Axiomatic

Chapter One: Immersion

Legal Disclaimer:

I do not own anything pertaining exclusively to the Naruto manga (or adapted anime form) by Kishimoto.

However, all original characters, jutsu, places, etc., belong to me.

With the wind stirring verdant leaves and sun shining pleasantly down upon the village of Konohagakure in the heart of the land of Fire, Hinome used the back of her hand to wipe away the hair plastered to her sweat coated brow in the afternoon heat. The simple action caused a small streak of dirt to be smudged across her forehead from the skin on skin contact. However, it went unnoticed as she basked in the heavy breathing and tensed muscles only a good session of sparring could bring. Opposite her, Neji stood with a small smirk that portrayed his self satisfaction, his chest heaving just as heavily than her own. "Stalemate…You've improved." The Hyuuga noted, causing the young woman's smile to grow. "Thank you… Tanaka-san and I have been training every other night or so." She replied, body mimicking the ANBU's posture as he relaxed his stance.

"You never know… maybe I'll take my spot back soon." The female teased. But, it very far from serious. After volunteering to give up her position as Captain about a year ago, everyone knew Hinome didn't want that spot back again. At least not as long as it entailed that much responsibility for the lives of others. It simply didn't appeal to her anymore.

Neji let out a muted snort in response to her comment. "From now on you'll always be an Assistant Captain." he replied, a faint smirk again forming on his lips. One wouldn't normally think the Hyuuga's unique brand of teasing to be humorous, but, Hinome knew he hadn't meant to be insulting… mostly.

She had a few more superficial injuries than he was sporting, which was to be expected, but she was proud to have left a blooming bruise on the right side of his jaw, along with a possible sprain in his left wrist and the hairline slice on his cheekbone. It was a simple Taijutsu sparring match that allowed them to use only one kunai and no chakra, despite it being an improbable scenario in battle.

That blade of Neji's was what produced the small nick just above her brow, along with the gash down her outer forearm and slightly shallower cut on her right bicep. Aside from the blade wound, she was sure she'd have a bruise on the back of her shoulder and probably one on her side as well, and wherever else she'd been hit without taking notice during their intense session.

Following their match up, the young woman used a medical technique she was highly familiar with to help rid the color of the bruise from his face, along with the small cuts, and reduce the sprain so it could heal by itself over the next day or so. No use healing it all the way if he wasn't going out on any missions for a couple days. After all, one couldn't miss their own wedding, could they? The 19 year old bid his sparring partner goodbye and, after promising Hinome he'd give Tenten her regards, dismissed himself from the training grounds. The young First Platoon Assistant Captain chuckled softly and followed suit, soon beginning her short walk home through a maze of back alleys that lead away from the training grounds.

Arriving at her apartment in a sector rather estranged from many other shinobi, Hinome removed her shoes and placed them beside the door before shuffling through the living room to the small bathroom down the hall. One glimpse at herself in the mirror caused her to crinkle her nose in distaste.

'I look like Hell…'

Her face was smudged with mud and blood, and a layer of sweat and dust coated her neck and shoulders effectively impersonating a solid tan. After being a kunoichi for around nine years, she had grown rather accustomed to the uncomfortable stickiness, though feeling like you've just taken a dirt bath isn't something one ever comes to appreciate. Her first order of business was ridding herself of the cuts that littered her skin, just to make sure they wouldn't scar and starting with the one that was causing blood to run down into her left eye. Afterwards, she peeled off the shirt that clung to her like a second skin from sweat and twisted a bit to look at her back and indeed found a not-very-inconspicuous bruise had formed on her ribs just below her shoulder blade. She quickly healed the mark past the point of being noticeable before moving on to bruise that'd formed on her side from one of Neji's back-handed strikes.

Hinome sighed and met her own eyes in the mirror. Pale powder blue irises stared back at her, a thin ring of sky blue separating the iris from the sclera; the same eyes she'd been seeing for as long as she could remember. She managed a faint smile before stripping down and pulling her hair from the simple no-nonsense ponytail it'd been scraped back into shortly before the start of her sparring session. Her hair stuck out at odd angles from its quickly-arranged state, but she didn't waste any further time examining her grime-coated appearance and stepped in the shower to rid her body of the sweat induced stickiness.

