Hinata sighed as she strolled down the street, her necessary items for her mission in her backpack. She wasn't really looking forward to this mission, it wasn't like she was on the best of terms with two of her teammates anyways... Kakashi looked down on her because she cared about her friends, if anything she could say; he was a real prick as a kid. Although, that didn't feel very nice to say or think either, he had, had his issues. Just as they all had. She sighed as she strolled closer to the village gates where they were all supposed to be meeting. She didn't see anyone there though, but a weight pulling on her backpack made her turn and blink at the person who had yanked on her backpack.

"Kurenai-chan, Asuma-kun, Izumo-kun, Kotetsu-kun..." she greeted the group and the spiky haired boy grinned at her. "So you're a chunnin huh?" Kurenai asked and Hinata could hear the jealousy in her voice. Kurenai was one to be like Sakura when she was younger, so she was sure that Kurenai would make her the rival if this wasn't settled. Hinata sighed and nodded adjusting the vest the Hokage had given her with a sour look. "Yeah... but you will be one too, all of you will make chunnin and some even jonin. Trust me, you're all really strong." Hinata said with a smile and Kurenai looked at her oddly, it was mainly surprise.

Asuma nodded and smiled at her, he was still the same. He was still friendly and had the ability to calm anyone with just his presence. You could tell just from that alone he was going to be an intelligent and capable shinobi. Izumo and Kotetsu were bickering again and but that all stopped when Kakashi walked by and scoffed at them like they were a nuisance. Hinata furrowed her brow and crossed her arms over her chest. "He still doesn't get it..." she grumbled and the four behind her watched her curiously.

"What doesn't he get?" Asuma asked curiously. "He doesn't see that you need friends. He doesn't see that if you abandon them, you will be all alone and when you do need someone... no one will be there to help you because you pushed them all away. There is also the fact that things could be reversed... And... by the time he realizes he needs his friends... it may be too late to save them..." she said softly while looking at her fingers and Asuma smiled. "He will come to see in time that things change. He has all of us as friends, and as much as he may try to push us away... we will always be here." Asuma said and Hinata smiled up at him and nodded.

"I need to go, talk to you all later." She said and he nodded, and much to her relief, Kurenai smiled instead of giving her the look of jealousy she had before. Hinata turned swiftly to run over to the group but collided with someone. She blushed as she helped him straighten up. "Sorry, Obito..." she said with a blush and he scratched the back of his head, a slight blush on his cheeks too. "Ah... yeah... my bad. I shouldn't have been standing so close... I should have also figured you would run into me. Seems to be a common occurrence lately." He sighed and she blushed.

"Yeah... I've noticed that..." she said and he shrugged. "Might as well go, Minato-sensei is waiting now." He said and she nodded. They waved to the group behind them and took off running towards the gates once more. 'Guess things weren't as bad between us as I had thought them to be...' Hinata thought with a smile and a small sideways glance at her dark haired friend.

Kurenai blinked and looked at Asuma. "So apparently Hinata has a thing for Obito..." she said and Asuma chuckled. "Well... that's a bit of a surprise..." he said and Kurenai nudged him. "You think that's who she wants to help?" she asked and he shook his head. "He had no idea who she was on her first day of the academy, so it must be someone else." Asuma said and Kotetsu grinned. "Yeah, its me. She totally digs me." he said with a grin. "Yeah... Alright, a hole to bury you in is the only thing she's going to dig you." Izumo said and the other two laughed while Kotetsu's ego deflated.

:-:-:-:-:-:-:

Hinata sighed as she thought over the mission details, it was a simple escort mission in her own time. But... as usual this was yet another warring period, so this was not a normal escort mission of a merchant. Being as why Minato's team had been chosen. A jonin, two chunnin, and two genin, they were quite the group in her opinion. Two medics, and three frontal assault shinobi. Hinata wasn't going to be shoved to the back, though. She knew medics weren't supposed to be part of the front fighting group, but there was no way Minato was going to let her sit back and wait for them to get hurt.

Rin sat on the back of the merchant's carriage, so Kakashi and Obito could be sure she was safe from any enemy shinobi attempting to take out the medic first. Minato and Hinata walked by the front of the merchant's carriage because Hinata had the Byakugan and Minato had his speed. "Do not overexert yourself, Hinata." Minato said and Hinata nodded. She could tell it was a warning because of the way he had said it. "If she overexerts her eyes this fast, she's useless overall." Kakashi said and Hinata frowned.

