OPrincess ShinigamiO here!
Will make this short, so all you have to know is that this idea's conceived by my assassin!Hinata drawing (of which I copied from the cover of the book "Crown of Midnight"), and that it suddenly gave me a lot of fanfiction feels that I couldn't resist writing about it. I don't have the whole story rolled out to me just yet, but I wrote this oneshot as a start. If given enough motivation and totally hit by lots of good ideas then maybe I will continue this.
Just don't forget to tell me what you think! ;)
Disclaimer: Don't own. Title was inspired by the recent Disney Princess movie titles like "Tangled" and "Frozen". Apologize in advance for any OOC or cringe-worthy blue cheese stench.
Twak.
Twak.
The sounds of the shovel digging up the last of the dirt on the ground rang endlessly in her ears.
It was strange how she was deaf to the rest of the world save for the sounds of death echoing in her head for the last few weeks.
The screams of her people, the blood and sweat splashing all over her.
The face of her father when the masked man slit open his throat, blood spurting out like a fountain.
She could never forget her father's face; horrified yet unyielding at the same time even at the face of death.
The proudest thing the last leader of the Hyuuga Clan had ever done.
The last casket to be buried snapped her back to the present.
How many of them were buried already?
The clan wasn't very large. Yet it was a great blow to the whole Shinobi world.
Another great clan was once again extinguished from the face of the earth.
Under the thin glass, Hanabi was fast asleep in the bed of lilies, her favorite flowers, her usually stern eyes smoothed out like a peaceful dream.
She was supposed to have lived, being one of the only ones who were able to survive the assault that night and was immediately cared to at the hospital.
But her wounds were too much, physically and emotionally, and the thought of her whole family being lost led her to give up breathing.
A single tear fell from Hinata's blank eye as a splatter of earth covered her little sister's face from her sight, never to be seen again. Her eyes didn't move from their place, until slowly and slowly, her casket was completely swallowed by the ground.
A group of men in black carried a huge block of cement into the graveyard, instructing the diggers to prepare the main headstone's stand.
Hinata didn't need to know what was engraved on it.
She didn't want to believe it even now.
Twak.
Twak.
She could hear them mutter behind her back.
"How pitiful."
"Her being the only survivor of that prestigious clan? Ridiculous!"
"This is like the Uchiha massacre all over again."
"Is war going to start again so soon just right after the last one?"
"Haven't we learned our lesson already?"
"I hope Hinata-san will stay strong."
"I don't think it'll be safe to stay around her."
"Hinata."
She didn't make a single move to acknowledge the voice, but the large, warm hand on her shoulder let her know immediately who the speaker was.
"Naruto-kun," she whispered, her voice soft yet full of steel.
"I meant what I said back then."
Naruto lowered his head, the bright sunny blue eyes she usually loved were now dull and full of sorrow. Just like everyone else in the village that attended the funeral, the orange ninja wore black that day.
"I know."
…
"Hinata."
The former heiress stared blankly at the window. Her thin face was unhealthily pale, her eye bags sagging slightly and red from silent crying. Her lips were dry, refusing to drink a single drop of water as soon as she heard the news of her sister dying.
Running down and under her right eye was a pair of fresh, pink scars, the unwanted mementos of that traumatizing night.
Two days before, just a few moments after she woke up from her surgery, her teammates and former sensei arrived with the horrifying news.
Every single Hyuuga, save for herself, was massacred.
Her sister and a few others who survived that night died soon after their treatments were unsuccessful.
She was the only one left of the now extinct noble Hyuuga clan.
"Hinata, answer us, please." Kiba begged gently, his face crumpled in pain as he watched his unresponsive teammate and best friend. Standing a little ways behind him, Shino remained silent. But everyone didn't need to take off his sunglasses and even more concealed hood to know that he was grieving on the inside as well.
Every one of her friends and senseis were there in her hospital room, silently giving their support and mourning for the family she has just lost.
Naruto sat on a chair on her bedside. His head was bowed down, his back slouched while his elbows rested on his knees as he shakily clenched and unclenched his fists.
Not one day since Hinata was admitted to the hospital did he leave her side. But in the end, even shinobi's greatest hero was unsuccessful to get a proper response out of her.
A bird landed on the open windowsill.
Blinking slowly at the tiny bird chirping softly at her, Hinata laughed inwardly. Even her cousin Neji was there to comfort her in his own little way.
Was she really that pitiful?
