finally here is chapter 11. I really enjoyed writing this chapter. The war is going to start rolling more and more. This is the longest chapter I've made so far at this point I put a lot of time into this one so give me them reviews. constructive criticism and all.

koishii - beloved, kirei - beautiful, Ikimashoo - Let's go

Chapter 11: Growth

The stars glared brightly in the dark of night. It was like they were staring down at the land watching life unfold in front of their shiny complex. It was a peaceful night for a slumbering town of no more than fifty people surrounded by the vast forest. A town of happiness and no worries rested under the starry black blanket.

Several yards into the forest, however, was met with a disrupting presence. Fallen leaves crunched beneath the feet of several purple-suited shinobi. The night may have been a time of rest but for these violence seekers it was the opportune time to strike the helpless. It was a small squad of about thirteen brutes making their way towards the unaware tiny town. It was simple childs play for the savage killers.

The closer they got to the edge of town the more elated they became. For all of them it was their first order to enact and they were eager to cause some commotion. As they slowly crept to the edge of the forest, all of them quietly reached into their tiny packs and pulled out kunais. This town was all too easy of a catch for them.

Suddenly, without a warning, a sharp metal kunai broke the night air zooming into the back of an unsuspecting shinobi. He let out a distinct yelp and fell hard to the ground. The rest of the shinobi quickly halted their position. One of the men gently made his way to his fallen comrade to check his status. The downed shinobi was already dead and before the guy who checked him could react another kunai came hurling at him dotting firmly into the side of his neck. The surprised shinobi gagged and coughed up blood as he too fell to the ground on the brink of death. This time the remaining shinobi darted their eyes around the large amount of trees around them. In a few seconds all of them had laid their eyes on a dark figure that was standing on a tree branch a few yards away.

"You guys sure picked the wrong place to attack this late at night," the mysterious figure spoke while jumping down onto the ground and strolling out of the dark, "Let me introduce myself, the name is Hatake Kakashi or as many know me as the famous Copy Ninja."

Without giving time for them to think up a plan of attack, Kakashi charged forward on the offensive. Almost instantly Kakashi suddenly flashed behind one of the attackers snapping his neck like a twig. Another one quickly ran at Kakashi as he quickly whipped out a kunai cutting the shinobi across the throat as he smoothly sidestepped the attempted strike. In the period of a few seconds Kakashi slip-and-slid his way across the ground slashing and gashing the hopeless sound ninjas. Finally Kakashi stood facing the last standing shinobi. The shinobi made an attempt to move but the only response that came was a slight twitch and a scared look of confusion.

"Why can't I move?" bellowed the deep-voiced man.

"Looks like you finished your side of the town pretty quickly eh Shikamaru," commented Kakashi.

Calmly Shikamaru walked up still staying behind the paralyzed shinobi, "I figure instead of gazing at the stars and waiting I would just dispatch the other group quickly. Besides if I hadn't got here in time to trap this guy in my Kage Mane no Jutsu then we wouldn't have anybody to question."

"I did kinda finish them off too quickly didn't I," laughed Kakashi, "And we could go ahead and report to Naruto right now."

Kakashi casually reached into his back pouch on his waist and pulled out a very unique kunai. In his hand was a shiny three-tipped kunai with a piece of paper wrapped around its hilt. Down one side of the wrapped paper was a line of written character markings. Kakashi had a proud smile under his mask as he gently flung the unique kunai a few feet in front of him. As fast as lightning and before the kunai even touched the ground, a bright flash of yellow instantly appeared in front of Kakashi and quickly grabbing onto the kunai just as it neared the soft brown dirt.

"That was a thrill rush. I never thought I would get to use my father's technique three days after the start of the war," said an excited Naruto, "Here Kakashi-sensei you should have this back now." Naruto flipped the kunai back to Kakashi who put it back into his pouch.

"You really have gotten the hang of your dad's Hiraishin no Jutsu," said a proud Kakashi.

"Hey you two remember we still got this sound guy here to chat with," Shikamaru interrupted them.

"Oh you're right Shikamaru. Well this is why I called you here Naruto-sama," Kakashi pointed to their captive.

The still paralyzed captive watched on unable to do anything to get out of his predicament. He was like a mouse who got caught trying to snatch the cheese. Only this time that mouse was him.

"Hmm, let's see here," Naruto took a few steps towards the shinobi, "To put it simply you have two options: choice one, you could answer a few of my questions right now which would be the easiest less hurtful one or, choice two, we can take you back to Konoha and have the head of the anbu torture and interrogation force Morino Ibiki have his way with you. So what do you say?"

For a moment he thought about the choices. He had heard about Morino Ibiki before and knew the man was very good at his job even to the point that anyone with a weak will power would go insane. Unfortunately this guy was one of those people. It was an easy choice for him and if he refused to answer any questions it would mean all of them would head straight to Konoha. He felt safe to proceed with things here. It would be the best option.

"O-ok I'll…answer you're questions?" he said sounding utterly defeated.

"You can release him Shikamaru, but if he even appears to run I want you to take him down," and the shadow binding the shinobi quickly receded.

"Alright then I'll start you off slow. Why exactly are you being ordered to target small towns? I know there is more to it than what I think."

"It's simple. We may be attacking only small towns but when you add them up it is a strategic thing to do," he dully responded.

"Expand on that. I really want to hear what the opposition's take is on this," said Naruto a little annoyed by the obvious answer.

