When Hinata regained consciousness she was laying next to a fire in the center of, what appeared to be, a small campsite. However, she appeared to be in a completely different area than she once remembered. Hinata jolted upright with a sudden urge to panic. She paused almost immediately and grasped her, neatly bandaged head, in pain. She sat up way too fast.

The explosion had rendered her with a concussion of some degree, that much she could tell without being a doctor. Once she managed to gather herself she looked down at her body, feeling slightly under-clothed. Her silky, porcelain skin was half bare as the only source of protection had been a torn and tattered black cloak. Hinata grasped said cloaked around her small form a little tighter as she began to analyze her surroundings.

Where was she? How long had she been unconscious? The voices she heard before she passed out flooded her mind once more. Where were they now? Hinata glanced behind her and then back to the cloak that was covering her unmentionables. It didn't look like any cloak she had ever seen before. There were no symbols or identifying tags on the article of tattered clothing.

A sudden loud snore flooded her ears and she averted her gaze to the far right. There laid a petite girl with blazing red hair, slumped over the top of a log. There appeared to be a few handmade tents behind her. Her thick red glasses were hanging from one of her tiny digits, just barely scraping the ground. Hinata held the cloak around her and stood ever so quietly. She could tell by just the surrounding area that they had long since passed the village hidden in the rain..

"Great, you're finally awake. Now you can answer some questions.."

Hinata jumped and looked over her shoulder at a man leaning against a far off tree. How did she miss him? He had snow white locks of hair and his eyes were a strange purple. His teeth were very shark like, which was also strange. "You caused us a lot of trouble back there when you brought all of those leaf shinobi to our campsite."

"That wasn't my intention."

"Well then what were your intentions?"

"Just to get as far away from my pursuers as possible."

"Did you commit a crime or something?"

"I guess.. you could say that, it would be considered treason.."

"Treason? Against the Leaf?" Hinata swallowed hard. She didn't want to tell him her entire life story after having just met him. He didn't look trustworthy. "I abandoned my clan... and my village. I just...have no use for them anymore." She struggled to find words to summarize her situation without giving away too much.

"You sound important, like a woman of power or something? Hard to believe they would send an entire squad to retrieve some traitor."

"No, I'm nothing of the sort."

A tall man with burnt orange hair stepped out of one of the tents behind the sleeping woman. "I thought you were gonna save all the interrogation for Sasuke?"

"I just wanted to find out who we were helping."

"Sasuke?" Shock was evident in her voice as the smaller built, purple eyed man made his way over to her with a smirk plastered across his face. "You know Sasuke or something?"

"...Never heard of him."

The two men exchanged looks before settling themselves by the fire. "Where are my clothes?" Hinata inquired as she kept the cloak wrapped around her pale form. "When Karin wakes up she'll get you something to wear." Hinata glanced at the girl slumped over the tree log. She was no longer snoring, but still seemed lifeless.

She then chose to sit on a stump as far away from the two guys as possible. Finally, after the passing of ten or so minutes, Karin began to stir and rose from her slumber to stretch. "I can smell you from here, Suigetsu, you need a bath."

"What?!" His white hair frizzed slightly and his purple eyes narrowed.

"You heard me! You smell like butt crack!"

Hinata could immediately tell that they had one of those Naruto and Sakura relationships going on. She tried her best not to gag and judge Karin because of her harsh feelings for Sakura, but she was making that a little too difficult..

"So, who are you?"

She hesitated to answer her because there was no way she could tell them her real name, they might turn the situation around on her and use her for ransom. "Helloooo I'm talking to you! Do you not have a name?"

"Maybe she doesn't wanna talk to you, ugly." Suigetsu commented.

Taki? Ayame? Misa? Ao? She had not the slightest idea of what to say, and all of this would be for nothing if Sasuke recognized her. Without another thought she blurted out a name, "Desi."

"Desi? That's unusual. I'll call you Des, okay? I'm Karin."

Now if she could just remember her fake name from here on..

"Are you a Hyuga? I noticed your byakugan when you tried to dodged our trap.." The larger man with red eyes inquired.

"Yes.."

Karin looked at her I'm disbelief. "The Hyuga clan is very well off. So why did you leave?" Had she really been listening the whole time?

"It's...complicated..."

"Oh, I totally understand how you could get tired of the spoiled life.. I never liked it much myself.."

Suigetsu scoffed, "When in the hell were you ever spoiled?"

