Insanik: This story was originally posted on Hisashii64, my ancient account that I don't touch anymore. Out of boredom one day, I decided to reread the story I had typed up during my fourth grade year, and I had to honestly say - it sucked. Why I'm rewriting the story today, don't ask, because I don't have any ideas either. So now that you know, don't think I stole the story, alritey? Alritey.
I don't own Naruto - and this goes for every chapter. But oh, the things I would do if Naruto belonged to me... Ahem. Moving on.
It was a normal morning in the young life of 17 year old Hyuuga Hinata. The birds were chirping. The bees were buzzing. And oh, what better way to top it all off than to have Mr. Sun shine brightly through your windows at 6 A.M. Wait. That isn't right. Since when was 6 A.M. this bright.
Hinata shot a glance at her new digital clock, which stared back at her mockingly and read, "10:25... A.M."
Oh no! Oh no, I'm late! She quickly fitted on her worn out ANBU uniform, picked out every weapon she needed for the mission, and grabbed a stiff cold onigiri rice ball from the fridge before heading out; one hand clutching her ANBU sword and the other trying to stuff the whole piece of rice and seaweed into her mouth while she darted across the streets.
Stupid, stupid alarm clock! No wonder it was for sale! But Hinata had other things to worry about, like how Tsunade would take her tardiness for the special ANBU mission that was to take place today!
Sakura, Neji, Shikamaru, and Tenten were all taking on the same mission as Hinata. And what was their mission? To get their hands on as much info on Akatsuki as they possibly can and annihilate them, of course. In their opinion, this seemed almost like a Mission Impossible, but they weren't ready to back down yet, especially after Sakura had successfully managed to kill off one of their strongest members: Sasori.
Relieved that she was almost there, Hinata quickened her pace and swallowed the onigiri whole.
Making sure that no one would be able to see them, Itachi asked, "Tell me once more Kisame, what are we doing here, in the Village hidden in the Mist?"
The fish-faced man eyed the people that passed by them, on guard in case anyone would recognize their faces in the foggy mist. How he loved making faces at the clueless people when they couldn't see him.
"Learn as much about Kyuubi's life as possible," Kisame said, sticking his tongue merrily at one of the passer-byers. "Leader wanted us to find a book of data that contained a fragment of the information we needed, and it's hidden somewhere in this village."
"Mission in progress - soon to be completed," Itachi whispered into his headphones.
"Message received. On it's way to Leader," replied a voice at the other end. "Good luck you guys."
"Heh, we won't be needing it," Kisame grinned. "Look over there Itachi-san."
"Ah, I'm so sorry for keeping you guys waiting!" Hinata bowed again and again to everyone, not daring to look up. "Really, really sorry!"
"Hinata-sama, did something happen? You're usually so early for missions like these," Neji looked at his little cousin worriedly.
Hinata gave him an apologetic look. "I'm sorry Neji-niisan. I guess my alarm clock wasn't working properly." And again, she bowed. Tenten started to worry that Hinata would die old with back problems, so she pulled the Hyuuga girl into a stand when her flood of apologies started coming back.
"You didn't miss out on much, Hinata." Shikamaru said, walking up to Hinata (and Tenten, who kept her still by the shoulders). "Besides, that old crone was drunk. So Shizune explained everything to us before you came. She says the mission can take as long as it needs to, but if longer than 300 days, there's an opportunity for us to quit." He rubbed the back of his head in thought. "As much as I hate troublesome things like these, I wouldn't want to back down. We'd be celebrities if we ever complete it. Kakashi-sensei will check up on us once every month to see how we're doing, and he'll decide if we should cancel the entire mission of not."
Sakura nodded. "And since you're here now Hinata-chan, we should get going!"
"Erm, shouldn't we inform Tsunade-sama that we're leaving now?" Hinata asked thoughtfully.
"She's freakin' drunk," everybody repeated in unison.
And they were off.
"Item found. Location: underneath the Great Naruto Bridge. Owner: Tsunami. Mission: completed."
"Message delivered. Information about the next mission will arrive soon," the voice said. "Nice job you guys!"
A beeping noise was heard and the line was connected with another one.
"Location: Ichiraku Ramen Bar. You are to question the bar manager about Naruto's past and return it to Leader. Don't get caught, yeah."
"Look at that. Our next mission is in your hometown Itachi-san."
The Uchiha switched off the headphone. "Come on Kisame. We'd better think of a way to trick that manager into giving us information."
"Ohhh, way ahead of you." Kisame gave a devilish grin.
The way to the Akatsuki hideout was unusually quiet. Even Hinata, as sleepy as she was, couldn't stand the silence. So, she managed to come up with a topic everyone could talk about.
"Sakura-san, do you know why Naruto-kun hasn't been in Konoha these few months?"
Surprised that a question had come out so suddenly, Sakura paused for a bit. "He's still training with Jiraiya-sama to get stronger," she said, "to get Sasuke-kun back again."
"Oh, I'm glad to hear that." Hinata gave a weak smile. Although I thought he'd stayed two years ago...
Noticing Hinata's sad expression, Sakura added, "Don't worry Hinata-chan. By the time this mission ends, that idiot's sure to come crawling back with Sasuke-kun next to him." Her cheerful grin eased Hinata's thoughts, and she returned the smile.
"Hey guys? Where are we going to rest?" asked Tenten, looking up at the orange tinted noon sky.
"Once we reach another village, we'll stop and rest there for the night." Neji stated, not looking back at her. "If we can't before dark, we'll just rest here. But one of more of us are going to have to keep watch for enemy ninjas while we're asleep."
