Subjection

Disclaimer: For all throughout this fan fiction, I do not own a single person. They all belong to Masashi Kishimoto (I think, might be wrong). A fan character or two might pop up, but hopefully not.

Hinata moaned as she climbed out of bed, rubbing her eyes. The morning light barely seeped into the room through the almost entirely closed windows. She stood, quickly doing some aerobics to awaken her tired body. After feeling that she did a sufficient job of this, she walked to her dresser, and withdrew some everyday clothes. Then she headed for the shower. It was not a long shower, like most girls would take before a stressful day. She wanted to be prepared for the dreaded mission promptly and not waste any time. There was no sense in hiding, because she would have to face it sooner or later.

She exited the bathroom, now fully clothed and her hair groomed appropriately. Hinata almost groaned when she discovered her cousin and father still asleep, then realized that it was better than having to say a goodbye to them in person. She went to her desk, dug out a piece of paper and a pen, scribbled a note saying that she had left on an important mission and would be back soon, and placed it on the dining room table.

With that last chore out of her conscience, she departed from the Hyuuga residence with a pang of regret. The mission was definitely a dangerous one; in fact, she wondered why it had not been given to ANBU. She knew well that she may not be able to see her friends' faces again. But she did not wish to think pessimistically, because then, without a doubt, something would go awry.

Pushing those thoughts aside, she and her team would meet at Ichiraku's for a short breakfast before heading to the Hokage mansion to receive the details of the mission. Hinata was determined to make it a joyous meal, in case one of them was lost, so they could always look back on that memory. She winced and mentally hit herself. Didn't she just say that she didn't want to think that negative things would happen?!

As she arrived at the ramen shop, she noticed someone had already arrived. He was gulping down the delicious food—or was he inhaling it?—bowl after bowl. She giggled and sat next to her childhood crush. "Good morning, Naruto."

The blond stopped his devouring of his umpteenth serving and glanced at her with a silly grin. "Good morning, Hinata! Some mission we're going to go on, huh? About time Granny Tsunade figured out how good we are!"

This caused her to giggle again. "I don't think that's the reason. Maybe we were just the most fit for it."

Naruto just shrugged and continued what he was previously doing. While he did that, she placed an order of the diet ramen and began to wait for their final teammate. A tense silence filled the restaurant. Naruto even stopped eating, the bowl half-finished. He was usually oblivious to said tension, but today it was so strong. A few minutes later, Hinata's order was placed in front of her. Silently, she unclipped her chopsticks and began to eat. It wasn't nearly as good as she knew her meal for that day should be, but it gave her efficient nutrients that would help on her journey.

Naruto dug out his frog wallet to pay for his meal, then asked the owner if he could stay while they waited for his teammate. Ayame, the waitress, answered positive while nudging her father sharply with her elbow. Then Teuchi quieted and waited for business to pop up out of nowhere.

Hinata couldn't help but feel somewhat disappointed. What could she do to lighten the mood? Maybe when the last person arrived, it would be easier...

"Hey." They gazed over their shoulder to see the last member had arrived. He stood, evidently not wishing to sit, then explained. "I already ate. Didn't want junk food for breakfast. Would've made the mission harder." He groaned. "But did the Godaime really have to make us do this? Couldn't we have just gone straight to the mansion? How troublesome."

"Hey, Shikamaru!" Hinata playfully punched her friend, surprising everyone in the vicinity. "Be more cheerful!"

Shikamaru instantly caught on to what she was trying to do. "Hmm, okay then."

As she finished eating, the two males shared jokes and conversed about funny things that happened on the way here. Placing her money down on the counter, she turned to them, waiting for them to finish their discussion. She listened and laughed along with them. They continued on to the Fifth Hokage's office, their joyous cries echoing through the town in its early morning glory.

However, once they approached the mansion, they quieted down. Hinata bravely took the first step up the staircase, and the other two followed. When the Godaime's office came into view, they saw that the door was already open for them, so stepped in without hesitation.

Tsunade glared at them, inaudibly accusing them for being late. Naruto checked the clock on the wall. "Ahh, we're only a minute late, Granny Tsunade!"

