White Kunai

Chapter 29- Product

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Naruto ran.

He ran as fast as he could and for a while he still couldn't find them. It felt like he was running for hours when in reality it could hardly have been that long. A few times he doubted whether or not he was given the correct instructions. But eventually he sensed it.

Hinata's chakra.

It was still faint but if he had to he could detect her chakra in a crowd of hundreds. Thousands.

From what he could tell it felt the same as it had the last few months. He knew there were fluctuations in peoples chakras but because he saw her practically every day the changes that her bodies chakra went through was almost indiscernible to him. If he met someone after months or even weeks he would immediately be able to tell if something was different about them. It was like living with a child. You wouldn't notice them growing but someone visiting would realize the growth.

Even though her chakra felt no different he didn't relax. He wouldn't relax until she was safe in his arms.

He had no idea whether or not she was injured or hurt. He didn't know what they could be doing to her.

"Fuck!" he cursed to himself, nimbly dodging branch after branch. He hated not knowing. He just wanted to be at home with his wife. He wanted to snuggle with her on the couch. He wanted to feel their baby kick against the palm of his hand. He wanted to rub his fingers against the strands of her hair and place gentle kisses on her neck. He wanted to hear her laugh-

A scream broke through his reverie.

Naruto felt his heart stop.

Hinata.

Naruto-

"HINATA!"

He scrambled from branch to branch, pushing past his limit, he felt his muscles burn and his bones ache but that scream…that heart wrenching scream…

KURAMA, SHE'S IN TROUBLE. SHE'S IN TROUBLE AND I CAN'T HELP HER.

His body felt cold, his hands clammy, and he was sure his face was white with fear. God, he wanted to cry. He just wanted to cry, and scream, and yell. He wanted to destroy the people that caused Hinata to scream with that much pain…that much suffering in her voice.

Hinata…

Faster, Kurama's deep voice sounded in his ears. He felt his burning red chakra seep through his pores. His legs felt a bit stronger and his breathing less erratic. Run, boy.

Naruto grit his teeth and clenched his fist, hot tears prickling in the corner of his eyes. He didn't even know why tears would gather. Fuck! He was angry. He was distraught. But he was also despairingly sad. I'm supposed to protect her.

She is capable-

I know that! I fucking know that! I don't need you patronizing me right now!

Kurama was silent.

Naruto swallowed hard. I know how strong she is! No one knows it better than I do but I can't help- He squeezed his eyes shut, if only for a brief second. A picture of Hinata's back flashed in his mind. She stood in a fighting stance ready to face down Pein in a battle she knew…they both knew she wouldn't win. I can't help but want to protect her. I'd do anything for her. I'd- He trailed off with a frustrated sigh. My life isn't only mine. He bit his lip and felt his tooth break skin. She can't die, he thought, sounding utterly broken. She can't die.

There was silence in his mind. Then- There is no point in thinking those thoughts.

It's hard not to-

I know. Spend your energy…set your thoughts on your one goal.

Saving her…saving them.

And accomplish it.

Naruto took a deep shuddering breath. Kurama was right. He just had to go. He didn't know how much time he had.

He pushed himself harder, Kurama's chakra flaring around him, leaving a heated trail. Her chakra felt closer and closer until he saw a small, rundown, cabin situated amidst the trees.

He could sense her. He could fucking sense her and it empowered him even more.

Anger surged and coursed through his veins, setting him ablaze. He could sense the other two too.

But why did she scream?

He slammed into the door, tearing it to splinters. He didn't even wait for the dust to settle before he raged up the stairs, his chakra spinning-whirling around him. Heat emanated from his body, melting the wallpaper from the walls.

His heart thumped rapidly in his chest. She was so close.

He only slowed down when he heard sounds of pain and sniffles.

She's crying, he thought, the coat of chakra surrounding him extinguished in an instant, as if someone doused water on him. He could tell easily the person complaining about some injury wasn't Hinata.

