A/N: Hey guys! Magicalmuggle here! This story was originally published by Kunoichi1331 as a collaborative by the both of us. However, we are both going to different colleges, so we had to transfer the story to my account so we can post new chapters more easily. Alas, I cannot copy and paste as I would wish, so I will being posting these chapters without our previous author notes...and these chapters might not be the most recent version *wipes away a tear* I will eventually go back and edit these chapters, but at the moment, if you find any grammatical errors, feel free to let me know! I hope we can get the follows to over 100 once more!
Chapter One
Hinata sprinted through the forest, her indigo hair flying, the blood pounding in her ears overwhelming all other sound. As she nimbly leaped from branch to branch, she spared a glance behind her, instinct taking control despite her 360 degree vision. Her stomach plummeted at the sight that awaited her: five chakra entities, their electric blue bodies sharply defined and rapidly closing in. Hinata closed her pearl white eyes in frustration and grief. Shino…
"It's no use. You guys are outnumbered, outmatched, and completely surrounded," the missing nin in front of them snickered, gleefully rubbing his hands together at the thought of the bloodshed he was about to inflict. The group had caught Hinata and Shino exhausted and unaware as they returned to Konoha from an escort mission to the Hidden Mist. They had decided to travel through the forest in the hopes of avoiding unnecessary conflict, for the Fourth Great Ninja War had left much instability in its wake, making the roads unsafe to travel. …And the woods, too, apparently. Now, Hinata and Shino were surrounded by five unfamiliar ninja of the jounin level and higher, stranded with little chakra, little chance of backup, and an even smaller hope of victory.
"We desire no struggle with you. State your intentions so that we may fulfill what you wish and peacefully resume our journey." Shino had maneuvered himself so that he was standing between Hinata and their aggressors. As he spoke, the visible portion of his face remained impassive, his tense voice and deceptively relaxed stance the only indicators of his current distress.
The leader of the group let out a cruel, almost maniacal laugh. "There is nothing you can do to resolve this peacefully. Unless you want to lay down and die right now," the man's face drooped into a pout at the thought of an uneventful encounter like that, "No, our orders were to capture that girl…and leave no survivors."
At this revelation, Shino's posture became rigid, and he stiffly replied, "I'm afraid I can't allow that to happen." In response to his agitation, Shino's bugs began to buzz in anticipation, slowly creeping out from his coat's sleeves and inching along the skin of his face and hands. Hinata also readied herself, dropping into her Jyuuken stance. However, at an almost imperceptible shake of Shino's head she stopped, straightening herself, a confused look adorning her face. In a voice that only she could hear, Shino explained, "If you fight, Hinata, you only increase their chances of success for their mission by opening yourself to capture. Let me hold them off while you escape; that way, we can prevent them from fulfilling whatever plan they have."
HInata immediately began to protest, "B-b-but Shino…I—"
He cut her off, eyes appearing to be trained on their enemy from behind his opaque shades the entire time he spoke. "Hinata. Please let me do this. It would be an honor for me to protect one of my precious people in this way."
Closing her mouth, Hinata meekly nodded in defeat. She knew that she could not change his mind.
"When the battle begins, turn and run. Don't turn back, no matter what happens." With this statement, they both refocused on their adversaries.
After hearing Shino's refusal, the leader's face had broken into a feral grin, and his frenzied excitement made him oblivious to the side conversation between Shino and Hinata. "Oh, what a pity," his eager voice devoid of any regret, "I guess we will have to use force… While we expected resistance, what we didn't expect was for the Hyuuga to be such a beauty…maybe we will have to have a little fun with her before turning her in to our employer." Hinata's eyes reflexively widened as several sinister snickers joined the leader, who began licking his lips in anticipation.
"Go. I will see you later." Shino's outraged voice barely reached her ears. Before even finishing these words, Shino's insects began to leave his body. Hinata turned and ran. The last thing she saw before leaving the clearing was Shino's bugs swarming around him, attacking their foes and preventing them from seeing the direction of her escape.
A single tear rolled down from Hinata's closed eyes. She knew that Shino would rather die than to allow someone to hurt one of his friends, so she realized the implications of her situation. Her good friend was now gone. However, no matter how badly she wished to stop and mourn, she refused to let his sacrifice be in vain. Using her rage as an energy source, she picked up her speed, branches whipping across her face and exposed skin, biting into her and adding to the pain of her memories. While she did not lose her pursuers completely, she managed to increase the distance between them enough to feel safe deactivating her Byakugan. She wanted to conserve her chakra for the battle that she knew would inevitably come.
After running for some time, Hinata transferred from the trees to the ground and reactivated her Byakugan. Slamming her feet into the dirt of the forest floor, she flailed as her body fought the inertia forcing her forward past the forest edge, stopping inches from the edge of a massive ravine. Having no time to appreciate her close call, Hinata desperately searched for a way across, aware of the ever closer threat of her unknown pursuers. To her devastation, the ravine was impenetrable, spreading sideways as far as her Byakugan could see and too wide for her to leap across. At the bottom of the chasm, Hinata spied a river, the sound of rushing water faintly reaching her sensitive ears. Brushing her thick, midnight blue locks out of her face, she almost let an uncharacteristic scream of frustration escape from her mouth. Have I run all this way for nothing? Has my teammate sacrificed himself for nothing? Am I going to prove myself a failure yet again? Slipping her hand into her tool pouch, she began to rummage through its contents, half-heartedly attempting to find some miracle tool that would help her escape from her hopeless situation. After rifling through several kunai and multiple paper bombs, her hand closed around a small glass bottle. Hinata froze. Well...I still have THAT substance… The secret pride of her clan, the tool that enabled her body to disappear completely, protecting Konoha by protecting the secrets of the Byakugan. The substance that destroyed all remains, leaving no DNA or biological trace of the user. As she fingered the smooth container, a plan began to formulate. If I can't escape them, then I will just have to take them down with me…
Reaching the edge of the forest, Hinata's pursuers spied a figure at the edge of the ravine, her back turned toward them as she gazed down into the abyss.
Their leader cautiously stepped forward, creeping out from the shadows. "All right, sweetie. There's no way you can escape. You're trapped, and we have reinforcements coming, just in case you try any funny business with us. Just come quietly, and we promise no unnecessary harm will come to you," he began to chuckle darkly, "Well…not too much harm."
The girl slowly turned around, an unreadable expression on her porcelain face, the harsh wind around the canyon tugging at the material of her lilac jacket and tossing her hair like a whip. Her translucent eyes focused on him and narrowed slightly. "I w-w-would rather n-not go with y-y-you," she quietly but firmly responded.
He nonchalantly shrugged. "Suit yourself. I kinda like 'em feisty anyway." With that, he began to prowl toward the helpless girl.
Before he could even take a few steps, a kunai whizzed by, passing inches from his face before embedding itself in the tree behind him. Having watched its path, he once again turned toward the girl, mouth open to taunt her about her miss. However, at the sight of the small smirk that graced her regal features, he pulled up short. Before another move could be made, the world exploded. The kunai that had appeared to miss had embedded itself in a paper bomb saturated in an unknown chemical, one of many in a surprisingly elaborate trap that the group had failed to detect in their complacency from their assured success.
Not more than ten minutes later, the reinforcements stumbled upon a scene of desolation. The edge of the forest had been completely obliterated, smoke from the blast still lingering in the air. The only things that greeted them were piles of ashes, of which the closest to the ravine possessed a Konoha forehead protector, its tattered fabric fluttering around the half melted metal plate in the now gentle breeze.
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