Making sure to scrub her hair and body thoroughly, Hinome watched the water run brown for several minutes until it became clear and her body was free from dirt and the smell of well-earned sweat had faded. Turning off the faucets and wrapping herself in a towel, she began humming as she once again made her way to the sink and wiped away a small spot of condensation from the oval mirror to reassess her appearance. The same clear blue eyes stared back at her, but a shock of fiery strawberry-blonde hair sat in a flared pixie-cut around her head like a copper halo, making her pale skin and narrow bone structure that much more prominent. No wonder she'd always been called a walking contrast, inside and out. It was a strange combination to say the least, and Hinome often found it comical how her hair stuck out just about as bad as the orange pants and jacket Naruto had worn through his Academy and Genin days.

A soft chuckle escaped her pale lips before she tossed her clothing in the small laundry basket in the corner of her bathroom and headed back to her bedroom to get a fresh change of clothing. Her shift started at the hospital in around an hour and in all honesty, Hinome enjoyed her work. It was one of the only things she had left. Many years of study coupled with regularly scheduled training shaped her into one of the few medics who could go out in the field on missions without being a real liability. Her time in the hospital was more limited than most, seeing as she also had an ANBU team to work with. Only when no missions had been given to her squad, which was exceptionally rare, did she have time to contribute to healing.

Looking over her body to check for any further injuries after clothing herself in a set of undergarments, she twisted this way and that in front of the full length mirror on her bedroom wall but all that was reflected back at her was a petit 18 year old ANBU with a lithe stature, long limbs and fair skin.

The shirt she pulled from her closet was one of the more normal looking pieces she wore on a regular basis, being dark blue and sleeveless with a zip-up front and high collar. She continued to towel dry her hair as she wandered over to the dresser and fished out a pair of gray shorts and a knee-length black slit-side skirt to wear overtop. She didn't particularly enjoy wearing skirts, but, it was much more 'work appropriate' when it came to the hospital. After running her fingers through the short strands to fluff them out a bit, she tossed her towel over the nearest chair and headed out toward her front door to slip on a pair of more relaxed shinobi sandals with a greater number of straps, and less ankle support, before grabbing her house keys off the table and locking her front door on her way out.

Her hospital shift was slow and uneventful, seeing as very few shinobi had come in that day requiring any sort of limb reattachment or replacement of half an organ. Though Hinome had only begun studying medicine and medical ninjutsu when she was 12, her six years of experience helped her to specialize in cell regeneration and replication. It was one of the more precise fields in medicine, seeing as any cells that are made abnormally would develop into cancer cells. Only a small handful of medics specialized in this field, seeing as it required a lot of reading and memorization to be able to duplicate cells from each part of the body faster than the body itself could. It was one of those fields that required a love of books, and an even greater amount of patience. Skin cells, muscle cells, bone cells… The list was endless. Not to mention that replicating DNA was also a must. However, those who were trained in cell regeneration often had to study other things so that they had something to do when things were slow. For her, it was poisons and diseases. Unfortunately, Hinome often ended up spending her days taking care of any civilians , with the exception of children, who came in with general aches and pains.

Nothing particularly eventful had occurred the first several hours of her shift, though she did assist her higher up and the head of her medic squad, Haruno Sakura, in keeping a patient stabilized while the pinkette healed a Chuunin's punctured lungs and broken ribs sustained during the Jounin Exams. Normally, it was a one person job, but, with two people it used up far less chakra between the two that if it was one a single person. Whenever the Jounin Exams came around there was usually a steady stream of patients coming in for several days with injuries varying from broken bones to severed limbs to gaping wounds. But, it was likely they were still in the beginning stages of the exams and therefore there were few vital injuries that couldn't be attended to by newer in-training medics.

Whenever exams came around, with the exception of the Academy Graduation, it was a sort of nostalgic time for some of the more experienced shinobi, and Hinome was included in that group. It seemed that nearly every time one of those fantastic moments came around in her life experience, there was always a parallel yet independent down side that made it something she'd rather not remember. The only two occasions free of that dark side was her Academy graduation, when only a couple months prior her baby sister was born, and her acquisition of ANBU rank.

