Alexei: I've decided to switch to writing this in third person, and I've gone through and edited all of my old chapters to reflect as such.

Chapter 8 - "The Sound of Battle"

Hinata really didn't want to wake up. Waking up meant pain, and it meant defeat. Her dreams were so nice, filled with blond hair and onyx eyes and that mysterious mask that hid all the secrets in the universe. Along with the tendrils of alertness pulling at her consciousness came an ache that blanketed over her entire body, settling heavily in her chest.

She wasn't dead, but she kind of wished she was. Not that Hinata had particularly suicidal tendencies, but at least if she was then she wouldn't have to return to see the disappointment on everyone's faces. They didn't want her back. She was weak, she was quiet, and she was dead weight. She was would always be a useless failure. She was better off dead.

Hinata's eyes flew open as she let out a gasp of pain, followed closely by a sputtering cough and a guttural moan. She tried to sit up, or maybe she was just trying to roll over clutch her chest; push her aching head into the cold dirt. Hinata didn't really even know.

"Hey, stop moving. Calm down, Hinata." Suddenly Sasuke was there, firmly pushing her shoulders back down. His dark eyebrows were knit tightly across his forehead making it crinkle in a way that didn't suit his pale skin. Maybe Hinata was just feverish, but she would dare say that he almost looked almost concerned for her. "How are you feeling?" He asked, examining her face for any further sign of discomfort.

"My chest…" She had only managed to get the two words out before cringing again. Breathing hurt. Breathing hurt a lot.

"Yeah, I figured." Sasuke leaned back onto his knees, rubbing at his shoulder and stretching his neck with a grimace.

Hinata attempted to sit up once more, barely making it all the way up the moment Sasuke went down.

"W-what happened? Sasuke, You're injured!" Ignoring her own throbbing chest, Hinata leaned over to Sasuke's collapsed body. His face was half in the dirt and he looked more than ready to pass out. Hinata found herself pulling his head into her lap and patting his hair out of his face, grimacing along with him as it caused them both some pain to do so.

"The shinobi from the sound-" Sasuke paused, swallowing despite his dry mouth. His eyes were shut tight and it was only then that Hinata noticed the sweat on his brow and how his skin was even more pallor than usual. It eerily similar to the last thing she saw before her previous bout of unconsciousness, and she had to shake that image from her head. "Orochimaru. He bit my shoulder; left a mark."

"B-bit you?" Something about that nagged at the tip of Hinata's conscious thought. Something bad. Her basic medical training kicked in before she could linger on the thought for too long. "May I p-please see it?"

With a great amount of reluctance, Sasuke removed his hand from where it had been gripping his skin, and carefully -so as not to further cause him any pain- Hinata shifted him just the slighted bit to catch a glimpse of two still bleeding pinpricks and what looked to be three black, inverted tomoe tattooed into his shoulder.

"That looks like a snake b-bite." She reached into her thigh pouch for her medical supplies and a small container of water, intent on washing out the bite mark to the best of her ability. It didn't look like it was swelling or otherwise discolored so she could only hope that it wasn't poisonous.

"It was him." Sasuke hissed when she pressed a wet cloth to his wound. "He used some sort of a jutsu. Had a snake body and fangs."

"Did he poison you?" Hinata had to double check.

"No." He let out a groan as Hinata shifted him back out of her lap. "Said something about it being a gift. More power. Would come to him." Sasuke's breaths were coming out in a huff. He;d exerted himself to much in the move, and probably beforehand. Hinata took a rag from her pouch and poured a small amount of water on it, placing it on Sasuke's increasingly feverish brow. "He did a number on Naruto as well, but not before the idiot punched me in the face."

"N-naruto?" Hinata's eyes widened. She had completely forgot about her third teammate. "Is h-he alright?!"

"Hn. He's right behind you."

Whipping her head around, Hinata noticed Naruto lying passed out next to where she had woken up. "N-naruto!" She scrambled over, clutching her own chest when her heavy breathing sent a bout of pain shooting through it. She had to check to make sure he was alright though. Sasuke was at least responsive, but Naruto lay completely still on the ground. If it weren't for his strongly beating pulse, Hinata would have suspected he was dead.