"Hi no Kuni's borders have several tiny towns along them and what better way to trim at the enemy then to attack the things closest to the border…"

"So there are still some pretty big towns on the border as well," Naruto cut in.

"Well if we attack the smaller ones we lose less casualties and demoralize the people. It is also better to attack the weaker more helpless people," the shinobi maniacally laughed.

Without warning Naruto hurled a hard fist into the guys face. A dabble of blood rolled down the end of his lip, "I really don't find killing innocent people funny. Now for a more pressing question that is on my mind. Sasuke may only be ordering small towns to be attack and what you say sounds plausible enough but I know there is something more to it."

"I'm only a soldier. I would not be informed of things like that. I follow what orders I'm given and nothing else."

"Hm, you think you can get away with that lame excuse. I'm sure you still get some kind of information of what course your taking even though it might not be the full details," said a very intuitive Naruto.

"Fine…I had heard that…," he began to say before things suddenly took a different turn.

Out of the forest shot out a dark figure that charged towards the leaf-nin and their captive. Before any of them could react, the figure dashed by the captured sound shinobi and back into the depths of the forest. Naruto quickly reached into his pack to pull out a kunai only to see that the person was gone as fast as he had came. Slowly Naruto placed his kunai back and looked back at the sound-nin to be alarmed at what he saw. The now smiling enemy's hands were all of a sudden soaked in blood as he held tightly onto his slashed throat. The three leaf-nin looked on as the man gasped for a few puffs of oxygen before falling down dead. A look of anger and disappointment flushed Naruto's face.

"Looks like they had an extra one out there to clean up their own people for situations like these," commented Shikamaru.

"The guy probably already knew that someone was out there so he had no fear of having to answer a lot of questions. His life would be ended quickly if he complied," Kakashi added in.

"Damn it and I didn't even get anything really vital out of him," was all Naruto could say, "Well either way we should head back to the village."

The morning rays lept from building to building as the sun slowly rose on the horizon. The villagers of Konoha appeared like they usually did on the surface but slumbering deep in them were the thoughts of the war. Even though it was going on, everyone tried to act as normal as they could. No one wanted to feel the stress and worries that one day it could be their village that gets attacked. Instead the shinobi of Konoha took the burden upon their shoulders for the sake of the peoples' happiness.

An expressionless Naruto was taking a stroll through the streets getting a feel of the people he vows to protect. He could sense the uneasiness and attempt to keep it in but knowing that made Naruto feel even more pressured. It had only been a week since the start of the war yet Naruto could already feel the pain and future pain to come that would result from this war. It weighed down on him as if it were trying to bury him alive. Still something else was occupying his mind.

In the past week or so, Sasuke's army alone had demolished six towns and caused some serious damage to a few others. The town they saved a few nights ago was the first time that a they were able to protect a town from receiving no attack. It was something positive to build upon. To have only sent Kakashi and Shikamaru to protect the town and have them be succesful in killing about thirty sound shinobi was a feat in its own, but Naruto knew it had only been luck. The reality was that those shinobi were far inexperienced and even looked like they were freshly recruited into the ninja world. An obvious picture would show that Sasuke gathered anyone who had a high disdain for Hi no Kuni and especially Konoha even if they had no experience in the art of fighting. The whole idea just about frightened Naruto. The fact that Sasuke could be so influential, or manipulative enough, to gather many people to his side shows how much Sasuke wants to annihilate everything in his path.

Naruto's reflective thoughts were finally interrupted by the gentle touch of his caring girlfriend clutching onto his hand. A loving smile spread across his face as he stared into the tender eyes of his beloved. For a moment his mind went away from the war and into thoughts of Hinata. They had been together for eight wonderful months. Eight months of growth, trust, and even strength. But to both of them it seemed just like yesterday that they had confessed their feelings for each other. To top it off both of them were a comforting sight to see in the sea of troubles. Every person they would pass by would flash a genuine smile or give a greeting and compliment to the happy couple.

When it came down to it they had always been fated to be together. Both of their paths were extremely intertwined. On top of other things, being that Naruto was the Hokage however, he had deliberately not been giving Hinata difficult missions that could result in her possible death. He wanted to protect her as much as he could and could not imagine how he would go on if something happened to her.

"How are you this morning my koishii?" asked a chipper Hinata.

"I'm alright my kirei. Just taking another relaxing walk through the village," he answered with a bright smile.

"Well I'm glad your out getting some fresh air. I don't want you to stress out too much with everything that's going on."

"I know Hinata-chan. I'm really trying not to, but don't worry I am feeling really positive right now," he said hiding his doubts.

"Hmm," she softly said to herself knowing that Naruto was holding his depression in.

Both of them continued walking together all the way to the Hokage mansion and up towards Naruto's office. As they came down the hall to the office, Naruto had the slight feeling that something was out of sorts. It was like an infection expanding across an open wound. His worries were lengthened even more when he noticed that two people were waiting at his door.

"Hey Kakashi-sensei. Shizune-neesan," he greeted them, "Are you two waiting for me?"

"Hai, Naruto-sama. Both of us really need to speak with you," responded Kakashi.

Naruto nodded his head and opened the door as all four of them stepped into his office. Naruto leaned up against the front of his desk while his two visitors came to an abrupt stop as soon as they had walked in. Hinata walked closer to Naruto noticing that he was tensing up from the grim emotions that Kakashi and Shizune were displaying. In Shizune's hand were a few sheets of paper with writing that neither of them could make out. It was obvious to see that Shizune was even trembling.

