One must always be aware; to notice even though the cost of noticing is to become responsible.
-Thylias Moss
Chapter 4- Missions
"What's your favorite restaurant, Sasuke-teme? We need breakfast."
Hoshi was oddly unsurprised at finding that Sasuke had spent the night, while Sasuke was very surprised at how well he had slept and how punctual Hoshi had been. She had come over at 7, demanding to know where to go for breakfast. The boys had actually just finished getting ready by the time she had come.
"I do enjoy Kunio's Café." It seemed that Sasuke still thought that less was more, at least when it came to talking. Nonetheless, they were all sitting at that café in 10 minutes.
Sasuke noticed Hinata giving the waiter a glare as they entered. He had also noticed that the waiter's face had turned angry and cold when he had seen them. Sasuke guessed that they probably wouldn't have been able to eat there had Hinata not glared. It was odd, seeing the normally shy and kind heiress look so angry. He also thought it odd that someone was glaring at them, a Hyuuga and an Uchiha. This meant that he was probably glaring at Hoshi or Naruto. He wondered what was up briefly before he caught himself and quickly put it out of his mind, deciding that all his attentions were supposed to be directed towards Itachi, not at why the village seemed to hate either Hoshi or Naruto.
They quickly ordered. Afterwards, silence descended on the table. Sasuke found this to be a bit more than odd. He had only been around the group of three for two days, but even he knew that it was never so quiet.
They were sitting how they were sitting at Arata's the day before, with Hoshi next to Hinata. Hoshi seemed down for some reason, and Hinata looked like she was trying to comfort her without words. Naruto seemed sad too, and Hinata was trying to buck him up at the same time. This, however, wasn't really working out for her.
Sasuke sighed a bit, knowing that if he wanted a decent conversation or to at least break the hated silence, he would need to start it. He told himself that he was talking not to comfort, but just because he was bored.
"What mission do you think we're going to get?" It was the only question that seemed like he would ask that would start a conversation. Hoshi, Naruto, and Hinata were surprised that Sasuke knew how to instigate a conversation. Naruto and Hoshi found no reason to keep their thoughts to themselves, unlike Hinata.
"IT SPEAKS!" Hoshi chose to go with her usual dramatic yet funny antics.
"I had no clue that you knew how to start a conversation, teme! I thought that you only knew how to answer direct questions!" Naruto had a slightly more intelligent reaction, oddly enough. Sasuke blushed ever so slightly.
Hinata decided to put him out of his misery. "A D-rank, of course. Maybe painting a house or something."
It took Naruto longer than Hoshi to get that Hinata was answering the question that had caused such violent reactions. Thus, Hoshi responded first. "Naw, we'll probably get the cat mission." All three shuddered. Sasuke was confused.
"There's this cat, Tora, who is constantly running away from her master. Whenever she does, a D-rank is born. It's the infamous cat retrieval mission. No one comes back unscathed, and every genin team gets it. Guaranteed scratches." Hoshi, with her usual observational skills, had noticed Sasuke's understandable confusion. Thus, she told the story of Tora with her usual flare.
Hinata rolled her eyes. Naruto grinned, having an idea. "Come on, Hoshi-chan, don't scare the poor kid."
Sasuke spluttered, disbelief in his eyes. Luckily, the disbelief overpowered the small warm tingle that had come with successfully bringing Hoshi and Naruto out of their funk.
Naturally, he focused on Naruto's comment. Please! Like him, an Uchiha, would be scared of a cat. He was about to say so, but their food arrived. Naruto couldn't help but grin to himself. He had figured a comment like that would upset the Uchiha.
They all dug in, respectively. Hoshi and Naruto fell on their food as though they hadn't eaten in days. Hinata ate slower than then, pronounced grace with her every move. Sasuke ate slowly too, but more because he was in awe at the speed at which Hoshi and Naruto were shoving food into their mouths. Hoshi was much cleaner than Naruto though.
They were finished in no time. They quickly paid the check and left, each wondering how their first day of training would go.
XXXXX
"Let's start with a lap around the field for a warm-up! And by 'let's' I mean 'you'll' so snap too." Kakashi gave orders with his usual Sasuke-like bluntness.