"I…" her voice croaked from the lack of use, but nonetheless caught everyone in the room by surprise. "… I w-would like to speak with Naruto-kun…. Alone."
Immediately, Naruto's blonde head snapped up.
"But Hinata-!"
Shino firmly placed a hand on Kiba's shoulder before he protested further, shaking his head and asking him to understand. If it was her desire to not let her friends in even for now, then they should at least respect her wishes.
After all, she did have a rough week.
Slowly, everyone shuffled out of the room, with Kurenai giving a tiny comforting kiss on her beloved student's forehead with a whispered apology before leaving with her five-year-old son in her arms.
As the door clicked to a close, the room remained silent for a while.
Finally, the former heiress opened her mouth.
"Who did it?"
Naruto bit his lower lip, his eyebrows scrunching in grief and disappointment with himself.
"… I don't know."
Hinata closed her eyes before giving a heavy, exhausted sigh.
"It's not your fault, Naruto-kun."
Suddenly, he slammed a fist on the table beside her bed, spilling the contents of her untouched glass of water.
"The hell it is! If… I-If I'd only arrived sooner! I-I-!" he shouted, ashamed to look her in the eye. "W-What kind of Hokage am I anyway?! Not realizing the threat before I had the chance! I-I'm a failure!"
Hinata remained silent as he poured out his feelings.
"I… I could've saved a lot more, I could've saved all of you if it weren't for my incompetence! Hinata, I… I could've saved your family. I could've saved your father, Hanabi… Even before, I couldn't even save Neji, and now… I-I-!"
He fell down to his knees, his hands grabbing hers and pulling them to his forehead. Hot, angry tears sprung out of his eyes.
"… I'm so so sorry, Hinata… I don't deserve you, I don't deserve the Hokage's position, I don't even deserve your sympathy."
"Stop, Naruto-kun. You'll only make me feel worse."
Lifting his head, his blurry blue eyes stared at her white ones, which were still locked on the bird dancing on her window.
"You didn't know, Naruto-kun. Nobody did. But it's quite sad isn't it?" she murmured while leaning further on her headrest.
"The world… is such a cruel place."
Bowing his head once again, the blonde stared at the smaller hands in his grasp.
"I'm sorry."
She closed her eyes.
"… I know."
The room fell silent once more save for the chirping noises from the jumpy bird.
"I thought that everything would be okay right after the war. Everyone… we all worked together to bring back the peaceful days, to remain having control of ourselves instead of letting Obito Uchiha have his meaningless dream world come true."
"I thought everyone would be in good terms again, to respect the First's wishes to forever live in harmony instead of hostility. And it did seem like it for the last few years, working together to build back villages and new homes. It seemed so peaceful, so good to be true…"
Hinata bit her lips as she refused to cry in front of Naruto.
"But I was wrong. Oh, how wrong I was." She laughed bitterly, effectively making Naruto flinch at how uncharacteristic this was. "Sure the battles lessened and there was barely a need for more bloodshed and withered bodies."
"But I didn't expect this… Not like this…"
She began sobbing softly, lifting a wrist to her quivering lips as her tears slid her cheeks like a waterfall.
Alarmed, Naruto quickly stood up from his chair, sat by her bedside and held her in his arms. He rested his head on her dark hair, his lips showering her with tiny butterfly kisses while rubbing her arms to calm her down. Hinata held onto his arm like an anchor, silently begging him to stay with her while she gave into her agony.
She was grateful when he didn't pull away. Naruto was never the type to leave someone in need, after all.
Especially the woman he loved.
As she wept and wept in Naruto's warm embrace until she exhausted herself into mere sniffing, the bird, that for some reason went silent at her cries, began chirping restlessly once again at the broken Hyuuga.
Detaching her hold of his arm, Hinata slowly reached over to pet the noisy bird. Unfortunately, the bird quickly pulled away, flew out of the window and disappeared into the afternoon sky just before her fingers could touch a feather.
Sighing, she rested her hand on her lap, but this time, her head turned towards the blonde Hokage.
"When I'm free to go, I'll find them."
Naruto's eyes widened as he looked into her eyes.
"Hinata…"
"I'll see to it that they'll receive justice, and I'll personally give it to them, whether the village would support me or not."
Her cold hand grasped his hands hard. His eyebrows scrunched up in worry and fear.
But what shocked him was not her statement, but the strong, steel-like determination written in her eyes. Not because she was brave, no, he already knew that she was a strong person, more than people realized.
