A/N: - hello everyone! (even the ones eagerly waiting without dropping a review.... -- I know you're there.... sniffles ) but still, squeals Thanks for giving me a review! It does slow down a little, but I'm just too excited! - oh, yeah, and I don't own Naruto.... But if anyone wants to give him to me... well, anyway, reviews make me so happy! runs around screaming
Muses: Pokes you know, you could use that energy for writing.... --
Kage: Why?!?!? Oh... yeah... sits down and starts writing at super fast speed WHEEE!!!!!
-------anyway---------
Hinata deftly avoided contact with anyone as she slid inside the house. It wasn't home anymore. The house was quiet, peaceful.
Unwavering.
Hinata quickly fell asleep, fearing who she might wake up to seeing.
Hinata yawned, sitting up in her bed, blearily rubbing her eyes and pausing to keep the nausea away. Swallowing slightly, she stretched and tossed the soft, white and blue covers off of her. She stood up weakly, shaking her head slowly and faster to get rid of clogged thoughts.
"Meet.... Kakashi-sensei.... Team... five thirty...." Hinata wasn't worried; the sun wasn't up and it was still dark outside. Peeking out of her window, she saw the gardens, crisp frost still stinging the leaves and flowers.
Brushing out her hair, she sighed and took a bath, dipping her head into the cold water. After a ten minute bath, she forced herself out and dried out her hair which hung in dripping, soft strands around her face. Shivering, Hinata pulled on her clothes and her weapons, slipping on her socks.
She looked at her clock.
Five. She had plenty of time. Cracking her neck, she slid open the door with little more than a soft grating noise and closed it, quietly walking to the kitchens. The cooks weren't up until six, so she simply helped herself like always.
Closing her eyes, she listened intently for anyone else and sat down at the table, eating breakfast alone...
Like always.
By five twenty, Hinata had been waiting at her post for five minutes, playing with her fingers and imagining that she could have someone to talk to.
About five minutes later, a few other people had come in as well, grumbling to themselves. Naruto came in, and Hinata wanted to jump up and talk to him, but he was following Sakura like a little boy.
And that's just what he is, she thought glumly. How she wished she could be in Sakura's place! To have attention placed on her... she looked down sadly.
Gaara walked in, and Hinata was still staring at the ground in deep thought.
Sitting down beside her, Hinata gave him a startled smile.
"Ohayo, Gaara-kun," Hinata greeted in her soft voice.
"Ohayo, Hinata-kun. Have you seen Neji or Sasuke?" He asked quietly.
Hinata shook her head. "Iie. Did you have a good night's sleep?" She asked, trying to make conversation.
"....I don't sleep." Gaara said. "Shukaku would take over me."
Hinata nodded, feeling stupid.
"Did you sleep well?" Gaara asked, knowing the answer. He'd seen her in her sleep, whimpering and thrashing around, trapped in the nightmare as he was helpless, only holding her hand which seemed to calm her slightly.
".... N-no, not really... I had a bad dream... but I don't remember what it was," Hinata said, blinking.
The rather distinct boy who wore his usual clothes with his hair tied with the forehead protector walked in, and sat with them. "Ohayo, Sasuke-kun," Hinata said softly.
He said nothing for a change, simply looking away.
"Ohayo, Sasuke-san," Gaara said, surprising the thus far silent teen. When had he started adding things to people's names?
A few minutes later Neji joined them, glaring at Hinata. "Why did you go so early?" He asked.
"I didn't want to fall asleep again," Hinata said, looking down nervously.
"You could have told someone," Neji snapped.
"No one else was awake," Hinata said, ever quieting as she timidly hunched down.
"Leave her alone," Gaara demanded, narrowing his eyes.
"You should have woken someone up," Neji stated, pouring guilt over Hinata.
"G-g-gomen, Neji-san," Hinata said, shrinking down as Neji towered over her, glaring.
Neji glared at her again, frowning in disapproval. "What would your father say?"
"Leave her alone," Gaara repeated, sand swirling around the four.
"Why? She shouldn't have done what she did," Neji snapped, turning on Gaara.