Suppressing their groans, the four genin started running. Kurenai looked at Kakashi with a smile. "This may be the first time I have ever seen you arrive on time. Congratulations. You had better get used to doing it everyday if you want to wake up everyday." She flashed her innocent-yet-disturbing smile before walking off. Kakashi gulped. Of all the kunoichi, I had to get stuck with the only one of two who scares me.
The kids finished their lap. Kurenai clapped her hands together with a smile. "Okay, we're going to look at ninjutsu today. Kakashi-senpai and I will teach you all a couple defensive ones."
She grinned. Kakashi cleared his throat, starting them off. "Replacement." He performed it slowly so that the students could catch the hand signs. He replaced himself with a log, deciding to keep it simple. "Okay, your turn."
They all started to perform hand signs. Kurenai did not let any of them perform the jutsu until they were all doing the hand signs fast enough for her satisfaction. That is to say, pretty dang fast. All of them got the hand signs at around the same time, which was relatively short. Getting the jutsu, however, took a little more time.
Naruto and Hoshi kept overloading the jutsu, which caused it not to work. Kakashi walked over and showed them how much chakra was needed to successfully perform the jutsu.
Sasuke took a while to find the right amount of chakra but, with a little help from Kurenai, he got it first.
Hinata never put enough chakra into the jutsu. With Kurenai's help, she got it at around the same time as Hoshi.
Naruto took longest, seeing as he was never capable of suppressing chakra while Hoshi had worked hard at learning how to properly suppress it. While Kakashi worked with him, Kurenai turned to the others with a smile. "Okay, next. I want all of you to learn the Mud Wall technique. It can block many jutsus effectively. So watch closely."
Sasuke, Hoshi, and Hinata got the signs quickly. Performing it, however, was slightly different.
This time, Hinata got it quickest, Hoshi right behind her. Since they both had just learned how to raise and lower their chakra, respectively, it only took a couple of tries to get it right. Or at least, that was what they thought. Kurenai smirked. They either have water or earth nature. Not a surprise, I suppose.
Sasuke was having problems, which was not surprising to Kurenai. He probably had lightning or fire nature, as all Uchihas did. This was a water and earth technique, which are lightning and fire's opposites.
Sasuke was frustrated. How could he, an Uchiha, not get such a simple technique when a civilian and a Hyuuga got it? His parents would be disappointed that he lost to a Hyuuga, and a civilian nonetheless. Kurenai decided to help. Time for a mini-lesson on nature manipulation.
"Hoshi, Hinata, Naruto, and Sasuke come sit down. I have a small lesson for you all." She interrupted the girls' conversation and Kakashi trying once again to show Naruto how to suppress his chakra. He was just not getting it. Sasuke looked up and walked over.
"Okay, I am going to give all of you a brief overview of nature manipulation, mainly for Sasuke's benefit. All you need to know right now is this.
"Every person's chakra is naturally suited to an element: earth, fire, water, wind, or lightning. All of the elements have a weakness and strength. Fire, which is what most Uchiha's naturally prefer, is strong against wind and weak against water. Wind is strong against lightning but weak against fire. Lightning is strong against earth but weak against wind. Earth is strong against water but weak against Lightning. To complete the circle, water is strong against fire but weak against earth.
"These five elements are what the 5 Great Shinobi Nations are named after and the basis for all elemental ninjutsu.
"The Mud Wall technique combines Earth and Water. I suspect the girls got it quickly because they are suited to either earth or water. Sasuke, you are most suited to fire. That's why this technique is so hard for you. You will eventually get it, but only if you think more like earth and water than fire.
"Sasuke, please practice this technique on your own time. Any questions?"
Kakashi was silently applauding. He doubted he could have given a better explanation.
Sasuke was smirking. Good to know that it was something like this, something he had almost no control over. He was still superior to Hoshi and Hinata.
Hoshi smirked as well, both at seeing Sasuke's smirk and at the explanation. Little did Sasuke know that she and Hinata were far ahead of him. It pleased her to know that she was either water or earth, the same as her best friend. She hoped she was water. She would love to be able to kick the Uchiha's butt. Again.
Hinata smiled softly to herself. No wonder she had gotten the technique so quickly. She would have to ask her father if there was an element most Hyuuga have.
Naruto was silent, but it was mostly because he was still absorbing the plethora of information.