Her lavender-white eyes, both the scarred and the unscathed, had a different aura to them.
They had a peculiar fire to them, not like the time when she saved him from Pain, ready to die for the one she loves. They also weren't like the time when Neji died too, no, there wasn't anything malicious in them, or when she slapped him out of his doubtful reverie, determined to stay strong and win the war.
"I'll find them… whatever it takes."
They were lethal.
There was only one other person of whom he's seen these exact eyes before.
Only they were blood red and deadly black.
And that person had already died five years ago during the last war when they finally put Madara and Obito to rest.
At that moment, Naruto knew right away the bitter truth.
The Hinata he knew… the sweet, shy girl they all knew… was no more.
…
"Will you help me?"
Naruto frowned, taking her hand into his.
"Of course I will. There's no way I'm letting those… those monsters get away with it. Not while I'm the Hokage of this village and the fiancé of the victim."
Hinata allowed herself a sad yet proud smile at her fiancé, which quickly diminished as soon as the diggers finally steadied the headstone in front of Hiashi's grave. On top of the clan title, the Hyuuga's flame insignia was engraved on it.
With a final salute, all shinobi and non-shinobis alike bowed their heads in respect at the deceased clan. And just like that, they dispersed.
Some of them left flower bouquets to the Hyuuga friends they lost, several to Hiashi, the Main Head of the clan, as a way of giving thanks on giving pride to the village.
Hinata turned away as she spotted Konohamaru, his teammates and the rest of their classmates and senseis, gather around Hanabi's grave and one by one left lilies on her tiny headstone.
To Hinata's request, people didn't give out their condolences to her.
It was much too painful for one person to bear the consolation meant for the eighty dead people of her clan.
"Then you won't mind me leaving Konoha, will you Naruto-kun?"
His hold on her hand tightened to the point that it became painful for Hinata. But she pretended to be unaware as she waited for his answer.
"… Why?" he inquired in a shaky tone.
"I… I need to get away from here for awhile. I have to find myself again, and… I can't move on here. Not while the murderers are still out there lurking in the shadows. I have to ready myself for them, and we both know that staying here isn't the best way for me to become stronger. For all we know, they might be hiding out here just to kill me when I'm at my most vulnerable."
"And what makes you think of that?"
Hinata bit her lip.
"My clan may have many enemies, that I know. But after the last war, the feuds have lessened considerably. Or at least, that's what I thought. But if the reason for all this isn't because they hated the Hyuugas, then maybe it's because they are… afraid of having another Obito Uchiha flourishing into another great clan in Konoha."
"That's ridiculous!" Naruto hissed harshly, careful not to let anyone's attention get to them. "Obito and the Hyuugas have nothing to do with each other, so why come up with this conclusion?"
"Because the mere fact that we're proclaimed as a powerful and ruthless clan full of controversies was already enough for them to start fearing us. It's ludricious, but I cannot come up with another conclusion as to why this happened. My clan was once believed to be the descendants of the Uchihas, so why wouldn't they think that another weed would grow within our clan?"
"But still, who would be so stupid enough to think-?!" He slapped a hand on his forehead, rubbing the bridge of his nose in frustration. "Even if that's the case, how did they manage to gather a whole group of followers and almost succeed in wiping everyone out and not leave any evidence behind? I doubt that only one person was able to do this. Not everyone is as talented as Itachi."
"I don't know." Hinata narrowed her eyes. "And that's why I have to be extra cautious. Because if they really are as irrational as I made them sound to be, then they might be coming after me next."
"The bigger question now is why would you think that leaving Konoha would be the safest way for you to get away from them?" Naruto gritted his teeth, angrily whipping his eyes towards hers. "If you stay here, you'd have more than enough people to protect you. Kiba, Shino, and the others-"
"Will not always be there to protect me." Hinata cut in, pulling her hand away from his painful grasp. "Naruto-kun, I'm not a bird that's supposed to be locked in a cage forever. And I don't want to depend on anyone else for this matter, not when it means risking their lives for me. This is a clan matter, which means that I have to solve it on my own although I would gladly accept any reliable lead that would help me get closer to the truth. But as much as possible, I don't want the village or my friends to get involved with it. Not even you, Naruto-kun."
"Especially you, now that you're the Hokage…"
Her eyes melted at the painful sight of the Uzumaki trying his best not to cry out in rage. She lifted a hand to rest on his whiskered cheek to calm him.
