Hinata arrived at the Hokage Tower half an hour early. She and Kakashi-sensei were still the only two people in the room.
"Good morning, Hinata," Kakashi-sensei greeted tiredly. His eyes were ringed with dark circles, making him look like a raccoon. "I take it that you do accept this mission? You don't want to back out?"
"Of course I accept, Kakashi-sensei," Hinata said automatically. "I would do anything to save Hanabi."
Kakashi-sensei nodded. "Good, good. Hinata, I have to discuss something with you in private."
Hinata leaned her head forwards.
"I organized a Five Kage Summit yesterday. Konoha's astronomers have reason to believe that the meteorite crash landing from yesterday was actually a fragment of the moon."
"What?"
"In short, we have come to the conclusion that chunks of the moon are breaking off and falling to Earth." Kakashi-sensei stared at his hand intently, like it held a secret that only he knew. "These meteorite showers are, quite frankly, not a natural occurrence. Perhaps Hanabi's kidnapping is connected to this.
"Your presence on this mission is vital. After all, the man who kidnapped Hanabi also tried to kidnap you. You may be able to draw him out and find your sister's location. And of course, stop the moon from crashing into the Earth."
Sai's ink bird swooshed through the dismal gray sky, as the wind whipped through Hinata's long hair.
She stared at the back of Naruto's neck. His dark green scarf seemed to be waving mockingly at her. Her stomach lurched in tune with the wind.
She activated her Byakugan and began scanning the snowy, windswept forest grounds for any signs of Hanabi.
Her eyes fell upon a familiar-looking object. She gasped.
"Do you see anything?" asked Naruto.
"Yes." She pointed downwards. "Please steer the bird over there, Naruto-kun."
They swooped into the small clearing that Hinata was indicating and both alighted on the ground with a dull thud.
Hinata bent down and began digging through the snow.
"It's Hanabi's kunai!"
As Hinata began to store it away in her bag, Naruto stared.
"Huh? You brought that scarf?" he asked.
"Oh...um..." Hinata really didn't want to talk about the scarf with Naruto. Especially not with Naruto.
Naruto stared at her in concern, his hands on his hips. "Why don't you wear it? Aren't you cold?"
Yes, she was. It was freezing. But there was no way she would wear this scarf. Some things stung worse than cold weather.
"No, I'm fine, thanks," she mumbled. She stowed the kunai next to the scarf. Such painful reminders. The ones she loved the most were both so far away from her.
"Anyway, we should let Shikamaru-kun and the others know about this," said Hinata as she put on her backpack.
"Yeah, I guess you're right!"
They both mounted the ink bird and set off to tell the others.
It seemed that Hanabi wasn't so far away after all. Hinata could sense her faint chakra.
The team flew past a roaring waterfall, all in search of Hanabi's chakra trail, which was leading them deeper and deeper into the forest.
"Hinata, do you see anything?" Shikamaru called out.
"There's a glowing spring at the bottom of a cave!" she said.
"A glowing spring?"
The journey to the bottom of the cave was dark and treacherous. Hinata stumbled and lost her balance quite a few times.
Naruto caught her every single time. His kindness and concern might have sent jolts of happiness through her the day before yesterday, but today it felt as though her heart was an empty drum and he was slamming on it.
They eventually reached the spring, glowing coldly with a blue light.
"Hinata, what do you see at the bottom of the spring?" Shikamaru asked.
She peered down into the depths. It was as though she was trying to see through a murky soup.
"My sight is distorted."
"Something's distorting the Byakugan?"
"We'll just have to see for ourselves," Naruto said.
He paused. "Oh, I can't be getting this wet."
He began to carefully and lovingly take off the green scarf.
"What the big deal? How does it matter if it gets wet?" asked Sakura.
"It too is a big deal! This scarf is precious, ya know!"
Another painful jolt slammed through Hinata's heart. So the scarf was precious to him. He already had a precious item. He didn't need hers.
Sai knelt down and cupped some of the water in his hands.
"You won't need to take it off," he observed. "You don't get wet when you touch the water."
They all took a deep breath and dove in.
The spring was dimly lit by glowing bubbles of light.
For the second time in her life, Hinata's whole world went black due to a genjutsu.
A/N: More of a transitional chapter than anything else, but hopefully I added some good NH moments. Next chapter will, of course, be those genjutsu memories, which I know a lot of people are looking forward to.
Thanks for the reviews, Sunflower, ms chocoholic19, Ninaaah, Lila08, and Princess Hinashi. :)