Chapter 8:

A/N: Until further notice, I'm going to stop referring to chapter titles using POVs - at some point I'll try and think of relevant, cool-sounding chapter titles. Until then, they're just numbers.

Sorry about the long delay, but hopefully this (longest chapter I've ever written ever at 12.091k words) will suffice!

Mid-morning light filtered through the leafy canopy of the forest, casting dappled shadows over the amber boughs of tree bark. The babbling laughter of a stream provided a steady rhythm, with the chittering of birdsong rising and falling intermittently over it.

A patch coated, brown-and-white squirrel peeked its head from the hole in an ancient oak that it regarded as its home, and sniffed, once-twice-thrice, to ensure there were no predators lurking outside to prey on it. Hesitantly, it took one step, then another, out of its sanctuary, ears pressed low against its head, eyes darting rapidly over the area in front of it. A creak caused it to freeze and press itself flat against the branch, fur standing on end, muscles poised to begin a quick retreat back to safety. After minutes passed and nothing of suspicion happened, it darted across the branch, and leapt across a wide gap onto another.

It knew where it wanted to go, a feeding ground only it had found, and knew it must be quick, to eat its fill and take what remained back to its stash. Clambering up a thick tree-trunk and along the underside of an outstretched branch; making another leap, and then another, to the chosen tree, and then…

It smelt something strange as it leapt, something unfamiliar, not a predator, but still… unfamiliar. Hovering just over that scent was the delicious fragrance of nuts and berries, and that caused it to forsake its normal caution, and continue, scampering along the branch to where it poked out over the source of the stream. It took a nut in both hands, and nibbled on it, noticing four large, coloured shapes far to the ground. They didn't bother it – it knew of the two-legged large creatures that lived below-the-trees, and made their nests out of stone instead of wood… They could not climb this far. It was only when one of them, a younger one with yellow head-fur and strange, orange-and-blue body-fur (it had never seen a two-legs-down-below with that coloured fur before) began to scream that the squirrel paid closer attention.

"Damnit! How'd you do that, Kakashi-sensei!?" he (you could tell he was a boy, because of the deep-voice and the deep-scent) shouted at another two-legs, a tall man with spiky silver head-fur and blue-green body-fur, with a… The squirrel paused as it recognised the over-fur, green with a red circle on the back, that this two-legs wore. It had seen others like that, the other two-legs had a special name for them in their strange, loud grunt-moan speak. They could do magicShee-no-bee The Shee-no-bee gave a noncommittal shrug, and with exaggerated movements dusted himself down.

"Well… I am a Jounin…" he said eventually, and his one visible eye crinkled. Orange-blue wiggled, but could not break free. The squirrel leaned further over branch to watch, and dislodged a nut, which fell onto the head of another buried two-legs. This one, a female, craned her neck, and glared silently at the squirrel, setting off a nervous chittering – those eyes… white, vacant… scary… Not-good-not-good! It retreated slightly, until the female transferred her ghost-glare to the silver-haired Shee-no-bee, who was still listening to orange-and-blue rage at him.

"That's enough! Let me out of here!" he shouted, and the Shee-no-bee kept smiling.

"Nope, sorry! I'm going to go read my book. You three have fun!" He disappeared in a cloud of leaves and rushing wind, and the squirrel froze once more as its branch dipped down suddenly, due to added weight... It turned around slowly, to see the Shee-no-bee sitting down behind it, single eye half-open and looking straight at it. For a few brief moments, there was a chilling silence, save for the rapid thumping of its own heart. Then the Shee-no-bee's eye curled up into a crescent.

"Yo," it said, and the squirrel fled with an agitated chittering, clutching its meal close to it.

Kakashi watched it go, and hmphed. Squirrels… excitable little creatures, but not that smart at all… It had sure picked a nice spot, though. He plucked a small red fruit hanging above him and, lowering his face-mask slightly, bit into it. It was very sweet, juicy, and he licked his lips before pulling out his copy of Icha Icha Paradise, half-paying attention to the ranting Naruto below him, screaming out blue murder.

Not that Kakashi cared, of course. He glanced down from his chosen spot in the top branches of a tree at the incensed Genin of Team 7, or what could be seen of them – namely, their heads, sticking up out of the earth.

"Thank, you, Minato-sensei… I knew that move would come in useful somewhere down the line…" He smiled, and as Naruto shouted out below him, realised just how Minato-sensei must have felt, when he left his team in a similar predicament, back in the early days. Reaching a hand into his equipment pouch, he pulled out the orange book written by the sensei of his sensei, and wondered idly just where in the Shinobi Nations the Toad Hermit made his abode. The last time he'd seen him, Jiraiya had said something about making a trilogy of these books, and going over to Kiri to look for some island of "hot blue-haired chicks".

Flipping open to one of his preferred parts, Kakashi sighed, as one unfortunate side-effect of this… little lesson of his became apparent.

"Stop lookin' at me like that, Sasuke-teme! It wasn't my idea to try and take Kakashi-sensei's book!" The incensed Uzumaki screeched and glared at the Uchiha, who was uncharacteristically… emotional.

"Be quiet, Dobe," Sasuke hissed, glaring daggers at his team-mates. "If you hadn't been so stupid, he wouldn't have caught you."

Yare, yare… those two were at it like… well, a certain other Uchiha had been with a younger Kakashi. If one wasn't insulting the other's taste in colour, they were being insulted over being a stiff-necked, stuck-up bastard. And, just like a certain team, it was the kunoichi that had to step in the middle and defuse the situation.

"Stop fighting. We need to figure out a way to get out of here." The Hyuuga clan head fixed her team-mates with that glare, the one that Kakashi could swear curdled milk and made small children cry. Granted, Hinata didn't have much of the sweet, conciliatory nature that Rin did, but it got the job done. Sasuke tsked, not wanting to be seen as someone less concerned with escape than his personal vendetta with Naruto, and Naruto, as he always did, deferred to the person in the team who he liked, or at least, disliked less – Kakashi couldn't quite figure out the love-hate relationship those two had… It reminded him somewhat of a… past relationship he'd had sometime before, though he hoped that Naruto would never need to escort a young lady back to her home after she had drunk more than her weight in Sake, and was rambling on drunkenly about snakes, and Dango, and blood…

No, Hinata had too much of an avenger complex for that… Kakashi knew from experience that avengers were, if not dismissive of, downright hateful of luxuries like that… Though he wasn't quite sure whether that was a good thing or not… After all, his generation had shed blood to ensure that this generation could enjoy those luxuries…

"What? You're the genius here! Why can't you think up something!?"

"Because it's impossible, Naruto!" Sasuke shouted in reply, and Kakashi's eye flickered back down to his Genin, who were struggling furiously to dislodge themselves from the soil. With a smile, he noted that they were at least trying to help one another, instead of just bickering.

Well… they were doing a bit better than his team had, at least. He could dimly remember, when he had been in this situation, simply being content to insult Obito until Rin coaxed him away, and Obito had suddenly gotten dust in his eye.

"It's a test." Both of the boys looked at the kunoichi of the team. "Kakashi-sensei is testing us."

"What d'ya mean, Hinata? How's he testing us with this?"

