Sorry this one took so long. It was a rough week, but I've just been pushing onwards and now I've finished this, and the new chapter for Idle Glances should be done within 24 hours. As always let me know if there's anything you need to know. (This chapter was exactly 4k words, holy shit, go me).

War has well and truly arrived in Konoha. Genin run through the village, distributing weapons, fortifying buildings and making sure the village is safe in the worst case scenario. Other shinobi are training hard, running short missions in order to bring the most resources possible into the village, trying to make sure that nothing will allow a deficiency in the worst case scenario. Older shinobi run longer missions worth more money in an attempt to fill the coffers so that more weapons can be made and make sure the alliance is well stocked. Villagers work hard in their own way, bakers making the most bread possible, farmers collecting any available crops and collecting as much as they can from their domesticated animals. The country is alight with activity, people all stockpiling, building and preparing for the worst possible outcome. War.

Hinata finds herself in the centre of preparations, running short missions with Kiba and Shino, working harder than she's ever worked before, training harder, building her stamina. She spends as much time as possible with her Byakugan in action, as to build up her ability to use it without strain. When she's not training, she studying old books with techniques in them, as to try and improve her own styles. It's with some effort that she manages to master the Vacuum Palm, enlisting help from Neji in order to practice having it to the point where the pair can use the technique as one to create one single, larger blast. The continuous practice had ripped apart one training ground and the two had decided that they didn't need to further train with the technique.

One day, Hinata and Shino are called into the Hokage's office for a routine collection mission. The two would run quickly along the coast, through the Land of Hot Water and into the Land of Frost. Once there, they'd collect some resources from Shimo before assessing the level of the Shinobi stationed there. This was a high level mission and it showed the trust that Tsunade was putting in the pair so they were determined to do it with as few kinks as possible. Hinata spent most of the day before the mission packing lightly and resting up, as to avoid physical exertion that could have a negative impact on her mission performance. Shino told her that he's going to collect some insects that are more resistant to the elements, due to him not wanting to risk being caught short-handed in an unknown environment.

Bright and early the next morning, the pair meets at the front gates and once pleasantries have been exchanged, they quickly set off, establishing a high pace. As both are quiet, the time passes quickly, with no small chat to slow things down. The two day trip should take them through the evacuating Land of Hot Water, so the two have been advised to keep an eye out for any defectors who might try something if they think the two are messengers or worth a ransom. Halfway through their first day of travel, they bump into a small child and stop immediately in the trees, Hinata spotting him from a distance, grabbing Shino and pulling him to a stop. "Shino-kun, stop," her voice barely above a whisper. The child is sobbing and screaming at the top of his lungs, seemingly lost, or separated from his parents. Hinata quietly motions that she's going to check the boy, leaving Shino alone on the branch.

As she hits the forest floor, she's scanning the nearby area for any sign of an enemy force, but it seems for now that they're okay and this boy is just a boy. Approaching with a smile on her face, she holds out a bit of bread to the boy, who takes it and nibbles on it. It seems like he's just a child, so she's about to gesture to Shino to come to her side when she realises that the boy's chakra network is not that of an ordinary child. A transformation! She darts backwards as the boy grins with such vicious intent, beyond that of what any normal child should be able to do, before releasing the technique. "Looks like we got a smart 'un here," the Shinobi says, his voice low and gravelly. A gentle padding of feet and crunch of leaves tells you that Shino has jumped down next to you, his arms raised.

"Hinata, is there any sign of any other shinobi?" His usually collected tone is quite urgent, as he evidently doesn't appreciate the idea of being ambushed in a place like this, where there's too many gaps in their defences. She shakes her head, but pushes herself, looking further than she should be, pushing her eyes to their limits, looking everywhere. The area looks reasonably clear so she focuses back onto the shinobi in front of them. His headband suggests that he's from Shimo, but that's all the intel she can garner from his appearance. Quietly she positions herself and takes a deep breath, ready to perform her Gentle Fist as soon he gets in range. One step, two steps. Shino takes a step back and she can hear the buzz of his swarm coming forth.

