Tenebrous Perspective:
Odyssey:
x-x
Rays of light from the stars in the night sky.
Above send a plea from across the ages with colours that haven't faded.
It's somebody's cry, reflected in those sparkling eyes.
A wish carried on the wind, a request from the moon to live as fully as possible, day by day.
So that our wishes, too, will be in someone's heart someday, (1)
x-x
The journey to Kumogakure was surprisingly boring. They ran for most of time, only resting because the Genin (sans Naruto) couldn't take another step, and when they did stop it was only for a short amount of time, "It's to avoid attracting any unwanted attention," were Kakashi words, giving a meaningful glance to both Naruto and Sasuke. The only interesting that happened was the couple of bandits they crossed, and they were easily taken care of by the Genin.
The in-adventure was getting to Naruto; he complained at every possible chance and was silenced by Sakura's hits and Kurenai's glares. There was the occasional fights between Naruto and Sasuke, and sometimes between Naruto and Kiba, which resulted in said members being punished, by carrying their sensei's or their teammates' bags along with their own for a few miles.
Despite that, everything went on as usual. Team Seven stayed with their team, and Team Eight followed suit. However, there was one particularity with Team Eight, it seemed that everyone on the team could sense the tension between Kurenai and Hinata. The lack of interaction between the two was notiveable, and Hinata ran behind Kiba, which wasn't their usual formation, which Shino noted; since Kiba was taller than Hinata, she seemed to disappear.
Also, the information he received from his bugs was disturbing. First, was the influx of Hinata's chakra when she was questioned about her head the day they were due to leave, the tremor her voice took when she answered. His kikai bugs could detach the underlying tones of worry and fear. Secondly, how her steps falter when either Kurenai-sensei or Kakashi-sensei mention how far they were from their destination. And lastly, her voice, her stuttering was worse, but that could be easily explained since her long-time crush (love?) was with them.
Only one way to make sure, and what excellent timing too, they stopped for their last break.
"Hinata," Shino paused, turning his head slightly to get a better view of his teammate. "Do you see any of those jade flowers I told you about?"
"S-Sorry, Shino-kun, but I d-do not see any of those f-flowers." She answered after she deactivated her Byakugan.
"Would you mind checking periodically?"
"S-Sure."
"Also," Shino stopped to push his glasses back onto the bridge of his nose. "I'm sure of the pressure, aren't you?" The cryptic message took Hinata some time to get, but when she did her face flushed pink with understanding. Unknowingly Hinata has just given Shino more support for his accusation: Her unusual amount of shuttering wasn't from Naruto being there, it was from whatever she and Kurenai-sensei were tense about. Now the only thing left was to figure out the 'what' from the equation and act accordingly.
"All right!" Naruto shouted. "We're almost there! Let's go, let's go, let's go! Oi! Hinata! Shino! Hurry up, I bet this place has ramen in it and I'm hungry!"
"Have you found your center yet?" Shino inquired, turning his body to face the combined squads. "It seems that you will be needing it. Soon." He finished his statement and left her walking slowly behind him.
It was a beautiful place. Something that seemed to pop out of a story book, where the princess finally meets the prince. At least that's what Hyuuga Hinata thought.
A pond that was produced whenever it rained was surrounded by lush green grass, and rocks that had moss on them. Not to mention the trees that irregularly gave off a cooling breeze, and sometimes a leaf would fall, making the water dance to its own tune if it happened to land on the surface.
Hinata could only giggle. It was the only time she could be happy; be herself without the constant warning not to slip up. It was nice to let her worries flow through her, to let them disappear forever. However it seemed fate had different plans for her, and she had suffered pain that was not brought onto herself, but came through the cruelty and greed of others.
Old pains and memoirs of the past were renewed and took a fresh stab at her heart. Letting herself go, she cried and watched as her tears joined the water in the pond, distorting her reflection.
"Hinata." Sheperson stiffened and hastily began to wipe her tears away. It was a fairly warm night, not unusual for Konoha, especially during this time of the year. Nor was it unusual for shinobis to be training during the night. She should have known, this place wasn't that far from the village, so she should've suspected company. The Byakugan user had to choke back her sobs when she realized she had failed at something again.
She had to coerce herself to speak before more tears fell. "S-s-shino-o-kun-n."
If Shino was disturbed by his teammates' emotional welfare, he did not show it. After all who was he to judge? He should not frown on Hinata's decision to cry, he was sure there were people who frowned on his clan because they let live bugs live in their bodies. Also they were people who frowned at the shinobi for their emotional detachment.
"It seems that you are in need of a center." Shino concluded, and watched as his confused teammate turned her tear-washed face towards his. "Something, either a material item or a state of mind that will help you become more at peace."
"D-do you h-have one-e S-shino-kun?"
"Yes." Hinata waited for more but it seemed that was all Shino would divulge. "You should get some sleep," he commented, and left.
