"Hakke Kūshō!" Hinata shouted as she shot a powerful attack with her palm, making two of her enemies fly backwards and hit the nearby tree. Her attacks improved ever since, and finally, she was able to achieve the sixty-four palms because of her cousin's presence in her inner psyche until she can use it consecutively. She's also been working on the one hundred and twenty-eight palms and also expanding her Byakugan's ability to see from far away and through things. She hoped to improve to catch up to Naruto ever since.
Just this morning, the Rokudaime Hokage summoned Konoha's Elite Tracking Team into his office. They were given a mission regarding a mysterious attack in the western coast in the outskirts of Konoha. Being the elite tracking team they are, the three 17-year olds were able to pick up the suspicious scents and sights of the enemy. They wore a dark brown cloak, with the length of a haori. All were identical and had bows and arrows on their behind. Though their bottoms are either a dark shade of brown or green and had boots on. Neither did they catch the looks of their faces, but their motive and information mattered and nothing else.
She and Shino were together fighting in the forest, while they were separated from Kiba who is seen fighting on a vast land big enough to serve as a battlefield for an estimated amount of 50 enemies. Though he is seen only fighting half the share of the total. While the other two are seen fighting for a good number of 35 or so.
Hinata remembered how her team took down a large number of zetsus because of their teamwork and strength, which is almost close to Team 7's level strength. She also remembered the time she was able to take down around 5-7 spawned beasts of the Ten Tails, and she was very glad for herself, removing her self-pity and negativity. The way her Twin Lion Fists's flew flawlessly around her delicate palms that encircled her whole hand, it looked marvelous when people would look at it. Then she'd think that people would want her to become the heiress again. But no, she gave it to her sister no matter how much she deserved that title ages ago.
"Hinata." A panting Shino was heard beside her as she turned to look at him. All sweaty and tired.
"What is it Shino-kun?"
"I've never knew they would be so strong and fast. It's no wonder why I can't keep up with their speed…you'll need to back me up. I can't handle this alone." He asked her a favor and what seemed like forever, tried to attack the enemy with his parasitic insects and taijutsu. "Right, I'm coming Shino-kun!" She flipped backwards and delivered an attack with a Gentle Fist. She ran towards Shino's direction and stood still, measuring her distance between their enemies.
"Shugohakke Rokujūyon Shō!" Her arms spun in a flexible way it looked like she attacked with the sixty-four palms and created a semi-spherical barrier that hits the enemy within its distance. Completely mastering it, she successfully defeated the enemies and were all blown away from the impact.
"Thanks Hinata." Shino thanked her and caught his breath. He then looked at the other side of them, seeing Kiba attacking the enemies with his clan's jutsus and his taijutsu, he looked like it felt easy for himself, but on the inside, he was very tired for doing this for an hour. He felt like this was forever, and was starting to lose his chakra.
He can't believe it either. He wasn't this tired during the Fourth Great Ninja War. He was completely fired up from the start and made himself show his new strong techniques to his rival classmate. But he didn't feel like it? No. Maybe he was just getting rusty, after hearing that Naruto had to overcome 2 years of study before being promoted to Jōnin rank. Honestly, he doesn't know, and he wants to beat Naruto into it, but deep inside him, he's very proud of the hero. Right now, all he cared about was finishing this surprisingly stressful fight before him and have a long nap in his house.
Since he was almost out of chakra, he just waited for himself to amass more chakra as he can while he fought with his taijutsu for now. He even used his shurikens and kunai, applying basic attacks and timing his limited usage of chakra-based attacks. He glanced at the two who were separated from him, and finally came to help. He felt relieved and rescued, he can always count on them. Always.
'Come on…I need more chakra…just…a little more!' He inwardly forced himself to amass more chakra until his head had beads of sweat dropping on the ground. He can't afford to be weak after all the events that happened in the war, he can't make it all go to waste like this. Kiba would also feel Naruto's thoughts go through him at times like this and it would tell him not to give up no matter what, he just can't betray them, now that Naruto and himself acknowledged each other's abilities and pain.
