The cool wind whistled around the small camp. Sai silently crept into his tent, leaving nearly all of the room for Naruto. Sakura too, went to bed, though she left the tent flap open for Hinata. Kakashi had his own tent, no surprise there. The campfire bellowed almost no smoke, leaving nothing but a starry night as their view. Four seats had been constructed out of logs, and Naruto sat his butt down into one. To his surprise, Hinata took the seat next to him. She leaned closer to the flames in an attempt to warm herself. Naruto couldn't help but think to himself,
Wow, I guess Hinata is sort of pretty.
Naruto hadnt realized he was staring at her, and he blushed profusely when Hinata caught him looking.
"Naruto, is something wrong?"
Shaking his head a little too fast he said,
"Nope, thought I saw a bug behind you. Its gone now."
Hinata nodded, still not breaking her no-eye contact rule. Shivering, she wrapped her arms around herself, once more trying to get some warmth on this cool night. Regret flooded over her once Naruto stood from his seat without and a word to her, went into his tent.
Stupid lack of conversational skills.
Hinata nearly jumped out of her skin when she felt something warm and comfortable drape over her shoulders. Her appearance brightened when Naruto sat back down. She realized that Naruto had just put his jacket on her. She looked at him then, not even realizing she was breaking her number one rule.
"I figured you could use it, more than I ever could. I don't get cold very often."
Hinata smiled, not a wide grin, but enough to show Naruto that she was touched. Naruto grinned back.
Its so amazing. His smile can melt away all of my concerns.
Not giving it another thought, she snuggled in closer to the jacket. Her pale fingers twirled around a loose button and she closed her eyes. Never in a million years did she think she would be in this scenario. Funny how life turns out.
Naruto couldn't help but still another peek at Hinata. He'd never really noticed her before. Not that he didn't care, it's just that he was Naruto. He was a pretty unobserving kind of guy. He smiled to himself. Hinata looked so content it made him feel content. Never mind that they were in an unfamiliar territory on a potentially life endangering mission. He was sitting here with Hinata, the quiet mousy girl. It wasn't until he noticed that the moon was starting to drift to the opposite side of the earth that he thought of sleep. Standing up, he said in such a light tone it could have been mistaken as a whisper,
"I guess I'll get some sleep in. Who knows how early Kakashi is going to make us leave."
Hinata smiled lightly, and replied back,
"Or how late."
Naruto chuckled.
I guess everyone knows of his track record with being on time.
Hinata stood as well, and began to unwrap herself from the jacket. She stopped when Naruto shook his head.
"Keep it. It looks better on you anyway."
Hinata had to look away then. If she had kept looking, Naruto would surely have noticed the tomato color her face had turned.
He noticed anyway. Just as he was about to enter his tent, he heard Hinata, barely above a whisper say,
"Byakugan!"
Suddenly, he was shoved to the ground and Hinata was in his place, clutching her arm. A shuriken was half-way embedded into her skin.
Naruto whirled around to see the assailant, or assailant's, dashing closer to the camp. Hinata jumped to her feet, ignoring the pain. She'd had worse. Naruto yelled for everyone to wake up, and sooner than he could blink, Sakura and Kakashi were at his side, later joined by Sai.
"I guess the Hokage was right. We're being followed," said Kakashi, melodrama oozing from his words.
Hinata, with more fierceness than expected, said,
"There's only five, none behind or to the sides. Just directly in front."
Sakura laughed as she built up her chakra and focused into her earth shattering punch.
"Piece of cake."
Four bodies flew in the air as the fifth one narrowly avoided the deadly quake. This fifth one on his own stood no chance. Everyone still in their same places as when they began, took a step back as Kakashi threw one kunai. As it flew through the air directly into the forehead of the attacker, the distinct flap of paper blowing in the wind could be heard. There was an explosive tag on the end.
"That certainly took care of that," mumbled Sai.
Scanning to make sure there no others, Hinata nodded.
"There was only five? That seems like a bit of a small number, don't you think?"
Naruto nodded at Sakura. He had been wondering about that too.
"It looks like we've been underestimated," Kakashi said.
Naruto nodded again and looked back at Hinata. He was about to thank her for the warning, when he noticed her face an even paler shade than usual. He saw the scarlet blood droplets falling to the ground and dripping down her arm.
"Sakura, Hinata's been hit."
Sakura nodded and walked over to her.
"Its nothing to serious. Let me heal it."
Once Sakura had completed the process, Hinata thanked her. Once more making sure that no one else was in the woods, she made her way over to Naruto. Everyone else had already gone back to bed.
"Hinata-san. I'm so sorry you were hurt. It was my fault. I should have heard them coming."
Hinata actually looked irritated.
"Naruto, no one is at fault. It's not even a critical injury. I'm fine and you're fine and that's all that matters."
Guiltily, Naruto accepted her words.
"Still, I owe you one Hinata. Thanks."
He nodded in her way before entering into his tent. He looked back at her and smiled once more.
That's the best thanks you could give me. Knowing you're well and…smiling.
Author's Note: So, was this one any better? My fighting scenes will get more dramatic with actual fighting, don't worry. Was the romance alright? That also will get more dramatic with action :D. Let me know what you though; I love hearing from everyone.