded as he pointed to the chained form of Naruto. "His memories as far as I can tell are gone, so that part of the procedure was successful, but he is not taking the programming. It is like his mind refuses to accept what we want it to do."

Nothing about what Danzou's people had done to the boy seemed to work as he wanted it too. It had taken two weeks longer then it was supposed to; to wipe the boys memory Something in the drugs almost killed him…in fact it had actually stopped his heart but they were able to resuscitate him, but due to his resident or some side effect of the drugs he had grown tails and ears on the top of his head, making him appear very much like a human version of the Kyuubi…now the programming that was used to create so many of his ROOT warriors failed for the third time to remold the brat into what he needed him to be.

It was like the boy was still able to play pranks on them…and he was winning again!

Danzou glared again at the man before he snapped out, "Alternatives?"

The man frowned as he looked at Naruto. "His will despite the loss of his memories is still formidable, so we need to break it. I was considering an emotional shock might do the trick.

Danzou still frowning looked at the boy then back at the man. "Explain."

The man nodded as he gestured and two; ROOT ANBU walked in, holding a girl between them.

The girl had fair skin and a slight pale complexion with Ice blue eyes that almost seemed white. Her hair was shoulder length, and a dark black, but the bruises on her skin showed she was recently beaten, marring whatever good looks she had possessed.

The man nodded to her before he looked at Danzou. "This is Mori…she has been the one assigned to bring the boy food and to clean up his cell when he is being trained. I noticed a change in his weight a few weeks ago and had her watched. A few days ago she was caught giving him more then the required ration which may be contributing to his resistance." The man walked over and lifted one of her bangs, then dropped it again before he looked at Danzou. "I detest people interfering with my work, but I hate being disobeyed more, and she has done both now. Since she has been the boys only constant companion, I believe if she were…"punished" in front of him…it would break him and we could reprogram him with no resistance."

Danzou considered for a moment before he nodded to the man. "Proceed." She was not one of his ninja so he did not care one way or the other what would happen to her.

The doctor looked at one of the ROOT ANBU who nodded and walked over to Naruto and slapped him until his eyes opened.

As he looked up he moaned in recognition at the girl, and she tried to smile at him before the doctor punched her in the side of her face.

Naruto roared in anger and strained against the chains, but could not break free.
The man grinned at Naruto and pointed to the now bleeding girl who whimpered on the floor. "So she means something to you does she? I thought as much." He grumbled before he struck the girl again and Naruto howled as he bounced off the wall again, wanting very much to lash out at the one who hurt the girl that took care of him.

The man waited until Naruto had calmed again, before he struck her, knocking her to the ground and Naruto screamed as he strained mightily against the restraints but still he could not get free.

The man grinned cruelly as he started to strike the girl over and over again to Naruto's howls of pain and anger until the man looked at him and drew a kunai.

Danzou had sat and smiled through the whole thing, a malicious grin on his face…but no one noticed because of Naruto's screams that while the chains hadn't weakened, the rock holding them had.

The man brought the kunai to the girl's throat and grinned at Naruto before he ran it across her neck, cutting her from ear to ear before letting go of her hair and watching her head fall to the floor.

Naruto cried out in misery as he watched her blood pool away from her body and slowly he collapsed, hanging from the chains that held him to the wall.

The man turned to Danzou and smiled. "I believe we can make progress now." He mumbled just before a low growl filled the room and a red glow grabbed all of their attention.

Naruto stood again, fangs and claws elongated, and the cloak of the fox surrounding him.

The look he turned to the man made him quickly stammer, "Quick give him the sedatives!"

But no one could predict what happened next as Naruto lurched forward, snatching the chains free of the wall and striking both of the ANBU at the same time, killing one as the chain hit his head shattering it, and the other took a heavy blow to his shoulder, the sound of bones breaking obvious in the confines.

Danzou struggled to get his feet under him, but lost his balance and fell to his side on the floor as Naruto was on the doctor, tearing at him with his claws until he finally lunged forward and tore out the man's throat with his fangs.

The room had gone quiet, and only Naruto's grunts and Danzou's breathing could be heard.

Naruto almost casually stomped on the wounded ANBU's back with enough force to shake the room and the man's spine gave with no resistance.

After a few moments Naruto turned and looked at the crippled man lying on the floor staring back at him before he bared his teeth and growled.

While Naruto didn't know who Danzou was, he could sense the evil rolling off of him, and it disgusted him.

