Sorry for the errors from last chap.

Disclaimer: I do not own any characters in Naruto

-o-o-o-

Chapter Ten

Without warning, Kakashi suddenly pushed Hinata away from him when he heard the cold sound of kunai being thrown to their direction. With a fluent series of hand signs, he kneeled and created an earth wall to protect both of them. The way the weapons were thrown, he knew that they were not just facing a bunch of thugs like the other day. The weapons were thrown with precision and accuracy, it made him suspect that they were ninjas.

Hinata was still on the ground, but he could feel the chakra emitting from her in strong, cascading waves. She was already using her Byakugan, he was sure. When he looked at her, he saw that veins were popping inside and around the skin of her eyes. She looks a bit eerie, giving the aura that she could see straight into one's soul.

"Seven." She told him, frowning as she observed their attackers. "Shinobi of the mist." She recognized the standard uniform. She has been one of the welcoming committee a few months ago when Konoha and Kirigakure decided to discuss a new treaty, so she was able to remember. "I thought…we have a treaty with them."

"We do." The copy nin answered. "And I expect Mei Terumi to honor her word."

"Then why…?" The Hyuga rolled away from her place as another batch of throwing blades rained on them. Standing up to her feet, she bends her knees and raised both of her hands. Planting her feet firmly on the ground, she forced her chakra to build up on her palms and then performed a gentle fist rotation.

Shuriken stars and kunai reverted back, unable to pierce the shield of her palms as she rotates her body in an insanely fast pace. Next to her, Kakashi has pulled the forehead protector away from his sharingan eye and the tomoi inside it began to move.

It was then that their ambushers attacked.

Five of them landed in front of Kakashi, occupying his attention as the other two cornered Hinata. They seemed to be aware enough that the silver haired man was more dangerous compared to the long haired Hyuga so they divided their force that way. Hinata stole a glance at him as she managed to duck away from a flying katana that landed on the ground with a quivering thud. It was aimed for her head and she muttered a silent prayer of thanks after avoiding it.

"Chidori!" She heard his voice and the air was suddenly filled with the familiar chirping sound of electricity. She saw Sasuke-kun perform a Chidori technique a few times before, and she knew how deadly and dangerous it was—even if it was intended for the enemy. Seconds later, she saw two of their attackers flew into the air—screaming in pain as Kakashi's technique found its target.

Grabbing a kunai on each hand from a weapon holster attached on her leg, she aimed and threw. It was with the intention of distracting her two opponents for even just a second or two. They were keeping her on the move, thus making it hard for her to do a rotation. Gentle fists techniques need firm stances, and to do that, she has to stop.

But she can't stop for they were intent on keeping her moving from one place to another. She even suspects that they were doing it on purpose, knowing that palm and fist techniques were the strongest forms for Hyugas. Her kunai hit one Shinobi on the knee, making him curl on the ground as the sudden pain disabled his knee joint. But his comrade was still on the go. He countered by throwing another set of shuriken stars but she avoided them easily.

"Twin Lion's Fist!" She saw her chance and planted both of feet firmly on the ground. Bending her knees, she gritted her teeth as the familiar sensation of hot and fluid chakra began to build on her fists. Her opponent took a step involuntarily, as if he was surprised that a weak looking girl was able to do such a powerful technique. A second later, he growled, pulled out a senbon, and attacked her head on. Guess he was still underestimating her…

They were then engaged in a series of kicks and punches.

Hinata's fists against his blade.

Blue chakra against cold steel.

As she kicked her attacker on the gut, Hinata tried to detect Kakashi's location with her Byakugan. His five opponents were now down to one. The others were on the ground, bleeding and almost to the point of death. She saw him gave his last opponent a finishing blow and she sighed.

He was alright…and unharmed. Even if he was the famous copy ninja, she still can't help not to feel worry since he was outnumbered.

In a last, desperate attempt, her attacker—who was now sorting a busted lip—pulled a shuriken star and threw it. The way he stayed unmoving on the ground, breathing hard and whizzing, she knew that he can't stand up to save his life. She managed to hit his chakra points and blocked his chakra from flowing. It was an accomplishment on his part to throw that shuriken when paralysis was already starting to take place in his body.

Hinata knew that she could dodge it even without the help of her chakra. So she willed her legs to just simply get out of the way.

But to her shock, her legs won't move.

Looking down, she saw something creeping up to her feet and to her legs. The feeling was similar to the way Nara Shikamaru uses his shadow manipulation techniques. Shikamaru tried it on her once when they sparred that one time in training ground sixteen.

Only it was not a shadow that traps her in place.