Kurenai looked around, satisfied that there were no questions. "Good. Okay, now is a good time to break for lunch. Be back here in one hour." With that, her and Kakashi leaped off.
Team 8 exchanged glances. Without a word, they headed off to Arata's.
XXXXX
"Team 8! I was wondering when you would come in for your first mission. Let's see, what do we have in store for you…" The Hokage was smiling, happy to see that Team 8 had finally come in. Hoshi and Naruto always knew how to brighten up his day.
His smile turned slightly mischievous when he landed on the piece of paper he was looking for. Naruto and Hoshi, who recognized that look, gulped.
"Tora Retrieval Mission!" This was met with loud cries of displeasure from Hoshi and Naruto and a slight shudder but an accepting nod from everyone else.
Hoshi and Naruto glared at the old man. Hoshi spoke up. "Ojiisan, you are one cruel old man."
Everyone in the room gasped, save Naruto, Hoshi, and the Hokage. Kurenai was braced for a reprimand on her and Kakashi for not teaching their students respect. But then she was surprised by laughter coming from said village leader.
"Always the dramatic one, Hoshi-chan. Yes, I will have to admit that I am a sadist. Now run off while I laugh at your pain." With that, the Hokage gestured for the next team to come in. Team 8 was a little slow in filing out, thanks to the shock most of them were feeling.
Kurenai, Kakashi, and Sasuke were shocked by how close the Hokage seemed to be to Hoshi and slightly by the Hokage's sense of humor. For some reason, each had thought their leader would have no humor. All three swore to find out why the relationship between them was so strong.
Hinata was surprised by the Hokage's humor. She knew Hoshi and Naruto were very close to the Hokage and she didn't know why, although she did have a better idea than the rest of her team.
Hoshi was grumbling about cruel sadist old men while Naruto was wondering what on earth sadist meant.
XXXXX
"I told you, Sasuke-teme. This is what happens when you don't listen to me. Geez, you'd think you would've figured out by now that I'm always right." Hoshi was currently sitting next to Sasuke in front of the Hokage's office, since there was a line before they could get in with their successful mission. She was rubbing some more of her healing balm onto Sasuke's new scratches, which were pretty much everywhere. In Hoshi's defense, she had tried to warn him.
"Hn." It seemed as though Sasuke disliked discussing his failures. It was true that Hoshi had warned him that going in alone would result in something like this. But why would he, an Uchiha, listen to a civilian? Exactly.
Hoshi scoffed. She was getting more adept at reading the Uchiha's thoughts. "It is possible for a cat to get the best of the Rookie of the year. Remind me of that the next time I'm too lazy to beat you up, okay teme?"
This comment was directed towards her friends in an attempt to get them to laugh, but she quickly realized that they didn't need her help. They both seemed to be deep in an enjoyable conversation about their first mission. Hoshi couldn't help but smile, a mix of triumph, sadness, and fondness clearly evident on her face. She had been trying to get them to talk without her help for ages and now that they had finally done it, she was afraid of losing them.
She quickly squashed those feelings. Whatever was happening here was for their own good. She was not going to hold them back from their happiness.
Sasuke had watched this play of her feelings run across her face. He had been tempted to give her a reassuring hug when he had seen the sadness there but, much like Hoshi had just done, he squashed those feelings. Absolutely nothing would get in the way of Itachi and him, not even his heart.
It was then that they were called in.
The Hokage smiled at the sight of the team when they walked in. Sasuke was covered in scratches, although it was hard to tell since they were covered with white-but-fading-quickly healing balm. He had known when he had assigned this mission that Sasuke would try to take it on alone. It was funny to see that he was right.
"Here's the kitty!" Hoshi announced this proudly. Sasuke had been surprised to say the least that, after he had captured the kitty after a pretty rigorous fight, that it had leaped into Hoshi's arms extremely willingly as soon as it had seen her. He had originally thought that it had been trying to get away, and he was right up to a point.
Hoshi, for her part, only shot him a smile full of humor before walking away with the kitty snuggling most willingly into her arms. Sasuke had followed a bit grudgingly.
The Hokage had known of the kitty's fondness for Hoshi. That was why he had assigned the team the mission. He had also known that Sasuke would not listen to anything Hoshi said. Well, now he knows what not listening to Hoshi-chan can lead to,
"Thank you, Hoshi-chan. Dismissed." And just like that, their first mission was over. It had left all but the most foolish unscathed, which was something the rest of the team would forever laugh at.
