Hey, hey!

I feel so bad that everyone loved the sweet previous chapter. Come on guys, you know that is not my thing! I give you the warm and fuzzies one chapter, and we all know how the next chapter will be. For my new followers, just know that's my writing style sometimes.

I'll jump to the warnings:

IT'S A KISS SCENE. TEENAGE KISSING. NOTHING MORE.

SLIGHT GORE IN THIS CHAPTER.

You have been warned!

"Kiss her you idiot."

Hinata heard those words and immediately flailed her arms frantically in the air. Why would Sasuke say that?! She was 13 for goodness sake. She'd be 14 in one more month, but still! That wasn't old enough for such things! "W-W-What?! I b-beg your p-pardon?! That is V-VERY inappropriate U-U-Uchiha Sasuke!"

Sasuke looked at Hinata amused. She was so flustered right now. She couldn't even talk right. Naruto didn't look any better. He looked just as flustered. "You two were sitting there looking stupid for too long. Just get it over with." Naruto looked at Sasuke completely confused and lost. Sasuke just said he LIKED Hinata the other night, now he wanted him to kiss Hinata.

While he watched?

What the hell?!

Sasuke tilted his head as he looked at them. He wasn't smiling and looked more annoyed than anything. They were acting like children. Like they've never been in a situation like this. "You two never kissed someone?"

Naruto was at a loss of words. His male pride didn't want him to answer that question though. Hinata still sputtering, was completely insulted and felt degraded as a lady. No one had ever in their life talked to her like this. "I am 13!"

"I kissed someone at 12. What is your point? Plus, when is your birthday?" Hinata's mouth hung open. "December 27th. Also. WHY? W-W-We shouldn't be doing such a thing." Sasuke shrugged his shoulders and continued to look at the two like they were being the weird ones.

On a side note. Naruto and Sasuke logged that Hinata's birthday was coming up actually. From their memory of their class. They can now say Hinata is the youngest in their rookie class. She didn't act like it though, but now they knew they were dealing with the 'baby' of their group.

Naruto and Hinata were the youngest. They thought like the youngest too. It was slightly killing Sasuke's mood.

Sasuke didn't know what brought out this personality in him right now. He wasn't typically so open and flirtatious. It could be teenage hormones. Or the idea that he'd have to get some type of affection before possibly dying on this mission. Or it could just be Hinata brought out this side of him. "Why did I kiss someone? I wanted to try it out. That's why. I can do what I want. Who is going to tell me no?"

It was silent between the three of them for a moment. Sasuke came back to his statement though. He wasn't one for letting things go. "So. Are you going to kiss her or not?" Naruto looked at Sasuke like he couldn't be serious. "No! That's not what was happening just now!" Hinata looked at Naruto and he looked back at her.

Right?

Or maybe it was and the two were just kidding themselves. The way Hinata freaked out like that, Naruto thought she didn't want to and was angry Sasuke would even say something like that.

Hinata looked at Naruto and fidgeted with her fingers. Naruto watched her for a moment and now was completely confused. "Well…I can't read minds Hinata." She glowed red and looked over at Naruto.

This was so embarrassing. "I-I-I…I thought we were." Naruto's eyes widened and a smile started to creep up his face. She actually wanted to. With HIM. "We…we still could."

Sasuke folded his arms as he stopped looking at the two and into the distance. These two were so annoying. Sasuke didn't care if he kissed Hinata first or not, he just wanted Naruto to figure his emotions out. Things would go smoother that way.

Naruto scooted closer to Hinata and looked into her eyes. He didn't know what the hell he was doing. He didn't know how to kiss. Girls were so foreign to him. What they liked. What they didn't like. No girl really looked his way.

Now a cheesy flirter? That was up his alley. Naruto was a professional at that, but actually kissing, he was lost.

Naruto leaned over close to Hinata and was gentle. He kissed her on the lips and it was light. It was sweet and it was quick, but it was enough to bring a smile to both of them. Wow…THAT was an adrenaline rush. Naruto's hands lightly shook and his eyes danced as he looked at Hinata. His smile widened when he saw she had the same look as him.