"Shut up Kakashi!" Obito yelled and Hinata sighed softly as she saw the two boys arguing because of what Kakashi had said. "Don't force me to send Hinata back there." Minato sighed and Hinata blushed. "If they are fighting... shouldn't you handle it?" she asked softly and he shrugged. "If I send you back there you could silence them for a few hours." He said and her jaw dropped a bit. Was he kidding? They needed them...

"Don't fret, I was kidding; although a bit of silence would be nice." Minato said and not even thirty seconds later Hinata giggled. "Rin took care of it." she said and Minato chuckled. Hinata saw the sealing tag Rin had put over Obito's mouth and the one she had slapped to Kakashi's mask. "Thank you Rin." Minato chuckled and she replied with a small laugh. They had just crossed over the border between fire when she saw that the wind was getting really bad, meaning when they reached the border of wind, the wind would be worse and there would be a sandstorm waiting for them.

"Minato sensei, we will need to find somewhere to set up for the night because if we continue forwards like we are then we will be heading right into a sandstorm." She said and Minato stared ahead for a minute, wondering how she could tell but finally nodded and she smiled. "How could you tell?" he asked and as she opened her mouth to speak, the merchant chuckled. "Even I can tell. The wind patterns all the way out here will be able to tell you that there will be a sandstorm. Rough wind here means that there is a really bad sandstorm underway. Tell me girl, have you visited Suna before?" the merchant asked and Hinata nodded.

"Yes, I have, just not recently." She said and he nodded. "I see, that's interesting that you should know that small fact. Usually only residents of our village know that right there, it's somewhat a secret so shh." He said with a wink and she nodded. The merchant parked his carriage outside of a small cave and they set up camp as the sun began to set. Hinata deactivated her Byakugan, she felt the chakra loss from continuously using it, but the pain from over exertion hadn't hit yet so she knew she hadn't over exerted them. Rin and Obito walked off to gather firewood and Kakashi went with Minato to gather fish to eat. Hinata stood by the entrance of the cave, watching and listening for anything out of the ordinary.

She heard Minato and Kakashi talking, so they were obviously alright. She also heard Rin humming with Obito's heavy footsteps following behind her. Rin and Obito came back first. She watched Rin set up the firewood then Obito lit the fire. Hinata sat and propped herself against the cave and began running her hands through her long hair. Minato and Kakashi returned and had begun cooking the fish. They worked perfectly fine as a team, she was still the odd one out; even if Obito had told her she wasn't.

Obito and Rin turned to see Hinata braiding her hair, this didn't seem all that abnormal. Except, she was weaving shiny objects into her hair that they couldn't quite tell what they were. You couldn't see them as she weaved them into her hair though. Minato turned to see what they were looking at and he blinked, then sighed. "She's preparing herself for night watch." He said and they looked at him oddly. "I've seen that before, a lot of female shinobi do that." Minato said and Rin watched Hinata in interest. "So, in preparing for night watch, Kunoichi braid their hair?" she asked and Minato rocked his head a bit in an iffy manner. "Braiding is not actually what she is doing, she is concealing. I cannot explain exactly what she is doing, because I don't think she would like any eavesdroppers finding out what she had done." He said and the two listened curiously.

"Concealing huh?" Obito asked and Minato nodded. "Yes, my wife does the exact same thing, although I worry more for my safety when Kushina does it." he sighed and Rin giggled. Hinata stood and made her way over to them. She sat by the fire and sighed, none of them asked about her hair, just like Minato had asked them not to. "Ano... Minato sensei... can Hinata-chan and I go talk alone for a bit?" Rin asked and Hinata blinked in surprise. He nodded and she beamed. "Just don't go to far." He said and she nodded.

Hinata stood along with Rin. She followed Rin out into the woods and she was looking around to make sure there was no one they didn't need around, hovering about. When they reached the river that Minato and Kakashi had gathered the fish from Rin sat by the water's edge and stuck her hands into the water. "I know things about you..." she whispered and Hinata stared at her in shock. "W-what do you mean?" Hinata asked and Rin turned to her with a small smile.

