Naruto belongs to Kishimoto Masashi and the other various companies that own the distribution rights. I'm just pretending that I'm allowed to play with these toys.

I really did not think I was going to update so fast, but I was so grateful for all the support I received from here and on Tumblr. (Ya'll already know how to bribe me with reviews ha!) Thank you, thank you!

Enjoy!

oOo

Bushido Virtue: Respect

Tenten really liked Hinata's naginata. She made sure to repeatedly mention it to Hinata, to Arata, to Kouki, and to Sasuke and Kakashi once they were alone.

Then she said: "Why does Hinata wear that veil?"

Silence followed her question. She shot a glance at the inn that Hinata and her escorts had disappeared into.

Believing she was in the clear, she continued. "Who wears a veil that covers their eyes? Even when she takes it off at night, she's bound them up. Like Neji covers his curse seal, but..." She struggled for words for a second. "But lower? Most of her face is always covered is all I'm saying."

Kakashi snorted at her clumsy explanation. Having already finished both of his novels for the third time this trip, he was leaning against a porch post, hands in his pockets. They were still in Iron Country and figured three samurai would have better luck getting rooms than three shinobi.

Sasuke busied himself checking the horses before they were turned over to the inn's stables. He carefully picked some of the snowpack out from their horseshoes, still listening. It was getting warmer and all the snow was turning into mud, making him somewhat appreciative of the animals that kept them off the ground. The horse whose front right hoof he was inspecting leaned over and lipped at Sasuke's hair.

All of his charitable feelings for the horses abandoned him. Stiffly, Sasuke pushed the hoof off where he had propped it on his leg and stood.

"The agreement was that at least for the beginning, the fact that she was Hyuga would be hidden. And making a kid constantly cast a henge was unrealistic." Kakashi explained.

Tenten hummed thoughtfully. "But isn't the veil more suspicious?"

The former Hokage shrugged. "Samurai are more likely to take your word for it than nin." The subtle, joking jab was apparent in the tone of his voice.

"So why now?" Tenten countered.

"She's used to it? Tan lines?"

She huffed. Obviously, she was not getting the answers she wanted. "You would know about tan lines."

It was strange to see both of Kakashi's eyes curve in a smile instead of just one. He was a master at misdirection with his skills being honed by his brief, unwanted stint as Hokage. If he did not want to give Tenten a clear answer, he would not. She seemed to realize this and huffed in defeat.

"You do realize she'll probably have to get evaluated by T&I anyway?" Sasuke drawled. "If she's hiding something, they'll figure it out."

Tenten leaned around her horse's head to goggle at him. "T&I?! Really?"

Sasuke shrugged. "She was a foreign fighter." Both he and Jugo had gone through the same experience. The only difference was that her evaluation would probably more of an actual psychological and physical evaluation than a hostile interrogation.

Kakashi hummed his agreement. "If she fought in a war, then our rules regarding combat still apply. She'd be like any foreign nin applying for asylum."

"But Naruto asked for her back!" Tenten exclaimed.

"A Hokage still has to follow the rules. Or at least, pretend he is." Kakashi's smirking lips cast a visible shadow underneath the mask.

The samurai chose that moment to exit the inn. They crossed the muddy street to where the nin were waiting.

"We have two rooms," Arata announced. "Come."

oOo

One morning, Sasuke woke up and had absolutely zero motivation to lift himself off his mat. They were halfway to Konoha and of course it had to happen now. This had been happening more and more often since the end of the war. Probably since his final goodbye with Itachi.

The last thing he wanted was to wake up. All he wanted was to spend all day in a miserable haze. He did not want to eat, or get up, or talk to another human being.

In T&I, his interrogators had bandied about the words "depression" and "purposeless." They never seemed to stick in Sasuke's mind. When he thought about these periods of apathy, he could not assign a name to them. There was no one left to avenge. No ultimate opponent that Sasuke had to train to beat. His chakra was suppressed, he was not allowed out of the village without escorts and he just finished negotiating away his inheritance.

There was no reason to get up really.

He heard the rustling of the other men in the room as they got ready for the morning. He did not feign sleep, but neither did he rise to join them. The two samurai soon left the room, not mentioning that normally, Sasuke was the first one to rise. One of Kakashi's knees cracked as he squatted next to Sasuke's futon.

"Sasuke," Kakashi murmured to Sasuke's back. This was not the first time he needed to intervene. "You need to fight this battle today. For Hinata."

