Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
Chapter One
Kikyo190
"Isn't Naruto meant to be returning to the Leaf village today? With the Uchiha?"
The pleasant question concerning Naruto and Sasuke's return was left hanging in the air between the three members of Team Eight.
They had just completed an A-Rank mission—their first mission together as a team in weeks—and were camping on the outskirts of the Hidden Stone village. The sky was a bruised red colour, like the dying embers of their campfire. The meal Hinata had cooked for her team, since Kiba and Shino favoured the Hyuuga heiress' heavenly cooking to their own, had been devoured so that there was nothing left but the scent of mint-leaf rabbit stew on their breath and the scattered remains of rabbit bones on the cluttered ground.
"Who would've thought that the knucklehead would finally bring back that stubborn Uchiha?" Asked Kiba, a wolfish smile on his face and his eyes full of fatigue; he'd done most of the fighting during their mission, insisting that there was no need to balance the fighting between everyone if he used his new technique.
"Sasuke won't want to stay in his home village... He may leave again." Shino contemplated. "Maybe it's best to just see how this works out."
Hinata bobbed her head in agreement. She didn't really have a proper opinion of the youngest surviving Uchiha except the general impression everyone had of him. She had never spoken to him during her childhood.
Whenever his name popped up, Hinata couldn't help but be plagued by the idea that Sasuke's regrettable past had left no room for him to have a proper personality of his own. Constantly centred on thoughts of avenging his Clan and of murdering his brother in cold blood had left him only seeing the world in black and white.
The humid summer air filled Hinata's nostrils and the tendrils of smoke rising from the embers of their fire danced with the wind.
Silence engulfed Team Eight as they recuperated in the forest clearing.
Hinata abruptly got a bad feeling. Their guard was down and they had just completed an A-Rank mission. Anything could still happen to them if they weren't careful...
"Why don't we try to cover a little more distance until night properly surfaces?"
"We're all exhausted, Hinata. We're just taking a well deserved break." Kiba replied, yawning.
Even Shino wasn't objecting; the bug specialist was sprawled against a tree trunk and looked ready to pass out. The tracing and tracking poor Shino had to do all day had finally taken its toll on him.
Admittedly, Hinata herself felt like she could drop into a deep slumber any moment now. However, every muscle in her body was tensed as if a predator watched them right at this moment.
Before her mind had any time to process the mysterious swoosh-ing noise which had suddenly filled their ears in the forest clearing, small clay birds peppered the lush grass at their feet.
Byakugan activating by itself, Hinata heard herself yelling at the top of her lungs. "They're bombs!"
Shino had already jumped to his feet and formed a shield of bugs around them.
"I knew I should'da brought Akamaru with us—he'd have been able to sniff out these enemies a mile away!" Kiba snarled, looking from left to right and holding out a kunai to his chest.
They couldn't see anything from within Shino's ultimate defence. However they all heard the distinctive thud of a heavy entity landing close by, followed by sadistic laughter.
"Hiding behind a beacon of bugs won't save you from my art!" Came a loud male's voice. "I have orders to eliminate anyone who gets in my way, and I deem you three Leaf shinobi nuisances."
Hinata's body stiffened even before he screeched, "Blast!"
BOOOOOOOOOOOM!
The earth around them ripped apart in massive chunks as if a gigantic hand had cleaved it out. A sound unlike any other roared in her ears as Hinata lost her sense of direction, vision and hearing.
An indefinite period of time passed—perhaps seconds, minutes, hours or days later, Hinata came back to. Hunched on the ground in front of her was Shino's body, and next to his was Kiba's. Noticing the hundreds of lifeless Kikaichu bugs scattered around them, Hinata realised that Shino's ultimate defence had failed and her heartbeat skyrocketed.
"K-Kiba... Shino... Are you alright?" She whispered, making her way over to them quickly. Her right leg was likely to be broken—the explosion of the small clay birds had knocked the Hyuuga heiress off of her feet—but she wanted to check if her teammates were alright first.
Green chakra flared at her fingertips in preparation for a medical ninjutsu when a brittle voice stopped her short.
"Looks like your "art" isn't good enough if it can't finish them off."
Hinata looked up and gasped. A cumbersome form emerged from behind the cluster of trees in front of her. Startlingly fast, a long, mechanical, scorpion-like tail was pointed in her face, the pointy tip oozing a purple substance which was undoubtedly toxic. A man's masked face loomed behind it, sunken, lifeless, beady eyes watching her for her reaction. Whatever this person—this thing—was, clearly would not hesitate to end her life.
"Sasori, just shut up, yeah. I wasn't expecting that boy's bug shield, or whatever it was, to be so tough, yeah?"
The man's head moved minutely, almost mechanically, to the sound of his partner's voice. His apathetic expression shifted to one of disapproval.
"Heal." Instructed Sasori.
It took Hinata a moment to fathom that he was addressing her, and that he wanted her to heal her teammates.
Hinata didn't even have to think. Placing her hand, still aflame with green healing chakra, above the nasty gnash on Shino's temple, Hinata watched and waited as the wound—imperceptibly at first—started to knit back together.
