Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto…
"Hinata-chan," Kiba hollered.
Kiba, now 16, was catching up to Hinata, now 16.
"Oi Kiba-kun," she greeted. "What do you want?"
"I came to tell you that Kurenai-sensei wants to see us," he replied.
She had already went ahead to see their sensei.
"How did she…," he just followed her behind.
They came to the Hokage Mansion, came in, and went to Tsunade. They saw Kurenai, Shino, and…Sasuke.
"What's he doing here," Kiba asked.
"Well, since Kurenai has a child to take care of, I had to get Sasuke, who is now a Jounin," Tsunade explained.
"So Sasuke-san's going to be with us," Hinata asked.
"Of course, unless there's a problem," she replied.
"I have a problem," Sasuke said. "There is no I'm going to be the leader of a bunch of losers. I mean, there are dog boy, bug freak, and weak shy girl."
You're one to talk, Kiba, Hinata, and Shino thought.
"Hinata is not weak," Kurenai said. "She's a very strong girl and has good experience."
"Yeah right," he muttered. "She's just like the girls who like me. She's annoying just like them."
"But, I don't…"
"Your mission is to come to the Lightning Village to retrieve some forbidden scrolls from there," she explained. "You have 5 days to complete this mission."
"Hai," they all said, as Kurenai had left.
They also left and were at the gates.
Sasuke took a glance at Hinata, who was coming over to Shino and Kiba for a group huddle.
"We can't let this jerk be our leader," Kiba whispered. "He thinks he's too good for us."
"I agree with Kiba-kun," Hinata agreed.
"We have to get used to him anyway," Shino softly sighed.
Then they gathered around Sasuke and glared at him.
"We don't like you," they said.
"I don't like you either, but who's complaining," Sasuke snapped back.
Shino and Hinata were looking at Kiba.
"Let's just continue," he said, running off.
"Hey, wait for us," Kiba yelled, running off with Hinata and Shino.
They were behind him, but he was running faster.
"Some leader he is," Kiba muttered.
"Hey, why isn't Akamaru with you," Hinata asked.
"He is," he said.
Akamaru was bouncing from one tree to another, coming near to Sasuke.
"Sasuke-san, wait for us," Hinata said.
Sasuke stopped, only to turn around as the others caught up.
"You guys are really slow," he muttered.
"It's not our fault," Hinata said, frowning. "You're the one who suddenly starts to run off so fast.
Is this Hinata, Kiba and Shino wondered.
"Maybe, you should start by being a little kinder," she growled.
"We haven't even started the mission and you're already complaining," Sasuke said. "You really are a loser."
"Ooh," Kiba and Shino gasped.
"That's it," she growled, running off.
"Damn, that girl can run fast," Sasuke said, following her.
"Not again," Kiba muttered, following him with Akamaru and Shino.
Hinata wasn't crying and she wasn't furious. She just wanted the day to hurry up so she didn't have to deal with Sasuke's attitude. She already knew that everybody else was trying to catch up with her.
Later…
Hinata had finally stopped running just so she could catch her breath.
"Finally," Sasuke panted. "You have been running for 10 miles straight."
"It's coming close to evening," Kiba said, panting. "We should find somewhere to rest."
"No, we cannot rest," Sasuke demand.
Hinata's legs lost its feelings as she passed out. Shino caught when she fell.
"Hinata's already tired and so am I," Kiba responded.
"It's her fault for running so fast and getting so mad," Sasuke muttered. "Fine, we'll look for somewhere to rest, but tomorrow, we will continue our mission."
"Finally," Shino sighed, with Hinata still in his arms.
Akamaru whined a bit, knowing the mission might not end well.
Night…
The team was in a forest that was miles away from any village. They were already ready to rest. Hinata was already awake. She noticed that Sasuke was only looking at the campfire. Everybody else was eating. She looked at her ramen and looked at him. She stood up and walked to him. He noticed that she was coming towards him, but he didn't dare look at her.
"What do you want," he asked, when she sat next to him.
"I came to share my ramen with you," she replied.
"No thanks," he refused.
