Greetings everyone!
This story is for UchihaMistress723, hope you love it!
-PA
"Tsunade-sama, you w-wanted to see me?" a soft, meek voice cut through the silence in the Hokage's office. Tsunade looked up from her desk, eyes blinking slowly, indicating that she had been sleeping. Realizing she had a guest, she quickly sat up, smoothing out her hair and shaking the last bit of sleep from her eyes.
"Ah, yes, Hinata-san." Tsunade said, finishing with a yawn. She opened a drawer on her desk and pulled out a file. "I need you to travel to Sunagakure to meet up with the Kazekage. He needs these files on Lightning Country." she handed the file to Hinata, but didn't let go once the girl had her hands on them. "Whatever you do, Hinata, do not open this folder. It is confidential information. There's a seal on it that only the Kazekage knows how to break. If you try to open it, it will detonate."
Hinata let out a frightened 'eep' when her eyes met Tsunade's deadly serious ones. She gave a shaky nod, fearing her voice would fail her. "Good, now that you understand, you have one hour to pack."
"W-Who will be going with me?" Hinata asked.
"You will be going on this mission alone. If anyone asks where you're going, tell them nothing. It will take you a little over a week to get there on foot. So don't waste any time." If looks could kill, the looks Tsunade were giving Hinata would have murdered her.
"H-Hai, Tsunade-sama." the girl said, spinning on her heel and heading for the door, genuinely afraid of the Hokage at the moment.
Tsunade watched the girl leave and heaved a heavy sigh. "May Kami be with you on this mission Hinata..."
Hinata hurried home, not stopping to even catch her breath. When she reached her room, she quickly braided her hair down her back. She looked in the mirror. It's not perfect, but it'll do. she thought. She grabbed a black backpack from her closet and filled it with necessary items such as kunai, shuriken, senbon, her mini first aid kit, her small medical hand book along with a field journal, two changes of clothes, her sewing kit, and the folder for the Kazekage. Standing up and sliding the backpack onto her shoulders, she walked to her window and opened it, perching on the windowsill.
She leaped from the sill, landing daintily on her feet and took off running. She felt a little guilty about not telling anyone where she was going, but she had to follow orders. She reached the west gate and turned to look at the village. Something isn't right... Hinata thought. There were no ANBU about, and usually they stalked the gates, waiting and ready for any intruders.
But there were none. There weren't even any townspeople out.
She shrugged and adjusted her pack, turning to walk out of the village.
She smiled as she looked up at the canopy of leaves above her. It was truly beautiful in Fire Country. Especially during the fall, which was now. The luscious green leaves began to change to scarlet and gold, looking as if the whole world was caught on fire.
Hinata took in a soft breath, feeling completely at peace as she continued her journey.
Hours later, around eleven or so, Hinata walked down a familiar path that only she knew of. At the end of the dirt path was a small cabin. She yawned as she gently pushed open the door. It was dark inside the small cabin, but Hinata knew her way around. She walked over to the small kitchenette and opened a cabinet, retrieving a box of matches. She then felt her way to a small fireplace not far from the kitchenette. She leaned down, smiling at the little arrangement of wood she left the last time she was here, and set fire to the twigs in the middle.
She stood and walked to different parts of the little cabin, lighting all the various candles she spread around. Eventually, there was enough light in the room that she could see everything.
She opened a cabinet and pulled out a towel, one of the many things she had snuck out here years ago. Grabbing her small bag of weapons, she walked out the door and turned to the left, heading to a small spring which served as her bath.
Stripping and laying her neatly folded clothes on a boulder, Hinata eased herself into the cooling waters of the spring. She sighed as she felt the heat of her bare body warm the water.
She closed her eyes for a moment, smiling to herself.
Tsunade should send me on missions by myself more often.
Where am I?
Why am I hurting?
Crimson eyes darted around, urgently looking for some kind of reprieve to this immense pain he felt. It was horrible. As if his body were on fire and it never died out.
