(A/N: For reasons beyond my comprehension, a group of people seem to actually be enjoying this drivel…

…I love you guys. Make's me feel a lot better about writing something so… I wont get into it, firegoat has expressed their annoyance against me bashing my own story and I can certainly understand how that is likely to get annoying.

I'm gonna try my best to make this story worth reading and hopefully grow attached to this piece of literature.

In other news, I need ten more reviews before I update Untold so… if you want that to update in the near future…)

Ironic Happiness

The halls were dark and Hinata found that she had keep her Byakugan activated constantly purely to keep from losing her way in all the twists and turns this place provided. Sasuke seemed to know exactly where he was going though and Hinata couldn't help but feel slightly envious of the confidence he was radiating.

He knew what his fate for at least the next few minutes was. He was in perfect control of what he did. He was helping her on a whim, a whim of all things!

She was innately irked at the empty halls that welcomed her, this place… it wasn't that she was afraid, far from it, but she felt unease.

Death was clinging to the very air after all.

She wondered off-handedly where the sound-nin were, they couldn't have simply vanished.

…could they?

She sighed lightly she was fretting far too much; she needed to keep focused on the mission. As much as she oddly felt she could trust the treacherous Uchiha there was no telling when he might simply 'change his mind' and kill her off.

His smirk from earlier was still sending shivers down her spine, he definitely had something planned for her and there was no guarantee it was anything good.

Why was she risking everything? She wasn't some weak little girl anymore she should have tracked down the base herself, she was a Byakugan user, no… instead she panicked like some sort of fool and begged some… arrogant asshole to assist her, going so far as to promise her life.

She knew she didn't entirely regret it though, she regretted going to him for help because she didn't want to be some idiotic weak little girl but she didn't regret promising her life. It was for her loved ones and she would never regret something she did to save them.

She needed to keep telling herself that or she might truly grow to regret everything she had done, leaving her an empty shell of what she previously might have been.

It was only when they entered a room with many seals that she brought her attention to the now.

These were holding cells…

She immediately searched the area with her eyes for her friends, ignoring the boy that led her here and rushing off to where she could see a familiar chakra signature.

Hinata gasped at what she saw, "K-Kiba-kun... Sh-Shino-kun..." she whispered so lightly she hardly heard it herself.

Both of them seemed to obtained severe injuries, she rushed to them hurriedly while taking out some ointments.

Shino pointed to Kiba, indicating that she should take care of him first; Hinata nodded in understanding and proceeded to look after Kiba.

Kiba's first reaction was to hug Hinata, as he had been very worried about his teammate, but kept from doing so purely because he was finding it difficult to move.

Hinata gave him a reassuring smile and removed what was left of his shirt, the gashes on his chest made her heart constrict and she began the odious task of cleaning his wounds, grimacing here and there when he let out a sound of pain.

Kiba blinked a few times, barely conscious, before he sniffed a both familiar and unfamiliar scent. His gaze swiveled to the Uchiha that was standing silently over them. Shino was already staring intensely at the male, watching for any movement he didn't approve of.

Kiba growled slightly, attracting Hinata's attention, "K-Kiba?"

"What's the Uchiha doing here?"

His question was rather sudden and Hinata was only then reminded of his presence.

She bit her lip and continued her work, "H-he helped me fi-find you…"

"Why?" Kiba's eyes were sharp, even in his daze, and he caught the hesitance Hinata had before answering.

"I-I'm not… sure…" she trailed off quietly, refusing to look at any other part of Kiba but his wounds.

Kiba narrowed his normally warm chocolate brown eyes, "You're lying."

She didn't look up, hardly bothering to defend the statement.

Sasuke feigned indifference as the awkward moment continued, stretching over the small room.

"Hinata." His sudden addressing of the girl caused all of the others to jump slightly before the meek girl turned to face him.

"H-hai…?"

"I have some business to attend to. Wait here." With that he turned and left.

Kiba panicked slightly, this could quite easily be a trap. Before he could tell Hinata to leave while she could Shino cut in.

"I put a bug on him, don't worry. If he does anything… treacherous I'll know."

It was sometime a huge relief to have someone like Shino on your team.

"What happened?" Hinata changed her mind quickly; having Shino on your team meant direct questioning and no tolerance for pitiful lies…

Sighing deeply she began to speak, "I-I ran into U-Uchiha-san wh-when I was looking for you tw-two..." she was avoiding the true meaning of the question and both men knew it.

"Hinata..." Kiba said in a warning tone.

"..." she remained silent.

"Did you make a deal with him?" Shino's question seemed to have hit home because Hinata flinched.

"I-I..."

Kiba, short on patience, pressed, "You what?"

"…h-hai… I made a-a deal…"

Shino gestured for her to elaborate.

"I... I'm h-his." she said it so quietly neither was sure they heard right.

"What?" Kiba leaned closer to be sure, Shino, who knew he heard right but didn't want to, looked rather frazzled.

"I'm... his." she spoke only a little quieter than normal and both of her teammates eyes widened as it fully set in.

"What?!"

Hinata nodded and continued, "A-ano... h-he said h-he would h-help me s-save y-you two... b-but he w-wanted something i-in return..."

"So you offered yourself?!" Kiba was on the verge of blowing up, but for Hinata's sake he stayed relatively calm.

She nodded, not looking at either of them as she moved on to clean and bandage Shino's wounds.

Kiba turned to face Hinata, his face portraying every bit how much he didn't agree with the decision.

"Kiba-kun..." she looked at him pleadingly, "Y-you know I-I'd do anything f-for those I-I love, n-ne?"

"And you know I would too!" he seemed more angry at himself than anything else, "But—!"

Hinata put a finger over his mouth and hugged him, "I-it'll be alright K-Kiba-kun, don't worry."

He hugged her back, "I will to worry! And you can't stop me from worrying either! The same goes for Shino!"

Shino nodded as he watched them de-tangle themselves and look at each other.

Kiba stood, "This isn't the time, for now we need to worry about getting out of here."

Shino nodded and Hinata wished she had paid more attention on the way in… "I'm n-not sure how to g-get out…"

Kiba groaned, "So we have to wait for Sasuke?! Ugh…"

(Ending Notes: Short chapter, mediocre ending… okay, enough pessimistic nonsense. I hope you all enjoyed, I loved receiving your reviews(I'm still squealing happily to know that you guys liked it) and I hope to update in the near future:)

-Muse-chan yawning and going to bed.)