Knowing that she won't be able to move away or use her chakra on time, she raised her hand to cover her face from the shuriken. It was so near she could hear its whistling sound. It was going to hurt—she was sure—so she closed her eyes in anticipation.

She heard a grunt.

Opening her eyes, she came face to face with Hatake Kakashi. His sharingan was still spinning and he was looking straight into her wide, frightened eyes. "K-Kakashi-san!" He was facing her, so she knew where the shuriken landed.

On his back.

Without a word, he turned his face away from her and looked at the man who threw the shuriken to her. He could have used his sharingan to move the blade into another dimension but he won't take the risk because it was already too near Hinata. The sharingan might end swallowing her up to. So he did that most logical thing and shielded her from the weapon.

"Sharingan!" He doesn't want to kill the thrower for he still needs to question him. This was a serious breach of treaty if they really came from the mist with their Kage's permission. The man's eyes rolled back to their sockets as his consciousness left him, making him curl on the grass. After he was sure that no one else was after them, he looked down on Hinata's feet and clicked his tongue. There was a transparent liquid forming on her feet.

"Water lock jutsu." Kakashi said. "He locked your feet with it to make you stay in place." He saw the water was already wrapping Hinata's upper legs and when he transferred his gaze to her face, he saw that her eyes were big with panic.

"It's…It's moving up Kakashi-san." She grabbed her sleeve and he put a reassuring hand above her own. "It's moving up my waist." Hinata knew that if it keeps on going like that, she would be drowned. She knew about this jutsu. It was going too crept up until the victim was trapped inside a ball of water.

"I can unlock it." Kakashi assured her.

"But water lock techniques take time…five minutes less." So she has her fair share of knowledge about these kinds of things. Oh right…he remembered. The girl was a water element user too. "I can't hold my breath that long Kakashi-san!"

Now the water has creeping to her neck.

"Take a deep breath and hold it." He told her. "I won't let anything happen to you so trust me okay?"

She nodded, locking eyes with him. He could see the fear etched in her pale face and her eyes were almost pleading. "I…I trust you. Kakashi-san." She took a lungful of air and closed her mouth shut, just as the water began to envelop her face.

Without wasting any time, Kakashi kneeled. Now this was the tricky part. He needs to look for the source of water and stop it. It was a trial and error process. It was not easy but not impossible either. Performing hand seals that were more of a blurry because he was doing it so fast, he slammed his fist on the ground.

Nothing.

Trial one.

He performed hand seals again, changing a few combinations then slammed his fist on the ground for the second time.

Trial two.

Gritting his teeth, he looked at the girl that was trapped inside the large orb of water. She was holding her neck with one hand, eyes shut and long curtain of hair covering half of her face. He wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead then repeated the same process.

Trial three.

"Shit." He muttered. He was not usually a cursing person but this time, he thought that he has all the reason to do so.

Trial Four.

Kakashi stood up from his position and removed his mask off his face. Now this was another fact about water lock techniques. The victim can't get out of it if the source was not blocked from the root…but that doesn't mean that those from the outside cannot enter. The jutsu was actually preferred for interrogation purposes. People trapped inside can't get out—for the water was holding a part of one's body as "hostage". In Hinata's case, it was her feet.

But the people outside can go in and out of the water orb as they please.

That's why it was considered as a one man death trap.

Hinata's lungs were burning and she feared that she can't hold it much longer. She closed her eyes shut but she was starting to see flashing lights. It felt like she was about to lose consciousness. Was she going to die by drowning? It was not her preferred way to go but—

A hand grabbed her neck and she opened her eyes.

It was Kakashi. She wasn't able to feel it but he somehow dove into the water trap and was now floating in front of her without a mask. Looking at his eyes with question, she felt his other hand tilt her chin up. Even if her mind was screaming oxygen, she can't help but noticed that her heart began to skip.

It seems like she knew what he was about to do.

And she was right.

The copy ninja lowered his head and trapped her lips into her own. His eyes were just looking at her big, white ones. No slip of emotion whatsoever. She herself cannot keep her own gaze away from his mismatched eyes and even if she was inside a cold water orb, she can't help but feel her cheeks getting hotter.

The copy ninja just took her first kiss…

Kakashi blew air inside her mouth and she thankfully used it to ease her burning lungs. He continued it a few times then gave her shoulder a squeeze. After that, he leaped out of the orb. When he landed on the ground, he was dripping wet and his face was well schooled. He kneeled again and repeated his hand seals.

A few more tries and on his tenth attempt, bluish light appeared from the ground. Kakashi knew that he found the water source so he gave her a thumbs up before standing up and waited for the water lock to disappear so that Hinata could be free from her watery prison.

Only he was mistaken. It did not disappear. It burst.

