Disclaimer – See the first chapter. A/N Having troubles sorting out dastardly ff.net formatting.
Chapter 2
Several hours later, the sun lowers itself below the horizon and Sasuke calls the group to a halt in a rather dense thicket.
"How far do you think we've put on the castle?"
Akamaru barks and Kiba turns to listen carefully
"Akamaru calls it as being about thirty kilometers."
"I would have liked a little bit more," says Sasuke, "but it looks like we need to rest up a bit."
Shino inclines his head in a nod. "We may as well stay in this thicket and try to be discreet. We should set watches, as our pursuers are not likely to stop for the night."
"Yeah," replies Sasuke. "Three watches, of two people each. This is how we'll team up. Kiba and Shino. Naruto and Hinata. Sakura and I."
Sakura's eyes float into the back of her head.
"Spending part of the night alone with Sasuke… How romantic," she sighs.
Sasuke squints at her. "Hardly. I chose these teams like this so that at least one person on each team has the ability to work well in the dark. Akamaru, my sharigan and Hinata's byakugan. And I'm only with you because Naruto would get in my way."
Naruto fumes furiously. "Yeah right! You're just afraid you'll get in my way."
"Whatever."
Naruto hmphs like a petulant child and turns away. Hinata looks at him in concern.
"Please don't let it get to you Naruto-kun."
"Anyway," continues Sasuke, now that everyone's had their little whinge or swoon, "to decide on when our watches are going to be, lets play paper scissors, rock."
Instantly Naruto whips around with a fist out. "Let me do this pleeeease Hinata? I won't lose," he pleads desperately.
Hinata blushes and points her fingers together in front of her face.
"I don't mind, Naruto-kun"
"Awesome! Is everyone ready?"
Sasuke and Kiba nod, and all three put their fists into the middle of the circle.
"Paper, scissors, rock!" The three chant, before bringing their fists down in the middle of the circle.
Naruto falls over backwards, his immobile form slamming into the ground. Eventually his mouth creaks open…
"I lost?"
"Whatever. Anyway, you've got the middle watch. We'll go first and Kiba and Shino have the last one."
"Fine! I like middle watch the best anyway!"
Sometime around eleven o'clock, Naruto is gently shaken awake by Hinata. He pulls a blanket off the top of him and silently drags himself off a makeshift mattress of leaves.
"I hate the middle watch," Naruto groans as he rubs his eyes.
"Naruto-kun, are you ready?"
Naruto can only nod mutely, and he leaps into the trees, misjudges his landing and just about falls off their temporary lookout. He saves himself by channeling chakra into his feet and swinging himself around the branch once, before ending up in a crouching position a couple of metres away from Sasuke and Sakura, who are both concentrating hard. Through bleary eyes, Naruto notices the sharingan in Sasuke's eyes.
Hinata lands silently next to him, interrupting what passes for thought in Naruto's mind. For once, however, Hinata doesn't blush and look away. She doesn't even look at Naruto and walks down the branch and exchanges a few words with Sasuke and Sakura. They then leap off the branch and now Hinata looks at Naruto, her blush hidden by the dark shadows she's concealed in. She beckons to him and he scampers along the branch, hiding himself in the same area where Hinata is.
"So what's the plan?"
Naruto bends in closer to Hinata to hear her reply better, causing her to blush even more. Unsurprisingly, she begins to stammer.
"Umm… W-well, I thought I'd use my byakugan to watch and you can use your other senses to help me."
Naruto gaks. How am I supposed to use my other senses? I haven't need to track before
"Too easy for an incredible ninja like me! But we'd better keep quiet from now on, or else you might disturb me," he whispers, waving a finger admonishingly under her nose.
"I - I'm sorry Naruto-kun. Just one last thing."
Hinata quickly performs a simple set of seals, and finishes off with a soft whisper. "Byakugan"
Naruto nods and then closes his eyes. I can't rely on my eyes for this. Perhaps if I channel some chakra into my ears and concentrate, I'll be able to this better
Naruto does this and lays his head down on the branch, listening to the sounds of the forest through one ear and feeling the vibrations of the forest through his other ear, which is firmly pressed to the branch.