"You care for Obito..." she said and Hinata blushed lightly as she looked at her hands. "I do..." Hinata whispered and Rin smiled brightly. "I also heard what you and Obito were talking about. You said you were jealous of me... and I know why... you said that he loves me and that I couldn't see it. I see it, and it is an every day reminder that I can't tell him anything without hurting him. I want him to be happy, Hinata. He is like a brother to me, but I could never tell him that I don't feel the same, I don't want to hurt him." She said and Hinata sat beside her.

"I know how you feel, I had a friend who cared for me as much as Obito cares for you, his name was Kiba. He was a little insensitive at times and a bit rude, but he was my best friend. He adored me, but I had to tell him I didn't feel the same, although he had already known. He needed me just as much as I needed him. That's also the reason I'm trying so hard to get it through Kakashi's head that he can't just push us away..." she said and Rin smiled at her. "He will realize soon enough." She said and looked up to the sky. "Well I think we should head back to camp, don't you think?" Rin Asked and Hinata nodded.

Hinata had an odd feeling that someone was watching them, but she couldn't quite figure it out. She didn't see anyone with her Byakugan, but that didn't settle her uneasy mind. She took her place back at the entrance of the small cave she felt goose bumps raise all over her skin and the uneasy feeling didn't fade, even when Minato had told her to rest for he would be taking first watch. She drifted off into a restless slumber, only for an hour to pass and her eyes snapped open. She saw a chakra entity lurking in the tree above Rin. She slowly moved to her feet and stretched calmly. Minato had caught onto the person as well and was also trying not to alert them.

Hinata walked over to Rin with a forced smile. She shook her shoulder lightly and Rin yawned and blinked up at her. "Hey Rin-chan, it's getting a bit chilly out, why don't you go to the cave and take my sleeping bag." Hinata said and motioned upwards with her eyes only, to the person lurking in the tree. She could now see that he wasn't alone. Rin caught on and nodded and stood, a smile on her lips. "Thanks Hinata-chan." She said and quickly made her way to the cave. Rin looked back only once, but that one glance was all she had wanted to see as the now dead man fell from the tree, one of Hinata's senbon in his neck. Her dark hair fell from the braid it had been in, seven more senbon appearing in her hands not even seconds later. Rin blinked in surprise, so that's what concealing meant.

Hinata turned to see Kakashi fighting with one group that had made their move the moment Rin made it to the cave. Obito was in a battle of wills with another, he seemed to be doing alright as well. She activated Byakugan and saw that another one had gone invisible and was attempting to make his way to the cave. She ran and shoved her open palms into his stomach and sent him flying backwards with an empty palm jutsu. They had finished them off and Minato sighed in relief as they were only bandits with a small amount of skills. Before they could all get settled back in for the night, Hinata threw a senbon in Kakashi's direction, then turned and made her way into the cave.

"What are you trying to do idiot?" he snapped and then a thud behind him explained itself. He saw the man on the ground and huffed, saying nothing more the rest of the night. Obito watched as Hinata tossed and turned in her sleep. He wondered exactly what could haunt her that badly to where she had recurring nightmares. Rin had moved over next to Hinata and had begun running her fingers through Hinata's hair, trying to soothe her friend. Rin leaned back as Hinata shot up and wiped her eyes, her shoulders and hands trembling as she stared down at her fingers.

Obito walked over to her and furrowed his brows as he sat by her and Rin. "Hinata... what exactly has you torn up so bad that you have nightmares about it?" he asked but she was hesitant to answer. She just stared at her hands, turning them in front of her face as if something were on them. "What is it Hinata?" Rin asked and Hinata dropped her arms. "N-nothing... I... I thought there was something on me is all..." she said then her eyes flickered to Obito. "And for you question..." she began softly fisting her hands in her lap.

"Everyone I ever cared about... is gone. The only ones saved were my father and sister, but they can't stand me so I'm here... alone." She said and Obito frowned. "But you aren't alone. We are your family now. Your best friends, your allies, your siblings, whatever you want us to be, we can be." Obito said with a grin and Hinata hugged him lightly. He blushed lightly but allowed her to hug him. She pulled back a few minutes later and wiped her eyes. With one last glance at him, she sighed. "If only that could actually be true."