"So what can I do for you guys?" he asked with a little shiver in his voice.

"Shizune-san hand him the papers," Kakashi dismally said.

Apprehensively she handed the papers to Naruto. Slowly he examined the writing on the white sheets. As he read through it, trickles of sweat rolled down his forehead and his hands began to shiver. A flushed look shadowed his face as if he had just seen someone be brutally slaughtered in front of his eyes. Naruto even frantically flipped through the papers reading them over and over to make sure it was real.

"When did this occur?" he said very quietly not looking up from the words.

"The attack began around 8 o'clock this morning," Shizune sadly answered.

"So this…only started two hours ago," Kakashi shook his head indicating it was real, "You mean to tell me that right now at this moment Hiraku Town is under attack!"

"Unfortunately it is," spoke Kakashi.

"That is a town of over four thousand people!" Naruto raised his voice angrily, "and you're just bringing this information to me now!!!"

"Please Naruto you have to calm down. I'm sorry but we just received this information right now," Kakashi tried to cool Naruto down.

"Many people are dying and I'm just standing here talking while that's happening! I'm going to Hiraku!" yelled Naruto.

Naruto got of the desk and rushed his way to the door but was suddenly yanked by the collar of his jacket. Kakashi forcefully pulled him enough to where Naruto was back in front of his face. Naruto could see the stern look in Kakashi's visible eye. He wasn't going to let Naruto go period.

"You're staying here and that is that!" commanded Kakashi, "You're the Hokage and the village needs you here Naruto!"

"But I have to go there and do some…" he said before being silenced by Kakashi.

"Just because you can't go yourself doesn't mean you can't do anything. It's obvious now that the reason behind Sasuke attacking smaller towns was to keep us unprepared for an attack of a larger scale while we have shinobi spread out in small squads at the numerous tiny towns scattered across the border," explained Kakashi, "On your orders we can assemble a group of leaf shinobi and head out immediately."

Naruto collected his fiery emotions together and issued his orders, "Kakashi-sensei, I want you to gather a group of at least fifty chunin level shinobi, a few jounin if you have time and hastily get to Hiraku town. Shizune-neesan I also want you to gather up a medical team to back them up and several anbu members to evacuate the people out of there. Everyone needs to be at the front gates in no more than ten minutes and heading out right away."

"Hai!" they shouted in unison.

During this whole time Hinata stood motionless. She could not believe what she was hearing. A town of over four thousand people being killed like bugs and it was even more shocking to her that it was happening right now. Even though she was frightened by it a there was a fiery emotion of wanting to help. Hinata knew that she had to speak up.

"Um…Naruto-kun," everyone turned their attention to see a serious look on Hinata's face, "Let me go with them."

Naruto's suddenly looked dazed by her comment. There was no way he would ever want to send Hinata to something so dangerous. He did not want to lose her. The blond Hokage stood silent lowering his gaze as to indicate his refusal to let her go.

"Naruto-kun please I want to help. I know that you're scared that I could die but remember when you comforted when I was scared of what can happen to you."

"I do," he said softly.

"You promised that you are never going to let that happen. You said you would come back to me no matter what and I trust you to keep your word. So please let me do this. Have faith in me Naruto-kun. I promise that I will come back to you no matter what. I will not die," she spoke sternly.

Naruto looked back up at Hinata and could see the determination in her eyes. It was the same look that she had when her and Neji fought so long ago. Naruto also remembered it was his cheering and words that made Hinata fearless and pushed her to wanting to become stronger. Naruto could see her displaying the same determination that he always had. She was just like him. A tiny smile grew on Naruto's lips.

"Ok you will go with them. But remember a promise is a promise and I'll hold you to it," Naruto flashed a thumbs up at her, "I have faith in you Hinata-chan."

"Hai," she quickly nodded her head.

"Kakashi-sensei since Hinata-chan is going do not spend time looking for any available jounin. Just worry about gathering the large group of chunin shinobi and I'll have her look for any two jounin to accompany you."

"Then we're heading out," Kakashi and Shizune hurried out of the office.

Naruto approached Hinata and held her hands in his own. He looked into her unwavering eyes that were much like his own. She wasn't the timid girl anymore. Now she was a strong women that could do anything she put her mind to.

"Be careful," Naruto tenderly embraced her in a kiss, "And make sure you kick some sound ass!"

"Kiba stop messing around," spoke Shino, "If we are late again then they won't let us enter the training grounds."

"Who cares," Kiba snorted while playing with Akamaru, "I don't even see why we go into the Forest of Death to train anyways. There are other perfectly good places to train. Besides we have permission to go in there, so it shouldn't matter if we get there late."

"It is part of the rules to be there at our allotted time so they can keep an eye on us," Shino responded sounding a little aggravated.

Before the conversation could go anywhere else, Shino and Kiba noticed a sudden arrival of a quick Hinata. She leaped off the roof of the one-story building and onto the dusty street. Her reserved and serious demeanor made both of them wonder what was going on.

"I'm glad I found you two so quickly," she softly said.

"What's up Hinata?" asked a puzzled Kiba.

"Kiba-kun…Shino-kun…both of you have to come with me to the front gates right away," she hurriedly said.

"What's the matter?" Shino asked who was just as confused as Kiba.

