I fell in love with the most unexpected person on the most unexpected time.
-Anonymous
Nodding to the nurses as she passed by them, Hinata stepped into the hospital room. She felt tears fill her eyes, as they fell on the patient in the bed.
"Kiba." She croaked out, immediately throwing herself into her friend's arms. A few tears escaped her eyes, despite her resolve to not get emotional when she saw him.
Kiba grinned, revealing his canines as he patted her head.
"There. There, Hinata. Getting so emotional over nothing."
She looked up at him, incredulous.
"This wasn't nothing, Kiba! You could've died!"
Instead of laughing at her for being the worrywart she was, like she had expected him to, Kiba tightened his hold around her. The grin on his face disappeared, as he looked away, ashamed.
"Yeah." He scratched his head nervously, "And to add to it, I got you in trouble too."
Hinata's eyes widened, as she pulled away, tone softening slightly.
"Kiba...I didn't mean to..."
He held up a hand to stop her.
"No. I get it. I fucked up the mission. If I hadn't insisted on following that scent, then none of this would have happened."
Hinata bit her lip, regret pooling in her stomach.
"It wasn't your fault." She whispered softly.
He looked up at her, smiling bitterly.
"Of course it was. The same thing happened during the Chunnin Exams, remember?"
Hinata shuddered in response. Yes, she remembered. How could she not?
Gaara, who was now the Kazekage, had faced off with three sound-nin. It had been three to one, and he had still managed to make it rain blood. Literally.
"I dragged you both with me into that mess. We could've died back then too. I put your lives in danger."
He chuckled drily.
"I'm a shitty friend, aren't I?"
Pursing her lips, Hinata clenched her fists.
"Stop it, Kiba!"
He looked at her in shock.
This was the first time she had raised her voice.
"Making mistakes doesn't make you a bad friend, it makes you a human. If you feel bad about it, then learn from it. Make sure it doesn't happen again."
She met his eyes, now lowering her voice.
"Moping about the past won't change the present." She said quietly, "I know that now."
She gulped.
"Back then, during the mission. You kept me strong, gave me a reason to fight to the best of my abilities. Had you not been there, I doubt I would've survived."
Kiba snorted, still bitter.
"If I hadn't been there, then you wouldn't have gotten into that mess in the first place."
Hinata frowned, sighing.
"Kiba..."
He grunted in response, raising his hands in surrender.
"Okay, okay. Geez. Get off my back will you?"
Then, he smiled slightly.
"Thanks Hinata. I needed that."
Hinata nodded, now smiling too.
For a moment, they sat in comfortable silence, basking in each others presence.
Then, suddenly, Kiba grinned, eyes narrowing slyly.
"Did you hear the news?"
Hinata looked up in question. She didn't go out as much, so didn't hear the usual gossip of the village that often. Instead, she usually stayed up in her room, thinking.
As if on cue, she felt her neck tingle, where she could still feel the imprint of his face.
Shaking herself out of her thoughts, Hinata raised her eyebrows raised in question. Kiba's grin only widened.
"There's a rumour that Konoha's number one Knucklehead Ninja is coming back one of these days."
Slowly registering the words, Hinata blinked. Once. Twice.
Naruto...is coming back?
Then, her whole face flamed up. Her hands went to her cheeks, willing them to stop burning.
"E-Eh?!"
"Yep! Looks like your dream guy's finally gonna be back in town."
If possible, Hinata's face turned even redder. She suddenly felt dizzy, as her heard beat erratically.
"T-that's n-no-ot it! N-N-Naruto and I-I ar-re j-j-just f-f-friends!
Kiba rolled his eyes.
"Sureeee." He drawled out.
Shaking her head, Hinata stood up, suddenly remembering something.
"I-I need to go now. Lady Hokage sent a message this morning to visit her today."
Kiba nodded. After a last hug and brief goodbye, Hinata made her way to the Hokage's office.
Reaching the door, she knocked, entering when she got the affirmation to enter.
As she listened to the Hokage, Hinata felt dread fill her. It was the same mission. The one in which she had encountered Uchiha Itachi for the first time.
"I know you might feel uncomfortable taking this mission, so I'm going to give you a choice. Do you think you can do it?"
Hinata but her lip, contemplating.
"I'll make you a deal. If you capture me, I will answer your question."
Making up her mind, Hinata looked up.
"I will do it."
Tsunade smirked slightly, nodding.
"Very well, then." She said, ruffling through a few papers, "Though I doubt anything out of the ordinary will happen. Have there been any signs of the Akatsuki since the last time?"
"You will not get help from anyone. Which means that my presence will be remaining a secret, even from the Hokage."
Raising her face, Hinata looked straight into the Hokage's eyes.
"No."
Later, as she walked out of the office, she bit her lip, wondering just when she'd become such a good liar.
It was still early morning when she exited the village gates. Despite herself, she wondered what type of encounter she would have with the Uchiha this time. So lost was she in thinking of different scenarios, that she completely missed the reaction of her heart as it pounded in anticipation.
A few hours later, she was standing in front of the entrance of the cave. Her journey had been uneventful; something she couldn't help but feel disappointed about.
Frowning, she shook her head, deciding to focus on something else.
Suddenly, she recalled Kiba's words about Naruto.
So, he is going to be returning to the village soon.
