Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Also there will be a long A/N at the end so for now on with the story.


Beep… Beep… Beep…

The steady rhythm of a heart monitor rang in her ears. At the moment though she didn't realize it was a heart monitor. Instead she was trying to figure out where she was and how she had gotten here. The only problem was that she found her eyelids unbearably heavy. Her whole body felt numb and her head felt as if it were surrounded by a thick layer of fog. She wanted to wake up but she felt so groggy, like something was keeping her from completely realizing her situation. What was going on? Her mind attempted to peel back the layers, to see what was hidden within.

You shouldn't hide yourself from the world.

The words echoed through her mind bringing with them everything that had happened up until this very moment. The train, the crash, the water, the blood, Sasuke, all of it came flooding back. She shot up wildly gasping in pain. Her pale eyes took in the sight of everyone in the room, all of them staring at her with shock. Naruto, Sakura, and Shikamaru all stood nearby though the latter was in sling. Perhaps even more shocking though were the worried looks on the faces of the two men closest to her bed, her father and Neji.

She stared at them for a moment, their shocked yet somber faces, before she realized the face that was missing. She panicked then, vaguely aware that beside her the heart monitor was beating rapidly. A nurse came rushing into the room and took hold of her arm. Hinata was aware of a small prick and once again her vision began to swim.

"Where's Sasuke?"

The question slipped past her dry lips, the words weak and barely audible. She found her hands grasping at her sheets, frantic in their search for something she knew that she was forgetting. Already she couldn't see anything again, her eyelids had become far too heavy to hold open and this only hindered her search.

"Is she going to be alright?"

She heard the question, recognizing the voice as Naruto's. She wanted to tell him not to worry, she could hear the concern laced in his tone, but she couldn't seem to get the words past her lips. It was as if there was a barrier between her mind and the rest of her body preventing her from doing anything she wanted.

"She'll be fine. We just have to keep her quiet for now so she doesn't pull out her stitches. Don't worry she just needs more rest."

The clam and steady voice of the nurse floated through the air though it did nothing to calm Hinata. If anything, she felt more panicked than she had before. She continued grasping at her sheets when suddenly she felt something pushed into her hand. Immediately she recognized the worn fabric and her frantic search subsided. One finger traced along the edge of the mask and in her mind she could picture Sasuke pressing the mask into her hand, his dark hair matted against his handsome face, blood running down one side.

Promise me you won't ever use that thing again.

She heard his words echo through her mind once again. She clutched the mask tightly in her grip, pressing it close to her chest in a desperate manner. She was clinging to the mask, clinging to the words, and more importantly clinging to him.

"Sasuke I promise," she whispered so softly that it appeared that only her lips moved.

Then without another word she slipped back into a drug induced darkness. A place where she was kept in a constant fog, unable to have her questions answered and yet at the same time unable to remember the questions to begin with. It was a place of no pain, a place empty of everything except the soft echo of a name.

Sasuke.


"Hinata are you sure that you don't want to go home?"

She glanced over at a worried looking Shikamaru from her place on her hospital bed and sighed. It was perhaps the fifth time he had asked her that same question and every time her answer had been the same. She did not want to go home with her father whether she was injured or not. She had left his home for good reason and had no intention of allowing an injury to force her back into a place she had only just escaped.

"I'm sure," she said in a soft yet determined voice.

"Going back there for a few days couldn't hurt you know."

Hinata chose to ignore him this time slightly annoyed that he was so set on having her go back home with her father. Her injuries weren't serious and she would be just fine in her own apartment whether he believed her or not.

"You could always stay at my house for awhile. I am sure my mother would love having you there."

"Or my house," said Naruto chiming into the conversation finally. He was sitting at the foot of the bed, his bright blue eyes full of concern as he studied Hinata.

Their concern and their pity seemed to close in on her. She didn't want it, and she certainly didn't need it, yet still they insisted on being by her side each and everyday. They wouldn't leave her alone and being stuck in this tiny hospital room with them was quickly wearing on her nerves.