He stumbled a few times, trying to keep his balance by clinging to trees. His tired eyes started to fail him, making him think the trees were demons trying to finish him off. His long dark hair was snagged by one of the wicked branches, and he swore he heard them cackle evilly at him.
He no longer trusted the trees, and tried to make it the rest of the way on his own. He stumbled and fell, his face hitting something hard, a rock possibly. A groan emitted from his throat as he felt blood trickle from his nose, soon followed by pain.
I'm dying...
He looked up, seeing something blue in the distance. "W.. Water..." he mumbled, giving himself the motivation to trudge on. Finding it almost impossible to stand, he resorted to crawling to the sparkling pool. When he was a mere twenty meters away, his tricky eyes caught sight of a person on the other side of the pool, their eyes closed and their head tilted upward.
He couldn't tell if he was hallucinating from the lack of blood, but he opened his mouth to call out to them. "H.. Help.." he cried, realizing it was nothing but a pained whisper. They, she, didn't move.
Finding no more strength to press on, he collapsed with a thud at the edge of the pool, his cut up, bloody arm dangling in the water.
Hinata opened her eyes and looked down at the water. Her eyes grew wider when she saw that the water had become tinted with red, almost like...
"B-Blood..." she gasped. Quickly, she jumped out of the water and clothed herself. She activated her Byakugan and scanned the area, her eyes landing on a fading source of chakra. She gasped and sprinted across the water to the fainted person.
Her heart stopped when she noticed the black cloak that adorned red clouds. Leave, Hinata! He's Akatsuki! she told herself, but her feet pressed on, using her chakra to speed across the water.
She stopped quickly and knelt down next to the person, gently flipping them, him, over. Her heart stopped for the second time as her brain took in the bloody features.
Long, black hair spread around his head and stuck to his face with blood and sweat.
There were marks beneath his eyes, making him look incredibly exhausted.
And she could tell from his half-lidded, almost lifeless eyes that they were red.
Red with black markings.
The Mangekyo Sharingan.
"Uchiha... Itachi..." she realized. And he was dying right there next to her. She had to do something, and quick. She checked for his pulse. It was faint, but it was there. She couldn't believe he was in front of her, on the verge of death, and she was considering saving this S-class criminal.
"Uchiha-san... Can you hear me?" she asked, softly moving his hair from his forehead, finding more cuts and scratches. He stirred but didn't respond to her. "Stay with me, Uchiha-san." she said, her voice stern. She looked around, thinking of a plan. She couldn't pick him up, obviously, for fear he would lose more blood than needed. She couldn't leave him. He most likely wouldn't be here when she returned.
This sixteen year old looked across the pool at her discarded towel and clothes. Keeping and eye on the subconscious male, she sprinted across the water, retrieved her belongings, and returned in less than two minutes. Pulling out a kunai, she shredded the towel into strips. She dipped one into the water and began to wipe the blood, fresh and dried, from all the visible skin.
Her heart sank as she noticed how incredibly pale the other was becoming. She worked faster, trying to keep her hands from shaking. She wrapped the pieces of towel around Itachi's arm, where a large gash claimed most of his skin. In moments, the cloth was soaked with the red liquid.
Hinata quickly sliced through the Uchiha's shirt, trying to pry it from his skin. She dumped water onto the parts of cloth that stuck to his wounds and slowly peeled them off. Her lips pressed themselves into a firm line as her eyes took in the damage. Multiple stab wounds were scattered throughout his torso. One long gash stretched diagonally from his left collar bone to his right hip. It was red and hot to the touch and looked prone to infection.
Hinata cursed under her breath, something she rarely did unless she was under extreme stress. It hadn't crossed her mind until now what she was doing. Her hands stopped cleaning his wound and they rested on his skin. This could result in death for both of them. The selfish thought of just leaving him crossed her mind, but she couldn't bring herself to do that. She wasn't that kind of person...
She closed her eyes in an attempt to stop the pounding in her head. Slowly, she focused her chakra to her hands, bright and glowing.
