Chapter 2: Unease

"Hinata-san!"

Hinata looked up. Standing only a few meters away, and waving cheerfully,was Kiba, one of her teammates. Sitting on his head was his ever-present dog, Akamaru.

"Come on," he said, urging her to hurry up. "Shino's waiting for us at the field."

She caught up with him and the two began to walk.

"Honestly, girls take forever to get ready." Kiba teased her playfully. "Do you know how long we were waiting for you?"

Hinata smiled at him. "I would have been faster if you had only told me that you would be waiting for me."

"I wanted you to be surprised."

"You didn't have to."

"I wanted to."

"Arigato, Kiba-kun."

"Welcome." He smiled at her.

"What do you think Shino-kun's going to ask us to do today?" Hinata asked, looking worried. "Since the second Chuunin exams are coming, you can bet it's going to be hard."

Kiba nodded. "Still, were pretty lucky that we already have a Chuunin-level ninja in our team to help us train."

"Finally. I thought you two would never come." Shino said, looking up as Hinata and Kiba come toward him.

"Gomenasai, Shino-kun. I sort of lost track of the time." Hinata said, an apologetic look on her face.

Shino nodded. "That's understandable. After all, I've heard that Hyuga clan members always practice until the hours of pre-dawn. What I don't understand is why Kiba's late. I happen to know that your clan members don't practice at night."

Kiba smiled sheepishly. "Sorry. I was waiting for Hinata. I didn't think she would be so late."

Shino just nodded, got up, and gestured for both of them to follow him.

They went into the woods and reached their usual training area: a small clearing in the woods. Scattered here and there were large rocks and small logs. Some logs were standing upright. On those, Shino had placed targets to be used when they trained with kunais or shurikens.

"So," Kiba said, looking around. "what'll it be today? Target practice? Stealth?"

"No." Shino faced both of them. "I'd like to see the both of you battle against one another."

"What?" Kiba exploded, looking at Shino as if he suddenly turned into one of the Aburame's kikai – destruction bugs.

"Why?" Hinata asked, somewhat nervous.

"It'll help me see your strengths and weaknesses. That's all there is to it."

Kiba sighed. There were times he often felt like strangling Shino. This was one of those times.

Hinata shook her head. "Isn't there some other way you could find out? I mean, it's not even the exams yet and already you're asking us to fight?"

Shino just stayed silent. Kiba shook his head and took Hinata by the arm.

"Come on," he said, pulling her gently towards the center of the clearing. "There's no use arguing with Shino once his mind's made up."

Naruto leapt through the air, landing lightly on the roof. He shot one hurried glance behind him before running off at full speed.

He quickly turned left and jumped to another roof. He rebounded off that roof and jumped to right, hoping to shake off his pursuer.

"There's no use running away! I'll catch up with you sooner or later!"

"I'm betting on later. As in, 10 weeks later!" Naruto yelled over his shoulder, putting on a burst of speed.

He jumped down from the rooftops and quickly lost himself in the crowd. He ducked into an alley and stopped to catch his breath.

Haruno Sakura stopped at the edge of the roof, panting hard.

Darn it! Sakura thought, glancing left and right. Looks like I completely lost him. Oh, well, I'll find that Naruto sooner or later. He can't run forever.

She jumped from the roof and turned right.

Naruto watched her leave. He breathed a sigh of relief. He left the alley and turned towards the direction of the woods, hoping to train a little bit before lunch.

Jeez, Sakura-chan can be scary sometimes, he thought, lacing his arms behind his head while he walked. And she can be unforgiving. It's not my fault She was in my way.

His mind averted back to what had happened early this morning. He was hurrying to get to Hinata's house before she left, hoping to invite her to join him later so he could talk to her. Unfortunately, as he rounded the corner, he collided headfirst with Sakura. Sakura had just come from the river, having finished washing a load of laundry. Needless to say, the basket flew out of her hands, as did the once-clean clothes. What happened afterwards was history.

"Ah ha! Found you, you idiot!"

Naruto whirled around to find Sakura lunging at him. He quickly jumped back onto the roof and ran off, Sakura hot on his heels.

"Sakura-chan! Can't you give me a break? It was an accident! An accident!"

"Not…a…chance!" She said, panting hard but still going strong. "This 'accident' wouldn't have happened if you had been looking at where you were going!"

Naruto stopped short. He was at the edge of the town already. In front of him were huge tress that lined one of the many pathways leading into the forest. Thinking quickly, he jumped into the trees and tried to lose himself in the leaves.

A few minutes of silence passed. Thinking he had lost her, he breathed a sigh of relief. Then, a branch fell on his head.

"Take that, baka!"

"Oh, man!" Naruto jumped up and began to hop from tree to tree. "Maybe Kakashi-sensei should think of making Sakura in charge of training." He muttered under his breath. "She sure can give people a workout."

Hinata stood in the middle of the clearing, panting had. She quickly glanced left and right.

Darn it! She thought, straining to hear every faint sound. Kiba-san is really good at concealing himself. If I don' t find him fast, it will put me at a serious disadvantage.

She closed her eyes, concentrating on the flow of her chakra.

"Byakugan!"