"Hn. Needs work."

Naruto immediately fell out the moment and glared at Sasuke. "Oh because you're a professional." Sasuke shrugged his shoulders. "Kiss me Hinata." The shock that crossed Hinata's face as she looked over at Sasuke was priceless. "W-Wh-"

Sasuke scooted closer to Hinata and didn't wait for a reply. He didn't feel like all this talking and explaining feelings. They just explained feelings the other night. They established him and Naruto both liked Hinata and she liked the both of them. He was over talking about it.

They developed their own personal sleeping arrangements with one another. The denial with these two was too much for Sasuke.

For goodness sake Sasuke was patient enough! Dealing with Naruto and his constant lost in the clouds personality. Naruto's socially inept understanding of EVERYTHING. Hinata's addiction. Her consuming so much alcohol he wondered how she wasn't brain dead or constantly shaking. Hinata's deep depression that crippled her personality from being present.

Sasuke was patient with all of that! Everyone knew if he wanted to he could be downright rotten, and he used to be. Not anymore! So, that being said. He was going to kiss whoever he wanted and he wanted to kiss Hinata.

Sasuke kissed her. It wasn't forcing and degrading. It was a full, plump kiss. A little wet and a lot more emotion in it because in reality, Sasuke was emotional right now. He wasn't someone to voice it, he was someone to show it.

His kiss was not meant to be gentle or to cradle her. It was meant to 'steal your breath away'. Sasuke cupped Hinata's cheek and she tilted her head into the kiss. Showing the 'Princess' actually enjoyed what was happening. Like Sasuke thought.

Naruto watched the two. Oddly enough…Naruto wasn't jealous. It was like the first time ever he didn't feel jealous of Sasuke. He almost wanted Sasuke to experience the same adrenaline rush he felt kissing Hinata. The joy it brought him. He wanted Sasuke to feel that.

Why? He didn't know. Naruto wasn't fighting the feeling away though.

When Sasuke separated he looked down at Hinata. His thumb stroked her cheek and he basked at how soft her chubby cheeks were. He wondered as they grew older would the chunky cheeks go away on her. "I'm no expert, but I'm decent enough."

Sasuke leaped off the porch and stood in front of Naruto. The two were eye level now that he was on the ground. "Let me show you so you know the difference."

Naruto immediately held his arms up to create distance. "Hold up! Hold the hell up! Back in the academy. That kiss wasn't what you thought!" Naruto looked terrified. Naruto and Sasuke mistakenly smacked lips against one another in the academy. Someone pushed Naruto into Sasuke when they were glaring at one another. Naruto looked over at Hinata like he was trying to sell to her what he was saying more than anything.

Hinata looked over at Sasuke then back at Naruto. This was a bit of a…dramatic reaction. Hinata wasn't making assumptions, but she saw the relationship Naruto and Sasuke had. It was a very close relationship. It could be a strong friendship and nothing more, but Hinata felt as if Naruto was just not 'understanding' how close he was to Sasuke.

What did she know. She didn't even understand her relationships with Naruto and Sasuke.

For some reason Hinata couldn't see Naruto had this strong connection with her as well. She always thought no one would feel that close to her. This was all hard to accept.

Hinata and Sasuke made eye contact before she adverted her eyes quickly from him. Sasuke smirked at her when he saw her blush from his gaze. Hinata closed off from them, but Sasuke was breaking down her defenses.

Naruto caught the stare between the two and how Sasuke slowly looked back at him. Sasuke smacked Naruto's hands away and looked unfazed by the blondes dramatic closet behavior. "Fine."

Naruto leaned back on the porch until he was lying on his back. He let out an overstimulated breath. A lot had just happened. He laid on his back and looked over to where Hinata was. She stared at him and did the same thing she did with Sasuke. She quickly looked away with a blush. Naruto smiled at her and couldn't believe his night.

He kissed a girl! Better than that. He kissed Hinata.

He was on cloud nine right now.