Back at home, Hinata was secretly taken under Tsunade's wing, learning to be a healer. Tsunade had told her she surpassed Sakura by far, Hinata becoming superior to the pinkette in the healing arts. As the Hyuuga thought about it, a sense of pride swelled up in her gut, something she'd always felt when it came to her healing abilities.
She opened her eyes and focused on the wound. Slowly, she lifted her hands and a purple liquid seeped from the gash. So... He was poisoned. she concluded as she drew more poison out. She noticed the more poison she pulled out, the more color returned to his skin.
Suddenly, Hinata was filled with rage. Who would do this to him? What did he do to deserve something as awful as this? She felt the back of her eyes begin to sting, but she held it back, refusing to let her emotions win. She sighed and looked at the face of Itachi.
She could hear him breathing, and see it. That was a big improvement from when she first found him. She suddenly felt weak from all the chakra she'd been using. She slipped one of his arms over her shoulders and she put one of hers around his waist, using her remaining chakra hoist the unconscious man up.
What usually took five minutes took fifteen to get back to the cabin. She stumbled in to the cabin and half carried, half dragged Itachi to the bed. She gently laid him down on her bed, realizing he was shivering uncontrollably. She pulled out a kunai and cut away at his shirt and cloak, tossing them to the floor.
Standing, she grabbed a candle and set it on the bedside table, giving her a little more light to work with. The Hyuuga leaned over and dug around in her backpack, retrieving her little first aid kit. She opened it and pulled out her home made salve and some gauze. She sat on the edge of the bed and looked at the male just as his deep red eyes opened.
Hinata suddenly felt fear swell up inside of her. He was a criminal after all. Her heart fell when he tried to sit up, only to fling himself back down in pain, a strained cry of agony coming from his throat.
"Uchiha-san... You'll open your wounds... P-Please don't move." she said to him in a soft yet strong voice. Itachi didn't respond but just stared angrily at the ceiling. Hinata sighed and opened her container of salve. Scooping out just enough of the green cream to cover most of her fingers, she gently spread it over Itachi's chest. He drew in a sharp breath, then slowly let it out as the medicine cooled his burning skin.
Hinata then gently coaxed him into a sitting position and delicately dressed his wounds. "T-The best I can do for your torso is to let it h-heal on it's own. But your arm is going to need s-stitches." she said as she dug out her sewing kit. She filled a bowl with rubbing alcohol and let her needle and thread soak in it.
"Why?" he asked. Hinata jumped a little, but refused to look at him.
"W-Why what, Uchiha-san?"
He grabbed her shoulder and forced her to turn to him. "Why did you save me? Why didn't you let me die?"
Hinata took in a sharp breath. "Because whether anyone wants to accept it or not, you're still a human being. No one deserved to be injured the way you were." she said, feeling her eyes sting. "Who.. Who did this to you, Uchiha-san?"
Itachi looked away, his eyes glowing red. There was nothing else said on that topic. Hinata sighed and began stitching up his arm, asking him to move only when needed. Hinata noticed he began to tire out when his head started to fall forward and his eyes slowly closed. Once she was done with his arm, she made him lay down again. Much to her surprise, he didn't resist, because as soon as he hit the pillow, he didn't stir again.
Hinata pulled another comforter from a closet and made herself a pallet in the floor next to the bed. As she laid down, she felt a little bit of that pride swell up in her chest. She had pretty much revived someone who was on the brink of death, and Itachi Uchiha nonetheless. She closed her eyes, falling asleep much faster than she anticipated.
Her eyes snapped open what seemed like minutes later. She heard agonizing cries and movement from the bed. Hinata jumped up and just barely missed a fist to the face. Itachi was thrashing and flailing around on the bed, gripping at his wound. It must be the side effects from the poison. I couldn't get it all out of his system. she thought.