By the time quarter after nine that evening rolled around, there'd only been two or three cases which required any sort of specialization. When there were fewer dire cases, the more medical personnel were available for each. But, even then, there wasn't many cases to go around that were past the point of minor muscle aches.

Hinome became a near-permanent fixture of the staff room for the last fifteen minutes of her shift before gathering a couple patient files from the table before her and hanging up her lab coat. She passed through the lobby, waving lightly to the secretary whose name she'd forgotten on her way out. Recalling as she stepped onto the street that she was almost out of tea, Hinome headed to the market a few streets down a bought a new tin before taking the weaving mess of streets back to her home.

What she called 'home' was a second story apartment in a well-kept neighborhood located in the outer edges of the heart of the village. She'd moved out of her family's home in the shinobi sector shortly after her sixteenth birthday, deciding it was time for her to get her own place and shed the memories that her home held for her. Her family had been a shinobi family for generations, hailing from what was once Uzushiogakure in the Land of Whirlpools. Shortly before the village's destruction, the Makijiku clan had relocated to Konohagakure no Sato and became a civilian family who continued aiding the shinobi world in the way they always had; using their repertoire of Fuinjutsu to create scrolls. Scrolls for seals, transportation, summoning, transformation, anything and everything. They were one of the few families who possessed the skills and knowledge required to produce these shinobi necessities.

This was something that Hinome had been born into, with the looming introduction into her clan's business. It was a difficult point for all children in the clan, because of the amount of pressure introduced at once. Their training was unique, simply because they were introduced to chakra earlier than even most children who were born into shinobi families, such as the Hyuuga, Yamanaka, Nara, Inuzuka, and even the Uchiha. They began when the children were capable of holding brushes without assistance. To create the scrolls that the Makijiku clan were well-known for, it was necessary for all members to be able to correctly and precisely create the kanji that were required for these scrolls, while being able to infuse chakra into strokes when appropriate for the scrolls to work correctly.

Imperfection was not tolerated.

After unlocking her door, Hinome headed into her flat and placed her keys into the bowl atop the table nearby before closing the door behind her and turning the thumb lock above the door knob. Although it wouldn't be any use against shinobi if they really wanted to break in, it was a way of instilling a piece of mind into a home's inhabitants. She slipped off her shoes near the door before heading through her small living room into the kitchenette just beyond it, separated from the rest of the apartment by only a waist-high wall. She opened her tea container and removed a tea bag before readying a tea pot and setting water on the stove to boil.

She leaned lightly against the counter near the stove in thought, gazing around her apartment before deciding to go around and re-check the seals she had placed on all her windows, and place a new one on her door. Well, that would keep out any shinobi who wanted to break in. Or, at least let her know that there was someone rudely interrupting her evening. By the time she returned, the water was boiling and she hustled over to turn off the burner and pick the kettle up off the stove. She poured the white mug full of hot water, waiting until the water took on just the slightest tinge of yellow-green before quickly removing the tea bag before any more flavor was infused in the water. Even though she knew that she had enough money to use one tea bag per cup, she never came to really enjoy the full-saturated flavor of green tea. She tied the tea bag by the string to a nearby cabinet handle to it could dry before taking a sip of her tea and making her way into her living room.

The room was sparsely furnished, with only a green loveseat against the back wall and a low coffee table with a sitting pillow on the opposite side of the loveseat where she made her way to kneel. The floor of her entire apartment was hardwood, but even then her bare feet made no sound on the hard surface. It was something that'd been instilled in her at a young age; never make a single sound. Even creeping around the house while taking care of her mother and sister, she had to be quiet so that she wouldn't disturb them. And still, despite her having lived alone for several years, she was quiet in her own house.

It was suffocating.

She closed her eyes lightly, setting her mug on the coffee table before reaching up and beginning to run her fingers habitually through her thick locks. After several minutes, she began twirling some of the longer strands around her slender fingers. Her head lifted upwards slightly when she felt a chakra signature approaching her apartment rather rapidly, at which she was already on her feet and heading to open the door.

