Chapter 7

Hola, hmmmmm, I think I sounded a bit of a bitch in my last chapter.

Oh well.

Thank you for reading my story and faving/ following/ reviewing it. I wasn't sure if people would actually like it, but….. YAY!

This chapter is dedicated to MYK-ON! and ileveria for always reviewing! And a big thanks to chained –love for the review!

I kept my promise. Anyway, here you go.

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Hinata's eyes fluttered open then closed again as the first rays of light hit them. Some one shook her shoulder.

She groaned," 5 more minutes".

Some one snickered. Her eyes snapped open as she remembered where she was.

She looked down to see that she was wearing a soldier's uniform, just like everyone else.

Her face flushed re. They changed her! That means they saw her nak-

She stopped. She was Neji. It was no big deal. Calm down.

A pair of onyx black eyes met her lavender ones. Spiky, black bangs framed his face which had an expression of indifference written all over it. Sasuke.

He was sitting across from where she was sleeping.

She heard a crunching sound and turned to see a Choji , busy stuffing his face with potato chips.

" How troublesome" Hinata turned again to see Shikamaru lying on his back looking upwards.

She suddenly felt self-conscious, she was in a room surrounded by guys.

The only guy she had been in a room like this with was Neji, but this was different.

She stood up suddenly, surprising the 3 males, "I'm going to go for a walk". She said staring at the floor in a Neji-ish voice.

Shikamaru shrugged while Choji nodded, his cheeks were puffed out with chips like a squirrel.

" Make sure you don't get hit by any of those throwing knives, people are practicing out there" Sasuke smirked.

Hinata blanched and ran out.

This is going to be harder than I thought.

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Shikamaru opened a lazy eye and looked at Sasuke, "You've noticed too, right?"

He scowled,"Of course, I 've known him for 9 years"

Choji licked his fingers and looked at them curiously," Notice what?"

But silence reigned in the room once more.

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Hinata placed her hand over her pounding heart. She sighed, "I'm pathetic"

Sasuke was right. There were men chucking knives at targets which were marked, well, everywhere.

She walked around and tried to calm herself…. And tried to avoid the knives.

She still couldn't believe she had fainted like that because of Naruto.

She thought about how he hugged her and a blush worked up onto her face.

"Watch out!" a voice cried.

She spun around, just in time to see a knife heading towards her, getting closer by the second.

Without thinking, her hand flung out and caught the knife in midair, inches away from her face.

Her eyes widened and she let a gasp, TenTen's vigorous training had saved her once again. The person who threw it let out a low whistle. She looked at her attacker – an old man with white hair. There were wrinkles on his face as well as 3 lines on the corner of his eyes. He was wearing the everyday dress of a soldier who lived here.

"You look just like your mother"he said thoughtfully, tilting his head. Hinata flinched. How did he know Neji's mother?

"…..Hyuuga Hinata" he finished .

She froze. How did he know?! Oh god, this was bad. Really bad. Had the potion worn off. She picked up the knife and looked at her reflection and sighed with relief as she saw Neji's face looking at her.

She looked at the old man again and went into panic mode. She looked around. No one was looking at them.

Hinata grabbed the old man's hand and dragged him to a lonely spot near the Bloody River, a good 10 feet away fro their tent. He looked at her amused.

" How- How do you know who I am?" She hissed angrily.

He raised an eyebrow," I know many things, child, there is little in this world that my eyes cannot see".

She looked into his dark brown eyes, they were dull due to age but still sharp with a fire raging within.

"Who…are you?"She was at a loss for words.

He thought for a while and smiled, "Call me Hiruzen".

"Hiruzen" she mused. The name seemed… familiar. She snapped her fingers as she remembered,"You have the same name as the dead king who died 30 years ago, Hiruzen Sarutobi!"

Hiruzen's eyes darkened and his smile vanished,"Right"

"Neji "a voice called. She looked over her shoulder to see Kakashi waving at her. She turned to say good bye to the old man, only to find him missing.

She recalled the dark expression on his face.

Did she insult him or something?

" Neji, you've grown up since I last saw you. Sorry about having to have been so formal back there, if I didn't , well…" He trailed off.

Hinata looked at him with worry, " Kakashi, did you see a man named Hiruzen here? He was right here, but…"

Kakashi looked at her as though she had lost her mind, " I've been standing over here for the past half an hour.I only saw you. Besides, there is no one named Hiruzen in our camp ".

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