He also knew he wasn't quiet.

They knew he was here.

He stopped before the door separating himself from the other three.

Could it be a trap?

Possibly.

Did he care?

No.

The only reason he didn't shove a rasengan through the door was because he didn't want his wife to be to be caught in the crossfire.

He turned the knob easily. They didn't even bother locking it.

As if a lock could stop you, Kurama growled in his mind.

Nothing can stop me from getting her back.

He pushed the door open.

Hinata was standing towards one side of the room, her back to him. He could see her shoulders shaking and his heart reached out to her, but he carefully evaluated what else was going on.

The dark haired man was cradling his arm and the scarlet haired woman seemed to be giving it a look. She shot him a glance but didn't even flinch.

They weren't scared that he was here. They weren't worried that he could very easily just pick up Hinata and vanish. They weren't worried that he could release all his strength on them and tear them apart-disintegrate them until they were mere specks.

He glowered in their direction but a quiet sob brought his attention back to his wife.

He was at her side in less than a second, eyes running down her form, his arms following in suit. Hands that were so ready to maim and kill, soft and careful against her skin. Hands that were no stranger to being soaked in blood delicately inspecting her for injuries.

"Hinata, are you okay?" he rambled. "Are you hurt? What did they do to you? Why are you crying? Oh please stop crying, you know I hate it when you cry." By then Naruto felt sadness welling up in his eyes. He was so empathetic to her feelings and it hurt him to not know what was wrong. He hoped the tears were caused by pregnancy hormones, but he knew that was untrue. "Is the baby okay?"

That's when she looked up at him, her eyes ringed in red.

"No."

His heart dropped and the world came to a crashing halt.

"What?"

Fresh new tears gathered in her eyes and she dropped her head down, her forehead against his chest. Her body racked and her arms trembled against him. He moved to hold her tight but she stopped to raise one hand, her head still against his body, and pointed at the two people across the room.

Naruto felt his rage bloom once more.

Kill them, Kurama hissed in his mind.

Oh, he sure as hell wanted to, he really did.

"You can't kill them," Hinata whispered, knowing full well where his thoughts wandered.

"Give me one reason why I shouldn't," he said coldly, eyes narrowed dangerously at the two other people in the room.

She looked up at him, mostly unharmed, but her expression drilled through his heart. "They have the cure."

He was confused. He was really confused. Now Naruto wasn't always considered the smartest of ninjas, but he certainly did not like being left out of the loop. Especially in a situation like this.

"What do you mean, the cure?" he asked, feeling his heart drop. His head hurt. Kurama was snarling in his head, wanting nothing more than to coat the walls of the room with the blood of the two kidnappers. His mind was clouded with worry. She had said their baby wasn't okay. "Hinata, our baby-"

"Naruto, I'm poisoned," she whispered, her voice deadly quiet. She shut her eyes, fingers curling tightly as if the next few words she was going to utter pained her. "Our baby is poisoned," she choked out. "Our baby. And it's because of me."

"Hinata, no-"

"Yes," she said, burying her face in his chest once more. "Yes, it's my fault. I fed us those plants from our gardens. It's my chakra that's infected. It's my chakra that's killing our baby." She was sobbing in his arms now and he was able to put her words together.

If the food was poisoned why wasn't he feeling any type of weakness?

As usual she knew what he was thinking.

"They have the cure. I had to go with them. It was the only way," she said shakily. "I was trying to figure out how I could help our baby and I remembered how you weren't affected. Maybe it was Kurama's chakra." She looked at him, her eyes pleading, looking for answers. Looking for anything that could help.

She may be right, Kurama said in his mind. My demon chakra must have burned off any of the poison that got into your system.

Naruto frowned. "Then there's no reason to keep them alive," he said lowly, kissing Hinata on the forehead before turned to face the two people he hated most in this moment.

"We don't have time. The woman only gave our baby a few minutes," Hinata said.

