The future of Hinata-chapter 8

CHAPTER 8- RETURN OF AN OLD ADVERSARY

Hinata wasn't quite sure about what had hapened after the beach. She wasn't sure what happened after they got back, but she knew that everyone was already asleep. Also, before that before they went to their seperate rooms, Naruto had kissed her again, and she could not fall asleep after that. She replaye the date in her head: the movies, their first kiss, the beach...Hinata thought the longest about the beach. She had heard Naruto say that he loved her, and they had kissed....oh they had kissed.
She made a decision. The next day, she would ask him to go back to the beach, in the daylight this time. It would have to be after they went and saw that Haku boy. what was his story? she thought. When she had seen him with her Byakugan, his chakra flows were not normal. There seemed to be no chakra flowing to his heart, as though all the veins had been blasted out. By all rights, he should be dead! She thought back. Naruto and Sakura had said, with Kakashi confirming, that he was dead. So how was he not?...she fell asleep, these final thoughts drifting through her head.

~ ~ ~

"A beach trip? Sounds fun! But first, we need to speak to Haku..."

Hinata had just proposed the beach trip and everyone seemed up for it. Noone seemed to notice that Hinata sounded more breathless than she usually did and she had a creepy big smile.

"Hmmm....about that..." Kakashi said, looking up from his book. "Hinata-sama, can I speak to you for a second?Privately?" Hinata, taken aback by being addressed by anyone other than Neji, quickly nooded. Once they were out of earshot, Kakashi asked, in a low whisper,

"You noticed it with your Byakugan, didn't you." Hinata's face quickly grew serious. She turned away.

"I-I don't know what you mean, Kakashi-san," she lied.

"Don't play dumb with me. There was something wrong with him, wasn't there."

"There was no chakra flowing to his heart," Hinata whispered softly, looking at her feet to avoid the jounin's penetrating gaze.

"I kiled him, I watched him die. I even helped bury him!. He was protecting his master, and I blasted him with a raikiri! There is something wrong with him."

"Yes,"Hinata nodded.

"We need to be on our guard."

"Yes."

"Good," he spoke, then continued. "You realize why Sakura, Ino, and I were sent, don't you?"

"Not really," she spoke. This was a question that had been bothering her.

"You know ofthe akatsuki, do you not?"

"Um...yes...father told me about them. They're S-class criminals, right?"

Kakashi nodded. "We have a few reasons to believe that they're after Naruto. Do you know why?"

"Father never told me that...but...I did some research. They attacked Gaara-sama too. And Naruto....he's the kyuubi's vessel. Are they after the monsters in their bodies?"

Kakashi smirked. "Good guess, Hinata! Akatsuki are after a string of powerful monsters....like the kyuubi, or Shukaku, the tanuki demon. To be precise, we believe they plan to extract them for some reason. This is why we were sent-- to protect Naruto.However...you dont need to worry about that. We're going to go talk with Haku, then you can go enjoy your date--er...day"

Hinata blushed at this, then went back to the group.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Greetings again, leaf ninja."

"Haku."

"Let's go get some lunch," he said, unreadable as he ever was. Not waiting for a answer, he began walking, and the ninja followed him:Naruto and Hinata in front, and Kakashi in the rear, eyeying Haku suspiciously with his sharingan.

"So who exactly is this boy?" Hinata asked, turning to look at Naruto.

The blonde looked more serious than Hinata had ever seen before. "His nameis Haku. When our team went on our first A-Rank mission, we had to escort a man named Tazuna. He and his sensei attacked him. Kakashi fought his sensei-a man named Zabuza, while Sasuke and I fought him. There was a time when Sasuke sacrificed himself to save me, and I thought he was dead. That was the first time I ever drew on ...its....chakra. When I got back control, Haku was asking me to kill him. Then, when I was finally going to, he vanished.Next time I saw him, there was a hole in his chest. Soon after, Zabuza died next to him."

"So he did die?" Hinata asked.

"Yeah," he nodded. "So what he's doing here, I have no idea."

Haku heard al this, but remained silent. Soon, they arrived at their location: the ramen shop from the night before. Hinat looked at Naruto, and saw that instead of the youthful joy he usually had about ramen, he looked....scared?

They finally got a corner booth to themselves. Haku smiled and sat down. "So how is the village? Are you finding everything to your lik--"

"Don't mess around," Kakashi growled."What are you?"

"You're dead Haku! We saw you die!" Naruto whispered.

"Hmm...about that...well, you're right, I did die!. I remember going to heaven, then Zabuza joined me, and we lived a quiet life. Suddenly, I heard a sinister voice, saying, "I have plans for you. You're going to serve me." I fell unconscious. When I awoke, I was alive again, and I saw a man. He told me that his name was Orochimaru. He then told me that I would start a ninja village in the land of Waves, and that we would be in touch. That was a year ago."

"Orochimaru again?!" Sakura exclaimed. "Now what does he plan?"

"You know Orochimaru? Tell me about him!"  Haku exclaimed.

Hinata spoke up. He's an evil ninja, one of the leaf village's legendary sannin. He's obsessed with learning every jutsu and toppling Konoha. He has his own village now-Otogakure. He's already selected Uchiha Sasuke to be his new vessel."

"If what you say is true, then I shall sever all bonds with him. Now then, I have another question. Why did you all come? This is a peace mission, not a declaration of war!"

Ino spoke. "kakashi-san, Sakura-chan, and I are here to protect Naruto. Hinata and Naruto are here for the mission.

"Protect Naruto? From what?"

Kakashi looked down. "Akatsuki" He replied simply.

Haku smirked. "I see. And you believe that you'll be able to protect him if they attack?"

"I will protect Naruto with my life!" Hinata exclaimed.

"Will you really? When you're staring one of them down, and you see that you're going to die in the fight, will you still protect him?"

"I love Naruto, and I will do anything: ANYTHING! to protect him." she replied coldly.

Naruto looked shocked at her bold statement. "H-H-Hinata!" he stuttered.

Haku smiled. "Good answer! However, since I don't want a war, I'm going back to the leaf village with you. It will give me a chance to meet the hokage!"

"Really?" Ino exclaimed. "That's great!"

"We'll leave tomorrow. Today, though, I believe that you have a beach trip!"

"How did you..." Naruto questioned, slurping the last of his ramen.

"You didn't think we would let foreign ninja who technically aren't our allies yet wander the village unsupervised, did you?"

"Oh yeah."