For a moment, that pierced Sasuke's haze. This was not Kakashi's usual pep talk. Most days, Kakashi ended up letting Sasuke be. But that was before their mission stopped being all about Sasuke.

"You took responsibility over her safety. And you know the first rule of escort missions."

Rule One: The longer they were on the road with a high value target, the higher the probability of an attack.

Sure, Hinata wore armor and never complained when they needed to camp out. But that did not guarantee that she was capable of defending herself. For all they knew, she was as helpless as a spoiled diplomat.

He continued. "Mental battles are the hardest to fight…" Kakashi trailed off, perhaps at a loss for words. What could possibly motivate someone who had no single positive emotion left? "You have a mission to complete." Kakashi hesitated for a moment, then rose and left.

Sasuke lay there for a couple more minutes. He did not feel better. But he slowly remembered what it was like to move his limbs. Ever so slowly, he managed to half-heartedly prepare for the day and stumble down to the rest of the party.

He avoided Tenten's eyes but could feel her worried gaze on him. He passed by Hinata's horse towards his and as he did, she gasped. He stopped and looked up, but she had her face turned away.

Shrugging, he threw himself onto the saddle of his own horse. It pranced a bit, uneasy with the lassitude of his usually alert rider, but settled quickly.

Kakashi pulled up beside him. "Ready?"

Sasuke nodded.

Kakashi forced his eyes to smile. "Let's go then."

oOo

At the border of the Land of Earth, the samurai had traded their sturdy horses for smaller ones with normal horseshoes. That made the horses easier to maneuver. Hinata demonstrated this by skillfully coaxing her horse around to pull even with Kakashi's.

"Kakashi-sama?" She questioned only loud enough to be heard over the horse's steps and jangling of the metal in their saddles.

The man in question chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck. "Honestly, Hinata-san, you don't have to be so formal."

Her mouth firmed into a straight line. "You are a former Hokage; I insist. It is only right."

He sighed, knowing he was beat. He was weak to pretty manners. "What can I do for you, Hinata-san?"

"I know it's inconvenient, but you said we are in the Land of Earth? I have an interest in horticulture and was wondering if we could stop to allow me to gather some samples. The flora is very interesting here." She responded.

Kakashi nodded. "Sasuke. Can you let Tenten know what we're looking for?"

Sasuke looked up and blinked slowly. He knew in theory that they would need to look for a good campsite with easy access to a water supply and different plants. But he could not get his brain to process what Kakashi had asked. An uncomfortable moment passed before Hinata spoke once more.

"I will go." Tapping her horse's flanks with her heels, she sped away.

"Sasuke," Kakashi murmured. In response, Sasuke could only manage the laziest shrug. His eyes were dry and aching.

In his fog, he barely registered how the group stopped to make camp. Kouki grumbled something about Sasuke not picking up the slack. Sasuke could not bring himself to care.

Finally, finally it was sunset. Hoping to feel a little more alive when it was his time to take watch, Sasuke was ready to head to his spot to sleep. Before he could rise from the campfire, someone stopped in front of him. Looking up, he saw Hinata. With her back to the fire and the veil on her face, she blended into the lengthening shadows. Danger, Sasuke's instincts warned. Only nin owned the night.

"I made tea." Hinata's soft tones drifted down to him. Sure enough, she had a cup cradled in both hands, extended out to him. It was so close that he could see the steam wafting up from the water.

He leaned back a bit. The thought of consuming anything was physically revolting. It made him nauseous.

She continued. "Everyone has had some already."

Honestly, at this point, even if she was trying to poison him, he did not care. She probably held a grudge against him. At this point, Sasuke accepted that most people who knew who he was disliked him.

"It's good, Sasuke." Tenten chirped from across the fire.

Grudgingly, he accepted the cup. With the light that was left, he caught Hinata's lips curve up before she turned and swiftly made her way back to her spot with Arata and Kouki.

Inhaling deeply, Sasuke tried to convince himself that he wanted the tea. As much as he wanted to dump it on the floor, he had to drink what he had already accepted. That inhale brought the smell of the herbs to his nose and strangely, it seemed alleviate some of his nausea. With some of his hesitation gone, he brought the cup up to his lips.

The tea was light and slid down his throat easily. He did not have time to grimace or be uncomfortable with the sensation because it was already gone.