It was Lee, who stopped just at the edge of her threshold and saluted primly. "Hinome-sama, Lady Hokage has requested your presence for a team meeting. We have a mission." He said quickly, the female's nose wrinkling in annoyance before she let out a sigh. "Hai… I'll be there in a few minutes." She said, Lee giving her a thumbs up before running off full-speed to alert the other members of his team. With Lee running that fast, she could only assume that it was important and after closing and locking her door, she made her way to her room to change.

On her ANBU team was Neji as Captain, herself as Assistant Captain, Lee, Naruto, and Shikamaru. But, in this case where Neji was unquestionably off-duty for the time being, she was forced into the role of Captain, and left with the decision of choosing her Assistant Captain. Well. That was an easy decision.

Hinome changed quickly into her ANBU uniform, which consisted of certain modifications to allow for her fighting style. She still wore the high-neck top and vest, but forewent the arm and leg guards. She even wore boots that only came up to mid-calf and shorts that reached just above her knees. She wrapped white cloth around her left thigh before strapping on a kunai pouch which only contained two kunai, along with a large amount of explosive tags. That was really all she needed. She picked the ceramic animal mask up off her dresser and tied it to a small loop on the side of her vest, before strapping on the katana that was slung across her back. It was something she rarely used, and only after all other weapons had been exhausted.

She glanced at the clock. 9:57. Nothing like a late-night mission. With a wry smirk, she brushed a stray strand of hair behind her ear and headed out her bedroom window. She made quick work of bounding over the rooftops, her steel-lined sandals making not the faintest sound as the small form raced over the old-style roofs.

Hinome entered through the open window to the left side of the Hokage's desk, unsurprised to find Lee and Shikamaru already waiting there. Tsunade was sitting at her desk, her mouth pressed in a thin line and her fingers threaded below her chin. Her eyes were fixed on some point far across the room while she managed to ignore the no-longer-spandex-clad shinobi who was trying, almost as ardently as Naruto, to pry what kind of mission they were being sent on. Speaking of Naruto, where was he?

She glanced up when the door opened and two people she hadn't seen in quite some time entered. Rokaru came in first, greeting them with a grin and a wave, with a much more reserved Ichiro following in behind with only a nod in acknowledgement. Her old Genin team mates. What a surprise.

"Well, seeing as you're all here, I suppose I should do this quickly. Hinome, in Neji's absence, you will be acting as Captain of the First Platoon, understood? And I'm assuming Shikamaru will act as Assistant Captain in this instance?"

The female gave a soft nod, which was accompanied by a soft 'Troublesome' from the Nara boy.

"Good. Now, your mission. Two Akatsuki members have been sighted entering Fire's borders from River Country and heading in the direction of Otogakure, and more likely the Land of Lightning that lies further East. We're their only passage to what lies East of Fire, and we need to make sure they know that they're not welcome and above all keep them from reaching Konoha if they're in fact taking a roundabout course as not to immediately attract our attention. "

"That's why Naruto's not here." Hinome amended, Tsunade nodding.

"Correct. It would not be in anyone's best interest if he were captured." The blonde agreed, her eyes sweeping over the shinobi before her. "Now, as I've said, Akatsuki is in Fire country. Normally, it'd take about eight to twelve hours to reach their most recent location. However, with them heading toward Sound, you can hope to intercept them in six hours. This is an S-ranked mission, requiring your upmost attention. If you engage and feel that the battle will not end well, I trust you'll know when to retreat Hinome."

The young woman nodded softly. "Hai."

"Alright. Head out. There will be other ANBU teams nearby to help out if you engage. I'll expect you back in no later than 48 hours without a message." The Hokage added, Hinome nodding again before pulling the Kitsune mask down over her narrow features. Within moments, Saru, Fukuro, Inoko, and Shika joined her, and with a wave of her hand, they all disappeared to reconvene at the gates, some going out windows, others through doors, and a couple in clouds of smoke.

The five ANBU formed a circle at Konoha's gates, listening as Hinome gave them formation details. "I'll take point, Shika right wing, Saru left, Inoko center and Fukuro, rear. " There was a simultaneous nod from the group. "If I say engage, you fight. If I say run, you run. No exceptions." She added, looking around though the small slits in her porcelain mask. "If we are separated, meet up at the most-recently marked tree and we'll regroup. Any questions?"

