Yeah, I finally got the second chapter done. XP Sorry for the wait. Hopefully I won't disappoint you
Kunai, shuriken, healing ointment . . . Okay, I think this is it. Hinata thought, pleased with herself. She had packed just the necessities into the standard green backpack, and it didn't even take that much time. Although, she did wish it had, mostly because she hated having to wait for what seemed an exciting mission.
Hinata nervously peered up at the clock.
1:45
Her heart skipped a beat. It was almost two o' clock already? Okay, on second thought, it would have been nice to have some free time.
She slipped the backpack on and bolted out the door. If she was the last one there, she was going to kick herself. She was always the one holding everyone back, she thought, always her. Kiba and Shino were never late, and Kurenai-sensei had taken pride to be on time. Eventually Hinata's mind zoned out, and she was yet again buried in random thoughts as her physical form ran through the streets.
The Seishin Clan . . . It made her nervous thinking about how hostile they might be, but at the same time, she was just afraid of having to hurt them. It was always a last resort, and she didn't even know what kind of people they were.
Hinata snapped back into reality as she reached the Konoha gates. Kiba and Akamaru were there, but they were the only ones. She had gotten there a tad bit early, but not as early as Kiba had. He was preoccupied with having a conversation about who knows what with Akamaru, at that moment. She didn't feel like interrupting them, but at the same time she was curious as to why he bothered to show up so early.
"Hey, Hinata." Kiba called out as Hinata's running pace slowed into regular walking.
"Kiba-kun, when did you get here?" Kiba blinked, unprepared for Hinata to say anything other than a greeting.
"Uh, a while ago. My mother kind of kicked me out of the house." Kiba chuckled, and Akamaru sat down.
Hinata cocked her head. "Kicked you out? W-What do you mean?"
Kiba couldn't help it, but his chuckle turned into full laughter. "Well, I'd rather not say how, but I really ticked her and Kuromaru off. I swear, it was an accident."
Hinata became confused. Kiba was generally a good spirit, and he wasn't a troublemaker in the least. Anything he could have done couldn't have been too bad, but she was afraid to ask anymore about it. Even though he was laughing, Hinata guessed getting kicked out put him into a relatively bad mood.
"So, my question for you now is why you came so early." Kiba stopped laughing, and crossed his arms.
"Me? Well, I was just afraid of being late, is all." Hinata answered quietly.
"I didn't think you cared so much about being early, Hinata." A female voice called. Kiba and Hinata both perked up. It was their sensei, Kurenai Yuhi, and Shino, who was silent, but still walking alongside Kurenai.
"Good afternoon, Kurenai-sensei." Hinata bowed respectfully, and Kurenai nodded in acknowledgement. Kiba didn't say anything.
"I've gotten all of the information we need for this mission from Hokage-sama," Kurenai stated simply, "It's about time. Let's get going."
Kiba grinned, and Akamaru stood on all fours, barking twice. "Alright," Kiba replied.
The squad set off through the gates, and into the forest. They soared through the trees and brush, and Hinata was busy looking around in just about every direction. As much as she hated to admit it, this whole mission made her a nervous. At this point, a bird passing by would probably make her squeal.
"Hinata, you okay?" Kurenai asked, her voice almost soothing in Hinata's ears.
"Y-yeah, I'm fine. Well, just a little nervous." Hinata answered, stammering.
Kurenai's eyes narrowed. Kiba and Akamaru leaped ahead of the group, while Shino remained behind. It was a comforting formation.
"Relax, Hinata. It's just a normal mission." Kurenai gave a soft smile, and Hinata gave one back.
Even her sensei's words only settled her stomach a little, but the farther they were from the village, the more nervous she became.
Kumogakure… Hinata thought, and repeated it in her head. Without warning, something inside of her snapped. She finally remembered why she was so scared of going to that country. It wasn't just the Seishin Clan, it was what happened when she was little; when Hinata was kidnapped by the Kumogakure shinobi in an attempt to kill her, and her father killed the shinobi. Then Neji's father offered himself to die. . . That was the reason why Neji was so angry with her- as well as the Main Branch- when they were first Genin.. Her heart pounded a few times, and her breathing became difficult.
However, her thoughts slowed and she felt a strange calm fall over her in waves. It was the past. It happened such a long time ago. Things were different now, and that was never going to be changed.
Hinata was once again focused, and Kurenai took note.