The effects truly hit him when he was lying in his pallet, staring blearily at the sky and trying to convince himself to do his exercises. He took a deep breath and something deep inside him loosened. If he was not already lying down, he would have probably fallen ass over head. His chakra broke over him like a cool wave, washing away his queasiness and tightness in his chest. He gasped, feeling his fingers and toes tingle with the returned sensation. Gripping his shirt over his galloping heart, he panted.

Sasuke could not remember the last time in two years he felt this good. His chakra cycled through him like it should. Smoothly and without getting stuck at any major points.

Damn, even his vision seemed clearer. The light of the stars was so bright it was almost blinding.

A hand flew up to his face but neither the Sharingan or the Rinnegan were active.

What the hell did she do to me? Sasuke thought.

oOo

He did not get a chance to corner her until the next night. They were camped near a large stream. In this part of the Land of Earth, there was a large stretch before them with no civilization for many kilometers. The vegetation also trickled out, leaving the land barren and rocky. Preparing, Tenten had downed a large buck. Arata and Kouki accompanied her downstream to clean and pack it for the rest of the trip. Hinata had stayed upstream and ducked behind a cluster of boulders to prepare for bed.

During his time with Orochimaru, Sasuke had learned how to memorize and track an individual's chakra. It was helpful to know when Orochimaru was approaching his cell. Or Kabuto.

With Hinata's armor off, it was child's play to track her chakra. It was weak, as expected, but ever pulsing with her heartbeat. When Sasuke felt it heading back, he stood.

"Going somewhere?" Kakashi drawled. He and Sasuke had done a little foraging before all the plant life disappeared altogether. Kakashi was almost finished wrapping the berries and tubers in large leaves before sealing them in scrolls.

Even though Sasuke's chakra was still limited, its renewed flow was making him antsy. He could not remember the last time he had this much energy. He would have liked to have been the one hunting. But it was too risky to allow him free reign to run.

"Gonna walk." Sasuke grunted.

The two men exchanged speaking glances.

Don't do anything foolish, Kakashi warned.

Sasuke sniffed and moved to meet Hinata. He knew Kakashi could also track everyone by the feel of their chakra and it was clear what Sasuke wanted to do.

He was not going to hurt her. At least not unless he needed to.

He called up his innate stealth because he was still a nin, dammit. Stalking to his prey, he headed her off before she could get halfway back.

For her part, Hinata did not flinch. She stopped before Sasuke could crowd her into the cleft of two rocks and stood with her back to the stream. Annoyed that she had not allowed herself to be cornered, Sasuke paced close.

With the weather getting warmer, she packed her furs away. The naginata was still present. Her clothes were baggy, allowing free range of movement and possibly places to hide other weapons. Unarmed, Sasuke did not really need weapons when his whole body was one. Surely, even his weakened self could take on such a fragile looking creature.

"Hello, Uchiha-san." Hinata softly greeted. She shifted the bundle of supplies in her arms so she could cradle it in her left elbow to keep her right hand free. "Is there something you needed from me?"

Sasuke fought the urge to growl. The fact that she had provided him so much relief actually served to piss him off.

"What did you do?" He demanded.

During the whole confrontation, she had been deceptively relaxed. Sasuke only knew she was faking because at his words, something in her shoulders gave way. Without her eyes visible, only her body language betrayed any of her emotions to him.

"It worked then. I am glad." She replied breathily.

Sasuke pushed closer until he could almost feel the warmth of her body. "What worked?" He growled.

Her head tilted up and it was like she was looking at him through the veil. Sometimes she did that and confused Tenten. Most of the time, Hinata was alert but never looked exactly at what should be the focus of her attention. It made it seem like she was blind. Until moments like this.

Sasuke wondered if she activated her Byakugan in times of high stress. Or did she even know how?

"The chakra cuff you're wearing," Hinata began explaining. "We use them in the Land of Iron as training devices. Samurai need to be able to fight without chakra." She reached out and tapped his manacle. Sasuke wondered at the boldness of her movement. Who did she think she was?

Hinata continued. "But the side effect is that your body is not able to cycle your chakra the way it needs to. Breathing exercises help. The tea helps as well. But only for a short while. I suggest you find someone who can regularly unblock it for you, and those results will last the longest."

He blinked, feeling almost winded by the rage building up in him. Why had no one told him this before? The breathing exercises were the result of his own experimentation.

