Chapter 2

"Hyuuga Hinata?"

Right after the moment Tsunade introduced Hinata to Sasuke, an unpleasant atmosphere conquered the room. This agitated the Hokage abundantly, forcing her to think that this team arrangement was probably a mistake.

As for Hinata, she was totally oblivious that this man standing right in front of her was the last Uchiha. Only then, did her eyes widened in surprise.

"S-Sasuke-kun…?" Hinata anxiously thought to herself as her eyes gazed at him. "Sasuke-kun i-is the person I'm on duty with?"

Sasuke on the other hand could not believe this. This young lady will be his partner? Please, anyone but a feeble teammate would be good. Disappointed, he stood still as his vacant eyes studied her posture; her behavior, hoping that something would satisfy him working with her. However, it was just as he thought, she seemed too delicate to be a useful teammate.

As they briefly observed each other, they suddenly caught each other's glances, causing Hinata to look away. Though, Sasuke still stared at her. He knew she was surprised and somewhat uncomfortable with the idea that she was working with him.

Everyone would think that.

The fact that these two never interacted with each other just made things more difficult to handle. How are they going to communicate? Sure, they might have seen each other for a brief moment but that was that. Sasuke only knew her as a Hyuuga and a weird girl who awkwardly follows Naruto around; Hinata only knew Sasuke as Naruto's important friend.

Tsunade rubbed her forehead anxiously. Maybe this was a bad idea after all but Hinata possessed the Hyuuga eyes which can be very helpful in this mission. As for Sasuke, this was something Tsunade planned for him to earn a good reputation.

"Hey, Hokage…" Sasuke abruptly said, breaking the silence. "Care to explain why I should be working with her?"

Everyone in the room flinched.

Shizune clutched her hand into a fist as she was getting tired of having to listen or see Tsunade deal with Sasuke's arrogance. "Sasuke-kun!" she exclaimed but Tsunade stopped her by lifting her hand up.

"It was all by chance…that's it," Tsunade answered.

Sasuke couldn't help but glare at her while Hinata stood there, anxiously. This was difficult. But Tsunade brushed off Sasuke's stubbornness and turned her head to face Shizune. Their eyes met and Tsunade made a quick hand-gesture, hinting her attendant to get the Scroll of Essence. This scroll was fairly large and similar to the Scroll of Seals that was kept away by the first Hokage. The fifth Hokage stood up and handed the Scroll to Hinata. Her eyes widened in surprise.

"Tsunade-sama…isn't t-this the…" Hinata began her sentence.

"Yes, this is the Scroll of Essence," Tsunade announced. "A very important Scroll that should never be opened during this mission," she said. "A lot of ninjas will try stealing this scroll at all cost since it contains an unknown jutsu. But with a Hyuuga in this team, it should be easy to track those ninjas before they even attack. Therefore, Hinata, you will be helpful in this mission. As for Sasuke," Tsunade turned her head to him. "You are one of the strongest ninja out today. So I trust that you will deliver this important scroll to the Sand Village safely."

When Sasuke heard the word 'important', he scoffed. "And…you're letting the ninja who betrayed the village do this mission?" he said in disbelief.

"Yes, this is a perfect chance for you to make up what you did," she said as she walked back to her desk and took a seat. "This is important, Sasuke," she propped her chin on her hands. "I'm willing to risk my reputation as a Hokage to trust you, the traitor," she stared at him fiercely.

The room fell silent but was soon broken by the laughter of Tsunade. "This is what Naruto would do anyway, right?" she said with great delight.

This annoyed Sasuke. He found it way too ironic. Trust the traitor?

By his side, Hinata stood there with the scroll on her hands. Her eyes were glued onto the scroll but she was full of thoughts about the consequences and difficulties she will be encountering when working with Sasuke. But when Naruto's goofy grin flashed before her, she smiled.

"I'll definitely bring Sasuke back."

"Sasuke is our important friend!"

"How can I be Hokage when I can't even save a friend?"