"Seems we gonna have a good ol' throw down." That horrific grin again, splitting his face wide, which is when you realise the long curving scars on either side of his face, forcing his mouth into a permanent smile, regardless of the position of his mouth. The contortion in conjunction with an actual smile creates a ghastly portrait. He pulls out two kunai and runs them along the scars before throwing them dead centre at her chest. Resisting the urge to flinch, she calmly slaps them away with the Gentle Fist, allowing the chakra to protect her hands from harm. Shino takes advantage of the lapse in the fight to launch his bugs in all their viciousness upon the man, who starts screaming and swatting at them. It seems that this man isn't much of a shinobi after all, merely a spurned and bitter one. After a few moments, the man lays quietly on the ground, twitching for a few seconds before his movements cease.

Hinata glances at the body, knowing that Shino's only allowed his bugs to knock the man out by reducing his chakra to such a minimum. "What should we do with him?" It might look suspicious if they kill a member of Shimo before they even arrive in the village and that could be counterproductive to the alliance. Shino's already accounted for that it seems, slinging the man over his shoulder, before looking back at her.

"Shall we leave?" As always, his cool demeanour is a little intimidating, but she's come to accept it as part of him. When you spend every hour of your day around bugs and quiet people, you're bound to develop a personality which reflects them. The two of them start running through the forest again, before returning to their bounding route through the tree tops. Occasionally the man on Shino's back awakes, only to find himself pass out again a few moments later when some of the bugs bite him. She feels a bit bad for him, to be on the receiving side of the swarm would not be… pleasant to say the least. After a few more hours, they come into a small village with a few shinobi, so they hand the man over to them so that they can progress to Shimo far quicker.

Once they've unloaded the man, they speed up, rushing through the mangrove forest before heading inland, towards the village. As they rush onwards, Hinata finds her mind being drawn back to Naruto, wondering where he is now. She'd asked Tsunade to send her on a mission that would bring her near him (without mentioning that of course), but Tsunade had scoffed at the suggestion, telling her to take the missions she can and do them well or not take them at all. After that ordeal, she'd been working as hard as possible, as to not give the idea that she was a slacker just out for an easy ride.

Her commitment to being a better kuninochi had been more focussed since that point. She'd let the absence of Naruto be just that and studied more ways to improve her techniques. Every day, most of her hours were consumed through hard work and training to master the techniques she had at her behest, working till she had either exhausted her chakra or could not summon the stamina to go on. Her father had been watching her closely in her time, occasionally correcting her stances or occasionally bringing her some water. The difference in his attitude had left her more than a little on guard, continuously pinching herself to make sure this was in fact reality. The reassurance that her father did care about her was doing a great deal of aid to her confidence and she used it as a spring board, pushing her upwards towards better things. This war was to defend the one she loved and she wasn't going to allow it to fail, even if she had to put her blood on the gears to stop them from taking him.

After a while, the pair of shinobi comes to halt, checking their map and compass to make sure they are on the right track, before setting up camp, throwing camp rolls down and lighting a small fire. Conversing lightly, Hinata is reminded once again of just how quiet Shino is, even given their closeness. With Kiba, his feelings for people were always shown on his face, his body language and his speech, but Shino never let anything slide. It worried her at times, especially when he'd talk about being forgotten. He'd told her a few times about the dark moods that would overcome him, but it was like he didn't know how to put his emotions into words and she suspected that had something to do with his raising through the Aburame clan. Most of his family were quiet and tended not to rely on emotion, preferring to stick to logic and she would worry that it was having an effect on him. The mood is lighter than expected, as the two talk about expectations for the upcoming war. Shino shakes silently after explaining about how his family was breeding several strains of insects in case of being deployed into more harsh environments and a smile spreads across her face, remembering that this is the closest he ever comes to laughing.

"Shino-kun, do you miss the times in Team 8?" As the words pass her lips, they quiver a little, making her seem almost uncertain about what she's saying and she has to bite back a little, hoping not to make it seem like she's prying too much. From what she knows of Shino, he tends to open up when he's ready and not a minute earlier.

The glasses-clad eyes pass back towards her, boring into her amethyst orbs, before turning back to face the sky. "I miss how it was when we were always together. It was nice to feel like a part of something." Hinata follows his eyes to the sky and watches the stars twinkling above them, filling the navy sky with their light. "I miss when it was the three of us, you both smiling, Kiba saying something stupid, you blushing because of a joke about Naruto." A small exhale comes out, even his sighs being controlled. "There are days where I wish for everything before the Chuunin exams. Before Sasuke defected. Before the village was destroyed. I miss the simplicity." There's a waver in his voice, something she doesn't expect to hear from the stoic teenager. Glancing across, she's shocked to notice two small streams of tears dripping down his face and off his chin, the slight drops making a tiny noise on the wooden log he's leaning against. In a quick decision, she moves over and pulls him into a hug, leaning into his jacket. It's not the first time she's done this, but she knows that it'll take off some of the stress he's feeling at the moment.