Naruto looked back over at Sasuke, who was still standing in front of him. He couldn't figure Sasuke out. What Sasuke wanted. How he felt about the team. One minute he was a self-centered ass hole. The next second he was quiet and some emo kid. Then…there was this Sasuke. The Sasuke that could be just as hands on as him.

Naruto liked this Sasuke.

Naruto understood Sasuke liked Hinata. The three of them had this silent understanding that they were like…sharing this new experience with one another. All three of them kind of foreign to this emotional journey they were on. It felt like Sasuke being slightly older than them was on this 'coming of age' journey and were using them as his test dummies a little.

Sasuke eyed Naruto. The two looked at one another before Naruto covered his face and wiped it in slight frustration. This was something Naruto decided to put on the back burner for when they got home. This should all be talked and discussed when they were no longer in danger and in the walls of Konoha.

"W-We shouldn't be doing this. Should we?" Hinata voiced this as she noticed the animosity between Naruto and Sasuke. Maybe this was all wrong. They were a team after all. They were young and acting off youthful emotions. She didn't want to damage their team. Hinata didn't want to be a reason team seven became broken.

She was starting to feel like she was ruining the team. Maybe she shouldn't have ever answered Sasuke's question. Maybe she should have just kept to herself like she always did.

"No. Don't be ridiculous."

"Shut up. You think too much."

Both Naruto and Sasuke answered Hinata at the same time. At least the two males could agree on this matter. Their situation would have to wait another time. Sasuke dug his hands in his pockets as he prepared to walk back inside. "You think too much. Stop overthinking. Our team is fine. We work well together. We all know each other's personal problems. Naruto has been attached to you almost since day one. I was the one to ask about how you felt."

"Demanded to know." Naruto mumbled this, because Sasuke by no means 'asked'.

"I told Naruto to kiss you. You didn't initiate any of this. So stop thinking you ruin everything." Sasuke proceeded to the door to leave Naruto and Hinata back to their bonding time. He stopped for a second to reassure Hinata for the final time.

"Trust me. If I thought you were a waste of my time and anything was your fault. I wouldn't hesitate to tell you."

"It'll be fine Hinata. You, Sasuke and Kakashi are going to be just fine guarding the builder. Before you know it, this mission will be done and over with and we'll be back home." Naruto had said all of this while still brushing his teeth and was jumbling up his words. Hinata stood beside him in the bathroom mirror as she brushed hers as well.

Sasuke had woken Naruto and Hinata because he had last watch. He took note of how Naruto liked to invade Hinata's space at night. This is the third time Sasuke has caught Naruto leaning his forehead on Hinata's as they slept. When Sasuke woke them up, he himself had already cleaned himself and went out to stretch and plan for the mission.

Hinata was still a bit sensitive to light, but Kakashi was confident and adamant on leaving Naruto back with Tazuna's family. So, he must have thought and planned out who's abilities would suffice in each location. "Please be kind to him Naruto."

Naruto finished brushing his teeth and was patting dry his face. "Who? The brat? Pfft. I'm not thinking about that kid." Hinata dried her face and frowned in the mirror. "He's a good person. He's a little broken and he's scared. He's alone."

Naruto stopped himself from rolling his eyes. He straightened himself up and turned to look at Hinata. He noted how her hair was starting to grow. Just a little in the back. Soon she'd have to cut it again or let it grow out. He tilted his head as he continued to look at her. He wondered how Hinata would look with long hair. "Hinata."

She blinked at him and noticed how now at 14 years old. Naruto had a little height on him when compared to her. They used to be equal height back in the academy. "Yes?"

Naruto had this relaxed look to him. His eyelids were low and he gazed at her. "I get it. The kid lost his dad. I don't have a dad. I see the comparison. I mean…I never had a dad. Or a mom. Yet I'm not out here crying. Have you seen me cry?"

Hinata shook her head no, not even needing time to think. She immediately knew she never seen Naruto in a weakened state since they were in single digits. She wasn't willing to tell Naruto she used to be his personal stalker though. Not just yet.

