Orange, Spirals and Everything Nice

Nine: The Choices We Make

DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the characters or the setting of the story. They all exclusively belong to Mr. Masashi Kishimoto in all its rights.

(A/N: (Hey, there...) I tried with the action scenes but it's not really my thing; but, I hope you still like it... ^_^ ... My apologies in advance. Enjoy reading! Thanks!)

Katanas clashed with kunais and shurikens under the snow. Taijutsu techniques battled against samurai attacks.
The bad guys are actually stronger than they seemed, with seasoned years of battle and whatever bad deeds they've been up to. Fortunately, the Hyuugas still had the upper hand in terms of jutus and combat efficiency.
The only concern on their side is the fact that they have people to protect in the middle of the fight. Without a spare member of their team to look out for the helpless men and women, made their formation quite fragile.

Hinata was balancing her attacks while keeping her defenses by protecting Hikari and Maki close to her. (She heard the women call each other's names right before the fight ensued.)
Neji was fighting two crooks at once since the latter decided to take on the genius at the same time. Kou was equally having a hard time with the enemy's second-in-command. The two good samurais took on the salt-and-pepper-haired leader and Hinata was battling with the fifth member of the crooks.
In the middle of the fight, Hinata managed to ask Hikari and Maki about the crooks' intentions with them and why did they seem like they were running away from them earlier.

"They are rogue samurais who have pirate friends." Hikari briefly answered. "They take young unmarried women from small villages to sell as pirate brides." the woman added, leaving the kunoichi stunned and disgusted.

"How could these people treat women like commodities that they could heartlessly trade for money?"
Hinata cringed in horror. Now, she absolutely can't let these bastards have their twisted ways any longer.
Hikari, Maki, nor any other young woman doesn't deserve such unforgiving treatment. And they should be rightfully treated as humans and nothing less.

Feeling a huge amount of unfamiliar rage bubbling inside her, Hinata attacked her enemy with more precision. She never knew she was capable of feeling such fury. She had always been so composed and level-headed even in dire situations because that was what she had been training all those years. It just wasn't in her nature to be aggressive and impatient.

But for the very first time, Hinata failed to calm herself down.
Right now, she was simply out of control.

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Kiba's tracking senses brought the team to a clearing where a battle is currently taking place. A few new scents invaded his and Akamaru's noses as their group quickly observed the scene before them, rapidly calculating the perfect opportunity to jump in and help the Hyuugas -- or if they even needed help in the first place.

"Looks like they're trying to protect the women alongside Hinata." Kakashi stated as he watched the fights with his sharingan. The silver-haired jounin quickly noted the odd attacks Hinata was performing in the middle of battle. The usually gentle and calm heiress is attacking her opponent more aggressively, her familiar calm features disappearing under a mask of fury.

"Hinata's attacks are strange." Kiba observed as well. "I've never seen her so... enraged..."

"Well, she looks like a Hyuuga for once." Sai commented with his fake smile, earning a growl from Kiba.

"We gotta help them anyway -ttebayo!" Naruto chimed in and started to move forward without warning like always but he stopped on his tracks mid-way.
An utterly shocking scene unfolded before them as Hinata precisely stroke her pale arms in the air, concisely blocking her opponent's tenketsu points consecutively, leaving the poor crook for dead as he fell breathlessly on the snow. Hinata's veiny face contorted with unbelieving fury and disgust as she glared at her fallen enemy, without the slightest hint of mercy.