"I don't know that! Perhaps… perhaps it's just a test of patience." A brief silence, and Kakashi chose to listen in carefully. I wonder what their reaction will be… He was willing to bet that Naruto would be the first to break the silence, just as Obito had raged against the unfairness of life back in the good old days, but you never knew…

"I'm going to kill him, Jounin or not, when I get out of here," Sasuke said, and he and Naruto redoubled their efforts to escape. Oh? That was interesting… Chalk one up for "Different to my old team"… Perhaps it was just an Uchiha thing? Or perhaps Sasuke had more depth to him than Kakashi was willing to give him credit for. In any case, he was correct in his guess that the Kunoichi merely sighed, and glared at the world in general. But then, that was life's lesson, he supposed. You win some, you lose some.

The one-eyed Jounin sighed, and glanced away from his team. They were supposed to be going at full speed to the Matsu Estates, but, well… he figured they could use a lesson, and he really wanted to read this chapter. Now, with their attentions focused entirely on either waiting, or struggling to free themselves, the chance of another shouting match between Naruto and Sasuke was nil, so he could finally start what he'd been waiting for. Giggling pervertedly, he turned the page, and decided he'd let them stew in their own juices for another… hour, perhaps – just so long as he could finish reading this masterpiece. He made a mental note to beg Jiraiya-Sama to come with him on one of his "research" trips – his inspiration must be breathtaking.

For the next hour, the forest was filled only with the sounds of grunting Genin, punctuated by the occasional curse from Naruto, and, once or twice, a full-blown shouting match between him and Sasuke. By the time the sun had reached, and passed its zenith, and Kakashi felt he had procrastinated enough, he dropped to the forest floor, with a false smile, and had three very distinct Killer Intents pointed directly at him. About the time Naruto started screaming at him, he wondered if, perhaps, he should have stayed in his comfortable spot for another hour… Ah well, such was life!

--

How ridiculous… Having been made to sit through the bickering of Naruto and Sasuke for, she was certain, the better part of an hour and a half, "annoyed" barely begun to describe the mood of the Hyuuga. When Kakashi deigned to show himself and free his Genin, he had been aggravatingly nonchalant, almost baiting them to attack him, as if they had already forgotten how easily he had bested all three of them, without even resorting to his Sharingan. The fact that he had decided they should be left here for an hour just so he could read his book infuriated her further, and she glared daggers at the Hatake as he checked the position of the sun, scratching his chin and having the temerity to yawn at them.

"Hmm… better hurry up, you guys– we're about… an hour and a half behind schedule," he decided eventually, pointedly ignoring the three simmering Genin.

"Whose fault is that?" Naruto grumbled, and Kakashi cuffed him around the head, before setting a walking pace. The Genin followed, with Naruto muttering under his breath and rubbing his head. Hinata glared a hole in her sensei's back, on the conveniently placed spiral of his flak vest – a perfect target. No doubt Sasuke was doing the same – she had rarely seen him so incensed about something as he had been in… this particular incident. Kakashi leaned his head languorously over his shoulder, and, pointedly ignoring the twin glares, spoke in an inappropriately bored tone of voice.

"Hmm… Not to pressure you or anything… I'm sure you guys are full of energy for the mission, but you guys should… try to show some caution… we'll be getting pretty close to Rai no Kuni, after all…"

"Rai no Kuni? What do we need to be careful about?" Sasuke's wary, patronising voice was the first to answer, the Uchiha clearly determined to be as difficult as possible in order to gain some measure of revenge from his humiliation. Kakashi affected not to notice the hostility.

"Well, you guys may not know this, but Kumo's sort-of… in the middle of a civil war."

"Sort-of!? What do you mean?" Naruto was the next to answer, and Kakashi remained just as neutral to his sceptical enthusiasm as he had to Sasuke.

"There's two factions, you see… one led by the former Yondaime Raikage, one led by the current Godaime… But the Godaime's already pretty much won… The Yondaime's been run ragged throughout Rai no Kuni, but he's not quite given up yet… Anyway, he's still dangerous, cornered beast and all that… and not just to Kumo. You see… there were… misunderstandings, between Kumogakure and the Hyuuga clan, back before… stuff happened. I'm sure Hinata guessed – why was an ANBU assigned to teach her whilst she was still an academy student?"

"You barely taught me anything, Kakashi-Sensei," Hinata added, but Kakashi ignored her.

"It was because there were… elements of Kumogakure that wanted the Byakugan – something about them wanting ultimate perception… or something like that. They were endorsed, and supported by the Yondaime himself, publicly. Hokage-sama thinks that that's one of the reasons the civil war started – Yondaime was trying to get, at any cost, the last few Hyuugas, and that would, of course, mean war with Konoha, clearly not something the Godaime was in favour of. You may not know this, but there was a kidnapping attempt, during one of Hinata and Tenten's training sessions. Luckily, I intercepted the shinobi before he reached you guys."

Hinata could remember that, so very long ago:


"Ne,
Hinata, how'd you get so damned quick?" Tenten settled into her stance, and sent another quick flurry of blows – Kakashi-sensei had forbidden them from using weapons for this training session, so as to improve their natural reflexes, or at least, that was the reason he gave – it sounded like so much usual nonsense from the lazy shinobi.

Hinata pushed aside Tenten's blows, and slipped a Jyuuken strike past her guard, tapping her lightly on the inside shoulder and sealing a tenketsu with each of the three fingers that brushed the cloth. Tenten gritted her teeth, and swung her weight around, for a roundhouse kick, which Hinata ducked, before sweeping Tenten's other leg out from under her. Before the weapons mistress could get up, Hinata had a hand inches from her throat, with the very real possibility of emitting chakra – which would most likely rupture the Jugular vein at this range and angle.


"I win," she said, and Tenten scowled. Hinata smiled at her sparring partner, and then walked a bit away and began performing stretches to loosen her limbs.


"Hmph – no fair! If I got to use a weapon, I'd…" she trailed off, and Hinata paused, glancing at Tenten's face. "Did you hear that?" the brunette asked, and Hinata strained her ears. Abruptly, she heard it – a curse, and the clash of steel on steel.

"Let's see what it is," she decided, after ascertaining the direction the sounds came from.


"Well… I don't know, Hinata…" Tenten began, but Hinata was already making seals.

"Byakugan," she whispered, and the world turned ghostly, with brief flashes of blue where she could see Chakra. In the near distance, she saw Kakashi, clash again and again with a nameless, faceless shinobi, who wielded a katana in both hands. Sapphire lightning crackled down the length of the weapon.

"Sharingan no Kakashi…" the enemy spat, and Kakashi responded by throwing his kunai, then leaping at his adversary, forming seals already. The enemy cursed, blocked the kunai, and then swung with his sword…

"Hinata? What's happening? What're you looking at?" Hinata flinched as Tenten spoke, so close to her, and in that instant, she missed Kakashi's move. When she'd steadied her vision enough to look back, she saw two halves of Kakashi's foe fly apart, as Kakashi landed on a house, and then looked straight at her.

"Tsk, I missed it, Tenten! You distracted me." Tenten pouted, and folded her arms.

"But I didn't see any of it, Hinata," she muttered. "I just wanted to know what was going on, was all."

"Tenten," said Kakashi, and Tenten jumped when the Jounin appeared next to her. She opened her mouth to yell angrily at him for scaring her, but stopped when she saw the look in his eye. "Go home, Tenten. Training is over for today." His voice was not that of Hatake Kakashi, the lazy, perverted Jounin – this was the voice of Sharingan no Kakashi – Captain-Commander of the ANBU Corps.