"Please don't be mad, Neji-san..." Hinata pleaded, and Gaara narrowed his eyes. How could Hinata stand all the accusations?
"Gomen, Neji-san... I promise I won't do it again," Hinata said, tugging his shirt a little.
"Don't touch me, Hinata," He snapped, scowling. Hinata slid back, retracting her hand.
"Gomen." She said, and Gaara growled softly.
"Don't talk to her like that," Gaara said, his arm going protectively around her shoulders.
Neji's eyes sparked, and he said stonily, "This is none of your business."
"It is, because her blood is my blood and my blood is her blood." Gaara stated, a little harsher than he'd wanted to but since Hinata didn't protest, Gaara gently pulled her in tighter at the look Neji was giving them.
"Listen, just because of your mushy moments don't mean that something like this can last forever, Gaara," He spat. "You can hug her as much as you want but it's going to end," Neji said icily, turning away and standing while everyone else sat.
Hinata bent her head down, hot tears running down her face.
"N-Neji-"
"Go away," Neji said, not looking at her. "You're useless. Just more dead weight to carry around." Gaara snarled, standing up.
"You'll regret saying that, yarou." {A/N: Yarou= bastard... some people spell it yaro, I know, and I don't...} Gaara pulled the stopper out of his gourd, and sand slid out in silky waves. Neji smirked, turning his head slightly behind him.
"You aren't allowed to kill a team mate," Neji said plainly. "And besides, do you think a little bit of sand will stop me?"
"Ah. Neji, it isn't a little bit of sand," Gaara said, laughing for once. The other teams looked slightly worried at the cold laughter.
"...Gaara-kun, don't hurt him," Hinata said in a little child's voice as she quietly touched his arm. He jerked back, as Shukaku woke.
"Hmm. Who am I allowed to kill? Never mind, I don't care!" Shukaku snarled, and Sasuke and Hinata moved back immediately on instinct, and Neji laughed.
"No! Stop it Shukaku!" Gaara put his hands to his head, breathing raggedly. Hinata was worried, moving towards him.
"Iie! Get back..." Gaara muttered weakly, but closed his eyes. When he opened them, he grinned maliciously at the three.
Hinata quickly stood in front of them, begging, "Please... Gaara-"
"Gaara's sleeping," Shukaku smiled sweetly. "Tell me, do you want to die?"
"You can't hurt me," Hinata said softly, "We have the same blood." Shukaku reached forward, sliding out a kunai from his pocket and slid the sharp object down her hand. Licking up the flowing blood, he snarled.
"Too bad... you have such delicious blood..." Shukaku cackled, leaning in to Hinata. Fear flickered across her face.
"Onegai... Shukaku... let Gaara out," Hinata pleaded. Shukaku smirked.
"What makes you think-" Shukaku started, shaking his head with his eyes closed.
"Gomen nasai Gaara!" his eyes opened wide as her hand shot out and tapped a vein on the back of his neck and he was unconscious in a second and a half.
Neji scowled darkly as Hinata sighed quietly, clutching at his hand tightly hoping he wouldn't be too mad when he woke up.
Gaara blinked, groggily sitting up.
"Gaara!" Hinata said, her eyes wide and anxious. He leaned to his right where Hinata wasn't sitting and threw up his breakfast, curling into a tight ball and closing his eyes tightly. Hinata gently stroked his hair.
His eyes slowly opened, as if fearing she would turn into a monster.
"Shh... Gaara-kun, are you alright?" She asked softly, her concerned white eyes checking him over.
"H-Hinata... did he hurt you?" He asked weakly. "I-I can smell your blood." She held her hand up to him but shook her head.
"Not badly. Just to check if we were the same blood," Hinata smiled reassuringly at him.
"Don't worry. Come on, Kakashi-sensei should be here soon... he's already very late," Hinata said softly, looking at her watch. Sasuke said nothing but knew he wouldn't be here for hours.
About two hours later, Kakashi-sensei finally showed up, smiling at the angry glares he received.
"WHY ARE YOU SO LATE??!?!!"
"WHERE HAVE YOU-"
"Now, now..." Kakashi sensei tried to block the barrage of screaming teens form him by putting his hands out. "Uhh, I was walking alone when a... uhh... dog came up and... err..." He glanced at his watch.
