"Hinata!" Kiba yelled as he tackled her to the ground in desperation. The kunai hit the tree behind them, right where Hinata's head had been. Kiba got up and pulled out his shuriken. "You'll pay for this!" He yelled, outraged.
From the ground, Hinata looked up and saw Kisame, a member of the Akatsuki, right in front of her, Kiba, Akamaru, and Shino. Hinata struggled to her feet, ready for battle. Kisame looked smug and over-confident.
All of a sudden, a flock of black crows flew into the trees and interrupted the fight that was just about to begin. All five of them ducked as the crows flew straight over their heads.
"Oh, brother," said Kisame. Hinata and her team knew exactly what this meant.
Trouble.
As the crows all came together, they revealed the strongest, most evil rogue ninja from Konoha. He was once called the Pride of the Uchiha clan. The one who had killed the whole Uchiha clan, and left his little brother, Sasuke alive to emotionally suffer from that night.
Itachi Uchiha.
Hinata backed away, terrified. She looked over at her team members, who looked hungry for battle (with the exception of Shino, since he didn't really have any facial expressions. Besides, you couldn't really see him behind his sunglasses.). She stood up straight and pulled out a kunai.
"Ah, Itachi," said Kisame. "Showing off as usual. And I see you've failed to get the Jinchuriki."
Itachi said nothing, but the young Konoha ninja all knew who they were after. Naruto Uzumaki, who had the spirit of the Kyuubi sealed within him.
After a long silence, Itachi spoke. "Let's go, Kisame," he said evenly and calmly, as usual. "These brats aren't worth it."
"It wouldn't be very smart to let them go." Kisame grabbed a handful of Hinata's long, purple-black hair. "And THIS one doesn't stand a chance, anyways. There's no point in letting them go. Let's just finish them off right here and right now."
Hinata struggled angrily as Kiba threw a shuriken Kisame's way. Kisame easily dodged his attack with an evil laugh.
"That's nothing compared to what I can do," he said to Kiba.
Suddenly, Itachi appeared in front of Kisame, his eyes glowing red with his Sharingan. Kisame immediately quit taunting them.
"I said," said Itachi coolly, "these brats aren't worth it." Kisame gulped as Itachi turned on his famous Mangekyou Sharingan. Kisame let go of Hinata's hair and fell to the ground as she fell into Kiba's arms.
"Hinata!" He said, his voice full of concern. "Are you alright, babe?" All she could do was give a shaky nod and hug her boyfriend even tighter. Akamaru barked and gave Hinata a big, sloppy, wet lick on her cheek.
When Hinata pulled away from Kiba, she saw Itachi helping Kisame to his feet. "Let's go," he said, and the two of them disappeared in a puff of smoke.
Hinata stared where they where before they disappeared, shocked from what had just happened. Shino walked over to where her, Kiba, and Akamaru were, and broke her trance. "Is everyone alright?" He asked. Hinata gave another shaky nod as Kiba said, "yeah, I think so." Akamaru barked in agreement.
"Well, it looks like training is over for the day," said Shino. "Kiba, let's go and get Hinata to the hospital, then inform the Hokage. She probably already knows they came for Naruto, but we better tell her what just happened to us."
"But, I'm fine!" Hinata protested, surprised that she was capable of speaking.
"Hinata, you need some rest," said Shino. Then, without another word, the three of them began walking back to the entrance gate to Konoha. Kiba wrapped his arm around Hinata's waist, and she did the same to him, and rested her head on his shoulder. She was glad that Itachi had showed up and spared them, even though he was still scared her a lot.
But right before they disappeared, Hinata saw that Itachi was looking at her, with something new in his eyes. Not evil, not hate, but something… different, that she couldn't quite place a name for, right before he had disappeared to the evil Akatsuki lair.