Nodding hastily, the kunoichi gulped, before retreating from his presence. Kakashi turned his piercing gaze to Hinata, who couldn't help but shudder – Killer Intent leaked from the man unconsciously, more than enough to unsteady an Academy Student.

"Hinata – you saw." Not a question, from him. Hinata nodded meekly.

"I saw."

"Then you should understand – that shinobi was formerly from Kumogakure no Sato. There was a recent civil war there, between the Yondaime Raikage and his protégée – the new Godaime Raikage. The war was over you, or more importantly, your Doujutsu."

"They want the Byakugan?"

"Yes. The man I just killed was called Gashira, and he was one of the closest followers of the Yondaime Raikage. The fact that they are infiltrating Konoha now, with their strongest shinobi, no less, means that they're getting desperate – which means that you, and the rest of the Hyuuga clan, are in danger." A brief pause, to let that sink in.

"So, what is going to happen?" Nothing good, Hinata knew. Nothing that she would want – even though Neji would counsel her to accept this with good grace.

"You are going to have to remain in the Academy – Hokage-Sama has directed a squad of ANBU to watch over the Academy, so you will be safe there…"


"Tch." Hinata turned her head away from Kakashi, and made certain to crush a flower with her next step – the
Academy… That would mean she'd be with the idiots of her class again – the loud, crass boys, the simpering, untalented girls…

"The same applies to both Neji and Hanabi – there'll be at least four ANBU following you guys around at all times, to keep you safe…" A pregnant pause, as he waited for an answer, and then Kakashi sighed. "You could at least say 'thank you'. It's not exactly an interesting job, to have to watch over you guys all the time."


"These Kumo-nin… why doesn't the Hokage simply have them killed? They're getting in the way of training."

"Once you are strong enough, Hinata, you can go finish them off yourself." Kakashi didn't shout, never shouted, but the displeasure in his voice was clear all the same. "Goodbye, Hinata," he said, then used Shunshin to leave. Hinata clenched her fists, and glared at the spot he had previously been in.

"Tch. It will be good practice, at least," she decided, making a mental note to hunt down these weakling Kumo-nin before she fought Hizashi – after all, if their strongest shinobi were so much weaker than Kakashi, then they were nothing compared to Hizashi; if she couldn't beat them, then she'd know she needed to train more – a lot more.

"You said they were all dead," she said once Kakashi had finished speaking. "You told me that they'd been defeated at Kamisenshi, and that there was no chance of fighting them." Kakashi scratched the back of his head and laughed nervously, before he continued.

"Well… yeah… we'd thought they were… But then, one of Hokage-Sama's spies in Kumo… he sort-of found out that the Raikage had a bounty out, on her predecessor, and any that still followed him… So it seems that they are still around, those guys… and that Kumo really wants them dead…"

"How much?" Naruto spoke up, and could not keep his interest concealed under his amateurish veil of annoyance. Kakashi considered a moment, then sighed.

"They say… that in Kumo, there's a secret weapon, a ninja that rivals their Raikage in power… We haven't been able to find out anything more than that, about it, but our spy said that this secret weapon… he, or she, has been personally assigned to hunt down the rebels. Either Kumo's being far, far too arrogant, or they expect this weapon of theirs to take down a former Raikage and all those still linked to him… I don't know the specifics, but a mission like that is, most likely, SS-Ranked. That would, in Konoha, be expected of, at the very least, an eight-man team of Jounin."

As strong as eight Jounin… That was… not impressive – that word didn't give it justice. If it were as strong as eight Jounin it must be someone capable of defeating Hizashi, and someone that powerful… she made a mental note to visit Kumo at some point, and discover the secrets to this "weapon's" strength.

"So… this one ninja is being sent after a former Kage?" Naruto's eyes boggled. "I'd want to see that fight, Kakashi-sensei, definitely!"

"Hold on, Naruto… I wouldn't be so eager, if I were you… We're not exactly at war with Kumo right now, and they aren't as bad as, say, Iwa is with us, but this is still something to be wary of. I mean… a ninja that powerful? What do you think we'll do if we run into it?"

Hinata could have sworn she saw a flicker in Kakashi's visible eye as he said that, and watched her sensei suspiciously with narrowed eyes. He's hiding something from us…

"Hn. It's just a fairy tale," Sasuke snorted, his first comment since opening the subject, and increased his pace.

--

"You're playing with them again." The whisper of a flute, blowing reedy, high-pitched notes into the silence. The first voice was just as harsh as the wind, it decided. Tuneless and discordant, a harsh critic, but necessary.

"Be silent. I'm having fun." The second, its own voice, was a purring, hissing melody, incomparable to any human instrument. As was natural – its very nature was incomparable to mere humans, and it danced to the tune of a different song – that of the passions, one which mortals could not hear.

"Raikage-sama wanted this to be quick. Efficient. In and out and done, not delaying because you find this thing beautiful."

"Your 'Raikage-sama' does not control me, whelp. I will enjoy this freedom." Because for every hour of freedom, there was a week of captivity, a week of silence, where it could no longer sing, and leave its mark on this dull world.

"Insolent beast."

"Pathetic mortal." With that last thought, it leapt from its treetop perch, hit the ground running on all four limbs – drumbeats as padded paws hit soft earth.

"You will be punished for this." Lilac eyes, slitted in shape, darted around, taking in all aspects of the forest – the prey was here, somewhere, vermin hidden in the dappled sunlight, keeping their breathing down to a minimum to try and futilely escape its intentions. It switched its vision from the monochrome it usually favoured to the coloured vision of a human, and snarled as the world became brighter, fuller. It could better appreciate the destruction it would cause when everything had its own vibrant colour, rather than being merely shades of grey.

"Not before I've had my fill."

A flat nose twitched, and two ears, each the size of a human child, swivelled around, seeking out the sounds of breathing, or hearts beating. Abruptly, it paused, crouched low to the ground, very still. A pair of tails, trailing in the breeze and squeezing out small embers of black-and-white fire, kinked suddenly.

"Found…" "You." It said, and pounced – a hissing, mewling shape, of swirling monochromatic chakra. The shinobi it attacked had time to scream, just, and then he was borne to the ground by the force of the blow.

"Puh-puh…" he sputtered, eyes wide and terrified, shaking frantically.

"Please? Thank you," it leered, and swatted it out of existence with a flaming paw the size of a man's body. As it savoured the kill, it sat on its haunches, licked fragments of human life from its claws, and giggled. "Where is the next one, my dear?" Its other half remained in sullen silence, and it cackled. "Don't be so disgusted, mortal-chan. You knew what would happen the moment you let me take control." Knew it, and secretly revelled in it – what ninja did not covet the power to crush their enemies so easily?

"To the south… thirty-five metres…" it spat, not attempting to disguise its sheer contempt.

"Why, thank you, my dear. Would you like a taste?" It sneered at its captor-made-captive, and received a resigned reply – the only reply possible, given its pride and its shame.

"Just get this over with, so we can go home."

It leapt up and backwards, marvelling at the clear blue sky and the flash of white-yellow sun, somersaulting and grinning as it cast a shadow over its next prey. She didn't say a word, just looked at the oncoming monster, doe-eyed, until one paw sent her flying like a broken doll, skittering thirty metres away. She struggled to rise on a broken leg, her right arm a jagged mass of pulp and bone, and had her head removed from her body by a single talon.

