Well, if you paid attention to the title, you should guess the future events fairly easily. Oh well, it was bound to happen sometime.
disclaimer: Naruto's not mine, but my dinner is! Also: 'colorful' language warning!
The traveling duo had stopped in a backwoods town on the way to Hive City on business. Shades, despite fully understanding Hinata's situation, had her duty as a professional smuggler to perform her outlawed craft.
As several red-eyed men unloaded the unmarked crates from the truck, Shades and Hinata took a break from the open road in the run-down hideout. Their light conversation was interrupted by a quirky red-eyed girl.
"Shades," the young red-eye said upon seeing the goggled woman, "There's an automated message for you from Roventia."
"Well let's hear it!" She and the Hyuuga left their seats and headed towards the communications hut.
"Here it is," the girl said as she flipped several switches and turned a knob.
"Hey Shades!" The radio crackled to life with the friendly voice of the Raver. "How's the road? Great, I'm sure. Since you're always in a hurry, I'll just get to the point for once. After you guys left, some dude came in lookin' for the White Eyes of Death. He had three other guys in his company, one of 'em was huge, another one carried this big-ass sword, and the other one was this cute lookin' chicky with a serious attitude. When I didn't tell the dude anything, his eyes turned into this weird pattern and the asshole started to bust up my club! You believe that, he tried to take me down!!" The static voice laughed. "He even tried usin' electricity on me! 'S like he's never heard of me before!! Well, I ripped 'im a good one and he went on his way with his merry band. I'm pretty sure he knows where you're goin' though, so just watch your back. Catch ya later!"
The girl turned the knob with an audible 'click'. "That's it," she said.
"Hmmm…" Shades thought the message over without any serious tone. "Friends of yours, Hinata?"
"No," she shook her head. "I didn't know anyone knew I was this far west. I've got nothing." She shrugged.
"Works for me." The pair headed out of the hut and saw the empty truck. "Well, looks like we're ready to hit it again. Shall we?"
Hinata smiled at her newfound friend. "Sure."
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Two figures donned in black cloaks with red cloud patterns darted through the trees in silent pursuit of their target.
"Hey, Itachi," Kisame attempted to strike up a conversation with his quiet partner. "You really sure following that Hyuuga girl around is really the best idea?"
Itachi said nothing in reply.
"I mean, she's always a step behind the target, you know? Why don't we try to find him on our own once we get the newest lead?"
The Uchiha stayed silent for a moment before responding. "The Hyuuga girl will eventually find Naruto Uzumaki despite the circumstances. If we act on her information ahead of her and miss the target, we could possibly loose sight of the girl as well, which would leave us at the starting point."
Kisame seemed satisfied enough at this answer even though he didn't like it. He despised the fact that they were relying on some lost little girl to do their job.
"Oh, yeah," the fishlike human tried to change topics. "I've been hearing that your little brother's looking for you. He's even got his own squad and all. What do you plan to do about him?"
Itachi gave his obligatory silence before his reply. "Sasuke is still too weak. He uses hatred to drive his training, but it also blinds his path as well. He can never hope to defeat me on his own."
"What if he had help?"
More silence. "Possibly, but where could he possibly find anyone powerful enough who would risk their life for a cause not their own?"
"Good point," he nodded. "How're we going to take down the target?"
"If Uzumaki proves to be too formidable an opponent with his allies, we shall wait until he is separated from them to strike."
"Sounds like a plan."
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The vehicle transporting the white-eyed Hyuuga and her lewd and crude smuggler friend pulled up to a makeshift gate embedded in a weather beaten wall. Shades stuck her head out and signaled to a guard who was barely noticeable through the singular eye slot. When the cover of the slot slammed shut, the gates opened loudly as the rusted metal gears ground together.
"Welcome to Hive City," Shades announced. "Home of the red-eyes and Agende Vhansin family." She maneuvered the truck through a series of crowded streets and alleys and finally stopped at a well worn compound that reminded Hinata of the Hyuuga mansion, only taller and messier.
The car pulled to a stop and its passengers exited. The women were instantly greeted by a younger man, presumably an 'Agende Vhansin'. Hinata now knew why they were so feared.
The man had natural blazing red hair with mildly pointed teeth adorning his smile. His flesh was scarred with tattoos that were stylishly similar to his frightening eyes, which alone could strike fear in any lesser man. His cornea and pupils were outlined in neon yellow, and concave lines of the same color rippled outward from the center. With this bizarre pattern of bright yellow against the burning redness of his eyes, he was a sight to behold.
"Shades," the freakish red-eye smiled and held out his tattooed hand, "Good to meet you finally." His creepy gaze shifted towards Hinata when Shades accepted his hand, smile still holding. "Who's this?"
"This is the White Eyes of Death!" Shades announced enthusiastically.
"Please, just call me Hinata," the Hyuuga added.
"I see," said the youth, "I am Sanshatav Agende Vhansin. Pleasure to meet you, White Eyes of Death Hinata."
"Sanshatav," Shades spoke up, "I'm here for that substance you guys synthesized. You got that first shipment ready?"
"You bet!"
"Excuse me," Hinata interrupted before the two red-eyes got ahead of her. "I'm looking for someone who's supposed to be here."
"Who's that?"
"Uzi."
The Agende Vhansin cocked his head as he thought. "Oh!" He suddenly said with realization. "Yeah…" he trailed off for a moment.
Hinata took his silence to mean that she had just missed him, "Again!! Damnit!!" She jumped the gun on her next question. "Do you know where he's headed next?"
He looked at her with confusion. "No… but I know where he is right now. That help?"
"Yeah."
Sanshatav lifted his arm and pointed to his right. "He's over in the old auditorium right now."
Hinata froze. She didn't actually expect to suddenly find Naruto so quickly upon arrival, much less as easily as this. Her white eyes were wide for several seconds before her informant noticed.
"You wanna go see him now?"
"Where's the auditorium?!" She asked impatiently. This was the closest she had ever gotten, and she was determined to not loose him again.
"Just follow… Gack!" The red-eyed cannibal cried out in surprise when Hinata grabbed him by the sleeve and took off in the direction he was pointing.
"Where do I turn?!"
"Uhh… here!"
Shades watched her newest buddy speed off with her strange ally. "Go do your thing, Hinata. Good luck!"
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After a few minutes of intense running, Hinata finally reached the front door of the once grand auditorium. She panted hard but could no longer register her physical state at this point. She released Sanshatav, pushed open the door, and entered the large room.
It was mostly dark and was in desperate need of repair. She could see small droves of red-eyes congregating in the spaces between the rows at intermittent points. The only decent source of lighting came from a large dull floodlight that partially illuminated the aging stage.
"Naruto!" She called out. She could hear the chatter die down a bit before she called out again.
"Hey, Uzi!" Sanshatav yelled out from behind her, "You got a visitor! Where are you?!"
"Uzi's over here!" A red-eyed man by one of the small tents close to the stage waved to them.
Hinata was moving before she could even think. She wasn't even sure what she was going to do when she saw him, but she knew she at least had to complete the goal that had consumed most of her life. She reached the tent in seconds.
The cover of the opening parted and she came face to face with Naruto 'Uzi' Uzumaki. It had been fifteen years since she first set out to find her first crush, and now she had finally found him.
"Yo!" He casually greeted. "Who're you?"
DUN DUN DUUUUUUUUUUUN!!!
Like I said, bound to happen eventually. Just a little side note: This fic is far from over. I've got plenty of plans left for it!