Three's A Crowd
Chapter Fourteen. Disobeying Orders.
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"Hinata?"
It was funny, the things that stuck out the most in her memory. Looking back, she remembered being scared, running from her hotel room when those cloud ninja came for her. Her thoughts lingered on her own safety and her belongings... eventually drifting to Sasuke and Naruto. Sakura wasn't a selfish person, but hadn't realised that her belongings shouldn't have been a priority at that moment. Her journal was important to her, so she left it in her bag at all times, in case she needed a quick getaway, but she hadn't thought twice about unpacking some of her other belongings in that hotel room.
She should've known better.
Sakura stared up into lavender eyes, wondering if she had left something behind again.
"It's okay," Hinata said softly. "I'm not here to attack you Sakura."
It took Sakura a moment to realise the Hyuuga was staring at her strangely, like she'd never seen her like before. The pinkette remembered how shy Hinata had been at the academy, to the point of disappearing into the background. Her demeanour was only offset by her looks, so that no matter how quiet she became, there were always boys who thought she was cute, not to mention a few envious girls – it was only the jealous kids (mostly civilian) that ever caused her any problems.
"Where are Naruto and Sasuke?"
Sakura blinked heavily, accommodating slowly to the circumstance of having Hinata Hyuuga staring pleasantly down at her. "Huh?"
Hinata smiled. "I'm sorry if I startled you, but you need to get Naruto and Sasuke and leave Kumo. I can't help you like that again – they'd never believe me a second time."
Sakura realised she had stumbled backwards and slid down the wall behind her at Hinata's approach; she trembled, standing up with effort. "Long time no see, Hinata."
At least her voice was confident.
"Not since the Chunin exams, right?"
"Yeah, sorry about that."
Hinata just shrugged. "You were just trying to help me."
"Like you are now, right?"
"Yes. You should go." Hinata spun around as she sensed a nearby, unfamiliar chakra. "What..."
"That was Sasuke," Sakura said. She moved away from Hinata, darting between buildings, and it was only as she spotted the head of raven hair that she realised Hinata was following her. "You don't need to come."
"I'll stay out of sight of the Kumo nin," Hinata said, "but I want to make sure Nar... I mean, you all are alright."
Sakura glanced back at her, nodded, and then darted into the small area in front of her. Sasuke and Naruto were fighting six Kumogakure ninja wearing the typical cloud Chunin and Jounin uniforms of a beltline sash and single strap flak jacket with distinctive variations.
There were no time for pleasantries, as Sakura jumped into the back to back formation Sasuke and Naruto had going on, earning a grunt of approval from the Uchiha. They were as glad to see her as she was to see them.
"Don't kill any of them," Sakura whispered to them. "I'll explain later."
Steel clashed as her companions gave their own indications of agreement. Sakura slammed her fist into an oncoming, blonde Jounin who was wearing an unusual high collared shirt and knocked him out. It wasn't easy, but she recognised the beginning of a Lightning Release technique and moved in close, interrupting the attack with a kunai to his arm before he could complete the hand signs. His cleaver sword came out to play then, but she was better against opponents wielding steel than ninjutsu.
Cloud ninja were well known for both Lightning Release techniques, and the use of swords over kunai was more common than not.
Once the fighting was over, Sakura exhaled deeply, realising she'd been holding her breath the entire time. But before she could fully reclaim her senses, Sasuke grabbed her roughly and pulled her to him; her eyes widened at the gentleness of his kiss.
Naruto chuckled, looking over the fallen cloud ninja to make sure they were all breathing. "He couldn't stop worrying about you, Saku." He stood up straight, his head cocking to the side. "What was that?"
Sakura reluctantly pulled out of Sasuke's kiss, remembering about Hinata. But the strange fluctuation of chakra they'd all sensed was gone a moment later: Hinata had disappeared.
X X X
The sun had fully set now, and it was only a few minutes after the scuffle... weird.
Sakura followed her boys closely, disappointed. She had wanted to ask Hinata what she was doing in Kumogakure, why she'd helped her, and what was going on with the Raikage. Sāmu, the spy for Orochimaru in the hidden cloud village, hadn't been very forthcoming with the details.
But she needn't have worried.
A few minutes later, they'd run into a patrol, darting out of the way just in time, but boxed in. A familiar voice came from behind Sakura, and she smiled at the sound.
"This way."
Sakura nodded to her, darting out of the alley and into another. Confused, Sasuke and Naruto followed. A few minutes later, they found themselves in an area on the outer rim of the village.
"Hinata?" Naruto, being the knucklehead he was, was the last to realise who had been leading them away from the patrols. Cerulean blue orbs locked onto the pupil-less lavender eyes of the Hyuuga. "What are you doing here?"
"It's alright Naruto," Sakura hushed him. He was loud by nature. "She helped me out before I found you."
Sasuke however, was frowning at Hinata. "We can't trust her," he said.
