Chereads / After The Last / Chapter 6 - Chapter Five

Chapter 6 - Chapter Five

"Proxy"

"Hinata! Hinata! Are you alright?"

Hinata was awakened by Naruto's call. She consecutively blinked her eyes and as soon as she has clearly seen Naruto's face she stood from his lap where her head was lying on. She looked around her and saw her teammates' faces and some of the Princess's attendants.

"Hinata what happened?" Naruto asked. He was worried about her.

"Where's Princess Selene?" She asked.

"She was kidnapped by unknown masked men," Naruto replied.

"I don't know what happened. I was knocked out unconscious without noticing the enemy." Hinata declared.

"How was that possible?" Kiba asked.

"They might be using a technique to hide their chakras so nobody would notice them or probably they used substitution techniques to enter the Kingdom effortlessly." Shino extended his opinion concerning the matter.

"We need to get the Princess back before the meeting comes. We need her back!" The old woman cried.

"I have lost track of their smell as well as Akamaru," Kiba said. Akamaru responded in a low sound.

"I have my insects dispersed to track them down but, there's no guarantee that they could find them," Shino muttered.

"We need to move now or it will be too late," Naruto said.

"I'm sorry. I wasn't careful and shirked." Hinata said while looking down.

"Ahh... it's not your fault, Hinata. We let our guards down. All of us are responsible for this mission." Naruto said smiling at her.

"All we need to do now is to find those bad guys and bring back the Princess," Kiba muttered.

"Yeah." Naruto agreed.

"Granny, prepare your guards and protect the kingdom from the enemies. We will track them and bring back the Princess. I promise you." Naruto was very optimistic. The old woman nodded in response to him. She then ordered the young attendants to prepare the troupe for any surprise attacks.

Naruto and his friends moved and tried to trace down the enemies but, they did not have anything as a lead to get to them faster. Hinata uses her Byakugan but, there's no sign of them. They searched for the Princess all day long but they failed to bring her back.

"Dammit!" Kiba muttered. All of them wore sad faces.

"We need to find her before the marriage meeting tomorrow or else the kingdom will come to its end," Shino said. One of his insects flew away from his finger. He told it to investigate.

"If only we have something like a lead." Kiba blurted.

They went back to the Kingdom with a depressed look. The old woman once again cried.

"What will happen to us now? If the Princess won't show up in the meeting tomorrow, it's the end of the kingdom. Your highness, please forgive us." The old woman sobbed.

"Granny, calm down. We won't let that happen." Kiba assuredly told the old woman.

"It is our mission to protect the Princess and save this kingdom," Naruto added.

"What if the Princess couldn't make it on time tomorrow?" The old woman asked.

Naruto tilted his head thinking for an answer.

"Then the marriage meeting won't take place," Naruto answered boldly.

"You idiot!" Kiba smacked Naruto's head. "The Prince of the Crescent Moon Kingdom and the Princess must do it immediately. The wedding must happen as soon as possible. The situation is urgent that's why we need to bring her back before the meeting comes." He added while snouting.

"Ahhh! You shouldn't do that Kiba!" Naruto shouted at him.

"Then stop being an idiot!" Kiba replied.

"That's enough both of you. This is not the right time to quarrel over nonsense." Shino scolded them.

"For now, we need to make a plan on how to make the marriage meeting happen and how to bring back the Princess," Shino muttered. They nodded.

"Wait up!" Hinata interrupted.

"What's wrong Hinata?" Kiba asked in confusion.

"Why not we search things from the Princess' room? We could have got some lead." Hinata suggested.

"Yeah, that might work." Naruto agreed. They all nodded in agreement.

"Madame! The Princess's room was penetrated by unknown people!" One of the attendants screamed at them.

"What?! How?" The old woman was horrified. She and the other attendants immediately ran towards the Princess's room. Naruto and his comrades followed them.

A messy room welcomed them. The drawers, closets, and cabinets were open. Some of the Princess's clothes had scattered on the floor.

"They have stolen the Princess' treasures!" The old woman cried.

Naruto clenched his fist out of disgust. He let out a grin. Hinata entered the room and started searching for things, Akamaru followed her sniffing on the things scattered on the floor. Kiba started sniffing on the Princess's clothes for a chance to have a lead.

"I think the Princess's dress is enough for a lead," Kiba said while sniffing on the dress. Akamaru barked in agreement.

Hinata accidentally stepped onto something once she had looked down, she stepped on a necklace. She picked it up and looked at it closely. It glitters like a moon in the night sky. 'This is the necklace Selene was holding before I got knocked out unconsciously.' She thought. She kept it in her pocket. 'We swear to bring you back, Selene'

"We better find the Princess right away. The marriage meeting must happen tomorrow." Kiba muttered. They nodded. They were about to leave the room when the old woman stopped Hinata.