Greeted only with silence, Hinome turned and took off, the boys following suit and assuming formation as they took to the trees.

After five and a half hours of running, the potent chakra approaching quickly on their left side drew them to a halt amongst the tree-tops, readying themselves before continuing on the collision course that lead straight to the Akatsuki pair who were more than likely long aware of their presence. The Akatsuki paused, allowing the ANBU to draw up and form an arc around the uneven clearing the Akatsuki had chosen to make their stand in.

Hinome took the center, with Shika and Inoko to her right and Saru and Fukuro to her left, before peering out between the thick leaves. The red clouds against black cloaks was more than necessary confirmation, and that was all it took for Hinome to raise her hand with her middle and index fingers extended before giving a simple flick of her wrist in the direction of their targets. The assault began. The larger of the two was on the left, which was where Shika, Saru, and Fukuro headed, leaving herself and Inoko to deal with the other.

All hell broke loose, with Shika standing back a bit to observe the situation, while Saru went after the hulking Akatsuki member. Most of his kicks, punches or elbow jabs were either avoided or blocked by a large sword covered in white wrapping. Fukuro was attempting to get a hit with his katana, but with little success. For being so large and almost ungainly, the man was able to move quite quickly and easily.

As they drew in to the smaller figure, Hinome was zig-zagging erratically, sometimes halfway across the clearing. Because of her short stature, she was able to move quickly from side to side, setting traps that would help everyone in the process. Inoko had already engaged with the second Akatsuki, allowing Hinome time to glance at the large figure. Blue-tinted skin, dark hair what refused to obey the laws of gravity, and sharp teeth that were bared in a ferocious grin. Unmistakable.

Hoshigake Kisame, ex-Kirigakure shinobi and former member of the Seven Shinobi Swordsmen of the Mist, current member of the organization Akatsuki. And in all reported cases, whenever Kisame was present, so was another.

Her eyes swiveled back to the man fighting against her team mate and a soft crease formed on her forehead beneath the heavy porcelain mask obscuring her features. Uchiha Itachi. She paused momentarily, her arms raising up to shoulder level and moving to intersect at the elbows in one swift movement. In that instant, several things happened at once. Kisame's one arm helping hold Samehada jerked upward awkwardly, and he found himself having difficulty moving his feet in conjunction with a sharp, pinpoint stinging encircling his abdomen. A strong kick to the jaw that sent him reeling backwards, and when accompanied by a slash from Fukuro's sword across his forearm caused him to land harshly against a large tree before snarling softly and beginning to go on a full blown attack.

Meanwhile, several reams of shuriken and kunai launched themselves at the Uchiha, who was able to avoid them with little effort, until his feet were pulled out from under him and he had to catch himself on his hands and launch himself through the air until he landed in a safe spot. That was, until Hinome moved in and drew her fingertips across the back of her knuckles. Her arm straightened as she flicked out a handful of throwing blades just before the Uchiha touched down, causing him to use a kunai to deflect them.

He watched as she seemed to pull a long, slightly curved feral-looking kunai from nowhere after skimming her fingertips across the outside of her left thigh, which she thrust against his blade as it bore down on her. She quickly launched her free hand forward with another blade of similar design that he deflected by grasping her wrist and twisting it off to the side. She flicked her wrist that was stuck in a deadlock with his kunai, managing to disarm him, to his unpleasant surprise, before using his grip on her wrist as leverage to aim a kick to his head. He caught her leg easily and used his double grip to cast her away from him. She landed on her back, rolling quickly to a crouching position with a kunai before her for some form of protection.

But, he was gone. She spun around, watching in horror as Inoko was impaled by a kunai the Uchiha's hand when the ANBU rushed the older male, before being cast into the dirt. Her eyes narrowed softly as she straightened, catching the whizzing of a stray kunai from her right, which struck her mask right where the string tied into the small hook in the porcelain as she turned her head to avoid a strike to the cheek. Her whole body spun with the impact, hoping to lessen it with some success. Her mask flew off, landing some distance away, and on reflex she closed her eyes before turning to face the Uchiha once again.

