*I don't own Naruto, Final Fantasy VII, or any of their characters.

A beeping pierced through the air, jolting the reunited friends to their current location.

Immediately, an awkwardness filled the air as the kunoichi and the General quickly separated. Hinata blushed fiercely as Sephiroth cleared his throat and walked towards the unconscious teenager that Hinata suddenly realized was there.

How could she have acted so… so bold towards Sephiroth?! That wasn't like her at all! Shoot, it had taken a life and death battle for her to finally confess to Naruto, and yet in less than a minute after arriving at wherever she was she's hugging Sephiroth! What was wrong with her?

Suddenly, the beeping seemed to get slightly louder. Focusing once more, Hinata was surprised to see Sephiroth pulling some sort of black device out of the teenager's pocket. As he flipped it open, the beeping stopped and the kunoichi was further surprised when he held it up to his ear.

"Sephiroth," he stated simply. Waiting a beat, he added, "Because he's currently unconscious."

Hinata blinked in confusion as her childhood friend seemingly carried out a one-sided conversation. As she observed him, the kunoichi realized that the strange black device was similar in function to the communicators that were occasionally used on missions, especially during the infamous 'Catch Tora the Cat' mission all Genin were assigned to at least once. While the conversation continued, the Hyuuga decided to take advantage of it and glanced around at her surroundings.

Her initial observations were correct- instead of being in a battle-torn plain, she was now currently in a forest. Turning slowly, she was surprised to see very few signs of life. Not even birds could be heard or spotted. Looking closer, she realized that the surrounding trees, whose species she was unfamiliar with, showed signs of extreme wind damage.

I wonder what could've caused such damage… she thought to herself.

When she took a step towards one of them to investigate them closely, however, she heard a groan. Spinning, Hinata saw that the teenager was coming to.

"Uh… what a strange dream…" he mumbled, rubbing his hand over his face. Sitting up, he continued to mumble under his breath. Finally opening his eyes, which enabled Hinata to see that they were a rather gorgeous blue that glowed in a similar way to Sephiroth's, his jaw dropped slightly as he took in his surroundings. Soon, his eyes landed on her. What happened next helped diffuse the awkwardness that had previously taken over the clearing… somewhat.

"Wait, the girl from that freaky wind tunnel is REAL?!" he yelped as he literally jumped into a standing position and pointed at her. Hinata was hard pressed to suppress her giggling at this, for he reminded her of both Naruto and Kiba.

A click sounded, and Sephiroth's voice rang throughout the clearing, "I would assume she's real considering she's standing right there."

As he watched Fair spin and salute with rather impressive speed (making him wonder if Angeal's student had been slacking off during this entire lesson), Sephiroth thought about what to do about his long-lost friend. From the way she had come into his world, he suspected that she, like he had all those years ago, had not exactly planned on arriving here. She would more than likely need a place to stay until she could be returned back to her home (and that was assuming she could go back- the possibility that she couldn't go back was rather high), and he definitely owed her some explanations, both of his world and of what exactly had happened over a decade ago.

Luckily for him, he had a few extra rooms in his quarters that he rarely used… however, he remembered the fine clothes that Hinata had worn as a child- would her upbringing allow her to stay the night in a male's quarters? Only one way to find out.

"Hinata…" he began hesitantly. As Hinata looked at him with her eyebrows raised in question, out of the corner of his eye he could see Fair trying (and failing) to hold back his gawking. Ignoring him, Sephiroth continued, "I'm sure you have questions for me, and if you're willing I do have my own quarters. We can talk there with very few interruptions, and I do have several empty bedrooms that you can choose from… or if you would prefer your own place I can rent a hotel suite for you." As those left his mouth, he realized too late how someone (Fair) could interpret that statement.

Sure enough, as the General flicked his eyes towards him, the Puppy was giving the two old friends a look that was (for lack of a better word) suggestive. A slight narrowing of his eyes, though, had Fair instantly looking away in self-preservation.

Hinata's cheeks were slightly tinted pink, however when she answered her words were free of any particular feelings. "I'd be happy to stay with you, Sephiroth. There's no need to go through any extra trouble for me."

Giving her a soft smile, Sephiroth replied, "If there's one thing that Angeal and Genesis have taught me, it's that you can never go too far to help a friend."

As Hinata smiled back, Sephiroth was suddenly struck with the realization that although his long-lost friend was slightly younger than the other SOLDIER currently present, she was still no longer a child.

Shaking off the confusing feelings that accompanied this realization, Sephiroth tossed Fair's PHS back to him and opened his own. Just as he had seen Hinata's home… it was time for her to see his.

"Are you serious? You've never seen a helicopter before?" inquired Zack as he, the General, and the mysterious Hinata flew back towards Midgar.