"I'll explain on the way. We have to hurry."

The three of them, including Akamaru, made their way to the front gates of Konoha. As they rushed through the village leaping from rooftop to rooftop, Hinata explained the whole situation that was going on in Hiraku and that they would be heading there as of now. A shocked look appeared in Kiba's eyes as well as Shino's, even though his were covered with his shades. They could not believe what had just been told to them.

"Is this really happening?" asked a stunned Kiba.

"It is," Hinata sighed, "So let's stay focused and do what we can."

As they got closer to the gates, the more they could see a good sized amount of shinobi in line formations. At the head stood Kakashi and off to the side was Shizune and a group of med-nins. Everyone either had a serious looking face or a stunned one, but at the same time it looked that everyone was prepared despite the short notice. The three young members of Team 8 landed swiftly next to Kakashi.

"To further inform everyone, the anbu squad has already been briefed and sent out," Kakashi finished saying to the large group, "Now that everyone is here we can finally head out. Remember that you have all been divided into twelve groups of five. Keep it that way and maintain a certain distance between each team. We cannot afford to be in bunches making it easier to kill us. Okay let's go!"

In a flash the respective groups split off and headed towards Hiraku. Team 8, Kakashi, and Shizune stayed close together for a few moments. Reaching into his equipment pouch, Kakashi pulled out the more improved earpiece radios. Without wasting a moment everyone placed the high-tech pieces into their ears. After they had finished doing so, the elite shinobi split of into their own respective groups.

All around her Hinata could feel the same thing. A sheer determination to protect the people of Hi no Kuni. This land was their home and everyone would lay their life on the line to protect that. The closer the distance became to reach Hiraku, the more determined and the stronger Hinata, as well as everyone felt. She knew that they would have their work cut out for them but everyone sure as hell were not going to let the sound shinobi walk all over that town without feeling the resistance from the shinobi of the leaf.

"C'mon Sasuke you should just let me go. It is so boring not doing anything," whined Suigetsu.

"There is no need for you to go. The shinobi that I sent to destroy Hiraku should be more than enough," explained Sasuke.

"So what?! All I've done so far is oversee the progress. Not being able to go into the action sucks!"

"Shut the hell up!!" Karin slammed her hard fist into Suigetsu's face.

Juugo quickly stepped between them before Suigetsu could strike back. Suigetsu gave Karin the evil eye look like he just wanted to tear her limb from limb. His composure was quickly gathered while he stepped back and rubbed his red cheek. Neither of them wanted to cause anymore of a commotion with Juugo inbetween them. Juugo might go into a rage if they did.

"Okay Karin I didn't mean to complain. I just wanted to partake in the fight," he sighed.

"Only a week into the war and you are already impatient," huffed Karin.

"Fine…," Sasuke suddenly jumped in, "You can go Suigetsu."

"You're being serious right?" Suigetsu grew excited, "I mean if you really don't want me to go then I won't."

"No, you can go into Hiraku. It will be a good way to keep your skills sharp and make you less on edge…Does anyone else want to go?"

Juugo shook his head no in silence as did Karin. A slightly smirk came across Sasuke's face. He was actually glad that Suigetsu was so eager to get into the action. It reassured Sasuke that Suigetsu will not hesitate in any situation that could come up. The other two may have not wanted to go but Sasuke also knew that it wouldn't be a smart thing to have them all leave.

"Have fun you little whiner," Karin stuck her tongue out, "Don't go dying out there."

"Heh don't worry about me. I'm sure I'll have a hell of a time," he grinned.

Team 8 slowly walked into the destruction of Hiraku. They could hear the blood-curdling screams of people being slaughtered in the distance. Buildings were catching fire and others were falling to the ground in a dust storm of debris.

"This is terrible!!" Kiba exclaimed.

"Let's be quick. We have to stop all this devastation," Shino added in.

All of them quietly and swiftly made there way down a few streets. Hinata quickly activated her Byakugan before they went deeper to the vast town. They would stop at the corners of buildings to survey the next open area they would be treading across next. At a few points they would come to a street intersection or a building where fellow comrades were engaged in battle, but they did not interject into the fights. What they were more focused on was getting into the center of the town. It would be the most likely place to encounter the large portion of the enemies' forces making it more discouraging to the sound and also Kakashi had ordered them to set up a foothold there. The next street they took was surrounded by several burning apartments.

"HHHEEELLLLPPPP!!!" screamed a scared little boy.

Team 8 watched on as they saw a very rugged sound shinobi approach a crouching little boy. There was a bloody kunai in his hand and a devilish look on his face. He was getting ready to kill this kid.

"Mmmmm looks like I missed one," the sound shinobi snickered, "I'm sure your blood will look good on my kunai."

"P-p-please don't k-kill me," stuttered the petrified little child.

The malicious shinobi slowly made his way over to the kid grabbing him up by neck of his shirt and lifting him up off the ground. He raised the bloody kunai above his head and began to slash it down into the boy.

"Tsuuga!!"

Before the kunai was able to strike a spinning Kiba dug into the side of the shinobi sending him flying into a nearby building. The kid landed softly onto the back of a quick moving Akamaru.

"You alright kid?" asked Kiba.

"Y-yeah…arigato!" the kid nodded his head.

"No prob kiddo," smiled Kiba while turning on his radio, "Hey we got a little boy who needs extraction."