Naruto smiled at her and placed a loc of her hair behind her ear. "Right. He's scared. He's broken. He's alone, but so were the rest of us. At the same age as him. I'm not going to baby him. I'm going to tell the kid to grow a pair and move on."

Hinata bit her bottom lip and looked off to the mirror. Looking at their reflection and how close Naruto invaded her space. She smiled at the image. Even going the extra mile and resting her head on his shoulder as she looked at their reflection. Naruto hugged her and patted her silky hair as he closed his eyes.

Praying for this mission to finally be over with. With them on top.

When the two finished freshening up. Kakashi, Sasuke and Hinata hit the road to take Mr. Tazuna to the bridge to start the building process. They walked in silence. Hinata more so trying to focus on her senses than her eyes when it came to sensing anything. Something was off. It was strange out here.

Maybe it was just her nerves. The fact that she was on restriction from using her Byakugan. It was an odd feeling for a Hyuga to not rely on their eyes and it was scary. She felt useless, and at the same time it was a good time for her to reflect. To understand that just because her Byakugan was the most advanced in her family, that didn't mean anything when it came to her fighting skills.

That team she predicted she would be on. Team eight. That was ideal for tracking. For relying on her eyes. This team wasn't . This team needed her to be a force and sadly she was stuck. She struggled to give them what they needed.

Every step they took to the work site, Hinata felt like she heard something. A snap of a twig made the hair on her neck stand up. She started to count Kakashi, Sasuke and the bridge builder foot steps to make sure it was their feet that was causing the sounds on the ground.

She was slightly starting to become paranoid.

Mr. Tazuna spoke to Kakashi. Hinata watched them talk and grew slightly annoyed. He was ruining her concentration. If she couldn't use her Byakugan. She needed to focus on the area. She had to drown out the constant sound of water. The sound of it being a windy day. The squirrels and birds around them. She just needed to FOCUS.

Then she heard the ruffle in the bushes to her left.

She froze.

"Stop talking."

Hinata watched Kakashi as he instructed this. He must have sensed everything all along. "Sensei." She needed her eyes. This wouldn't workout good without her eyes. Kakashi snapped his head towards Hinata and she saw how serious and fierce he looked. When he got like this she quickly understood why he was their sensei. "I said NO. Not until I tell you otherwise Hinata."

She backed down and nodded her head. Hinata slid in her gentle fist stance and stood in front of the bridge builder. "What is all of this mists? It came out of nowhere!" Mr. Tazuna looked utterly confused and Hinata frowned as she scanned the area. "It is a technique from the missing-nin."

Sasuke turned and looked at Hinata. He could tell she was way out of her comfort zone and was moments away from defying Kakashi. Her eyes were important. They needed her to rest them as much as possible and if they couldn't pull extra weight due to a comrades injuries then what kind of ninja's were they.

"Hinata." She looked at Sasuke and could see that he was just as serious as their sensei. Sasuke shook his head and that was enough to have Hinata frown and submit to her teammates.

"Should have let her use her dōjutsu Kakashi. I liked seeing her eyes bleed."

The image of two bodies stood out in the mist and there was Zabuza and the false Hunter-nin that was seen days prior. Sasuke stood in front of Hinata. "I can protect Mr. Tazuna, Sasuke. Trust me please."

Sasuke didn't take his eyes off the two individuals. He prepared himself to attack and spoke to Hinata in a low tone. Meant for only her to hear. "I'm not trying to protect him." Hinata faltered a bit when she saw Sasuke take off to the other missing-nin. She watched Kakashi engage with Zabuza and Sasuke disappear into the mist.

Hinata felt useless. What could she do at this moment? She couldn't just leave the builder.

Hinata noticed how everyone just became separated more and more into the mists. Her paranoia started to kick in as she started to hear more and more foreign footsteps.

The footsteps got louder and she could hear several voices. They were taunting her. Letting Hinata know she was out numbered.

Hinata backed up towards the bridge builder and pulled out a kunai. She pulled out another and then another. Placing the third one in her mouth. "Please. Lay on the ground Mr. Tazuna." She mumbled this before preparing herself for an attack.