"Next one?" it said, not bothering to hide its amusement – the fragile nature of humans was exquisite to every sense.

"Across the river, preparing a Jutsu. He actually means to fight you."

"Hmm… Who does he think he is?" Another bounding leap brought it to the very bank, and the black clad shinobi on the other side leapt back, slamming seals together with quick, deliberate movements.

"Die, you monster!" Lightning crackled from fingertips, and he threw a sphere of it towards his predator, who yawned lazily and belched a monochrome fireball, which collided with, and absorbed the other shinobi's attack. He barely had time to register his fate before the attack cleaved him in two uneven pieces.

Like an ink-black mirror, the flaming, sparking sphere hovered in midair, and the Nibi no Nekomata gazed at its reflection before licking its lips.

"How exquisite…" How definite it had become… Written in blood and bones and broken bodies, the existence of the Nibi had been made apparent to all.

"Disgusting." Typical response from a creature as fickle as this – a human, that did not appreciate existence until it was far, far too late. It ignored it, instead sniffing out another man, easily identifiable by the scent of his sweat. He was trying to hide inside a bush, but mere physical objects could not stop the Nibi from catching its prey. He gave out a strangled scream as the Nibi pinned him to the ground, and leered over his cowering form.

"Why, I thought I smelled a rat, hiding in its little hole…" It bent, sniffed the man's face and ignored his little whimpers of pain as white-hot sparks burned small scars into it. "Now… now… should I tear out your throat, little rat?" The man whimpered, and the smell of released bowels reached the sensitive nose of the Jinchuuriki, who hissed with displeasure, before a razor-sharp talon extended from a paw, and neatly severed the arm of its prey.

"F-Fucking… Fucking monster!" he screamed, before trailing off into a pain-filled howl, and his tormentor cooed, bringing a fanged mouth into an inhumanly wide smile.

"You are sick."

"A rose by any other name, dear host."

"You are no rose – you are a weed."

"Sticks and stones, mortal. Now, be silent, or I will eat him." Eyes turned back to the captive shinobi, and then the creature reared off him, and padded away.

"Kill him! Raikage-Sama-"

"I am having fun. Now… I will eat him, mortal." She would enjoy the taste of his flesh, flavoured by fear… emotions were far greater flavourings than any human spice.

Sharp eyes fixed onto the whimpering man, who tried in vain to re-attach his severed arm, but the wound had seared shut. "Run." He froze, turned shakily to the being that addressed him. "Run, prey, or I will kill you." A pair of tails kinked, waving in the breeze. The man took deep breaths, shuddering, and his hunter snarled. "Five." He realised in a moment, and was up and running.

"Four."

"You are a monster."

"Three. I am you, dear host." The shinobi stumbled, and then raced away again, leaving his arm far behind.

"At least kill him quickly."

"Two. It makes no difference, dear. You will be tasting his flesh either way. I do hope you enjoy the taste of your own kind." He leapt over a gnarled root, and cried out as he landed.

"Please! Come back! Don't leave me here! Please, it'll eat me!" Desperate cries, lost on the wind. If his fellows were still here, they were hiding – smart little pieces of prey. Yet not smart enough – if they felt they could outplay a being as suited for the hunt as it was.

"I hate you, demon."

"One. Try not to, darling – things will go much harder for us if you do." The Nibi no Nekomata reared its behind in the air, pushed its paws effortlessly through the earth, kinked its tails again, and then pounced in a blur of monochromatic flames.

The shinobi heard, or more appropriately, felt the demon coming after him, turned his eyes, wide with fear, as its maw closed on his head.

The Nibi sat on its haunches for a moment, chewing on the unfortunate shinobi, cracking bone, rupturing flesh, and evaporating blood. When it was done, it tossed the remains with a flick of its neck, and watched them fade into the distance. Tails kinked again – what to do now?

"Why don't you fulfil the mission, and kill the Yondaime?" Its whining, boring host sounded sick – as only a human could: No other animal could slaughter its own kind in such an organised series of hunts, and yet shudder away from devouring its kill.

"Hush, kitten, all in good time…" Eyes darted again, ears pricked back, nose picked up scent. It turned to a tree, and crouched.

"I…""See you!" This time, the prey ran, rather than try to hide. It would make no difference. The Nibi bounded after him, tearing through a signpost in the way.

It failed to notice the path it was taking led it south, into Hi no Kuni.

--

"What do you mean, 'it's just a fairy tale'!? Where's your proof!?" Naruto was yelling at Sasuke, who was doing a pretty good job of ignoring him. Hinata hung back with Kakashi, glancing about – as if expecting an attack.

"So… These missing-nin… they could be here? If they're strong enough that Kumo has dispatched such a strong shinobi after them, then why is a Genin team being sent out here?"

"Because I'm with you guys, and, if you didn't realise, I'm at the level of these guys. There's a reason they fear me in Kumo, after all. Still… the chances of us getting attacked, here, in Hi no Kuni, are pretty slim – last we'd heard, the Yondaime was running for his life back up in Rai no Kuni. Like I said, I'll handle anything they throw at us."

"So, Kakashi-Sensei… What do we do, if we meet these guys? Are they too strong for us?" Kakashi sighed, then thought for a moment.

"Hinata… You really want to fight them, eh? Well… to tell you the truth, the Yondaime Raikage lost a lot of his strongest men to Kumo hunter-nin over the years. I wouldn't be surprised if the guys he's got now are mostly second-generation, so not that strong yet. If it comes to it… I'd rather you guys left it to me, but I wouldn't rule out there being some that you could take down, if you learn to work together."

"Work together…" She supposed she'd have to take Naruto aside some time, and actually teach him to correct his stances – he was, for all his enthusiasm and endurance, less of a ninja and more of a brawler, the blunt hammer to her scalpel.

"Yeah, work together… You, Naruto, and Sasuke – since he's the strongest of you three, you never know, you might want to be able to rely on him some time… Y'know?"

"What do you mean?" She did not give voice to the thought racing inside her head – that Sasuke was no more a part of this team than he pretended to be, and that he was incapable of being trusted, selfish and egocentric as he was. "How do you suggest we 'work together' with Sasuke?" Kakashi's face lit up, as if he were smiling.

"Ah, that's simple! What you do, see, is you…" he trailed off and Hinata unconsciously leant closer to hear him… "Figure it out yourself!"

And that was that – Whilst she was still registering that Kakashi had, in typical fashion, evaded the question completely, the Jounin-sensei took his book out to read, and Hinata knew from experience that anything she said would be ignored, or given a neutral 'Hm?' In these circumstances, it was better to say nothing at all, infuriating as it may be.

Inevitably, the different paces set by the group – Naruto bouncing ahead like an overeager puppy, Kakashi strolling along leisurely, almost on autopilot, reading his book, and the two nobles somewhere in the middle, neither dragging their feet or racing ahead – led to Sasuke and Hinata walking almost next to each other.

The Hyuuga did everything in her power to ignore Sasuke's foreboding presence, watching instead the orange-coloured blur at the edge of her vision, as it alternated between rushing forward, and pausing to call back to them.

"Hoi! Come on, guys – we're running late! We need to move quickly!" Naruto jumped as he spoke, but was met with silence from the rest of his team.

