Chapter 7

"S-sasuke…" Hinata whispered gently pressing Sasuke's right shoulder with her finger.

Everyone had woken up and had left it up to her to wake Sasuke, since it seemed he was nicer to her than to everyone else in the group. Suigetsu was usually treated like an idiot, Karin was just really annoying to him, although a valuable comrade, and Juugo was never spoken to.

Awww… come on… wake up…. …. Please…? Hinata kept gently poking his side. She was beginning to worry. It didn't seem like Sasuke would be the one keeping everyone waiting, but this was the second time during their travels together that he had made them all wait.

"Sasuke-saaaannnnn…. Please wake up….?"

It seemed like no matter how often she would whisper his name, he wouldn't wake. She knew the others had done this on purpose. They knew she would never speak too loudly to Sasuke, and all because of her lack of guts. She had none. Suigetsu was waiting right outside the tent Hinata and Sasuke were in, sitting on the floor and resting his back on a tree. He was giggling at how incredibly polite Hinata was. She would never talk to anyone too loudly or poke anyone hard enough to wake them up. At the same time, he felt bad for the girl. She was pitiful. Cute, but pitiful nonetheless.

In about two to three minutes more, I'll help her out… Suigetsu thought smirking and eyeing a helpless Hinata.

Karin was sitting not too far behind Suigetsu, packing up the tents and some fruit that Juugo had picked out with the help of some animals he could communicate with. He was also sitting there, except he was doing nothing, but sitting there.

Hinata rolled her eyes and sighed. How long is he going to take?

She looked over at Suigetsu from inside the tent with a forced smile that read 'Please…'

Suigetsu merely shook his head no, leaned forward and replied. "Come ooooooooooon, I agreed to put away you all's tent for you, if you woke him up… I mean, I definitely would not want a bed-ridden Uchiha after me… Now would I?" Suigetsu's smile only spread wider… He knew that Hinata would never tell him to shut up and wake him up already, or anything close to that manner. He knew she would only turn back around and softly poke and whisper Sasuke's name some more. This is too funnnnn….. Suigetsu thought as he leaned against the tree once more.

"B-but, Suigetsu-kun, I-I don't want an angry bed-ridden Sasuke-san after me either…." Hinata replied, not too loud, but loud enough for Suigetsu to hear…

This girl's too much… Suigetsu thought and leaned back further to rest his head on the tree.

"I wouldn't worry too much… he seems to like you a bit more than any of us…" Suigetsu said still smiling, flashing his shark-teeth and shutting his eyes. His hands were behind his head and he was slouched lazily on the forest floor and using a tree as back support.

Hinata blushed at his comment. If he likes me better than these guys and he treats me like that, then how does he treat everyone else? Hinata wondered again looking at Sasuke. He was laying down on his side and Hinata was standing on her knees looking down at him…

"HE DOES NOT, YOU IDIOT!!!" Karin screamed at him. She had stopped putting stuff in her bag and was currently sitting atop a rock and holding an apple in one hand, and some berries in the other.

"Oh really? Then who does he like the best? Cuz I can guarantee that it's definitely not you…" Suigetsu said facing her and his grin widening more and more by the second.

"WHY YOU----" Karin was interrupted by Sasuke's yawning.

"S-Sasuke-s--- Sasuke… you're awake" Hinata said now sitting with her legs bent in under her. She was already looking up at Sasuke, who had stood up and was still yawning. She put her head down, ashamed that she had almost, again, called him Sasuke-san.

He merely looked down at her and stepped out of the tent.

Everyone was staring at him.

"Ohayo, Sasuke!" Karin smiled uneasily and looked his way.

Sasuke looked at her for a while and frowned. "Why are you always soo damn loud?" he said rudely and began to stretch his arms.

"Hinata, do a quick surveillance of the area and Suigetsu, put up the last tent." Sasuke said with his eyes shut, apparently not caring a bit for keeping them waiting for so long.

Both Hinata and Suigetsu nodded, and Suigetsu got to work disarming the tent.