"Look I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself. I don't need to be coddled. I would have thought my best friends realized that."

The bitter tone that left her lips sounded foreign to her own ears and immediately she regretted snapping at them. They were being good friends and if she were in their position and one of them was in hers she would probably be doing the same thing. The problem was that she was getting sick of being stuck in this bed. She was tired of talking to doctors about how she was feeling and she was tired of relaying her story to the police. At first she had been terrified when they showed up at her room to ask her questions but now it had all become one big annoyance.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly, her tone and expression apologetic as she looked from Shikamaru to Naruto. "This hospital is just getting to me. I really just want to go home."

Both Shikamaru and Naruto looked like there was more that they wanted to say, but whatever their thoughts were, they stayed confined in their minds. Both of them shut their mouths and nodded obviously throwing in the towel. Neither one of them wanted to argue with her anymore. She saw this and sighed, settling back against the pillows that were propped up behind her. She knew that they probably weren't going to let this go that easily but she had won for now and that was all that was important to her. She would deal with them again later when they tried to talk her into going home or with them once again.

"I promise both of you that I need anything I will call, no matter what the time is. And I promise that I will call you if I change my mind about going back to my apartment. Does that work," she asked and watched as they both nodded though it was slightly grudgingly. "And guys…" She waited until they were both looking at her. "Thanks for everything," she added softly, her hands playing with the edge of the pristine white hospital sheet.

Neither Naruto or Shikamaru said anything. There wasn't anything to say. The fact that she didn't need to thank them was understood. They both knew that she would do the same for them. The three fell into a heavy silence, two worried about the pale girl wrapped in a hospital gown and one trying her best not to think about anything for fear of falling apart.


Beep… Beep… Beep…

This time it wasn't the sound of a heart monitor. Instead it was the sound of her alarm as it blared from her nightstand. She hit the off button on the clock, noting that the display read eight o'clock. She rolled back onto her back and folded her arms under her head as she continued to stare at the ceiling. She hadn't even needed to set the darn thing. She had been awake for hours, unable to sleep as memories from the past days flew around in her mind. The current image of Shikamaru and Naruto sitting with her in the hospital room was only just now fading from her mind leaving her pale eyes to settle on her surroundings.

Despite the fact that it was well into the morning she noticed that her room was still rather dark. No doubt there was an overcast sky just outside of her window, the dark gray clouds blotting out the sun. She continued to lay in her bed, her sheets tangled around her, an indicator of how poorly she had slept. For a moment she thought about staying in her bed. She could turn off her phone and keep her door locked so that no one could bother her. She could pull the blankets up over her head and shut out the world. It was a tempting thought to entertain but she knew that she couldn't do that. She had to get up.

With a sigh she carefully untangled herself from her sheets. She was moving stiffly, her fresh stitches tugging with every movement. She was going to be stuck with them for another ten years before the doctor would take them out. Carefully she placed her leg on the floor, her boot making a dull thud as it hit the floor. Carefully she rose, pushing herself off of her mattress and testing her ability to put weight on her leg. Once she was sure that she was able to support herself, she moved forward, her movements no longer as graceful as they once had been. Now she was hindered by the contraption that they had put on her foot while the break in her ankle mended.

Hinata trudged over to her bathroom, not even bothering to glance out the window as she walked by. Closing the door behind her she paused at the sink to examine herself in the mirror. Her lack of sleep was evident in her appearance. There were heavy dark circles under her pale eyes and her ivory complexion was paler than usual. Her hair was a mess from her less than restful sleep. She frowned at herself in the mirror and turned on the faucet, letting lukewarm water pour into the sink. Cupping her hands, she leaned down and splashed the water on her face. She rubbed her eyes with her hands and splashed more water on her face and neck. Shutting off the sink with a sigh, she grabbed a towel and nearly rubbed her face raw with it as she dried herself off. Dropping the towel back onto the side of the sink she felt no better. The lack of sleep combined with painkillers left her feeling like her head was in the clouds.