Something would have to be done.

Naruto's hands shot forward and grasped Danzou's head in his hands and began to pull.

Danzou's screams were the stuff of nightmares as he felt first his vertebrae, then all of the bundles of nerves and muscle stretched to their limit.

Danzou Scratched and scrabbled at the hands with his one good arm but to no avail.

In the final moments, the leader of ROOT always thought he would die on the battlefield, fighting an enemy or at least peacefully in his bed with a hero's burial.

He got neither as his head came off with a grotesque popping followed by the tearing of flesh and cartilage before blood splashed to the floor soon followed by the twitching body.

With a grimace of disgust, Naruto dropped the head to the floor and turned sad eyes to the body of his friend and sobbed as he picked her up to hold her.

Her head lolled back and a second mouth opened wide below her chin, and after a moment where Naruto's eyes had clouded over, he lay her back down on the floor where he gently composed her body to look more dignified before he howled again in pain and crashed through the door in front of him.

Though he was wounded repeatedly, none could seem to stop him as he eventually raced out of the cave to that part of the ROOT headquarters, and to his freedom.

O

One month later

Hinata was uncomfortable and to be honest not happy at all.

Naruto had disappeared three months prior, and truth be told so had her patience.

Her heart was heavy, and she missed the boy dearly, and a few times had gone and searched for him on her own because she knew all of his hiding places and training areas.

Hey stalking a person for years makes it easy to learn their secrets.

Try as she might though, he had disappeared and no one, not even the third Hokage knew where he was.

It was through the efforts of the third Hokage that Naruto wasn't labeled a missing nin, and now the recent disappearance of Councilor Danzou a little over a month prior had many people speculating and rumors were abound.

Hinata had heard a bunch of them…from Naruto killing Danzou to Naruto and Danzou were on a diplomatic mission to prevent the leaf from going to war.

The favorite of a lot of people though was the one Hinata liked the least were the one where Naruto had simply run away and because of how inept he was, had gotten himself killed in an embarrassing manner.

Hinata hated that one, and when she heard someone saying it…anyone…she would defend the boy most vehemently.

The three biggest problems for Hinata's defense of the boy were Sasuke, Sakura, and his other fan girl Ino.

None ever seemed to have a good thing to say about him, and it saddened her greatly to see that some people were so eager to kick someone while they were down.

She wished she knew where he was…but more then that she wished she could see him again.

Today would be no exception to that.

Hinata walked up to her team standing at the gate and tried not to frown as she saw out of her peripheral vision that Kiba was watching her again.

Kiba while a good teammate and a decent person, was a womanizer, and a pervert.

The one condition compounded the other, and Hinata would always bathe or use the restroom with her Byakugan active to make sure he wasn't peeping at her.

Shino was a good sort, much more like a big brother, but his family had become insistent that she "consider" marrying him.

If it was just Shino's family that would be one thing, but Kiba's mom had been bombarding her father with proposals to unite the two clans as well.

While her father had weathered most bids…it was getting harder and harder to fight them off when the clan council was eyeing the offers as well.

Of course, they were thinking about the estate holdings and prestige, but at least her father was thinking about her and her comfort.

Further back

Hiashi sighed as he looked at the stack of marriage proposals from both internal and external sources. He shook his head sadly as he rejected one after the other and wrote polite but firm negations to each party.

Truth be told, he would rather Hinata marry out side of the clan since the fear of in-breeding was very possible.

While the clan heads claimed these things were studied and ruled out…he knew how that bunch of fools really worked and would not stand for them saddling his daughters with men who could be related to them and then have their children be the ones that suffered for it.

A knock at his door made him look up as he laid his quill down. "Enter."

The door slid back and Hinata shuffled in wearing a blue house kimono and knelt in front of him after she closed the door.

Hiashi smiled at Hinata as he relaxed his posture. "Hello my daughter…I am glad to see you."

Hinata bowed her head politely. "Thank you Father…you wanted to see me?"

Hiashi nodded before he gestured to the stack of proposals in front of him. "I did my daughter…I know you are holding out hope…" But Hinata's hand stopped him before he continued.

Hiashi had changed his demeanor to Hinata when she stood up to him about this very subject he broached to her three months ago. He realized if Hinata could stand up for this, she could stand up for anything if she chose to. She only needed a reason.