As soon as Kiba had finished speaking into the radio a puff of smoke appeared next to them revealing an anbu member. The member took a knee while the little boy got onto his back. Then the anbu ninja disappeared as quickly as he had gotten there. A sigh of relief came from the three of them.

"It's a good thing we came through here," remarked Hinata.

"I agree," Shino added in softly.

On a roof of an apartment building directly adjacent from team 8 were a group of about nine crouched sound-nin. They focused intently on them preparing to jump down and strike the unsuspecting group.

"Alright is everyone ready?" whispered one of them.

Everyone nodded their head in unison, "Then let's g…," the shinobi suddenly stopped in mid-sentence.

He stunningly looked down at his foot to see a swarm of bugs spreading across it. Surprised yells came from the other shinobi as they jumped up trying to swat away the bugs, but it was to no use. One by one the shinobi fell down feeling the stress of having their chakra drained from them. The last conscious one looked up to see Shino standing on the ledge of the roof.

"I-It's not possible…," they shinobi stammered, "We…had you by…surprise."

"I guess you guys didn't know that Team 8 is the best surveying and scout team in all of Konoha. With my bugs, Hinata's eyes, and Kiba's super nose you had no chance of getting us off guard," Shino said proudly.

The last breath of air passed through the shocked shinobi as he fell to the ground. Shino stepped backwards off of the ledge and landed with a soft thud onto the ground below. Hinata and Kiba stood smiling at how effective they would be here.

"Show off," joked Kiba.

"It's not my fault that was so easy," Shino slightly bragged.

"Ok you two let's continue through the town. We gotta lot of work to do," Hinata spoke firmly. Team 8 quickly continued their trek through the town. Things were just beginning for them.

Suigetsu leaped forward off of a tree branch and into the town of Hiraku. His black cloak danced in the wind as he pounced from roof to roof. With a quick swiftness Suigetsu flipped down onto the street. Calmly he walked through the alleys having his hand loosely gripped onto the hilt of his giant sword. Even though he felt fully confident that he could quickly end anyone's life here, there was no room to take it easy. He could sense all too well that Konoha had sent several shinobi into Hiraku. Fighting could be heard going on from many places in the town. The only thing that he hoped for was that he would come across some easy prey. No need to put forth so much of an effort against such weaklings.

He rounded a corner to see a fellow comrade get struck down by a leaf shinobi. An excited grin spread across Suigetsu's face as the leaf-nin charged towards him. Suigetsu easily side-stepped the slashing of the man's kunai then pulled his huge sword off of his back. The leaf-nin had no time to react and the last thing he felt was the sharp pain as the sword dug through his midsection. Blood splattered onto the ground as the top half of the shinobi's body went flying through the air in the opposite direction of his lower half. Suigetsu rested up against the blood-dripping sword admiring his work. He was delighted that Sasuke let him go. This looked even more fun than Suigetsu had thought at first.

Kiba landed a jarring kick into the side of buff sound shinobi. He then whipped around behind him jamming a kunai into the guys back. Hinata quickly jumped in to strike a shinobi on the verge of slashing Kiba. The sound-nin went flying off into the wall from the agile hit of her palm. Several more shinobi collapsed from the draining attacks from Shino and his destruction bugs. The more they got to the center of the town the more enemies they encountered, however; the enemy wasn't much of a difficulty to take down for the three leaf-nin.

After they finished up with the enemy group, Team 8 again proceeded through the town. Along the path they took were deeply wounded bodies of fellow comrades. They all cringed at how bad the leaf-nin had been slaughtered. Most of them had had their limbs cut off while the lucky ones just had a few gashes all over their body. Either way it was an awful thing to see. It was like someone had easily ran a huge head cleaving blade right through them. Avoiding as best as they could to not stare at them, the three turned the corner onto a wide street.

Everyone abrutly came to a halt as they noticed a single man slowly going along with what looked to be a large bloody sword propped up on his shoulders. Drops of blood came off of the man's cloak leaving a steady trail behind him. Even it looked like a little blood was on the tips of his light colored hair. The three watched the man walk on slightly stunned at the work he more than likely did on the comrades they just passed by. Suddenly the vicious killer came to a quick stop and stood unwavering from his spot.

"Looks like I still got a few more leaf-nin to kill," proclaimed the man as he turned to face Team 8, "Hmmm well look at who we got here."

"Suigetsu…," all three of them muttered.

"Who would have thought that I would encounter shinobi of the Konoha 11. It's even more interesting that it's bug boy, dog breath, and the wimpy Hyuuga," he chuckled.

"Shut the hell up!!!" yelled Kiba.

"Kiba-kun calm down. He is only trying to agitate us," Shino softly said to him.

"I won't be disrespected by trash like him," responded an angry Kiba.

"Aw come on dog breath. I'm just trying to have some fun," Suigetsu teased him, "Besides you wouldn't be able to take me on, so stop acting so tough."

Without warning Kiba leaped off of Akamaru in a burst of rage. Kiba landly a clean fist into the stomach of Suigetsu only to witness him morph into liquid. Suigetsu quickly reformed himself and heaved his sword straight at Kiba who did not have enough time to avoid it. The sound of metal clanged as Shino instantly appeared in between the two blocking the sword with a kunai. Once more Suigetsu formed into liquid and reformed a few yards away from the two.

"Heh don't think you have the advantage cause I'm alone. I can easily take all of you on," he gloated.