She reached up and tugged her hair out of the ponytail it had been in. It fell down her back and she ran her hands through it, frowning at the tangles. Picking up her brush, she began to work out the tangles, her movements a slow haze. Soon enough the brush was running uninhibited though her hair. She studied herself for another moment before pulling half of her hair back and pinning it back with a small black clip. She tucked her bangs behind her ear and then glanced at the container of pain pills on edge of the sink by the towel she had dropped. She picked them up and turned them over in her hand before setting them back on the counter. She wasn't going to take them anymore. She didn't like the way they left her feeling. Plus she wanted to fully coherent today.

Walking out of the bathroom, she made her way over to her closet. She stared blankly at the dress hanging on the door before reaching up and pulling it down. She tossed it onto the bed before walking out of the room and into her kitchen. She wasn't hungry but knew she should try to eat. She decided to make toast and stood with her weight resting on her countertop as she waited for the toaster to pop. She jumped when it did, her mind lost to other thoughts. Shaking her head, she wondered if the haze was ever going to clear. Pulling the toast out, she set it on a plate and lightly buttered it. She poured herself a glass of orange juice and carefully sat down at the table, careful to make her movements easy.

She took several bites of her toast but she still felt nauseous, another side effect of all the medicine she had had in her system lately. She pushed the toast aside and decided against the orange juice as well. She opted instead to take the time to make some tea and finally curled up on her couch with a cup. She sat there until the tea that was left in the bottom of her cup was cold. Deciding she had lingered enough she got up and put the cup into her sink. She noticed how much longer simple things were taking her as she walked back to her room. Even the smallest of tasks seemed to drag on because her body seemed to protest each little movement.

She made it back into her room and carefully stripped out of the pajamas she was wearing only to slide on the dress that she had tossed onto the bed. The slimming black dress was modest and fell just below her knees. How Sakura had managed to guess her size was beyond her as she never actually remembered the pink haired girl asking. She shrugged that thought into the back of her mind as she slid her right, and uninjured, foot into a flat sneaker. While wearing this boot there was no way she was going to attempt to walk in any sort of heel.

She glanced in the mirror and saw a ghostly looking figure staring back at her, the black dress against her pale skin making it seem almost translucent. She blinked as if the figure before her might disappear but it remained standing there staring back at her. There was no denying that she really did look like that. It was hard to believe how drastic a change had occurred in such a short time. She reminded herself of how she had appeared before she had found racing. It was like looking back at the former shell of herself only she wasn't looking back, she was looking in a mirror. She shuddered, the entirety of her small frame shaking as she wrapped her arms loosely around her midsection. Pale collided with pale as she met her own gaze. She saw a spark of determination flicker behind what one might see as dead eyes. She would not go back to that shell. Even if it was all over she would not go back to that mere existence that her life had once been comprised of.

The sound of her cell phone ringing from her nightstand sounded loud in her quiet apartment and it made her jump and subsequently wince. She closed her eyes against the minor discomfort but still felt that it was better than suffering through the haze of her pain medication again. Her pale eyes glanced at the clock beside the phone, the time giving away the caller before she even picked up the phone.

"Hello." Her voice sounded fragile to her own ears though at least the stutter seemed to be gone. After everything that had happened answering a phone was hardly worth getting worked up over.

"We're outside. Do you need any help?"

"No thanks Naruto, I will be down in a minute."

With that she shut her phone and walked over to her dresser where a small black clutch sat. She slipped her cell phone inside the clutch and left her bedroom. Grabbing her keys from the table she locked up her apartment before sticking the keys inside the clutch as well. Carefully she made her way down the stairs of her second floor apartment, mentally annoyed at how long it was taking her to get down a single flight of stairs. When she reached the bottom, she made her way to the front door of the building and pushed it open.