"Byakugan." Hinata said and began to turn to all directions. Then she shut her eyes and shook her head. "We're safe…"

Sasuke merely looked at her for a second and then turned to Suigetsu with a frown… Obviously, he was getting impatient with how fast Suigetsu was working. Which wasn't fast at all.

"Can you hurry up?" Sasuke said impatiently, tossing his black cape to Karin in order for her to put it away.

"I'll h-help…" Hinata said timidly and rushed over to Suigetsu's side and began helping him with putting the tent down.

"Awwww… Hinata, you're such a sweetie…" Suigetsu said smiling at her with his eyes shut.

Hinata blushed as she got on her knees and began folding the tent in order to fit it into the bag.

"I-I d-don't mind Suigetsu-kun…" Hinata said still blushing.

Sasuke was just looking at them both with an indifferent expression on his face. He wondered how it was so easy for this girl to get along with Suigetsu, and yet still be so distant to him (A/N: when it says 'him' it's referring to Sasuke, heh it just sounded weird to me). I mean the point of her being here was for her to help him, not that stupid piranha-wannabe. He hated to admit it, but it hurt his pride. He had always been able to make any girl open up to him, in more ways than one without even asking, not that he ever took advantage of it, and this stupid one comes along and gets along better with a fish look-alike than with him. He never really liked the attention, in fact there were times when he seriously wanted to strangle each and every one of his fan girls, yet it made him feel good about himself. It fed on his pride. And this pushover of a girl comes along and his pride feels like its been starved to death.

"YOU GUYS COULD WORK A LOT FASTER IF YOU WOULD STOP FLIRTING!!!" Karin screamed out, holding her glasses in place so that they wouldn't fall off with all the commotion she was making.

"MIND YOUR OWN GODDAMM BUSINESS, KARIN!!!" Suigetsu turned around to face her, still on his knees, his fist tight in front of him.

"Y-you guys… p-please…" Hinata tried to make them stop arguing.

"Well, what the hell's her fucking problem. Was I flirting with you Hinata? Hmmm??" Suigetsu was eyeing Hinata curiously waiting for her response.

"Tell him, Hinata, tell him that you don't like his flirting. That you'll never respond to it. Tell him you don't want him in any way…" Karin said standing up crossing her arms in front of her chest. Her too eyeing Hinata with anxiety. She better not want him in any way…

"A-ano… I-I… well… I-I d-don't like you-rrr flirting-…. ----- I mean , I-I…. e-eto…. Uh… that is…" Hinata was beginning to feel dizzy, she didn't think Suigetsu was flirting with her, but she was scared of Karin-chan…. She felt her face begin to heat up incredibly.

"SEE, YOU HEARD HER, SHE DOESN'T LIKE IT!!!!"

"SHE'S JUST SCARED OF YOU AND YOUR DISGUSTING TEMPER!!!"

"OH YEAH????!!!!!"

"Guys…" Sasuke spoke up quietly, looking down at the floor.

Hinata turned to him and was astonished at how softly he spoke and yet got everyone's attention in a flash. Even Juugo had opened his eyes to look at him.

"…. That's enough…" He said calmly.

Karin and Suigetsu had turned to face him and had gone quiet, except for the long, harsh breaths they were taking in because of their yelling. Then they looked at each other, receiving each others death glares, of course, and then faced away from each other and headed off in opposite ways. Suigetsu went to finish up whatever was left of the tent to pack and then threw it in Karin's way. Karin quickly stuffed it in the bag and handed the bag to Juugo, who placed it over his shoulder.

"Are we done then?" Sasuke asked and then began walking. He seemed so confident for someone who had no idea where he should go next.

Despite the fact that Sasuke had no idea where to search, everyone followed him, no questions asked. They all jumped into the trees and began jumping from branch to branch.

"Juugo, have the animals told you anything that could help us out?" Sasuke asked loud enough to make sure Juugo could hear without having to face him.

"Only where some of the Akatsuki's previous hideouts are located, but they say there's nothing there now." Juugo said without slowing down.

"Nothing about them seeing any Akatsuki members?"

