Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto in anyway.
Hi everyone! Here's chapter two.
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====Chapter Two====
Hinata tossed and turned in her bed, sweating heavily.
She hastily woke up coughing. She sat up in her bed, her sheets and blanket was soaked, and her pillow was a soggy mess.
As she breathed heavily she heard a knock on her door.
"Onee-san?.. are you ok?.."
Hanabi asked as she slowly opened the door.
"Hanabi.."
Hinata muttered.
"No..i don't feel well at all, I feel horrible.."
"Oh my god, Hinata!"
"You look awful, you're really pale"
Hanabi rushed in and put her hand on Hinata's forehead.
"Hinata…You're burning up!"
"Lay down, I'm gonna get father!"
Hanabi quickly rushed out of Hinata's room, and down the hall.
A few minutes passed as Hinata was sweating, and constantly panting. Her eyes fixed at a spot on the ceiling.
"Hinata!"
A rather booming voice was heard. Hinata slowly turned her head, it was Hiashi.
He stood next to her with concerning eyes.
"Father.."
Hinata just barely managed to mumble.
"Shh, don't speak"
he commanded as he put his hand on her forehead.
"… Neji!"
"Contact the hospital, and tell them to send a medical team right away!"
"Yes uncle!"
Neji quickly answered.
He had been standing in Hinata's doorway. But was now halfway out of the Hyuuga Mansion.
"Don't worry Daughter. I'll be by your side until you feel well, and I'll make sure the medics gives you the best treatment available"
Hiashi said with a stern, yet soft voice.
Hinata looked her father straight in the eyes. She knew her father loved her, but it had been years since he had looked at her with such loving and concerning eyes.
She struggled to hold back her tears, but a few still broke through.
Hiashi gently wiped her tears.
"Rest for now… Everything will be fine"
He turned to Hanabi.
"Stay with you sister, if she needs anything you get it, understood?"
"Of course father!"
Hanabi pulled up a chair and sat next to her sister
At that, Hiashi exited the room.
"Do you want me to get you a glass of water?"
"No..i-i'm fine.."
"Hinata.. You should drink something, you need to stay hydrated. I'll go get you some, just in case"
Hanabi walked over to the window.
"I'll just let some light in your room, it might get your spirits up"
she smiled as she pulled back the curtains.
"See? Much better. I'll be right back with your water sis"
Hinata slowly turned her head to look out the window. She could see the mountains. It was a wonderful view. Her eyes trailed around a few times, until she focused her sight on the trees. The orange autumn trees..
She felt as if she had forgotten something..
-Shit!..-
her eyes widened.
She quickly sat up in her bed and flung her head, facing the clock on her wall. It was almost noon.
-Noo! I'm supposed to meet Naruto-kun today!-
she lowered her eyebrows.
-..This isn't fair…Why did I have to get sick now?!-
she had an almost agonizing look on her face.
She furiously grabbed her sheets.
-Damn it!..-
Hanabi stepped into the room, holding a glass of water.
"Hinata.. what's wrong? You look.. Kind of mad"
she giggled at the last part as she placed the glass of water down at the side table.
Hinata hadn't even noticed her sister entering the room. She turned to face her. She wasn't just angry, she was obviously also sad.
"It's nothing.."
she barely managed to say before she started coughing.
"Hinata.. Clearly there is something else than your illness bothering you.."
she lowered her eyebrows.
"I know you.."
She took her sisters hand and placed it between her own palms.
"Talk to me"
she gave Hinata a soft smile.
"..Hanabi.."
"It's just..."
A light pink blush spread across her cheeks.
"Ooohh! I get it! It's a boy isn't it?"
Hanabi's eyes lit up as she smiled.
Hinata didn't answer, instead she slightly started cringing as she quickly looked down.
"Or.. Maybe it's a girl?.. I'm not judging"
she teased her sister.
"Hanabi! i-i'm not.."
"Haha I'm joking, calm down"
"Now come on, won't you tell me?"
"..Well.."
her face turned red.
"I'ts..Naruto…Kun.."
she pulled her legs up to her face and hid her face between her knees.
"Naruto?.. Uzumaki Naruto?"