"Thank you, Hinata." His voice is tired and it sounds like he's falling asleep, so you let him gently drift off, until his breathing is relaxed and starts to peter out and soon she's left only to her thoughts, the crackling of the fire as it slowly burns out and the rustling of the bushes in the cool breeze. Quietly, she stands up, moving Shino's arm gently off her shoulder and moves across the campsite, activating her Byakugan. Looks like she's been tasked with the first watch. Brushing the hair out of her eyes, she keeps her eyes on the sky, allowing the Byakugan to keep watch of the forest around her. The night air is so calm, and she can't help feeling like it's the calm before the upcoming storm of the war.

. . .

When dawn comes around, Shino gently shakes her in order to let her know that they have to take off. Once everything is packed up again, they start to run, making up for any time they may have lost. Of course, now that they're free of the heavy forests and mangroves, they're free to run faster and not have to rely on bounding through the trees. Even then, the progress is still hard on the pair of Chuunin, who are both more accustomed to slow pace, rather than long distance sprinting. With the few stops they need to make for reaffirming the direction of their travel, the two make pleasant progress, before arriving at the gates of Shimo in the early afternoon.

They're coolly greeted by a teenaged genin, who guides them inside, where there's a variety of events going on inside the chilly village. Whilst the weather is less formidable than expected, Hinata is glad for her jacket, as it cuts out most of the cold chill. They're then passed onto another higher ranked Shimo-nin who starts to fill them in on the efforts of the village to put together what it's got for the war effort. However, his face seems sad as he fills them in on their dreadfully low military numbers, having only 5 Chuunin and 1 Jounin and a lot of inexperienced Genin. It seems that recently the village was hit in what can only be interpreted as incredibly suspicious attacks by bandits that were deliberately targeting higher up members of the Shimo chain of command. The victims were almost never civilians, except when hostages were taken in an attempt to draw out the shinobi of the village.

The Jounin looks incredibly tired as he relays the facts to the pair of Konoha-nin, the thick dark bags under his eyes betraying the fact that he's obviously not slept in days. He keeps running his hands through his hair, to try and get the unruly mess out of his eyes. His headband is strapped tightly around his throat, causing Hinata to idly wonder why he doesn't attempt to use it to restrain his hair a bit, before reeling her thoughts back in. It's with a look of desperation that he begs the two to go out and find the bandits and take care of them. Reluctantly the two accept, knowing that the mission will most likely aid them in completing their own goal and get them home to Konoha.

Promising the man (named Taiki), the two set off to get a good night's sleep in the local tavern. When the two arrive there in the late afternoon, it's bustling with men and women alike, drunks swaying from the amount of Sake they've been ingesting whilst ogling serving girls. The two of them grab a table in the corner of the room, ordering a small meal to share, quietly watching the chaotic nature of those around them. It's easy to see that this village has fallen on hard times by the amount of low fuelled anger that seems to be shimmering throughout the place, like a pot put on to simmer. A few men give the two passing glances, but no one really seems to care about their presence, moreso denying it as much as they can. It's not until later on when Hinata brings up their plans for the next day, that a person makes a comment towards the pair. A young man leers at Hinata as he passes by, spilling his drink on her as mumbles something about "Konoha whores". In an instant, Shino is on his feet, bugs buzzing angrily, his glasses making him look far more intimidating than she could ever hope to be. The man falls backwards onto the ground, fear covering his face as the swarm slowly creeps down the dark shinobi's arms. Muttering to himself, he crawls back to his friends, leaving the two in peace.

After a few minutes, another young man walks over with an apologetic look on his face. "I'm terribly sorry for my friend's rude behaviour. As you probably know it's been rough here lately." His smile is so genuinely apologetic that Hinata finds herself giving a small one in return.

"It's fine, he was clearly drunk and didn't mean to insult me personally," she replies, her voice cool. Another of those odd smiles, and he reaches out and puts a hand on her arm, triggering a raised eyebrow from Shino. She looks up at the smiling man, and wonders where this is going.

"Nonsense, let me get you something to drink from the bar, I'd love to hear more about Konoha," he laughs lightly, white teeth showing, "I've got to show you at least some of the Shimo hospitality that you've clearly been denied."

