- Chapter 10 -

The wind was blowing hard as dark clouds began to cover the sky. It was going to rain soon and standing out in the open with no type of shelter for miles, felt less comforting by the second.

The only companion she had was a small green frog, one that sat on her shoulder staring off into the distance, but never the less his company was somewhat comforting, as she walked down an empty road.

To tell you the truth it wasn't her fault that she was in this situation. If anything it was just bad luck...that's all...right?

{2 Hours Before}

"It's only been a day and a half and I'm already so done with this place!" Ino wined as she laid on the couch with a magazine on her lap.

"Ino, how could you be bored after what happened this morning? Hinata hasn't even come back yet. Aren't you worried?" Tenten asked as she walked into the living room with a glass of ice tea in hand.

"She's fine! And if that sexy new guy tries anything she'll just kick his ass, just like she did to that one guy when we went to that club that one time? Remember? And he was like twice her size." Ino explained as she sat up

"Yeah, but they sound like they have history and Hinata's not the only one I'm worried about..."

Ino sighed. "They'll both be just fine. Their apart of the Hyuga family after all. Man, I still can't look Hinata's dad in the eye."

Tenten chuckled.

"Well enough of that, I'm still pissed about our living situation. How the hell do our parents expect us to live like this? No internet. No cell phone service. What are we? Animals!?"

"Well, you're sure as hell acting like one," Tenten whispered, before taking a quiet sip of her drink and which Ino didn't fail to hear as she quickly jumped her friend causing Tenten to fall, the glass in her hand to break, sending ice tea everywhere.

"Ino calm down, we haven't even spent a full day here yet. Plus it's not like your really going to die because there's no internet. This might even be a good thing, think about all the other things you could do now." Tenten explained as the two rustled on the floor, both trying to gain power over the other.

Tenten quickly looked around the room for some type of help when her eyes fell on Temari who was playing poker with Neji and the guys. "Right, Temari? Tell her!"

Temari didn't even give them a glance as she responded. "Wait? What? Oh, umm...Yeah, go plant a tree or something. Now leave me alone, mama's about to win $300 hundred bucks." She grinned evilly.

"Will see about that new girl." The boy with black hair tied up in a spiky ponytail smirked as he pushed fake poker chips to the middle. "I raise you $100." Which only causes Temari's grin to widen.

'Well, that was no help!' Tenten cursed as she looked back at Ino, who was already on the verge of losing it. "Ok, that might not have been the best example, but, are you really going to hurt your best friend over it!"

"Ready yourself Tenten..."

"Shit!"

Shikamaru and Choji watched the two girls wrestling around the living room floor while knocking down expensive vases. "Hey, don't you think you should stop them before they hurt themselves?"

Temari waved her hand. "Naw, those two can handle themselves. Now get your head back in the game."

At that moment Hinata walked in with Sasuke close behind. "What the hell is going on here?"

"Get this bitch off of me!"

Hinata quickly ran over as she wrapped her arms around her blonde friend's waist as she began to pull. "Ok, Ino time to let go of Tenten. Release, release, release!"

Ino growled at the two as she continued to fight back.

No matter how much Hinata pulled and tug, Ino stayed true to her grip, as Hinata was starting to lose her cool. "Damit Ino, what I'd do to just be able to break your-' she caught herself. 'Nope. Can't do that to friends, definitely can't do that.'

She soon noticed the guys were now seated at the couch staring at them. "Hey, assholes, this isn't a show. Mind helping!"

"We don't even have basic cable out here, this might as well be the only entertainment we get in the next week," Sasuke simply replied while munching down on popcorn with Neji and Choji as they continued to watch Hinata struggle as she pulled at Ino's waist.

'Wait! If Choji and Neji are here then that means...' She quickly turned to look back at Temari who was grubling as she watched Shikamaru continue to count the cash he just won.

"Temari I could really use your help right now!"

Temari released a loud, irritated, and murders sigh as she slowly stood up from the table and pushed up the sleeves to her sweater. "I swear to god that Tenten better be so close to death that she's spitting up blood."

"I-I might as well be," Tenten responded breathlessly.

Temari calmly walked over as she placed her hands on Ino's waist. "Yeah, yeah. yeah. Let's just get this over with."

With one mighty tug, Temari and Hinata successfully pulled Ino off of Tenten, as Tenten tried to catch her breath as Temari held Ino back from causing any more damage. "Okay, Ten, I think you owe us an explanation as to way Ino tried to attack you like a wild dog."

Before long, Tenten explained everything, as Hinata brow began to twitch. "So all of this...was just because you were bored." By that time Ino had already calmed down, she trembled at the sight of Hinata who's eyes almost seemed like they were glowing.

Hinata creaked her knuckles, "Anything you want to add to that before I kill you?"