Tsunade sighed and waved it off. "Whatever. Now listen up." They stood attentively, desperate for information. "You're to go to Amegakure and assist the Fuuma clan. They need you to infiltrate the Kamizuru clan. They believe that this family has stolen certain documents with classified data and are suspecting them of kidnapping the main branch's son. The Kamizuru clan is very dangerous to rival with, because they specialize in explosives and stealth."

"Pardon me for interrupting, Fifth Hokage," Hinata spoke, "but why do they need Konoha ninja? Aren't they a Hidden Village?"

"Apparently, all the ninja are in the midst of something important," Tsunade dismissed. "Anyways, go straight to the Fuuma's house when you arrive at Amegakure. I'll state the reason you were chosen: Hinata, your Byakugan will most certainly come in handy, and you're not too bad at stealth, unlike your cousin; Shikamaru, you've been practically asking for a mission, and your decisive mind is just the thing this mission needs. Naruto..." she trailed off. "...I don't remember. You're just available, I guess."

Naruto looked ticked, but was attempting to keep his temper down. "Can we go now?"

Tsunade smirked. "Wait, there's one more thing. In order to prove that you guys are the one that I sent, take this note." She shoved said paper into Shikamaru's hands. "You're the leader. Be back in one week. Get on it!"

"Yes sir!" The trio saluted before dashing out of the room.

After two long days of mostly running and only resting for less than five minutes per four hours (excluding the ten hours of sleep they had), they arrived at their destination. Shikamaru had been accurate when he calculated how to cut the original four-day journey in half. Evidently he wished to get this mission over with.

As soon as they entered the town, Hinata and Naruto collapsed, absolutely exhausted.

"Sh-Shikamaru," Hinata panted. "That was... unnecessary."

Shikamaru only shrugged, as one could expect. "It's not my fault you two didn't use the rest time wisely. Could've rebuilt your chakra or fed yourself, but apparently you only wanted to sit there with your tongues hanging out like dogs." He sighed and gazed up at the sky. "I wish I was a cloud right now."

Hinata and Naruto blinked, confused at his sudden statement. Eventually, they silently agreed to ignore it; after all, this was Shikamaru they were talking about. After successfully gathering the energy to continue, together they shot threw the town almost immediately, quickly finding the Fuuma residence. It wasn't as hard to find as you would think. The house, if it could be called that, was the size of the Uchiha clan's residential area. 'These guys must be a major part of Ame,' deduced the genius, and raised a fist to the door.

Knock, knock.

A jounin-looking male answered the door, piercings nearly covering his entire face. There were six piercings on his nose (three on each side), and both the ears had eight, and on his bottom lip there were two, almost fang-like ones. "Can I help you?" he inquired, oblivious to Hinata and Naruto's gathered attempts to regain their faltering strength.

"Yeah, we're the ones that were called to investigate something," Shikamaru explained lazily, his signature slouch kicking in.

His eyes narrowed. "Have you any proof?"

The leader dug out the note Tsunade had given him and handed it to the resident. "The Hokage said this was what you needed."

He took the slip of paper, eyes scanning it for a moment, before he nodded. "Very well. Please come in."

The trio entered the building and the man introduced himself. "You may call me Nagato. My wife Kana will bring us some tea shortly."

Almost like he could see the future, a woman with black hair messily tied into a bun and with a flower placed neatly behind her ear entered the room. With her, she held a tray of four teacups and a teapot in her right hand. She positioned the containers and the tray on the coffee table, filled the cups, handed one said cup to each person before smiling. "Hello, ninjas from Konoha. My name is Kana, as Nagato has informed you. I hope you will be able to assist us."

"We'll do our best," Hinata offered politely.

"But is your best enough?" Nagato pondered aloud. "The Ame ninja failed drastically, as did the ones from Kusagakure. What makes you think you will do better?"

Shikamaru gave him a blank glance. "They didn't have an IQ over two hundred," he answered simply.

Nagato looked somewhat disturbed by the sudden news, but the look quickly vanished. "Very well. The Kamizuru clan reside in the building to the right of this one. However, the inside is like a maze, and you could quickly become lost. There's a hidden gate in the backyard of this house that leads to their main dwelling. There should be a room in the northern-most part of the complex that houses both the documents and our son."