"Shut your mouth, no one asked you! Sasuke spoils me..."

"To get you off his back maybe?! I feel sorry for him.." They went around yet again while Hinata just faded into the background.

"My name is Jugo." He stared at her from his seated position and she nodded in recognition, "..Desi.."

"The blast burned your clothes, so I tossed my old cloak over you.. I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry for ruining your trap.."

"Save your apology. It wasn't mine, it was Sasuke's."

"I see.."

"He's from the leaf village too. You're sure you don't know him?"

"I've heard his name a few times..never really met him though."

"Well, anyway, he won't be back until sometime tomorrow. Until then you can share a tent with Karin.." She sighed and gazed over at the still bickering shinobi couple. This was going to be a long night for her if she had to deal with at least one of those two...

That night she sat in the tent with Karin and watched her brush her hair. Hinata listened to her fan girl over Sasuke to the point of it being physically sickening. "One day he and I will settle down and have kids of our own, ya know?"

"Oh, when do you plan on that?"

"Well, I'm not sure yet... but it will happen." She reminded Hinata so very much of Sakura and it wasn't the least bit funny. It was really hard not to hate her.

"Can you cut hair?" Hinata inquired, attempting to change the subject.

"Well yeah! You want yours cut?"

"Yeah, short."

"Really? You're hair is so long and pretty though. Are you sure?"

"Positive." Karin sat behind her, with a kunai in hand, and began slicing at Hinata's long locks of hair. "How short?"

"Shorter." Karin continued to cut more of her dark hair off, "This good?"

"Nope. Shorter..."

"Really?...Okay.." Once Karin had finally finished, Hinata's dark hair was only a few inches long. It was the closest she had ever come to looking like a boy. She applied some of Karin's homemade hair gel and slicked her bangs back, unintentionally adding volume to her hair.

"Looks great."

"Thanks, Karin.."

"I really hope Sasuke decides to keep you around. It's nice to have a girl here.."

Hinata gave her a small smile, "I'd say so..I don't see how you can handle a group of men.."

"It ain't easy, but we should get some sleep.."

"Right.." The girls laid down and Hinata struggled to relax completely. She obviously did not feel safe enough to do so.

Morning arrived far too soon for both girls, but despite their disorientation Karin heard Sasuke's voice and managed to literally jump out of the tent. "Sasuke, I missed you!" Loud groans of protest could be heard throughout the campsite, however, Karin seemed to not hear any of them.

"Not now Karin, I'm exhausted.."

"Did Suigetsu and Jugo tell you what happened?"

"Yeah. Who is she?"

"Desi Hyuga." The outside of the makeshift tent grew silent and Hinata could hear footsteps approaching. All at once, Hinata became nervous and very hesitant. It wasn't likely that he would recognize her but there was always that slight chance. Without so much as a word he slid by the cloth door and stood before her with an expressionless face. "You're Desi?"

"Yes."

"You're from the leaf village? Why are you running?"

While his questions where short and direct, Hinata was recovering from the surprise of seeing him for the first time in literal years. He was nothing like she had remembered. His features had changed drastically. It was almost as if she had forgotten he had really left to pursue a much harsher lifestyle, but she could see it on his face as clear as day. She could tell he wasn't exactly living the life of luxury. That being beside the point, he looked just as hateful as ever.

"Personal reasons. Don't wish to be apart of the Hyuga Clan any longer." He gave a "Hn." in agreement. "You can stay with us, I don't care. Keep out of my way, though." Hinata nodded in understanding as Sasuke headed out of the tent. He stopped in the slim doorway and glanced back over his shoulder, "So, I don't think I remember your hair ever being that short before, it suits you better."

"Huh?" Hinata tensed up and blinked twice before feeling a sword against her back, "Desi? That's a really stupid name. You must think I'm an idiot, can't blame you since you've spent most of your time around that moron."

Of course he would recognize her. How could he not? Even though she purposely avoided him during the chunin exams and she had changed a considerable amount physically since they were kids. " Well, it's not like I expected anything less than this. I'll ask anyway; how did you know?"

He removed his sword and took a step back, "I had a run in with a Hyuga last night and He'd asked me if I'd seen you."

"Neji?"

"Yeah. He's looking for you, but I don't think it's to bring you home. I'm not some idiot, I already know what's going on, Hinata."

"Right.."

"Like I said, I don't care what you have going on, just stay out of my way."