Hanabi asked curiously.
Hinata didn't answer, instead she buried her head deeper between her knees.
"Hmm... Yeah, I think I can see it now"
"That's a good fit Hinata"
she chuckled and smiled at her.
Hinata blushed.
"I was supposed to see him today… But now I can't"
she sighed.
"Oh.. I'm so sorry Hinata"
Hanabi said with an apologetic frown.
Neji softly knocked on the door before he opened it.
"Hinata-Dono, The medical team has arrived"
he explained as he stepped to the side.
Three women entered the room, Followed by Hiashi.
He gestured to Hanabi to leave the room with Neji.
She bowed as she exited with Neji.
The medical team bowed to Hinata before they started examine her.
She felt a little awkward, all those eyes examining every inch of her body.
Fifteen minutes passed. And finally the examination was over.
"Hinata-Sama"
One of the nurses spoke
"It seems you have contracted a virus in your lungs. Now we're going to give you some pills to counter the virus. By our calculations you should be fully restored after two weeks. But you should be able to leave the house after only a few days, as long as you wear warm clothing"
Hinata listened closely and nodded.
-A few days.. Naruto-Kun. I'm sorry..-
Hinata sighed.
Naruto was leaning over a bridge at the spot him and Hinata was supposed to meet up at.
He looked around at the passing people. He had been standing there for an hour now.
"Man.. I guess she's not showing up then"
he muttered.
"Why did she even agree to meet up if she wasn't gonna show?"
He leaned up from the railing and sighed. He felt rather disappointed. He didn't really know why, but he had hoped to see Hinata today.
As Naruto walked along the streets of Konoha he couldn't help but picture Hinata's big lavender eyes.
Suddenly he heard someone calling his name.
"Naruto!"
He turned around and saw Sakura running towards him.
"Eh, Sakura-Chan, what's up?"
"Naruto, Tsunade-Sama has called for a meeting with us and Asuma's team"
Sakura answered.
"A meeting?, you mean, like for a mission?"
he exclaimed.
"I think so, it seems like it"
"Alright!"
he felt excited. A chance to show off his new skills!
"Let's get going!"
They rushed of towards the Hokage tower.
As they entered the Hokage office, Azuma and his team; Ino, Shikamaru and Choji was already there.
As was Yamato and Sai.
Naruto gave Sai a rather disapproving look, the first time they had met it hadn't gone very well.
-Gh, That guy..-
"Naruto, Sakura. Good, you're here, then we can begin."
Tsunade said.
"I'll get right to it…"
"The mission I will be assigning you will be a very dangerous one.."
"A group of rogue shinobi's has been roaming the north-west outskirts of the fire country, murdering, plundering.."
she paused for a second and sighed.
"..And 'Violating' women"
Ino and Sakura tensed up.
"They're considered extremely dangerous, and need to be dealt with immediately"
"This is not a capturing mission.. It's kill or be killed.."
"Now, before we continue any further"
she looked at Ino and Sakura.
"I will ask you two, if you feel any doubt about this mission, any at all, you're free to drop out.."
Ino and Sakura quickly shared a look, and then nodded.
"No mam!"
They exclaimed in unison.
"Good…"
she had a serious look on her face.
"It's a dangerous S-Class mission. But I have all confidence that the eight of you should manage this. With Yamato's and Shikamaru's skills, you should be able to easily slow them down, or contain them"
"But don't let that lower your guard.. And never split from the group unless absolutely necessary"
"If, you find yourself needing reinforcements. Release the seal on this scroll. And we will send another group immediately."
she threw a scroll to Yamato.
Tsunade gave Shizune a look, and gestured to her.
Shizune quickly rumbled through a stack of paper, and started handing out the mission information papers.
"Gather your belongings, you leave immediately"
After a few minutes of gathering their gear, the group met at the front gate.
Yamato took the lead.
"Alright guys. We have a long road ahead of us, it's already passed noon, and we need to get there as soon as possible. But it will probably take two or three days until we reach our destination. We will keep going until dawn before setting camp"
"Yosh!"
Naruto exclaimed.
"Let's take these bastards down!"
Hinata stepped out on the patio of the Hyuuga main house.