XXXXX
"Okay, team. Since this is only your first day, we'll let you go." Kurenai had felt bad for keeping them as late as they had yesterday, and she was now trying to make it up to them.
Kakashi chose to butt in. "Don't do anything I would do!"
Kurenai rolled her eyes while Hoshi sniggered. Suddenly, she brightened.
"Come on! It's only 3:00! We have to go over to Hina-chan's house! 8:00!" Hoshi raced off to Hinata's house. It had been a while since she had gotten the chance to spend time with her favorite clan, and plus today would be Sasuke's introduction. She knew that the Hyuuga and Uchiha were rivals, but they didn't have to know she knew!
Naruto was right behind her. He couldn't wait to see his favorite family either. He, too, was looking forward to introducing the Uchiha. The prankster in him just couldn't help himself; he wanted to see the look on the elder Hyuugas' faces. He smiled evilly.
Hinata and Sasuke lagged behind, mostly because one was in no rush and the other was a bit scared, although he would never admit it. He felt as though he was looking for… approval. Which was odd, considering he was going to his clan's enemy's house. Still, he couldn't help feeling a bit apprehensive, and not for the right reasons.
Naturally, Hinata noticed this. She approached the problem as subtly as she knew how, which was pretty dang subtle. "Father had been waiting to meet my new teammate, as well as Neji-niisan and Hana-otouto. Remember to behave yourself, Sasuke-san."
Sasuke was a bit relieved and annoyed with her statement. He ignored the relieved part of him and focused on his annoyance. How did Team 8 keep managing to get past his barriers? It was like it was easy for them, and once they did they made sure to address it. Almost as if they were taking responsibility for what they noticed to help him out.
Stuck in his thoughts, they had arrived before he knew it. Hoshi and Naruto wasted no time sprinting into the house, yelling "I'M HOME!" louder than he had ever thought possible. Hinata giggled before stepping in before him.
Hoshi and Naruto were standing in the middle of many children, for it seemed as though their call was a signal for all the Hyuuga children to attack them like they would do a good friend who had been gone for some time.
They were currently in the middle of an all-out tickle war, traditional for them, a bit of a surprise for the Uchiha. Shouldn't the Hyuuga kids be like little robots, never showing any emotion? He knew they did, that was how they acted in the marketplace. But it seemed as though, with Hoshi and Naruto, they were just… kids.
Caught up in these thoughts, he didn't notice Hinata quickly moving away from the huddle. Once he realized she had done so and was preparing to follow her, it was too late.
Before he knew what was happening, a blur attacked him. He was bracing himself for pain, since that was to be expected when something lands on him like that. He couldn't believe he had let his barriers down so low. He felt fingers coming at him and braced himself…
… Only to be tickled in the sides, his most vulnerable spots. Nonetheless, he couldn't help but laughing at the sensation. It had been so long since he had been tickled, and it was a rather pleasant sensation to just laugh.
Hoshi seemed to be having just as much fun as he was, laughing as though she were the one being tickled. She had never heard the Uchiha laugh before. He should laugh more often. When he was laughing, it seemed as though the weight he was forever carrying on his shoulders lightened just a bit.
Just when the thought that he should start to tickle her back entered his mind, Hoshi got lifted off of him.
Hiding his disappointment, he quickly stifled the rest of his laughter and stood up with just as stoic a face as before. He found that Hoshi was currently being held away from him by an older boy, probably only by a year though. He had long hair, which was tied back towards the end, and was wearing the traditional white Hyuuga robes with the Hyuuga eyes. He couldn't help but wonder who this boy must be, if he could handle Hoshi so easily and so familiarly. It bugged him, however he chose not to dwell into the why.
Hoshi, for her part, was certainly not trying her best to get out of his hold. It had been a while since they had been here at the same time, and she was currently letting Neji delude himself into thinking that he could overpower her. She grinned before turning around and hugged him. She really had missed him, after all. It came as no surprise to her when he hugged her back, and just as tightly. She saw him as a big brother, and she was sure he felt the same way about her.
