Naruto Shippūden: The Legendary Team 「伝説のチーム」

Chapter 5.5

Hinata had never been fond of fighting.

Her opponent who was standing before her was strong. He was apparently from Suna, judging from his headband. He had the ability to manipulate rocks and make them his shield. Not only that; he was also proficient in taijutsu, making him a challenging opponent.

But Hinata was no slouch when it came to taijutsu. It was only her hesitance to hurt others that was her main problem.

As she kept on fending him off with her gentle fist techniques, she chanced a glance towards her teammates. Kiba and Akamaru were busy fighting against the bulky guy who seemed to be two years older than them. Shino, on the other hand, was nowhere in sight. Hinata had an inkling that he was luring the other Suna teammate into his intricately-made traps.

The Suna nins were the ones who ambushed them. She and Kiba had been scanning the perimeter while Shino was laying traps around the forest. They planned on talking about a good strategy first before hunting down other teams for scrolls. However, they were rudely interrupted by a flurry of kunais and they had no choice but to fight back.

Hinata was already beginning to grow tired. She was significantly smaller than her opponent and could not seem to fend him off properly due to their size difference. With a heavy exhale, she flipped backwards, narrowly avoiding a fatal kunai jab.

"Hinata!" Kiba's voice resounded in her head, snapping her out of her fearful and anxious thoughts. "You okay over there?!"

Hinata managed a nod as she barely dodged a fist to her cheek. "Y—Yes, I'm fine!"

There was silence on Kiba's end for a brief moment before he let out an intense yell as he kicked his opponent to the ground.

"I need a little help here!" he shouted, directing his words to Hinata. "Can you finish it up with that lame-ass guy? He ain't even worth your time!"

The Suna nin who was facing Hinata bristled. "How dare you—!"

Hinata caught the essence of his words quickly and sent him a grateful nod. "Got it, Kiba-kun!" Taking advantage of this momentary confidence boost, Hinata activated her Byakugan.

Please... don't fail me this time... she prayed to herself, willing her dōjutsu to awaken. Please...

When she opened her eyes in the next second, she could see every chakra point on her opponent's body.

Hinata almost sagged to the ground in relief. I did it!

Wasting no more time, she proceeded to incapacitate her opponent and managed to take him down in just a few strikes.

Kiba saw this and grinned. "Way to go, Hinata! Now help me out here so we can go assist Shino!"

Hinata nodded. "I'll do my best!"

Thank you, Kiba-kun.

• • •

"Where are you going, Neji?" Tenten called out while preparing the firewood.

Neji had his back to her as he slowly jumped onto another tree branch, seemingly looking at something. "I'm not going far," he told her after a brief pause. "There are two teams fighting about a few kilometers away from here."

"Really?" Lee spoke up. "Is it someone we know?"

Neji's eyes narrowed as he analyzed the chakra signatures as well as the outlined appearances of the figures. "It seems to be Naruto's team."