She sat down on the stairs and sighed as she gently brushed the back of her hair over her shoulder.
Letting it fall down her front.
It had been three days since her examination. And she felt much better, her throat didn't hurt, and she felt no need to cough anymore.
And she was finally able to go outside. She was supposed to be relieved now. But instead, she was frustrated, and incredibly worried.
Naruto had been sent on a dangerous mission. Once again he had fallen out of her reach.
-Naruto-Kun..-
-Why am I so unlucky-
she clenched her fists.
-Am I not allowed to be with him?..-
-Am I not even allowed to try?..-
She leaned her head and rested it on the wall to her right. The hair resting on her shoulder fell over her face, almost covering it completely.
"Damn it…"
she frowned and bit her lower lip.
"Damn it.. Damn it, Damn it, Damn it!"
her lip slightly started to bleed as she bit down harder.
She stayed like that for a long while, before getting up and entering the house again.
Hinata put on her jacket and zipped it up, she also threw on red scarf, and spun it around her neck.
The virus in her lungs had been shut down by the medication. But it was still possible to become active if she wasn't careful. Just a few more weeks, and the medication would get rid of the virus completely.
She left the house and went down the streets. She couldn't help but notice all the couples she passed on the streets. She gave them all an envious look. She wanted what they had, she wanted it bad. And she wanted it with none other than Naruto.
She sat down on a bench outside a flower shop, letting her mind race for a minute.
She sighed again, her breath letting out a fog-like vapor.
Staring at the ground, she clenched her fists. She was tired of never being able to tell Naruto how she felt.
-Why can't I be more confident..-
As she looked up across the street, she noticed yet another loving couple, holding hands.
-Fuck… That's it!-
Hinata couldn't take it anymore. She fastened her eyes on the clouds in the sky.
With her mind made up, she nodded with a determined look across her face.
-I'm going to tell him..-
-The next time i see Naruto-Kun.. I'm going to confess. I have to!-
Hinata proudly walked down the streets, feeling a little more confident in herself.
Blurry lines was hurryingly flashing trough the tree branches amongst the large trees.
They quickly came to a halt.
"…"
"There…"
Yamato discretely pointed down towards a clearing in the middle of the forest.
Five tents could be seen, and a small bonfire between them.
At the bonfire sat three men. One of them had a large sword strapped to his back.
"That's the targets…"
Asuma whispered with a serious tone in his voice.
"…Something's not right…"
Everyone looked at Shikamaru.
"What is it?.."
Ino whispered.
"The intel says they're a group of four, but there is only three"
he answered.
Naruto looked down at the clearing.
"Maybe the fourth one is in one of the tents?.."
"That's the other thing…"
Shikamaru said narrowing his eyes.
"There's supposed to be four of them, but there are five tents…"
Suddenly one of the tents opened, and a fourth man walked out.
"She's all yours, Masaru"
The man said as he walked over to the bonfire and sat down.
"Finally"
One of the men said as he stood up.
"You took too long Katsuo!"
"Heh, a gentleman always takes his time"
Katsuo laughed.
"Whatever.."
Masaru shook his head as he walked towards the tent.
Ino and Sakura both cringed, with a look of disgust on their faces.
"This is bad…"
Yamato whispered, narrowing his eyes.
"What is it?.."
Naruto asked. Oblivious to what they had just witnessed.
Shikamaru sighed and looked at him.
"…They have a woman in that tent.."
Naruto looked confused. But suddenly he widened his eyes.
"What?!"
he flung his head towards the clearing.
"Those bastards!…"
he clenched his fists. And quickly dropped down from the treetop.
"Wait!"
Yamato exclaimed.
But it was too late, he was already at the clearing.
"Let her go you bastards!"
Naruto yelled as he threw three shurikens at the man just about to enter the tent.
Masaru quickly blocked them with his short sword.
Two of the three men sitting at the fire, quickly jumped up.
"Who might this be?"
Katsuo said as he pulled out a kunai.
"The girl's boyfriend perhaps?"
he grinned.
"It doesn't matter…"
The other one calmly said.
"He dies"
Just as he was about to attack Naruto. The last man slowly stood up.