Naruto… There was definitely something strange about him – something she couldn't quite place. He was not the first cheerful, excitable person she had ever met – Tenten matched him in that, but Naruto was… different. Perhaps it was the fact that he, too, was an orphan – someone she could relate to. Still… she was slightly disturbed by how he could make her feel.

She was not quite sure what had prompted her to confront his landlord this morning – it had been almost instinctual; seeing Naruto cowering dejectedly made the only plausible response be leaping to his defence, almost like a reflex that she had succumbed to, far too easily.

She had never acted like this around Tenten, or Hanabi, or Neji, when they had still been friends – and, to be honest, this scared her. Her… relationship with Naruto was treading into uncharted, dangerous waters.

She liked him, that was for certain. Compared to the others in her life, Naruto was like a breath of fresh air, loud and exuberant, but human, fragile. However, much as she enjoyed his company, she found herself… apprehensive. Before meeting Naruto, life had been a single path – beginning from the Hyuuga Massacre, and ending with Hizashi dead by her hand: simple, straightforward, and secure. Since meeting Naruto, she had strayed from the path several times – and that was unforgivable. She had a mission, decided from childhood, to avenge all that she had loved, and she could not stray from it – she had to kill Hizashi, no matter what.

She glanced at Sasuke, who had hands in pockets, and felt a curl of distaste, deep inside. Distaste that Sasuke was stronger than her, distaste about their mutual dislike of each other, and distaste that they would have to work together. She could no more exclude him from Team 7 than she could Naruto – in order for her to continue down her path, the team would have to work well together – be better than the sum of its parts, in that regard Kakashi was correct. So, stifling her dislike of the Uchiha, Hinata decided that she'd have to at least make an effort to be civil.

"Uchiha-san, what's on your mind?" Sasuke paused, glanced over his shoulder at her, his face expressionless.

"Same as usual – Dobe's being annoying, and you're still pretending you're a decent person. Everything's… normal, at least." Hinata ignored the slur there – she'd long ago decided that insults formed a key part of Sasuke's vocabulary.

"You didn't answer my question, Uchiha-san. How are you feeling?" This time he scowled, and then replied in a sickly-sweet manner, with a forced, far-too-wide false smile.

"Oh, forgive me, Hinata – I'm feeling fine, thank you for asking. Yeah – top of the world: I made your cousin, who manages to even top you with arrogance, look like an idiot; I'm starting my first C-Ranked mission, years after my brother… oh, and it turns out that we're going to get married. Brilliant, eh, Hinata-chan?" He ended with a cross between a smile and a snarl, and Hinata forced down the rage inside her, threatening to spill from violent thoughts to violent acts.

"Excuse me, Sasuke?" Icily calm, frostily polite – that was the Hyuuga way.

"Yep. Fugaku changed the terms of the Betrothal – Itachi's not part of things, neither is your sister. Just us." Just us. Hinata felt a chill crawl up her spine, triggering memories of their discussion under a midnight sky, where Sasuke offered her a 'way out', if she were to marry him.

"You…" Eyes narrowed, and chakra coils bulged across her face. Sasuke raised an eyebrow, but made no other move. "You changed things, didn't you?" It made sense now – the interest he'd shown in her before being put in Team 7… Was his apparent dislike merely a ruse, to lower her guard before this declaration? He was an Uchiha, after all…

"What? Don't be ridiculous… Why'd I want to marry someone like you?" His tone dripped with scorn, or was it bait? Bait to cloud her judgment? "You know…" he continued. "You should consider yourself lucky – If Itachi had been in my place, he'd have put you in yours ages ago. Then again… I'd probably have done the same thing to Hanabi." Immediately, words alone, not directed at her, but at others, caused her to act. Sasuke didn't expect her attack, and had just activated his Sharingan when her strike was aimed for his… not a vital area, surely? She was unsure, and could not really care at this moment – an insult to her sister demanded a violent response.

Sasuke barely managed to dodge back, and begin to deliver a kick, but for some strange, unknown reason, checked the blow before it even began. Hinata did not care – following up on his mistake with another strike, which he dodged, slightly easier this time – he was just faster than her, and with the Sharingan, his predictive capabilities made his reaction time even greater.

She brought her right arm back, ready to strike once more, and then something grabbed her from behind, blocked her strike, wrapped around both her arms. She snapped her head around, and glared directly into the concerned blue eyes of Uzumaki Naruto.

"Snap out of it, Hinata! He's… not worth it," the blonde Genin said, almost bitterly, though he recoiled from the hatred in her gaze, and a moment later, Kakashi sighed and put his book away.

"Do you children never learn? Eh?" He walked up to the space between them, his uncovered eye flitting between them slowly. "Right… you two are going to have your own private make-up session; I don't care who's right and who's wrong – this team won't tolerate dissension, understood?" Neither of the Genin at fault could meet the disappointed, disapproving look in their Sensei's eye.

"Kakashi-sensei…" Naruto began, but Kakashi just shook his head, and Naruto fell silent.

"Now, Sasuke, Hinata, do you have anything you want to say to each other?" Both Genin kept mouths firmly shut, and Kakashi sighed again. "Right then. Naruto, stick with me – you two go on ahead, turn right at the next fork. Oh, and work this out."

--

Well… what did you fucking expect? Smiles and hugs? Life doesn't work like that, Hyuuga. Sasuke glared at Hinata, who ignored him. They had not said a word since Kakashi sent them on ahead – there was nothing to be said. She'd deluded herself, pretty thoroughly, into believing that he, for some reason, was interested in her – and he didn't see any point in trying to argue otherwise – would she really believe that it was Itachi that had the "interest" in her? Every sceptical fibre of his being screamed a resounding 'No!'.

After all, he could barely believe it, and he'd been told to his face. 'Hurt her, and I will hurt you.' Somehow, he knew, Itachi would know – just like he always knew, if he didn't do as he commanded. And he still didn't know why he'd been given this command – what possible interest Itachi could have in Hinata. So, she was a Hyuuga. What did it matter? The Hyuuga were old and done and gone, worthless, outdated pieces of trash. They belonged in the past, and should neither be dwelt on or expected to change.

So what was it that drew Itachi to the Hyuuga clan? Why was it that he had, twice now, talked to him specifically about Hinata?

If you are so interested in her, then you marry her, Aniki. But no, he was, as always, his brother's tool in this endeavour – he did what his brother didn't care for, so that Itachi could reap the rewards… whatever they may be.

Truth be told, it made him sick, but that's what life was – the strong did as they pleased, and those not strong enough had to follow – crying about things didn't make life any better, only by becoming stronger could he escape – that was the Uchiha way, after all, refined through generations of brutality, and one that he was determined to master… before he put an end to it for good.

"Oi! Talk to each other!" Kakashi's distinctly bored voice called from behind them, and Sasuke glared back at the man, who still seemed to have eyes only for his Icha Icha book, but ears that heard everything, or rather, the lack of everything. Naruto, padding by Kakashi's side, only had eyes for one person, and Sasuke was glad to say that it wasn't him.

Popular, aren't we, Hinata? Not only did Itachi have some sick interest in her well-being, but she had the Dobe following her like a lovestruck puppy. He supposed that he should feel jealous at receiving such attention, but then again… a slobbering imbecile and Uchiha Itachi were not the best of company. He smirked, and felt her irritated glare settle on him again, daring him to give voice to what he found so funny. She wouldn't actually say anything, though, she was far too proud for that – she'd pretty much sworn that she wouldn't talk to him for a long time, after that little hissy-fit she threw before.