"Why?" Hinata asked in confusion.

"We need you here lady Hinata." She said.

Hinata paused for a moment, she switched her gaze from the old woman to her comrades.

"I think you better stay here Hinata. I promise you, we will bring back the Princess." Naruto said.

"But..." she wanted to protest but Naruto gave her assurance.

"It's okay 'ttebayo! I think they will need your help Hinata. We will leave everything to you here." He said then gave her a smile. Hinata calmed herself and trusted Naruto.

"I will do my best here. Good luck to you all!" She told them.

"Eh?!" Kiba muttered. Shino remained silent.

"Let's go!" Naruto said and they left the kingdom.

With a piece of cloth in his hand, Kiba and his comrades were jumping off trees. Shino dispersed some of his insects to track down enemies ahead.

They were kilometers away from the kingdom yet there's no sign of the Princess. They kept on leaping from one tree branch to another.

"We need to be careful. It's evening, we could be attacked at any time." Shino said.

"Yeah," Kiba replied.

"An assault from above!" Naruto screamed. Attacks from above launched at them. Kunais with paper bombs exploded. They managed to escape.

"Where are they? I can't see anything." Kiba muttered. Shino remained silent.

Shadows of multiple people could be seen.

"They are using a technique that can hide their chakras," Shino muttered.

Shino dispersed his insects, Kiba and Akamaru were on alert status using their sharp smelling ability.

The shadows attacked them. They dodged all of their attacks. Kiba was attacked from behind by a lightning technique. He managed to avoid it but, half of his body did not make it on time. He got some minor injuries.

"Are you okay Kiba?" Naruto asked him.

"Yeah, just some scratches," Kiba replied.

"Multi-shadow clones technique," Naruto yelled.

Naruto's Shadow clones attacked the enemies and some of them disappeared in a poof sound. Naruto baited his shadow clones to take down some enemies. Shino was attacking enemies with his insects and took down some of them too.

"Fang over fang!" Kiba screamed. Both he and Akamaru smacked the enemies.

A shadow attacked Naruto from behind, he dodged it with a kunai. He kicked him on his stomach and the man let out a cry. He then punched his face and stumbled on the ground. Kiba and Shino were busy cleaning up the mess. Naruto picked the man up trying to make him speak. A mark glitters behind his neck. Naruto and his friends escaped. A big explosion happened.

"Dammit!" Naruto muttered.

"They sure not going easy on us," Kiba muttered. Shino remained silent.

***

Hinata was looking outside her room's window. She was staring at the moon. It was shining so bright that evening. She was thinking about her friends and Selene.

"They are taking so long. I wonder what's going on with them and Selene." She muttered with sad eyes.

A knock on the door made her back on her senses. She walked towards the doorway and opened the door.

"Your dinner is ready." The young lady was standing in front of her. There were plates with aluminum covers. She had strolled the table inside the room and immediately leaves her. Hinata did not feel like eating anything because of the tension she was feeling at the moment. She was worried. So she decided not to touch the food and went to her bed to sleep.

The old woman told her to sleep early and that she should not worry about the kingdom. She had assured her that the kingdom was fine now. The Kingdom's Military Unit was in control. She was hoping that she would see her friends with Selene when she wakes up.

***

Hinata woke up before the sunrise. She went outside to check on the situation. After confirming that nothing strange happened when she was sleeping, she went back inside the castle.

"Naruto and the rest are not here yet. So, they still couldn't find Selene. If it wasn't for my carelessness this would not have happened." Hinata muttered.

She heard a loud cry from the sacred room. She hurriedly ran towards the place.

"What's going on here?" She asked. She saw the old woman crying. She rushed towards her. The old woman looked at her.

"Princess is not around yet. Who will be facing the Prince at the marriage meeting?" She said and cried once again.

"Let's hope that my friends will bring her back before the marriage meeting comes. I trust them." She said and then remembered Naruto's promise.

'Naruto never breaks his promises.'

"Lady Hinata! If Princess Selene won't make it on time, will you pretend to be her and attend the marriage meeting on her behalf?" The old woman asked.

"Wh-what? Pretend to be Selene? I think I can't do that." Hinata refused the idea. The old woman kneeled down begging for her consent.

"Please lady Hinata, I'm begging you. The kingdom needs Princess Selene. We want the old kingdom back. We want this kingdom to live in harmony and peace again." The old woman begged. The other attendants bowed their heads begging for her answer.

Hinata was confused and worried at the same time. She had her emotions mixed. She wanted to help them but, she did not know if it was the right thing to do.

'What to do?'