"OH! Good you're not late," Kakashi laughed hurriedly, walking quickly out the door. Everyone followed, wanting to see what they were actually up against.
Several Jounins stood by, looking extremely bored. They perked up a little when they saw the crowd coming at them.
"So, Kakashi, these are the chibis we'll be beating?" A rather laid back one said, smirking at Kakashi.
"Who said you'd beat them?" Kakashi smiled. And the Jounins all snorted.
"Honestly, Kakashi... do you really think a bunch of little midgets will beat us?" they asked, chuckling mildly.
"Some." Kakashi grinned. "But now," He tossed some straw figures out. "We'll start. You may spread out into the forest, but don't go any further than the white field. You'll see what I mean," Kakashi grinned mysteriously. "Your job is to make sure your little friends don't get the stuffing beat out or stolen by the Jounins. Come back at ten at night, I will be waiting," Kakashi said calmly, smiling slightly.
Neji was thrown a rather beaten up straw figure, stuffed so that it burst through little cracks.
"They could have made a better one," Neji said coldly, looking at it. He noticed the inside immediately. Thick, dark pieces of heavy metallic like substance.
Can you guess who said nothing again? Neji, Gaara, and Hinata looked at him. {well that kinda leaves someone out doesn't it? -}
"Sasuke-kun, are you alright?" Hinata asked softly, looking rather worried for the Uchiha heir.
He gave a little noise but no words came. He didn't meet her eyes.
Hinata sighed, and Gaara muttered gently to her, "Don't be concerned. The Uchiha boy can take care of himself." And Hinata shrugged a little.
"I know, but... he seems... different some how...." She looked at him again, shaking her head.
"I don't understand..." She murmured. They just walked into the woods, and Sasuke followed dutifully.
Chikuso... the Hyuuga girl knows something's wrong...
Hinata couldn't chase away the sick feeling inside her... there was something different about Sasuke... she shook her head. 'Great, now I'm going crazy...' she thought glumly, sticking by Gaara.
Abruptly, Gaara stopped, and whispered a few dreaded words,
"The Jounins are headed this way."
Hinata swallowed a groan, and Neji knew they were surrounded on all sides.
"Up," He said simply, and they all leapt into the cover of the trees. They all spread out, Neji taking the straw person as he bolted up. They scattered into different ones, trying to cover their chakra.
"Kuso," Gaara whispered softly, and gently eased some sand out. Quickly performing a set of jutsu, he whispered almost silently. Slowly releasing the sand, it slid down the tree unnoticed. There were five grains of sand, and they morphed into the shapes of each teammate and the straw figure. They darted away, leading them east. The Jounins caught the movement, and spread out to find them. Smiling to himself, Gaara tossed a leaf onto the ground. As he'd expected, a net shot up and caught nothing.
Dropping more leaves, the other three caught on and casually did the same, in case there was a Jounin who stayed behind.
Finally they leapt down, swiftly heading west. The group was silent. There was nothing to say.
The boy who believed he was alone waited until he was a few feet behind... he couldn't show his true intentions until it was time... he smiled thinly at Neji.
'He'll get what he deserves', the Uchiha thought, quelling thoughts of hate that built up.
'Every little bit back...' he thought, chuckling...
With the straw bundle tied to his back, Neji smiled thinly, knowing who was staring at his back like he wanted to throw daggers at him.
'Pft, what a baka. He can't even hide it?' He wanted to laugh.
Gaara looked around them, his mind completely open. He closed his right eye, one hand performing the jutsu for the Third Eye. Sending it up, he scouted.
"The Jounins have discovered our trick. They're coming our way again," Neji said, narrowing his eyes.
"More people in front of us. We have to go west," Gaara concluded. He didn't wait for them and leapt west on the large trees. Launching themselves after him, the rest of the group found themselves contemplating the same thing.
How the hell did Gaara know where he was going? Aside from the Third Eye.
Neji glanced at Hinata. She'd been worried all day... was there something wrong? He glanced at Sasuke.
Ah hah.
Neji frowned. The Uchiha boy was acting suspicious....
