The sound of a briefcase opening always held some appeal to him because you never know what's inside. It could be money, drugs or a stack of papers that could make or break someone's life, this briefcase contained none of these things. It instead contained his weapon of choice for the day, at this stage Tenten knew what suited him best. All he had to do was give her the general conditions of the job, no details of course, and she'd come through for him.

A disassembled sniper rifle lay inside the briefcase with one clip of ammunition, he would only need one bullet. He worked quickly but without hurry, he never had much of an interest in guns but whenever Tenten got started talking on them she would get this real passionate and lively look on her face and he couldn't help but listen to every word coming out her mouth with such excitement.

When the rifle was finally assembled he took a quick look towards the building where his target was. There she was right on schedule, she hadn't changed that much to say, although judging from her posture she did seem to have to have a new air of confidence that wasn't there before. How tragic he thought, all those years of being a shy and nervous wreck and now apparently all grown up and in charge. Yes it was a pity that Hinata Hyuuga had to die, but hey he was gettting paid to do it. She had a smile on her face as she walked into her bedroom, good her last moments on this earth would be spent with some semblance of happiness.

He waited 2 minutes until the Hyuuga guards had left the outside of her room. He didn't feel any particular remorse that this was his former ally, as far as he was concerned she was his target, nothing more nothing less. His escape route memorised he took a deep breath and put the Hyuuga heiress in his crosshairs. A small but firm pull of the trigger was all that it took for her life to be brought to an abrupt end. He packed the rifle away swiftly and descended the many stairs he had climbed to get to the roof. As he walked into the crowd of pedestrians Sasuke Uchiha could easily be mistaken for a businessman holding a briefcase which held a stack of papers that could make or break someone's life. Well he certainly did break someone's life today.

Naruto Namikaze looked down at the body of his friend, that .308 round had had made a mess of her once beautiful face. Looking at her now lying in a pool of her own blood left him feeling dazed. Under normal circumstances the police would have been called, but the Hyuuga family were very powerful and Hinata was an old friend, so on this occasion Anbu were brought in. If he was being honest though Naruto wished he'd chosen a different team. Kiba avoided looking at Hinata's body, which at a crime scene wasn't the most helpful thing to do. Neji's knuckles had gone white from him clenching them and his face looked like he was about to explode. Only Shino kept a steely resolve, his face was neutral but with those sunglasses covering his eyes who knew what he was feeling?

"Kiba we got everything?" No response

"Kiba!"

"What, oh yeah we're good." his voice came out hoarse and low. Naruto put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Alright then let's go." Everyone began to clear out and just as Naruto was about to leave Hiashi Hyuuga approached him.

"Naruto I don't know what the relationship between you and my daughter was but she always spoke highly and fondly of you. So I am asking you to please find whoever did this."

Naruto didn't say anything because he didn't know what to say, also if Kiba's voice was any indication, he didn't exactly trust his own. He simply nodded at Hiashi and Hanabi, Hinata's sister, and left the Hyuuga building.

The drive back to base was uncomfortably silent. Naruto just couldn't think of a single reason why anyone would murder Hinata, she was one of the most kindest people he had ever met who never had a bad word to say about anyone. He was delighted to watch her mature into the confident woman she was today, who would soon be taking over the Hyuuga business. Naruto on the other hand had chosen to follow the Anbu path, his father said he had to if he wanted a shot at becoming Hokage.

Hmph, he didn't see Obito slumming it down with the rest of them in Anbu. Oh no, Obito got the nice cushy job as his father's assistant, Naruto was kind of glad though, he couldn't imagine himself sitting behind a desk for too long.

Naruto became so lost in his thoughts that he didn't notice that they finally arrived. As soon he walked in he was enveloped in a hug from his best friend. The smell of her cherry blossom hair instantly soothing him.

"Hey, you alright?" she whispered in his ear. He hugged back as confirmation. Sakura and him had a pretty unbreakable bond, both sharing from the sins of their former friend. A dark, horrible thought entered Naruto's mind as soon as Sasuke got in his head but he quickly dismissed it.

"C'mon let's go see what she says." By "she" Sakura meant their boss: Tsunade. Under recommendation from the previous Hokage, Minato put Tsunade in charge of Anbu. Not only did she do a great job of running the Anbu, she also did a great job of keeping Danzo in check. So much so that Minato turned a blind eye to her heavy drinking and gambling.

"So what have you found?" She said in a soft tone. He got that everyone was trying to be sympathetic but he wasn't made of fucking glass. He wasn't going to shatter over this and everyone treating him like a child who just found out their goldfish died was starting to get on his nerves.

"We'll have Shino and Kiba go over the evidence and then pass that over to Shikamaru." He told her.

"Anything regarding a motive"

"Not a damn thing, I can't imagine a single reason why anyone would murder Hinata"

A new voice spoke up "The Hyuugas are a wealthy and powerful family, it could be money or if someone wanted to get to Hiashi what better way to do it than splattering his dear, innocent daughter's brains out"

Naruto and Sakura both turned around to see their team leader, Kakashi, standing there. He wore a mask to cover his eye but whenever they asked how he lost it, he would always change his story. Naruto thought he wore the mask just to look cool, either that or he had an especially ugly face.

"And we know just the group who would be willing to carry out an operation like this, don't we?" That dark thought entered Naruto's mind again and he felt Sakura tense next to him.

"Well if it is them we should find out soon enough." Despite all that had happened Naruto felt a little jolt of excitement because he knew what Tsunade was implying. Inside said group they had a man working undercover. Well not really a man, more like the legend that every single person in Anbu universally looked up to and respected.

If it really was the Akatsuki behind this, then Itachi Uchiha would soon be in contact.