Then she realized that Sasuke would have no idea who this boy was. She turned her head slightly, so that she would be able to hug Neji and make eye contact with Sasuke at the same time. "Sasuke-teme, this is Neji. Hemi-kun, this is Sasuke."
If either boy was surprised at the slightly odd introduction, neither showed it. In fact, the Hyuuga had hardly showed any emotion at all, even when being hugged by his favorite little sister and that she had changed his honorific. At a loss, Neji let go of Hoshi. He held her hand instead, as though she were a little girl again. "Uchiha Sasuke. I have been wondering who my cousin and friends have been training with." He ignored Naruto and Hoshi's surprised looks. He usually referred to them as his siblings.
Sasuke was not surprised. Of course Hoshi and Naruto were friends with this Hyuuga, who seemed to be one of the most stoic of them all. He felt and ignored the, despite his best efforts, getting-familiar slight pinching sensation in his chest area when he saw how protectively Neji seemed to be holding Hoshi's hand.
Nonetheless, he answered quickly and shortly, despite the feeling as though he were in some kind of test. "Hello, Neji."
With that, Hoshi turned towards said Hyuuga with questions in her eyes. Neji could barely restrain his smile, although it showed in his eyes. He decided to pop her bubble before it got too big and answered her unasked questions. "Hoshi-chan, later. Most of it is confidential anyway."
And thus, with a pout she didn't even try to conceal, she looked at him. Neji could feel his heart melting, as he always did whenever Hoshi turned that pout on him. Naruto came to his rescue.
"Neji!" He pretty much tackled him with his hug, although Neji somehow managed to stay on his feet. He hugged him back as well, although it wasn't as tight as when he hugged Hoshi. He put him down Justas he felt a new commanding presence behind him. He couldn't hold back his smirk.
"Sasuke. A pleasure to finally meet you." That commanding voice which seemed to hold so many tones could only belong to Hiashi. After all, only he could say such polite words with such a different meaning all while holding a poker face. He seemed to be saying how much it was not a pleasure to meet him, and that a test was starting.
Hoshi knew all this, seeing as she had lived here for most of her life. Despite her wanting to see him torture her newest friend, she couldn't help herself. She ran at him and gave him a hug.
Hiashi was not surprised, and he hugged her back with no hesitation. His eyes showed love and endearment, but only for the space of a few seconds. Again, this surprised Sasuke. The Hyuuga head, known throughout Konoha for his ability to never show emotion at all, just hugged someone who wasn't even his daughter. Really, what's going on here?
Then Hoshi backed off, in order to let his actual daughter give him a slightly more formal greeting. But only slightly, seeing as said daughter hugged him too after saying hi. Hiashi chuckled, and the love again present in his eyes touched Neji's, and Team 8's, hearts.
Sasuke chose to just stop noticing the effect Hoshi seemed to have on people. It was far too tiring, really, to always be surprised. She always seemed to completely ignore his expectations and then substitute a new, and usually better, impression on him.
Shaking his head, he looked up again only to find Hoshi now hugging a little girl who could be a mini-Hinata. It was obvious that she loved Hoshi as much as she loved her by-blood sister. Sasuke quickly looked away, finding that he was noticing her surprises again.
Really, what was it about Hoshi that seemed to simply draw people to her? And why was he even wondering about this? Itachi. My mind must always focus on Itachi. No one else.
XXXXX
"Bye!" Hoshi and Naruto were still waving wildly at the house as they walked away to their favorite dinner restaurant. Hinata, more poised by far, simply waved slightly back. Sasuke hardly even looked back.
They had spent four hours over there, but it had felt like much longer. Even a blind man would have been able to see how the Hyuuga treated Hoshi and Naruto like family. It just served to remind him of everything he had lost, which had put him into a foul mood.
"Sasuke-teme, lighten up!" Hoshi had seen the look of pain on Sasuke's face, despite his efforts to hide it. After spending almost all her life with the Hyuuga, Sasuke's poker face was not even a challenge to read.
Sasuke jerked, wrenched from his sad thoughts. He didn't even start to wonder at her ability to read him like a book, so determined was he to not notice anything about her. Unfortunately, he began doing it again almost instantly.
They were walking on a road instead of roof hopping, so they actually saw people as they walked. Sasuke was noticing all the glares that seemed to be directed at them.