Gaara kept his eyes open for anything...
But it was silent, aside from Neji's mutterings about the straw body.
"...wish it was alive so I could kill it..." Neji grumbled.
Sasuke glowered at him, wishing he would just shut up before he killed him...
Hinata saw Neji frown.
"Neji, please shut up for a second. If you don't want to carry it, give it to me," Gaara said boredly, stopping them all.
Worried about a fight, Hinata said quietly, "Hurry. They're headed this way." She didn't need to use Byakugan to know.
Neji threw the straw body to Gaara who took it and they started again, turning right. They still had several hours to wait.
Sasuke used his Sharingan and glanced around, though he said nothing.
No one noticed the extra dot in his eyes except Neji, who narrowed his white eyes. More power than yesterday flowed out of him.... More chakra....
Something was up.
Have they noticed?
Hinata looked up, and could see some blue and white patches of sky through the thick canopy. But soft grumbling to the east could be heard.
Thunder.
Gaara cursed under his breath.
"Storm headed our way." Gaara stated simply, and knew it would be good to cover tracks but bad for vision.
"Ano sa, ano sa!" they all rolled their eyes at Naruto's loud and obvious voice.
"Ai! Shut up, baka!" Ino and Sakura could be heard also, but less clear. They were heading away from them. Gaara wasn't worried; they were too stupid to know what to do, despite the last person in the group, Shino.
Hinata wished she could have been sick... or said she was at least.
"L-l-let's keep g-going," Hinata offered hesitantly, looking at the incoming storm with growing anxiety.
Gaara nodded a little, and they leapt off again, heading towards Naruto's group.
Within a few moments, they reached them.
"Ano sa!" Naruto shouted, and they jumped down gracefully.
"Hello, Naru-" Hinata started quietly, happy that she hadn't stuttered at all.
But Sakura interrupted her.
"Sasuke-kun!!!!" She squealed, along with Ino.
Sasuke sighed in irritation. Idiots and complete morons.
Gaara stood back, looking at the straw figure with slight doubt. What were they supposed to be doing? This wasn't strengthening any of their skills...
He looked at the straw figure again, this time with suspicion...
"GAARA!"
A/N: Don't you just LOVE a cliffie? - la la la....
THANK YOU EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!!!! - squeals
Muses: Pokes you know, you could use that energy for writing.... --
Kage: Why?!?!? Oh... yeah... sits down and starts writing at super fast speed WHEEE!!!!!
-------anyway---------
Hinata deftly avoided contact with anyone as she slid inside the house. It wasn't home anymore. The house was quiet, peaceful.
Unwavering.
Hinata quickly fell asleep, fearing who she might wake up to seeing.
Hinata yawned, sitting up in her bed, blearily rubbing her eyes and pausing to keep the nausea away. Swallowing slightly, she stretched and tossed the soft, white and blue covers off of her. She stood up weakly, shaking her head slowly and faster to get rid of clogged thoughts.
"Meet.... Kakashi-sensei.... Team... five thirty...." Hinata wasn't worried; the sun wasn't up and it was still dark outside. Peeking out of her window, she saw the gardens, crisp frost still stinging the leaves and flowers.
Brushing out her hair, she sighed and took a bath, dipping her head into the cold water. After a ten minute bath, she forced herself out and dried out her hair which hung in dripping, soft strands around her face. Shivering, Hinata pulled on her clothes and her weapons, slipping on her socks.
She looked at her clock.
Five. She had plenty of time. Cracking her neck, she slid open the door with little more than a soft grating noise and closed it, quietly walking to the kitchens. The cooks weren't up until six, so she simply helped herself like always.
Closing her eyes, she listened intently for anyone else and sat down at the table, eating breakfast alone...
Like always.
By five twenty, Hinata had been waiting at her post for five minutes, playing with her fingers and imagining that she could have someone to talk to.
About five minutes later, a few other people had come in as well, grumbling to themselves. Naruto came in, and Hinata wanted to jump up and talk to him, but he was following Sakura like a little boy.
And that's just what he is, she thought glumly. How she wished she could be in Sakura's place! To have attention placed on her... she looked down sadly.