Was that part of his punishment? Did T&I get their kicks from keeping him in ignorance?

"If there's nothing else, Uchiha-san…" Hinata said before slipping around him to make way to camp.

Risking it, Sasuke called up a chidori and pulverized the largest boulder he could find. The strain caused black spots to form in his vision. The action did not temper his anger but exhausted him enough that when he dragged himself back to camp, he was not up to saying or doing anything senseless.

Kakashi was giving him another look but Sasuke did not bother to interpret this one.

No matter what he tried, his hatred of Konoha was still present and boiling under his skin.

oOo

Sasuke could not let it go. Which probably was not a surprise, considering his track record.

Also considering his track record, he believed that he had a right to be suspicious. They might be taking Hinata to Konoha but who knew how deep her allegiances ran to the Land of Iron? She might have cared about one of the men he killed. Even worse if they were romantically involved.

If she did not hold a grudge, Sasuke could be suspicious for an entirely different reason. He had been subject to women going to ridiculous lengths to get close to him. Maybe it would be twisted for her to consider him a romantic prospect. But he had done worse to Karin. To Sakura.

He had been looking over his shoulder his entire life. He was tired of it.

Now thanks to Hinata, he finally had the energy to fight it.

Urging his horse forward, he pulled even with Hinata. She continued looking straight ahead but tilted her head in his direction. Kouki glanced back. The samurai had kept his helmet and respirator on but had slid the goggles off. So, it was obvious that the other man was glaring at Sasuke.

"Yes, Uchiha-san?" Hinata asked.

How did she identify him like that? Was the small amount of chakra she harnessed enough to pinpoint other people's signatures?

"Why did you do it?" He demanded.

She was quick on the uptake, he would give her that. Her response was ready immediately.

"I was not lying when I said I wanted to be friends."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. Before he could respond, Kouki called out: "Is there a problem, Hinata-sama?"

Hinata's lips curled up and in that moment Sasuke realized how her interactions with him and the other nin were nothing but consummate politeness. If she had been warm before, now she was blistering.

"I'm okay for now, Kouki-kun."

Sasuke's horse nickered and lipped at Hinata's mare. Hinata smoothly guided her horse a safe distance away. For some reason, it almost felt like a betrayal. Done with engaging in this, Sasuke slowed his animal. Kakashi caught up.

"Something I should be aware of, Sasuke?" Kakashi rumbled, censure dripping from every syllable.

Sasuke looked away. "Tch."

oOo

For the first week, Hinata steadily fed Sasuke the tea. He did not know if everyone got the same kind, but no matter how he watched her, he could not see her use any slights of hand to switch the powdered herbs.

Her movements were graceful and with the trained movements of a high-class lady. Or geisha. Sasuke briefly wondered what service she really provided for the Land of Iron.

After, she tapered off the doses. And neither Kouki nor Arata left her alone anymore. She must have told them something to make them hover like guard dogs.

It did not matter though, he still felt better than ever. His chakra reserves were still low but he could breathe without feeling like Naruto's giant toad summon was sitting on his chest. It had been a good deal of time since his last "episode" as well.

It was clear to him that he owed her. He did not like it to say the very least. He had spent the last few months paying off the leaders of different villages to forget his war crimes. Sasuke had killed Orochimaru before the snake could come to collect. Now poor and collared, he could not do either with Hinata.

What he needed was for someone to threaten her life.

The second week of traveling through the rift valley through the Land of Earth, Sasuke found his chance.

oOo

Unexpectedly, Tenten came to a quick halt and immediately pulled her large scroll free from the strap on her back. The rest of the group halted as well. Sasuke looked up and sighed out a curse. They were in a ravine, bounded on either side by cliffs. It was the perfect spot for an ambush.

Arata rode up to come close enough to Kakashi to speak.

"Bandits?" Arata asked lowly.

Kakashi shrugged, still holding a book, but his chakra was fanning out. "Well, they are the only ones who really make trouble these days."

Sasuke almost felt like his Rinnegan was itching. He ached to use it. His impatience to get this over with and back to Konoha swamped him.

Kakashi paused, then spoke. "Their chakra is weak to nonexistent but any good nin can hide that."

Sasuke spit to the side to clear his throat and nostrils in preparation for the fight. Those bastards came from all over. From rice farmers to former nin, the roving gangs of bandits were people were unhappy with peace and searching to gain power in whatever way possible. The Konoha group had experienced dust ups with them before and always won. But it was tedious.