"Father while I understand the clan's position in this, I am not interested in any of the suitors that have approached you, especially not my teammates."

Hiashi frowned as he waved at the stack again. "But Hinata…some of them are worthy of your interest at least!"

Hinata frowned but shook her head. "While I can work with them, I will not take one as my husband. You know where my heart belongs father…who it belongs to."

Hiashi nodded as he sighed. "Yes I know…and I do not fault you for your feelings for him…but no one has seen him and has no idea where he is or if he is even alive still. Will you grow old and remain lonely my daughter? Will there never be anyone worthy of your heart other then him?"

Hinata bit her bottom lip as she frowned. It was hard to fight the urge to cry, especially now talking about the one person who meant the world to her. But she knew her father was right. With a nod she wiped her eyes. "One year father…just one year. If Naruto-kun has not returned within that time…I will pick a suitor."

Hiashi hated to see his daughter sad…and this was a subject he did not want to force on her…but things had to be decided and plans had to be made. "Alright my daughter…one year…but not a month more. You have to begin taking all of your responsibilities as the future clan head…and that includes choosing a strong suitor. I will pick out candidates, and you can decide who it will be.

We still have some time before it becomes critical…but even our time is limited."

Hinata nodded, her head still down before Hiashi pushed his table aside and gestured for Hinata to come to him. "Come…we are not clan head and heir now…let your father hold you."

Hinata nodded as she went over and sat on her father's lap and began to cry into his shoulder.

Hiashi rocked her and whispered soothingly to her. This wasn't the first time she cried for the boy, and he knew it wouldn't be the last. Naruto…I hope you do come back…for my daughter's sake. He thought as he rubbed Hinata's back.

Flash Forward

Hinata didn't want to be impolite, but there were days when talking to Kiba was a chore. "Hello Kiba-kun, Shino-kun. Will sensei be along soon?"

Shino opened his mouth to answer when Kiba set Hinata's nerves on edge. "My mom sent another proposal by Hinata…why do you keep rejecting them?"

Hinata looked at the ground for a moment before looking at the boy. "I am not rejecting them…my father is and you should know by now Kiba-kun that I won't marry you even if he accepts the proposal."

Kiba frowned as he walked closer. "Why not? I'm a good guy!" Akamaru barked in agreement but Hinata was losing what was left of her patience rather quickly. "Because you are my teammate, because I do not like you that way, and finally because…" And thankfully Hinata was interrupted from saying the extraordinary mean thing that was on her mind by Kurenai as she landed near them. "Because it's none of your business Kiba. You are a supposed suitor, not the final authority. She has already said no and that is final the last time I checked. If I catch you trying to force your will or opinion on Hinata again I will be pleased to introduce you to a world of hurt. I suggest you drop it."

The words were said in a calm manner, but there was a distinct edge to her voice that was unavoidable as Kiba nodded sullenly and said no more.

Kurenai turned to the gate and gestured. "Team eight…let's go."

The four members walked out of the front gate, headed on a journey that would be a discovery for one, and a shock for the others.

O

Naruto had survived the entire time eating whatever he could find that was edible. To the disgust of anyone who knew, Naruto had been killing and eating game raw because he had no knowledge of fire or preparation of food.

Naruto at this point was nothing more then an animal in the wild.

While Naruto didn't have any human sense anymore, he did have instinct, and that is what he used to survive.

Oh Naruto could still reason and remember, but those things took experience and time…so Naruto's knowledge was even more primitive then a caveman's.

Some things he had learned quickly, like not to wipe your butt with certain plants as the rash he got had been persistent despite the Kyuubi's power to heal him…while some others he had not, but he still learned.

It was on one of these days of learning that he noticed the strangers walking through his territory. Two were men like he was, (He could tell when they stopped to take a piss break) and the other two must be the opposite. Again he didn't know for sure because neither opened their pants to dispose of waste, and he knew that a woman was built differently from the time he saw a man and a woman making love…again in his territory.

The man was hard and smooth, while the woman seemed to have two great big lumps on her chest and her hips were rounder. (Perhaps it was Tsunade)

He watched in curiosity until they were finished, and when they were done and had left, he went down and sniffed the ground in curiosity.

It was a bit pungent, but it definitely had the smell of something sweet, and his body seemed to like it.

Naruto wondered when he would be able to experience this too…but first he would need the person with lumps as well.

