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Ninjas from the Land of Clouds had been planning it for so very long. Now it was time to put it into action, a month prior to lady Hinata's sixth birthday. A celebration was being held in her honor, and a dress was to be made for the occasion.

The dressmaker, named Mae, came to the Hyuuga household on the day the plan was to be carried out to see if the dress fit properly. She had Hinata try it on, and then walked around her once as Hinata's father watched. Mae frowned.

"It's a little bit too long..." she informed him. "I can hem it now if you want. It will only take about an hour."

The respected Hyuuga nodded in approval. Seeing that Mae looked uncomfortable being watched while she re-measured Hinata's height, he left the room. After she was sure he was a ways off, the dressmaker got up to close the door.

After she had shut it, Mae hesitated, unable to look at the innocent face just yet. Hinata seemed to be a sweet, although shy, child, and it made her feel a little regret for what she was about to do. However, it was her job, and it had to be done.

She walked away from the door towards Hinata and bent down in front of her, pulling out a syringe as she did. Before the young girl could react, a needle was slipped into her arm, and a sleeping drug flowed into her veins.

Hinata's eyes opened, then quickly shut again when she saw Mae's back. She was talking to another ninja that Hinata had not been able to see in the short seconds that her eyes had been open.

"Mae..." the other ninja (a man in his 20's, from his voice) began, "your assignment explicitly stated that you were not to become attached to the child."

"Don't be ridiculous. I'm not attached to her; I just don't see the point in hurting her," Mae replied.

The man sighed. "We have to cut off a finger to send to the Hyuuga's as proof that we have her. You knew this when you took the assignment."

"Couldn't we at least numb her hand?"

There was a pause as the young man considered Mae's suggestion. Finally he sighed again. "I suppose Yoku-sama wouldn't disapprove... as long as it was you who cut her finger off..."

Mae nodded. She didn't want to have to be the one to do it, but at least lady Hinata would be free of pain for a while.

"I'll go get some food for us. If we continue right after we eat, we should be able to get to the others around mid-afternoon. Are you going to cut off the kid's finger now or when we get to the house?"

"Now... maybe it won't hurt so much when she wakes up."

"Then why bother numbing her hand?"

"Well, even though she's unconscious, she might still be able to experience pain..."

"All right... just don't lose the finger," the man said, and then walked off into the trees that surrounded them.

Mae glanced at the young girl, who was shaking in fear. She frowned slightly and walked over to Hinata. She bent down, and then opened the bag that was lying next to her. From it she got a coat, whose sleeves she carefully put Hinata's arms into.

Hinata, thinking that her finger was going to be sliced off, fainted the second Mae touched her. She recovered shortly after the coat was on her and Mae, satisfied that Hinata wasn't shivering anymore, had stood up to go to a different bag a few yards away.

The Cloud ninja rummaged through the sack, looking for the syringe that she had put in there after using it to knock out the young Hyuuga. Finally she found it and filled it halfway with the painkiller. In a smaller pocket were the needles that attached to the syringe. Done assembling her weapon, Mae turned around to see-nothing. Her hostage was gone.

Hinata tore through the forest as fast as she could, tears streaming down her face from fear. Soon the trees thinned and gave way to a town. She ran through the streets, people looking at her with curiosity in their eyes. Finally she could run no longer. Her sides burning, she collapsed to her knees in a playground.

It was completely empty, except for one swing which was occupied by a small boy with red hair and dark circles around his eyes...

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Sorry for any confusion about the fact that Hinata was kidnapped by ninjas from the Land of Clouds and yet is in Suna. There is a reason for this, but it might not be explained until the third chapter...