One more scouting mission, it should be as always but this time it wasn't. Instead of scouting the boarders of the Land of fire, they were scouting a not well know region in the land of wind. Instead of having a whole squad he only had one person to help him, not that he needed any help anyway… Instead of having one of his friends the second person had to be her… It's not like he heated her or anything, those feelings died after the Chunin exam, but that didn't mean he liked her or sought her presence. She was a pain, not in herself, but a painful reminder of everything bad that happened during his whole life. That's why he carefully avoided her, those few family occasions were enough for him. This mission was a surprise to both, he could see the shock on her face when the Hokage had announced it. And he didn't have to be the genius he was to see that she was terrified.
He speeded up a bit and looked back if she was keeping pace with him, which to his surprise she did. He didn't say anything, because there was nothing to say. They both had one goal, finish the task as fast as possible and get rid of the presence of each other, or at least that was what he thought…
She was thinking about something a bit different. She too had regrets of the past, that was for sure. But it wasn't like she wanted to avoid him or anything. Quite contrary, the liked looking at him. His calm and swift moves, the way his hair shined in the rays of the setting sun. She wanted to find the courage in herself to look him in the eye and talk like normal comrades, like friends… then maybe they could really become friends… But every time there was an opportunity he left immediately without saying a word to her. She knew why, the pain of the past was still in between them. And as he went the other way she never could find the courage to stop him and start a conversation on her own.
When years passed her pain faded, and she was ready to try. Many things changed in her life, she was no longer weak, and usually she didn't stumble anymore. With time she learned to value the most important things in life and gain strength from them. One of those things were friends. Her beloved friends who always supported her and helped her. But deep inside she knew there was one thing her life lacked… And it was him, his acceptance, his friendship and help. It would mean coming to terms with the past, forgiving what was to be forgiven and forgetting the rest. It would make her life complete.
She was so lost in her thought she almost went past him as he stopped. He looked surprise at her, but the same as for many hours he did not say a word.
"Are we stopping here for the night?" She hesitantly asked.
"We may, if you are tired." He replied briefly. "I would prefer to eat something and continue on our way. With byakugan the darkness is not an obstacle. And we are on a scouting mission it would be wiser to find a safer place to spend the night."
"I'm not tired." She replied and quickly began unpacking her things and preparing their meal.
They eat quickly, and moved out shortly. Not saying a word more. She watched him from behind as he lead the way through the darkness and she did not dare move ahead of him. She looked at him and tried to gather her courage. This was her chance, this mission was her chance. And the moment she heard about it she was scared to death not to waste it… She speeded up and ran alongside him. He looked at her surprised.
"Are you tired?" He finally asked.
"No. I'm not. I used to do a lot of long runs like this with Kiba and Akamaru." She answered tried to hide the shaking of her voice.
"Good for you." He replied and went silent again. They ran alongside in silence for almost an hour.
"Those hills over there lead to the mountain up ahead." Neji noticed out loud. "Maybe we'll find a suitable place to spend the night there."
"Hai, Neji-ni-san." She answered and helped him to scout the area in search for shelter. "On the left, next to that tree there seems to be an entrance to a cave." She noticed and he looked the same way.
"Let's take a closer look." He jumped onto a higher branch and concentrated more on his byakugan.
"It seems empty." She noticed, before he could scan the cave himself. He took one more look to confirm her observation, and he had to agree it looked empty.
"Empty doesn't mean safe…" He noticed and pointed towards an openings in the forest. With their byakugans they could clearly see a thin line of smoke coming from probably a fire.
"The forest is dry. If it was a fire the smoke would be bigger." She noticed.
"That means there is someone who controls it and keeps it small on purpose." Was his response. "We need to investigate this closer."
They silently ran into that direction. Jumping higher on branches after almost a kilometer they spotted the first people. It was a camp. A military camp no less. They quickly counted the fighter and assessed their weapons, and smoothly turned back. They both knew coming up closer would mean an encounter, and that was strictly forbidden unless necessary. There were traps, but with their eyes and abilities there was no need to come up closer. The turned west and soon landed on the ground in front of the cave entrance.
"It's all clear." He told her and went inside. She followed him, and after entering made several signs which closed the cave behind them.
He looked at her with surprise.
"It's an ability I learned from Yamato-sensei." She commented. "Even if someone knows about this cave, he will not be able to find the entrance. Thus making it more of less safe. Of course it won't work well with ninja at a very high level but at least we don't need a night watch and both of us can sleep." She explained.
"We have to discuss what we saw. Clearly those men were not from the Sand, and where preparing to attack something or someone. They were trying to hide their presence but on the other hand there aren't very strong shinobi." He concluded as she began organizing her sleeping bag and belongings. "We should send a report to the Sand and Konoha and continue our mission." He decided.
"I agree." She replied. "Their behavior was very suspicious we need to be careful and warn our allies." He nodded and spread his sleeping bag on the ground several feet from her.
--
They woke up after several hours, eat and drank some water and began preparing to move out. He prepared a scroll with all the observations they made so far, and she took out her summoning scrolls. The Hokage said it was one the reasons why she sent Hinata on this mission not anyone else. Hinata had trained animal summoning for several years with very good effects.
After exiting the cave, she used one of the scrolls and soon a bird sat on her arm. She gently scratched the birds stomach and it squawked wit pleasure. Neji gave her the message and she placed it onto a special belt on the birds leg, and set it free. The bird immediately set out towards Konoha.
"Let's go." He said and quickly moved out.
They travelled for at least twelve more hours non-stop. Noting down any bizarre things they noticed, but the day did not bring any more surprises so far. Soon they reached a small waterfall, and both looked at is thinking about ho desperately they need a bath. Many days of travel and no water to waste are not good circumstances to maintain hygiene. She looked at his and he nodded. They placed their things on one side on the small lake, she dropped part of her clothes and immediately jumped it. She swam a bit, and as the water was warm and pleasant she called to him to join her. Her smile was so warm, he noticed, and he couldn't say no to her. As soon as feet touched the water her image faded and everything became pitch black. Eternal darkness. He reached out his hand but there was nothing around him. He could feel the water around his ankles and the cool breeze of the water fall, but he could not see anything. He called out to her, one twice. He heard a splash of water near him, and felt a hand grab him. It was her.
"Hinata what happened?" He asked.
"I don't know. My byakugan won't work! I can't see anything!" She whispered. "Everything suddenly became black. Do you remembered where we put our things?" She asked hesitantly.
"Around ten meters behind my back." He answered and holding hands they went out of the water.
"One, two, three… nine, ten…" She counted out loud carefully measuring the distance from the water. Soon she tripped on something, and just by touching it she determined it was a backpack, probably hers or Neji's. She picked it up, and gave the other one to Neji. They were all alone, it never-ending darkness… Holding hands they stood there lost as little children…