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Flashback

Dreams

'Thoughts'

Ever since following Sasuke's scent into Eclipse Tribe's territory two weeks ago, Hinata has tried to purposely stay away from the border between them. But then such things were hard to do when you were the Leader of a Tribe and border patrols were constant. And yet though she would conveniently find other things to do than go to the border, she was still wondering over Ino's words about Orochimaru and dealing with her Tribe when she introduced Sasuke as the new deputy. Most were fine with her choice, though there were others, like Sakura, who couldn't care less and even left without congratulating the young warrior on his new position.

Sakura, TenTen, Lee, Kiba, and to a lesser extent Shikamaru and Choji, all of them were subdued throughout the announcement and Sakura was the one to rally them away soon afterward. Hinata scowled as she thought of Sakura, the rose haired vampire was not subtle in her opinion of Hinata, but to think that she had even gotten Shikamaru and Choji into her fold, that was something that made the Dawn Tribe Leader worry.

Hinata found herself wondering her territory and even going back to the stand of neutral ground between the territories. At first she thought she was alone, but then she noticed other's scent already here and grumbled before realizing it was Gaara.

The red headed Eclipse Leader was sitting up on one of the higher branches, her eyes closed and her body completely relaxed. Hinata couldn't help but stare, Gaara wasn't even doing anything and yet the darker haired vampire could not turn away.

"You know, people will start to talk if you keep staring." Gaara said with a smile coming to her lips, causing Hinata to jump in surprise as the red head opened her eyes.

"You were awake the whole time? Gaara..." The other vampire whined softly, earning another, wider smile from the red head. "Anyway, what are you doing here?"

"Same thing you're doing, for me it's after a good blood hunt." Hinata could now smell and see fresh blood on the other Leader's shirt and she felt a pang of hunger on her own stomach, though Hinata ignored it.

"Ah no, no hunting yet for me. I...I'm crashing and burning. Fast. I think one of my warriors might turn against me, or at least lead others to abandon the Tribe." Hinata didn't know why she was telling Gaara this, she might very well try to use this to her advantage. But Gaara simply stayed quiet before turning to Hinata and jumping down to the ground before her. She gave Hinata a look that clearly said, "Explain."

However Hinata hesitated and after a second, she smirked and moved close, catching Hinata off guard. "You think I'm going to turn against you as well." The red haired female only smiled and reached out to ruffle Hinata's hair, making her look up in confusion. "I told you before, I don't want war between our Tribes, there is nothing to gain for it. Now, with your disillusioned warriors, there isn't much I can help you with. This is something you'll have to face on your own, but know that whatever route your warriors take, you can't let it stop you from moving on. You'll have to walk forward with or without them and if they leave, then make sure the ones who stay will know that you are here for them."

"But...why can't she see that I'm really trying? I want to change, I want to do better!" Hinata blurted out, shaking free of Gaara's comfort but the red head didn't back away. Instead, she moved to pull Hinata into a gentle hug, Hinata at first stiffened up at the contact but soon allowed herself to relax. This was okay, right? Gaara wasn't doing anything but offering her comfort and yet...Hinata soon pulled back from the other's vampire's embrace. Not only because she was an enemy warrior but the dark haired vampire suddenly thought of Tayuya and Hinata knew she couldn't allow this.

"I...thank you, but I have to get going. I'll think about what you said and...and I'll try to prove that things will be different." Hinata looked like she wanted to say more but shook her head before turning back, heading back to her home while Gaara stood alone before letting out a sad breath.

"Good luck..."

-Break-

A week later, Hinata was out with Sasuke and Shikamaru, leading them to scout far into their territory. The Dawn Tribe Leader needed information and she knew the only way to get that was to find Ino. Orochimaru's death and his Tribe cutting down everything that moved was not something that could be ignored but there was another reason for all of this. She had deliberately picked Shikamaru to come with them, not only because she wanted to gauge how much of an effect Sakura was having on him. Plus, if there was anyone who could figure out the motives of the new Leader of Orochimaru's Tribe was, it was Shikamaru.

Shikamaru himself couldn't have cared much about why he was chosen on this mission, though he had already correctly guessed that Hinata wanted to keep an eye on him since he was very loosely allied with Sakura at the moment. While he, like Sasuke and many others, loved his Tribe, he did not like the path Hinata was taking, and while he was thinking of possibly turning rouge with Sakura, he also really didn't want to leave his beloved Tribe behind. So, the best thing he thought to do was give the dark haired Leader one last chance. Even if Shikamaru didn't want to leave his Tribe, if Hinata didn't pull through, he would leave with Sakura.

Sasuke looked back on Shikamaru's brooding face and and tilted his head, he was painfully aware of the tension rising and tried to strike up conversation, hoping to ease the mood. "So, Orochimaru's Tribe, what do you know about them, Leader?"

"Not much, unfortunately. Only that they kept to themselves and lived more closely to humans than other vampire Tribes, his old territory lies to the . Orochimaru, he was a bit odd, watching humans and wanting to seem nice to them. I don't really get it, you can't be friends with your food." Hinata replied, shrugging her shoulders. "Ino told me that Orochimaru was dead and the new Leader is leading them through a trail of death. We have to find Ino so she can tell us more."

"And what makes you think she can tell us anything more than that? For all we know, Ino could be lying, why should we trust a rouge?" Shikamaru called out, narrowing his eyes somewhat as he waited for Hinata to explain herself.

The black haired Leader turned to Shikamaru with a scowl, the beginnings of a snarl clear on her face. "Yes, Ino is a rouge, but one that has proven herself to be a good source of information. While we sit here and can only guess at what the new leader is doing, Ino has traveled to where they are now and seen what they have done!"

"Again, you only know that based on her word! She's a rouge, she has no loyalty to us and could be just as easily leading us into a trap with no regrets!" Shikamaru countered, hissing softly and raising his claws in which Hinata moves to defend herself.

"I won't ignore this, not when it looks like there could be danger coming to us! If this Tribe and their new Leader is coming then I want to be prepared. Tayuya left this Tribe for me to protect, and I don't to fail her last request."

Shikamaru snorted, caught up in his own emotion. "Tayuya...you will never be Tayuya! If she was here, she would cry at the state you left us in! She should never chosen you!"

It was the last thing he got to say, before Hinata's temper finally spiked and she ran her claws hard over Shikamaru's chest, wounding him badly. "Then leave, and take Sakura with you!" she snarled at Shikamaru, clawing at him again when he didn't move fast enough. When it looked like she was going to chase Shikamaru off even more, Sasuke stepped in to stop her.

"Enough, this won't solve anything! He was out of turn but you can't attack him like this! Give it some time, and maybe you can talk it out!" he tried to reason with her, holding her back before Hinata turned to him, her fangs bared.

"No talking. If they want to leave, then I will send them on their way. If they don't want me, then I will not force them to stay." she snarled, wrenching free of the male's grip and heading for home, with the intent to finally settle things between her detractors once and for all.