"Are you sure," she asked.
He turned his face to meet her face, giving her a deathly glare.
"I'm sure," he replied.
She nearly jumped, letting go of the ramen. It came on Sasuke's shirt, spilling.
"Damn it," he mumbled under his breath.
"Sumimasen," she quickly apologized.
"What ever," he growled, getting up.
"Let me take your shirt," she offered.
He looked at her with a confused face.
"No way," he refused. "You might try to do something else."
He removed his shirt, revealing bandages around his chest. Then he set it aside and sat back down.
"Gomen," she said.
"You're really annoying," he said. "Lady Tsunade told me that there would be dangerous things going on, so we have to be on our guard. The last thing I want is having a little girl annoying me, which is very distracting."
She felt a little hurt about what he said, but she got over it.
"I didn't realize I was annoying you," she said, getting up. "I'll just get to my…"
Sasuke suddenly pinned her down, only because there were a bunch of weapons being thrown at her. Kiba and Shino noticed that too.
"What's going on," Kiba asked.
"I believe we're not alone," Sasuke replied, letting go of Hinata.
"Byakugan," Hinata said, activating it.
She looked all over until she spotted two large figures. One was a woman and the other was a man. Sasuke activated his Sharingan. He noticed that the weapons had chakra strings. They were moving again and coming towards him. Hinata took out her kunai and came in front of him. She used it to block them, as Shino released his bugs to find the figures and he followed them.
The weapons were being blocked, but one managed to stab Hinata in the stomach. She ignored the pain and continued blocking the weapons.
"Damn it Sasuke, what're you still doing here," she asked.
She suddenly felt something rushing in her blood. Sasuke saw that there was poison in the weapons.
"Kiba, you and Akamaru will go where the bugs are going," Sasuke ordered.
Kiba and Akamaru did what he ordered. Sasuke took out his sword and grabbed Hinata's arm. He pushed her aside as he used his sword to cut off the chakra strings. There was something wrong. Hinata couldn't get up.
"Hinata, run," he said.
"No, I will not run," she said. "I'm not scared and I will not run away, because we have to protect each other. That's how a team should be."
The weapons started rising again. Hinata put herself in position and closed her eyes. Then as the weapons were closing in on them, she activated her Byakugan, but only stronger.
"Sixty-Four Palms," she yelled.
She blocked all the weapons, using her palms. The weapons were dropping down, disconnected from their strings. There were more.
"One Hundred Thirty-Eight Palms," she yelled, increasing her power.
Sasuke was actually surprised about this.
Meanwhile…
Kiba, Shino, and Akamaru found the two people who were causing this.
"Damn, they found us," the woman hissed. "We have to go."
"You're not going anywhere," Kiba growled, running towards her.
Akamaru ran towards her too, as Kiba gave him a food pill. He started turning red, as Kiba came on top of him. Now they were both the same.
"How did you…," she gasped in fear.
They ran towards her and rammed into her. They still stood but she was knocked off and slammed against a tree. The tree fell down when that happened. She was knocked out cold-blooded.
Shino was in contact of the man, who was coming towards him. Suddenly the bugs came all over him and were slowing him down. Soon enough he was also knocked out cold. Kiba and Shino gathered up some sticks and covered the bodies up.
"Let's see how Hinata's doing," Shino suggested.
"We do need some sleep," Kiba yawned.
They went back to the same spot they left Sasuke and Hinata with Akamaru. Hinata was in Sasuke's arms, but she was not knocked out. She was tired.
"Why didn't you guys tell me that she improved," he asked.
"Gee, we didn't know that," Shino mocked.
"Very funny," he said, frowning a bit.
He carried Hinata as he got up.
"In order to rest, we have to get some barrier to protect us," Sasuke said.
"We already took care of that," Kiba grinned.
Then Sasuke faced Hinata, who was smiling a bit.
"I did it," she said lowly. "I finally found my strength."
"Hn," Sasuke smirked. "You're still annoying."
Before she drifted off to sleep, she whispered, "So are you."
How was it so far? Do you want me to continue or just stop? Please review!