First of all I am so sorry for publishing this chapter so late. We have had to share one computer here because "someone" (not me, i am not that dense) cleans the screen of the main computer with a damp cloth, i mean really damp. So I am sorry and also sorry for the cheapness in this chapter. I wrote on different nights which made me lose most of what I really wanted to write causing me to write scrap. Please excuse spelling mistakes and wrong use of English, I check but may have missed something.
(alter ego:" Get on with d it! People do not want hear your stupid excuses...so move on, IDIOT!)
Right, thank you to Mac2, Stephanie8D, HeartBrokenHinata, rinrin2 and Cherryvampire3. Thank you to all those who read this and thank you for the favs and the story alerts.
One last thing before you begin. Some of you guys asked me who the voice was in the last chapter, it was Hinata's inner demon voice that sounded a lot like Edo (remember episode 201-205, I think. Where Yakumo had to face her inner demon.)
All characters in this story belong to Kishimoto, Masashi.
ENJOY AND PLEASE REVIEW!
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"Hinata? Why are we going the long way?" Shino asked an emotionless Hinata as the three of them jumped from tree to tree.
"Someone is coming and I want to deviate him from the way the we are suppose to be going" Hinata answered in that monotonous tone
"H-him? S-so you know w-who is coming?" Sasuke asked the Byakugan wielder breathlessly
Hinata hesitated "That doesn't matter, but what does matter is that we lose him as quick as possible"
Sasuke began to slow down, "Hinata can we not slow down? Sasuke is…"Shino tried to get Hinata's attention toward the breathless Sasuke
"We are losing time as it is, we cannot stop because someone can't control his alcohol intake" Hinata interrupted Shino picking up the pace on purpose
Sasuke's pride took over him even though he was felling the effects of the alcohol "I-I'm fine, S-Shino"
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At Tsunade
Tsunade stared at the paper work in front of her. She was unable to write to anything, her kept going back to the Hyuuga heiress 'her attitude. She's gone back to that stale attitude. How are we going to get rid of it this time?'
"Tsunade-sama. Tsunade-sama. TSUNADE-SAMA!" Shizune shouted trying to break Tsunade out of thought
Tsunade lifted her head from the documents in front of her and looked at her assistant who began muttering words that did not register in Tsunade's mind. Shizune came to the realisation that her master was not in the same area she in, so she stopped talking, waiting for Tsunade to realise she was not alone in the room. 'Is she really worried about Hyuuga Hinata?' Patience was not something Shizune had learned to master and so she attempted once again to eliminate the silence "Tsunade-sama? We have word from…TSUNADE!"
Hearing this loud outburst released her from her thoughts "Shizune? When did you get here? What's the problem?"
Shizune shifted her view to the paper work on Tsunade's desk and saw that not one thing had been written on any of them "For starters I can came to collect the documents I left with you earlier which you haven't even touched… Shino's team will be fine, stop stressing"
"No they won't, and even with most of the ninja back in the village I can't send them they are all to exhausted. I feel most sorry for Shino, Sasuke is a disaster, Hinata is in another mode and the other one who arrived then left this morning will just slow them down. I just don't know what to do…wait…Shizune"
Shizune knew what was going to be asked of her and she immediately answered "No way, I am not going to the Land of Rice Fields. If I left you'd slack off, like what you just did"
A small vein formed on Tsunade's head "Tck. It's just this letter is of the utmost importance and…" she lowered her head answering Shizune
Shizune tried to put some glimmer of light in Tsunade's mind "They will be fine, do you not have any faith in the shinobi of this village?"
Tsunade tried to hide her worry; she picked up a pen and began writing on the documents in front of her. 'but still? Can they do this? Can Hinata do this?'
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Land of Rice Fields
"Are you not going to stay the night?" a ninja from the Land of Rice Fields asked the three Konoha ninjas, giving Hinata the letter
Hinata put the letter in her bag "No, we don't have time to relax, this letter must reach Konoha as in yesterday"
The ninja from the Land of Rice Fields looked at Sasuke who looked completely worn-out "But your comrade seems to be fatigued…"
"We have rested enough. This discussion is over, we must go" Hinata interrupted then turned her back, walking toward the forest
Sasuke and Shino followed Hinata.
"Wait, excuse me! Please wait! Someone arrived after you this afternoon and says he will escort you home." The ninja stopped the three Konoha ninjas
"He will catch up. I will not repeat what I just said to you" Hinata answered then continued walking
Sasuke looked at Hinata suspiciously and asked the Rice field ninja "Did this person say what his name was?"
"Yes he did, his name is…" the ninja began to answer
"Sasuke! We don't have time for you to be chatting, if you wan to stay that's fine, but I am leaving, you can wait for the escort to see who he is. But let me warn you, you are not going to get along very well" Hinata snapped at Sasuke
Sasuke didn't say a word; he just glared at Hinata 'those eyes, those silver plates of nothingness'
The Rice fields ninja kept quite and watched the three disappear into the night.
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The way back to Konoha
Hinata was leading and picking up the pace once again. Sasuke had not rested enough and was lagging behind the group.