"No." Juugo responded and released his grip on a little bird he had been holding.

"That's too bad, I'm really itching for a fight with that Kisame guy…" Suigetsu said with a bored tone.

"I wouldn't be in a hurry to fight any Akatsuki member." Karin responded.

Hinata just followed Sasuke right beside Suigetsu. She maintained silence the whole time. Something doesn't feel right… Hinata thought with unease and activated her Byakugan. She then looked around and….What? A trace of chakra appeared and disappeared as soon as it had come. What was that? W-was someone there?

As if she had read her mind, Karin stopped suddenly and stood on one of the branches.

"K-Karin-san… wh-what is it…?" Hinata stopped in the tree right in front of the one Karin was standing on.

"What happened?" demanded Sasuke, who had headed back and was now standing beside Hinata.

"I thought I picked up an unfamiliar chakra… but, I guess it was just my imagination." Karin said, holding a finger against the center of her glasses.

"Your imagination, huh?" Suigetsu said crouched down on the branch just ahead Hinata's.

It wasn't your imagination…I think… Hinata wanted to say… but she couldn't' bring herself to do it… After all, she had barely seen anything. It was just too fast to be real.

"Hmmm… well let's keep going then, this is my most important mission, so there's no giving up… I don't care how long it takes…" Sasuke said eyeing a nervous-looking Hinata. He chose to ignore it however, and he continued jumping again from branch to branch.

Everyone merely nodded in response, and took off after him.

"Sooooo, Hinata…." Suigetsu began looking at Hinata who was beginning to perspire at how long they had been doing this nonstop. It had been approximately three to five hours and they hadn't even stopped to eat anything, much less to rest. It was honestly beginning to become boring for the males, who had a lot more stamina in them than the girls did.

"Hmm?" Hinata turned to face him and offered him a gentle smile. Her face was completely red and there were sweat drops beginning to form all over her face. It's a wonder how she hadn't had a heat stroke in that huge jacket she always wore. That and she was wearing the white cape that had been worn by Team Kakashi.

"Do you miss your friends?" Suigetsu asked innocently smiling at her. He didn't mean to make her feel bad, but he knew that her friends were probably extremely worried about her. I mean the girl had no stamina whatsoever, and her special abilities' effect was retarded.

The question caught Hinata by surprise, but she still answered him almost immediately. "Hmm… yes, o-of course I do."

"So, if you could, would you return to them right at this very moment?" Suigetsu asked, his face had become serious as he continued looking at her.

Unbeknownst to her, everyone, at this point was listening in, not so much because they cared for the girl, but because they were bored. They hadn't found any leads and they were running around aimlessly.

Heh, she's probably going to lie and say that she'd rather help me first. She's probably not as stupid as she looks… That whole sweet girl thing was probably all just an act. Sasuke thought without turning. He was still in the lead and like everyone else, he had no idea where he was going.

"… N-no… I have new… goals now, for n-now… …" She said uneasily and looking down.

"And…. What are they???" Suigetsu seemed very into the conversation and the longer it kept going the less probability that he would stop.

"U-ummmm….. W-well I…." Hinata stuttered and blushed. Why won't he stop? Is he trying to embarrass me? Sasuke-san knows Naruto-kun and I don't want him to know how I feel towards him. Maybe I'll just say that I want to protect all my friends.

Suigetsu was still staring straight at her with much intensity. He wasn't really doing it because of her, he was merely doing it because he loved to tease her. She blushed so easily. She stuttered all the time. It was like her regular speech, and it never seemed to get any better.

"Well??" Suigetsu kept poking at it, laughing hysterically on the inside.

"I-I want to protect m-my friends…" Hinata responded uneasily. She was never a good liar, and today was no exception. But she stuttered all the time anyway, so nobody would ever know. That was the one and only reason Hinata was glad she stuttered.

"Ahh… I see… and helping us is going to protect them?" He continued eyeing her with a huge grin.

"I-I…" Hinata said out of breath. This was definitely becoming too much for her. There was the fact that they hadn't rested or eaten anything throughout an exceptionally big period of time. She felt like she was about to faint.