He had one once…until the man killed her…which made him bare his teeth and growl…but before that thought could continue he stopped and stared blankly at the smaller of the two still on the trail. Naruto tilted his head and blinked then leapt ahead as they stood on there talking quietly and he frowned before he barked lightly in shock.

IT WAS HER!

SHE WAS ALIVE!

But how? Naruto had seen the wound and knew she was gone…but here she was alive and well it seemed.

He wasn't sure what to think, but he stared in wonder at her as the group started walking again and he followed slowly, mind still ablaze with thoughts.

Would she recognize him? Would she feed and talk to him?

His thoughts were quickly broken however as screaming below made him look down and growl angrily.

The little party had been attacked by an unknown group, and at the moment, they were pinned down.

Without a thought to himself or his own safety, Naruto ran through the treetops until he was behind the men that were attacking the girls group, and then HE attacked.

He had lost this girl once before because he was unable to protect her…HE WOULD NOT LOSE HER AGAIN!

Naruto smashed one man in the head with the cuff still attached to his wrist, laying him out and busted wide open before he leapt and slashed another man's throat as he landed on him, holding him to the ground until he stopped thrashing.

Naruto crouched in the brush and took stock of the opposing force then went silently after one that was trying to circle around the group.

Naruto waited quietly until the man thought he had a good position on the one with red eyes, but he got no further in as his head suddenly was twisted around to face his assailant with a loud crack.

What Danzou's root doctor did not know, parts of the training they wanted to put into him HAD taken…but the false personality they tried to create didn't.

Naruto while low on knowledge for cooking and such, knew very well how to fight and defend himself…better then when he was an active ninja in fact.

Naruto looked to where the girl was and frowned as he saw at least five enemy ninja still aligned against the group of four.

Doubling back around again, Naruto was able to eviscerate one man who had stepped right in front of him and began forming a jutsu which may have been deadly for the small group as it had more then ten hand signs.

Naruto's claws stabbed into the man's thigh and because of the chakra shroud his fingers went up and through the man's stomach and deep into his chest cavity as his organs spilled out onto the ground.

The man's cry of pain however was heard by his fellows and two of them began to converge on his position.

Feeling them approaching, Naruto leapt into the trees and stayed unmoving as the two searched the area. The other two were still hurling Shuriken, low level jutsu, and other projectile weapons at the four ninja.

Hinata stayed clear of the projectiles as well as Kiba and Kurenai, but Shino stood closer to the men with a slight grin until one of them began shouting and slapping at his body.

Shino's bugs were having an interesting dish this day called man as a shuriken barrage from Hinata and Shino both took him down.

Naruto grinned at the assault and the way she moved and felt a tugging in his chest.

He would have made himself comfortable and watched her if he didn't see the man that had appeared behind Hinata.

Obviously he shun shined behind her and was exactly in her blind spot when a cry from Kurenai went too late and he bashed Hinata on the back of the head with the pommel of his weapon.

Hinata fell in slow motion until her body hit the ground, but the man and his team was already in trouble so he did the most expeditious thing he could.

He grabbed Hinata's unconscious head and held it up as he placed a knife against her throat. "Surrender or she dies!" He shouted into the woods in front of him.

With a frown Kurenai and Kiba stood with their hands in the air, but Shino hadn't been spotted yet, so he directed his bugs towards her assailant.

In the meantime, Naruto seeing her in the same exact position she had died in before growled low in his throat as he judged the distance between himself and the man.

With only a slight hesitation, Naruto leapt from the limb he was sitting on and nailed the man full in the back, raking his claws down and across the bandit's body, tearing flesh and nerve endings as he fell limply to the ground moaning in pain.

Naruto's leg hurt from where he landed, but seeing his chance to save her, he reached her and picked her up, just as a hail of shuriken struck him fully in the back!

Naruto barked in pain as Kiba cried out. "Hey put Hinata down!"

Naruto paid no heed as he turned and sprinted into the woods, thoughts of saving her and keeping her safe the only thing in his mind.

Kiba and Akamaru, despite Kurenai's protest charged after the wild looking man that had taken Hinata.

He was confident he could stop him, but after five minutes of running flat out, he and his dog came to a stop and looked around. He had lost sight of him, and he couldn't hear movement anymore.

He sniffed the air as Akamaru sniffed the ground.

After a few minutes of Akamaru sniffing here, moving and sniffing there Kiba growled in frustration. "Damn it!"