While Naruto is attempting to train his senses, Hinata is gazing around silently, although her mind is wandering all over the place.
Naruto-kun is strong. He never admits that he can't do something. He is loud, gruff and unruly but he doesn't have a bad bone in his body. Is this what makes me like him? I don't think it's just that. He has some sort of positive effect on people
Hinata's gaze lingers on the prone form of Naruto for a second before continuing it's sweep through the trees.
Like when I fought in the prelims against Neji. I began to feel stronger and overcame my fears… and less than six hours ago, when I killed a jounin ninja to save him
Hinata looks at Naruto again, then continues her constant vigilance of the area.
After about twenty minutes, Naruto has begun to recognise the natural rhythm of the forest and can now feel the breathing of his comrades below him as they sleep.
Wow. This feels so calm and peaceful. Who would've thought being quiet would feel so good?
The two continue their vigil for well over an hour and a half, before Naruto feels something out of tune with the forest's natural melody. A discordant note, a note to shatter the serenity. He attempts to pinpoint the source of the disruption and find it comes easily to him.
"Hey, Hinata," he whispers while pointing, "take a look about two kilometers in that direction."
Hinata nods an affirmative and turns to scan the area.
"Two men. They're stumbling about blindly in the dark, although they appear to be keeping a straight line. They don't appear to be shinobi, nor do they have any kind of tracking devices."
Hinata watches for another minute or so, and Naruto keeps his ears perked for more information. Eventually Hinata sighs in relief.
"It looks like they aren't going to come anywhere near us. I'll keep watching though."
Naruto nods and puts his head back on the log and continues to listen to the beat of the forest. Eventually the discord begins to fade away, and eventually disappear.
"They've gone right past us," Hinata whispers to Naruto, who simply nods. "They passed within about three kilometres and continued on."
Naruto's eyes widen in surprise as a much harsher discord breaks the rhythm of the forest.
"Hinata," he whispers harshly, "there's something violent over there. What is it?"
Hinata quickly glances in the direction that Naruto indicated and has no trouble locating the new threat.
"Two samurai, with tracking dogs. The dogs look vicious, and they're leading the samurai right to us. We'll have to get rid of the dogs and lead the samurai off on a false trail"
Naruto nods and grunts in agreement.
"I'll go then. You stay here and keep watching."
"B-but, it's going to be dangerous. I should come and help."
Naruto grins but shakes his head.
"No way! I'm just too good. Besides," he continues in an undertone, "you're breathing has been becoming gradually heavier. That byakugan must drain a fair chunk of your chakra."
Hinata's eyes widen slightly. He's… concerned about me? It's true that my constant use of byakugan is draining me, but I can't stop because of that…
"N-Naruto-kun… Umm, I'm actually all right to go, so please let me come with you. Umm… I can help you see where they are"
Naruto raises an eyebrow questioningly and looks at Hinata closely. Maybe I did misjudge the amount of chakra she's used. Hinata has surprised me in the past, that's for sure
Flashback to the chuunin exams. Just when everyone thought Hinata was down for the count, she struggles back to her feet, coughing blood
"It's not over…"
"Alright, Hinata, lets take care of these clowns! Yeah!"
With that, Naruto springs to his feet and leaps into the forest canopy, with Hinata hot on his heels. As they near their targets, Hinata grabs Naruto's shoulder, forcing them to stop on the next branch.
Silently, she points to a path in the forest and Naruto manages to spot two figures holding leashes. He nods.
"Here's the plan," he whispers quietly. "I'm going to sneak over behind them, and make a noise. You'll know it when you hear it. As soon as I do that, kill the dogs silently."
Hinata nods, and Naruto continues.
"Hopefully, that'll drag the samurai after me, and when they take off after me, get the corpses and hide them somewhere in the trees, so the samurai can't get their bearings after I lose them. Then meet me back here."
"Roger."