"Isamu!.. Stand down"
"…"
he backed a few steps.
"Yes Noburu…"
Noburu, was the one with the giant sword attached to his back.
He looked at Naruto.
"This one's not alone"
he shot a glare at the treetops behind Naruto.
Yamato flinched.
"Shit! We've been discovered!"
"Show yourselves"
Noburu demanded.
A few seconds passed, but it wasn't long before the rest of the group dropped down to Naruto's side.
Leaving only Yamato and Shikamaru in the shadows.
"Naruto you blew our cover!.."
Sakura whispered.
"…No, the guy with that huge sword seems to have noticed us before Naruto charged in.."
Asuma answered.
Katsuo looked over at Ino and Sakura.
"Well, what do we have here"
he lifted his kunai in front of his mouth and licked the blade.
"Wanna have some fun with me?"
Ino began to tremble. But Sakura got enraged.
"Oh I'll have some fun"
she answered as she cracked her knuckles.
"I'll have some fun while I kick the living shit out of you!"
"Oh?, why don't you try?.. Bitch"
He quickly sprinted towards her, with his kunai held above his head, ready to strike.
Suddenly tree branches shot out from the bushes at the side of them. Blocking Katsuo from advancing. The branches split, and reached towards him. But he quickly managed to jump back, dodging them.
"Gh, whew! What the hell was that?"
he exclaimed.
"…"
Noburu glared to his side.
"There are more of them.."
He gestured to Isamu and Masaru.
"Find them!"
he demanded
"Yes, Noburu!"
Isamu exclaimed.
But he couldn't move. Neither could Masaru.
"Wha- What the hell is this?"
Masaru exclaimed.
"Isamu! Masaru! What are you doing? Go! Now!"
Noburu commanded with a stern tone.
"…Boss… We can't move, they must have done something.."
Isamu replied.
Shikamaru had used his shadow binding jutsu on them while Yamato used his branches to block them. But he was only able to constrain two of them.
Noburu looked at Katsuo, the two of them could still move.
He reached back his hand and grabbed the hilt of his enormous sword.
"Masaru"
he looked at him
"Handle the one hiding over there"
he glared over to where Yamato was.
Masaru nodded. But before he made his way over there, he walked towards the tent with the girl in it.
"No evidence left behind…"
He had a sinister smile on his face as he threw a kunai with an explosion tag at its hilt, directly into the tent.
A muffled scream was heard, followed by a minor explosion.
He then disappeared into the woods
Naruto and his group widened their eyes in shock.
"…You…..Bastards….."
"I'll take care of the rest of you myself"
Noburu grinned as he drew his sword.
Masaru jumped from branch to branch, searching.
"There you are"
he exclaimed as he landed in front of Yamato.
"You know, it's very rude to spy on people like that"
Yamato was silent.
"It's even ruder to not answer people when they speak to you"
"I have nothing to say to scums like you.."
Yamato replied as he quickly made a hand seal and shot out branches from his shoulders. But missing him.
"You're gonna have to do better than that"
Masaru taunted him.
Hinata arrived at her favorite training spot.
She immediately sat down on one of the tree stubs. She sighed as she looked up at the sky.
-Naruto-Kun..-
Her hands trembled. She had heard the mission details from Kurenai. She was incredibly worried about him.
He was always kind of impulsive, and she loved that about him. But she always worried it might get him into trouble. And especially during a mission like this.
She stood up and stretched a bit.
-Be careful…Naruto-Kun-
she thought with an anxious look on her face.
Hinata walked over to one of the padded melee training pole. She took a deep breath. And began focusing her chakra unto her hands. She had a determined look on her face now.
-I must get stronger…-
She quickly began striking the pole with all her force.
An hour passed by.
Hinata had been training constantly. She was exhausted, so she sat down on one of the stubs, panting.
"Haa, haa, haa… That'll have to do…"
she huffed.
She looked over at the waterfall, rushing down the river.
She would like nothing more right now, than to dress down to her underwear and take a nice bath in the river, like she often did during the summer after training excessively.
But it was way too cold for that now. And with the virus still in her lungs, she couldn't risk it.
The wind began to blow faster.