She felt her face heat up as her jaw locked in determination. She had gotten stronger and more confident than before. He was bound to notice her, right?
Unconsciously, she ran a hand through her hair.
One part of her hoped, that this time around, things would be different. However, there was another part of her; the ugly one which reminded her of how she would never be good enough.
Yes, she had changed over the years, but the thing is-
So had Sakura.
Hinata had gotten stronger and prettier as the years had passed, and yet, Sakura was still more pretty, more smart, more strong, more confident, more everything.
The thought made her heart sink.
Quickly, she shook her head, reminding herself that she was on a mission, if only to stop herself from going deeper into her thoughts.
Taking a deep breath, she cleared her head, and took a step into the cave. The further she went, the darker it got.
Making a handsign, she activated her Byakugan.
She stopped as her vision extended on and on, till she could see the end of the cave. It wasn't very deep, but had a small narrow tunnel. Walking through it, she stopped when the tunnel opened up into spacious clearing.
She couldn't stifle the gasp that escaped her as she took in the scene.
Instead of being dark, the place was bright; enough that she didn't need to use her Byakugan to see. Deactivating her bloodline trait, she looked around.
Beautiful.
It looked like the secret gardens she'd often read about. Never would she have thought that such a place actually existed.
It had a type of vegetation growing along the walls on all sides, on which were adorned the most strange and magical flowers she'd ever seen or even read about.
They were glowing a bright golden.
It took moment for her to realize that the light was coming from the fireflies, which were on each flower.
They looked magical; the type people described had the ability to cure any disease. But, those were just stories, of course.
In the middle was a small pond, with floating water lilies, it's water the clearest she had ever seen. It was an underground reserve of sorts; the type of place where lovers met in a tragedy, their own secret haven.
Sighing softly, she senses something gentle in the air; something warm and soft. She suddenly felt guilty for interrupting the peacefulness of the place. It reminded her of the reason she was there.
Right. The mission.
Activating her Byakugan, she looked around her, looking for any sign of a scroll. A box or...
Then, her eyes fell on the wall on the opposite side of the pond.
There was a compartment there-
Walking closer, she bit her lip.
But, it was empty.
She focused her vision on the ground; an inquiry that revealed that the pond was very deep. But, there was no sign of the scroll anywhere.
Hinata furrowed her eyebrows, deep in thought.
Not anywhere around, not underground, then where...?
A thought hit her. She looked up.
Bingo.
There was another compartment there, and it had the scroll.
"Now, how to get it." She muttered to herself.
Taking out a kunai, she aimed it towards the compartment. Concentrating, she threw, watching as it cut through the air and embedded itself right next to the compartment.
The soft rock, eroded over time, made it easier as the kunai sunk in deep.
She took a few steps back, and took a deep breath.
Collecting Chakra in her legs, she took a few steps then jumped up the nearest wall. Not stopping as she landed, and quickly jumped in the opposite wall, one hand outstretched to grab hold of the kunai.
As soon as she did so, she again collected Chakra in her feet, and flipped over so that her feet rested on the roof of the cave. The chakra kept her steady as she exhaled.
Climbing up trees and standing sideways, she could do. But, standing upside down?
That was hard.
She could already feel the blood rushing to her head as it grew heavy.
Trying to focus on the task, she ran her fingers across the compartment.
Slowly, she opened it.
There was a click.
For a moment, nothing happened.
Then, suddenly, ropes shot through from the inside of the compartment. In her surprise, she let go of the kunai, loosing her concentration on her Chakra.
Luck, however, seemed to be on her side, as the ropes wrapped and coiled around her legs like snakes.
She gulped as she realized the predicament she was in. A fall from this height would definitely be severe, even fatal.
In addition, the pounding in her head made it quite difficult for her to concentrate.
Thankfully, the ropes had only managed to get her legs, up to her waist. Her hands were completely free.
She closed her eyes, trying to think as she slowly swung, occasionally twisting and turning in the air.
She bit her lips.
But, her eyes snapped open, when she felt a sharp jerk. The sound of a tear followed as she jolted down.
One of her legs was free.
Her stomach filler with dread was she realized that the ropes were old. Very old.
Indeed, as she fingered the rope around her waist, she felt how worn out is actually was.
She doubted it would be able to hold onto her for a long time.
Grunting slightly, she gripped the rope around her waist, tracing it as it went higher, pulling herself up.
For once, she felt glad that her Hyuga training had allowed her to be flexible. Hence, it was quite easy for her to grip the kunai she had previously been gripping, as she slowly climbed the rope, her leg still wrapped around it.
Quickly grabbing her kunai, she took the scroll and secured it in her kunai pouch.
She sighed in relief.
However, her victory was short-lived when another sound echoed in the silence.
Click!
Her eyes widened.
Another trap?!
She heard the sound of stone sliding over stone. Turning her head towards it, she gasped when she saw several kunai coming straight at her, full speed.
Her eyes frantically went around her, hoping to find a way out.
For a second, time froze.
Then, all at once, everything went a burning orange.
Oh no!!! Hinata's is trouble!!
What shall we ever do??!!
Any way, did you like it? What do you think is that orange light?? Any guesses on what is going to happen next??
I've actually mentioned it before. ;p
Can anyone find what the next chapter is going to be about?? Let's see if anyone gets it!!
Until then, Good luck and ENJOY!!!
-Your suspense-loving author.