"I don't know if I'll return, or at least come back alive. I'm so sorry for leading you to this, to have you love me just so I could leave you. I never wanted for all this to happen, but I'm glad for the mere fact that you wholeheartedly gave me a chance."
Naruto leaned onto her touch, covering her hand with his own as tears began fogging his eyes.
"I don't regret loving you, Hinata. And I'm not letting you go."
"Please, Naruto." She begged, resting a hand to where his heart's supposed to be. "I'm asking you to understand. I know that this may hurt even more because this isn't the first time this has happened to you. But I'm not like Sasuke-kun."
"Maybe that's only what you think…"
She bit her lip. "… In a way. I … can't promise that I won't kill them, nor will I not enjoy it." He shivered when she said that disturbing fact.
"But when it's all over, I promise I'll return. Even if you find that you're unwilling to wait for me, I will return to Konoha, because at the end of the day, it is my home and I know there will be people waiting for me."
"You know that I'd wait for you, Hinata. It's too late for me to erase my feelings for you. Five years too late." He gave a bitter smile, bringing her hand to his lips.
"But I still won't accept it."
The last Hyuuga sighed in disappointment.
"Then I shall become an outlaw."
"Hinata, is it just too much for you to stay here with me? To just let me and the others handle the situation and give them what they deserve when we find them? You can bring them justice right here in Konoha, where all your friends would support you! So why? Why do you have to leave, even risking your reputation and your life to become an outlaw?"
"This is a personal matter, Naruto-kun." Hinata firmly replied. "Besides, I don't want you to have a hard time making a decision if you find out that somehow, and I hope it doesn't happen, that an important member of Konoha's council ended up becoming the mastermind."
"That doesn't matter to me, Hinata!" he hissed.
"But it will for the villagers. Not to mention, how will this look like to the rest of the villages? We don't want to tarnish Konoha's name again just because of a decision made out of personal feelings. Believe me, Naruto-kun, as irrational as it seems, there will always be many people who would oppose your decisions and see this situation as a threat."
Hinata lowered her head, clutching her hands to her heart.
"We can't be selfish all the time, Naruto-kun. Even if you do catch them, a simple execution would not be enough. Not for me. I want them to suffer, Naruto-kun. So badly. I know it's wrong to think that, but when I think of their blood spilling right in front of me, in the harshest and cruelest ways possible-"
"HINATA!"
Hinata blinked at the blonde Hokage, whose head was bowed down and effectively concealing his face from her sight. A few people who stayed behind glanced their way at the sudden outburst.
Shakily, the Uzumaki rested his hands on both her shoulders.
"You… remind me so much of him, ya know?"
Hinata lowered her eyes, both in shame of what she said and pity for his lost friend.
How many times has she seen his beautiful blonde head bow so depressingly low for her this past week?
"… I-I'm sorry. I-I shouldn't have said that, nor even thought of that." She whispered.
"… Alright. I'll stay."
Shocked, the blonde Hokage snapped his head back up so quick that Hinata could've sworn that his neck bone might've cracked. But the way his sapphire blue eyes shone with so much hope made her sigh in relief, giving him a reassuring smile.
"You… Y-You really mean it?"
"Mhm." She lifted one of his hands to her right chest, where under all the black clothes was a large scar from where she was stabbed from the massacre. "Maybe it's for the best. Maybe you're right. Maybe… after a few months, I'll forget all this. I'll… forgive those, those people. Everything will be back to normal."
Hinata yelped as she was suddenly gathered into her love's arms and was twirled around a little above the ground, gaining a few of the surrounding people's attentions. The pair ignored the varying expressions of the onlookers. Some had relieved looks seeing how Naruto seemed successful in cheering Hinata up, while there were sneering people who thought of how disrespectful their actions were.
"Thank you, Hinata!" he mumbled as he brought her back down and kissed her forehead, her scars, her cheeks, and finally her lips. "Thank you, thank you, thank you-!"
He continued whispering thanks as he rested his head on her right shoulder, sniffing as the tears of relief stained Hinata's black robes. Hinata smiled sadly as she wrapped her arms around her beloved.
"Yes… I'll stay, Naruto-kun. You don't have to worry." She whispered in comfort. Lifting her right hand up to his shoulder, she gazed wistfully at the glistening diamond ring on her fourth finger.
"I'll stay forever…"
…
"… in your heart."
He should've known that things would never stay the same way ever again. He crumpled the lavender-scented letter in his hand.