"Leave that part to me." Sakura replied. "And if I need any help, I'll wake up Tenten-chan."
"Ehh? How come I don't get a say in this?" Tenten whined.
Ignoring this, Sakura continued. "You know, it's going to take us atleast two months or more before we find them. They might've moved their base since the last time I've seen them."
"Even if it'll take us a million years to find them, we'll keep looking!" Tenten responded enthusiastically, directing a thumbs up at Shikamaru. "Isn't that right Shikamaru-kun?"
"They'd be dead by then." Shikamaru mumbled. Sigh. Troublesome woman. She caught the fuzzy eyebrows personality.
Neji glanced at his once-heiress-to-the-Hyuuga-throne cousin. He knew she had gotten stronger over the years; even surprised that she had caught up to ANBU rank with him. But still, he couldn't help but feel uneasy about her joining the mission. What if she got hurt?
Simultaneously, Hinata was thinking the same thing. I wonder if I should leave... Everyone here has their reasons to be on this mission: Shikamaru-kun and his intelligence and knowledge. Tenten-chan and her expert skills on weapons. Neji-niisan and his advanced Byakugan. Sakura-san and her amount of strength and healing, not to mention experience. But what do I have... ? The indigo-haired girl shook her head, trying to get rid of this nauseous feeling.
Not far away, an orange masked member and his blonde partner were spying on them from the top of a massive clay bird.
"Oooh, lookie Senpai. Two Hyuuga kids. We need some of those, don't we?"
"What do you reckon they're doing down in that part of the forest, yeah?"
"Who knows and who cares. We need Hyuugas. We got Hyuugas!" Tobi pointed excitedly at the group, focused on the white of the Hyuuga members' eyes. "Onward!"
Deidara groaned. "You know, I would've liked you so much more if you were serious, yeah."
"Pfft, it's not like you're serious either." Tobi glimpsed at his partner accusingly. "Like how you always end everything in 'yeah.'"
"What are you trying to say, yeah!? Masashi Kishimoto gave me that line. And I don't end everything in 'yeah,' I end them in 'un' too!" the blonde countered angrily. He didn't like it when people mentioned his personal habits out loud, and Tobi just so happened to be an expert on doing this. ("Hey Senpai, why do you always leave your fishnets on the ground?" ...WHACK.) ...Actually, Tobi just naturally pissed him off.
"But to me, in my heart, you'll always be the Yeah Man." the masked member nodded at this and started puffing his nose on a tissue. God, this reminds me so much of my mom and her love dramas.
"Ugh. That's not poetic and beautiful at all! And what do you mean, 'Yeah Man?' Can't I be called something cooler, un?"
"Well, that's me." Tobi gave one last wet blow on the tissue and threw it at Deidara, who dodged the wretched thing with his eyes shut. "Unless Senpai would rather be called... Mr. Sunshine... ?"
Do I hear knuckle cracking? Or is it just me?
"What?! It sounds cooler than Yeah Man, right?"
The stars decided to take a break tonight, leaving only a full moon in view. Hinata gazed up at this, still comprehending what she was thinking of before.
If I'm not heiress, and I don't have a dream to chase after anymore, what exactly am I living for?
Shikamaru and Sakura decided to sleep in hammocks. Seperate hammocks. Shikamaru chose to sleep at the bottom, saying that it was too troublesome for someone to be staring at your back while you slept. Sakura didn't give much care into this, since she was on guard duty anyway.
Hinata, Neji, and Tenten chose to sleep in tents instead. But since there were only two, Hinata had to share with Tenten, thinking it was too awkward for Tenten to be sleeping with her older cousin. Neji didn't say anything about this and just crawled into his tent without a word. Tenten had fallen fast asleep by the time they landed, so Hinata kindly took her place in guarding their tents.
Sakura glanced up and noticed a figure sitting on a tree. "Hinata-chan, why weren't you asleep yet?" Sakura jumped up the ginormous tree to the raven-haired girl, who had been sitting atop of a very large branch, and sat in place next to her.
She turned towards Sakura. "It's nothing Sakura-san. It's just... I have a lot to think about."
"Haha, you're not alone." Sakura said, giving off another cheery smile, and looked up to admire the bright round orb in the night sky. "I haven't had much sleep these days either."
"Worried about Naruto-kun?"
Looking startled, Sakura answered. "N-No, of course not!"
"Don't worry Sakura-san," Hinata said with a reassuring look. "Naruto-kun may act clumsy sometimes, but he's really strong, and I know he wouldn't get into trouble on purpose. I'm sure... he'll come back with Sasuke-san. Definitely."
"Haha, I guess you're right Hinata-chan." The pink haired kunoichi laughed, though duller than her usual. I hope so too.
Where are you Naruto?
"Honestly Kisame," Itachi began, with an irritated look on his face. "Do I really have to dress up as a woman for this? Why can't you be the woman?"
"Because no one likes a fishy woman!" Kisame started, almost sounding... sad? Wait, since when Masashi Kishimoto give Kisame a secret hobby!? Oh right, that's me... Hehe... "Besides, it'll work better with a woman. Two aged men walking into a bar would be too suspicious. It just won't do!"
"Fine, fine, fine." Itachi sighed. "Just don't make me wear a dress."
"...Oh, uhm, yeah... About that... "
Insanik: Well, stay tuned for the next chapter. :) I know the first chapter wasn't very long... or exciting. I had to rush because I haven't started on ANY of my homework and project assignments, and my mom made me clean her bathroom... ew. Anyways, once I get more time, I'll put more work into these lame excuses of chapters! Harharhar, I wonder what I'll put Mr. Itachi-san in... ;)