Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Balance ❯ Yin Yang ( Chapter 1 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

The sky was blue. The birds were singing. It was the perfect day for a good old-fashioned escort mission. For the past hours of early morning, one could have heard the silent travels of a very shy girl, a bug infested young man, a half-beast boy, and his dog through the thick forest. But that was usual, this silence; a comfortable one. After all, they were busy basking in the glory of a job well done.

“Heh, we're finally headed home, eh Akamaru?” Kiba asked his companion. Akamaru barked happily in response.

They all jumped off of the trees and commenced walking. Now it would be a straight half-hour walk to Konoha.

After a few moments more of silence, Akamaru wheezed a few times. The rest of squad 8 looked at the dog to see that he and Kiba were chuckling.

“What is it?” Shino asked without a hint of interest. Kiba cracked open an eye and grinned widely.

“Don't you think that `acquaintance' of Tsunade's was a little...” he snickered “… off?”

Hinata looked on in confusion. “What do you mean?”

“Gay.” Shino began. Their gazes shot toward him, Kiba grinning madly. “Yes, Kiba, we did notice his unique conduct and inclinations.”

The laughter ceased.

“Great job Shino, whatever you just said just made it not funny anymore. Weird-talking jerk.” Kiba pouted and folded his arms, making Shino roll his eyes behind his shades.

A few more moments of silence passed, but this time Shino broke it.

“We were quite inefficient. It is almost 7:00 in the morning. It was foreseen we'd arrive by 6:00.”

Hinata blushed. She knew they were late because she got a little woozy at their destination point, the Great Naruto Bridge. She couldn't help it. It reminded her so much of him, with it's greatness and intricacy. She hadn't exactly fainted, but Kiba knew that she probably wouldn't make it on the way as woozy as she was, so they rested a bit.

“Why don't you get that stick out of your butt and relax.” Kiba said. “Besides, we're almost there, just another 20 minutes or so.”

Shino grunted and they went on their way. She sighed with satisfaction. Leave it to Kiba to read her so well and help her out without a word.

Hinata inhaled a quiet breath of air and looked above her. She just loved the sky. It was everything she wished she could be. Simple, yet beautiful; peaceful, yet powerful; fragile, yet strong. Smiling contentedly she noticed a flock simple brown birds gliding in an arrow, as if leading her home.

Another bird caught her attention though. It flew unusually far away from the others…

That's odd… Why would it fly so separately from the rest? Aren't all birds supposed to fly in flocks…- Oh no!

The stray bird that had been jerking slightly suddenly began to swoop down. It was falling very quickly when it finally leveled itself, slightly grazing a treetop, and flew sloppily back upward.

Oh my! That bird could be hurt! Poor thing… I can't even help it!

The heiress shut her eyes in worry. She didn't bother to wonder if it was a messenger bird, it didn't look like it. She had analyzed it and saw it wasn't wounded; it actually looked fairly fit, so what had happened to it, she just couldn't guess.

"Oi, oi, what's going on?" Kiba asked. Akamaru growled and whimpered.

Hinata opened her eyes to look at him in question when she jumped. She couldn't see him!

"Fog?" Shino said simply, obviously trying to figure out how such a beautiful day could change so suddenly.

Her body crouched slightly in defense and her eyes, now with the Byakugan, scanned the area.

Soon, the thickening haze was too dense for the naked eye to see through. Being a very damp mist, it rendered both Kiba and Akamaru's noses basically useless and Shino's parasitic insects unable to fly.

She saw bright blue trails of light before her that ran almost like veins. Recognizing them as the chakra flow of her teammates, Hinata reached out to Kiba, who was holding onto Akamaru, and Shino, whose tracts were fuzzier with the insects inside him.

"It's me", she informed and pulled them all together into a loose hug. It was then that, out of the blue, a quick but large flash of light shone off in the distance.

"Whoa! Did you see that?" she heard Kiba say into the mist.

"Hn?" Shino questioned. The flash came and went again just as swiftly as before, although this time, everyone caught it.

"Was that lightning?" Kiba asked in disbelief.

"How, if there wasn't a cloud in the sky?" Hinata wondered aloud. The three stood in the silence of wonder, until the shaking of the ground below them ended their thoughts.

"Right now, we must focus on escaping the fog. Perhaps we are being caught in a battle we are not meant to be in.” Shino reasoned. The rest nodded slowly in agreement. “Let us go now before we are noticed." With that, Hinata began to lead them away grabbing the back of their coats.

"Gomennasai Shino-kun, Kiba-kun" Hinata apologized, feeling bad for grabbing her friends so disrespectfully.

"Ochitsuite, Hinata-chan," Kiba said comfortingly. "Let's just get out of here." Hinata nodded and continued forward with Kiba, Akamaru, and Shino watching her back as much as they could.

The mist began to clear as they made their way out of it. The birds that were flying toward the village had shown her the way, her being able to see vital points and all. It was moments like those that she was thankful she had the Byakugan. At least she was useful for something.

Being just clear enough to see, they figured it would be best to keep hidden, and travel through the trees that lined the road. Shino crouched and leaped into the trees, then Kiba on Akamaru. Just before Hinata was about to join them however, a more powerful earthquake swept her off her feet. She plunged forward harshly into the dirt.

“Eep!” she squealed, clawing the ground from her position on her belly to keep steady. Finally, the ground remained still and she pulled her legs in under her with a groan.

I… I have to catch up with the others! She thought determinedly.

Standing, she dusted herself off and started on her way. Beside her sore midsection, she was able to jog to the trees. Just about to leap, she saw something glint among some stray grass.

"Huh? W-what's this?"

Leap after leap, Akamaru and Shino soared through the air. The breezes and the smell of fresh flowers and leaves gently whipped at their faces. Kiba took it all in, deeply inhaling the sweet, sweet smells of spring. Only, something wasn't right now. The scent of lavender was suddenly missing.

"Sorry to bother your moment of scent inhaling, but Hinata is missing." Shino said.

Kiba looked in confusion at Shino. He was leaping emotionlessly at his right. "Huh?” Kiba blushed and glared at him. “Sh-shut-up Shino!" He mentally kicked himself for making a scene of smelling the air.

Then he actually listened to what Shino had said. Looking around, he noticed that Hinata really wasn't with them. Kicking himself again for not noticing she was gone, he stopped his partner on a branch.

"Oi! Hinata-chan!" Kiba called. Akamaru whined. After a few moments of silence and slight panic, the Hyuuga appeared leaping from tree to tree toward them. Shino “hn”'d and Kiba sighed in relief.

"What happened back there Hina-chan?" he asked with genuine worry. They were all leaping together again, the large Konoha gates in view.

"N-nothing Kiba-kun… I-I don't think…" she almost whispered.

"Eh?" he said, and saw her put something in her sweater pocket. He grunted but decided to let it go before they all ascended and sped away to send the news to Lady Hokage.

Well, we did what WE had to do… All this stuff that happened is the Hokage's problem I guess. Kiba thought.

Reaching into her pocket, Hinata pulled out the object she had found on the ground. It was an emblem made of some type of metal, perhaps the same as their headbands. Engraved in it was a cartoon-like kunai, and on the kunai was a symbol. It seemed so familiar. She knew she had seen it before (actually quite a few times before) but she wasn't quite sure what it was. She traced her thumb on the circular symbol, feeling the indented tear and the elevated upside down tear that shared the circle in perfect balance.

What was it?