They were drawing closer to the Matsu Estates now – he could see a plume of smoke in the not-too-far distance, and hear the singing of those working the fields. If he strained his hearing, he could make out snatches of their song, eerily familiar.

With a start, he realised that it was a lullaby, about the sunrise, and a child who was lost finding his family. He realised that he remembered it from somewhere.

As he tried to recall where he had heard it before, the rough, harmonised chorus of their voices changed, became the soft, lilting sound of a far more familiar person, from a far more pleasant time. Looking at a hanging bench somebody had installed under the branches of a particularly sturdy tree, Sasuke saw for a moment Ka-san, with a small child sitting in her lap, as she sang quietly. Her child had a content look on his face, eyes closed and humming along as her hands rested on his, and Mikoto watched her husband and elder son spar, though she smiled only when she looked back down at a young Sasuke.

Then, as his Ka-san turned her velvet-smooth gaze to him, Sasuke's memory shattered, and the swinging bench became empty once more.

"Well… we're here," said Kakashi, as he appeared at Sasuke's side, and the Uchiha stiffened – how had he moved so quickly? The Jounin had stowed his book, and gave him and Hinata a sidelong glance, but said nothing to them. He almost felt insulted, but if Kakashi thought that slights such as this would shame him into accepting any sort of compromise with Hinata, he was wrong.

"Naruto, we'll be in the presence of one of Daimyo-sama's good friends – he may not be a ninja, but he deserves our respect, 'kay?" Naruto nodded, and the four of them moved on, Sasuke noting from the position of the sun that they were almost two hours late.

The Matsu's main Estate was lavishly decorated, its outer walls carved with oak leaves and acorns. An orchard of apple trees was contained within, and Sasuke guessed that there were similar orchards for other fruits elsewhere. There was a moat around the actual mansion, with a red cedar wood bridge. Two Ashigaru stood at guard, pikes held high, and saluted as Team 7 approached.

"Sharingan no Kakashi! Matsu-sama is expecting you! Please, hurry on!" the one on the left said, a smooth-skinned man, barely out of adolescence. Sasuke doubted he'd even seen combat before. The one on the right was a more grizzled warrior, sporting a large scar across his cheek.

Kakashi paused, then ignored the younger soldier, waving at the older man.

"Hey, Haruko-san. How's things?" Haruko smiled, and lifted his hat.

"They've been better, Kakashi-san," he growled. "Matsu-sama will tell you of our problems."

"Maa, it can't possibly be worse than last time, eh?" Kakashi scratched the back of his head, and pointedly ignored the growing frustration of the younger soldier.

"Well… at the very least, I don't have a scar yet," Haruko said, closing his eyes.

"There is that… Well! Better go see Kurimiki – he'll probably want to catch up." He stepped past the guards, and Sasuke paused and smirked at the seething younger soldier.

"Don't worry – he does that to everyone. You're not special enough to get any attention from Kakashi-sensei." Then he carried on after his team, leaving one shocked Ashigaru with a twitch in his right eye.

--

Matsu Kurimiki was an aging man, who, upon seeing Kakashi, rose stiffly from his seat and had to be supported by his courtiers.

"Ah! Kakashi-san! It has been… too long… You are early! Sarutobi-san told us… you would not arrive for at least another half-hour!"

"Ah, well, you know me, Kurimiki-san… always early!" Kakashi said whilst scratching the back of his head and smiling. Naruto whirled on him immediately.

"Oi! Kakashi-sensei, what's this all about! You're late all the time, not ear-" He stopped as Kakashi, ever so lightly, pushed his head into the floor with his foot.

Man… Naruto rubbed his head after Kakashi had taken his foot off of it. So we left early, just so Kakashi could get here on time? It wasn't very reassuring that their sensei was so expected to be tardy that even the Hokage had given in and let him have his way…

"So… I hear there's problems with bandits, eh, Kurimiki-san?" The aged man nodded sadly, and slumped back into his seat.

Naruto could tell straight away that he was going to be boring, and wished that there was a chair somewhere he could sit on… or that he could at least slouch, but both Hinata and Sasuke-teme were standing ramrod straight, though very deliberately looking away from one another.

Damned teme… What business did Sasuke have in the first place, starting trouble? Everyone had been happy, and then he'd appeared, and turned happiness into anger. What kind of grudge did he have against Hinata, anyway?

Yeah, they were from different clans – so what? He wasn't an Inuzuka or a Nara, and he got on just fine with Kiba and Shikamaru, and he wasn't a Hyuuga either, but he still counted himself a friend of Hinata. Kakashi-sensei had said the Uchiha and Hyuuga clans had some sort of "special" rivalry, but even he didn't know why that meant Sasuke and Hinata hated each other… Kakashi tapped him on the head, and Naruto looked up at the old geezer they had to protect, who was finishing off the conversation he'd been having with Kakashi.

"So, I fear, I must ask for your help once more, Sharingan no Kakashi, to prevent these… mercenaries from preying upon my lands!" He gestured fiercely with a gnarled hand to emphasise his point, but the Hatake still wore his almost condescending smiley face.

"Hey… It's no problem, Kurimiki-san, but we've just come all the way from Konoha… My Genin are pretty tired, you see… Mind if we start our little… task tomorrow?"

He just wants to finish reading his stupid porn, all three Genin thought simultaneously.

"Ah! Ah, yes, of course! Minako! Kita! Show our guests to their lodging!" he clapped once, and two serving girls bowed.

"Hai, Matsu-sama!" they cried, and then led Team 7 down a corridor to the right, with a large Ash tree emblazoned on each of its walls.

"How many rooms are there?" Kakashi asked, and one of the girls, a blonde, turned and bowed.

"There are two only, Hatake-sama. Unfortunately, we are housing a delegation of shinobi from Takigakure, and they arrived first."

"Ah, no problem… In fact, two rooms works out just fine for my team." Hinata knew what he was going to say next, and coughed loudly to draw his attention, though she felt slightly hesitant when his single eye focused on her, silently warning her to choose her words carefully. Hinata had, of course, prepared for this scenario in advance, and knew what to say that would not seem to be too against Kakashi's will, but still lead to her not having to share a room with the Uchiha.

"Naruto should choose the rooms – he's the only one here who doesn't have a grudge against his team," she said, and Kakashi placed finger and thumb on his chin, eye wandering across the ceiling.

"Nope," he decided with a smile. "I can't have Naruto share a room with Sasuke, they'll end up killing each other, and I can't have him sleep in the same room as you, since you have that thing… So! You're sleeping in the same room as Sasuke, and Naruto's sharing with me." His tone dropped as he continued, deadly serious. "And I don't have to remind you two that it's in your best interests to solve whatever problem you have with each other, do I?" Neither of the two nobles spoke, and Naruto just watched the whole thing uneasily.

"Here are your rooms," said the brown-haired girl, laughing nervously whilst her blonde counterpart simply watched, a little too observantly, in Hinata's mind. Then she saw her looking and averted her gaze, studying a crack in the ceiling instead.

Sasuke marched in immediately with a neutral 'Hn', and chose his futon immediately. Hinata followed more tentatively, keeping half an eye on the blonde servant.