Shikamaru's eyebrows knitted together. "How do you know all this?"

"...The Fuuma clan used to share land with the Kamizuru."

"Okay..."

Naruto shrugged. "What's up?"

Shikamaru just shook his head. "Nothing..." Then he stood. "We'll begin the infiltration in the morning. It's too late to begin now and we're worn out from our journey."

Kana nodded, and copied his movement. "Please follow me. You will be given separate rooms. I trust that is all right?"

The team nodded and followed the wife. Just as they were going into the brightly lit hallway, however, Shikamaru could've sworn that Nagato murmured, "He's ours." His eyes narrowed, but he made sure not to slow his pace. When he arrived at his designated room, he collapsed on the bed and gazed at the ceiling. He suddenly had a lot of things to think about... 'Boy, if I thought the mission was going to be this troublesome, I wouldn't have accepted it,' he thought with a groan.

Naruto sleepily tore himself away from his bed and to the door. He was still half-asleep, and didn't quite understand that he was in his pajamas. His hand reached for the doorknob, but it swung open and hit him in the nose.

"Oww, what was that for?!" he hissed, rubbing his poor nose.

"I—I'm so sorry!" a female voice exclaimed.

He jerked his attention to the woman in the doorway. Who was she...? She had black hair in a messy bun, a flower behind her ear... Then he recalled last night's events. "Kana, what's wrong?" he inquired.

Her face turned bright red (he didn't know why) in embarrassment, but continued nonetheless. "H-Hinata's gone!"

He jumped up at this surprising news. "What?! Where'd she go?!"

"I don't know! All I found in her room was this..." she held the note to his eye level.

'Konoha ninja,

If you want your precious kunoichi back, then come and get her. But bring Nagato and Kana with you.

—Kamizuru Clan'

"Her room's a big, bloody mess," Shikamaru announced from behind Kana. "That girl put up a fight."

His mind was doing flips. Why did they take Hinata, if they didn't want to be found? Why didn't anyone hear anything when Hinata was being kidnapped? Why in the world did they need Mr. and Mrs. Fuuma? Then there were the events from yesterday. If these two were really part of the main branch, where was the rest of them? Even if the Fuuma and Kamizuru clans used to share land, why were they so knowledgeable about where the documents and their son were? And the gate that separated the land? He'd gotten a good look at that last night. The gate split the land in two, but there was a gate that connected it. And it wasn't hidden—it was in plain sight. He'd even done some snooping on the Kamizuru residence. It was completely deserted except for two who had been scouting the area. And these two weren't just anyone—they were Akatsuki. This was proven because of their dark cloaks with red clouds on them. So it wasn't Sasori, Kakazu or Hidan, because those three had been disposed of. Even putting that aside, the layout was exactly like Nagato had described. That couldn't have been a coincidence.

Something was a little too fishy about this. He didn't like one bit of it. Now he couldn't trust his clients. Maybe those two were apart of Akatsuki themselves. Maybe this was an Akatsuki hideout, and the mission was to draw out Naruto? No, wait, Tsunade had said that he'd only come because he was "available". Naruto coming on the mission was simply bad luck. To capture someone close to Naruto, then. Hinata certainly fit the bill. And, it was troublesome, but so was himself.

And the reason why Nagato had seemed disturbed by Shikamaru's "over two hundred" IQ comment was because it made the situation more difficult to go through. Since they knew how smart he was, the Kamizuru's was definitely assorted with traps and obstacles. As if the maze wasn't enough...

"Shikamaru?" Naruto shook his friend lightly to snap him out of his reverie. "What are you thinking about at a time like this?"

Shikamaru started and realized he'd had his hands in that "o" formation. He quickly reverted to his signature slouch. "Sorry," he muttered. "Let's talk to Nagato about this."

Naruto nodded. "Yeah. I can't believe those bastards would pull something like this!"

Shikamaru scowled. 'That's not what I meant.'

They met the head of the clan in the room they had met during the previous evening. Nagato made eye contact with them before standing. "It's quite a misfortune that miss Hyuuga was kidnapped." He seemed irritated. Now that he thought about it, so was Kana. Perhaps this was not according to plan?