Immediately she was greeted by the smell of rain. Overhead the dark gray clouds were heavy with moisture and it was clear that no doubt their floodgates would soon open and drench the town. Still the dreary weather fit her mood perfectly and she found herself preferring it to a cloudless sky and endless sunshine. She had always found something soothing about the rain, almost as if it could cleanse her of her worries or problems. And while she knew that the rain could not erase the turmoil she felt now, she hoped that it could soothe it, if only slightly.

She spotted Sakura's mother's car idling in the parking lot. She made her way over to it and Naruto jumped out of the passenger seat to lend her a hand, which she promptly brushed off with a forced smile and a shake of her head. Slipping into the backseat with Shikamaru, she noticed that he was wearing a black dress shirt, black tie, and black pants while Naruto was in a suit. Shikamaru's tie was loosened as well, his lazy attitude showing through quite clearly in the way he was dressed. Sakura, who was sitting behind the wheel, had her hair pulled back into a loose bun and was wearing a dress similar to Hinata's own. Hinata noted that Sakura however did not look like the living dead in hers.

No one said anything as Sakura pulled out of the parking lot and turned onto the street. Hinata bit her lower lip lightly and turned to stare out the window. She felt a sudden relief when the rain started. At first only a few drops hit the windshield but soon enough a steady drizzle was streaming from the sky causing a light patter on the car as they drove through the nearly empty streets. Hinata closed her eyes and listened to the sound of the rain, blocking their destination out of her mind. It was only until she felt the car come to a stop and heard Sakura shut it off that she opened her eyes. Cast before her, just outside the car window, was the cemetery. The rain seemed to cause a misty haze to settle over the grounds, lowering the visibility. It was not enough however to block out the sight of a coffin resting beside an empty grave.

She felt sick and her stomach lurched. She was glad that she had decided to skip out on breakfast. Her vision swam behind salty tears but she blinked them back when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She didn't need to turn to know that it was Shikamaru. He gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze before releasing her and climbing out his own door. Hinata drew in a shaky breath and did the same, determined to say her final goodbyes. She owed him that much.


She had lost track of how long she had been standing here in the rain. The service had ended some time ago, of that much she was sure. She remembered that after everyone had filed away Naruto and Shikamaru had remained at her side. For what had seemed like forever at the time, the three of them had stood shoulder to shoulder in the rain. Neither one said a thing as they all stood there in the rain, listening to it fall around them and watching it bounce off the stone where his name would remain permanently etched.

Shikamaru had left first. He said nothing, simply stepped away, his head hung low and his hands shoved into his pockets as he walked back to where he had parked. Several minutes later Naruto had turned to look at her, his eyes holding a question that never left his lips. She nodded in response to the unspoken question wanting some time alone and grateful that she was being given it. Naruto nodded back and turned. He paused with his back to the freshly laid grave and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. His eyes remained cast down to the ground while hers stared blindly ahead, her body frozen in order to keep itself from falling apart.

His hand fell away finally though Hinata remained still long after he had walked away. Only when she was certain that he was out of sight did she allow herself to break. Tears fell from her pale eyes mixing with the rain as they ran down her cheeks. No longer restrained, she openly mourned his loss, the tears unfaltering as her body shook from sobs that she kept silent.

It was the first time she allowed herself to mourn for him, the first time since she had learned the truth that she actually faced it. It was the first time that she accepted the reality in which he was gone and never coming back. She hadn't shed a single tear until now though there had been times that she nearly had. She dropped to her knees in front of the disturbed ground that was to be his final resting place. The movement sent waves of discomfort through her body. Still she was glad that she hadn't taken the pain medication. Her pain instead served as a reminder of what he had given so that she could feel it. He had given his life so that she could continue to feel pain and whatever else came with the gift of life. Aside from the discomfort she was dimly aware of the mud and water as it seeped into the fabric of her dress, but she remained there on her knees, her body hunched and her arms folded around her middle.