Scarlet and Jiyuu seemed to have decided to pay them more attention at Naruto's words.

"Now wait a minute," Scarlet said, laughing warily. "I have the cure. If you touch me your wife and child will be dead."

"Or you'll give me the cure so I don't kill you," Naruto said, taking a threatening step forward.

"Why not give your idea a go?" Jiyuu spoke, wincing slightly from pain as he clutched his arm. "I'm not a stupid man, surely you have some plan in mind if you are so willing to kill off the only people who can save your loved one."

Naruto clenched his jaw. He was right. What if his plan didn't work?

Kurama?

Do you want to take the risk of it not working?

No, Naruto thought immediately before hesitating. I don't know.

"Give me the cure," Naruto demanded. "I only need one of you for that."

"Maybe so," Jiyuu said, not even flinching at the threat. "But which of us do you need?"

"Stop playing games," Naruto said, frustrated.

"Don't you want to listen to his story?" Scarlet piped, popping a piece of candy into her mouth. "Isn't that how these things go?"

Naruto narrowed his eyes at the woman, silently debating his options.

"Listen to my story," Jiyuu said. "I would like you to know why I did what I did."

"We don't have time for this," Hinata finally said despairingly.

"Then you better listen quick," Jiyuu said, silencing them. "You remember Tsuma, I suppose?" he asked, not waiting for an answer. "Tsuma and I are cousins. Cousins? How could we be cousins? Tsuma and I were part of a lower house in which Yoru's ex-wife was part of the higher house. I'm sure everyone remembers Yoru. The White Kunai Killer? Anyway, I was…basically a servant. Think about the houses as a more extreme version of the Hyuga's. We lower class were-are- treated like property. When the lady of the higher house was married off to Yoru I was shipped along with her as their servant."

"I don't care," Naruto practically shouted. "I'm not in the mood to listen to your story-"

"You will if you want your baby to live," Jiyuu said sharply. "And time is ticking. I can wait forever, but your child cannot."

Naruto trembled with fury and it was only Hinata's hand on his back that calmed him just the slightest.

"Okay," Jiyuu said, clearing his throat. "As I was saying, I only stayed in that horrid Village of Ash even after the lady left was because Tsuma was there. I grew up with Tsuma and we were quite close. She was like a sister to me. I loved her and cared for her and was very happy when she was married off to that man Otto, rather than sold off as I practically was. And the only reason she was granted that…you can call luxury…was because Yoru's ex-wife, the lady of our higher house, had a soft spot for her. They frequently played together as children."

Jiyuu fell silent, as if waiting for them to question him. "Well?"

"Well what?" Naruto asked vehemently. "Well, where's the fucking cure?"

Jiyuu frowned. "Rude and disrespectful, like everyone else I've had to deal with my entire life." The man seemed angry now. "You may think slaves don't exist in this day and age but oh they do. In many different shapes and forms. There is always someone who thinks they are better than someone else and they create a hierarchy where they are in charge and others suffer because of it."

There was truth in his words but right now Naruto and Hinata were worrying about something else. They remained silent, allowing the man to go on his rant. The faster he finished, the closer they would hopefully be to finding that cure. Hinata was counting the seconds. How much time did they have left? Did they have any time left?

"You know that letter you received all those years back?" Jiyuu continued. "Otto did indeed write it but I manipulated his low self-esteemed self into getting revenge for poor Tsuma."

"Did you know I was in the village while you guys were on your mission?" Scarlet spoke up. "Yeah, I was staying at this hotel when that blonde girl on your team came by. Heard her talking about me, saying I was suspicious or something. That bitch-"

"Scarlet," Jiyuu interrupted, throwing her a dull look. The red haired woman shrugged, rolling her eyes. Didn't he talk enough? "As I was saying. Otto continued with the killings for his own personal reasons near the end. He did stop eventually but I got what I wanted. I simply wanted everyone to feel the pain I suffered. Whether it was through murder or threat or the death of a loved one."

