Welcome To The Jungle
It was humid and overly hot in the jungle, Hinata ignored these conditions and machetied her way through the undergrowth, sporting only a camouflage tank top, combat trousers (with lots of pockets) a razor sharp knife for a quick and clean kill, black and green markings on her cheeks for extra camo, thick jet black boots that could be unusually quiet, her old Konoha headband that was soaked with the sweat that was leaking off her brow and a bandana that tied her long hair back. The young woman halted upon hearing a small noise, she looked around her and saw a figure moving in a small clearing up ahead Hinata silently crept up to the bushes that separated her from the clearing, the man was completely dressed in camouflage, armed with a Desert Eagle in his holster, an AK-74u in his arms and three grenades on his belt, Hinata saw his walkie-talkie crackling on his right hip as well.
The man had a headband also; it bore the emblem of The Village Hidden in The Clouds strangely enough, Hinata then unsheathed her knife and crept around the clearing until she was a few feet behind her target…she waited and waited…her hand reached into her back pocket and pulled out a chaff grenade, a small explosive specifically designed to disrupt electronics, she popped the pin and threw it so it landed just under the mans legs, he didn't hear anything until it went off, the small explosion singed his trouser legs and alerted him to the fact that his radio wasn't working, the man was immediately alert but Hinata didn't care, she charged into the clearing, she locked the knife to his throat and dragged it across viciously slicing his neck, blood gushed out of him like a fountain and he slumped on the ground soaked in warm red liquid, Hinata took his radio and waited for the chaff to wear off she then re-tuned the radio and spoke into it,
"Jungle Raven to Wild cat come in over"
She had to wait for a few seconds,
"Wild Cat to Jungle Raven what is your status over?"
"Have visual confirmation of enemy, request exphil"
"Negative Jungle Raven, we have another assignment for you"
Hinata's face turned red,
"Listen here Wild Cat, I've been in this jungle for a week now, I've run out of rations, I've been eating whatever looks the slightest bit edible and I've been wearing this bra for so long it feels like I'm not even wearing one"
Spit was flying everywhere by this point and the radio went silent for a few seconds,
"Rendezvous with contact codename Black Skull and eliminate enemy unit in the area, contact is due north 3 clicks"
The radio went dead and Hinata crunched her boot on the dead sentry's face in anger, Hinata picked up his AK and grenades, hid the body and charged back into the undergrowth.
Minutes later the young warrior came to a halt at the rendezvous, she decided to catch her breath and check her inventory, her AK-74u had a full clip and so did her M9, the grenades she had stolen from the guard were just your average frag grenades and the sun was starting to get to her. She was jolted out of sweat soaked inspection by the blade of a knife being put to her throat, she stiffened at once and a small bead of sweat trickled down the side of her head, the person then spoke,
"Thunder, water, fire, sand, sound and…"
Hinata knew this by heart,
"…And shadow"
"Jungle Raven?"
"Black Skull?"
The knife was withdrawn and Hinata relaxed, her contact then made his way round and sat opposite her, he was dressed entirely in black, a jet black semi-automatic MP5 glinted on his back and (lo and behold) he sported a black M9 on his hip,
"You like black huh"
"You seem to have a thing for camouflage"
Hinata sized her contact up for a moment, he seemed to be just above her height, quite well built and his voice had a strangely familiar ring…and so did his finger,
"Have we met before?
He became strangely elusive at this point,
"No, definitely not…I'd know you"
"Just remove your mask…for one second"
"Can't…ordered not to"
Hinata then agreed, if he had been ordered to keep his identity a secret they would surely be penalised for violating orders, however he raised his balaclava just above his mouth and lit up a cigarette,
"How long you been in this sweat drenched hell hole?
"'Bout a week what bout you"
"Same really, feels like forever"
"Yeah…well it's nearly dark we better get moving, do you know where the targets are?"
He nodded and pointed in a southeasterly direction, Hinata picked up her AK and started off towards their objective, Skull followed suite.
After a few minutes of hacking their way through thick leaves and low hanging tree branches, they saw three tents pitched at the base off a large tree, Skull spoke in a whisper,
"This is it, there are sentries patrolling just outside here, if we take them out the rest in the tents should be easy, I'll take the left side you take the right "
Hinata snuck off, searching for any sentry unlucky enough to have his back to her. She found one and however she left her knife in its sheath and crouched down behind him, she had been wanting to try out this move for a while now, her hand shot straight between his legs and she squeezed for all she was worth, the sentry was taken completely by surprise and couldn't call for help for obvious reasons, Hinata then tore off what she had grabbed hold of and let the sentry fall, she stepped over him and watched the puddle of red around him get bigger. The sentry barely alive looked at her in pain and smirked, he then reached into his pocket and pressed a red button, Hinata's face dropped as a small alarm sounded at the campsite, she drew her Desert Eagle and let fly one round.
Skull upon hearing the alarm stopped gutting his sentry's stomach and ran for the clearing, he loaded his MP5, leapt into the campsite and let loose, the other ninja soldiers who came bumbling out of their tents were cut down before they could pick up their weapons, Hinata then joined in the fray and nailed a rifleman in the tree above Skull, the man fell from his perch and hit the ground with a sickening crunch, Skull yelled and readied to fire behind his partner, Hinata though pulled out her knife, spun around and landed it right between the eyes of the soldier who was behind her.