"W-why is Naruto unconscious?"

"Why do you think?" Even in her semi-renewed state of panic, Hinata couldn't help but smile at the fact that Sasuke could still be so much himself, especially given his current condition. "He got the crap beat out of him."

Hinata quickly checked over Naruto for any serious wounds but found nothing life threatening. She covered a couple scrapes, but that was the extent of what she needed to do.

A peaceful quiet settled over them. Hinata, while still aching in every muscles, was in the better shape of the three, and so she took care to check on Naruto and wipe the sweat off of Sasuke's brow, despite his half-hearted protest.

I wasn't that long into the tense wait that Hinata's mind finally started getting the better of her. Here were two of her teammates -two of her only friends- having just fought for their lives, and she was next to useless in trying to get them better. Naruto was unconscious. Sasuke was just barely so, but she couldn't even treat them properly she didn't even know what had happened. She just ran away from the fight and still got stuck in a genjutsu; a Hyuuga in a genjutsu!

"I'm s-sorry," Hinata could feel the tears building up in her eyes and she turned her gaze to the ground as they began to fall, ashamed and hiding behind her dark hair. "I ran away. I real shinobi would never run away."

"Shut up," Sasuke growled, the sweat on his forehead gleaming in the fading evening light. She flinched away from his voice, feeling its sting manifest in her self worth despite it's quiet decibel. "A shinobi know's when they're beat. If you had stayed who knows what more could have happened to you."

"Naruto wouldn't have ran away." Hinata insisted. "I just wish I was as strong as him."

"You're not Naruto." The there was anger in his voice. He cringed, like the whole situation gave him a migraine "You will never be as strongNaruto." He sighed when he saw the hurt that Hinata knew bled through her eyes. "Don't misunderstand me, Hinata. Only a moron would want to be like him. He has an unnatural capacity for being constantly beaten to a pulp but somehow surviving. You're not like that. You have skill that he doesn't possess. You avoid getting stuck in a situation where you would need to take a beating to begin with. You don't need to be like Naruto. Just be yourself. Be as strong as Hinata." He shook his head, groaning. "I'm not making any sense. I sound like a moron."

Hinata silently dabbed his head with a cool cloth before murmuring, "Thank you."

"Whatever, don't start expecting this to be a regular thing."

she laughed softly at his disgruntled response, and she could have sworn she saw a flash of a smile - a real smile - cross his face before he settled into a smirk. That almost-smile was once again followed by a twinge of pain in his eyes and Hinata had to keep herself from running her fingers through his hair like she used to do with Hanabi when her younger sister was sick. "You should rest," Hinata quietly implored. While Sasuke didn't verbally respond, he did close his eyes with a grimace and was soon swimming in and out of a fitful sleep.

It was about an hour until sunrise when Hinata noticed them. She has been sitting sentry through the night as her two team members rested; Naruto in unconscious bliss, and Sasuke in a fitful sleep. There were times when Hinata nearly passed out herself as the pain in her chest would suddenly return in waves, but she refused to leave them unprotected. It was the least that she could do.

There were three of them hiding in the trees; two male, one female, and all three wearing sound headbands. She recognized them from the first exam. They'd hung back from the rest of the genin, keeping a steady gaze over the room. Hinata hardly thought it was a coincidence that they should show up so soon after her run-in with the earlier set of sound shinobi. They didn't attack though, and for almost half an hour, Hinata sat with her back to them -byakugan activated- and watched them watch her.

Clearly, they were there for more than just a scroll, which Hinata didn't even know if her team possessed anymore. If they had been, they would have attacked by now while their opponent was weak. No. They were waiting her out for some reason, and she was willing to bet that the waiting would be done at dawn.

The sky had just barely begun to lighten when Hinata finally addressed them.

"Did you need something, o-or were you p-planning on just sitting there until the end of the exam?" Hinata silently cursed her stutter.

Three sets of feet landed behind the Hyuuga, and the most intimidating of the three -a man whose entire face was covered in bandages sans one eye- spoke first. "A stupid move you've made calling us out. brave, but stupid."

Hinata had yet to have turned to actually face her attackers. She didn't know if they knew about her byakugan yet, and wanted to keep it that way if the didn't. "We d-don't have any scrolls. It'd be useless to try to f-fight us for one."