"Or all of the above," Hinata said softly, hand on her stomach.

Jiyuu glanced at her and Naruto shifted to block his view. The man's dark eyes met Naruto's angry blue ones. "You know, people in this world don't seem to give two shits about anyone else. If you were born the way I was no one would glance my way."

Naruto was about to interrupt but Jiyuu stopped him, holding up a hand.

"I'm not a ninja. I have no chakra and am harder to sense. People tend not to pay attention to someone as simple as me," he said. "Why do you think it was so easy to slip poison into your garden? To enter your Hokage's office to deliver a message? To make my way to your hotel room when you stayed at the Village of Ash?"

"I will kill you," Naruto said under his breath. Normally he would try and find a way around and end like that but this man…this man was kind of right. He was merely a messenger and he was around this whole time and no one paid him any mind.

"I don't care," Jiyuu said, finally showing a sense of weakness. His arm seemed to pain him again. "I don't care. You can kill me. There really is nothing left for me here. I've said what I wanted to say. I've done what I wanted to do."

"Then just give us the cure," Naruto said desperately.

Jiyuu seemed to think. "I do blame myself for Tsuma's death, you know." He sighed and nodded at Scarlet. The woman walked towards Hinata but Naruto blocked her path.

"Do you want the cure or not?" the woman asked.

Naruto looked at her suspiciously but allowed her to pass, keeping his eyes trained on her. She stood by Hinata's side but did nothing else.

"I feel guilty," Jiyuu continued. Naruto listened but he didn't turn to look at him. "If I didn't follow those orders given to me those years back…if I didn't send your wife, Hinata, and your other blonde friend to the mansion…if I actually waited to tell you, Naruto, where they went, Tsuma would probably be alive." Jiyuu crumpled to the ground, clutching his arm, eyes shut in pain.

"Take the candy," Scarlet said to Hinata, holding out a nicely wrapped sweet in her palm. "Take it. Remember when we laughed at you? We offered you the cure long ago, you were just too proud to take it"

Hinata took it with hesitation, thinking back. The woman seemed to be right. "Why?"

"Why what?" Scarlet asked. "I always seem to have candy in my mouth because I'm always exposed to the poison. It's this rare sort of protein and enzymatic disorder in my body that I was born with. Luckily this candy is made from the essence of a special plant that grows in the lands I was born in."

"All this trouble," Naruto started, his voice gravely. "All this trouble for what?"

"I don't know," Jiyuu spoke, sounding empty. "I don't know. I thought I had a reason before, some sort of motivation…but now I just feel…"

"Guilty and depressed?" Scarlet said, trying to help.

Jiyuu nodded. Naruto and Scarlet switched spots, Naruto at Hinata's side and Scarlet making her way to Jiyuu.

Do we still kill them? Kurama asked, itching to do just that.

Naruto said nothing but he was thinking about it. Right now he had to make sure Hinata was okay.

"What if you're lying about the candy cure?" Naruto asked, watching Hinata gently suck on the candy.

"I'm not," Scarlet said from somewhere behind him. "But even if I was what could you do about it?"

Naruto pulled Hinata a tight hug. Kurama?

The fox understood. He allowed Naruto to take control of his chakra, mixed it with Hinata's. Orange and purple flared up and pink formed between them as their essences mingled. They tingled with warmth and Naruto allowed himself a brief moment to relax in her arms, a brief moment to believe that maybe everything would be alright.

"JIYUU, what the fuck?"

Naruto's eyes snapped open and he turned his head to see the man holding a syringe to his arm. Scarlet stood above him in shock.

"You don't have chakra you dolt," Scarlet said, fumbling in her pockets. "The poison at that concentrated dose will kill you immediately."

"Stop," Jiyuu said, weakly slapping away her hand as she tried to give him a piece of candy. "This is what I want."