"Fire... Fire! It burns! Make it stop!" Itachi wailed in his sleep, scratching at his skin as sweat beaded on his forehead. "Sasuke, run! Run away from the fire!" he screamed. Hinata stared for a moment, scared to get close to him. "Run!" he screamed, tears spilling from his eyes.
"Uchiha-san! W-Wake up!" Hinata said, leaning forward to hold him down. When she got too close, one of his balled fists hit her square in the jaw, and the other hit her in the gut. Hinata coughed as the wind was knocked out of her and she stumbled backwards. She took in sharp breaths, feeling the pain slowly increasing in her jaw. She had never seen someone acting this way. Especially someone like Itachi.
She stood up, despite the painful pressure in her gut. She hurried forward, gripping Itachi by the wrist. She realized it was a bad choice when his red eyes shot open and he looked at her with such fear. "Fire! Everything is on fire!" he cried, trying to twist out of her grasp. "The leaves! They're on fire!"
"Itachi-san!" Hinata screamed, only to be rewarded with his hand on her cheek, his nails digging into her flesh. She let out a pained cry, letting go of him instantly. She pulled herself backwards and Itachi's nails created ragged scratches across her face. Tears pooled in her eyes at the pain, but she ignored them.
She plunged forward, landing on top of him, pinning his arms down with such a force she didn't know she had. "Itachi-san! Wake up!" she screamed. Itachi ceased all movement and blinked a few times. Hinata saw her tears and blood dripping on his face, but she didn't care.
Itachi just stared at her, fear and confusion evident on his face. "W... What happened?" he asked.
"You had a nightmare... When I found you, you were poisoned... I couldn't get it all out of your system." Hinata replied softly.
"Your face..." Itachi trailed off. "Did... I do that?"
Hinata didn't respond, which created Itachi's face to harden considerably. "I'm so sorry, Hyuuga-san." he said as he looked to the side. Hinata got up and grabbed a rag, turning back to him. She gently dabbed at the drops of her blood and tears that landed on his cheek.
Once Hinata was sure Itachi was completely calm, she began to climb off the bed. "Wait." The girl looked up at the Uchiha, who looked at her with somewhat pleading eyes. "Don't.. Don't be scared of me anymore. I'm not the same man I used to be. I've changed. I don't want people to see me and run away from fear."
Hinata kept staring into his eyes, somehow believing him. She smiled at him. "I believe you, Uchiha-san."
"Call me Itachi, Hyuuga-san."
"Then you may call me Hinata, Itachi-san." she retorted with a smile.
Itachi just stared at her for a minute, making her slightly uncomfortable under his gaze. "You look... Really familiar. Aside from being a Hyuuga and all..."
Hinata looked to the side. "Well... Our families used to meet a lot, so... I spent a lot of time with you and Sasuke. My cousin and even my own little sister hated being around me." she said, her eyes turning sad. "I remember one day, when I was watching Neji and Sasuke train together, I saw you under a tree by yourself. So I walked over to you. You were wearing your ANBU armor... And I thought it was so neat. I even asked to try your mask on..."
Itachi allowed a ghost of a smile to play across his lips. "And you dropped it and broke it. You cried all day long."
Hinata giggled. "Yeah, and I kept trying to put it back together, no matter how many times you told me it was okay."
"I remember it was late in the afternoon, when you finally gave up and cried yourself to sleep. I carried you home while Sasuke and Neji followed behind, bickering like always."
Hinata blushed, not remembering that part. She looked up and saw Itachi staring at her, but this time it didn't make her feel uncomfortable. She couldn't help but smile at the Uchiha, feeling a strange warmth in her chest. For the rest of the night, the two sat up in bed, stirring up old memories. Some were happy, some were silly, and some were sad. Eventually, Hinata had laid down at the foot of the bed, curled up asleep. Itachi watched her as she slept, feeling as if they were little again.
Despite the pain, he reached out and gently pet the sleeping girl. I owe you my life, Hinata Hyuuga.
Well, there's the first chapter!
Hope you like!
-PA