"You're just all talk," Kiba exclaimed, "You don't stand a chance!"

Suigetsu laughed hysterically at Kiba's comment causing him to get even more enraged. Before Kiba could rush in again, Shino quickly raised up his arm to stop him. If they wanted to be successful they would have to work together.

"Kiba we have to be level-headed about this," Shino tried to calm him down.

"But Shino you saw what he did to our comrades. That just makes me even more angered on top of the disrespect," he growled.

"Both of you go on ahead," Hinata suddenly burst in after being quiet for some time, "I'll take care of him."

"What are you saying Hinata?!" said a confused Kiba, "We have to stick together. This guy is nothing if all of us fight."

"Kiba-kun is right Hinata," added in Shino.

"Look I understand that the three of us fighting him together would be more effective but we still have a job to do here. You two go on ahead and establish that foothold in the center of the town. That is what Kakashi-sensei wanted us to do remember?"

For a moment Kiba and Shino stood quiet. They knew that she was right and it was important for them to reach the center of town. It was hard for them to admit it and leave their friend behind but they knew all too well that it had to be done.

"You're right Hinata," Shino slowly said, "Ikimashoo Kiba."

Kiba nodded his head, "You better catch up with his Hinata."

"Hai!"

Kiba, Shino, and Akamaru quickly continued on deeper into the town leaving Hinata behind to deal with Suigetsu. A seemingly impatient Suigetsu finally shifted from his stationary position and turned towards Hinata. While taking a few steps towards Hinata, he flung his sword back onto his shoulder.

"It's about time," he complained, "I was beginning to get bored there. But you just made a terrible mistake to take me on alone Hyuuga."

"Don't underestimate me. I'm more than enough for you," Hinata firmly spoke.

"Is that so?? Then I guess we will just have to find out!"

In a swift fluid motion Suigetsu charged, sword straight out, towards Hinata. His sword slammed into the ground as he veered it at Hinata's position. Rocks and bricks flew up into the air from the sheer force of the weapon slamming onto the street. He continued swinging violently at her while she elegantly avoided every attack. A stiff jab of it also missed only resulting in the sword digging into the cemented street. Struggling to get his sword out of the ground, Suigetsu noticed that there was extra weight on his weapon. Slowly he looked up to see an agile Hinata balanced effortlessly on the blade. The back of her open hand was held sternly facing an increasingly aggravated Suigetsu. Then without a wasted second she side-flipped off of the blade hurling a kick towards Suigetsu's face. Just as her leg had contact with his head, Suigetsu changed into a liquid state quickly reforming behind the spot she was going to land.

Before her feet touched the ground, the angry Suigetsu launched a kick straight into the air. Not missing a single step Hinata swiftly shifted upside-down in the air and pushed herself off of the incoming leg. She flipped behind him and drilled a rough kick into the middle of his back. Suigetsu stumbled a few steps forward but not without rapidly yanking his sword from the ground. He whipped around proceeding to swing his sword but not without being blasted into the building behind him by Hinata's gentle palm.

Broken pieces of stone and wood fell to the dirty ground. The dust began to clear but Hinata did not waste time activating her Byakugan. She could see that Suigetsu was not buried in the wall. Flipping out a kunai from her pack Hinata hurled the kunai directly behind her. The sound of metal bouncing off of metal rang through the air. Hinata knew she would not be too succesful with her repertoire of weapons against Suigetsu's huge sword, but that didn't mean she couldn't get fancy with them.

"Hehehe like a little kunai…" Suigetsu stopped as he noticed a sizzling sound coming from in front of him.

He looked down to see that three paper bombs had been tied to the just blocked kunai. Not having the time to swiftly move with his weapon, Suigetsu dropped the sword and hurridly formed into liquid. Hinata gracefully back-flipped away from the good sized explosion. Debris flew off in several directions and Hinata even had to avoid a huge flying sword that was blown in her direction. The sword drilled into a nearby building and stayed nested in the wall.

Suigetsu had already reappeared away from the explosion. Reaching under his cloak he pulled out a black plastic water bottle and gulped the whole thing down. He tossed it aside in time to see Hinata positioned directly in front of him. Her arm was held behind her and she was slightly crouched.

"Hakke Rokujuuyonshou!"

Hinata then went throught the routine of strikes. Suigetsu smirked while he slowly stood stationary as each strike that touched him resulted in little splashes of liquid. He was instantly changing each point into water when Hinata touched them. Suigetsu knew there was no room to have some of his chakra points blocked. Hinata landed the last futile strike all the while knowing that she had not been successful with any hit. Instantly Suigetsu's arm grew in size ramming it into the face of Hinata. She fumbled a few yards back by the large force of the punch. Wiping the blood from her chin Hinata shifted into the Juuken position.

"I do have to say you're a quick little wimp," commented Suigetsu, "Guess it means I'll just have to have a little more fun with you."

That being said Suigetsu again reached under his cloak only this time he pulled out a scroll. Taking a quick bite of his thumb he unraveled the scroll sliding his bleeding finger across the paper. Suddenly a burst of smoke came from the scroll. Still with her Byakugan on Hinata could see that he had stored some kind of weapon in it. The smoke cleared to reveal that Suigetsu was now holding two hook bladed weapons.

"Since you probably won't give me enough time to get my sword out of the wall then I'll just settle for these then," he smirked, "It's a good thing I learned how to use them."