Behind the Kitsune mask was a fox-faced girl, her shockingly bright strawberry-blonde hair falling into her face in some spots. She was quite a mix of features, the little of them he could see, in that she had a narrow face with high cheekbone, a pointed chin, and thin pouted lips that were only a few shades off from her naturally pale skin tone. To match her fox-like features, she was smart. At least in the aspect that her eyes were closed. She knew who he was, and what he was capable of, and wisely chose to avoid not only his gaze but any part of his body he could use to cast a Genjutsu. But, this left her with a huge blind spot. She couldn't see him anymore. He frowned inwardly at her insolence, before moving silently towards her.

Despite the fact that she couldn't hear his silent footfalls, she could feel every step he took. Although Kisame had freed himself from her wires, they still wound across the grassy earth, up though the trees, and through the air in some spots. If a chakra signature was close enough, the wire would pick up on it, and she would feel any contact that was made. On top of that, being a medic, she was severely more in tune with chakra than probably anyone else in the immediate area. She felt him coming and was able to maneuver out of his way as he made a strike for her neck, no doubt while holding a kunai. Her body sprung backwards, landing on her hands before transferring onto her feet again, then back onto her hands as she twisted her body in a near impossible configuration to avoid the barrage of shuriken and kunai that'd been launched at her.

Itachi moved off to her side after launching his attack, his eyes following the line of her body as it shifted from weight transfer to avoid the projectiles, unable to ignore the simple thought that she was at least a capable shinobi. He glanced at Kisame to find that he had also disposed of one of the ANBU going after him, one masked by the façade of an Fukuro and now had a deep gash seriating his abdomen nearly down to the spine. Seems he'd gotten too close. He looked back to find the fox-faced one kneeling beside the fallen Inoko, a hand glowing a shade of pale green pressed to his chest as she fought to stop the blood from pooling in his lungs while fixing the punctures and healing a split aorta. In a few seconds, the output stopped and a deep sneer formed. "I hope you're happy." Was all she said, before finding herself pinned painfully to the ground.

Itachi stared down at the girl, his grip on her wrists tightening as he situated his shin across her hipbone and thigh to keep her from struggling so much. She wasn't consumed by rage, or acting recklessly. She kept her head, even after two of her team mates had fallen. But apparently the close-combat was finally enough to startle her, and her eyes flashed open to form into a look of defiance. Truthfully, he was stunned at first, not only because she wasn't outright frightened, but because his eyes betrayed him and her irises appeared nearly white. But after a moment, he was able to discern that they were not white, but blue. Blue of such a shade that he would've sworn they were white from a distance. Or maybe it was just the pre-dawn light. He had suspected a more earthen tone, perhaps brown or dark green, but not blue. Her features were such a contrast that they really didn't seem possible. And yet they fit. His trailing thoughts caused him to have to remove himself from her comfort zone after two exceptionally-well aimed blades cut through the air right where his head had been. And all she did was touch her palm with her fingers.

She flipped back onto her feet, eyes narrowing. His eyes were dark, the Sharingan inactive. How long had they been like that? She honestly didn't know. Well, as long as his Sharingan was not activated, she better use it to her advantage. Hinome observed the Uchiha a moment, before beginning to mold her chakra.

In the later years of her medical training, Hinome began to notice many things about her body that she'd previously ignored. Like, how for every jutsu, her chakra would form into a completely unique shape before the jutsu would activate. She took her time, memorizing some of these configurations, and found that for less complex or exceptionally powerful jutsu, she could channel her chakra in the appropriate shape without hand seals. Little did she know that this would be a powerful advantage over any shinobi, and particularly an Uchiha who was so accustomed to reading their hand seals to recognize their technique.

But, before he knew it, a sharp wind blast was heading in his direction with a myriad of sharp, hiltless blades flying at him. He moved rapidly to avoid them and came out of the barrage with just a tear in the sleeve of his cloak. He heard several utterances from Kisame, signaling he'd been hit by some of the stray blades. He knew she'd been gathering chakra to perform a technique, but, she hadn't made any hand seals. He, who could perform them so fast they were often missed, would've definitely seen them if she had made them. Yet that was clearly a Kaze technique.