"Pick it up Sasuke!" she shouted at him without looking back
Shino had, had enough. He shot up in front of Hinata and stood his ground "Hinata, you can clearly see that he is exhausted. Enough with the attitude and let us rest for a bit. This way we will be well rested and we can get to Konoha faster .What are you so afraid of?"
She could no longer fight it she nodded unwillingly and the three of them stopped, Sasuke was panting heavily "W-we should r-really get g-g-going"
Hinata looked toward the ground and the words replayed in her mind 'Stay away from Uchiha Sasuke' she then spoke "I will go get us water and fire wood, Shino stay with the weakling"
Sasuke sat down, leaned his back on a tree and listened to the wind, letting it whisper past his ears. Shino looked toward the direction of where Hinata went. They were both quite, locked in thought. Sasuke's mind was being chewed at the thought of Hinata's change and finally asked "Shino. Why is she like this? ... Why is she so…?"
Shino turned his head to the ground and kept quite and instead asked a question "I want to know, when did she become like this?"
Sasuke hesitated but finally began to explain "Hinata and I…" Shino's attention sharpened
"Hinata and I, we danced on the night of Naruto's wedding and… she all of a sudden broke free of our connection and began to cry. When I reached for her, she well…hesitated" Sasuke spoke with his head to the ground trying to hide the red on his cheeks.
Shino was silent then let the words come out but with caution "So that's what it is? She is like this because of your little interaction.
It happened back when you were kept in the Konoha prison when you came back. We were sent on a mission more urgent than this one…" Shino stopped talking
Sasuke's curiosity made him anxious; he wanted to know what happened "My fault? What happened?... Shino?"
Shino hesitated "It's really not for me to tell you, you have to ask her although I doubt she will tell you."
The curiosity in Sasuke's face was as clear as glass. Shino unwillingly continued "Let me just say that the Hyuuga have shown hate toward her ever since, she was practically discarded but still remains heir to the clan. And let me also add that the aftermath of that incident…it went from worse to terrible, she was hurting herself…It was hard on everyone especially, for Kiba…he was the one who found her after it happened… and Kurenai-sensei, she felt like she had abandoned her" Shino hesitated again "A small part of her awakened and its was really hard for us to get the real Hinata back, she became extremely isolated and rude"
Sasuke was not satisfied with the answer given to him however it made the chewing within him less violent, however he continued to question what Shino said, trying to piece it together but he got no solid conclusion; 'I really need a big brain here, like Shikamaru, but I don't even talk to him' he thought and leaned lower onto the tree.
Hinata had gathered up fire wood and water but she was finding it hard to go back to Shino and Uchiha, especially Uchiha. She stood in the water hoping to look at her reflection but was unable to see herself, it was dark, there was no moon out on that night. She put her hand on her forehead 'Itai (ouch)! This ringing, my head, it really hurts'
She began thinking of the nightmare she had, her eyes began to sting 'No, no crying, this is what I wanted, I wanted to be alone so why am I in so much pain?' she thought.
Her hands began to shake as they moved to the side of her right leg; she was reaching for a Kunai. She couldn't hold it any longer; she was feeling so much pain. She took off her jacket letting the wind hit her warm skin, she then ran the Kunai across her arm then down her hand. The blood ran out from underneath the skin. She felt somewhat better, but she still felt pain.
After a few minutes she reached in her bag for a bandage to cover her fresh wound but she remembered that she didn't pack one. 'I didn't expect Uchiha to come' she thought, she put her jacket back on and walked back to Shino and Uchiha with the water and firewood.
Hinata got back to the two boys. Sasuke stared at her as she began to ignite the wood.
"Let me help with that" Sasuke offered
"No, I know what I am doing" she snapped "I don't need your help"
Sasuke kept quite and watched as their surroundings became a clearer.
Shino looked at her and noticed that she was a bit wet 'she didn't need to go in the water, why is she wet?' so he asked "Why are you wet Hinata?"
She didn't answer.
"She slipped and fell, even with Byakugan you didn't the water in front of you, nice" Sasuke said with a smirk on his face, trying to bring humor into the silence.
Hinata lips made no signs of a smile immerging, she glared heavily at Sasuke at the corner of her eye. She tried hard to let his face bring those memories back but they did.
Hinata put her hand on her fore head 'the ringing, this head-ache'
Sasuke looked at her with concern "You okay? Here let me..."
"Don't touch me!" Hinata shouted in defense, moving her hand away from his reach.
Sasuke then immediately noticed the blood stains on her jacket "What happened to you? Why is your jacket full of blood stains?"
Hinata kept quite, shifting her gaze toward the fire.
Sasuke was getting worried, remembering what Shino had said to him "Hinata…"
Before Sasuke could say anymore the three of them heard shuffling in within the bushes of the forest. Their guards were lifted from low to high as they waited for perpetrator to appear
"Oh, it's just you." Hinata's eyes dropped at the sight of the so called perpetrator.
If you got any questions, please feel free to ask and once again I AM SO SORRY FOR THE LATE PUBLISHING!