Suigetsu calmly raised the twin hooked blades into the air. Seemingly out of nowhere a ball of lightning began to form in between the two swords. A manical grin was on his face as he noticed the surprised look on Hinata's face.

"Raikyuu!!"

Suigetsu then hurled the large ball of lightning towards Hinata. Not having the ample time to plan out a tactic against this new weapon she quickly dodged the ball. It grinded into a wall spraying off little bolts in every which direction while it slowly began to disperse into the atmosphere. Hinata danced her way across the street avoiding the bolts. There were just too many for her to maneuver as one singed her left cheek leaving it to trickle a line of blood. She slowly wiped the blood from her cheek and examined the red on her hands. 'It wouldn't be good for me to get hit by lightning period' she thought to herself.

Meanwhile Suigetsu didn't waste a single second as he proceeded to charge her swinging his swords wildly. Breaking out of her tiny trance Hinata tried her best to anticipate his erratic swings easily dodging them. Suddenly Suigetsu burst into liquid and instantly reforming behind Hinata continuing his onslaught. Signs of electricty circulated over one of the blades which managed to land a slash into the back of Hinata. Feeling the sharp sting in her back Hinata quickly jumped away from Suigetsu only to have him reshape at her next destination. Quickly she launched her open palm forward releasing a large burst of chakra. The burst of chakra caused Suigetsu to dissolve into his liquid state.

Hinata stood still letting her Byakugan survey around her for the blood-thirsty killer. As she looked around she contemplated whether or not it had been a good idea to have taken him on alone. It's true that she would feel more accomplished if she beat him on her own but on the happenstance that she did not kill him then and it was the other way around Naruto would end up never forgiving Kiba and Shino for letting her fight alone. Furthermore, Naruto would not forgive himself for conceding to let Hinata come here in the first place.

She quickly washed away the doubts if her decision. Those thoughts would only lead to distraction on the battlefield. Her attention turned to Suigetsu who stood modestly on the roof of a small building overlooking the street. Again he had his swords raised in the air but only this time they were crossed. Electricity began to flow around the blades picking up more speed the longer Suigetsu concentrated.

"Rairyuudan no Misairu!!" he shouted jerking the swords forward towards Hinata's direction.

An enormous burst of lightning shaped in the form of a dragon shot out like a speeding bullet. Calm and collected, Hinata took a slight step forward as she prepared to focus her defense against the oncoming electric dragon.

"Shugo Hakke Rokujuuyonshou," she said under her breath.

Emitting chakra from her palms, Hinata began moving her arms at high speeds through the air. In the matter of a second she had formed sharp, strong, and flexible lines of chakra completely around her body to protect herself. The lightning dragon finally clashed with the fine threads of chakra. Several sparks scattered as it tried to break through Hinata's tough defense. Focusing in the center of her absolute defense Hinata slowly expanded the chakra around her pushing the lightning away. Finally in a large flash of white the the lightning and chakra exploded.

Suigetsu stood motionless as he watch the explosion take down some nearby buildings. Suddenly out of the dissolving smoke came a tiny purple ball hurling towards Suigetsu. He took a few steps back to avoid the object only to witness it release a thick purple smoke on its impact. A stolid look came over Suigetsu's face while he stood in the middle of the smoke.

"Like a smoke bomb will be of any use," he dully said.

Staying stationary he easily dodged the several kicks and punches that broke through the smoke. Growing tired of the fogginess around him Suigetsu jammed his swords into the roof letting off a trail of lightning around him dispelling the smoke and hopefully getting Hinata. With the smoke gone he could see Hinata leap off of the roof and back onto the street. Just as he was feeling like she was backing down from him a surprised look sparkled in Suigetsu's eyes. He could distinctly feel a paper burning away on his back.

"You little bitch…" he muttered right before the paper bomb on his back exploded.

Droplets of water scattered every which way while the swords disappeared in a puff of smoke. Seeing where Suigetsu was going Hinata wasted no time to strike. Suigetsu reformed only to feel a few finger strikes into his left arm. Sensing his chakra points in his arm were now blocked he swiftly retreated away from Hinata. He then turned to face her with his now one usable arm. Before he could react Hinata instanstly dashed in front of him landing yet a few more strikes into his body blocking more of his points. Staggering backwards he quickly launched a kick upwards into Hinata's jaw causing her to reel back a little. Enlarging his arm Suigetsu rammed his usable arm into her stomach and then launched an elbow into her face followed by a kick to the side of her body. Hinata's bruised body slammed into the side of the wall causing her to drop down on one knee.

"Damn I wasn't expecting that I would have to take you seriously," he panted, "Mizu Bushin no Jutsu!"

Three blobs of water flowed off of Suigetsu forming three copies of himself. All three clones then charged straight at Hinata. The first slid on the ground kicking her up off the street followed by another one jamming an elbow into her back while in mid-air. A soft scream of pain passed her lips while her body fell to the street only to have another one grab her by the legs just as she neared the ground. Not letting go of her legs the copy slammed her onto the concrete street. Slowly all three clones stepped away from their work.

"Heh…I told you that you didn't stand a chance," he said while breathing heavily.

"Y-you're wrong…," spoke Hinata as she slowly lifted her battered body, "Even now you seem to underestimate me. I am stronger than you think and I know in my heart that I can beat you."

"HAHAHAHA!" laughed Suigetsu, "You are nothing but a weakling. A wimpy little weakling. In no such world would you be able to beat me. It's so funny that you think you're skilled enough. I'll just have rip those thoughts out of you!"