The two looked at each other for a moment,
"Nice job…we left a fine…MMPPPHHH"
An arm gripping round his throat and a pistol being shoved up against his jugular interrupted Skull abruptly,
"Shit…"
Hinata quickly drew her M9 and tried to get a clear shot,
"Put down the pistol or your friend dies"
"Drop the gun your outnumbered"
The man pressed the gun closer to Skull's jugular, Skull then caught Hinata's eye and tapped his leg, Hinata knew what he meant but was afraid to do it, she gritted her teeth and Skull nodded, Hinata squeezed the trigger and popped a bullet in Skull's leg, the guard dropped his hostage and made a break for it, totally unaware that Skull had snuck a grenade onto his belt and pulled the pin, the guard managed to get at least twenty feet away before he was detonated.
Skull sat on the ground with a hole in his leg; Hinata ran over and looked at his wound,
"It's not too deep"
She tore off part of her tank top and tied it tightly around his leg, she looked up to find herself lost in her unknown partners eyes,
"Do I have something in my eye?"
"No…I just…"
Hinata drew closer to Skull…closer…closer…their lips were almost touching, then the wind picked up, the two of them looked up to find two Huey choppers whirling overhead, Hinata blushed and drew away quickly, a rope ladder descended from the first chopper and the second airlifted Skull inside, on his way up he called down his thanks for saving his life, Hinata waved as her partner vanished from the scene, Hinata then climbed the ladder and was taken home for debriefing.
Back at the leaf village Hinata had to report to Tsunade,
"What did you find out during your stay?"
"That you shouldn't wear underwear in the jungle"
Tsunade rolled her eyes; this wasn't why Tsunade was here,
"Anything…unusual?"
"Thunder ninja"
Tsunade scoffed at this,
"Why would there be Thunder ninja in our jungle, we've been at peace with them for decades"
Hinata threw down the headband of the ninja whose throat she had sliced onto Tsunade's desk,
"Well this is the headband I took off one of them, if you don't believe me go and see for yourself"
"Very well, dismissed"
Hinata left the room and proceeded to the showers, once inside she managed to peel off her outfit that she had been wearing the last week, she took off her bra and panties and stepped under the shower, she leant against the wall for a while and thought about Skull, there was something so familiar about him, maybe she would work with him again but that was unlikely. He would most likely win the 'Bluest Eye Award'…why couldn't she stop thinking about those eyes of his, those blue, soft, sensitive eyes,
"Oh get yourself half a brain girl"
She thought to herself
"You won't see him again so stop dreaming"
"You seem to be drifting"
She opened her eyes to see Sakura Haruno using the shower next to her,
"It's nothing…just glad to be back"
"I bet you are…what's it like that deep in the jungle"
Sakura leaned in; she had always looked up to Hinata since she became part of the Leaf Village Guerrilla Warfare Effort,
"Ask my tank top and underwear, you don't want to be in there for a week trust me"
Hinata laughed slightly and picked up the shampoo she squeezed a handful and washed her hair vigorously,
"Ohh after a whole week that feels so…good"
"You'll be in that Herbal Essences ad next,"
Sakura giggled,
"Maybe I will"
Hinata washed for at least an hour before stepping out of the shower and wrapping a towel round her,
"You must've been able to at least wash in the jungle, didn't you find yourself a river?"
"If you mean a river that's filled with lethal poisonous frogs then yes"
Sakura decided to leave the jungle subject alone,
"Fancy a drink down at the bar?"
"Does the Hokage shit in the woods?"
"I don't know…I don't really ask lady Tsunade where she does her business"
Hinata laughed at her friend's naivety, she took her clothes down to the Laundromat and picked up some fresh underwear and clothes, as did Sakura,
"I'd love a drink Sakura"
They sat down at the bar downstairs to receive a greeting from an old friend,
"What can I get Rambo and Harriet the Spy?"
Lee asked this in a cheerful yet somewhat disturbing manner but Sakura loved him nonetheless,
"Hey Lee, I'll take my usual"
"And I'll take a pint of lager"
Sakura planted a small kiss on his lips before he fetched their orders,
"Harriet the Spy?"
Sakura blushed,
"I got into the secret ops division of the village"
Hinata hugged her friend closely and congratulated her, this was only to be interrupted by Ino Yamanako parading into the bar flaunting all she had got, followed by her small gang of Tenten, Neji and Temari,
"Hey everyone guess what I am!!"
Hinata didn't have to think twice,
"The end result of a drunken backseat grope fest and a broken condom?"
The whole bar roared into laughter and Lee came up with the drinks,
"No..HINATA…not that, I got into the secret ops dividing of the village"
Sakura gulped down her bourbon and turned to Lee,
"Make my next one a double"
Hinata giggled and started on her pint, as she was drinking she saw a picture on the wall behind Lee and sighed,
Jiraiya came over,
"Still miss him do you?"
Hinata nodded,
"He was a good man and an even better friend…we all miss him"
Hinata looked back up at the picture to see Naruto's blue eyes staring back at her, his blonde hair seemed to bristle with excitement and his grin was as wide as ever,
"He died to save me…and I never even got to thank him"
Sakura put a comforting hand on her shoulder and the whole bar fell silent, even Ino,
"I miss his eyes…those blue eyes, he was…he was"
Hinata finished her drink and tears filled her eyes, she left the bar and went home.