Suddenly Neji spoke. "I believe I might have forgotten to mention this, but an hour away from here is a town. Its shops might not be all that much, but many of the female students seem to enjoy going there."

"But are we even allowed to leave the school grounds?"

"Only on weekends," Shikamaru spoke up. "But you need to have permission from your parents, where the principal will then give you this." Shikamaru handed them a matte black card with his picture and ID with a shiny green leaf emblem.

"But lucky for you guys." Neji held out 4 cards. "I've gone through the liberty of getting permission from all 4 of your parents before you even got here. Though I must warn you, we are only permitted to leave school grounds after we've signed out and are not allowed to stay out any longer than 9 PM. If we do not follow the rules then you will no doubly get a strick from Tsunade."

Though before anyone could realize she was missing Ino returned with her purse in hand as she was now standing at the door. "Let's go already, guys! We're burning daylight here!"

And to make a long story short, the girls were on their way to the town.

Oji, who was still feeling resentful towards Sasuke stayed behind with Tenko as they hold up the fort back home. Temari also stayed behind with Shikamaru, letting her now damaged pride get the better of her, as Shikamaru wasn't about the be shown up by a girl.

So as our group split up for the day, the ones headed to the town waited at the bus stop which was located a little further away from outside the school grounds.

Though as the bus began to pull up, the girl's jaws dropped, the bus looked like something that came straight out of the 1940s. the bus was a green original rout master and what awaited for them side didn't help the experience as bodies squished together trying to create more room, only thankful that that was the last stop before they reached the down.

The group climbed on from the rear of the bus, where there was no door, as they tried to squeeze in a much a possible, with Hinata stuck close to the outside, a thin pole was the only thing she can hold onto if she didn't want to fall out of the bus.

"Hey, Neji? How long does it take to get to the town again?" Ino asked as she was squished between him and Tenten.

"Half an hour."

"Great."

"Well, at least you have Tenten and Neji to hold you in place," Hinata gulped, as she tightly gripped the pole as the bus began to move forward.

But you know when you think about something for far too long and the next thing you know it happens? Well, this happened like clockwork. 15 minutes and suddenly the bus hit a big bump, catching Hinata off guard as she lets go for a split second and the next thing she knows, is that she's falling. The only one to realize quick enough was Sasuke as he stretched out his hand to catch her, though not quick enough as only the tips of their fingers graze each other.

Hinata landed hard as she rolled down a grassy hill. The sounds of her friend's voices yelling her name were the last thing she heard before blacking out.

{Present}

Hinata slightly touched the bump that had formed on her head due to the fall as she continued to walk down an empty road. It was getting late and with no way to tell the time she was beginning to worry. 'They can't give me a strike for getting lost can they?' Hinata chuckled nervously. 'No way, they can't do that. Wait! Can they?!' Hinata released a worried sigh. She had no idea where she was, stuck in the middle of nowhere.

"I guess it's only you and me, little frog," Hinata smiled while lightly tapping its head. Though suddenly she froze. "Wait is that...?" She squinted staring far into the distance, hoping her eyes weren't deceiving her, but there was no doubt about it. Those were street lights. "Its a town? It's gotta be." She laughed as she made a run for it, spritting so hard almost as if a monster was nipping at her heels. Though before long she was standing at the village's entrance.

'Welcome to the village of Vanya'

At that moment she forgot what was doing as she crossed a large stone bridge. This place was like something that came straight out of a medieval storybook. The streets were made out of cobblestone and the houses built out of brick and stone. There were rows of old terraced houses, each one looking older than the last.

If it wasn't for the satellite dishes on some of the houses she would have believed that she had travelled back in time, and apart of her kinda wish she had.

After a while of walking, she made it to what looked like the village town square. The place was filled with shops and cafes and families who were just enjoying their weekend together.

She was left mesmerized.

Though the moment didn't last as the sound of thunder roared, lightning came soon after. It wasn't long before it began to pure, causing the people to scatter for shelter.

Though before Hinata could do the same, she suddenly stopped when she saw a group of kids run past her. They looked like they were related. There were two older looking boys and a little girl. The three ran merrily together while dancing in the rain. She didn't know what it was but the sight of them causing her heart to ache as she clenched her shirt.

An image of her and Oji when they were younger suddenly popped in her mind, but for some reason, someone else was there too. Their face was blurred, she couldn't make out who they were, but Hinata felt a strong attachment to them. Her head pounding harder with every step.

Hinata walked slowly, letting the rain soak her clothes, trying to remember something she wasn't even sure actually happened.

Though suddenly she paused. It was a building that sat dead center of the town square. She looked up at the sign that hung at the entrance: Ichiraku's Pub

"Huh, an Irish pub with a Japanese name in an old England village, that sells Raman? I'm sure you don't see that every day." Hinata searched her pockets as she pulled out a fake ID. "And here I thought I wasn't going to need this." She kissed the card before walking in.