Hinata didn't have her Byakugan activated, but she turned her head just in time in the mist to see a wooden club wrapped in barbed wire coming straight to her face.

She wasn't fast enough.

Sasuke was handling himself decent up until this point. He was matching with the missing-nin, that he discovered name was Haku, fairly well. Matching his speed, which seemed to be impossible in the beginning. However, not noticing that all ninja's have trump cards, Sasuke failed to avoid this one. Haku's, 'Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals'.

It caught Sasuke in this cage and he's been getting sprayed with waves of senbon's ever since being caught in the caged ice. He'd hate to admit this, but this is one of those situations that Sasuke would say teamwork would be needed. Sasuke has been dodging the attacks for some time and this was getting exhausting. This guy was playing mind games with him.

The only positive thing of all of this. Sasuke activated his Sharingan. He finally was a step closer. He had to eliminate this enemy and get back home to work on his Sharingan with Kakashi. He was close now and Haku wasn't going to ruin it for him. For him, or the future he had planned for himself.

Sasuke had to stay focused. He had to stay motivated. He didn't awaken his Sharingan to die out here today.

Sasuke eyes widened when he noticed attacks happening on the outside of the mirrors. There weren't a lot of people that he knew could be so blunt with their blows. It had to be Naruto.

Naruto was proving to be a good distraction for Haku and if Naruto could stay on the outside and Sasuke fight Haku from the inside. They could have something. "Stay out there Naruto!"

"Stay out here?! I had to stop fucking thugs from killing that kid and his mom. This Zabuza guy is trying to kill me, and you're stuck in an ice glass full of mirrors! What do you mean!? PLUS WHERE IS HINATA?! I can't find her!"

Sasuke growled at Naruto's natural ability to always argue with people. Sasuke left Hinata to bring the attention away from her and their client. Hinata should be fine while Kakashi, him and Naruto handle the active threats. "Focus on one agenda! We can defeat him that way! Just…Just fucking trust me Naruto!"

There was silence for a moment. Finally Naruto spoke up, "What's the plan then? It better be a good one too." Sasuke breathed a sigh of relief. Thank goodness he got through Naruto's thick skull. "You're shadow clones. Over ride him. Make him focus more on you and less on me. We have to figure out a way to get to the real him and break the barrier."

"Or…I could just use all of my energy on you now and kill you and then kill him." Haku looked over at Sasuke and multiple clones of Haku appeared in all the mirrors. "Those shadow clones won't be fast enough to stop me from killing you." With that Haku attacked Sasuke.

Naruto stood impatiently on the other side of the mirrors and waited for Sasuke to give him the go. Something was wrong. Sasuke grew terribly silent. Against Sasuke's advice Naruto went under the ice crystals. The image he saw sent him into a rage like no other.

This Haku was going to die.

Over with Hinata. She was not fairing too well. She wasn't doing bad, but she was fading.

Hinata's face was wet and red. She was breathing irregular and frantic.

The numbers were dwindling and she didn't have to defend herself and Mr. Tazuna every other second anymore. At one point the thugs from the corrupt man Gato came out every corner. Targeting Mr. Tazuna. She immobilized them left and right with her Gentle Fists.

Hinata guessed this was as good as time as any to get real world experience with her gentle fists compared to her practicing with her family. She didn't fail, but she couldn't deliver a deadly blow like her cousin.

This is what her father has told her all along and she thought he was just being mean.

He was being realistic.

To really understand the amount of deadly force you need to hurt someone to the point that they couldn't get back up. That's what Hiashi was trying to teach Hinata. She didn't do bad, however these were men bent on killing certain people. Herself included on their lists. So, sadly Hinata had to learn that immobilizing them just wasn't enough. She had to make it permanent. She had to make it so they permanently wouldn't get up.

Hinata watched as Mr. Tazuna attempted to get up. The look of fear from the scene in front of him made him want to regurgitate. Hinata lightly put a hand on his back and pushed him back on the ground. "Please…stay…put." She was breathing heavy and was very tired. "Both of you."