Wait… it wasn't at all of them. They seemed to be focused on Hoshi and Naruto, as usual. Jeez, this was getting ridiculous. Now that he got to know them, he knew neither would ever hurt a fly. So why were they getting so much hate? Deciding to leave it for another time, Sasuke glared at anyone who was looking at them.
Hoshi and Naruto, used to blocking out the waves of hate directed at them, simply stared ahead. But they both noticed when people started looking away, going back to whatever they were doing. They looked around, and Hoshi saw Sasuke glaring at anyone who so much as blinked at them.
Surprised and extremely grateful, she brushed her hand against his in order to get his attention. It did all right. Sasuke nearly jumped when he felt the touch and the resulting tingles. He looked at her.
Hoshi smiled before mouthing 'thank you'. Sasuke smiled subconsciously to himself in response to her smile, although he didn't know why. He shook his head for what felt like the millionth time that day. Itachi. The monster who killed your family, everyone you loved. Itachi. Not cute little Hoshi. Itachi.
XXXXX
"Hey guys, I'm going to have to leave you here. I have an appointment. Don't worry about it!" Hoshi was determined to be punctual to her first private meeting with her teachers, but she knew her friends would follow her if she didn't hijack it out of there, and fast. She didn't want them to feel putout by any extra attention towards her.
Using all her strength, she ran as fast as she could away from her friends. This was pretty fast, and it left her teammates in the dust. They all quickly gave up any idea of following her, Hinata because she knew that if she had wanted them to come along, she would have slowed. Naruto because he knew she could be slippery and not be found when she wanted too. And Sasuke because he was determined to crush any feelings of friendliness towards Hoshi, who was slowly but steadily worming her way into his heart.
XXXXX
Two Weeks Later
"Take your pick, Hoshi-chan, Naruto-kun. Painting a house, walking some dogs, cleaning the—"
"Ojiisan, you give me ONE MORE D-rank, and I shall throw a tantrum." It seemed Hoshi had enough, although her weird childish threat raised Sasuke's eyebrow.
Said Uchiha was even more confused when the Hokage actually looked scared at this idea. Jeez, what was the big deal about a fourteen-year-old girl throwing a tantrum?
His thoughts were interrupted. "Hoshi-chan, really. How old are you?" Sasuke realized that the fear on the Hokage's face was an act. He scowled; disappointed in himself that he had fallen for such a cheap trick.
"Sadly, though, I do see your point, Hoshi-chan. Kurenai-san, Kakashi-san, do you believe your team is ready for a C-rank?" If anyone was surprised by the Hokage's sudden change of heart, only Hoshi and Naruto showed it. Really, can't those two hide emotions better than that? Sasuke couldn't help but think.
Kakashi and Kurenai looked at each other before nodding an affirmative. That was all that was needed for the Hokage. "Alright-y then. I guess you guys can handle this mission then." He pulled out a thin file from the stack of C-ranks, much to the team's delight.
He cleared his throat. "You are all assigned with escorting a bridge-builder, named Tazuna, back to his village in the Land of Waves. Once there, you must all stay there for however long he might need you. Estimated time away from village will be 10 days. You will find your customer waiting at the entrance to the village. Dismissed."
He handed Kakashi the folder while Hoshi and Naruto did a little dance of happiness. They ran out of the room, Hoshi yelling, "Thanks, Ojiisan! See you soon!" as she ran out. When the door shut behind them, the Hokage couldn't help but smile to himself. "Good luck, Team 8."
XXXXX
Within 10 minutes, Team 8 was packed and ready to go at the gate. Hoshi and Naruto could hardly hold still, bouncing in place with excited grins on their faces. Sasuke rolled his eyes at them while Hinata smiled softly.
The client, however, was less than amused. "You four punks are my protection? There's no way you guys are even ninja!"
All four turned to glare at him. Well, the guys did. The girls chuckled a bit and were about to speak up, but their two sensei had arrived.
"Let's get going." Kakashi headed off with hardly a hello towards the client. Kurenai rolled her eyes.
"Hold it, senpai. Hi, Tazuna-san, we will be your escorts to the Land of Waves. I'm Yuuhi Kurenai and this is Hatake Kakashi. We are the leaders of this team.