When she opened the door the smell of alcohol hit her along with the faint smell of Raman. Hinata's stomach began to rumble suddenly realizing she hadn't eaten anything all day, but not without also noticing that the place was completely empty.

"And it's empty. Great." Hinata said to herself as she walking in any way. Though it was empty, she couldn't help but feel like she was being watched. "Hey, is anyone home? I need to use your phone. It's an emergency." She yelled, though there was no response.

She sighed as she took a seat at the bar, laying her face on a polished oak countertop, the sound of her rumbling tummy only getting louder. "God, someone please feed me." The sounds of the pouring rain outside didn't lead up, but its pitter-patter against the window calmed her.

The room was large. On one side of the room was a row of six royal blue cushioned booths. The other side was filled with about 6 to 7 round tables with short black cushioned stools. In the middle of the room was the bar, they had a giant square maple wooden column, which was about a meter and a half wide, as their bar wall, which was filling with various ales on each side, as the bar counter went all around.

Suddenly Hinata sat up when she heard the sound of footsteps, as suddenly she was faced with an old man stand behind the bar.

"I'm guessing you're new here?" The older man asked.

"Just got in yesterday, and I gotta say you got quite a unique establishment here."

The man grinned. "This place used to be a church long back, but after a big storm destroyed it the townspeople could've cared less about restoring it. After a while, it was abandoned, but that's where I came in. I made it a pub, added my own little twist to it and now the place is booming."

The sound of Hinata's rumbling tummy could be heard echoing in the very empty room.

Hinata turned away as she tried to hold in her laughter. "You just came at a bad time! This place is usually flooded with my regulars!" the old man barked back as Hinata was now laughing hysterically.

She wiped a tear from her eye as she calmed down while browsing through the menu. "By the way, old man, do you by chance have a phone I can borrow? I'm kinda lost at the moment, and my cousin probably thinks I'm dead."

The man huffed, "I don't have one on me at the moment, but if you stay long enough I might know someone who does."

Hinata sighed as she shut the menu. "Well, I guess that means I'm going to be here a while. So why don't we put you to work." She slammed a gold platinum credit card on the table as she slid it over to him. "You better hope you have enough food back there because I've come with quite an appetite."

The old man laughed as she looked Hinata up and down. "Oh really? Let's see how much you can put away."

Just like the old man said costumers began to flood just about half an hour later. Though when they did come in, they stood frozen at the entrance by what they saw. "Ayame what the hells going on!" One one the man yelled as they watched the pubs regular female waiter leave and enter the kitchen carrying bowls after bowls of Raman.

They gulped as they looked at the table she was continuously surviving, which was now covered with towers of stacked Raman bowls. They walked a bit closer to see the beast who could devour so much, though were astonished to see a small girl politely eating her soup. When the girl looked up they all to flinched.

The old man laughed hysterically as he watched from behind the bar. "Say hello to my new regular boys." The kitchen's cook said as he crossed his arms and stood beside the other old man.

Hinata bowed her head. "Thank you for having me."

The group of men watched with caution as they replied. "A-Anytime."

Before long things calmed down as everyone was now enjoying their time together as Hinata patted her now full belly while sitting at the bar again. "Damn, and here I thought I was going to starve." Hinata chuckled. "By the way, I still don't think I've got your name, old man."

"My name is Hiruzen Sarutobi, the man who cooked your food today is Teuchi and your waiter's name is Ayame." Hinata smiled. "Well, it was a pleaser meeting you all. The names Hyuga Hinata."

The old man smiled as he turned away from Hinata, preparing something on the other side of the bar as she watched curiously at what he was doing. "I gotta say, it's been a while since I've met someone like you. You're a bit odd, but not without a bit of charm. So..." He turned around with a pink fruity drink, handing it to her.

She raised her brow as she took a sip. "A hurricane cocktail? Weres the rum?"

Hiruzen laughed. "You think an old man like me can be so easily fooled with a fake ID?" Hinata slowly slipped away her ID as she shoved it back in her pocket. "Point taken." The two looked at each other in silence for a second before laughing.

Suddenly the chimes ranged as someone new entered the pub, Hinata watched as all the man in the room greeted the familiar face. "Hey, kid! It'd been a while since you've come to visit us!"

The boy scratched the back of his head as he grinned sheepishly. "Sorry about that, schools been kinda rough the past few-" his eyes suddenly met with Hinata's as he went silent.

"Naruto?"

"Hinata."

- End Of Chapter -

FINALLY! Right? It took 10 chapters, but here it is. I hope you liked it, and I hope the wait was worth it.

|Naruto belongs to Kishimoto|