She choked back more broken sobs, her shoulder shaking with effort. She felt the rain roll off of her, washing away her tears but leaving the pain. The dull throb that time was supposed to heal. Time was something she had, something that she had been given more of thanks to him. Time was also something that he had had taken away. How one person was given time while another lost it made no sense.

She remained on the ground a few more moments before she climbed back to her feet, her breathing back under control. Her tears continued to fall but her shoulders no longer shook from the effort to control her sobs. Slowly, as if she might shatter into thousands of pieces, she unwrapped one of her arms from around herself. Her hand then rose to push a strand of hair behind her ear that had been plastered to her face. She let her hand fall limply to her side, dangling uselessly as the other remained tight around her, holding her together so that she didn't fall apart again.

"I never understood why we mourn the dead. It should be ourselves that we mourn for. In the end we are the ones left behind to suffer through a life without that person. When they die, their suffering it over and ours has just begun."

The voice, unfamiliar in its rough and husky tones, reached her over the sound of the rain as it fell around her. She didn't bother turning around, her lack of interest in the stranger clear as she kept her pale eyes on the freshly carved stone in front of her.

"Yet still we mourn for them knowing that no amount of tears or prayers can change bring them back."

"Most of us know full well that our tears cannot change the past but even still that doesn't stop us from desperately wishing that they could," Hinata said quietly.

"Yet even if you could change the past would you do it so willingly? The past brought you here. If you changed it perhaps none of this would have ever happened but even more importantly, perhaps you never would have felt the way you do about him. Would you be happy with that," the strangers asked from behind her.

"If you are asking me if I regret the way I feel about him then the answer is no. I will cherish this feeling and the memories I have despite the pain that may come with them. But if you are asking me if I would be willing to throw away all of that to have him back then the answer is yes. I would gladly go back to being unnoticed by him if it meant he was alive and well."

"You obviously cared for him quite a bit. He was fortunate to have someone like you in his life."

"Fortunate?" Hinata spit out the word as if it had a bitter taste. "Every time I start to think about him I wonder if there wasn't something different that I could have done. I wonder that if I had been stronger or smarter that he might still be alive. I just can't help it. No matter what, every time I think of him, all I can think is that I failed him."

The stranger behind her was silent then and she noticed that the hand that had been hanging loosely at her side was now clenched into a small fist. She took a shaky breath of air and heard the man behind her shift his weight. She heard the soft footfalls in the rain indicating that he was leaving. They stopped then and for a moment Hinata thought that he had walked far enough away that she could no longer hear him above the rain.

"If that is the case then you and I happen to be far more alike than anyone would imagine."

The voice drifted to her, the tone no longer husky but almost haunting. She turned around then in time to catch a glimpse of the stranger's face. Her pale eyes widened at the sight of onyx eyes, flawless pale skin, and raven hair. For a moment she couldn't breath, it was like all of the oxygen had been sucked out of her lungs. His face was older looking, his hair was longer, and his features were more defined and perhaps a bit more harsh, but the resemblance was obvious. She turned her head back towards the gravestone as Sasuke's voice filled her head.

When I was younger my older brother killed my parents. I came home from school and found them both dead on the floor. My brother was arrested and confessed to the murders. Then a few days later the confession and the evidence was thrown out. I'm not sure who paid off the people that made the ruling happen, but Itachi, my brother, walked. I haven't seen him since.

She gasped and whirled around then coming face to face with nothing but headstones. Her pale eyes searched frantically around but saw nothing. Instead she was left standing alone by Sasuke's grave with his brother's words echoing through her mind and leaving her wondering what he meant by them.

If that is the case then you and I happen to be far more alike than anyone would imagine.


She stared unblinkingly at the alarm clock beside her bed. She had been laying in the dark since nine o'clock and now the digital display flashed that it was one o'clock in the morning. The rain had stopped about an hour ago, she could no longer hear it falling softly on her window. She couldn't hear anything anymore except for the sound of her own breathing and the occasional unidentifiable sound that came from something in the night.