"This is Uchiha Sasuke, Hyuuga Hinata, Uzumaki Naruto, and Hoshi, our students. They will all protect you to the best of their ability, which is actually pretty good, so don't go degrading them. Alright, now we'll move out."
Kurenai finished the introductions quickly and was now assigning the team where to stand in order to guard the client effectively. It was quickly decided that Kakashi would walk in the lead, Hinata would walk in the back, Hoshi and Sasuke got his left, and Kurenai and Naruto got his right.
They set off quickly, the protective circle around Tazuna never wavering, their mouths never opening. Until they crossed a puddle.
Noticing this, Kakashi twitched; making sure Kurenai knew that he knew about the puddle. Hoshi, surprising Kurenai, nudged Sasuke ever so slightly before looking back at Hinata with a subtle wink.
Sasuke had started before realizing what the Jounin and Hoshi had already noticed. He cursed himself as he braced, wondering how he had missed such an obvious clue that the civilian had caught on to.
Hinata had given the slightest of nods back, telling Hoshi that her assumption was true. She then looked at Naruto. Feeling her gaze, he glanced back. She nodded in the direction of the puddle with a raised eyebrow.
Naruto caught on quicker than Kurenai or Sasuke had thought he would and braced himself. Kurenai was shocked at the teamwork and observational skills present here. She had thought the team would be caught completely off guard or that, if someone figured it out, that they would keep it to themselves. But the whole team had known about the threat in the space of a few seconds. She had really got to learn to stop these assumptions, especially when it came to Team 8.
Just then, to nobody's surprise except for Tazuna, Kakashi was sliced in half, followed by Kurenai. All the genin pretended to be surprised before getting into ready positions quickly. Hoshi was the one shouting out orders.
"Naruto, guard Tazuna with your clones. Hinata, stay near Tazuna too. Sasuke, let's go." Hoshi dropped the honorifics to save time, and it was a good thing she had too. Two bodies came barreling out of the trees as soon as Naruto and Hinata were in place. Sasuke and Hoshi grinned.
Hoshi jumped towards the one on the left, Sasuke the one on the right. The bandits had underestimated them and their speed.
Hoshi sent a flying sidekick to the face, which landed full on. However, he recovered quickly and sent his own kick towards Hoshi's gut. Avoiding it, she did a spinning ground kick, which he jumped over. He used that jump to crash a punch into Hoshi's head, almost knocking her out.
Sasuke was faring better. He had also started with a kick, but his was aiming at the guy's gut. It landed, and he didn't recover fast enough. Sasuke sent a well-aimed punch to the head, knocking him out. He looked towards Hoshi just in time to see the punch land on Hoshi's face. He felt angry with himself for leaving her to deal with the stronger bandit alone and for the bandit for hurting her and leaped towards her.
The bandit, however, had leaped towards Tazuna. Hinata and Naruto immediately went into action, ignoring how their strongest teammate had gone down and the next strongest was nursing her. Hinata went right in, her hand aiming and connecting to the point in his chest, which would knock his right arm out of action before being backhanded away. She crashed into a tree.
Naruto, who had already surrounded him, attacked him full on in a fit of rage. Unfortunately, that wasn't enough even though his right arm was out of whack. Luckily, Hoshi and Sasuke came to the rescue.
Hoshi had been surprised, at both the punch and Sasuke coming to her rescue. He had scarcely looked at her, focusing on the wound in the side of her head. He had barely gotten a glimpse of it when they heard Hinata crashing into the tree. Hoshi had gotten up and they had both nodded at each other before charging.
Both her and Sasuke hit the bandit in the head with twin sidekicks. He went down like a sack of bricks.
With grins of satisfaction, they all turned towards Hinata. That wiped their grins off.
Naruto immediately ran to the heiress. Hoshi looked at Sasuke, conflicted. Sasuke nodded, saying without words that he would tie up the bandits and take care of Tazuna while she looked after Hinata. With a grateful smile, Hoshi ran off as well.
Tazuna was looking at the genin in shock. They had fought beyond what he had thought them capable of, and none of them seemed to bat an eyelash at the fact that their sensei were dead. He voiced this concern. "Hello, what about your sensei?"
Sasuke smirked before dragging one of the bandits towards a large tree. Said sensei stepped out from the forest. "What about them?" Kakashi asked, amused and impressed. Tazuna jumped a bit in shock.
