Sorry for the delays for those who are following this story, life got madly busy but back on focus once more. Hope you enjoy. ^.^

Chapter 4 : Confrontation

The next morning I awoke the moment sunlight streamed through my window. I was on my feet in an instant, stuffing the few things I'd left out of my bag the night before, and zipping it closed. Slamming the door shut behind me, I began down the steps at an unusually quick pace, my eagerness causing me to skip a step or two along the way. Kakashi and Sakura were already in the lobby, the two in the middle of a discussion when I arrived, however, Naruto was nowhere to be seen.

"Ah, it seems we're just about ready to go."

"Where's Naruto?"

Sakura sighed heavily. "Geez! He's still not up yet!?" I raised an eyebrow at her temper, watching her stalk back up the stairs, both fists clenched tightly at her side. There was silence for a moment, Kakashi's eyes drifting up towards the ceiling as I winced, and gave a cringe at the sound filling the building. "NARUTO! WAKE! UP!"

"Gah!"

I could hear a thump and then a *bash*, either Naruto bumping into something or more than likely, being hit by something as we stood at the foot of the steps. Kakashi gave the lightest of a sigh, but otherwise gave no reaction to the ruckus coming from the room above. Obviously this was a rather normal pattern for them. Shrugging, I adjusted the strap to my bag, Sakura making her way back down the stairs in a calm manner, but even I knew better than to test just how calm she really was.

Naruto barreled down the staircase shortly after, his bag bouncing against his back as he skipped several steps at a time, a wide grin across his face. "Oops. Heh, guess I slept in."

Sakura huffed and folded her arms across her chest. "Geez! We could have been attacked and you'd sleep right through it."

"Now, now. We have work to do."

The seriousness of Kakashi's words seeped into each of us, the atmosphere around the room changing, and becoming more tense. Turning towards the door we headed out of the hotel, silently following Kakashi as we continued down the dirt path. We were on the outskirts of town, no more than an hour away, but it seemed like only minutes when we found ourselves in the midst of the bustling streets.

The town was similar to the leaf village in many ways, trees surrounding us on all sides, as well as a mountain or two in the distance, though they didn't surround the village in quite the same way. Several small shops were already open for business, most trying to usher us towards their merchandise to no avail.

Kakashi stopped suddenly, the three of us being forced to come to a halt as well. "Alright, we'll start here."

Naruto turned, raising his hand over his eyes as he began to look around the crowd, a confused expression on his face. "Here?"

Kakashi nodded, outstreching his hand towards us, three identical photographs in his hand. We all gathered around and took a picture from him. "We're just going to ask around?" I couldn't help letting the question slip as I stared down at the photograph of Hinata, disappointment etched in my voice.

"It's our best option right now. Each of you have a picture now. We'll split up from here. If we find nothing, then we'll just head on to the next town."

Nodding, the three of us slit up into different directions, stopping to speak with as many of the townsfolk as we could. Holding up the picture, I gave them descriptions of her personality, and traits, as well as mentioning that she may have seemed uncomfortable with her traveling partner, whom I'd happily added a description of, but by mid afternoon I'd still come up empty-handed.

I stopped at a small Ramen Shop, taking a seat in one of the booths by the window, and sighed. It was already five in the evening, and we were supposed to meet back up in an hour. Sighing again, I tossed the picture down onto the table, staring down at the image in frustration. I'd asked every person I'd crossed paths with and still nothing.

"Pretty girl."

I looked up from my seat, an elderly man staring down at the picture I'd left on the table. He was a short man, the hair on his head almost completely gone, and a small white beard hanging from his chin. The man leaned against his cane, hovering over the table to get a good look at the picture.

I slid the picture to the end of the table so that he wouldn't have to lean as far. "Have you seen this girl before?"

"Hmmmm.." He stroked his beard thoughtfully. "Such a pretty face- Is she your girlfriend?!"

"Ee..eh?" The old man started to laugh, and I sat back in my seat, a disgruntled expression on my face.

"Oh, ho! She is, isn't she!?"

I turned towards the man, glowering as I stood. "Sh-She's not!"

"Oh..?" The man's expression changed to disappointment, both his hands resting on the cane in front of him. "She must mean something to be out looking for her."

With a heavy sigh, I picked up the picture and began to push passed the old man. "If you haven't seen her then go away."

"I have seen her."

I stopped, feet frozen in place, my head snapping around to stare at the elderly man behind me. He'd already turned his body towards me, both hands still resting against his cane, a tricksters smile spread across his face.

Twisting my body around, I stalked back towards the elderly man. "Where!? Which way was she heading!?"

"Ah! So she is important!"

"Where'd you see her!?"

The man lifted a hand from the handle of his cane, scratching at his head thoughtfully. "Down in the marketplace.. bout twenty minutes ago- hey, wait a sec!"

I bolted out of the restaurant, the old man calling after me but all I could hear was something about 'hair'. Darting through the crowd, I headed towards the marketplace at the edge of town, the meeting with the others completely forgotten. Finally found you. I'd overheard some of the townsfolk mention that the marketplace was on the opposite side of town, so finding it should be easy enough.

Rounding a corner, I sped down the street, still a ways away from my destination. Would she still be there? Again I came to a stop, my eyes darting over the two paths ahead of me. This place is like a maze. Taking the path on the left, I kept up my pace, racing through the streets as quickly as I could.

"Thank you."

That voice.. I skid to a stop, my eyes darting past the people moving through the streets. On the other side of the path I saw a girl waving her hand to a shop owner, her back facing me, short black hair with light purple colored highlights rustling in the wind. Grumbling, I ran my hand through my hair in a frustrated fashion. Was I hearing things?

As the girl turned away from the shop, I was able to get a better view of her appearance, her skinny frame covered by a plain cream-colored tank top and loose black pants. Leather black gloves covered her hands, but it was her eyes that I was drawn to most, pale blue the shade of the moon, a trait of the Hyuuga clan, and the very eyes that had spiked my curiosity three years ago.

Though her hair had been cut hap'hazardly, one look at her framed face was enough to know. It was her.

"Hinata."