"Teme!" Naruto whispered hoarsely. "She saved Sakura, and came to help us! I don't think–"
"But that's just the thing," Sakura said. She trusted Hinata... mildly, but she needed answers. "You're disobeying direct orders and aiding and abetting known criminals. That will only hurt Konoha – are you sure that's what you want to be doing?"
Hinata shook her head. "I'm not disobeying my Hokage." She smiled at their confused faces. "Before my team left Konoha, Lady Tsunade told us to co-operate with the Raikage, but she also gave us another order that was to supersede that one – as long as it posed us no danger. She knows who you are, Kitsúne."
"Wait," Naruto interjected. "I have a more important question than Sakura: who's this Tsunade?"
"Baka!" Sakura hit him over the head. "She's the Hokage. Don't ask stupid questions."
"How does she know who we are?" Sasuke asked, suspicion lacing his tone.
"I don't know: more than likely, she put two and two together. It doesn't matter." Hinata ignored his tone and took in Naruto's form as she continued. "The Lady Hokage wishes to deal with you on her terms, not the Raikage's."
"So you're helping us only to serve us up to a different executioner?" Sasuke growled.
"No, you misunderstand," Hinata said, holding up her hands as though in surrender. "I'm not here to escort you to Tsunade – not really. I want to help you."
"That still sounds like you're disobeying Tsunade," Sakura said.
Hinata sighed. "If you're found here, you'll be killed. But if you leave and return to fire country, you'll have a chance. Isn't that better? You're still Konoha ninja: at least, you are to those you left behind."
Naruto jumped forward and embraced her. "Thank you Hinata-chan!"
Sakura giggled. "Okay, we'll go. Thanks Hinata."
She turned to glare at Sasuke, who relented and nodded his head curtly to the Hyuuga. Naruto was still holding onto her, and she felt the strange heat coiling in her body that she used to get when he did that years ago. She'd always had a crush on him, but had not realised until right now, just how much he hadn't changed... and that she liked him, right.
Sakura pried him off of her when it was clear the idiot was enjoying hugging Hinata too much. "Time and place, baka."
Hinata smiled sheepishly, trying to compose herself. "H-head to the base of these m-mountains – that's a path free of surveillance: a blind spot if you will. One of the Raikage's men is a Sensor, so be c-careful."
"A Sensor?" Naruto asked, tilting his head and frowning. "Is that some kind of jutsu or ramen flavour?"
Hinata giggled at Naruto. "You don't know what it is?"
"The dobe doesn't know what anything is," Sasuke said.
"Oi! Shut up teme!"
"You really should keep your voice down," Sakura snapped. "Or at least put a muzzle on that gob of yours."
Naruto just rubbed his head. "Thanks Hinata-chan. I hope you don't get into any trouble."
She smiled back. "I won't. Be safe Naruto."
"I should knock you unconscious," Sasuke said. "So that they don't think you just wandered off on your own. It won't hurt, I promise."
Hinata didn't doubt he wasn't trying to hurt her, but Sakura and Naruto looked dubious. But she nodded, dismissing their concern. "Thank you."
"No," Sakura said, embracing the girl. "Thank you."
Sasuke activated his Sharingan and Sakura caught the Hyuuga, lying her down gently. "She'll be okay, right?"
He nodded, took her hand, and walked away, without looking back. After a moment's hesitation, Naruto followed, but once they reached the blind spot, he paused, looked back toward Hinata's unconscious body, and sighed wistfully.
X X X
Hinata found her teammates shortly after a Kumo ninja happened upon her unconscious form and woke her up. She thought for a moment she'd dreamt the whole thing, that Naruto hadn't really been in Kumo, that he hadn't really hugged her, and she was feeling worry over his welfare for nothing. The strange look on her face helped sell her story of being ambushed to the cloud Chunin that found her, and a few minutes later, she found herself face to face with Kakashi Hatake, Shino Aburame, Kiba Inuzuka, and Akamaru. Kakashi was the one who spoke, staring at her as though he could read her mind.
"What did you see Hinata?"
She shook her head. "It was nothing."
Kakashi's eye narrowed slightly, but she met his gaze and held it. In the end, he only smiled and moved away to a nearby cloud ninja who was getting twitchy: they needed to report back to the Raikage.
Sighing, Hinata turned to stare at the last place she'd seen Kitsúne. Naruto had definitely grown since the last time she'd seen him, and despite Sasuke's suspicions about the Hyuuga, Hinata had only wanted to help. She realised what was at stake – she wasn't stupid. But her instincts had told her they didn't mean Kumogakure any more harm than they intended Konoha. It also aided her decision to help them that she still felt something for Naruto after all these years. She didn't want to see him hurt. She would've done it with or without the Hokage's orders.
And that was another thing Sasuke clearly didn't understand: self sacrifice.
X X X
A/N: *sighs* Poor Hinata. She just wanted to help, and she got the fifth degree. ;P Anyway, now that that's done, I'm hungry. And, 'till next time, love and review! ^_^