2.11

2.11

“You did well, little ninja. You can die—”

Zabuza’s clone cut mid taunt. Splashed into a puddle of water. The mist billowed out. Over by the river, Naruto flailed, trying to keep his head above water. Kakashi-sensei, now freed from the prison, matched the real Zabuza seal by seal. Huge water dragons formed from the water, clashed against one another.

Naruto washed into the clearings pushed by the waves. Was that Kakashi-sensei’s doing? I still couldn’t rest. I shambled toward Tazuna, stood in front of the man. Put the pain out of my mind. Had to protect the client. He didn’t even seem to notice me, so captivated with the battle.

In the river, the battle raged on. Kakashi-sensei copied the enemy movement to the smallest of details. Zabuza started his speech, Kakashi finished it. Mind games, I realized. It worked too.

Mid cast one jutsu, Zabuza stopped, surprised, on the last seal. Kakashi didn’t. A huge whirlwind of water exploded around him. It hit the surprised Zabuza. Caught unaware, the man couldn’t defend himself. The water threw him back into the clearing. The missing-nin slammed against a tree. I didn’t see when sensei did it, but kunais pierced Zabuza’s arms, legs. Kakashi stood on the same tree, on a branch, looking down on the enemy.

“It’s over.” Kakashi-sensei declared.

“How?” Zabuza demanded. “Can you see the future?”

“Yeah,” Kakashi agreed. “You’re going to die.”

Two thick senbon needles pierced Zabuza’s neck. The man’s eyes went wide. He toppled over.

“You’re right.” A soft, melodic voice echoed. “He’s dead.”

Up on a tree opposite Kakashi’s stood another ninja. Dressed in dark green and orange robes, mask covering their face, hair tied in a bun. Kakashi dropped down, checked Zabuza’s pulse. Looked at the newcomer.

“Thank you very much.” The surprise attacker bowed. “I’ve been searching for the opportunity to kill Zabuza for a long time.”

“You are a Kirigakure hunter-nin.” Sensei stated.

“Hinata-chan! You’re awake!” Naruto was the first to notice me. He came running and for a moment I thought he would hug me. The kid stopped just before that. He looked surprised.

Not just Naruto. Everyone looked like they didn’t expect me to be awake. I did what a girl my age, undressed in a room full of boys would do: I pulled the blanket close, covered my bandaged chest.

“That’s it.” The woman yelled. “Out, everyone out!”

“But, but,” Naruto complained. Sasuke brooded. Tazuna scratched the back of his head. The room was soon empty save for a still paralyzed sensei and a bustling woman. She walked to me, sat down seiza by my side. “How are you, dear?” She asked.

I tilted my head. Wasn’t sure why she was treating me like a wild puppy. I looked around, Kakashi was looking at me too.

“You lost a lot of blood,” Sensei said, probably understood my confusion. “We didn’t expect you to be awake for a few days, at least.”

I looked at the woman fussing over me. She... looked like a mother? Dressed plainly in light and dark green tones, full of mother energy. I looked at my arms. My bracelets, and seals were gone. I looked around, saw them deposited atop my small backpack. I pointed to it.

“You want that, dear?” The woman asked. I nodded. She handed me over the things.

I sifted through my belongings until I found my comms board. Then sifted through my bag, took my prepared seals. Placed them in front of me to curious stares of Kakashi and Oka-san. Out popped the board, to a surprised gasp from the woman.

“Hi, I’m Hinata,” I wrote on my board. “We’re here to protect Tazuna-san and his family while he finishes the bridge. You can count on us!”

Oka-san read my board, looked bewildered. I knew what I had forgotten. I popped my prepared mission pastries, offered them to the woman. She took it hesitantly.

“We’ll protect you without fail!” I wrote. “Meanwhile, please enjoy these pastries.”

Kakashi-sensei stared for a moment, broke out chuckling, burst out in a full laughter. Oka-san sighed. Muttered under her breath. It sounded a lot like “these damn crazy ninjas”. It couldn’t have been. I wasn’t crazy. I just introduced myself.

Kakashi-sensei laughter went on for a while. I think he did that on purpose. That was so uncool.