:-:-:-:-:-:-:

The merchant gathered his things and they set off once more. The wind had slowed and Hinata and the merchant had declared it safe passage to suna. Hinata wished what Obito had said could be true, but she knew they wouldn't accept her as much as they had already accepted each other. They were team Minato, she was not. She was still team Kurenai even if Kurenai was currently the same age as her. They were not very happy when they reached the border of wind and a whole new sandstorm came from nowhere.

"I thought you said it would be gone." Kakashi said, obviously he was displeased as well. She activated Byakugan and frowned. She saw a flicker of chakra, or so she thought. The sand was getting in her eyes so she couldn't see very well. "I can't see for the sand..." she whispered and turned towards her team. The merchant fell behind a bit the moment she had said that. Minato fell into a protective stance. "Here." Obito said and removed his goggles. "Maybe these will help a bit." He said and held them out to her. "I couldn't..." she began but he smiled. "We need your eyes, so if sand is making it to where you can't see; I can able help for once." He said and she smiled softly.

"Alright." She said and put the goggles up to her eyes, but the moment she did, she dropped them and her hands flew through hand signs. "Water spout technique!" she yelled and her cheeks swelled with water and when she spat the water out, it collided with someone and took them to the ground. Her heart was beating fast, they had almost been face to face with her and not even she had been able to see them. "We need to be on the defensive..." she said and they circled around the merchant. She handed Obito his goggles back quickly, they weren't hiding all too much anymore. There were more than she could count.

Her eyes drifted towards Obito, he saw them too, but he wasn't about to give up. Why should she give in then? She watched them as they circled them, they didn't appear to want to attack just yet but you could never be too sure. They weren't sure who they were after, but they were going to cover all bases. They weren't going for her, the ones in front of her seemed all too uninterested in her. Her eyes drifted beside her to Obito, the men standing before him didn't make any move towards him. Hinata furrowed her brow and turned towards Rin, no one stood in front of Rin. She craned her neck to where she could better see Minato, three men stood in front of him, as if to keep him from interfering with whatever plans they had.

She heard the clash of metal against metal and that was when she had realized Kakashi was out of sight. That was who they were after! She caught a glimpse of their headbands and grit her teeth, sand shinobi. She turned to the area she'd heard the metal clash and her eyes landed on Kakashi fighting adeptly. Her eyes went wide when she saw something behind him. She broke rank and ran to Kakashi. She shoved him out of the way and prepared her own jutsu to counter the enemy shinobi's. She wasn't fast enough and just as Kakashi turned to her, flames engulfed her arms and she screamed.

She managed to put out the flames as Kakashi turned and stared at her wide eyed. She looked rough. Her arms were red and blistered, her hair was frayed and burnt from where the flames had gotten her. She had a small burn on her forehead, but if it scarred it could be hidden by her hair. One of her eyes was squeezed shut in pain while the other was filled with tears. She was panting as she stared down at her useless arms. He could tell she was in pain.

Rin made a move to run to her but Minato grabbed her arm and shook his head. "Rin don't, you could get hurt too, when the enemy shinobi are gone then; and only then can you tend to her wounds." He said and Rin glanced at her. Obito just stared in shock at Hinata. The enemy shinobi began retreating as another chakra approached. Three sand Anbu dropped from the tree tops and Hinata only managed to glance up at them with pain filled eyes. Her jacket's sleeves were burnt away so she pulled the jacket off, wincing as she did so.

"What happened here?" one anbu asked and Hinata looked up at him. "We were attacked by shinobi from your village... they attacked the white haired boy over there as we were escorting the merchant to Suna..." she said softly and the merchant stepped forward and made his agreement to the statement. Hinata placed her palms against the ground and pushed herself to her feet, gritting her teeth with the pain. Rin watched in disgusted fear as Hinata began healing her arms on her own. The faster she healed them, the faster the dead skin flaked off and disgusted Rin more. Hinata healed her arms to the point of very little pain, which wasn't very much because they were still blistering and red. She took two steps forward then collapsed face first into the ground, the last thing she saw was Minato running over to her.