But he knew he'd never throw it away.
Not when it's the last piece of reminder left of her.
Three days after the Hyuuga Clan's funeral, Hinata disappeared from Konoha.
She wasn't in Tenten's apartment where she was temporarily staying. The owner herself didn't have any clue of her tenant's whereabouts, since she hasn't returned the night before even if most of her belongings were still there.
She also didn't attend her scheduled rehab sessions in the hospital, nor was she seen by Kiba, Shino, or any of their friends by the matter.
Until that night when coming home after ordering every single available leaf shinobi to search for the missing last Hyuuga all over Konoha did he find a tiny, cream-colored envelope in his ramen cupboard, along with a note detailing of the frozen food and fresh carton of milk she left in the fridge for him.
"I'm sorry that things couldn't work out the way we wanted them to be.
But I just want you to know that I love you, Naruto-kun.
I always have and I always will.
Even if you tire of me, even if you don't need me home again,
I know that I'll never ever stop loving you.
But at least, let me have the ring as a memento.
Because even if our love was never meant to be, at least let me have a reminder that there was something between us.
That the love we had was for real.
I promised you that I'll stay with you.
Maybe not in body, but in spirit and in your heart.
Take care, Naruto-kun.
And please, don't look for me.
I know that deep inside, you know that my place is not here, at least not at the moment.
Forever love, Hinata"
He collapsed to his knees, clutching the letter to his chest.
"Naruto."
The Hokage turned his head to see Sai crouching on his kitchen window. For someone who was forced to grow up shoving his emotions aside, his charcoal eyes clearly held a depth of sadness and pity for his teammate.
"Sai."
"Everyone reported back in the tower. Not a single one had found a trace of Hinata Hyuuga."
Naruto's eyes travelled back to the crumpled letter.
"Not a single trace? What about Kiba and Shino?"
The ANBU leader shook his head.
"None. It seems that Hinata-sama's been taught a great deal about suppressing chakra and covering her tracks. Not to mention controlling her teammates' weaknesses."
The blonde gave out a chuckle despite himself.
"I expected nothing less. She's been great at manipulating chakra." He said proudly.
"Naruto, what are your orders?"
The distraught Hokage shakily stood up, lifting a hand up to stop Sai from helping him. Clutching the letter in one hand, he turned to his worried teammate and gave him a sardonic smile.
"We do nothing."
…
She fingered the diamond ring hanging on the thin chain on her neck while checking the rabbit roasted on her campfire.
In the past, she'd usually leave it to her teammates to catch and cook any unusually edible animals in the forest like rabbits, deer, or squirrels.
But she was alone this time, and after getting along the outskirts of the Fire Country with only fish to eat for a week, it was high time she learned how to become independent and expand her choices of food.
It took awhile for her to get used to skinning the poor innocent rabbit, or even piercing its whole body with a stick.
"Come on, Hinata," she sighed to herself as she washed off the blood from her hands in the nearby river. "You've killed shinobi before, and you're planning to do even more than that. But you're scared of killing a rabbit? Ridiculous… ly cute rabbit…"
She dropped her head and pouted as she watched the blood disappear with the current. Gazing down at her own reflection, she lifted a finger to where her two scars embedded themselves on her right eye and cheek.
After she had woken from the surgery, Sakura had told her that she was lucky enough not to go blind after somebody attempted to viciously scrape her eye.
Unfortunately it did not come without a cost.
Her right Byakugan could no longer be activated.
It hasn't been incredibly difficult though to get used to it. She's just relieved that there was still a trace of the Hyuuga Clan's pride within her.
Still, it was quite confusing for her to activate her left Byakugan only to forget that her other eye was now useless at that matter, effectively unbalancing her sense of sight.
She ripped off a piece of her cape and made a scraggly eye patch out of it.
"I guess this'll have to do until I get used to it." She mumbled as she tied the makeshift patch to conceal her right eye. It seems that she'll have to chase another rabbit for dinner if it meant training herself to become a cyclops.
Taking out the dagger she brought in her backpack, she knelt in front of the barbecued rabbit and, with an apologetic and anxious look contorting on her face, she sliced the rabbit's meat into neat pieces.
Six hours from now, she'll have to start hunting again.
Leave a review and tell me what you think! :D
Sketch of Future!Assassin!Hinata can be seen on my Tumblr posts "themermaidstar"! Or you can check my profile to find it! ;)