A whistle and Tenten was knocking an arrow out of the air. The horses shifted but kept from bolting. War horses.

Sasuke pulled out a kunai from his leg pouch and glanced at Kakashi. Kakashi nodded and in a flash, they were off their horses darting in opposite directions up the cliff wall. From what Sasuke could feel, there were ten of them in the walls, five on each side. A large number were charging in from the front, streaming into the gully like so many ants.

Below, Tenten was unleashing a barrage of weapons at that group, but it must have been made of nin because they were dodging most of them. Arata joined her, leaving Kouki with Hinata.

Sasuke's attention snapped to his own situation as a sword slipped out of a thin but tall crevice. It was clumsily done as the flat of the blade was facing the sky. Slightly correcting his course, Sasuke continued upwards and stepped on the sword, using it as a springboard to launch himself into a backflip. The weapon slipped out of the attacker's grasp. Timing it just right, Sasuke released a fireball right in front of the bandit's hiding place. The flames were sucked into the gap and the man did not have time to scream before he was killed.

A quick glance upward informed him of the arrow coming from just above him and to the side, Sasuke flung a kunai attached to a length of chakra wire. The strength of his throw buried it almost to the hilt. He wrapped the end of the wire opposite of the blade once around his hand. The wire snapped taut and threw him forward enough that he could stick his feet back to the rock wall once more.

The arrow passed by him. Scrambling with the tips of his fingers scratching at the rock to get a better grip, Sasuke angled his body so he could head to the source. If he wanted to protect the people on the ground, it was his best chance.

The archer he was heading for could not quite get a good shot in but apparently, he had a friend. Said friend was hurling boulders at Sasuke. It was easier for the bandit to roll the rocks down the slight slant of the cliff than for the archer to angle the shots correctly. Sasuke caught a sharp edge of one on his arm and grit his teeth. It felt like a friction burn and had not hit his bones, so that was a good sign.

Jumping exposed him to the arrows. Staying on the wall, to the boulders.

This was stupid.

Sasuke commenced a dangerous dodging game and it felt like the cliff was growing longer as he ran up it.

Cursing, he briefly activated his Rinnegan and reversed the chakra flow. The nin who had been manipulating Sasuke's sense of distance fell from his hiding spot, clutching his head. The enemy's genjustu disappeared in time for Sasuke to get nailed in the left shoulder with an arrow.

Sasuke passed the plummeting body and crested the edge of the cliff. The archer was kneeling there and brought up his bow to shoot. Ripping out the arrow from his skin, Sasuke flipped in his hand and launched it. Right into the archer's eye.

A boulder just missed Sasuke's ear. Sasuke launched himself into a forward roll that turned him to face the giant of a person behind him and blindly launched a handful of kunai. At least two of them hit vital points. The hulking man fell to his knees but did not fall. He bared his teeth at Sasuke. Sasuke bared his own in frustration before launching a final blow.

A quick check of his greater surroundings revealed that he needed to get out of here because four of the bandits were dead and the fifth one was charging towards a weak chakra signature. One that Sasuke recognized.

Hinata.

She was alone.

Taking off at a run, he felt himself passing Tenten and Arata. Still alive and steadily defeating a dwindling number of enemies. Across from him, a foreign chakra signature blinked out which signaled Kakashi had finished up his own fights. Kakashi flew back down the cliff, heading for Kouki whose chakra was flaring in a way that indicated he was badly injured. Perhaps mortally.

Sasuke brushed it aside. Right now, his priority was the only person he was responsible for.

The jagged cliffs devolved into huge chunks of rock, eroded into cone shapes. Instead of trying to jump on the pointed tips, he angled himself downwards and horizontally. Using his built-up momentum, he sprung off the rounded sides of each cone, moving ever forward. When he touched flat ground, he headed towards the path, which both Hinata and the bandit had taken.

Said bandit was waiting on the path, limbs loose and stance expectant for a fight. Glancing up revealed that Hinata was right in front of them, standing in front of all the horses. The blade of her naginata flickered in the bright daylight and her braid streamed behind her as she fended off two bandits. Bodies were thrown haphazardly in front of her.

In some way, a little of the urgency bled out from Sasuke. Clearly, she had been taught a lot more than manners and how to make tea.