He frowned, peering through the thick dust to find the girl, her mask, and her fallen team mate gone. He then swiveled, finding the Shika keeping Kisame immobile, while the body the Kitsune handed Saru was placed over his shoulder, one of which was already occupied by the body of the Fukuro. Her mask was again tied to the edge of her vest near her hip, and when she commanded the Saru to leave with a gesture of her arm, he first noticed the red Captain's ribbon tied tightly around her left wrist. He then located the blue of the Assistant Captain that was around the wrist of the Shika. It was unusual, to say the least, that they would make a medic also a Captain. It spoke volumes of how she was viewed by the Hokage, in the sense that they believed she would be able to protect both herself and her team.

After what seemed like an expression of disagreement on the part of the Saru, he saw her slap a seal on to his chest before activating it, causing him and his cargo to disappear in a puff of smoke. She turned back to her remaining partner, the Shika and said simply for him to leave, and that she'd catch up. She was brushing her fingers down her arms, almost nervously, though nothing else about her gave that impression. Soon, the Shika nodded, and after releasing the Shadow Bind technique, also disappeared but of his own will.

Kisame swung his sword immediately at the remaining figure, slicing her from shoulder to hip, only to find that it was a lightning clone that ended up giving him a painful scorching shock that forced a growl from his throat. "Where the hell did she go?" It was abnormal to retreat in such a fashion, without doing any lasting damage. His eyes soon located her, standing almost nonchalantly against a nearby tree with one hand raised and fingers spread. He regarded her a moment as she began folding down her fingers, starting with the thumb.

"5… 4… 3…"

Kisame's eyes widened and he looked around quickly, trying to discern what she was counting down to, while Itachi remained almost impassive, displaying only the faintest hint of surprise

"2…"

That's when she stopped sending out chakra, the wire finally became visible to the Akatsuki. That was how she was keeping Kisame immobile at some points, and even tripped the Uchiha. Wire was everywhere. On the ground in a spider web network of crosses and designs, long strands spanning from tree top to tree top, earth to tree, and some was even twined about their ankles and rapidly growing tighter as the trees seemed to begin leaning toward them, accentuated by the creaking of lumber.

"1…"

That was her plan all along. She was encasing them in wire from the very beginning. Somehow, she'd managed to lay out this massive trap without attracting attention. Kisame's eyes were drawn upwards at the soft glint of blades that were closely packed in the treetops and pointed right at them. It was impossible for a person to be capable of carrying that many weapons and still be able to move, unless they were contained in a large scroll, which she also wasn't hauling around.

"How the…!" The sword wielder's surprise was cut short as the female smirked and dropped her hand to her side.

"Have fun in mugenjigoku." She said simply, before the area was shrouded in dust as trees fell, piling in on the clearing while throwing knives were launched downward at the men, some with explosive tags tied on the end that activated whenever the blade hit something solid. Hinome had crouched down behind the tree she had been standing beside, covering her ears against the onslaught of noise and ducking her head between her knees to prevent getting hit by any debris. Once the dust began to settle, she picked herself up, panting slightly from quite a bit of her chakra being drawn out in one shot. She began bounding up across the fallen trees, locating the last bits of chakra as they slowly faded to nothingness.

Her small form was able to wriggle beneath some of the trees, using wire to lap around the hunks of debris and then back around the tree she'd ducked behind, using the leverage to move the debris away. It took nearly an hour before she had reached the two bodies that lay on the forest floor. They were both male, but the one wearing the larger cloak and sword sling had dark shaggy hair and gray eyes that stared ahead at nothing, and the other that was supposed to be the Uchiha had reddish brown hair and brown eyes that were only half open, while his jaw was agape.

She scowled softly, cursing her own stupidity before turning and running off to reconvene with her team.

Kisame's eyes opened to regard the Uchiha, who was sitting opposite him in the cramped cave near the border of Konoha and Taki, already alert and gazing out of the mouth of the cave at the expansive forest below them.

"Well shit," the blue man murmured. "I can't believe we got duped like that."