-Guess I'll head back-
she thought as her ink colored hair danced around with the wind.
As Hinata walked down the streets of Konoha. She heard Kiba calling her name.
"Hinata!"
She looked up to her side.
"Oh, hi Kiba"
"Yahoo!"
he jumped down from a roof with Akamaru by his side.
"There you are, I've been looking for you"
he said as Akamaru stroked his head on her hand.
She smiled as she patted him on his head.
"You have?"
she asked.
"We didn't have any training today, did we?"
"Nah, but Kurenai was looking for us, seemed important, we should probably hurry. She's waiting in front of the Hokage tower with Shino"
"Oh, okay"
They rushed over to Kurenai.
"You found her, good"
Kurenai said as Hinata and Kiba walked up to her and Shino.
"Good day Sensei"
Hinata kindly greeted her.
"Hello Hinata. I'm glad you're able to go outside again, that virus must have been horrible, huh?"
Hinata nodded.
-If you only knew…-
"Alright. Anyway.."
A serious look spread across Kurenai's face.
"As you all know, Asuma's team, along with captain Yamato, Naruto, Sakura and Sai. Has been sent on an S-class mission. With them, they had an instant-message scroll. Used to contact the person with the other scroll linked to it. Tsunade told them to release the seal on it, which would notify her instantly, If they requested backup. Fifteen minutes ago, that seal was released. And the location of a meeting place appeared on the scroll"
Kurenai looked at Hinata.
"Tsunade wants to send a team with good tracking, and sensor skills. Which would fit us perfectly. So she decided on us"
Hinata widened her eyes.
"Hinata… You already know the mission details"
Kurenai lowered her eyebrows.
"You know the risks for you and me going on this mission. Tsunade has offered you to decline if you choose to…"
Hinata shrugged slightly, and felt sweat dripping from the side of her head.
-Naruto-Kun…-
She shook her head.
"No!, I'll go. I'll be fine.."
"Alright…"
Kurenai sighed.
"We leave in five minutes. Gather your gear, I'll be waiting at the gate"
A large clanging noise echoed through the forest.
"Gh… You bastard"
Naruto exclaimed as he blocked Noburu's sword with a kunai.
Noburu grinned.
"I'm impressed you've managed to hold out this long. And blocking my attack…"
"But neither you nor your friends are looking too well… I wonder… How much longer can you hold out?.."
They were all badly injured, but none fatal. They had barely managed to injure Noburu.
Naruto managed to push him backwards. He quickly formed a hand seal.
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"
With some of the last amount of chakra he could muster up, he managed to form three shadow clones.
As he sent two of them at Noburu, pushing him off a little further.
The third one furiously started scratching the air above his hand, molding the energy, as he focused his chakra into a spinning blue ball.
"Rasengan!"
he yelled as he released his shadow clones.
He quickly pushed himself off the ground with his feet, sending him flying towards Noburu.
-Come on!..-
he clenched his teeth as he closed in on him.
But just as it seemed his attack was going to land. Noburu gently sidestepped, avoiding his attack. And sending Naruto straight towards a tree.
-Shit!-
The tree got ripped to shreds, leaving it completely obliterated.
"Naruto!"
Sakura widened her eyes.
She fell to her knees as she tried to run over to him, she was exhausted.
Naruto was kneeling in the rubble of what used to be a tree. He grasped his shoulder, it had become dislocated during the impact.
"Gh… You bastard… I'll rip you apart!"
"That was quite a show. I'll give you that"
Noburu grinned.
"But look around you… your friends can barely stand up. It's over.."
he lowered his sword, pointing it at Naruto.
But just as he was about to drive his sword forwards at an attempt to impale him, he stumbled and let out a painful scream.
"Noburu-Sama!"
Isamu exclaimed.
He was still being held by Shikamaru's shadow jutsu, as was Katsuo. But Shikamaru was at his limit.
Noburu quickly jumped over to his companions. He had been impaled in the leg by Yamato's Wood Release jutsu.
"…Isamu, Katsuo. It's time to leave"
"What? Because of that scratch? You had them! And what about Masaru?!"
Katsuo exclaimed.
They watched as Yamato slowly emerged from the woods.