Kurenai and Shino landed next to him as he looked at her. "Their gone! His scent doubles back on itself over and over again and Akamaru can't figure out which is real and which is a fake trail."

Kurenai frowned as she shook her head in frustration. "Didn't you wound him?"

Kiba nodded before he gestured around them. "I hit him with four shuriken in the back…but there isn't any blood!"

Unable to track the assailant Kurenai looked at Shino. "I got the document that was stolen from one of the bandits, but we need to get it back to the village. Shino take this to the Hokage, and tell him what happened. We will need another search team to help us track them.

Shino nodded as he accepted the document. "Please be careful." Was all he said as he leapt up into the tree and was gone.

Kurenai looked at Kiba with a frown. "Start eliminating the trails one by one. Don't go to far, meet back here in thirty minutes."

Kiba nodded as he took one path, Akamaru took another, and Kurenai took yet another. They would find Hinata and when they got the one that took her…

Thoughts of mayhem in their minds, but also thoughts of Hinata's safe return most prevalent.

O

Naruto petted Hinata's cheek and frowned with a whine when she didn't move. There was no blood on her head, only a large lump, and she was still breathing, so maybe she just needed time before she woke up.

He didn't know…but he did know that he felt bad for her.

As she lay there Naruto looked at her more closely and slowly came to the realization that this may look like the girl he remembered, it was a distinct possibility it wasn't her.

This ones hair was shorter, her skin was paler, and her body was different.

This one whoever she was had bigger lumps.

Naruto reached out and touched her cheek again, but was disappointed when again she didn't stir.

Looking at Hinata's "lumps", he let his curiosity get the better of him as he reached over and lightly touched her left breast with his finger, pushing it inward.

It was soft and springy and it made him cock his head in even greater curiosity. He didn't understand what made them so different. His chest was solid…but hers were more… soft.

He poked it again with a slight grin and watched it jiggle before he grasped it and gave it a good squeeze.

Naruto liked the feeling as he grabbed both of them and began to fondle both her breasts, not sure what he was doing but having fun just the same.

Getting a little too zealous, Naruto squeezed really hard to see what they would do, and blinked when she moaned out and her eyes blinked open.

Her eyes opened wide almost immediately and her hand lashed out and struck his cheek with a loud report.

Naruto yelped then scrambled away from her as she sat up and rubbed her boobs. "You pervert!" she screamed as she scooted further back into the little cave they were in.

Hinata's boobs felt a little sore as she rubbed them and was ready to jump up and kick the persons ass in front of her, when something about him made her stop and stare at him.

The boy was blond, and his hair was unkempt, but it looked familiar as she squinted at him.

His eyes were a beautiful blue as she looked into them and her heart began to beat faster as she got her knees under her and crawled slowly forward.

He leaned back from her slightly as she got closer, hand still on his cheek, and she shushed him quietly before she reached up and touched the cheek he was holding.

Naruto whined at her quietly, but she made a soothing sound and rubbed it gently and his eyes closed and he began to purr at her, moving more against her hand.

While Hinata was soothing him, her real intention was to rub some of the dirt from his cheek so she could make sure.

He looked so much like him…from the hair to the eyes…his beautiful eyes…and when she pulled her hand away, she had her answer.

Three distinctive whisker marks lay there, and there was no mistaking for her now who this was.

"N..Naruto-kun? She whispered quietly.

Naruto's eyes opened and blinked at her as he cocked his head curiously.

Not sure what she was saying he just watched her as her eyes began to brim with tears.

"Naruto-kun…what happened to you? Where have you been all this time?"

But Naruto only stared at her…not sure what the strange sounds she was making were, but wanting her to keep doing it.

A tear ran down Hinata's cheek and Naruto watched it before he reached out with a finger and caught it.

Looking at the tear, Naruto brought it to his tongue and tasted it with smacking noises before he looked at her again.

It was tangy but it was what he drank from the stream mostly. When another ran down her face again, Naruto did what he usually does at the stream. He leaned forward and licked her cheek and the bottom of her eyelid.

Hinata flinched, than blushed crimson as his tongue touched her. The one lick wasn't bad, but the next five or six had her squirming and giggling so much she forgot to faint even though she was embarrassed.

Hinata stopped squirming and hugged Naruto to her, who in turn froze not sure what this was.

Naruto couldn't remember ever being hugged, even if his memories were intact; he had never gotten this kind of contact from anyone.