Kurenai immediately ran over to Hinata while Kakashi helped Sasuke tie the bandits to the tree. Both he and Kurenai had been impressed and yet disappointed.
It was amazing at how fast the four had reacted, Hoshi especially. He had thought that all of them would be caught off guard but instead; they had reacted as though they were expecting it. Hoshi had shouted out orders as though they were planned and with the authority in her tone which must be obeyed. Even Sasuke had listened to her.
He had liked how the entire team had worked, but he was disappointed in Hoshi. He knew that she could fight better than she had. Before every move, there was a hesitation. She was practically asking the enemy to hit her.
Actually, that reminded him of Sasuke's behavior. He had reacted almost instantly, going towards his teammate instead of his foe. Kakashi was conflicted about his feelings towards that action. On one hand, Sasuke had never showed that he cared for another human being other than Itachi and he had shown teamwork he had not thought the Uchiha was capable of with that action and the simultaneous kick. On the other, he had left himself wide open and had worried more about his teammate than the others.
But back to Hoshi. He had to ask her what was causing her sluggish movements. Speaking of whom…
"Sasuke, I can handle this. Why don't you go and see if Hoshi is okay?" In the bustle over the Hyuuga, everyone had forgotten about the blow to Hoshi's head, including Hoshi. He was sure Sasuke, however, had not forgotten.
Sasuke nodded. He had been worried over her head, seeing as it had almost knocked her out. Come to think of it, her movements were slow. He wondered why that was.
"Hoshi, I think Kurenai-sensei can handle Hinata. Will you let me look at your head?" Hoshi looked up, startled. She had completely forgotten about her head since she started worrying about Hinata. She knew Hinata would be fine now, though. But now that she was thinking about it, her head was really beginning to hurt. She got up and felt immediate dizziness.
Sasuke noticed this, of course. Seeing what was going to happen before it did, he rushed over to her. She fell into his arms with a soft gasp.
Sasuke sat down, feeling almost overwhelmed by anger and worry. He examined her head and saw, to his horror, that her scalp was open and bleeding. Because she had red hair, no one had noticed how much she had bled out. It also seemed as though her skull was cracked ever so slightly.
That did nothing for his nerves. "Kurenai-sensei! Come look at Hoshi." Kurenai hurried over, having deemed Hinata safe.
She almost gasped. How had she not noticed this? And how had Hoshi not collapsed until now? She immediately set to work, her hands glowing green.
Sasuke watched, tense and also curious. Healing jutsu? He made a mental note to learn some, so that he would be able to take care of her next time.
Wait, what? No, it was so that he would be able to heal himself in a fight against Itachi. Yeah, that was it.
His attention snapped back to Hoshi's head because, before his eyes, he saw scar tissue forming over Hoshi's wound. That was where Kurenai stopped. "The rest will heal up in due time. For now, she needs to rest. She'll be back up and running within the hour, I'm sure."
Kurenai was comforting Sasuke, although the latter was unaware of this. Relaxing ever so slightly, he looked over to Hinata. It seemed she was all right; enough so that she was staring at Hoshi with worry evident in her normally stoic eyes. Sasuke smiled slightly, trying his best to ease her worry.
He then looked over to the bandits, in particular the one who had hurt Hoshi. Now that Hoshi was out of the immediate danger zone, he was able to focus on controlling his feelings. He was surprised at the intensity of the anger that he felt towards the one who had hurt Hoshi and Hinata. He quickly squashed it. Now that he thought about it, he had an undue amount of worry towards his female teammates as well.
He cursed silently. So much for his focus on Itachi. He was, despite his best efforts, starting to care for his teammates. He looked down, his eyes softening. Oh yes, he had to kill these feelings he was having. Feelings he wasn't supposed to have.
Somehow, despite his best efforts, Team 8 had gotten through his wall.
Somehow, he had grown to care for them.
And somehow, he had to crush any and all feelings he had, including the ones towards a certain red-haired ninja lying in his lap.
XXXXX
"Friendship sneaks up on you when you are in need of one, whether you want it or not. It's like love, only sneakier."
Sorry if I'm going too fast, I just feel like the plot needs to move along a bit.
Thanks for you patience and reading!
-gimmecookiesorDIE