Numero dos! I know it's kind of morbid, but I really do like this theme. Leave some feedback if you like... or don't like, but be nice about it, eh?

Edit: A big thank-you to Travis Lock for correcting me on the Lightning/Cloud thing. :)

02. Hinata

Hinata's first kill is the most unexpected and brutal of the Konoha rookies.

It starts as a mission into the Hidden Village of Cloud. They are there to steal a scroll containing military secrets for a client from the Wind Country. The mission is going fine; they have stolen the scroll and are heading back towards the rendezvous point, where they will meet the client and collect the payment. They are halfway there when things begin to go wrong.

Akamaru is the first to notice. He begins barking before the kumo-nin ever show themselves. Team 8 assumes the defense, gathering in a clover formation, backs to each other. It begins before Hinata even has time to activate her Byakugan.

Strike one. A barrage of shuriken comes from Hinata's right, hitting Kiba in the leg and lower torso. He cries out in pain and surprise, sinking to one knee to support his wounded leg. Kurenai-sensei and Shino spare a glance, but keeps their eyes on the lookout. Meanwhile, Hinata drops her guard and bends down to help Kiba.

Strike two. Three kumo-nin emerge from the surrounding trees, swords drawn. Hinata is torn between helping Kiba and fighting. With her eyes she silently asks Kiba, and he nods.

Go fight. I'll be fine, he's saying. And she believes him. Without another moment's hesitation, she springs to action and begins targeting one of the nin's chakra points. She hits them with unnerving speed and precision, a skill she has been working on harder and harder since her fight with Neji during the chuunin exams.

The kumo-nin is down for the count. He is uninjured but unconscious, and likely unable to move for several more hours. Hinata is breathing heavily and a light sheen of sweat shines has accumulated on her face. She is proud of herself; she has no injuries worse than a light scratch, and her enemy has been taken down efficiently and mercifully.

Then she turns around.

Kurenai-sensei and Shino are now fighting back-to-back against a new pair of kumo-nin, but appear to be holding their own. Kiba is not there.

She frantically activates her Byakugan, and in a matter of seconds she has located her missing teammate. She races into the forest after him.

Strike three. Akamaru is lying motionless a few yards away, and Kiba looks dead. He is unmoving, his body covered in blood and bruises. His limp form is pressed against a tree by the neck, held there by yet another kumo-nin. Hinata has lost count of how many of them there are. All she knows now is that someone has hurt Kiba, and she attacks..

Later, Hinata wont remember much of that night. The first clear memory she has afterwards is being in the Konoha hospital, sitting with her chin resting on folded arms on Kiba's bed. She is covered in blood, but it isn't hers. She vaguely remembers the feel of her blade sinking into soft flesh, warm crimson running between her fingers, and a fury like nothing she has ever felt.

Kurenai Yuuhi, on the other hand, remembers quite well. She remembers tearing Hinata away from the battered corpse of the kumo-nin, and she staring, shocked, at her pupil's work. She remembers so many slash marks that she can barely make out the face of the dead ninja. She remembers a body sliced into ribbons, the result of an unknown ire released. She remembers holding back a panting, enraged Hinata dripping in the rai-nin's blood, her face scrunched into a grimace of pure wrath.

Kiba will awaken two days later to an immaculately clean Hinata in an equally clean hospital room, and he'll never know.