Within minutes the injury vanished completely. Deidara walked the short distance it took to her side and leaned over to inspect Hinata's healing skills. He chuckled in admiration.
Tentatively raising her eyes to meet Sasori, who was now wearing a carefully blank expression on his gauzy face, Hinata gestured to Kiba, who was still bleeding from an injury to his torso.
What did they have to gain from this? Hinata couldn't help but get a bad feeling. But what else could she do? She couldn't live with herself if she left her teammates to die from their wounds, could she?
"You may proceed." Said Sasori shortly. A minuscule smile had formed on his pasty face which sent eerie shivers running down the Hyuuga heiress' spine.
As she tended to Kiba's wounds, the two Akatsuki members trudged away to an obscure part of the forest clearing. Hushed, animated voices filled the evening air.
As they discussed whatever it was concerning them, Hinata considered escaping. She could try to find help. She could go back to the Leaf village and inform them of the situation so that they could bring reinforcements.
But then again, it was unlikely that she would even reach the Leaf village before they noticed that she'd gone and hunted her down. The Hidden Leaf village was more than twenty miles away from here. She would never make it. Hinata and her team had never had an encounter with the Akatsuki before. They were lucky to still be alive.
I hope to keep it that way...
"What's your name?"
Hinata turned with a start. It was creepy Sasori again, watching her every move with calculating, beady eyes.
No, I can't escape, Hinata thought. But what exactly do they want?
"H... Hyuuga Hinata." She said at last, looking at the ground like a petrified little child. She despised herself... even now in times of trouble, she acted like a weakling.
Deidara chuckled knowingly at her display of timidity. Sasori's tepid eyes narrowed further: he'd picked up on Hinata's feelings of self-doubt and uselessness.
He spoke. "You are useful. Now your usefulness will be at our disposal. Or do you want to see your teammates die?"
Hinata suddenly noticed the two explosive clay hawks hovering over each of her teammate's faces, almost innocently.
"No!" Hinata shouted. Then she lowered her gaze to the ground and repeated, much quieter than the first time but still firmly, "No, I don't."
"Good. We have a deal then. Now you shall serve a new purpose. Having a healer in our ranks will aid our organisation's cause. Perhaps, if you show potential in other expertise, your usefulness can be expended elsewhere."
Deidara scoffed impatiently.
"Well, are you done here? Let's go, yeah."
Deidara and Sasori turned to leave. Hinata knew she had to follow them or else innocent people would die. Taking her last anguished glance at her teammates, until she couldn't bear it anymore...
... Hinata left without them.
Meanwhile, Sasuke trudged along, side-by-side Naruto. The dobe. The idiot. The dead-last.
How could he, a genjutsu specialist and Sharingan user, lose to an opponent with so many negative, degrading and mortifying titles on his side?
Aside from the obvious grating feelings of shame brought on by losing to anyone, Sasuke grudgingly couldn't deny the tiny flame of respect Naruto had inspired with his victory.
So, you beat me in the end, didn't you, Naruto? Sasuke thought, not even so much as glancing at Naruto, who was briskly keeping pace and hadn't said a single word in the last few minutes.
Sasuke's obsidian orbs flared with darkness. I can never let that happen again.
"For the meantime, Naruto, I'll stay in the Leaf village." Sasuke stated aloud, out-of-the-blue.
They both stopped walking. They'd arrived outside the village gates.
Naruto grinned at his mysterious childhood friend, unable to hide the uneasiness in his tone. "What exactly does that mean, teme?"
Sasuke ignored him.
I'll bide my time. Until then...
The moon shone high above his and Naruto's head's like a spotlight or perhaps as a testimony to this day: the day of the youngest surviving Uchiha's return to the Leaf village.
How stupid are they to let me back in so welcomingly? Sasuke thought darkly. They can't claim to know me after these past three years, can they?
With that chilling thought in mind, Sasuke noticed a thin silhouette dancing its way rapidly towards them over the pristine rooftops.
"Whoa! Wait a minute! Is that you, Sasuke?" Hollered the unmistakable female voice of Ino Yamanaka. She landed above them on a billowy platform and peered down at Sasuke intently.
"What?" He asked harshly.
Ino wiped the sweat from her brow and averted her gaze away from him crossly, not that Sasuke cared—in fact, he preferred it that way.
"Whatever. Well, there's bad news, Naruto. Team Eight were dispatched for an A-Rank mission earlier this day," The blonde-haired kunoichi began.
"What happened?" Naruto prompted, suddenly alert and his whole body tensing apprehensively for details on the situation.
"Only Kiba and Shino were rescued, uninjured but unconscious. We think they were healed by someone."
A pause. Naruto furrowed his eyebrows confusedly. "What about Hinata?"
Ino lowered her gaze. Sasuke was suddenly attentive, sensing the bad news.
"Well, that's the problem. We can't find her. She's believed to be nowhere in the area."
Ino held out a thin object which Sasuke hadn't realised she'd been holding the whole time.
It was the standard Leaf Headband; however, it had a messy slash through the leaf symbol. Drawn over it was a single cloud.
"We think Hinata may have joined the Akatsuki."
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