Hinata's P.O.V.
"Kiba, Shino, this is… This is too nice of you! I can't thank you enough!" I said, staring at my teammates.
Kiba smiled at me, "It's nothin', really. Just a small party."
I looked from Kiba to Shino, to my friends at the party. Kiba's spiky, brown hair and dark eyes were so familiar. He had grown taller since our first years as shinobi of the leaf. He looked even taller as he stood beside me.
Shino was taller than Kiba was and stood silently, his face hidden.
"It's great to see everyone, huh?" I heard Naruto ask.
"N-Na-Naruto-Kun!" I stammered, blushing furiously.
Naruto failed to notice, "It's so great that everyone is here! Well… almost everyone…"
Sasuke-Kun…When he left the village… we went off to try to bring him back… Poor Naruto-Kun... It probably bother's Naruto that they've gotten a new teammate…
"I hear you got a new teammate… What's he like?" I asked.
"He's… hard to describe. You may get to meet him…" Naruto said sadly.
Naruto walked off, and Kiba and Shino looked at me.
"How does it feel to be sixteen?" Kiba asked.
"Not very different, actually," I laughed.
"Maybe we could-"
"Happy birthday, Hinata," Neji said, "Sorry to interrupt, Kiba."
"Its fine, I was just goin' to ask if we could do some group training later…" Kiba answered.
"Sounds good, then we'll get ramen," I smiled.
I woke up to the crash of thunder.
"Damn it, the weather's getting stormy!" Kiba muttered.
"Kiba, where are we?" I asked.
"Oh, you're awake," Kiba said, walking quickly.
It was then I realized he was carrying me. I felt raindrops on my face, they were cold and it was dark. I blushed slightly.
"Neji told me to take you to Kurenai-Sensei's when you passed out. You've been training a lot, right?" Kiba asked.
"Yes. Why did Neji tell you take me to Sensei's?" I asked.
Kurenai-Sensei was like my mom. She looked out for me and I wanted to be like her. She was always there, encouraging me. She and my teammates were the first people to believe in me.
"Guess he thought you would like to be with Kurenai-Sensei. He knows you pretty well, netter than the rest of your clan," Kiba said, stopping.
"Kiba, what's wrong?" I asked.
"It just… It's weird. He tried to kill you back in the chunin exams, back in that first year, but now it's like he cares about you more than he does anyone… He always seemed so..." Kiba stopped.
"Cold? He wasn't, his dad died in place of my father, for the sake of the clan. I never knew the story, but that was what fueled his anger. I don't blame him for hating the main branch, he has every right to hate us, we sentenced his father to death," I said, climbing off Kiba's back.
"He doesn't hate you; I don't think he ever hated you specifically. He just wanted Hiashi to feel his pain…" Kiba said.
"Really?"
Hidan's P.O.V.
"No way in hell am I going to find you a new member," I said.
"Hidan, he simply said he'd like you to. It'd be cheaper not to," Kakuzu said.
"Why the fuck do I have to do it anyway?" I muttered.
"I just said don't. Who cares what his reason was?" Kakuzu answered.
"Don't tell me what the hell to do, damn it," I snapped.
"If you do this, he wants you to look at either the leaf or the sand," I heard Deidara say from behind. "He wants to force the nine-tails to hunt down our new member."
"Who the hell asked you?" I spat.
Hinata's P.O.V.
Sensei opened the door and muttered something about catching a cold. Her wavy, black hair hung down around her shoulders and her red eyes expressed her concern. She was like a mother to me, always watching over me and believing in me.
"Kiba you can stay too, we have a mission in the morning, the three of us and Neji," she said.
""What about Shino?" Kiba asked.
"He has his own mission with his father. Now come on in, it's cold and you're soaked. Kiba take the spare room. Hinata, we'll stay in my room," Sensei said.
I changed in the spare room where I had clothes. I often stayed at Sensei's when we had missions early in the morning. I then headed into Sensei's room. Sensei's walked in soon after I had.
"Hinata, is something wrong?" Sensei asked.
"I want to be stronger… I want to prove… that I'm… That I'm as good as he is…" I said.
"Neji and you are different people, with different abilities. You've shown your strong, through your training. You have your own style, your own techniques. Besides, he's older and a jonin," Sensei told me.
"Kurenai-Sensei… Do you… Do you think Neji…" I trailed off.
"He's proud of you, I'm sure," Sensei smiled.
"He should have been born in the main branch, he deserves it. He's so… skilled," I admitted.
"Is that what you believe?"