Hinata looked over to the man in charge. The man behind all of this catastrophe. Gato. She had him immobilized on the ground near Mr. Tazuna.

One by one Hinata scanned the bodies that were still moving and picked up one of Gato goons wired thick wooden clubs. It was an unruly, very undignified thing to carry around. Barbwire wrapped around it, and it just making contact with your skin would cut you up. It was a very heavy wooden log and it was hard to lift.

With the appropriate adrenaline rush from almost being taken from this earth too soon. Hinata was able to lift it with ease now. Hinata learned a long time ago she was weak. A few months ago, Neji actually gave the idea for her to start channeling a lot of chakra to her arms and hands. He was getting rather bored with throwing her around during training.

So, when the first man swung his wired club to Hinata's head. She couldn't dodge it in time, but she gripped it, and it penetrated through her hand. Spikes went through her small hand and if Hinata wasn't pumping chakra through it, she would have surely screamed in utter pain.

She used her extra strength to snatch the club from the man and in return swung it on him. With her extra strength, the club decapitated his head in one swing. After that, Hinata proceeded to exterminate them with her speed and added strength. She had to be fast, she didn't have the chakra to keep this up.

Tazuna flinched as he watched Hinata lift the club and slam it on another one of Gato's men heads. Immediately the man screamed in pain because Hinata was getting tired and sloppy, she wasn't killing them immediately anymore.

"I…I am very sorry." Hinata looked down at the man as she raised the club again. "B-But it was either you. Or me!" She slammed the club again on the men's head and watched as it split in two. Ignoring how her face got wetter and wetter. More and more red.

Hinata paused and leaned on the log to regain her composure as she needed to take a breath. Her breath got caught in her throat as she felt an enormous amount of chakra spike. That wasn't their sensei's, Sasuke's or either of the missing-nin. Against her orders Hinata activated her Byakugan.

Naruto?

What was that? What was happening?!

Hinata immediately deactivated her Byakugan. Guilt eating at her for disobeying orders and from feeling the slight sting of pain for using her Byakugan too soon. She looked back at the fallen men before her. They were still moving. They were still a threat.

Five down. Five to go.

"You should kill me. Kill me now."

Naruto rolled his eyes as he ignored the young man that he had defeated. Letting him slip away to who knows where.

Well, he thinks he can classify this as his defeat. He…didn't know what this was. He thought Sasuke was dead and he just. He just snapped. He doesn't remember a lot. However, sometimes Naruto does black out. He just couldn't remember what he does during his black outs or what this energy in him was.

It was energy right? Like adrenaline. Maybe he had intense anger issues? He was always lost as to why sometimes he just felt so foreign and at odds with his own body when he got too upset.

With Haku's defenses down. His trump card no longer a threat. Naruto breathed out a sigh of relief when he walked over to see Sasuke and noticed Sasuke start to take breaths again.

Naruto collapsed on his knees and hugged Sasuke. "I thought you were dead! Fuck you teme. You tricked me." Sasuke woke up from the senbon's poking deeper in him the more Naruto hugged him. Thus making Sasuke angry, causing him to push Naruto away.

"Dobe! Get off!" Sasuke gave Naruto a heated look as he gasped in pain.

Naruto realized what he did and backed away. "Sorry! Here." Naruto let Sasuke lean on him as he helped him up and started to walk with him. Sasuke grunted and noticed that the boy Haku was gone. "Where is he?"

Naruto looked at Sasuke before looking beyond the mists. Looking for the target Sasuke was talking about, but mainly looking for Hinata. "Oh. He left I guess."

Sasuke looked at Naruto confused why Naruto was so calm. Naruto caught the stare and shrugged his shoulders. "He's not a threat anymore Sasuke." Naruto looked ahead after saying this. Ending the topic of conversation right there.

The two wandered until they found Kakashi. He was ending the battle between Zabuza. Well. He was currently doing a two-piece special right at the moment. Lighting engulfed Kakashi's hand and he pierced through young Haku and it went through and he pushed further to pierce Zabuza. Everything happening within seconds. Fast and deadly.