The next thing he knew, he was knocked on the ground when a flying Hyuga landed on him in full force. He landed on his back with the girl on top of him. She was coughing and shaking and he sighed.

This was awkward.

Closing his eyes, he leaned his head back. He was not on the mood to move from his position right now. For the first time in many years, he actually felt drained, mentally and physically. The girl seems a bit shaken to realize that she was practically lying on top of him so he preferred to be quiet.

He heard a gasp and the Hyuga scrambled off him. "Kakashi-san!"

"Yo."

"Are you alright?" He saw her wet face peering at him. There was a pinkish flush on her face and he wondered if it was the result of what he did. To his defense, he did it to give her air…and not for some perverted reasons like the hero of Icha-Icha harem always does.

"Yeah." He closed his sharingan eye.

"I…I saw a shuriken hit you. Please let me heal it." She tugged on his green vest so he propped himself on a sitting position. When their eyes met, she looked away from him. Silently, she transferred position so that she was behind him. "Please remove your vest. It's bleeding."

He complied.

He can feel her rolling his black shirt up and soft fingers touched the area where he felt a slight pain. He sighed again, this time he has no idea why. As she began to heal his wound, he looked around and saw that the men who ambushed them were still on the ground. He was sure that he killed some of them. He doesn't want to but their intention was to kill.

Better them than her.

"Arigatou." He heard a soft voice behind him. "Arigatou Kakashi-san. You're hurt because of me."

"You're welcome." His mind drifted back to how soft her lips felt. It has been seventeen years since he…oh damnit. "And don't blame yourself. That's what comrades do."

"Yeah." She smiled faintly. What Kakashi did have shaken her—she got to admit—but he did it to save her life. When she said that she trusted him, she really meant it. She knew that he won't let anything happen to her if he said so.

Being with Hatake Kakashi made her feel safe.

Awkward at times…but safe.

(f) Hinata looked at the miso soup that was laid in front of her. On the opposite side of the table, Kakashi was eating—with his mask on—and was pretending that she doesn't exist. It was her first week staying at his apartment and she was still feeling extremely awkward.

She cleared her throat. "Ano…Kakashi-sens—." She stopped and bit her tongue. "Kakashi-kun."

He looked at her with his blank stare. For a moment, she was actually expecting for a lazy smile and a "Yo" but then remembered that it was not Kakashi-sensei she was talking to…but younger Kakashi.

Young and different Hatake Kakashi.

"I…I…"

"Spit it out." He said impassively it almost reminds her of Sasuke Uchiha. They would get along well if Sasuke was born a little earlier.

"I…I am allergic to miso soup. Gomenasai."

"Then don't eat it." He continued eating and did not even offer her alternative food. With a sigh, she looked at the miso with a pang of hunger. She really wanted to eat but…

Her hand reached the glass of water and she gulped it down. Guess she was going to fill herself with water tonight just to escape from hunger. She remembered those times when she was on missions; she experienced hunger for days when they ran out of food in areas that were too far for to avail some.

She can survive this one night. She experienced far worse—

"Stupid, I did not say you can't eat anything. I only said not to eat the miso." He told her like she was really, really stupid when he saw her gulping the glass of water. "Find something inside the cupboards. You have feet and hands so use them."

"Oh…r-right."

That night, she slept on the cold, hard floor. She tried to close her eyes but images of her friends and family began to appear inside her mind. She was starting to get teary eyed so she gave up on the idea of sleep and just stared blankly at the ceiling.

She wanted to return back to her time so bad…it felt like her heart was being crushed.

"Obito…Rin."

Hinata's head snapped to Kakashi's bed. It was his voice, and it seems like the young Hatake was sleep talking.

"Rin…I'm sorry."

Slowly rising up to a seating position, she peered at him. He still has his mask on—as expected—and was sweating. His hands were balled into fists and his body stiff. Hinata was tempted to wake him up but hesitated for he might do something to her. He was scary in a way and she doesn't want to be under his wrath. She has a feeling that this was a moment of vulnerability and she should not be hearing this.

"Don't leave me Rin…"

Edging nearer to the bed, she finally found her courage to stand up and touch his arm. "Kakashi—"

A hand reaches for her arm and she was pulled down. With dread, she realized that he was embracing her and his face was on her neck. She could feel his body molding against hers and she thought that he was really going to strangle her when he wakes up.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you. I failed…I'm sorry I failed." The arms around her tightened.

Was he crying…?

"K-kakashi-kun…"

The mismatched eyes opened. One was dark and the other was blood red. "What the…"

"Kakashi-kun…p-please let me go. I can't breathe." (f)

-o-o-o-

Here ends the chapter. Please review!

-crazygurl12