"Speak for yourself," came a monotonous reply.

"Hey! You got killed too," Kisame retorted to the Uchiha who had turned back to face him.

"I would have seen it if the clones were capable of adopting Kekkei Genkai, but since they are not, it only proves that a lesser, weak copy of myself had been defeated," Itachi commented idly, resting his chin in the palm of his hand. "What's your excuse? "

Kisame merely broadened his ever-present smirk before stretching the small amount he was allowed. "I ain't got one, and I don't need one." He replied before leaning back a bit as he pondered the Kitsune ANBU that'd remained to face off against them by themselves. Somehow, the sheer number of blades that'd been aimed at them seemed familiar. There had to be thousands of them. And suddenly it clicked, causing a wide grin to form on his features.

"Well shit. Ten-thousand blades."

The Uchiha cast him a look at inconspicuously ordered him to elaborate on his seemingly random statement. In response, Kisame grinned, thrilled to know something that the Uchiha had yet to think of. A slight narrowing to Itachi's eyes induced him to begin his explanation sooner than he would've liked.

"Kakuzu was grumbling about some 'Kitsune of Ten-Thousand Blades' when he was looking through the Bingo Book a few weeks back," he began, "And apparently this ANBU has quite a renown for carrying impossible amounts of weapons at all times. Some who've seen them in battle claim that they'd fired off thousands of blades during a fight, and none of them were fake." He explained, leaning forward a bit and resting his elbows on his knees. "It seems to me that the Kitsune girl that killed off those two clones fits the bill."

Sharingan eyes regarded him a moment before shifting back to the mouth of the cave as the male got to his feet. "Let's go. We have a lot of ground to cover." He said simply before jumping down the incline that lead to the cave, Kisame following as they proceeded toward Kaminari no Kuni on their initial path.

"They were just high-level clones." Hinome explained, finishing recounting the details of their mission to the Hokage, whose mouth was set in a thin line.

They arrived back at the village shortly after dawn, Shikamaru and Lee taking the bodies of Ichiro and Rokaru to the morgue while she headed to report to the Hokage. Although she stood strong under the Tsunade's gaze for the past fifteen minutes, tears were beginning to well up in her eyes and her chest began to constrict as she quickly drew the back of her hand against the rims of her eyes to wipe away the offending salt water before it could spill over.

Why hadn't she called for them to flee sooner, before they were killed? How could she let that happen? Hinome finally sunk into the chair before the Hokage's desk and hung her head, trying to control herself. Only a few tears slipped free before her name was called and she looked up to the honey eyes of the Godaime Hokage.

"Listen to me, Hinome. I know you're hurt. You made an error in judgment, it happens." She assured the younger woman as she composed herself. "But don't beat up on yourself. They died honorably, protecting Konoha. What more could we ask of them?"

Hinome nodded softly, biting her lip gently to help control her emotions. "You have to move on." She could tell the older woman spoke from experience, and in response she could only nod again. What more could she do? She let her two best friends die because she got too wrapped up in the heat of battle. She was supposed to be the Captain, capable of making important calls to protect her team. And she'd failed.

"Hokage-sama." She then said, her confident and authoritative persona returning as she stood. "I'd like to request a change in position."

Tsunade regarded her a moment, eyes stern but also caring. "What do you request?"

"I would like to resign from ANBU and be reinstated as a Jonin."

Her team mates were dead; she'd failed to take care of two more people. How could she have been so selfish? She was so caught up in defeating her opponent that she didn't take into consideration her team's strengths and weaknesses. She was not fit to be a Captain if she couldn't keep her team alive.

The blonde closed her eyes a moment, weighing the pros and cons of the decision before inhaling deeply and looking back up to the talented young woman before her.

A/N: Well, that's the end of chapter one. Like, dislike? I think I drew out the fight scene a bit too long, personally. And if you're willing, I'd love to hear your views on Hinome. I tried to explain most of her techniques so there wasn't any god modding going on. Hope I did well enough! But, thanks to everyone for reading and hope to see you again!

Translator's note: Mugenjigoku is the most painful of the eight hells in Buddhism; the hell of uninterrupted suffering