Shikamaru shook his head. 'I need to think about the other possibilities, as well.' "There are several routes we can take," he suggested, taking out a scroll from behind his back. He unrolled it to reveal a map. "I did some snooping last night and discovered that there were Akatsuki members in the Kamizuru's house. This could mean that A, the clan had been recently wiped out by them and they are now using this building as a hideout; B, the Kamizuru clan could actually houses the Akatsuki, or C—" he narrowed his eyes—"as much as I hate to think it, that you two, Nagato and Kana, are part of the Akatsuki."

All three looked startled. "Wh-what are you talking about, Shikamaru?" Naruto laughed nervously. "You're joking, right?"

"As much as I wish I was, I'm not," the chunin growled. He then proceeded to reveal his thoughts to the trio. He was suspicious about discussing this in front of the Fuumas, but as his clients, they unfortunately had a right to now.

Nagato and Kana were speechless at the end of the genius' list, until the former smirked. "Looks like you live up to that 'two hundred plus IQ' reputation you have. Even I didn't expect you to figure it out so quickly."

The tension inhabiting the room suddenly increased as pieces of paper flew around Kana, forming wings that made her seem like an angel. "This is God's Will," she recited monotonously. "Accept it."

The papers formed themselves into shuriken and hailed down upon the unsuspecting duo. The captain dodged them with ease, and Naruto with little difficulty. They joined together, when the leader suddenly yelled out a command.

"Naruto! You've got to get out of here!"

"What! You think I'm going to leave you and Hinata?!"

"I'm the captain, Naruto, do as I say! I promise we'll return alive, however troublesome that may be! Now move it!"

The Jinchuuriki hissed in distaste. "But—"

More paper shrikes made their move. They were harder to avoid this time, but nothing a genius and a Sannin's trainee couldn't handle. Naruto, you'll get us killed!"

This made him flinch. "O... okay, fine! I'll go get Kakashi-sensei!"

"I'm afraid you won't."

The duet started at the voice blatantly filled with murderous intent. It continued, "None of the Konoha shinobi will be informed of what's going on... at least for a while."

Naruto roared and attempted to punch the voice head on, but it—when did Nagato get so advanced? wondered Shikamaru—merely countered as if it were the simplest thing to do.

'Damn. I've got to think of something fast. Kana won't keep her paper weapons still long enough for me to use my Shadow Possession Jutsu. Nagato has the slightest chance of doing that, but he's pretty strong if he can blow Naruto back with one blow. Think, Shikamaru, think...

And thought he did. His usual "o" hand formation came into place, and he was sure Kana was laughing at him inwardly now. Subconsciously he knew this. When his eyes popped open a few minutes later, he knew exactly what he would do.

"Oi, Nagato!" he called to get his attention. The Akatsuki did so and gave him a look of sheer annoyance, but quickly regretted this when he received a chakra-empowered Rasengan in the stomach. Wincing, he turned his attention back to his opponent, to be sure not to take another blow like that again.

"Naruto, I'll hold him off!"

"Huh?" Naruto jumped, then gazed at the impostor and his eyes twinkled. Nagato had been caught in Shikamaru's Shadow Possession Jutsu!

Another barrage of paper weapons. The pair dodged them easily, not really caring for Nagato's wellbeing (though there was a loud THUMP! sound that indicated Nagato ramming into something). "Stop ignoring me, brat!" Kana shouted angrily.

Shikamaru quickly turned to see what happened with Nagato, and smirked to himself when he found the phony unconscious. 'That was easier than I thought.' He glanced back at Kana. This would be cake.

Her vision blurred, the light hurting her eyes. She winced, but pushed herself until she adjusted to the brightness. Overall, she wasn't completely startled to find herself in tightened ropes. The villains from last night had made it a goal to give her the most painful way to drag her off, so why would that have changed now?

...Although, it was really only loose enough to give her breath...

Her eyes lit up with an idea. She shifted her gaze to see if anyone was in the room. No one was. Just to be sure, she rechecked with Byakugan. The Akatsuki members were both at the beginning of the maze. As quietly as she could, she used her nails to untie her restraints. The as-sharp-as-shuriken nails were originally Temari of the Sand's idea, but soon everyone in Konoha had the extra gift. It didn't surprise her that the Akatsuki didn't know.