"Stop being stupid, you only have seconds," she said, trying again. She meant it. This was almost equivalent to stabbing himself in the heart. His hourglass was broken and she doubted the candy would be able to fix it.

"Don't waste your energy," Jiyuu said, coughing violently. "His wife and child are safe now. There's nothing left to stop him from hurting you."

"You're right," Naruto said. "My people should be arriving anytime soon." He had sent out a shadow clone long ago, while he was on his way here. He'd be damned if he allowed something to happen because of a little threat on the paper that was left to him. "In fact I wouldn't be surprised if they were already closing in."

Scarlet glared at the dying man before her. "You're weak," she spit.

"I'm the consequence of scorn and neglect," he said, his words barely above a whisper. "Perhaps now people will learn not to disregard others sufferings."

Naruto felt his Anbu men start to approach them rapidly. He had sent a clone to make sure Tenten was safe as well. He figured something had to have happened to her when she was nowhere to be seen.

He held Hinata tightly again, simply glad that she was okay. That their child was okay.

He didn't move to help the man, Scarlet made it quite clear that there was nothing that could be done, but his words continued to echo in his mind.

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"You're sure she's okay, Sakura?" Naruto asked, following around his pink haired friend like a lost puppy.

"Yes, Naruto," Sakura said exasperatedly. "You've asked countless times and my answer isn't changing."

"What about our baby? Is our baby okay?"

Sakura stopped and Naruto bumped into her from behind. She shut her eyes, rubbing the bridge of her nose. "I swear if you ask me one more time, I'll put you in the hospital. But I have to say, good job infusing your chakra with hers when you did. If you hadn't…" She trailed off, not wanting to even voice the fact that Naruto could have lost his whole family.

Naruto laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head. He was about to say something else but Sakura held up one finger to hush him.

"If you ask me one more time I won't let you see her."

Naruto pouted. "And are you going to be the one to stop me?" The corner of his mouth tilted up in a crooked smile.

Sakura narrowed her eyes but behind the tired bags from hours straight of working on healing Hinata he could see a twinkle in her eyes. "Is that a challenge, Uzumaki?"

Naruto grinned. "Well, you know what I'd do to someone keeping me from my wife."

Sakura laughed. "Fine, fine," she said, taking a quick look at the clock. "Technically visiting hours have started so I guess it would be okay for you to-"

There wasn't even a shift in the air but Naruto had disappeared.

Sakura snorted, shaking her head. His abilities continued to astound her. She ran a hand through her hair and smiled fondly towards the direction of muffled voices. She could hear Naruto speaking quietly to Hinata, most likely hovering nervously around her bed, hands extending and retracting, not sure if his touch would hurt her. She heard Hinata's soft voice, too low to make out what she was saying but seconds later quiet sobs trickled through the door and it wasn't from the Hyuga.

Sakura stopped a nurse that was going to go check on Hinata with a gentle shake of her head and instead told her to make sure Tenten was feeling good enough to get discharged. She made a mental note to talk to Ino about the situation with that red haired women. She was in their custody right now, being charged for many things, including murder.

Sakura sighed. It was hard to believe that all of this was catalyzed from a mission so long ago. But this was it. This was the end product of the reaction. Her friends had to go through so much, so many ups and downs, so many obstacles. Sakura inhaled deeply and tried to concentrate on the good things right now. Naruto's cries were nothing to worry about. They were sounds of relief. Relief that his family was okay. That everything was better now. That they were safe.

After all that they've been through, she decided that they deserved this moment of solitude together.

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Authors Note:

Yeah, they deserve that moment alone, even from us. Haha.

I think this is it. I think I'm finally done. No more writing multichapter fics probably. Not for a long, long time. Too much dedication. One-shots, sure. Love writing those.

Anyway, thank you all for sticking with me even through my long absences, my lows and highs, etc. etc. Really do appreciate each and every one of you! Thanks for the trip.

-Magma