"Masaru would never let an opponent escape… If that guy's here, that means Masaru is dead"
"…"
A grieving frown spread across Katsuo's face.
"Brother…"
Noburu formed a hand seal.
"Mist release!"
A thick mist quickly enveloped the three of them.
As they began to fade away, escaping. Yamato fell to his knees, panting.
There were a few moments of silence, the only thing that was heard was the soft panting of the tired shinobis.
Shikamaru stumbled out of the woods, exhausted but unharmed.
He quickly walked towards Sakura, and transferred a large amount of chakra to her, enabling her to begin healing her comrades.
"…We need backup"
Shikamaru said as he helped Yamato to his feet.
"I know… I've already released the seal on the scroll…"
he wiped of some of the blood from his face.
"We'll head back to that bridge we crossed a day ago, the reinforcements will meet us there…"
He walked up to where Noburu had stood when he's leg got impaled. He kneeled down and drew a blood sample from the pool on the ground.
"Gather anything that could have their scent from the camp, clothing preferably"
"Captain Yamato"
Sai walked towards him.
"…What about the girl?"
Yamato stood silent for a moment.
"We'll hold a ceremonial burial for her…"
Hinata arrived at the bridge with the rest of her team, exhausted.
They'd been traveling for two days straight, only stopping to catch their breath once in a while.
Kurenai looked around.
"This is the place…"
"Alright, rest up a bit, we'll wait for them here"
"Aaahhh!"
Kiba exhaled as he almost dropped to the ground.
"I'm beat!"
They hadn't been waiting for long when the others arrived.
"Asuma…"
Kurenai softly whispered to herself with a smile as their eyes met.
Yamato immediately began explaining their situation as they all gathered around.
Even though she was listening, and paying attention. Hinata couldn't help but discretely eyeing Naruto.
He seemed frustrated, and had scars and burns across his face.
-Naruto-Kun…-
"So, Kiba"
Yamato turned facing him.
He pulled out pieces of a shirt they had found in their tent, along with the blood he had drawn.
"You think you and Akamaru can track them using these scents?"
Kiba sniffed the rag and the sample of blood.
"No problem!"
he exclaimed.
"We got this!"
"Good"
Yamato looked around.
"We'll set up camp here for tonight, we all need our rest. We'll continue in the morning"
Night came quickly.
Hinata leaned against a tree by the camp.
She glanced over at Naruto. He was sitting at the campfire, he had been very quiet, obviously frustrated.
He wasn't the only one. The rest of his team and Asuma's were very quiet and frustrated.
She wanted to talk to him. But she couldn't disturb him now. If she went to him now and told him her feelings, it would only make things worse, and distract him from the mission. It would have to wait until after the mission.
She sighed and lowered her head.
"Hey..How you holding up?"
Kurenai said with a soft smile as she sat down next to her.
"Oh, Kurenai-Sensei… Hello…"
she tried to return the smile, but Kurenai could obviously see it was fake.
Kurenai giggled.
"You know... i was once like you"
Hinata looked at her, a bit confused. Not knowing where the conversation was going.
"I was incredibly shy around boys, and didn't know how to tell this guy how I felt towards him… But I realized, it's better to try, no matter the outcome"
she smiled at Hinata.
"If you don't, then you'll never know what could have been. Right?"
Hinata looked at her, her eyes widening and her face blushing.
"K-kurenai-sensei…Y-you know?..."
she felt her pulse quickening.
She realized her crush on him might have been noticeable, but she honestly didn't think anyone had realized.
Kurenai laughed.
"Of course I know"
she put her hand on Hinata's shoulder.
"I'm your sensei, after all"
She watched as the embarrassed Hyuuga tried to hide her face underneath her hair. Kurenai smiled.
"I won't push you"
she paused
"But you two would make a cute couple"
she patted her on the shoulder as she stood up and left.
Hinata felt so embarrassed. She slowly looked up, peeking through the long strands of hair covering her face.
Naruto was standing up. He arched his back as he stretched, letting out a sigh. Then began walking to his tent, he entered it and closed it behind him.
-Naruto-Kun..-
-Please wait…-
-After this… I promise…-
She stood up, and walked towards her tent.