In the meantime, he waited and waited, until his flow of chakra will become normal and be put to use in battle.
"Tsk. At times like this…" He muttered and punched the incoming enemy towards the face and sending him flying with a roundhouse kick to the gut. "I just wish I had Naruto's chakra! Or even a Tailed Beast sealed within me!" He proclaimed loudly. "Kiba, having a Tailed Beast inside you won't help since you'll be dealing with a demon inside you. You could even die after having the Tailed Beast extracted, so don't take it lightly because -"
"I know, you one-minded bug-boy! Just don't let your information ruin my pride!" He said and punched the enemies jaw, followed by another attack from Akamaru. "Thanks boy!" The white-furred dog barked and bended.
"As always." Hinata quietly muttered and hit the enemy's tenketsu.
What they didn't know was that another enemy rather, wasn't slipped out from the battlefield but acted as a sniper and he masked, covered his chakra, sight and scent, completely blending in with the forest tree. Since the trio plus the dog were too focused on their battle, they found out their weakness and took it as an advantage.
The enemy was positioned far but able to see the blind spot of the Hyūga and in a distance where his sight and cover won't be blown away. The enemy prepared three arrows, loading them in on the string of the bow. Knowing this, he's a sharpshooter and he has the advantage.
The archer lifted the bow, pulling the three arrows inserted between his fingers along with the string. He then closed one eye and focused on the girl's behind, then…he launched it.
Shino was fighting with the enemies one by one with his taijutsu and his bugs, but then he sensed an incoming projectile as it headed towards its trajectory point.
"Hinata! Move away!" He shouted and Hinata just glanced at him. "Sh-Shino-kun?"
"Move away! Or else you'll -" Hinata heard something tear out of place and a piece of metal touch the ground. As she looked down, she found someone's forehead protector torn in half. Crimson covered his chest and she spotted the brown messy hair that told all of his distinguished features. She then looked at her rescuer and it was no other than her teammate Kiba.
She froze as soon as he looked at her. Blood was dripping from his mouth and he smiled.
"See…? I told you…you can trust your…comrades…" He said weakly and slumped on Shino's shoulders. "No! Kiba!" Shino shook him hopelessly as he tried to regain his comrade's consciousness. Hinata was there crying uncontrollably and shook in despair as she knelt down and gritted her teeth.
She remembered those times he said, "Trust your comrade" and it started ages ago even before they became a team.
-0-
Hinata was seen alone in the playground. She just kicked the snow and rolled a small ball of it. Hinata crouched down and made more little balls of snow, as if stacking them up and trying to balance it. Until it reached the very top, she stacked the last one and waited for it to perfect. But before it would make the whole thing fall because of its circular form, someone ruined it.
She looked at the culprit and knew that her bully would come and get her.
"Hey! Mind if I play snowball with you, blind-eyes?" The boy mocked her with a nickname and chuckled along with his members. The shy Hyūga looked down in shame and hurt as the boys began to harass her with snowballs. "You should go first! And finally get your eyes blind after tripping into the snow!" Another boy chortled but soon choked after his mouth was filled with white.
She spotted several snowballs hitting them one by one until they all ran away from the scene.
Hinata looked at the two boys that defended her from her bullies. One had markings on his cheeks and one wore shades on his eyes. She recognized them both as her friends. "Sh-Shino-kun! K-Kiba-kun!" She stuttered nervously but is actually relieved after they came to her rescue. "Sorry we're late Hinata. We were just taking care of something." Kiba said. Shino pulled out a small box wrapped with a blue fabric and handed it over to Hinata.
The little girl shyly accepted the box and unwrapped it from the fabric. Her eyes sparkled like before and she felt happy once she saw what was inside.
"I told you to trust your comrades." Kiba stated and flashed her his fang-like grin, while Shino perked up his shades. "Comrades?" She mumbled softly in a questioning tone and looked at her stolen ointment.
This is it. This is it for Hinata to know on which team she'll be placed, she's been playing with her fingers ever since the time all the rookies gathered into the classroom to find out their teams. She hoped to be with Naruto and she'll be able to get closer to him.