With that, Naruto disappears into some higher branches, leaving Hinata all alone. With a determination rarely seen from her, however, she continues to track the movements of the dogs and their samurai masters. She massages her shuriken holster gently and then her hand dives in, whipping out two shuriken.
After five minutes, Hinata hears a somewhat muffled fart, followed by a giggle and a hushed whisper – "You idiot! They'll hear us!"
Hinata restrains the urge to giggle and instead launches the two shurikens, neatly taking the dogs through the head.
The samurais look at each other in dismay as they feel their leashes fall limp.
"That bastard! He's going to pay!" And the two samurai drop the leashes and leap blindly into the bushes. Immediately, Hinata drops down to the ground, grabs the leashes and leaps back up into the trees without a sound. She chuckles under her breath as she listens to Naruto lead the two samurai on a merry chase
Oh yeah, I'd better hide these dogs
Hinata quickly chooses a spot in the upper canopy of the forest and ties the leashes around a branch, concealing them from people on the ground. She wastes no time getting back to the meeting spot and lies in wait of Naruto to return.
Seconds later, he leaps onto the branch, chuckling at his handiwork. The two samurai are still crashing through the undergrowth.
"Where the hell are we?"
Naruto and Hinata share a private giggle, then Hinata leads the way off the branch, back to the lookout.
She lands back on the branch and ducks back to the hiding spot, panting slightly. Naruto lands next to her and hits the deck almost immediately.
"Hinata, maybe you should stop constantly using the byakugan. You look tired."
"It's alright Naruto-kun. I can tough it out another hour," is her reply.
I can't give up in front of Naruto-kun. I must be strong
Naruto grins and claps a hand on her shoulder.
"That's what I like about you Hinata, you're not a quitter."
Hinata just blushes.
The remaining hour of their watch slips away slowly and Naruto becomes painfully aware of Hinata's lack of energy, as her breathing begins to swamp the rhythm of the forest with its harsh grating.
However, he respects her wishes to keep up the byakugan vigil and makes nothing of the matter.
Slowly though, he begins to lose track of the beat, as her breathing becomes louder and louder and he begins to strain to hear anything else apart from her breathing… and at that point in time, the branch shakes twice, causing the blonde haired ninja to have his head slammed against the branch twice.
He bites back a curse and his hand flies instantly towards one of his kunais. Naruto slides in front of Hinata, who by his best guess, can hardly stand.
However, she can reach out a hand and does exactly that, grabbing onto Naruto's shoulders.
"It's Aiba-kun and Shino-kun," she whispers in a barely audible voice.
Naruto nods, slides his kunai back into position and flips his head around to Hinata, who has released her byakugan and is now slumped over, breathing heavily.
Shino pokes his head into their hidy-hole.
"What happened?"
"Hinata used her byakugan jutsu for four hours straight," Naruto whispers in reply, "and on top of that, we had to lay a false trail for a couple of trackers. She's completely worn out."
"And you didn't attempt to stop her?"
"Hey, I tried at least twice. But Hinata's a really determined girl. I like that, it makes her a strong person."
Naruto grins and Hinata's eyes widen in surprise.
He thinks I'm strong?
"Anyway," Naruto continues, "We'll leave it to you then. Sleep has never looked so good. Come on, Hinata."
Naruto looks around at Hinata, who is still doubled over with one hand on his shoulder, taking big heavy breaths. Naruto looks at her, confusion evident on his face. Her hand slowly slips from his shoulder.
"I'm sorry, Naruto-kun… I don't have the strength left to get down."
Naruto's confusion is slowly erased from his face and is replaced with a smile. He grabs Hinata's hands and wraps them over his shoulders, before picking her up on his back.
"Seeya in the morning guys!"
With that, Naruto leaps onto a lower branch, picking his way to the ground carefully. When he reaches the thicket, he peels Hinata off his back and lays her gently on her blanket.
"Here, have this. You need it more than I do at the moment."
Naruto hurls his own blanket over to Hinata. It lands on her, and with a small thank you, she arranges it over the top of her.