After the funeral she had pulled herself together enough to spend the rest of the day with Naruto, Sakura, and Shikamaru. She had even managed to force down some dinner when Shikamaru had pointed out that she had declined eating any lunch earlier. Despite their protests she insisted on going home to her apartment and they had dropped her off shortly after eight. She knew that they were worried about leaving her alone but it was what she wanted. She wanted the solitude and she wanted the darkness. She wanted to be able to cry again away from prying eyes, cry until her throat was sore from her sobs and her eyes were dried up of any tears. She had cried too, her grief, pain, and frustration escaping in the outlet of her tears.

Only after that had she tried to get some sleep. She failed miserably at this though and found herself staring back up at her ceiling. It was like there was something that was keeping her from her sleep, some reason she was unable to close her eyes other than the fact that she kept seeing her final moments with Sasuke over and over again.

Frustrated with herself she threw the light covers off of her body and slowly sat up in her bed. She turned and placed her feet on the floor, only one touching the carpet as the other was confined to the boot until the doctor cleared her. Resting her elbows on her knees, she buried her face into her open palms and took several slow breaths. After what seemed like an eternity, though it was only several minutes, she lifted her face out of her hands. Her red-rimmed pale eyes came to a rest on the shadowy shape on her dresser. Her hand reached out slowly only to come to a rest on her mask.

Sasuke I promise.

Clutching the mask tightly in one hand she reached for her cell phone with her other hand. Not caring what time it was she brought the phone to her ear listening to the ring as she waited for Shikamaru to pick up. She was growing impatient with each ring, she could feel the urge to tap her uninjured foot.

"Is something wrong?" His groggy voice floated over the line and clutched the mask tighter in her hand.

"No."

"Well you do realize it is one in the morning right," he asked with a tired yawn.

"I need a favor. There is something I need to do. Do you think you can pick me up," she asked quietly.

"I'll leave now," he said, sounding only slightly more awake now. She swore she heard him mutter troublesome as he hung up but she paid it no mind. Instead she made another phone call to Naruto to inform him that they were coming over and that she needed to use his backyard. He had been half asleep but she was pretty sure that he had said it was okay. Once that was out of the way, she slipped out of her pajamas and into jeans and a long-sleeved shirt.

She heard her phone buzz then and knew that Shikamaru was outside. Moving as quickly as she could she went into her kitchen and rummaged around in one of her drawers, finding what she was looking for she slipped it into her pocket and walked out her door with her mask in hand, locking it behind her. She had a promise to keep.


The light of the flames danced off her face as she stared at the small fire in front of her. The orange flaws cast an eerie glow off the faces of her friends as well as they too watched the flames lick at the fabric of the black mask. In her hand Hinata clutched the matches that she had grabbed from her kitchen, her pale eyes unblinking as the edge caught and fabric began to burn. She watched the black fabric glow and turn white hot before fading to orange embers as the flames continued to consume it. With each passing moment the flames grew higher as they continued to destroy the identity that she had once hid behind. She watched as she burned to ashes a part of her life that was never to exist again.

With her gaze lost in the fire two lone tears rolled down her cheeks. One tear for the one she had lost, for the face she would never see again aside from her dreams. The other tear was for the part of herself that had been lost with him, the part of her that she was burning here and now, the part of gained so much and lost so much more. She was mourning for him and the part of herself that had died with him. The flames began to lower and she watched until they shrank completely away leaving behind hot embers glowing on the ground. She winced slightly as Naruto tossed water onto the hot embers, the steam rushing upwards into the night air. It was like she too had been plunged into the water, caught below the surface and in need of air. She could no longer tell which way was up and which was down. She was well aware of the fact that she was drowning but there seemed to be no way of stopping it.

