❁𝐈𝐙𝐔𝐌𝐈'𝐒 𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘- 𝘈 𝘕𝘌𝘞 𝘉𝘓𝘖𝘚𝘚𝘖𝘔 𝘖𝘍 𝘏𝘖𝘗𝘌 ✔︎

Chapter 1, Part 5

"Alright! Team Eight is finally back!" Kiba exclaims as Akamaru barks. Hinata smiles as she silences Kiba as well.

Shino sighs as his insects begin scouting the capital: "Kiba, the enemy may already be aware that we have arrived. We must maintain a low profile if we are to gather information about the village. My bugs have already detected some powerful chakra." Shino says, as a fly crawls up his cheek.

They all look around the village for any suspicious activity.

"Hinata," Shino murmurs. "On it!" Hinata responds, activating her byakugan. She focuses on specific areas and looks for signs of chakra to locate the enemy.

Her eyes widened as she discovered the first cell. She collapses backwards in shock at what she discovered.

"Hinata!" Kiba yells as he approaches her to help her up.

Her forehead is drenched in sweat, and she appears extremely disturbed by what she discovered. "Hinata?" Shino inquires as he moves his insect to the area she was looking at.

"C-Children...dead!" she exclaims. Kiba looks at her, puzzled. "What do you mean? What children!" He asks, attempting to comprehend the situation.

Shino then becomes wide-eyed. "That is a significant number of women and children..." Shino mutters as he concentrates on his bugs.

"What!" Kiba yells in confusion over the situation.

"Shino! Watch out!" Hinata yells.

Bandits appear out of nowhere to attack Team Eight. They are strong and have incredible chakra levels.

"They are too strong!" Hinata yells, using her gentle fist.

Kiba groans, frustrated by the enemy count. "So many... what the hell is going on here..." Kiba says as he tries to fight off the bandits.

The mission was way beyond their capabilities.

Kiba and Akamaru used their man beast transformation, and proceed to attack the enemies. Hinata uses her byakugan and attacks their chakra points.

"Sixty-four palms!" Hinata shouts as the enemy falls before her.

Four more bandits come from the shadows and continue attacking them.

Shino gets kicked into a wall, causing Hinata to lose her focus on the enemies that appeared in front of her, causing her to get kicked into the ground.

"Grah!" she lets out.

"HINATA!" Kiba shouts

Kiba was unable to help his teammates since three enemies were coming at him hard. Luckily, Shino recovered from the kick, and continued fighting.

Hinata didn't give up, and got up on her own. She snuck up behind her enemy, and uses her Twin Lion Fists to get the enemy.

By luck, team eight was able to defeat all the enemies, but they didn't know what was coming for them later on. The enemies were beyond their abilities and they knew it.

-

Sitting at the dango shop, Izumi looked out at the lake and recalled her shared memories with Itachi.

Every day, she thought of him.

He haunted her every day. She wants him out of her head, but he stays there. A part of her wishes he would leave, while another wishes he would continue to haunt her.

Sakura approaches Izumi and sits beside him in wonder. So, what is Izumi thinking about?

"You know, thinking about him like this will not get you anywhere. You will have to talk to him sooner or later," Sakura says, breaking the awkward silence.

"I know. I just need the right moment to end this awkward tension between us..." Izumi replies.

Sakura stares at Izumi. She appears to be hurt and deeply in love with someone she does not know but who reciprocates her feelings. "Being in love is the greatest feeling. But it also hurts because you do not know if they feel the same way about you."

Izumi turns to Sakura, who is beaming brightly.

"I have gone through it, and I still am. But I am still not giving up. I know he does not show it for me, but after being together for so long, I can tell he truly does..." She trails off as she begins to giggle. "You get the idea."

Izumi laughs: "I suppose. I am not sure how to feel about it. I really do love, Itachi. It is in a way that I can not express. I want to protect, love, adore, and be with him... Does he want to do that with me?" Izumi wonders.

"Who knows? I am sure he does, though. I am positive. You two need to spend time together. Once you guys talk, you will be unstoppable," she says.

Izumi looks at the lake and smiles. She hopes Itachi feels the same way about her. The emotions that have bubbled up inside her make her want to confess her heart to him and tell him that she wants to be with him.

Always protecting him.