The three Mizu Bunshins again charged at Hinata. Standing firmly, with bruises on her cheeks and blood trailing the down the side of her face and mouth, she waited to make her move. The first one swung madly missing each attempted hit at her. Gracefully she circled around him blasting a gentle palm into his back making him disperse. The other two clones joined together in attacking Hinata only to have her easily avoid their hits and finally flipping over them to launch two simultaneous kicks into their backs. She was like an elegant dancer performing an intricate routine as she did away with the clones.

A frustrated Suigetsu stood watching the smooth Hinata rush towards him. Quickly he tried reaching under his cloak for another water bottle but was already too late. Right before she hurled a punch at him Hinata instantly dashed behind Suigetsu ramming a sharp knee into his back. Dashing back and forth she landed many blows into his back, stomach, and face. Suigetsu appeared to make no attempts to escape the body-shattering hits and it didn't stop until Hinata blew him away with burst of chakra from her palm.

"It looks like you didn't try to get out of those attacks or rather you couldn't," commented Hinata, "Are you too exhausted to continue?"

"Sc-screw you!" he hissed.

Again Suigetsu reached under his cloak to pull out another black water bottle. This time Hinata stood still watching with a little smile. Suigetsu attempted to gulp it down only to not have a single drop come out. Confused he tossed it aside and pulled out another bottle only to have the same thing happen. He went through a few more bottles all resulting in the same. Shocked and confused Suigetsu took a look back towards Hinata.

"W-hat the hell did you do!?" he yelled.

"I noticed earlier that you had drank down a water bottle so it gave me an idea that your body must be hydrated to allow yourself to form into a liquid state," Hinata explained, "So I decided to test it just to make sure. I waited until you decided to drink more water and when you finally attempted it I would do my best to not let you. Just right now after I prevented you from drinking you didn't escape my combinations of attacks proving the theory right."

"Then why are my bottles empty?" asked a flustered Suigetsu.

"During a few points in my series of attacks, I released a sharp thin thread of chakra at certain spots on your body where you could be holding water bottles putting a hole in each one and it looks to me I hit every single one of them," Hinata smiled with such great feelings of accomplishment, "I told you not to underestimate me."

Suigetsu frantically looked around him for any options through his predicament. A shiny sparkle reflected in the corner of his as he noticed his head cleaver sword a few yards away from him. A devious grin spread across his face from the sight of it. Quickly he took off towards the sword while a smiling Hinata didn't move a muscle. Suigetsu grabbed onto the hilt and lunged it onto his shoulder with all of his strength. He turned around and prepared to charge only to abruptly come to a halt. Standing next to Hinata was Hatake Kakashi.

"W-what?" he said surprised by Kakashi's presence.

"Oi Hinata-san," waved Kakashi.

"Kakashi-sensei why are you here?" she asked him.

"Oh I just came to tell you that we have taken back Hiraku from the enemy. As of right now the remaining sound shinobi have retreated," Kakashi paused as he glanced over at Suigetsu, "Hmm I see you were pretty busy eh Hinata-san."

"Yeah well it was nothing I couldn't handle," she giggled.

"Sounds like something Naruto would say," he said with a smile.

"Shit I should get out of here," Suigetsu whispered to himself, "I'll be sure to get her back for this."

Kakashi and Hinata looked back towards Suigetsu's direction to notice that he had disappeared. She let out a soft sigh of accomplishment. Hinata's confidence was brimming at how far she had come. Training with her beloved Naruto had really paid off. Now she was anticipating the next time she would fight. Next time she would truly go all out and show everything she had. In addition, she was excited to tell Naruto how good she had done. Still she stood there wondering if she should just go after Suigetsu for the way he slaughtered her comrades.

"Shouldn't we go after him? He hasn't gotten to far I'm sure," proclaimed Hinata, "After what he did here we can't just let him get away."

"You are right Hinata-san and we can catch him right now, but as of right now we need to focus on burying our fallen comrades and helping the injured even though he has done terrible things here. Don't worry he will pay for what he has done," spoke Kakashi, "Even more, Suigetsu will report to Sasuke of the sounds failure. It will show Sasuke that the leaf will stand strong against him."

"I understand what you mean," sighed Hinata, "But still maybe I should have killed him when I had the opportunity."

"It's alright this whole situation is new to you and you will grow through experience. War is a very complicated thing and even the best sometimes hesitate to do what must be done. But we learn that those kinds of people like Suigetsu can never be forgiven for what they have done. Suigetsu will get his in the end," commented Kakashi, "Hey how about we meet up with everyone else? We still have a lot of people here that need our help," commented Kakashi.

"Hai," she softly spoke, "Kiba and Shino are probably worried sick."

hope you like this one and I'll post the next chapter as soon as I'm finished. thanks to everyone who has read this all the way to this point. Again review, review, review plz...

Kage Mane no Jutsu - Shadow Possession Technique
Hiraishin no Jutsu - Flying Thunder God Technique
Tsuuga - Piercing Fang
Hakke Rokujuuyonshou - Eight Divination Signs, 64 palms
Raikyuu - Lightning Ball
Rairyuudan no Misairu - Lightning Dragon Projectile Missile
Shugo Hakke Rokujuuyonshou - Guardian Eight Divination Signs, 64 palms
Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu - Water Clone Technique