Her eyes flew open. Her surroundings were presented to her in black and white. She would find Kiba easier this way. Sure enough, she saw a clear image of blue, crouched low behind a bush. She quickly took out her kunai and prepared to attack him. But before she could, a noise, which came from behind, startled her, as well as Shino and Kiba.

"What the hell is that?" Kiba asked, coming out of his hiding place.

Shino shrugged.

"It's coming closer…" Hinata said.

Suddenly, a couple of branches from the tree in front of them flew towards them. Kiba quickly dodged in front of Hinata and sliced both branches neatly in half.

"Hinata-san! Look out!"

All three looked up just in time to see Naruto falling headfirst towards them. Hinata tried to scramble out to safety but it was no use. With a "whomp" and a "thud", Naruto fell right on top of her. The smoke cleared to show Sakura advancing towards Naruto, waving a huge branch over her head. She stopped short.

"Uh…Kiba-san? Shino?" She looked at them, then at Naruto and Hinata.

"Oops!" She grinned sheepishly. "Gomen. I didn't mean to disrupt your, uh, training. Catch you later!" And with that she was off like a shot.

For a few minutes, silence reigned. Then, "Naruto. I don't think Hinata can take the pressure of a person of the opposite sex staying on her for very long." Kiba said, looking at him pointedly.

"Eh?" Naruto looked at Kiba, confused. Then, understanding dawned. He looked face forward, straight into Hinata's shocked eyes.

He quickly jumped off her. "Gomenasai, Hinata-san." He dashed down the same path Sakura had just taken.

"Hinata-san," Kiba turned to her, concern in his face, "Are you all right?"

She slowly got to her feet. Her face was as bright as a tomato. "I…I…I…um, I'm…" She swallowed. "I'm fine."

"Good." Shino said, "Then let's pick up from where we left off."

"Gaara-kun, are you alright?" Temari asked, looking at him strangely. "You're so quiet. Well, more quiet than usual, at least."

Gaara looked at her intensely, than back at the setting sun. He was lost in his own thoughts. On one hand, he could always run away. Yoshimaru's words came back to him. "Love only yourself, and fight only for yourself." He didn't have to help in his father's maniacal plans. He could simply leave the village. However, that plan seemed too cowardly. Also, he wanted desperately to make his father proud. Make his father accept him. And the only way to do that was if he helped in his father's plan.

But what about my…comrades? He thought, their faces flashing in his mind. Naruto-san, you taught me what true strength really is. You taught me how to acquire that strength. But, right now, I don't think strength is the only thing that will help me here.

Temari sighed. There was no getting through to him. "Gaara-kun, I think I know what this is about." She said, not looking at him, but at his reflection in the water. "It's about the mission, isn't it?"

When Gaara didn't answer, she plunged ahead. "Believe it or not, Gaara-kun, Kankurou and I have the same problem. It's true," she said, seeing his startled gaze. "We also have come to accept them as our friends, so you can imagine how hard it is for us to carry this mission out."

"You could simply run away," he said, looking at her this time. "Your father isn't the one behind this madness. You will be disappointing no one of importance to you."

"It's more complicated than that, I'm afraid. My mother looks up to Kazekage-sama. If she finds out that I refuse t carry out his orders, I shudder to think about what she'd do to me."

"Otosama, I'm home." Hinata said, pushing open the door leading to the training courtyard. As usual, her father and Neji were training. Her father simply nodded to show his acknowledgement; Neji barely glanced up.

Hinata hurried to prepare the usual refreshments for her father, then quickly slipped out the door.

"Otosama, I'll be going out for a while."

This time he really looked up. "Where are you going?"

"I…um, promised a friend I'd meet him by the lake. I won't be gone long." She bowed politely then dashed out the door.

Her father looked puzzled, and turned to Neji with questioning eyes. He shrugged, and the two resumed their positions.

Hinata hurried down the path leading to the lake. Already, the sun was setting. She had promised Naruto she'd meet him 20 minutes after sunset. She put on some speed. Whatever Naruto wanted to talk to her about, it must have been pretty urgent for him to discuss with her. Suddenly, she stopped. She was sure she could feel someone watching her. She closed her eyes, concentrating the chakra. "Byakugan." She whispered, eyes flying open. She scanned her surroundings.

She glanced left, right, then straight up, scanning the branches. She detected a small amount of chakra. She looked straight towards it, but it disappeared, probably teleported.

She closed her eyes and opened them once more, a sense of unease enveloping her. She shook her head and continued to run down the path at top speed, eager to put much distance between the mysterious figure and herself.

Uchiha Sasuke appeared onto the tree branch, seemingly from midair. He watched Hinata run off. She was obviously spooked.

That was close, he thought, jumping down. Curse that Byakugan technique. If I didn't know how to teleport, my cover would've been blown.

He looked at the setting sun. He should've been here right now. It's not like him to be late.

Sasuke nearly jumped as a cold, clammy hand clapped on his shoulder. He turned around. Sure enough, Gaara was there, silent as ever.

"Thought you wouldn't make it." Sasuke said.

Gaara shook his head. "Sorry. Lost track of the time."

"So, what else do you have to tell me, aside from what you already have?"