Hinata was brought back to reality when Kakashi-sensei crouched, and Kurenai-sensei followed suit seconds later with hands on their kunai pouches. The action made all the Genin tense up and reach for their weapons. Since the Genin were still novices they were jumpy, so a slight russle to the left of Naruto caused him to throw a kunai in that direction. A 'whoosh' was heard and a figure stood two feet from Naruto, swinging a kunai on his index finger.
"Whoa there, little guy." The male figure said, turning around to survey who else was there. "Ah, Hatake Kakashi. Long time no see."
"Konoe Satoru. My, I haven't seen you since that S-class mission in Iwa." Kakashi replied, closing his one visible eye and put away his kunai.
Konoe Satoru was a man of tall stature, possible five inches taller than the copy nin. He had short black hair, and warm chocolate-brown eyes with a scar extending from his right cheek to his left eyebrow. He had a slightly wider nose than Konoha's Third, not unusual for Kumogakure natives, and with standard Kumo ninja gear: Black, sleeveless hoodie, with a silver army tunic that went around his left shoulder and a hilt of a sword, barely visible from his right shoulder. His pants were black as well, and had white guage on them, forming an 'x' on both knees, and a silver metal with black strips about a inch interval from one another (2), halfway from the ankle to the knee overtop the pants with regular blue ninja shoes underneath. His Kumo headband was on his left tricep.
"And this is your genin team, Kakashi?" The Kumo inquired, looking over the three Genin that were closer to the jounin.
"Hai. Haruno Sakura, Uzumaki Naruto, and Sasuke(3) are their names." Each member of team seven bowed and said 'Hi' (well in Sasuke case it was more like a 'Hn,').
"Oh? And who is your partner?" Satoru stated, looking at Kurenai.
"Yuuhi Kurenai, and these are my Genin. Inuzuka Kiba, Aburame Shino, and Hinata(3)."
"Yuuhi Kurenai?" Satoru commented. "You're making a name for yourself, as the Genjutsu Mistress."
"Well, you guys must be tired. We have about ten miles left before we get there."
"And here we are!" Satoru announced, swinging his left arm to show them.... more forest, with a bolder in front of them.
"What the hell is this?!" Kiba yelled, obviously irritated.
"Yeah!" Naruto agreed. "There's nothing more than this giant ass rock!"
"It's called a bolder, dobe." Sasuke corrected him.
"Sasuke," Naruto growled, and took an advancing step towards the other Genin.
"Naruto," Kakashi reprimanded his student. "Sorry about him."
"Not a problem." Satoru said with a dismissive wave of the hand. "Most of our Chunin get iffy their first couple of times going through our entrance."
"Entrance?" Sakura inquired. "How is a rock an entrance?"
"Now, now. Do you really think an actual rock can lead us into a village?"
"It's a very complex genjutsu, but a genjutsu nonetheless, right?" Kurenai spoke up.
"Exactly. It happens that Kumo's first and second Hokages were rather gifted in seals and genjutsu."
"But how do we get through it?" Sakura asked.
"Well, as I'm sure you've noticed on our way to the entrance, Kakashi, a couple of ANBU going past us?" He waited until he saw the copy nin's nod. "The seals are all undone, and the only thing we have to do is walk through it."
Satoru walked up to bolder and was about to step in, when he turned mid-step to address the rest, "Oh, do be weary of the stalagmites and stalactites. Some of them are cached!" He called out the rest of his warning before completing his stride into the bolder, which he disappeared into.
"Raikage-sama," A Kumo ANBU said, bowing to his leader.
"Hai. Speak."
"We've just received word from ANBU Team 2, Sir. Konoe Satoru is coming with the Konoha ninjas."
"He is, is he?" The Raikage commented to himself. "Make sure everything is in order for our guests."
"Hai. And one more thing, Sir. One of the ANBU said it looked one a Genin was from the Hyuuga Clan."
"Hmm." The Raikage said, and waved his hand for the ninja to be gone.
'Hyuuga Clan? Should I send him on a mission?'
Author notes:
Sorry for the long wait, I'm lazy. But to make it up to you guys this chapter is longer! Really, usually my chapters are 1,000 words, this is over 2,000! Shino is terrible-- in my opinion-- to write for! Any tips for writing his character will be appreciated.
I'm not really satisfied with this chapter, something just seems off to me.
Sorry about the cliffy, but I needed a stopping point, to think of the next chapter.
I also have a CHALLENGE for this chapter:
What does the flashback in this chapter have in common with the prologue of this story, or with chapter 3?
(1) "Asterisk" Bleach
(2)If you're current with the manga, go to chapter 414, page 13 and look at the bottom right for a better look at that.
(3) I know, they have no last names, its for a reason which will be revealed... in a later chapter!
Review please!
Disclaimer: Don't own anything but plot!
Beta by: WiltingDaises94