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In Love?

The air around the camp site was cool, brisk. It felt entirely different from Konoha's. Even though Konoha was chilly at night, especially this time of the year, the Village Hidden in the Rain was different. It felt cold year round and that coldness was heightened after the sun went down.

Naruto sat outside one of the tents, where a bright green light was emanating. His face wasn't pensive, even though he was looking up at the misty rain falling onto his face, through the leaves of the trees. His lips were trembling in pent up anger and frustration. They'd been on this mission for a month now and it was his fault that that said mission was failing. Or at least, he blamed himself. Hinata was being used as a bargaining chip. Shikamaru had been placed into some sort of dream state after being struck by, what seemed like, a poison needle. Sakura's chakra was near empty from attempting to heal Shikamaru and extract whatever the needle shot into his system. However, there'd been no improvement in his condition and Naruto's patience was running thin. Hinata was being held hostage... At least, that's what they were told from Takahashi's men. And she'd been hidden away in some underground bunker they didn't know the whereabouts of for close to two days now. On the third day, Naruto had to voluntarily go with Takahashi, or Hinata probably would be dead... They'd extract her Byakugan's and sell them... The graphic list Takahashi shared with the team put them all on edge, sending shivers up their spine.

Tch. Naruto scoffed, looking away from the rain and letting his head sink between his legs that were pulled up against his chest. They didn't know anything about ninja tools... All the power they'd built up over years could be replicated or overpowered with just the click of the button. Takahashi was a genius in his own craft... Naruto hated him, but couldn't ignore the fact that if this technology continued to be in the wrong hands, the Shinobi world he knew could crumble... It was currently in the wrong hands and the only way to get it out of those hands was by eliminating the source. Easier said than done too...

The green light vanished from inside the tent as Sakura unzipped the entrance, stepping out and zipping it up again. Naruto lifted his head to look at her. She looked exhausted. A glimmer of hope twinkled in his eyes as he opened his mouth to speak, but was spoken to first.

"It's not helping." Sakura sounded defeated. Naruto's mouth was still open like he was going to respond, but he didn't know what to say. He put a lot of trust in Sakura and knew she wouldn't say words like that without being sure... Then again, he always was able to lift her up again by just... Being positive. He couldn't lose the hope she needed.

"It will. You're super smart, Sakura-chan. If anyone can do this, it's you." While his body language didn't match his encouragement, it did help her a tad bit.

The camp fire between them gave the area a warm glow. It was the first time in the last week that the rain was light enough for them to keep a fire going. Sakura took advantage of it, by sitting as close to it as she could without getting burned.

"I've never seen anything like it... It's like he's been placed under a genjutsu, but more intense. It's lasting too long for a genjutsu..." She seemed blocked. Like she didn't know how to analyze the situation properly. However, she'd been awake for almost 24 hours now, tending to Shikamaru religiously.

"You should get some rest." Naruto chimed in.

Sakura nodded. "We should write to Kakashi-Sensei first."

Naruto was looking away from Sakura, towards the infinite set of trees surrounding them. Sakura stared at Naruto, aware of his current distraught. They'd been friends for so long that nothing got past Sakura. Especially since Naruto wasn't the best at hiding his feelings.

"I know what you're thinking, and you can't." Sakura mumbled.

Naruto still didn't look at her.

"They're not going to kill Hinata."