Hinata recalled those moments when Naruto kept declaring that he will save Sasuke. And finally, through determination, dedication and support from friends, Naruto finally brought Sasuke home.

After that long thought, Hinata grasped the scroll tighter and slowly walked up to Sasuke.

"S-Sasuke-kun…I also," Hinata abruptly said, gazing into his eyes. "I will also trust you, Sasuke-kun," she said firmly.

Sasuke was stunned by this but he tried keeping his composure. Seriously, how can they just trust people like that? It even annoyed him more considering the fact that Hinata just met him. How can she say something like that so easily?

Hinata walked towards Tsunade's table and said, "Tsunade-sama, is that all you wanted to say?"

Tsunade smiled and replied, "Yeah, but be careful you two."

The shy yet mildly confident smile occurred on Hinata's face. "Yes!" she replied as she walked out of the door.

Sasuke didn't stir and just stood there, staring at the ground. He was pretty reluctant about this mission. However, when he thought about the idea of going back home to sleep again, it annoyed him how that was the only thing he did the past few days. A deep breath of exasperation escaped him and soon, he followed Hinata out.

"Sasuke!" Tsunade abruptly called out his name. Sasuke stopped but didn't bother looking at her.

"Hang in there," Tsunade then said, smiling.

Sasuke then looked at her at the corner of his eye but disregarded her statement. He walked out and closed the door behind him.

"Geez, that kid…" Tsunade thought to herself, "…is really stubborn."

Her hands fiddled around her cup as she thought about Hinata. Her face then steamed and small sweat drops formed. She bit her lip.

"Hinata," she muttered anxiously, "do your best."

Several hours passed and it was already late evening. Hinata waited for Sasuke at the entrance of Konoha, slightly worried he won't come since he gave her an impression that he was never interested in this mission, or, about her being in this team. The moment she thought about this, the shoes scuffing the floor unexpectedly occurred, breaking her from her thoughts. When she lifted her head up to look at who it was, she finally saw Sasuke walking towards her.

"Sasuke-kun," she called out nervously, quite relieved he came after all.

Though the time he appeared in front of her, she felt the aura around her drop dead. It wasn't only because of the mean and expressionless Uchiha, but because of the villagers' glares and whispers.

"Why is Sasuke going out there? Especially with Hyuuga Hinata?"

"Isn't that the Scroll of Essence? Why do they have such an important scroll with them?"

"I can't believe Hokage-sama actually made this traitor do a mission. How can she trust him? Is she an idiot?"

"Don't tell me the heiress of the Hyuuga clan is also betraying the village..."

Hinata's eyes widened as she heard them talk. It was loud enough for both her and Sasuke to hear. Saddened by this, Hinata slowly perceived Sasuke's reaction. He didn't seemed bothered by this. He was just walking towards her, showing no emotion; almost as if he was used to this. But to Hinata, this was a dreadful sight.

"If you want to quit the mission, go ahead. It's not like I want to do this anyway," Sasuke abruptly said, assuming she wanted to quit this mission.

Hinata flinched at his sudden spoken words. "It's not that I want to quit... Sasuke-kun, I—"

Sasuke stopped immediately, standing still at her side. "I don't need your pity," he said as he glared at her at the corner of his eye.

Hinata winced and stared at him in a painful expression, feeling aggrieved by the way the villagers were treating Sasuke. "S-Sasuke-kun..." she muttered. However, before she could say anything more to him, he jumped into the forest, leaving her behind. Hinata held her hand close to her chest as she clutched onto her jounin jacket. This was really what she disliked most yet she knew it was inevitable for something like this to happen to Sasuke. She hated seeing someone she knew—especially a very important friend of Naruto—looked down upon.

As she stepped out of the village, she turned back to perceive the villagers. They were angry yet worried. It was something inevitable for them to express hatred too. Hinata breathed deeply as a way for her to prepare herself for the mission. She jumped into the forest and disappeared in a blink of an eye.

Hello guys! Chapter 2 is finally out. The introductory chapters are over! It's finally time for action-ish. LOL. I know it's quite boring but things will get better from here (I hope.) Thanks for reading!