"Uzumaki Naruto." Iruka mentioned and she saw the blonde tremble with excitement. "Haruno Sakura." Then Naruto jumped up in excitement but drained when he heard Sakura's protests. "And Uchiha Sasuke. You'll be known as Squad Seven." While Sakura jumped up in excitement, Naruto growled in frustration and stood up. Hinata looked down in disappointment. 'This was my only way to get closer to Naruto…'
"Iruka-sensei! Why do I have to be teamed up with him?!" He shouted in protest as he glared at the Uchiha survivor. "Because…he's the top rookie and you're the dobe in this class. You'll need to learn from him eventually." Iruka stated. "But why him?!"
"Don't make me angry…" Iruka obviously fumed and was starting to get crossed from Naruto's yelling. "Y-Yes sir…" The blonde behaved and sulked to himself. The teacher cleared his throat and looked at the list. "Moving on,
Hyūga Hinata." Hinata looked up. "Inuzuka Kiba." The dog-boy grinned. "Aburame Shino." The bug-boy perked up his shades. 'Well, at least I'm teamed up with my friends…' She thought.
It was a troubling afternoon after she found herself kidnapped by two Kumo-nins. This was in the midst of a tragedy with the Sand, Sound and the Leaf who were in the middle of fighting in the village. She lay there weak and unmoved as she struggled to be free from the enemy's grasp.
"Gatsūga!" She heard her teammate shout as he spun violently and attacked the two with ferocious intensity. 'Kiba came to rescue me? And…Neji-nii-san?' She thought as she coughed, she was then supported up by a pair of arms, only to find out it was her closest friend. "See? You should trust your comrade." He stated again and Hinata smiled.
After recalling those times, it brought her to more tears. He's said the same thing when things like this happen. And she regrets being rescued again and again, she didn't want to be weak anymore, but what was this all about?
Hinata stood up, tears flowing from her eyes as her Byakugan was activated. She soon flashed forward and glared towards the shooter from behind. She knew where he was since her Kekkei Genkai was activated. She positioned herself in a stance where it marks the Eight Trigrams circle. "Hakke Hyaku Nijūhachishō!" She cried and ruthlessly attacked with…
"Hakke Nishō!"
"Yonshō!"
"Hachishō!"
"Jū-rokushō!"
"Sanjūnishō!"
"Rokujūyonshō!"
Then Shino waited and stared dumbfounded at Hinata's strength. His other teammate was slowly losing air to breathe.
"Hyakunijūhachishō!" She cried and delivered the last blow, making the enemy unconscious and panting for breath. She deactivated her Byakugan and immediately headed to Kiba. The enemies retreated and left the area, leaving the troubled trio alone.
"Kiba-kun!" Hinata cried and hugged him, pulling out the two arrows on his chest. "Hinata…" He said in a weak voice. Hinata stared at him wide-eyed obviously crying for his dear life. "Just don't…cry…" He caressed her on the cheeks. Akamaru whimpered and whimpered after seeing his master taken out from earlier. "We've…suffered a lot…during the war…" Shino just listened to his dying best friend's words. "I can say…I died a pointless…death."
"No! D-Don't say that Kiba-kun!"
"Even before…the war…when we were trying…to retrieve…Sasuke I…was prepared to…die before Sakon and Ukon…and still…it would become a pointless death…" Hinata shook her head and hugged him even tighter. "Please! Don't say stuff like these Kiba-kun! N-No other deaths are p-pointless!" Hinata protested. "Sometimes they are…this is…the Ninja World after all…" He finalized and took in his last breath. "Trust me…Hinata…Shino…take care of yourselves…and Akamaru…" He said and went limp. His body was as cold as ice and his eyes were perfectly shut. Blood was still covering his mouth until Hinata cried. Shino clenched his fist after what seemed like forever.
Shino and Hinata hugged each other and mourned silently for their comrade's death. "Neji-nii-san…take care of…Kiba-kun!" She cried and tightened her embrace on Shino's.