She could hear the smirk in the man's voice as he spoke. "You and I both know that's know what we're here for, precious little Hyuuga."

Crap.

She turned, glaring at the one who'd spoken. "W-whatever it is that you've come for, you can't have it."

The female chuckled. "Feisty one, isn't she. It's too bad we were ordered not to kill you. Would've been a fun time." She leaned forward, placing her hands on her knees and raising her eyebrows like she were speaking to a toddler. "How's your chest?"

Hinata's eyes widened a fraction. "H-how do you know about that?"

She chuckled once more, shaking her head at the other's ignorance. "Did you know that *2 out of 10 species of snake is venomous?"

"Orochimaru?"

"Oh! So she is a smart girl!" The woman clapped her hands. "Surprised it took you that long to figure out, what with dear Sasuke moaning and and groaning over there like a child. Speaking of; wake him up."

"W-what?"

The other male finally spoke up. "I'd say you were wrong." He rolled his eyes at the woman. "She seems like an idiot."

The woman ignored him. "As much as I'd love to beat you within an inch of your life. We're not here for you yet. You're in no condition to fight anyway, so do not make me repeat myself again. Wake Sasuke up."

"No." It took all of her fleeting energy, but somehow Hinata managed to get up onto her own to feet and slide into the standard Gentle Fist stance. The other three were nowhere near her even the edge of her attack range, but if they tried to get closer then she was prepared to attack.

"Ugh, really?" The woman rolled her shoulders back. "This would have been so much easier on you if you had just stepped aside and let us that him."

Hinata's only response was silence. She didn't speak and neither did they. It was a silent standoff of who would make the first move.

Suddenly, the one in the center -the man whose face was completely wrapped- jumped high up in the air. Hinata countered by shifting just enough to throw a kunai at his trajectory. He lifted an arm in what she thought was a block, but as the kunai bounced off of the metal plating that cover it he swung it down and a wave of intense nausea rolled through Hinata's stomach. She fell to her knees clutched at her stomach and lamenting her aching chest. Her ears were beginning to ring painfully, and she swore that she felt blood trickling down from them

The man laughed wholeheartedly as he landed in front of her collapsed form. "There's a little trick here that you can't just dodge," he explained, grabbing the front of her jacket and forcing her to look and his arm. The metal place had several expertly drilled holes scattered throughout its shell and Hinata was reminded distinctly of a woodwind instrument. "Do you know what sound actually is? Hearing sound means that your eardrum is catching the vibrations in the air. Use those vibration at a certain frequency and you damage the eardrum and the inner membrane. No more balance, and you can't move properly. Not that you really could to begin with." He pulled her jacket, yanking her face closer to his. "Even if you somehow manage to dodge my fist, sound will still attack you."

"So what you're saying," Hinata coughed out. "Is that your attack works like an instrument." Unexpectedly -with more strength than she thought she had- she shoved a free palm into his shoulder, blocking off his chakra flow and cause him to drop her. "It doesn't work if you can't get wind to pass through it."

"You little bitch!" The woman yelled, stalking her way toward Hinata, who had no energy left to fight. A sudden hiss filled the air and caused everyone to freeze. It was like steam rising off of a hot fire after having a bucket of water dumped on it.

Hinata could hardly lift her head, and it took a great deal of effort to look toward the sound. The last thing Hinata saw before blacking out once again was the image of Sasuke half covered in a black, inky pattern that was spreading across his skin.

"Hinata… Who did that to you?"

Alexei: Here's a question, do Sasuke's interactions with Hinata seem to forced? I keep thinking, "Oh, he could do this here." but then I think "Oh, that's not very Sasuke of him." I don't want his growing affection to be non-existent, but I don't want it to be too obvious either. and I want it to grow! TO GROW! uuuuuuugh.

Also! Important question! (SPOILER ALERT) Hinata definitely has a cursed seal on her chest, but I have yet to decide if I want it to be the Heaven seal (like what Sasuke has), the Earth seal, or a new one that I have yet to make up. What do you guys think?

*Out of more than 3000 species of snakes in the world, some 600 are venomous.