"Kita, we should be going," said her brunette companion, and Kita turned to leave soundlessly.

"Hey, Hinata…" She glanced back at Kakashi, who was leaning just outside of his doorframe. "Pleasant dreams!" Then he closed the door behind him, and Hinata did the same for her room, silently cursing her sensei's name, and the fact that there was no bathroom for her to change in – or even a screen to block her from Sasuke's view. How humiliating, to be leered at by him, she silently fumed.

"Don't look – I'm going to change," she said, shooting Sasuke a murderous glare and the Uchiha snorted, before with exaggerated movements placed his Hitai-ate over his eyes.

"Whatever… It's not like I actually care what you look like." She grit her teeth, and ignored him as she changed into the sole pair of pyjamas she had brought with her, and slipped into her futon, though she was unable to go to sleep due to one very annoying factor.

"Switch the light off, Sasuke," she growled at the Uchiha, who snorted.

"No thank you, hime – I'm reading." Of all things… A ninja was supposed to be able to relax in any circumstances: sleep on a tree branch if need be, but Hinata had always had, much to her annoyance, an inability to sleep if there was too much light – most likely due to the nature of the Byakugan, unprofessional though it was… She glanced over at Sasuke, who was poring over a scroll illuminated by the irritating constant glare of his lamp.

"What are you reading?" If she could not sleep, she could at least attempt to converse with her irritatingly intransigent team-mate. Sasuke grunted, and the sole onyx eye she could see glared over the top of the scroll at her.

"None of your business, Hyuuga," he sneered with his all-too-characteristic smirk, before going back to reading. Intolerable… She wasn't quite sure what told her it was a good idea to slide out of bed, and change back into clothes more suitable for the outdoors. Sasuke ignored her up until she put a hand on their screen door.

"What are you doing now, Hyuuga?" he said, without taking his eyes off his precious scroll. Hinata turned, and gave him a sneering smile, facial muscles arranged in the same way she had seen oh-so-many times from him.

"Why, Sasuke-kun, I've had enough of listening to you, so I'm going to go out and do something useful, like train." Then she stepped outside, and Sasuke, after a quick glance in her direction to check that she was actually following through with her declaration, went back to his studying of advanced Katon Ninjutsu.

--

"We must turn back!" How annoying… The Nibi shook the irritating echo from its ears, and focused on following the scent trail. Its container's voice had simply become annoying now, with its endless whining and criticism. For one so loyal to orders, it seemed very determined to abandon their mission. How very mortal.

"We are killing your former Yondaime's men, are we not? Be silent, whelp." It was mildly interesting to note how they followed her so, like carrion birds following a voracious predator. Foolish, foolish prey… It had caught and killed twelve of them since crossing the border into Hi no Kuni – the latest ones it had made sing before it ended their pathetic existences – and to its ears, their howling screams as limb after limb was delicately torn away was sweeter than any human melody. This was music, laced with raw, passionate emotion.

Its current prey was a particularly stealthy individual – it had backtracked, crossed multiple rivers, and used Bunshins in a rather inventive manner, but it would not escape it – not the Nibi; it hunted men's souls. However, its senses were being clouded by the insistent, whining noise of its most harsh critic.

"This… if we are found, Konoha will declare war! I will not allow you to do this, monster! Turn back, now!" The Nibi knew it had mere hours left to control this body, before it would be forced back into captivity, but it would be damned if it gave up this hunt. It was a matter of pride more than anything – this would be the highlight of its freedom, the trophy soul to take back to its cage.

"There… It turned west here… What a delightfully inventive prey this one is…"

A leaping bound, and it covered metres in seconds, before pausing, attuning its senses once more. The scent was strong here, but its ears buzzed with the sounds of the night – hooting owls, chirping beds, rustling grass, the sound of a human household going to sleep…

"Che! We are too close to habitation! If they see us…"

"Be silent, kitten," it purred. "They know not that we are from Kumo. You are safe so long as I am in control." It flattened against the ground, and heard the shifting of a foot against the damp earth. Simultaneously, it smelt two new presences… How insulting. The prey shadowed it, keeping just out of immediate reach, and watched it. The Nibi had decided to ignore most of these annoying insects, and focus on one at a time. They were not innumerable, after all – there were at most six left of the forty it had originally begun to hunt.

It edged towards the direction the sound had come from… Yes, it could see the prey now, half-hidden in the undergrowth, loading a dart into a blowpipe. How futile…

It pounced, and tore the surrounding area to shreds, delivering its fury onto the target. Absently, it heard its host hiss at the unnecessary noise, and then it realised that it had destroyed a Bunshin. Raising its head to the night sky, the Nibi yowled its frustrations, and focused on the twin presences that were circling around it, towards the distant human buildings – it would slay them at least, in the time it had remaining to it. Ignoring the angry protests of Nii Yugito, the Nibi charged towards the Matsu Estates, and the prey that dared to bait it.

--

Sasuke tsked as somebody knocked on the door. Was it Hinata, coming back to swallow her pride and go to bed? Doubtful – the Hyuuga was as proud as Naruto was stupid, or Kakashi was lazy. Was it Kakashi then, coming in to check on them? No, that wasn't his 'style' – he'd leave them to work things out themselves. Well then… it must be a serving girl, coming to check on their needs. He crossed the floor to the screen door slowly, just to keep them waiting, and then slid the screen door open, his face an icy mask.

"What is it?" he said, and Naruto looked up, surprised, before staring back defiantly.

"Where's Hinata, teme?" What a shame – had he put less of a pause between those two words, Sasuke may even have agreed with the Dobe. He just shrugged instead, and smiled at Naruto's annoyance.

"Don't really know – she said something about going to train. I don't really care…" Naruto grabbed him by the collar, and Sasuke's smile turned to a frown.

"Damnit! What'd Kakashi-sensei say? Work it out! Why'd you let Hinata go off on her own?" Sasuke broke his hold with a quick chop downwards, and spat at Naruto's feet.

"Why do you care so much about the Hyuuga, eh? What's so special about her – what makes her different from me?" Naruto's eyes widened, then he clenched his fists.

"You don't know, teme?" he said quietly.

"No, Naruto, I really don't. Please, enlighten me," Sasuke sneered, and Naruto glared at him, not that it bothered the Uchiha much – he'd had to deal with the anger of Itachi before; Naruto's paled in comparism.

"Teme… Hinata's a nice person, when people like you aren't around to piss her off! She… she looks out for her friends – she actually wants this team to work! But you… you just piss everybody off, every chance you get! Hinata's nothing like you, jack-ass!"

Sasuke wouldn't admit it, but he could have actually thanked Naruto for that – he had the sense to see it, the Dobe had the sense to see it, that Itachi was wrong about this, that he and Hinata weren't like each other; weren't like him. And yet…

"Hmph. Hinata a nice person? You must need glasses, Dobe. You think she's working for the team? You obviously don't know anything near as much as you think you do – Hinata only cares about one thing, and she's willing to use and sacrifice anything to get to it." He grinned and leant in close, to the snarling face of the Uzumaki. "She told me herself, Dobe, there's one person, just one person in the world she cares about, and surprise, surprise, it's not you." He sneered at the blonde Genin's barely-suppressed anger. "Listen carefully, idiot. The only person Hinata gives a damn about isn't you, and isn't me. His name is Hyuuga Hizashi, and she's willing to do anything to kill him, even pretend to be your friend, even pretend to care about this team. The sooner you learn, Dobe, the better – Hinata doesn't care about you."