When the restraints were finally relinquished, she stood and browsed the area. Her weapons and etc. were in the room to the right. The way out was to the front. She gathered her property after masking her chakra and exited. Then she gasped in realization. Her necklace! The shorter one had it in his hands, and her Byakugan never lied. That meant that they had known she was going to escape the ropes and wouldn't evacuate without it. Why they knew so much about her personal possessions, she decided not to ask.

Thus, the infiltration began.

It wasn't even half an hour later when she arrived at the entrance/exit. Just before the corner that led to it, she stopped to catch her breath. The traps had been hard to avoid, what with her chakra running low and decreasing by the minute. She fully prepared herself as mentally/physically as she thought possible before she walked up to the two stealthily. Maybe, she theorized, if she could just get the first strike, attack them by surprise—!

What she wanted, of course, was cut short by them turning around. 'So much for that idea.' She unmasked her chakra and charged, palms forward, ready to begin her jutsu.

The shorter one (while he was, indeed, shorter than the taller man, he was pretty tall himself) had the ghost of a smirk on his face as he entered a fighting stance. The larger one, with the two-handed sword, laughed at her bold move and placed said weapon in his hands.

"Hinata Hyuuga, if you do not wish to have your life ended so shortly, I suggest you hold back," the one who 'smirked' informed, holding up her possession. She stopped as commanded, but sent him an icy look. Her enemy had the upper hand, and all three knew it. She wouldn't act like her polite, defenseless self in front of an Akatsuki. It was time they learned how much she deserved being the head of her clan!

"I thought as much," he sighed, and took his hat off, revealing a set of red eyes and thick, black hair that was kept in a ponytail on the inside of his cloak.

"Sasu..." Hinata caught herself and narrowed her eyes. "Itachi-san, why have you kidnapped me?"

The other, who had also taken off the straw accessory, (he had shark's skin and pupil-less eyes, with coarse dark blue hair) laughed once more. "Wow, you knew it was him by glance, huh? We'll have to use our disguises after all."

With that, they transformed into two stunningly different people. The Uchiha had turned into someone with blond hair spiking down at the back, just long enough for it to be placed in a ponytail. His eyes went from red to a bluish-green, but his outfit was what differed him from what his original self the most. He wore an outfit much like Sai, except the shirt's sleeves were longer.

Examining the other fellow, his eyes looked completely normal now—in fact, they were a deep brown. His skin had melted into a dark tan, his now black hair in a style suspiciously like Naruto's (which caused Hinata to blush slightly, praying to Kami that one of them would not actually transform into him in front of her), and gave off a very masculine aura, comparing to his previous shark-like one. This Akatsuki dressed similarily to Chouji.

"If you do not remain quiet, I will have to use force," Itachi monotonously muttered.

"I won't just let you use me for attracting Naruto," Hinata barked, assuming a battle stance.

Itachi did the same, wordlessly. The one who remind her of Naruto/Chouji just thrust his sword towards her. "You're making a big mistake, kid. Don't blame us if you end up dead!"

With that, the fight began. The formerly blue one (we'll just refer to this one as "anon" for now) ran at her, preparing to shove said weapon into her torso, but she quickly dodged and set on blocking his chakra points. Itachi realized this and attempted to trip her, but instead ended up with one or two chakra points blocked himself. He grimaced. She was, admittedly, tougher than his first impression was in the former Fuuma residence, but she was still weaker with her chakra quickly depleting.

She looked like she knew this, too. She was breathing heavily and unhesitantly, as if panicking, though his partner was unable to prevent her from sealing his chakra. Itachi wasn't a people-watcher, but he decided to see how anon could take the Hyuuga on his own.

At the fifty-fourth point blocked, Anon roared in rage and successfully struck her with his sword. The bandages flew off as it hit and revealed something indigo purple, and... furry? No, the correct term would be something like soft scales.

Hinata gasped in pain as it went threw her shoulder, nearly injuring her shoulderblade. Her chakra... was the sword feasting on it? She swiftly dislodged the sharp item, but it was too late. Most of her chakra had already been absorbed. Her vision was blurring.

It was at times like this that she wished that she wasn't so pathetic.