He didn't know what to do, so he sat there with his arms at his sides, face impassive.

Hinata leaned back and looked at him with a frown before she touched his whisker marks again.

Naruto's head turned into her hand, trying to keep it in contact with his cheek and sure enough, he started purring again.

Hinata suppressed a giggle, but continued to rub his face as she looked at him, taking in his appearance and condition.

His clothes…what little there was left, were in complete tatters, covered with dirt and stains, and some of it obviously missing like his pants and underwear.

Her eyes immediately shot back up as she began to swoon, but brought her emotions under control.

He was extremely dirty, and his hair had become shaggy, but it was still easy to see who he was if you looked close enough.

As she began to rub her hand along his shoulder she hit a jagged point that made him yelp slightly and she blinked in surprise when flinched away from him.

Rubbing his whisker again to calm him, Hinata craned her head around and saw the point of a shuriken sticking from Naruto's back and gasped. "Naruto…you're hurt!"

Naruto's eyes opened lazily to look at her and he blinked.

He didn't seem to understand her, but she was able to turn him around slowly so she could examine the wound.

Looking at it is when she noticed three more of the throwing stars imbedded in his back and she frowned angrily when she saw who they belonged to.

"Hold still Naruto-kun…I'm going to pull these out."

Naruto not sure what to do sat their quietly peering at her across his shoulder as she smiled bravely at him.

This might not be the girl he remembered, but she did make him feel calm and she was friendly it seemed.

Besides, he liked the way she rubbed his whiskers.

Hinata grasped one and began to tug lightly before Naruto hissed in pain, but when she pulled it and it came out with a loud splat, he sighed and seemed to relax a bit.

Before Hinata could move to the second one however, Naruto bristled up and began to growl back at the entrance of the cave.

Hinata frowned but as she turned to look, Kiba and Kurenai stepped into the opening.

Kiba brandished a kunai while Kurenai looked cautious. "Alright Hinata," her mentor said. "Move away from him slowly…you're safe now."

Hinata blinked in surprise at first then noticed their stances and the fact that both of them seemed ready to attack.

Hinata quietly stroked Naruto's whiskers calming him, which helped, but his eyes were still very much alert as she turned to her teammates. "Please calm down…I'm ok. He helped me and now I'm helping him."

Kiba took a menacing step forward and Naruto's tails frizzled as his hackles rose before he growled, baring his fangs at the boy.

"Get away from that freak Hinata…I'm gonna tear him apart for hurting you…"

Hinata frowned, than she got in front of Naruto and spread her arms out. "Don't you dare hurt Naruto-kun! He didn't hurt me he saved me…I guess…"

Hinata wasn't sure what happened after she was knocked out, but she did know that it couldn't have been Naruto that hurt her…he would never hurt her.

Kurenai and Kiba both stood agape, and Kurenai tried to peer over Hinata's shoulder. "That's Naruto?" She shook her head as she stepped around Kiba. "Put the knife away Kiba…and go wait outside."

When Kiba hadn't moved Kurenai turned around and smacked him in the side of the head. "Now Kiba! I'm not going to be repeating my orders to you!"

Kiba frowned then nodded sullenly. "Yes sensei." He muttered before he turned and shuffled out of the cave.

When she was sure he was safely outside, she came over and looked at Naruto and her mouth opened in surprise. "It is him isn't it?"

Hinata nodded with a smile as she rubbed his whiskers again making him rumble in his chest as his eyes closed. "Yeah…I was surprised when I woke up and he was crouching over me." Inadvertently Hinata rubbed her breast at the memory, which wasn't lost on Kurenai and her eyes hardened.

Despite the implication, Kurenai said nothing at this time but would find out later. "Hinata are you hurt? You have blood on your hands."

Hinata frowned but shook her head. "No…but Naruto-kun is…he has some of KIBA's shuriken in his back."

This was said with so much venom it almost Kurenai flinch. "Much as I don't like defending him, it wasn't his fault. He saw someone attacking you and reacted."

Hinata thought for a moment then nodded. "It doesn't mean I have to like it though."

Kurenai nodded before she rubbed Hinata's shoulder. "Here…let's get him fixed up…then we will head back to the village. There's going to be a lot of questions and a lot of people are going to want answers."

Hinata nodded in agreement as Naruto continued to purr contently.

The next day would be trying for everyone…Naruto and Hinata mostly.

O

Next Episode: Broken…