:-:-:-:-:-:-:

When they finally got back to the village, Hinata still hadn't woken from when she had passed out. Rin and Obito had run Hinata to the hospital. Kakashi and Minato made their way to the Hokage tower to give their report. Asuma and Kurenai ran up to Kakashi and Kurenai hit him right over the face. Her eyes were filled with anger. "How could you let her get hurt like that!" she snapped and he looked at her dully. "She's her own shinobi, her choices are her own, not mine." He said and she reared back to punch him, but Asuma grabbed her under her arms and held her back. "That's cruel! She did it for you! Some friend you are!" she snapped and Minato frowned.

"Kurenai." He called and she looked up at him. "I understand she is your friend, but I will handle Kakashi. I promise he will alter his views after my lecture." He said and Kurenai nodded and jerked away from Asuma, who sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Ja ne, Minato sensei." He said and Minato waved him off as he ran after the dark haired girl. Minato chuckled and shook his head. "Those two are going to end up like me and Kushina..." he muttered light heartedly and Kakashi rolled his eyes.

"Obito likes Rin." Kakashi said as he shoved his hands in his pockets. Minato deadpanned at him. "Who doesn't know that... the kid is just extremely adamant about her." He sighed and Kakashi shrugged a shoulder. "He was going to kiss our team photo. I looked through his window." Kakashi said and Minato gave him an odd look. "You are both creepy, did you know that?" Minato asked and Kakashi raised a brow at him. "How so?" he asked and Minato's brow twitched.

"He kissed a photo and you were looking through his window like a stalker..." he sighed and Kakashi shrugged as if he didn't care one bit how that sounded. "You realize I'm still angry with how inconsiderate you are towards Hinata and Obito, right?" he asked and Kakashi shrugged a single shoulder. Minato frowned down at his student. "You will care after tonight. After we are done at the Hokage's office, we are heading somewhere else." Minato said and Kakashi looked up at him curiously.

They opened the Hokage's door and he smiled at them. "Hello, Minato, Kakashi. I understand you had a bit of trouble during the mission. Not too much trouble I would hope?" he asked and Kakashi stared blankly forwards. "Kakashi shows utter disregard for his teammates and their wellbeing." Minato said sternly and Kakashi glared up at him. "But... I can't condone nor blame him. With what his father went through, I truly don't blame him. But Kakashi has a chance to see what utter disregard for teammates will cause you. I plan to show him after our meeting, lord third." He said and the third Hokage glanced from the blonde to his student.

"You mean she got hurt?" he asked and Minato nodded. "Yes, lord third, Hinata was gravely injured protecting him." Minato said and the third nodded. "I can't say I fully agree with your methods, Minato; but I know they will show the boy what he needs to learn." He said and Minato handed him the file on their mission. "Dismissed." He said and Minato and Kakashi bowed before they left his office. Kakashi crammed his hands back into his pockets as he followed behind his sensei. He wasn't sure where they were going but he knew that when Minato meant lecture, he meant LECTURE.

Minato pushed open the doors of the konoha hospital and he was confused. "Why are we here?" he asked and Minato said nothing, just ushered him to follow. Kakashi frowned, but followed anyways. Chills rolled down his spine as a pain filled scream filled his ears. "What the..." he muttered as a pained sob followed it. More screams echoed down the hallway and he felt the urge to rush forward to see what was going on. he felt a pang in his chest and he wasn't sure what the pang was until Minato shoved him towards an operating room window.

"Take a look, see exactly what your lack of caring for your teammates does. See how much pain you cause them when you don't care that they tried to save them." Minato said and Kakashi saw Hinata strapped down to an operating table. She was struggling within her binds as the medics scrubbed away at the burnt skin. "You have to scrub away the burnt or dead skin with bristled brushes or rough pads to prevent the dead skin from starting an infection. She will undergo this on a daily basis. With a burn that severe, she may have damaged nerves and muscle tissue. Do you know what that means?" Minato asked and Kakashi couldn't tear his eyes from Hinata's agonized face.

"It means, Kakashi; that you may have just cost her, her career as a shinobi. You may have cut her life short. She may die of infection if it gets bad. She could never fight again, she could never protect those precious to her. Do you see it now Kakashi? She saved you, and you don't even care. She could end up dying for a selfish boy who would forget her name after she died, how would that make you feel? How would you feel then Kakashi? Knowing that you ruined her life because you were careless and she had to save you! How would you feel!? What if it were Rin? What if it were Obito? Would you care more? Or would you care less? Tell me Kakashi? Tell me!" Minato snapped and Kakashi fisted his hands.