Gaara walked in, and Hinata was still staring at the ground in deep thought.
Sitting down beside her, Hinata gave him a startled smile.
"Ohayo, Gaara-kun," Hinata greeted in her soft voice.
"Ohayo, Hinata-kun. Have you seen Neji or Sasuke?" He asked quietly.
Hinata shook her head. "Iie. Did you have a good night's sleep?" She asked, trying to make conversation.
"....I don't sleep." Gaara said. "Shukaku would take over me."
Hinata nodded, feeling stupid.
"Did you sleep well?" Gaara asked, knowing the answer. He'd seen her in her sleep, whimpering and thrashing around, trapped in the nightmare as he was helpless, only holding her hand which seemed to calm her slightly.
".... N-no, not really... I had a bad dream... but I don't remember what it was," Hinata said, blinking.
The rather distinct boy who wore his usual clothes with his hair tied with the forehead protector walked in, and sat with them. "Ohayo, Sasuke-kun," Hinata said softly.
He said nothing for a change, simply looking away.
"Ohayo, Sasuke-san," Gaara said, surprising the thus far silent teen. When had he started adding things to people's names?
A few minutes later Neji joined them, glaring at Hinata. "Why did you go so early?" He asked.
"I didn't want to fall asleep again," Hinata said, looking down nervously.
"You could have told someone," Neji snapped.
"No one else was awake," Hinata said, ever quieting as she timidly hunched down.
"Leave her alone," Gaara demanded, narrowing his eyes.
"You should have woken someone up," Neji stated, pouring guilt over Hinata.
"G-g-gomen, Neji-san," Hinata said, shrinking down as Neji towered over her, glaring.
Neji glared at her again, frowning in disapproval. "What would your father say?"
"Leave her alone," Gaara repeated, sand swirling around the four.
"Why? She shouldn't have done what she did," Neji snapped, turning on Gaara.
"Please don't be mad, Neji-san..." Hinata pleaded, and Gaara narrowed his eyes. How could Hinata stand all the accusations?
"Gomen, Neji-san... I promise I won't do it again," Hinata said, tugging his shirt a little.
"Don't touch me, Hinata," He snapped, scowling. Hinata slid back, retracting her hand.
"Gomen." She said, and Gaara growled softly.
"Don't talk to her like that," Gaara said, his arm going protectively around her shoulders.
Neji's eyes sparked, and he said stonily, "This is none of your business."
"It is, because her blood is my blood and my blood is her blood." Gaara stated, a little harsher than he'd wanted to but since Hinata didn't protest, Gaara gently pulled her in tighter at the look Neji was giving them.
"Listen, just because of your mushy moments don't mean that something like this can last forever, Gaara," He spat. "You can hug her as much as you want but it's going to end," Neji said icily, turning away and standing while everyone else sat.
Hinata bent her head down, hot tears running down her face.
"N-Neji-"
"Go away," Neji said, not looking at her. "You're useless. Just more dead weight to carry around." Gaara snarled, standing up.
"You'll regret saying that, yarou." {A/N: Yarou= bastard... some people spell it yaro, I know, and I don't...} Gaara pulled the stopper out of his gourd, and sand slid out in silky waves. Neji smirked, turning his head slightly behind him.
"You aren't allowed to kill a team mate," Neji said plainly. "And besides, do you think a little bit of sand will stop me?"
"Ah. Neji, it isn't a little bit of sand," Gaara said, laughing for once. The other teams looked slightly worried at the cold laughter.
"...Gaara-kun, don't hurt him," Hinata said in a little child's voice as she quietly touched his arm. He jerked back, as Shukaku woke.
"Hmm. Who am I allowed to kill? Never mind, I don't care!" Shukaku snarled, and Sasuke and Hinata moved back immediately on instinct, and Neji laughed.
"No! Stop it Shukaku!" Gaara put his hands to his head, breathing raggedly. Hinata was worried, moving towards him.
"Iie! Get back..." Gaara muttered weakly, but closed his eyes. When he opened them, he grinned maliciously at the three.
Hinata quickly stood in front of them, begging, "Please... Gaara-"
"Gaara's sleeping," Shukaku smiled sweetly. "Tell me, do you want to die?"