"Feel better now?" Kurenai asked in a regular tone.
"Yeah, I do." Hinata grinned, and soon the sound of Kiba's voice broke the moment.
"Guys! I think you need to see this!" Kiba shouted, and Akamaru whimpered.
The other three grunted, and dropped from the branches to Kiba's location.
Hinata's eyes widened, and she gasped as the sight of three dead shinobi entered her vision. They were just recently killed, and all three of their eyes were wide, and their mouths were opened into an everlasting scream. She winced, and put a fist to her lips. Kiba covered his nose with a sleeve, and his eyes narrowed into slits.
"What the hell happened here?" He growled from behind his arm.
Shino stared for a moment. "This isn't right. They don't have a single wound on them." Bugs crawled down his hand.
Kurenai turned to Hinata with an urgent look, "Hinata, I need you to look at least a kilometer in every direction."
Hinata nodded, "Byakugan." Her eyes flashed white, and her vision increased tenfold. She stood with a focused expression for a moment, as her teammates stared expectantly at her, and then she deactivated her bloodline.
"There's nothing," Hinata spoke seriously, "There aren't any signs of shinobi or anything. They don't have any physical damage, either." She motioned to the deceased, "I don't think I've seen anything like it."
Kurenai got onto one knee, and closed the three shinobi mouths and eyes. It was better that they were at least in a respectable position instead of having such a horrified face after death.
"Look," Shino bent down by Kurenai and picked up a piece of cloth, it had the Kumogakure forehead protector on it. Hinata's head drooped. "It seems like Kumogakure is suffering in more than one way." Shino stood back up, and kept a clutch on the headband. There was a second headband, being worn by one of the other shinobi, but the third didn't have one on him. Kiba uncovered his nose.
"This is just weird. They weren't poisoned-" He observed, before having his sensei interrupt.
"We'd better get going," Kurenai said suddenly, "We shouldn't stay in this place for too long. It's dangerous. We don't know how they died, and it wasn't really any of our business in the first place," Her tone was bitter.
"Yes, Kurenai-sensei." Hinata said in Kiba's place, and the group leaped back up into the trees.
"Hinata, are you sure you didn't see anything?" Kurenai asked the Hyuuga, who was still shocked at how adamant Kurenai was to leave.
"Yes, I-I'm sure. There wasn't anything other than the forest," Hinata replied, louder.
"Alright. All three of you, I need you to stay on your guard." Kurenai came to a conclusion. "Those deaths were by the Seishin Clan."
Hinata inhaled sharply, "The Seishin?" As if that clan didn't cause enough trouble.
Kiba and Shino gazed intently at Kurenai.
"You see, the Seishin was always a small clan. It was insignificant. However, their lack of members made them a secret, and their secretive nature makes them dangerous," The Jounin began, staring ahead of her, "I don't think Hokage-sama told you this, but the Seishin specialize in mental and…" She hesitated for a moment, as if thinking about her wording, "almost psychic Ninjutsu and Genjutsu. Much like the Yamanaka Clan, but with a certain difference: Their techniques are not only mostly undectable, but a lot of them are fatal."
Hinata looked away from Kurenai, and Kiba grunted.
"They can invade a shinobi's mind without the shinobi ever knowing. Discovering their thoughts, techniques, memories, everything. However, this is only one of their techniques. The Seishin can stop activity of the brain in an instant if they have the chance, and they can destroy minds as well." Kurenai kept going.
"What do you mean 'destroy minds?'" Shino asked.
"They wreck a person's mental state. Cause them to go insane," Kurenai sighed.
Shino breathed out, "That certainly is something. We'd better keep alert if that's who our opponents are."
"Agreed." Kiba nodded, and Akamaru raised his head.
Kurenai took the opportunity and added, "Don't get too scared, though, these techniques are powerful, but they tend to backlash extremely easily. They'll most likely work the best if you're more paranoid than you should be." She noticed Kiba giving a dirty look, as if he wanted to retort how he wasn't worried, and he would never be that pathetic during a mission. It was wise that he kept his mouth shut.
The environment changed after a while, and the trees became less plentiful. Rocky terrain rose, and mountains could be seen in the distance.
"Alright, let's rest here." Kurenai said, and the squad slowed down at the edge of the forest. Hinata was exhausted from running that far, but she didn't want to make a scene. She was just thankful that her sensei decided to stop when she did.