"Suigetsu, leaver her alone already, dammit, it's hard enough for her to breath and you keep making her talk!!!" Karin said, practically screaming.

"Shit! Sasuke! How much longer are you going to torture us!?!?!" she continued and faced Sasuke. Apparently, she was tired as well and seriously needed a break already.

For once, Hinata was glad she had spoken. It seemed that Karin, although she would constantly bother Hinata or try to make her feel bad, she would also talk exactly when Hinata needed it.

Sasuke looked back at her and the rest of the group.

"Do you sense any chakra anywhere? Anything that would point to a town?" Sasuke said as he halted.

"No… Anyway, I'm too tired, I wouldn't feel it even if there was a town a foot away from us…" Karin said with her legs bent and arms resting on her knees. She was gasping for air and her hair was dripping with sweat.

"Hmmm…. Well I guess we'll just have to sleep here then…" Sasuke said as cool as ever. He looked nothing even close to tired.

"WHAT?!! YOU MEAN THERE WONT BE A BATH???" Karin yelled, as usual holding her glasses in place.

"Well, you obviously can't feel anything, so there's not much of a choice…" Sasuke responded without looking at her.

"I-I can look ar-around I-if you'd like…" Hinata offered panting. Her words came out between breaths. She was leaning against the bark of a tree and Suigetsu was looking at her as if he was making fun of her frailness.

"Well, hurry up and do it." Sasuke responded coldly. What the hell is she? Obviously we need all the help we can get…

After flinching at Sasuke's tone, muttering the word Byakugan and looking around, Hinata looked up and shook her head.

"No… S-sorry…. " Hinata said and put her head down…

"Can't be helped then…" Suigetsu said and jumped off the branch he had been standing on. It was dark already, and it was about time for them to call it a day… or at least rest for a while. Despite the urgency of the mission Sasuke knew that without any leads, all their effort was futile. Besides, their future opponents were nothing less than S ranked criminals. They were going to need all the rest they could get.

Karin put her head down in defeat… Dammit! I feel so damn sweaty… Ugh it's probably going to get sticky in a bit…

"How-ever… I d-did spot a small spring not too far off." Hinata added finally putting her head up after catching her breath.

"YAY!!! WHAT'S SAY WE GO NOW!?!?!?! NE, HINATA??? YOU CAN COME TOO IF YOU WANT, SASUKEEEE!!!" Karin was squealing with joy.

"S-sure…" Hinata looked at Karin and smiled nervously.

"I'LL GO!!!" Suigetsu screamed from where he was standing and jumped up to join them…

"Well, let's go then!" Karin said, still awfully cheerful.

"Really????? I get to bathe with you and Hinata-chan????" Suigetsu asked. His eyes had tripled in size and had stars decorating the whole inside. Drool had begun to drip from the tip of his mouth and he was emitting a colorful glow.

"NOT!!!! YOU FUCKING PERVERT!!" Karin said and punched him in the face. Then she turned to face Sasuke, removed her glasses and added, "I don't mind you tho, Sasuke-kuuuuuunnnnn."

"Okay." He responded without looking at anyone, and instead looking down at the floor.

Gasp "Really???" Karin couldn't believe her ears. She was going to bathe with Sasuke… She was going to see him the way he was created…. Naked. It seemed too good to be true. And it was.

"No… You girls will bathe now. We will set up the tents and wait for you two to finish… Don't keep us waiting forever." He said and finally jumped off the tree and down to Juugo's side who had begun to unpack the tents… Suigetsu was right beside him, knocked out.

"Ehh… let's go then?" Karin said looking discouraged and, once again, tired.

"Mmhmm…" Hinata responded and activated her Byakugan. Then she began jumping to a bunch of trees to the east. For some reason, she felt uneasy about bathing again with Karin.

"Lead the way then" Karin said and began following Hinata towards the spring.

(A/N: Sorry for the abrupt end of this chapter, but I thought I was making it too long… hehe… next chapter will be the scene in the spring, please review!)