Sasuke had an arm wrapped around Naruto's shoulder blade as Naruto supported him. He watched the scene and frowned. "That was my kill." Naruto looked over at Sasuke and grinned. "They'll be more. Get over yourself. He's our sensei for a reason. Just watch the badass-ness and let it go."

Sasuke actually chuckled at this. Naruto smiled while he looked at him.

Sasuke flinched because it hurt to laugh. The corner of his lip was cut and Sasuke reached to touch the sore spot. Naruto took Sasuke's chin and turned Sasuke towards him. He surveyed the damage and used his thumb to wipe away the red liquid coming out the deep cut. "That's gonna leave a scar for a while."

Sasuke lightly swatted Naruto's hand away. He looked back over to Kakashi and ushered Naruto to walk towards their sensei. "Waiting until we get back to Konoha. That's what you said. Remember."

Naruto grinned at the witty comment. He walked with Sasuke over to Kakashi and watched as their sensei guided the two bodies to the ground and slowly laid them down. Kakashi didn't look relieved in the slightest though. "We have to get back to Hinata. Her chakra is depleted."

Naruto almost let go of Sasuke and Sasuke almost lost his balance and fell to the ground.

Out of everything going on. They didn't piece together Hinata's situation. That she was alone. Sasuke thought distracting the enemies from Hinata and the bridge builder would help them, so they didn't have to fight.

This wasn't the case. They all left Hinata to the unknown of the mist. She had a handicap at the moment. A fear creeped up Naruto that Hinata had to use her Byakugan again and was on the verge of going blind.

The mist had cleared and it was easy to find Hinata in the distance now. She was almost a dot. They were so far away from each other, but to see her still standing lifted their worries and the three pushed themselves to her.

"Hinata!" Naruto yelled in excitement. Basically pulling Sasuke along with him. Once the image of Hinata became clearer Naruto's bright smile started to slide off his face and he slowed his pace. Hinata sluggishly stood up. Supporting herself with a wooden, spiked log. She stumbled over to an older man that wasn't the bridge builder.

She fell on his chest. Then she started to choke him.

"Whoa now." Kakashi made it to Hinata first and grabbed Hinata's hands. "You did good Hinata. You did your job." Hinata didn't look at Kakashi, but she shook her head in disagreement. "No. There were ten. Nine are gone. He makes ten. He has to die."

Kakashi looked at the unfocused look on her face. Her voice foreign to all of them. Almost possessed like. Hinata had officially broke.

Kakashi looked at Hinata's hands and noticed one was just gushing out blood with two dark holes in it with blood free flowing out. This hand needed stitches asap and a good cleaning. Her hand needed care soon or she wouldn't have a hand. Hinata was mauled while they were gone. Her and their client was ambushed.

Fuck. Kakashi knew he told Hinata she had to fend for herself and fight, but that was almost all talk. Of course he was going to be there for her. Just like Sasuke, Kakashi was trying to deviate the attention from Hinata and their client. Apparently Gato and his men were hoping Zabuza was a good distraction as well.

Kakashi noticed how wet her face was. How red her face was and the drops of blood that dripped from her chin. None of it belonged to Hinata.

Hinata struggled against his hold and her eyes just wouldn't look away from the man she was sitting on.

Sasuke looked at the area around them. These bodies were mutilated. You wouldn't be able to identify any of them. He looked at the log that Hinata was leaning on earlier and connected the dots that she was the one to do all of this because the bridge builder was clean and looked traumatized.

Naruto looked at Hinata before he followed Sasuke's eyes and looked around the scene. This couldn't be happening. No way Hinata did something so animalistic. Not after the changes she was on the verge of making with herself. She was doing so good. Naruto turned back to look at Hinata, the way her hands shook violently and the sight of her face. "Hinata."

Kakashi placed an arm up to silence Naruto and Sasuke. She just needed to be snapped back to reality. It happened to him once or twice in his ninja career.

