Hmmm... why do I torture myself with two chapters a day? Who knows, but at least you faithful readers benefit from it.

disclaimer: Naruto does not belong to me. He belongs to some (possibly rich by now) japanese guy who got real lucky with his series' popularity.

Once again, some light language. Enjoy.


Night had settled in with a bitter coldness in the air. Snowflakes were beginning to fall in the absence of warmth, coating the ground in a cold fluffy sheet of white. Everything was quiet, as noise had the magical ability to disappear in the presence of snow.

The guards at the gates of the base talked lightly between themselves as they warmed their hands against a fire in a drum. Other than their sporadic chatter, they kept their voices low in the sleepy serenity of the night. The only person who was absolutely silent in this endeavor was the white-eyed Hyuuga lurking in the forest.

Hinata made all her rounds and set all her pawns in place. She looked towards the front gate through the enhanced vision of her Byakugan, which pierced through all objects and distances in her way. She nodded to herself and started the engine to her vehicle.

The monster of a car she received from Shades was a state-of-the-art technical. The engine was a solid V8 attached to the smaller frame of what she presumed was once a normal civilian car. Shades was kind enough to give her several RPGs and even loaned her an extremely rare weapon: an auto cannon. The fifty caliber automatic turret sat in the back of the modified trunk with four large drums of ammo, electronic targeting screen blinking in search of an unidentified heat signature.

When the engine roared to life, she flipped a switch to remotely activate the floodlights on the other side of the base. Within seconds she saw the guards scrambling to the source and tripping her traps; setting off mines and all other manner of lethal distractions.

She pushed the accelerator to the floorboards and the tires squealed as the technical burst forward. She could see the gates getting closer and closer with each second, guards who saw and heard her leaping out of the way of the large spikes welded to the grill.

The modified car crashed through the flimsy gate and continued forward with no hint that anything had happened. Hinata could hear the auto turret's electronic targeting system beep with each new target and the gun's barrels squeal to life before transforming into a spinning fireball of spewing metal.

She banked a hard right and sideswiped a soldier who was around the corner. Since the makeshift cell was surrounded by confined areas, she was forced to take the scenic route to reach her destination. She ducked her head to avoid returning fire, and reached for an RPG.

She lifted the rocket over her head and fired. The exploding projectile slammed into the base of the main communication tower, causing the massive thing to tilt and fall in slow motion. Her Byakugan saw the hard left she needed to take through the armor of the car, and she swerved to just barely make it.

She fired another rocket into the armory as she passed. She heard the satisfying explosion but no chain reaction. "They really didn't keep them loaded, did they?" She commented inwardly. Sadly, the ammo dump was out of the way of her intended path, so it would not suffer the same fate as of yet.

Hinata reached for another disposable rocket to blast through the barricade that surrounded the bunker of the cell. As she pulled the last corner, she saw something she had missed in the distorted view of her bloodline.

A tank. A tank aiming directly at her.

"Oh shit!"

She swerved to miss the tank and felt the modified vehicle go airborne for a moment as the shell exploded just under the rear tires. The car crashed to the ground and kept on going, but the frame was damaged something awful. No matter how well a technical was built, it was still a technical. It would never stand up to a moving hunk of metal specifically designed for warfare. The car slowed as everything pertaining to speed went critical.

Hinata leapt from the car and fired the rocket at the back of the tank. The explosive penetrated the fuel tanks in the rear and the machine went up in flames. "Crap, now I'm on foot…" she thought.

She pulled out her firearm and started emptying the clip into the scattered soldiers. The custom made gun had a massive kick to it, as it only fired thirteen millimeter rounds. The small clip was spent in seconds, and Hinata spun on her heel to requester a rifle from a fallen soldier. She brought the new firearm to bear and emptied seven rounds into a group of tightly packed troops piling out of the barracks before the empty clip self ejected.

"Damn it! This thing is worthless!" She took cover behind the dead tank and reloaded her pistol. She saw that her car had halted but was still running. Her quick mind devised an idea.

She dashed out from behind the burning husk, dodging bullets as they flew past her. She aimed her pistol and took out the few soldiers on one side of the car then took cover on that side. She opened the driver side door and, using that and the rest of the car as a shield, put the car in neutral and strained to push it forward towards the cell bunker.

After the eternity of a few minutes under intense fire, she managed to roll the thing to the thick metal doors of the compound. She pulled out another rocket and fired on the door, blowing it into several large chunks of steel. She gathered the last three rockets and bolted into the door.

Once inside, she was surprised by the lack of guards. "Must've all been coming for me. How sweet." She ran up to the special cell and started applying chakra to the unusual locks.

"Good to see you again," said the red-eye closest to her. "So our savior is none other than the White Eyes of Death herself, eh?" He laughed as she undid the final lock. "I'm honored at your presence!"

She slammed open the doors and the captives poured out. "Listen!" She called to get their attention. "My ride got blown to hell on the way here. We're stuck with no easy way out."

One of the familiar red-eyes responded with a smile. "Didn't I say we could take this place down if we ever got out? Don't worry about that little detail, missy! We got this covered. Form up!"

The red eyed terrorists started scouring the bunker for anything that could pass as a weapon. In the span of a minute, they were all 'armed' and ready to go.

One of the women of the group that was close to the entrance yelled, "We got company! Go time!"

The red-eye who greeted Hinata smiled. "Oh, this is gonna be fun!"

(flashback)

Hinata entered the large city the day after she departed from the older couple's home. While she had already seen cities grander than her village in her travels, this one captured her attention more so than the others.

Her interest was mainly caught by the small things. The vast majority of the buildings and various establishments were familiar enough, but small people sized steel fixtures and strange pieces of metal were affixed to everything. She wandered into the city market, seeing as how the majority of new things were conveniently mixed with the largest throngs of people and, as she knew, more possibilities of finding news about her beloved.

She stopped at one stall and gazed with glassed over eyes at the merchandise. The machinery laid out on the table appeared very similar to the firearm that Masato gave her. Her staring attracted the attention of the owner.

"Hey, girly, you gonna stand there all day and stare, or you gonna buy something?"

She was caught off guard by his curtness. "Oh! Um… actually, I'm looking for someone." She gave her description of Naruto to the loud man. "Have you seen him?"

He stroked his chin. "Hmm… matter of fact, I have seen someone who looks like that."

Her face brightened. "Really?! Do you know where he is or which way he went?"

The man smiled like a snake. "Yeah… but it's gonna cost ya. Nothing's free 'round here. So what's it worth to ya?"

Hinata offered some money to the man and he continually turned her down until she wound up tripling her original price. She handed the money over to the grinning stall owner.

"Yeah, he's right over… there." He pointed into the horizon.

She squinted to see and caught a glimpse of the back of head with blond spiky hair. She gasped and ran towards her target. "N-Naruto!"

The man was left at his stall flipping through some of the easiest money he ever made. "Sorry, girly," he said out loud, "But just because you name a price don't mean you're gonna get what you want. Well, least now you know..."

Hinata caught up with the figure further on down the crowded street. She pulled on his shirt and he turned around.

"Hey, what the hell?!" Shouted an irritated voice.

Hinata stopped. While the boy had similar traits to her crush, he was by no means Naruto.

"I- I'm sorry!" She bowed. "I thought you were someone else!" She ran off with tears forming in her eyes.

"Hmph," the youth shrugged it off. "Weird."


I may take a quick break from this fic (only a coupla' days, so relax) to write the next chapter for my other fic, which is hella longer and much less appreciated. So I'll see you blokes on the flip side!