The girl, who had gone into some strange fighting stance when their helicopter had come into view and only calmed down when Sephiroth climbed aboard, shook her head. "The closest thing I've seen to it has been the Land of Sky when it attacked the Hidden Leaf Village."

Huh? What kind of names were those? "Just where are you from, again?"

Before Hinata could answer, General Sephiroth interrupted, "That information will be confidential, Zackary Fair, until after I've had the chance to speak with Miss Hyuuga privately."

"Aw, man," Zack grumbled under his breath. He brightened, however, when he remembered that his buddy Kunsel could probably help him out with this mystery. His fellow SOLDIER was the best when it came to information gathering, and Zack suspected the mystery surrounding Hinata Hyuuga would intrigue him like no other. Shoot, it might even be enough to get him to take off that helmet…

Suddenly, Zack's plotting to finally see what his buddy looked like was interrupted when a feminine gasp filled the air. "What is that?" Hinata asked in an awed voice as she leaned over to see out of the front window of the chopper.

"That is Midgar, home of the Shinra Electric Company and our eventual destination," answered the General.

Hinata stared at the odd double-layered city with awestruck eyes. It was HUGE. In fact, if she had to venture a guess it was at least twice the size of the Hidden Leaf Village!

Suddenly, she recognized the names that Sephiroth had mentioned. He had mentioned Midgar and this Shinra when they had first met. Did that mean that she was now visiting his home?

As if sensing her thoughts, Sephiroth leaned towards her. "I'll explain what I can when we get to my quarters," he murmured lowly (well, as lowly as he could while all three of them wore those strange ear-coverings and the little microphone attachment). Starting to feel too overwhelmed by what was happening to her, Hinata simply nodded.

With the chopper flying closer and closer to Midgar, Hinata contemplated on what had happened to her within the past several hours. From battling the White Zetsus and facing off the false Madara himself to being reunited with a friend who had been lost to her for over ten years and actually flying in some sort of strange machine, she could honestly say that this has been one of the strangest days of her life.

Completely bypassing the lower part of the city, the helicopter immediately angled towards the tallest building Hinata had ever seen.

"Shinra Headquarters, here we come!" exclaimed Zack. At this revelation, the eldest daughter of Hiashi Hyuuga was hard-pressed to conceal her amazement. They were heading there?!

Soon enough, the helicopter landed on a strange pad towards the top of the building. As Zack bounded out (again, Hinata was reminded of her teammate Kiba), suddenly she noticed a middle-aged man wearing a suit waiting for them.

Cautiously getting out of the vehicle with Sephiroth's voice giving orders to Zack in the background, Hinata studied this man. She could instantly tell that this man was not what he initially appeared to be. With the scars on his face and the way he carried himself, Hinata was somehow reminded of Ibiki Morino. This was a man she did not want to cross if she could help it.

While the man was walking almost leisurely towards them, the Hyuuga suddenly noticed something… off about one of his arms. Eyes narrowing slightly in concentration, she realized that despite the man's obvious efforts to hide it, one of his arms seemed to be slightly stiffer than the other. Ordinarily, that would be something in her favor… however, Hinata remembered vividly all of the various rumors that flew after Pein's attack, more specifically the aspect of Pein that seemed to be more machine than man- the Asura Path, if she recalled correctly.

With what she had seen so far of Sephiroth's home, she wouldn't be surprised if the odd arm on this man was machine as well.

"General Sephiroth," the man greeted.

As Hinata felt one of Sephiroth's hands on her shoulder, he replied, "Director Veld."

Quickly glancing towards her old friend, the Hyuuga was surprised to feel a certain amount of protectiveness radiating from him. Glancing back towards the newly identified Veld, the kunoichi wondered just how much of a danger Sephiroth perceived this man to be towards her.

Eyes briefly flicking towards her, Veld inquired, "Is she the unexpected guest you mentioned?"

"Yes," answered Sephiroth. His voice suddenly gaining an edge of steel, he added, "And as she is my responsibility, I can assure you that she will be no threat to the President."

A slight smirk appearing on his face, the other man responded, "Then you wouldn't object to us keeping an eye out for her, will you? Just to make sure, of course, that what you say is true."

Hinata was hard-pressed to hide her surprise at the small growl Sephiroth released at that. She was even more surprised, however, to see Veld employ similar tactics to hide his own surprise. The kunoichi made a mental note to ask her friend if Veld was a shinobi later.

Suddenly, the kunoichi began to sway on her feet. Apparently, the excitement of the day was finally beginning to wear off and her body was still suffering from the false Madara's jutsu.

Hinata barely registered Sephiroth catching her before she passed out.

A/N: *is still amazed at how popular this story is despite the lack of updates* And now, for some sleep... oh, and if I got Veld's character wrong, I apologize. I have never played Before Crisis, so I have no idea as to what the man is like besides the Final Fantasy Wiki entry on him. Any help you can give would be greatly appreciated!