But clearly, they had sent her to stay out of the way with the horses and the bandits had taken advantage of that fact. Either the outlaws knew she was traveling with them or they felt that she looked like a high-profile target.

The bandit waiting on the path launched himself into the air and Sasuke did not need his Sharingan to see that kick coming. Sasuke waited for a fateful second before reaching up and snatching the bandit's ankle with his hand. Contracting his center, Sasuke let out a harsh breath and spun in a circle, letting the bandit go in time for the man to fly straight through two nearby rock formations before stopping with a wet crunch.

Sasuke did not wait to see the result before taking off in a run towards Hinata. Unsheathing his sword, he launched it at an empty space near one of Hinata's opponents but not towards the horses. Thankfully, Hinata saw his movement. She kicked one of the bandits in the chest with one of her heavy boots. He flew backwards just in time to get impaled in the back with the sword.

Hinata kept her leg in the air for balance and used her weapon as an extension of her opposite arm and caught the other bandit off guard to finish him off.

Sasuke slowed to a walk and stopped in front of his sword. He tore a clean piece of shirt off the bandit before pulling his sword out. Pinning the hilt to his ribs with the remnants of his left arm, he used his right to clean the blade. Hinata could not be farther than a yard and a half from him and he could hear her breathing a bit heavily as she inspected her kills.

But Sasuke had already known she was methodical. It did not surprise him that she would be so in battle as well.

One thing that was revealed to him was the state of the horses. They had been tied together in a straight line and the lead horse's reigns had been staked into the ground. They nickered but appeared unharmed. All of their supplies were also present. Which was good news for their most injured member.

Hinata approached. "It smells so much of blood, I cannot tell if you're bleeding or not Uchiha-san."

"I'll be fine," he grunted. Kabuto left him with much worse injuries for a longer amount of time.

His eyes roamed Hinata's body but he could not find any wounds against her black clothing. Her once pristine chest plate was scratched and dented in places. Maybe the wind getting knocked out of her could explain her heavy breathing.

"You?"

She let out a gusty sigh. "Bruised but fine. I haven't fought that much since the War, honestly. I'm out of practice."

Five bodies revealed her kill count. In a ridiculously petty way, it irked him that her number was the same as his. Also, the single use of his Rinnegan was making him drowsy.

With a sardonic twist of his lips, Sasuke rumbled: "You're not the only one."

Her breath hitched as his comment obviously stopped her short. Her lips pulled into a smile and while it was not something he usually noticed, he felt suddenly aware of how full and expressive they were. He looked away.

"Do you have medicinal herbs?" He changed the subject, checking the status of his remaining weapons. Damn, he had been overzealous with his kunai use. He hated doubling back to recover his weapons but on long trips like this, they had no choice. "Kouki is heavily injured."

She gasped but nodded.

"Here," he held out a hand. "I'll clean your naginata while you get your supplies."

Hinata hesitated for a moment. For samurai, their weapons were an extension of their bodies. They definitely did not hand off their survival to a nin they had met mere weeks ago. But if she had fought in the War, that means they were comrades in a way.

Hinata raised her face to his.

"I remember you," she said, "from the War." He did not quite know what it meant when she pressed her lips together like that. "You were death personified. Even shackled, your power is extraordinary."

Sasuke almost felt like laughing in her face. Lacking an arm and any kind of chakra stamina, he felt impotent. The less he could use his eyes, the more it reminded him of how much he had forgotten the basics. Yet her words seemed to make his spine straighten. Imagine that. The only compliment from a woman that really had any sway over him was a subtle confession of how much he terrified her.

He made sure not to brush her hand when she finally relinquished her naginata. Their rest of their group was heading towards them.

When Hinata's back was turned, his head fell slightly as he thought. Kouki would need some emergency medical attention before they moved him out. They would need to set up a campsite far enough away from scavengers. Kakashi and Sasuke also needed to retrieve weapons. Tenten's collection would have them out here for ages.

He felt like he was too young to be so tired all the time.

Right. One step at a time then.

He eyed the blade he was holding in interest. A bit heavier than he expected for a woman's weapon. Finely crafted which suggested money but no charms or adornments, which was unusual for someone who had the funds. A proper weapon for a proper warrior.

Hinata could take care of herself, then. He appreciated that.

oOo

Coming up: The group returns to the village.

Thank you to everyone who put this on their favorites, alerts and to the lovely anon reviews.