She was dimly aware of following Shikamaru and Naruto inside, everything was passing her by in a blur. Only some time later did she realize that she was settled on Naruto's couch, Naruto sprawled out and snoring on her right and Shikamaru unmoving on her left. It was that moment that she surfaced. The two of them had thrown her a lifesaver. She had her friends and she would be okay. Her life would go on and the pain would fade. She was going to be okay and she knew that they would make sure of it. She sighed as if a weight had been lifted from her chest. She snuggled back down into the couch, curling up slightly as she did so. She had been wrong before. This here was her final goodbye.

With a small smile gracing her lips she turned her face up to the ceiling. "Goodbye Sasuke," she whispered quietly before closing her eyes and finally falling asleep.


Author's Note: Well readers this is the end. I hope you all don't hate me too much for this ending but it was something that has stuck with me ever since I started writing this story. I tried (and failed miserably) to wrap my mind around an alternate ending but I had no luck. The fact that I decided to right a sequel kind of cemented the ending for me as well. Oh and Itachi... random much? Originally I planned to have him make his debut in the sequel but he wormed his way into this story and I ended up liking their little conversation so there he remains.

Now I am planning on taking about a month off before I publish the sequel (I am thinking towards the end of August). I hope to use that month to get a solid storyline for the sequel established. I also plan on writing as much as I can so that maybe I can get a bit of a head start. I am open to suggestions so if there is a character or something you would really like to see in the sequel let me know and I can see what I can do. I plan on using some of the events that occur in Shippuden in the sequel though they will be altered to better fit the story and include the main characters. I am sorry in advance if altering them annoys any of you. Finally I am also in the process of trying to come up with a title for the sequel because right now I have nothing. I was trying to think of a creative way to include mask but so far I have failed. Also I will post an update here on this story when I publish the first chapter of the sequel. That way if you have this story on your favorites or alerts you will receive an email.

Finally onto the most important thing (I saved the best for last) and that is you, the readers. I would not have continued this story if it wasn't for all of you. I appreciate all of the wonderful reviews and feedback that you gave this story and I hope that you all enjoyed it. Mostly I hope that I did not disappoint. So once again thank you all so much and look for the sequel in about a month. And as a bonus I am posting the summary and a small part of the squeal. However the part I post is subject to change as I continue to work on the first chapter.


Coming Soon...

Months after the 'incident' Hinata still swears she is done with racing. But when a new offer comes her way she may find that the racing world isn't done with her. Add in a giant crime ring, undercover agents, a misunderstood red head, one mysterious stranger, and a best friend who is on the rebound, and there is no telling what she has gotten herself into. If only she still had a mask to hide behind.


Her phone buzzed again and she frowned at the sudden activity it was seeing. Rather than flipping the phone open this time, she actually checked to see who was calling. She didn't recognize the number so she set it back down on the table. She stood up, no longer interested in staring at the numbers in front of her. Her gaze drifted back to the vibrating phone and for some reason she didn't quite understand she was suddenly compelled to open it.

"Hello," she said as she brought it to her ear.

"Hinata, it's been awhile."

It took her several moments to place the familiar voice at the other end of the line. Immediately she had recognized it as a voice she hadn't heard in awhile. It took a few moments for the face of the speaker to become clear in her mind and when it did she nearly dropped her phone.

"Kakashi," she asked in disbelief.

"That would be correct," he answered, confirming her suspicions.

"Why are you calling me? If this has anything to do with racing cars I don't…"

"Calm down," he said interrupting her before she could finish her sentence. "You made it pretty clear that you were done with that. I actually wanted to run something else by you. Naruto and Shikamaru are coming by tomorrow and I was hoping you'd come with them so we could talk."

"I don't know," Hinata said into the phone while her mind worked to think about what it might be that Kakashi wanted to talk to her about and why Naruto and Shikamaru seemed to be in on it.

"Well just think about it," Kakashi urged sounding completely undeterred. "Hopefully I will see you tomorrow then."

"Yeah, bye Kakashi it was nice hearing from you," she said quickly hanging up the phone before he had the chance to utter a goodbye. Things were just a bit weird.