"Bullshit!" Naruto almost yelled, regardless of the time. "You shut up, teme! Don't say things like that about Hinata, because you don't know the first thing about her! You keep talking about her like she's your best friend, like she's your sister, but you don't know anything about her! You're not like her, you're not an orphan, you haven't had to go through what she has, and you're still an arsehole, when Hinata's a good person! What the hell makes you think that she's as bad as you say, huh? What makes you think she does things like you say? What makes you think you're so goddamn right all the time, when you're making stuff up about other people!? What makes you-mmmff…" The blonde was cut off as a gloved hand clamped itself firmly over his mouth.

"It's night-time, Naruto…" said a sleepy voice, before yawning, and Kakashi loomed over the both of them, sleepy-eyed but still oh-so clearly alert. "You guys woke me up… Hm? Where's Hinata? I thought it was her turn to get into an argument with Sasuke…" He released Naruto, who crossed his arms and glared sullenly at Sasuke.

"Sasuke-teme says she went training," Naruto grumbled, and Kakashi's eyes lit up immediately.

"Sasuke, is this true?" His voice changed, sharper than before, and Sasuke just nodded. What was it about this that brought out the serious Kakashi? Kakashi sighed.

"Well then… you're going out to look for her." Sasuke just glared at him, meeting his single three-tomoe Sharingan with two one-tomoe ones.

"Hell no – I want to sleep, and I couldn't care less about that Hyuuga bi-" He was cut off mid-sentence as Kakashi moved, quicker than he could see even with Sharingan activated, and unloaded a punch into his stomach that drove the air from his body. He collapsed on the ground and wheezed, as Kakashi lifted him up, and glared directly at him, releasing a wave of Killer Intent.

"Sasuke, never take your team-mates lightly. You have two choices: go out and bring Hinata back, or I swear to Kami, I'll beat the ever-living shit out of you for the rest of the night. That punch? I can hit, oh… ten, twenty times harder than that?"

Sasuke didn't answer for a moment, dizzy on top of trying to desperately inhale oxygen, but eventually nodded, and Kakashi sent him on his way with a not-so-gentle smack on the back.

Sasuke staggered a little of the way to the nearest exit, then slumped against a wall. Fucking Kakashi… What the hell did he know about team-mates? Then, gathering control of himself, he took his first steps outside, kicking on a pair of sandals, to go search for his oh-so-precious team-mate.

And of course, Naruto's bloody rant was lodged inside his mind as he closed the screen door behind him.

"What makes you think she does things like you say, eh?" It was a relatively rare occurrence for Uchiha Sasuke to be lost for words – being an Uchiha demanded that you be quick and sharp, in speech as well as everything else. And yet… only a single answer presented itself in his mind to Naruto's furious question, an answer he hated, didn't want to… couldn't accept, but remained lodged there indefinitely, and threatened to change everything.

Because it's exactly what I'd do.

--

"Ne, Kakashi-sensei?" Kakashi glanced down at Naruto, who immediately averted his eyes, slightly stunned by the focus of Kakashi's killing intent. He switched it off, hoping it hadn't accidentally caught any civilians… that would be a mess.

"Yes, Naruto?" he said once he was done.

"Why've we got to have someone like Sasuke-teme on our team? Why can't it just be us three, huh?" Kakashi paused for a moment, not because he had trouble answering Naruto's question, but because, not for the first time, he was comparing his team to this one.

It was simple enough to place a young him in Sasuke's place – arrogant, heir to a prestigious legacy, undeniably powerful but by Kami… so unbelievably full of himself. Naruto, likewise, was easy to place as Obito – with a power he neither wanted nor was able to control, loud and energetic and devoted to his friends… They even had the same love of orange. Then there was Hinata… She was the only one that didn't fit in the puzzle – she wasn't much like Rin had been at all, from what he'd seen. No, she vied with Sasuke for the "stuck-up noble genius of the group", instead of taking the "calm, gentle kunoichi" position. Yet, the way Naruto talked about her, it seemed that there was something different there, something he had yet to see, a different side to the Hyuuga.

Besides which, after that… incident, Rin had changed. With a sickening feeling in the pit of his stomach, Kakashi mentally re-lived seeing the girl he had never appreciated become cold and distant, haunted by the ghosts of the past. In a way, the Rin after the death of Obito was similar to Hinata now…

"Sasuke's a key member of this team, Naruto," he said on autopilot, and wondered if Minato-sensei had ever considered beating the tar out of the arrogant boy named Kakashi. "He just doesn't realise it yet."

They'd all changed each other, his old team – Obito had become stronger, he had become human, but Rin… Rin had been the only one of them not to gain anything, but simply to lose something.

"Yeah, but Kakashi-sensei… How do we get him to realise it?"

When had he realised it, that the team made the individual, instead of the other way around? It had taken a catalyst, he remembered, a sudden, life-changing event. And it had taken the death of a friend. If this team was to be anything like the old team Seven… Kakashi would make sure that it did not go through the same process. He wouldn't stand by and let it happen again – he wouldn't watch two of his students die, one physically and one mentally, simply to show the third he was human.

He wouldn't let Naruto die, to show Sasuke what it meant to have friends, and he wouldn't let Hinata die, to show Sasuke what it meant to ignore those closest to you.

"Obito… We just have to wait and see," he said, echoing the words of his sensei – as he'd overheard Minato-sensei say to Obito one night around their campfire.

"Ne, Kakashi-sensei? Who's Obito?" Naruto cocked his head to the side, and Kakashi started.

"He's not you," was the only answer that came to mind, and it sounded so unsatisfactory.

A/N: Sorry for the long delay in this chapter being produced – I had a ridiculous amount of trouble applying the advice of my Beta Reader for the first scene (it's silly, but I just couldn't put fingers to keyboard for it…) So! I don't have a particular Review Focus for this scene, but I suppose I'd like to know how the Nibi came out, simply because I had a lot of fun writing in its POV (I should probably mention now that in this story, all the Bijuu are genderless).

Some specific pre-emptive answers:

"Wait, Hinata's on a "path?" it's "unacceptable" to stray from it? That sounds dangerously close to Canon Sasuke…"

Firstly, to allay your fears, I have no intention of making Hinata a female version of Canon Sasuke, but I'd rather not drop that part for two reasons. One, it is to show a contrast between her and Neji (He sees multiple possible futures, and picks-and-chooses with the present dictating the future, whilst she sees one path that dictates her present, if you see what I mean...) Secondly, whilst I do not want Hinata to be Fem!Sasuke, I also do not want her to hop immediately onto the Naruto bandwagon. It seemed to me like a direct contradiction of her rather wary character to place That much trust in someone right away - I saw her as wavering a bit, and tried to show that whilst she doesn't dislike Naruto, she's a bit cautious of how he makes her act, and doesn't want to get too close to him yet. (Did I succeed in that, btw?)

"Kakashi's being a bit of a jerk, isn't he?"

He is rather obsessed about the past – think of Kakashi like the stereotypical Vietnam War veteran, who wakes up in the night dreaming about past battles. He is also rather uninformed – he does not know that Hinata and Sasuke are in a forced engagement, and is too focused on seeing Team 7 as a reflection of his team to actually look "underneath the underneath".

Until next time!