Hinata glances to Shino who simply shrugs and waves her off. "I'll be fine, Hinata, don't feel guilty on my account." She smiles a little at her friend and stands up, following the dusty blonde to the bar where he buys them both a glass of sake, which she eyes extremely carefully. Gently she takes a sip and grimaces a bit at the strong liquid as it passes down her throat, making an extremely comical face as far as she can tell from the reaction of the man, as he laughs gently with that smile again. Frowning inwardly, she wonders why he keeps smiling at the most inane of things. Maybe he just has a funny sense of humour.

She talks a bit about Konoha, her family and a little about Naruto. It seems like the bit of sake that she's drunk has had an effect on her quietness as she spills forth about her unrequited feelings for Naruto and how she wishes that he would notice her. The man smiles more, occasionally squeezing her arm, which makes her increasingly uncomfortable, wishing he would stop it, but she shrugs it off. He talks about his village and how boring it is getting little to no visitors except for old traders, occasionally complimenting her on her appearance, her eyes, and her hair, which makes her just a little uncomfortable. She also doesn't miss the occasional eye flickers towards her chest, causing her to blush a little and cross her arms over her chest. She notices Shino go upstairs later in the evening, and she feels the need to follow him, but the boy catches her arm, begging her not to go.

She sighs a little and sits down, before taking another sip of her drink, listening to some boring story about how he'd climbed up a ladder to rescue a cat from an attacking hawk, laughing a little when he finishes it. As she notices the time, she decides that now would be a good time to leave, smiling politely and raising a hand in farewell she starts to leave before he grabs her hand again and gently presses his lips against it.

"Hinata-san, please don't go, you're such a lovely young lady." That smile, which had seemed so nice early in the evening, provokes an almost sickening twist in her stomach. It looks so, disingenuous next to someone like Naruto's smile. She turns away again, moving to pull her hand free before he sharply tugs on her hand, bringing her in close to him. His smile, as well as the smell of sake is making you gag and you try to politely move out of his arms as he leans in and kisses you on the lips.

All of a sudden, white hot anger flies forth, burning away the tipsiness she'd been feeling from the alcohol. She lashes out with the palm of her hand, smashing it into his face with a look of fury across her face. As he stumbles backwards, Hinata grabs his shirt and shunts him into the bar, hand in a clenched fist, teeth gritting together. "I told you that I loved another man, yet you couldn't take no for an answer. Tell me why I shouldn't break your nose right now." The hostility in her tone surprises her and she thinks that may have something to do with the alcohol in her system. All around them the barflies and bartender are all looking on in shock as the petite girl holds a man much taller than herself against the bar. He sickeningly begins to sob and she looks at him with a look of contempt before dropping him to the floor, wiping the snot off her arm.

"Don't ever touch another woman." With the words said, she turns curtly and walks straight into Shino who'd come down to see what all the noise was about. She grabs him and pushes him back up the stairs, wanting to get away from the man and get some peace and quiet, to clean herself from the disgust. The two friends quietly enter the room before sitting down on their separate sides of the room, Shino's glasses as impassive as ever, but she can tell that he's clearly looking directly at her.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

She looks at the other teen, his face blank, yet the care behind those words is evident, and she's so thankful to have him around. A gentle shake of her head provides him the answer he wants, before the two say goodnight. She lays softly down and shudders at the taste of the man's mouth upon hers and thinks back to when Naruto kissed her that morning, to cleanse her mind of the nasty night, and after a while falls to sleep with a smile on her face.

Idly, she's cleaning a kunai, which is odd because she could almost swear that she'd already done that today. In front of her is Naruto who's speaking with a smile on his face and laughing loudly, although for some odd reason she can't hear him at all. All she can see is his mouth moving and his movements, but not the sounds that they should be making. He cocks his head at her when she looks frustrated and reaches out, his hand caressing her cheek gently. She feels herself flushing and the look on his face makes it obvious that she is. It slowly traces a curve down her face, running over the cheek bones, her lips, her chin. His mouth moves in a way that looks reassuring and she feels herself relaxing into his hand before it pulls her face close to his and leans his face into hers, a softer smile spreading across his face, the long whisker lines drawing back in, and just as their lips meet, he whispers something softly -"…"

She sits bolt upright gasping dramatically, and holds her hand to her lips, as her heart rate slowly returns to normal. Groaning at her torturous subconscious, she lies back down and tries to get some more sleep.