"Where exactly are we?" Kiba asked his squad, generally.
"Honestly, Kiba, I thought you'd know this. We're currently on the border of Oto. We're getting close to Kaminari no Kuni." Shino answered, in monotone. Kiba nodded, and dropped to the ground.
"Well, okay then. Rest time," Kiba said flat-out, and Akamaru lay down beside him. Hinata sat down on her knees, and took a few deep breaths.
"Kurenai-sensei, are we going to go to Kumogakure, or are we just going to hang around the land?" Shino asked, still standing.
"We can't go into the village yet," Kurenai crossed her arms, "We can't do anything that would risk blowing our cover. I think we'll be safe from attack so long as the Seishin aren't aware that we're after them. Once they know of our presence… Well, all we can do is take them out or flee."
"I see," Shino's voice grew quiet, "This mission is getting more complicated the more it's progressing."
"Let's just be happy that we haven't been attacked. I doubt we're in any position to defend ourselves," Kiba said in a calmer attitude than he had been so far. Hinata was sure that the mission was shaking him up as well, even if he wouldn't admit it.
A moment of silence consumed the four, and Hinata took it up to relax. Kiba looked like he was about to fall asleep, but occasionally his nose would twitch. Same with Akamaru. Shino was standing still, just staring off into space. Kurenai was checking the supplies she brought. The Hyuuga girl sighed, and stretched her arms out in front of her.
"Get down!" Kiba's head flew up, and Shino dropped to the ground. Hinata squealed, startled, and dropped into a fetal position.
A handful of shuriken flew by overhead, and nailed into the ground and a tree nearby.
The four stood up, and pulled out a kunai each. Except Shino, who just stood and waited.
"Whoever's there, I suggest you come out," Kiba called.
"P-please. Don't attack," A male voice cried. He sounded terrified. Which he was.
A boy, appearing to be about sixteen, landed on the ground in front of the group. His dirty blond hair was a mess, and his brown eyes were piercing. Though he wasn't dressed like a shinobi, in his loose black shirt and tan pants, his throwing skills were impressive.
"Who are you? Why'd you attack us?" Shino asked.
"Really, I-I'm sorry. My name's Katsuro Yoshida. I thought y-you were the enemy. I'm really sorry," Katsuro stammered.
"How could you think we were the enemy?! Didn't you see our headbands?" Kiba demanded.
Katsuro smiled sheepishly. "Honestly, I didn't. Really, I'm sorry."
"This is beside the point. Who was the enemy you were referring to?" Kurenai shoved Kiba out of the conversation, in an attempt not to start a fight.
"The Seishin Clan." Katsuro said bitterly. "I'm from Kumogakure," He dug through his pouch, and pulled out the headband with the Kumo symbol carved into it. Kiba's eyes narrowed.
"Alright then. Why are you all the way out here?" Kurenai asked. Hinata found it amazing that she could keep her cool for so long.
"Out here?" Katsuro asked, dumbfounded.
"We're in Oto no Kuni, in case you didn't notice." Shino commented.
"Really? Oh, man. I have to get back to Kumogakure. The Raikage will have a fit if he finds out I came all the way out here," Katsuro fumbled his words, looking in random directions.
"Well, then I suggest you show us the way to Kumogakure," Kurenai finished.
Katsuro paused, before nodding to the Jounin. "Yeah, okay. By the way, what are your names?"
Kiba was first, "I'm Kiba Inuzuka, and this is Akamaru." Akamaru barked.
"Ah, an Inuzuka." Katsuro nodded thoughtfully. This could pose as a problem… His hand tightened around the headband.
"And this is Shino Aburame and Hinata Hyuuga," Shino didn't say anything, and Hinata bowed a little.
"I am Kurenai Yuhi, and I think it's time for us to go," Kurenai's eyes narrowed.
Katsuro noticed the Jounin's attitude, and a confused smile spread over his face. "Oh, right! I'm sorry. Let's get going."
In a synchronized fashion, they all set off with Katsuro at the front of the group. Hinata liked this new kid, mostly because of how honest of his mistakes he was. It had been while since she met someone during a mission who was as innocent at Katsuro was. Still, she couldn't help feeling cautious about him. She could tell how suspicious Kiba was acting, even if he wasn't speaking, so she could only assume something was wrong.
Turned away from the Konoha team, Katsuro grinned darkly.
Neechan, I promise I won't fail you again.