The ringing in his ears got audibly louder as moments passed.
It was such a strange sensation – that the maelstrom of electric energy had suddenly dissipated as quickly as it formed.
It unsettled him.
"You fucking bastard." A voice behind him said. "Now will you go home?"
He stared at him for a moment and noted that he was soaked in blood as much as he was. But the manic grin was still there and the fading edges of the monster inside of him.
"Yeah."
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A smile brightened her face as she respectfully greeted her team-mates.
"Ohayo, Kiba-kun, Shino-kun," Hinata said, turning to the older woman, "Kurenai-sensei."
Kiba greeted his team-mates cheerfully while Shino and her sensei regarded her with a curious look.
"You cut your hair."
She chuckled nervously, absentmindedly touching the tendrils of her hair while adjusting the straps of her pack.
"Yes. Is – is it okay?" Hinata waited for the silent approval, staring softly at her quiet team-mates and feeling slightly nervous. What if it looks bad?
Kiba snorted. "Of course it's okay. Heck, it's more than okay – I think it's hot."
Shino rolled his eyes, "anything with two feet and of the opposite sex not related to you are hot for you."
Hinata bit back a grin.
"No I do not!" Kiba retorted. "No offence Hinata-chan but you're like a sister to me and fuck, you're giving me horrible imagery about that old woman who's just outside of my clan's complex –"
At this, Shino and Kurenai raised their eyebrows. "Something you want to tell us Kiba?" Her sensei asked. Kiba's eyes widened.
"W-hat!?" His eyes narrowed. "What the heck are you guys talking about?"
Hinata giggled softly. Shino returned his attention back to Hinata and regarded her curiously once more.
"You also changed your clothes, Hinata." Kurenai said. "Not that we don't like it. It's just a big surprise after all that has happened to you."
"I agree with Kurenai-sensei, Hinata, it's a big surprise and you look reaally good." Kiba commented, grinning.
"Oh." Hinata started, bemused as to where this conversation was going. She reached for her hair again, feeling conscientious about the physical changes she had wanted to do.
"I just…" she hesitated, searching to find the words to clearly state what she want to feel, "I just wanted to feel different after making all those choices – after my father…" She looked at each of them, at her quiet team-mates the longest, imploring them to understand. "I just wanted to feel different, physically, at least."
And strangely enough, the small smiles that curved their lips left her flattered beyond belief. Because this was her family, her best friends and her team; their approval, their acceptance, of who she is and what she can't become and want to become was enough for her to gladly decide that she had made the right choice.
No marriage of convenience would happen but the question of whom the clan head is to be was still up in the air. The Hyuuga clan was in utter chaos after the act she pulled during the ceremony. Suffice to say, they were irrefutably pissed with her actions and the punishment was to be decided when she returned from the mission (she thanked the Hokage-sama many times for her good timing).
At first, she was horrified at her actions. The feeling of dread and anxiety of what'll result because of her actions, but as she had appeared on the doorstep of Kurenai-sensei's place, there was a certain kind of serenity within her, and to her amusement, the first thing she had said to her sensei was so brusque it took awhile for her sensei to swallow her words.
"I got kicked out after I ditched my supposed husband-to-be at the altar to train." She had said all too calmly. Her sensei had blinked.
"Hinata…are you drunk?"
She did drink a little to gather up the courage.
Kiba had sworn on his grandmother's grave he would never live it down.
Kurenai touched her head softly, and let her fingers run down her hair. "Cute girl, I'm proud of you Hinata, such a riot."
Hinata smiled.
"Hey sensei! After the mission, can Akamaru take Takuto for a ride?" Kiba asked.
"As long as you watch him," Kurenai said, amused at the eagerness displayed on Kiba's face.
Takuto, suffice to say, was a popular charming boy (especially with the ladies) of the age of two and if it were not for the fact that he had Kurenai's eyes and skin tone, he would've damn well passed as a mini-Asuma and maybe Kakashi (Iruka had commented sarcastically) considering his popularity.
"Sensei," Shino started, "if we head off to the route of Water Country and take Ookami's Pass, we could get to the village by nightfall."
A solemn atmosphere had quickly settled within Team 8 knowing that the mission ahead of them was quite vital and of the highest importance a none-Anbu team could ever receive. But their qualifications and the ability to execute exceptionally as a unit (especially the latter) had landed them this mission.
A mission with a lot of risk gartering on their performance.
Kurenai turned to Shino and nodded, "Agreed." She turned to the rest of the members of Team 8, "Ready?"
Hinata and Kiba nodded.
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A/N: I should be studying. I can't seem to get away from writing Sasuke/Hinata. Definitely a fic I do plan on continuing (I hope, haha). Please tell me my mistakes, I was told that I'm horrible with shifting tenses quite a lot so be kind as to point it out for me among other things I'm famous for in English lit. I edited this myself as I'm trying to learn how to fix my own mistakes. But it helps when people points things out.