Haha!!! You thought I wasn't going to update so soon did you!! Well, I'm keeping my word, so, even though the chapters might be shorter, I will continue to update little by little every few days. So heres the next chapter!!! :D
Recap
"You…" he breathed, "you almost died."
She was surprised at his response. "How? And what happened to you?" she pursued.
"You…your body temperature dropped dramatically to the point to were you were having seizures. You were freezing and convulsing and then…"
"And then what?" Hinata asked.
"You stopped breathing."
A silence ensued afterward for a moment before Hinata spoke once more.
"And then you…"
"I stayed up all night to keep you breathing" he finished for her.
Hinata was awed, she was staggered.
"Please," he said suddenly, "let me hold you"
Hinata nodded and leaned into him. They stayed like that for the rest of the morning.
NOW
After that silent brush with death Hinata changed in little ways that made her personality altogether a different person. Her stutter seemed to have evaporated over the days, for the most part, and her tendency to alter various shades of red and purple was slowly fading. Her meekness was something of the past as well. It was these minor things that soon became a radical situation for Haku and Zabuza. Not that Zabuza minded much.
In fact he was starting to prefer this new and "improved" Hinata over the fumbling child he took under his wing about three weeks ago. But Haku was taking these changes as a bad omen, maybe something that had to do with the outfit? Despite the paranoid voice at the back of his head, the one telling him that all that was happing to Hinata somehow all lead back to the mysterious outfit that she acquired during their visit to a nearby village, he chose to let her wear it…for the meanwhile. After all the changes seemed to have made her stronger. Ever since then Hinata was never the story book damsel in distress, quite the contrary, she was the one saving Haku. And after every mission she seemed to have mastered a recently discovered move that even Zabuza couldn't recall.
And then it got out of control.
It started out simple. It was the average battle between Zabuza and two other ninjas. Of course Zabuza had the upper hand, or at least it seemed so at first. Considering that they made no apparent attempt to make the first move, Zabuza took the opportunity to attack first, head on. As his sword was about to make contact with the opponent, the ninja made a quick jutsu sign with his hand and Zabuza was engulfed by what seemed a large carnivorous plant. The ninja smirked for a second before he heard the unmistakable 'Poof' that could only mean one thing. He looked up to see that his oversized plant had swallowed nothing but water. And from there on a long and epic battle ensued, in which would take too long to describe. In about the middle of the battle Haku and Hinata were called upon by Zabuza to assist him. And even despite the odds, the battle still last about another half hour. It seemed that these opponents had more than one life, for they were hit in vital spots repeatedly and bled enough to have gone unconscious at the minimum. Zabuza was almost at his limit, and Haku only had half of his Chakara. Hinata, though severely wounded, kept on fighting.
"She wont last much longer if she keeps using her chakara so carelessly like that" Haku thought to himself. Currently she was using an old technique, gentle fists, on the first ninja. The man was an amazingly fast dodger and managed to escape most of Hinata's blows and delivered some of his own. Finally he gave her the last blow to send her flying back against a tree. The tree made a loud crack from the contact and force of the blow. Splinters went flying and Hinata laid there for a moment, unmoving. And then that's when all hell broke loose.
She began to glow, softly at first that if you weren't looking hard enough you wouldn't see it. And this was why the man took no heed to the young defeater girl propped up against the tree. But slowly her faint haze began to grow brighter until it radiated as bright as the moon. Steadily, she began floating, detaching herself from the earth. Bright and gliding she slowly opened her eyes, which held a gaze so cold and bitter that a blizzard could be seen. Both men looked away for a moment from their opponents to stare in wonder at the sight before them.
"Hinata…"
Her lips parted and blew out a chilling air. The amulet glowed and floated as well and bright flash blinded everyone. When the effect of the light passed Haku blinked and looked around. He gasped.
The whole battle field was frozen, along with the opponents.
And Hinata.
The series of events that followed afterward were rather simple. After destroying the remnants of the two ninjas Haku and Zabuza took the frozen Hinata back to the campground. They tried rekindling the fire, but it seemed that Hinata's storm made it all the way back to the campground. After giving it their all, Haku's hope was almost dwindled down to nothing. There was no way she could have survived this one. But once again, he was proven wrong.
In the following hour all the ices melt down to puddles, including Hinata's Imprisonment. And once she was out, she opened her eyes as if she only closed them for a second. Haku, once again going through the depression of loss, was more than relieved to see her breathing and her heart beating.
"Your going to kill me one of these days" he said as she sat next to him on his matt in her old sweater, for her other clothes were soaked.
"Well, it's not like I purposely play dead," she said she as she took a sip from her hot tea.
"Still…Hinata I don't want you wearing that out fit or touching that kunai anymore". He said sternly
Hinata stop midway sipping her tea.
"but Haku,"
"Please, Hinata. I've thought it over and it seems that the outfit does nothing but put you in mortal danger."
"Bu-but it makes me stronger." She stuttered.
"Strength wont help you much if your dead."
"What doesn't kill me makes me stronger!" she exclaimed and she placed her hands on her chest.
"Don't be stupid, Hinata. You've gotten this far on your own, not because of a suit you bought in the marketplace."
"Haku…"
"What?"
"My heart…It, It isn't beating!!!"