"I know you would give one hell of a damn if it were you! So why can't you care that she could possibly die!?" Minato asked and Kakashi fisted his hands tighter and sent one of them through the window of the operating room, surprising the medics inside with the crash of the glass and his angered yell. He spun on his heel and shoved past Minato. He stopped at the end of the hallway. Minato turned to him with his arms crossed. "I do care! You just don't understand! I want her to stay away because I don't know what to do!." He said and walked away swiftly. "That's one hell of a way to show her you care!" Minato's words echoed down the hallway after Kakashi and he grit his teeth. His subordinate had some nerve.

:-:-:-:-:-:-:

Hinata picked at the bandages that covered her arms from shoulder to fingertip, they were awful. She had been placed off duty for the past... who knows how many months anymore. The days blended together same for the weeks and months. Her arms weren't as bad, but there would be slight scarring. She could tell it was there, but if you didn't really look at it hard enough it just looked like her arms were really pale compared to the rest of her.

She had been out so long, the chunnin exams were going on... She looked up and made her way to the testing arena where Obito was going to go up against another genin. She made her way up into the stands and awaited the next match to be announced. Rin's name read on the board and Kurenai's did as well. Hinata frowned as she watched the two girls hit the floor of the arena. Rin lost but was not hurt badly enough to where she couldn't stand. Her and Kurenai stood and shook hands, happy to have been able to fight one another, even if Rin ended up losing.

She smiled; they were all much better mannered than the genin were when she went through the exams. She watched as Obito's name rolled around. Then another Uchiha's. she bit her lip lightly. If the Uchiha treated Obito like the Hyuuga had treated her, then this match may not be a fair one. She looked down at her arms and sighed, she was going to step in if this got really bad. Her eyes drifted over to Kurenai and she smiled, like Kurenai had done for her, but this was for Obito.

Hinata flinched every time the older Uchiha boy hit Obito, she could tell it hurt him. She gripped the handle of the railing as the final blow appeared to have been given by the older boy, the punch had sent Obito flying across the stadium and into the wall beneath her. The boy pulled out a kunai and was headed towards Obito. She was about to jump over when Minato placed a hand on her shoulder

. "Don't interfere, Hinata." The voice wasn't Minato's, but Obito's. He had stood back up and seen her about to jump over the railing.

She frowned and fisted her hands over her chest, but she knew why he didn't want her interfering. This was an Uchiha matter, Mikoto was standing in the bleachers, holding a young Itachi's hand tightly. She was watching Obito with prideful eyes, she knew her gaze was on Obito because they were soft, but still prideful. The older woman held a soft spot for the misfit Uchiha. She saw herself in him, she was a kind woman in a clan of harsh men and women.

She watched as Obito gave it his all and his foot connected with the older boy's head and sent him stumbling backwards. Obito was clumsy, that was a well known fact and these movements were still clumsy. She smiled as Obito returned the older boy's beating back at him tenfold. The other guy didn't know what hit him until the proctor called the match in Obito's favor. Hinata cheered, but her cheers were cut short when the other boy forced himself off the ground just enough to throw a kunai at Obito before he fell back down.

She jumped down and held out her hand for an empty palm technique, but the kunai pierced the skin of her hand. Her technique hadn't had any effect. Meaning she could no longer use precise pinpointing chakra in the way of the Hyuuga. She hit her knees and stared at her hand. She ripped the blade from her hand and tossed it to the side. The green chakra coated her hand and the mark the blade had left faded away to a small scar in the palm of her hand.

Minato hit the ground next to her as she stood. "Hinata, are you alright?" he asked and she nodded, a smile on her lips. She wasn't exactly alright, but she was better. She knew she could still use jutsu, she just couldn't use the pinpoint chakra that the Hyuuga were famous for anymore. "Are you sure?" he asked and she nodded. "Yes, absolutely. Although I can no longer title myself as Hyuuga, I would be quite the disgrace to the clan now." She said and he furrowed his brow.

"Why is that?" he asked and she struck at his abdomen, but he didn't feel the familiar pain of the gentle fist technique. "No more clan technique, just the eyes." She said and he frowned. "Hinata... that means you can't be a shinobi any longer." He said and she laughed lightly.