Naruto and Sasuke noticed how Kakashi was almost fighting against Hinata. She was literally scuffling with their sensei to let her go so she could kill the last man. What did these men do to her? She was alone. They left her alone again and Hinata completely lost it.

Kakashi grabbed Hinata's cheeks and while it was slippery he was able to get a good hold of her. He had to hold on to her firmly and he was sure it hurt, but he only did this because she kept pulling away. "Hey! Look at me!"

His tone was authoritative and he knew Hinata wouldn't disobey an order. It was against all her family values. Sure enough Hinata looked at him. Her mouth was snapped shut and she was breathing hard and the blood that had gone up her nose was spraying out.

Kakashi looked at her with complete control of the situation. A strong force of command presence. "Are you going to disobey me? My orders?"

Hinata's eyes widened and she shook her head. Her mouth was still sealed shut but she made a sound that was high pitched and sounded like a 'uh-uh'. Kakashi slowly nodded his head and continued to look at her. "Then stand down like I said. Get up and we will move on. Understand?"

Hinata stood up slowly with Kakashi as he cradled her face. Kakashi used his thumb to wipe the wetness from Hinata's mouth and nose so she could speak and breathe better. He let go of Hinata and let her see Naruto and Sasuke.

When she finally laid eyes on them she looked at them like they were foreign. "Naruto. Sasuke. Just give her time to come down from the moment."

Hinata took in Sasuke. How hurt he was. What happened to him? Why couldn't she be there for her teammates?

She barely could be there for herself. She was such a failure. Sasuke got hurt because of her. Naruto…what happened to Naruto? What was that chakra that consumed him? She should have been able to be there for her teammates!

What a useless failure. She didn't deserve their respect. Their affection. She deserved to be shunned by them. Not cared for.

Reject them. Before they reject her. Before they broke her heart.

Sasuke reached out for Hinata. To take her hand and calm her down, but when Sasuke and Naruto stepped closer to her she took two steps back. She looked at them like they never touched her before.

Like they never touched her. Held her. Kissed her. Like they were never there for one another.

"Hinata!" Sasuke yelled this with wide eyes filled with anger and fear. She was shutting them out. Naruto stood frozen as he saw Hinata. She looked lost. Scared. Like she was scared of them. Of him. Like he was a monster.

She broke Naruto's heart right at this moment. "Please Hinata."

Hinata was alone when this happened. She had to fight a group of men that wanted to kill her alone. She had to protect the client alone. She had to push herself all on her own and she had to survive. All alone.

This was the life of a Hyuga. To only rely on themselves and their family. To always be alone because the world didn't see what they saw.

"This is the life of a Hyuga. This is my life. To fight alone. To be alone." Hinata mumbled this and wasn't obvious to the hurt looks on Naruto and Sasuke's face. Even Kakashi. It deeply bothered him that Hinata thought like this. So early in her life. It bothered him so much, because he felt the exact same way at her age.

Hinata looked around the area and saw what she had done. She did this. All of this. To these people. Her eyes landed on the wooden club. Wood stained red and the ghastly barbed wire that was attached to it had chunks of human skin littered all over it. She used those monsters tools.

"What kind of monster does that make me? Stooping down to such a vulgar manner to survive."

She was no different than those monsters. "What kind of monster does this make me?" Her voice was light and meek. She stared at Naruto and Sasuke and they both stood in shock as her words from a week ago rung in their ears. She was falling.

She wasn't pushing away from them. She was pushing away from reality. From life. Hinata felt disgusted with herself. With everything she had just did and couldn't do for the people she cared about.

The last thing Hinata remembered was thinking about escaping into her closet with a burning bottle of alcohol to ease this pain she was feeling in her heart.

Then Hinata passed out.

End of chapter.

I'm not a fan of a bunch of page breaking. After my story Vengeance, I thought it just looked a bit tacky. So, I try not to do it as much, but this chapter had a lot going on so I ended up using it more than I wanted to.

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. A bit gory, but nothing insane. Angst and trauma, but builds character development.

See you Saturday!