"You can't hurt me," Hinata said softly, "We have the same blood." Shukaku reached forward, sliding out a kunai from his pocket and slid the sharp object down her hand. Licking up the flowing blood, he snarled.
"Too bad... you have such delicious blood..." Shukaku cackled, leaning in to Hinata. Fear flickered across her face.
"Onegai... Shukaku... let Gaara out," Hinata pleaded. Shukaku smirked.
"What makes you think-" Shukaku started, shaking his head with his eyes closed.
"Gomen nasai Gaara!" his eyes opened wide as her hand shot out and tapped a vein on the back of his neck and he was unconscious in a second and a half.
Neji scowled darkly as Hinata sighed quietly, clutching at his hand tightly hoping he wouldn't be too mad when he woke up.
Gaara blinked, groggily sitting up.
"Gaara!" Hinata said, her eyes wide and anxious. He leaned to his right where Hinata wasn't sitting and threw up his breakfast, curling into a tight ball and closing his eyes tightly. Hinata gently stroked his hair.
His eyes slowly opened, as if fearing she would turn into a monster.
"Shh... Gaara-kun, are you alright?" She asked softly, her concerned white eyes checking him over.
"H-Hinata... did he hurt you?" He asked weakly. "I-I can smell your blood." She held her hand up to him but shook her head.
"Not badly. Just to check if we were the same blood," Hinata smiled reassuringly at him.
"Don't worry. Come on, Kakashi-sensei should be here soon... he's already very late," Hinata said softly, looking at her watch. Sasuke said nothing but knew he wouldn't be here for hours.
About two hours later, Kakashi-sensei finally showed up, smiling at the angry glares he received.
"WHY ARE YOU SO LATE??!?!!"
"WHERE HAVE YOU-"
"Now, now..." Kakashi sensei tried to block the barrage of screaming teens form him by putting his hands out. "Uhh, I was walking alone when a... uhh... dog came up and... err..." He glanced at his watch.
"OH! Good you're not late," Kakashi laughed hurriedly, walking quickly out the door. Everyone followed, wanting to see what they were actually up against.
Several Jounins stood by, looking extremely bored. They perked up a little when they saw the crowd coming at them.
"So, Kakashi, these are the chibis we'll be beating?" A rather laid back one said, smirking at Kakashi.
"Who said you'd beat them?" Kakashi smiled. And the Jounins all snorted.
"Honestly, Kakashi... do you really think a bunch of little midgets will beat us?" they asked, chuckling mildly.
"Some." Kakashi grinned. "But now," He tossed some straw figures out. "We'll start. You may spread out into the forest, but don't go any further than the white field. You'll see what I mean," Kakashi grinned mysteriously. "Your job is to make sure your little friends don't get the stuffing beat out or stolen by the Jounins. Come back at ten at night, I will be waiting," Kakashi said calmly, smiling slightly.
Neji was thrown a rather beaten up straw figure, stuffed so that it burst through little cracks.
"They could have made a better one," Neji said coldly, looking at it. He noticed the inside immediately. Thick, dark pieces of heavy metallic like substance.
Can you guess who said nothing again? Neji, Gaara, and Hinata looked at him. {well that kinda leaves someone out doesn't it? -}
"Sasuke-kun, are you alright?" Hinata asked softly, looking rather worried for the Uchiha heir.
He gave a little noise but no words came. He didn't meet her eyes.
Hinata sighed, and Gaara muttered gently to her, "Don't be concerned. The Uchiha boy can take care of himself." And Hinata shrugged a little.
"I know, but... he seems... different some how...." She looked at him again, shaking her head.
"I don't understand..." She murmured. They just walked into the woods, and Sasuke followed dutifully.
Chikuso... the Hyuuga girl knows something's wrong...
Hinata couldn't chase away the sick feeling inside her... there was something different about Sasuke... she shook her head. 'Great, now I'm going crazy...' she thought glumly, sticking by Gaara.
Abruptly, Gaara stopped, and whispered a few dreaded words,
"The Jounins are headed this way."
Hinata swallowed a groan, and Neji knew they were surrounded on all sides.