"Does it sensei? There was a reason I trained in other methods of fighting. I had always planned to denounce myself as Hyuuga. I was never accepted as one, so now I can become something more." She said and he smiled lightly. "You bounce back faster than anyone I know..." he sighed and she smiled. "Kunoichi have to be adaptable to the worst type of situations, so I learned medical skills, I don't need the pinpointing chakra techniques I just need to be able to control it." she said and he nodded.

"The kid aint just any medic either, Minato! She's mine." A familiar voice laughed and they turned to see the blonde woman walking over. He bowed while Hinata fiddled with her fingers lightly. "Which means you'll be taking her." It wasn't a question, Hinata could tell. "Oh yes. The third gave me permission to train the girl better." Tsunade said. Hinata blinked and her fingers froze. More training? More training with Tsunade? Hinata's lip trembled and her shoulders slumped. The only thing Tsunade gave her was a vicious smirk and a devilish laugh. "For the next year, You. Are. Mine. You can call it rehabilitation if you wish." Tsunade said and Hinata whimpered.

"You can't take her just yet! She hasn't met Itachi!" Mikoto's voice rang out and she jogged over, a toddler being dragged in her grasp. Hinata stared in awe at the tiny child who reached out to her the moment his mother stopped running. His dull black eyes stared at her, an intelligence dwelling within them that not even she could comprehend. He reached up and pointed to the necklace that someone had left at her hospital bed side a few months ago for her birthday. She didn't know who it had been from but it was special to her, so why not pass her good luck charm on to the one who would need it more?

She smiled, she knew it had looked familiar anyways, she'd seen one just like it the first time she had been thirteen. "You want it, don't you?" she asked and he nodded. She removed the necklace from her neck and offered it to him. She handed it to him and he looked towards his mother and held it up to her. "Can I keep it?" he asked and Mikoto laughed lightly. She offered it back to Hinata and Itachi squealed in terror. Hinata giggled and shook her head. "He likes it, keep it for him until he gets a bit older. He will want it then too." Hinata giggled and Mikoto smiled. "Yes, you can keep it then." Mikoto said and Itachi smiled at Hinata. He was a child of few words, just as he was an adult of even fewer.

"Thank you Hinata." She said and the thirteen year old beamed at her. "It's nothing. I promise. It was going to be his anyways. If not now, then later." She said and Mikoto smiled. She placed the necklace around her own neck and Itachi smiled once more. Hinata ruffled the dark spiky back hair atop his head then handed him back to his mother. "I will see you again, little Itachi." She said and he nodded at her. Mikoto waved at her as Fugaku walked up. "I appreciate what you did for Obito. The other boy will be punished, as will the one who put him up to it." he said and Hinata nodded.

"Tell him... tell him I said goodbye, would you please?" she asked and he nodded. "I will, good luck on your training." He said and turned to follow his wife. Minato had already bid them farewell for the afternoon, so it was only her and Tsunade. "But I don't want to do it over." She whined and Tsunade's brow twitched. "Shut up. You're just a ruse to get me the hell back out of here." She scoffed and someone cleared their throat behind them. "Uncle Dan wouldn't like you doing this to ditch the village." Hinata blinked and then it clicked, Shizune was the other girl. She only looked about a few years older than her, possibly around fifteen.

"Damn, now I'm stuck with both of you. At least one of you won't nag." Tsunade sighed and Shizune sighed. It was just like listening to them when they were older. Hinata giggled lightly. "What is it, future girl?" Tsunade asked with a sigh. "It doesn't change one bit." She giggled lightly and Tsunade whined and rubbed her face as she strolled away. "So you're telling me I'm stuck with her forever?!" Tsunade whined.

Hinata giggled and Shizune rolled her eyes. "Not forever, just until you become a bit more mature." Shizune scoffed and Tsunade whirled on her. "Listen here brat! I can leave you here! Dan didn't ask me to drag you everywhere he just asked me to take care of you! You will be taken care of just fine here!" she snapped and Shizune sighed. "But then who would get you out of trouble?" Shizune asked flashing an over stuffed wallet and Tsunade groaned and trudged forwards. Shizune grinned and motioned for Hinata to follow them.

Hinata could already tell this training was going to be a bit... different.