"Up," He said simply, and they all leapt into the cover of the trees. They all spread out, Neji taking the straw person as he bolted up. They scattered into different ones, trying to cover their chakra.
"Kuso," Gaara whispered softly, and gently eased some sand out. Quickly performing a set of jutsu, he whispered almost silently. Slowly releasing the sand, it slid down the tree unnoticed. There were five grains of sand, and they morphed into the shapes of each teammate and the straw figure. They darted away, leading them east. The Jounins caught the movement, and spread out to find them. Smiling to himself, Gaara tossed a leaf onto the ground. As he'd expected, a net shot up and caught nothing.
Dropping more leaves, the other three caught on and casually did the same, in case there was a Jounin who stayed behind.
Finally they leapt down, swiftly heading west. The group was silent. There was nothing to say.
The boy who believed he was alone waited until he was a few feet behind... he couldn't show his true intentions until it was time... he smiled thinly at Neji.
'He'll get what he deserves', the Uchiha thought, quelling thoughts of hate that built up.
'Every little bit back...' he thought, chuckling...
With the straw bundle tied to his back, Neji smiled thinly, knowing who was staring at his back like he wanted to throw daggers at him.
'Pft, what a baka. He can't even hide it?' He wanted to laugh.
Gaara looked around them, his mind completely open. He closed his right eye, one hand performing the jutsu for the Third Eye. Sending it up, he scouted.
"The Jounins have discovered our trick. They're coming our way again," Neji said, narrowing his eyes.
"More people in front of us. We have to go west," Gaara concluded. He didn't wait for them and leapt west on the large trees. Launching themselves after him, the rest of the group found themselves contemplating the same thing.
How the hell did Gaara know where he was going? Aside from the Third Eye.
Neji glanced at Hinata. She'd been worried all day... was there something wrong? He glanced at Sasuke.
Ah hah.
Neji frowned. The Uchiha boy was acting suspicious....
Gaara kept his eyes open for anything...
But it was silent, aside from Neji's mutterings about the straw body.
"...wish it was alive so I could kill it..." Neji grumbled.
Sasuke glowered at him, wishing he would just shut up before he killed him...
Hinata saw Neji frown.
"Neji, please shut up for a second. If you don't want to carry it, give it to me," Gaara said boredly, stopping them all.
Worried about a fight, Hinata said quietly, "Hurry. They're headed this way." She didn't need to use Byakugan to know.
Neji threw the straw body to Gaara who took it and they started again, turning right. They still had several hours to wait.
Sasuke used his Sharingan and glanced around, though he said nothing.
No one noticed the extra dot in his eyes except Neji, who narrowed his white eyes. More power than yesterday flowed out of him.... More chakra....
Something was up.
Have they noticed?
Hinata looked up, and could see some blue and white patches of sky through the thick canopy. But soft grumbling to the east could be heard.
Thunder.
Gaara cursed under his breath.
"Storm headed our way." Gaara stated simply, and knew it would be good to cover tracks but bad for vision.
"Ano sa, ano sa!" they all rolled their eyes at Naruto's loud and obvious voice.
"Ai! Shut up, baka!" Ino and Sakura could be heard also, but less clear. They were heading away from them. Gaara wasn't worried; they were too stupid to know what to do, despite the last person in the group, Shino.
Hinata wished she could have been sick... or said she was at least.
"L-l-let's keep g-going," Hinata offered hesitantly, looking at the incoming storm with growing anxiety.
Gaara nodded a little, and they leapt off again, heading towards Naruto's group.
Within a few moments, they reached them.
"Ano sa!" Naruto shouted, and they jumped down gracefully.
"Hello, Naru-" Hinata started quietly, happy that she hadn't stuttered at all.
But Sakura interrupted her.
"Sasuke-kun!!!!" She squealed, along with Ino.
Sasuke sighed in irritation. Idiots and complete morons.
Gaara stood back, looking at the straw figure with slight doubt. What were they supposed to be doing? This wasn't strengthening any of their skills...
He looked at the straw figure again, this time with suspicion...
"GAARA!"
A/N: Don't you just LOVE a cliffie? - la la la....
THANK YOU EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!!!! - squeals