A/N - I couldn't get the idea out of my head so I figured why not? I don't expect it to be extremely well received so I'm not sure how long I'll make this yet. Just depends.
Prey for the White Eye Wolf
Chapter 1- Revelations
She knew exactly who it was before autopsy. She remembered watching the medic unit pick up the body for transportation and even though she only caught a fleeting glance, she knew. She went back to her house that night with a dreadful sense of uselessness and prayed that she was wrong, but in the distant crevices of her mind, she knew it was pointless. The next day she was called to the Hokage's office unexpectedly, and again it confirmed her assumptions. The walk to the Hokage's mansion might have been one of the most strenuous she had ever had, and that was including when Lord Godaime Hokage relayed the news of Kiba's death.
She vividly remembered how she felt that day, as if it had only just happened and thinking about it two years later still left a dull ache in the pit of her stomach. She often wondered internally if Kiba's death was what changed her; Hardened her. After that she stopped believing in dreams. She gave up the idea of being loved by Naruto. She convinced herself that nothing else mattered more then her training, and had ultimately decided that she would become strong enough to protect those she loved, even if she needed to forsake them. She had focused more on training than anything else, and what had it got her besides the worried looks of Kurenai-Sensei and Shino?
'Oh yeah, the title of the youngest female Anbu captain in the history of Konoha,' she thought sourly.
She was sixteen when she first entered the Anbu Black Ops, and by the time she had turned eighteen, she had become captain of her very own squad.
Sure she loved the acknowledgment, the respect, but after two years of torturing and killing in the name of Konoha, any logical man or women would begin to question if he or she was actually making a difference, or merely doing the counsil's bidding while clinging to the prospect of eventual peace. Anyone with keen observation, like herself, could see that the Hokage was only a public figure. She was known as the leader of Konoha but behind closed doors she was forced to abide by the rules of the council, as all kage were. Sure she had some say in the affairs of Konoha but they were the ones truly calling the shots. The Hokage was only the instrument needed to do so.
Hinata didn't take pride in being able to deduce such a thing; it was simply a fact. She recalled discussing the matter with both Shikamaru and Kakashi-Sensei, who both wholeheartedly agreed with her but had always responded with the same statement.
'We're in no position of power so we are obligated to follow the orders of those superior, including the council members. It's our swore oath as ninja.'
She knew that they were right but she still hated the fact that she was a pawn kept in the dark. She wondered if such thought would be considered treason. Lost in thought, she realized that she was standing in front of the the door to the Hokage's office. She was afraid of the knowledge behind it, afraid of being right. She scowled for being so weak.
'I left the scared shy girl behind. Get a grip Hyuuga,' she chastised herself. Maybe she was being too hard on herself, but she knew the risks of caring for someone. She knew that at some point someone close to her heart would eventually perish. Death came with the job.
Knocking twice on the door, she waited for the usual call of approval to enter. When she opened the door, she was greeted with the sight of a tear streaked TenTen, a solemn faced Rock Lee, and most shockingly, a sober Tsunade, which alone was enough to make her hesitate at the door frame. Instead of fully entering, she spoke, silently hoping that her voice didn't sound as anxious as actually was.
"Hokage-sama? You called for me?"
Tsunade wordlessly gestured for her to enter with a flick of her hand. Hinata entered and after silently closing the door, took a moment to survey the messy office, all the while steeling her nerves for the inevitable news she knew she couldn't avoid.
"Hinata," Tsunade stated with a grim look of her face, "I'll get straight to the point. Hyuuga Neji was found killed two nights ago."
TenTen let out a choked sob and flung herself into Lee's arms, who hugged her tightly in return.
'Tsunade...not one to mince words, are you?'
Hinata was silent for a moment before responding in a strained voice. "...Have you located the whereabouts of the killer?"
With a stressful sigh, Tsunade shook her head. "We have yet to find the perpetrator or perpetrators. The autopsy conducted on Neji's body revealed multiple wounds from the base of his head to the bottom of his spinal cord. Whoever did this, he or she was relentlessly unmerciful. Our autopsy unit determined that after the attack, he likely suffered from a severe concussion and was unable to move due to the spinal injury. They surmised that he eventually lost consciousness and bleed out from the multiple wounds."
So in other words he was in pain until the moment he passed out. And to make matters worse, they had no idea who to blame for the attack. They didn't even have any leads, which probably meant whoever did this didn't reside in Konoha.
With barely contained rage, Hinata asked if she could be dismissed. Tsunade, knowing exactly what the Hyuuga Heiress was going through, knowing the pain of losing a loved one, gave her a pained smile.
"Excluding Guy and Hiashi, you three are the only people informed of the incidents occurred. Until we have more information, please keep this amongst yourselves to prevent civilian panic within the village. Dismissed."
With a nod, Hinata quickly walked out of the office, sparing TenTen a sympathetic glance. It was obvious the girl held deep feelings for her cousin, and it pained her to see someone so...resilient like her clinging to the arms of her teammate because Hinata herself was trying her best to keep her emotions in check.
As she got to her house, she unlocked the door and quietly slipped inside. She had moved out of her Hyuuga mansion as soon as she became a captain, though she usually visited her sister when she had time. Sitting down against her closed door, she slowly allowed the news of her cousins death to sink in. Only when she tried to get up to prepare her dinner did she allow the first sob to come out. And another. Sinking to the ground and burying her head in her hands, she cried until she began to developed a throbbing headache.
After a moment of grieving, she took shallow breaths, willing herself to calm down.. 'He's gone,' she thought, 'There's nothing I can do but accept it.'
And find the bastard who killed him and make them pay with their life. Trembling slightly, she picked herself up, removed her footwear, and walked towards the kitchen to begin preparing her supper, all the while thinking of the many ways she intended to make her cousins murderer suffer.
Blood red eyes stared into the faces of the sound village nin the snake bastard insisted come with him on this simple mission.
"Are we ready to resume traveling?"
"Yes sir! All the injured sound nin were disposed of like you commanded, sir!"
"Good. Tell everyone that we're about to head out. And I want every sensor type shinobi in the front with me. I want twenty men going into Takigakure and twenty men coming out."
As the sound nin captain left, the boy scowled. They had originally had no plans of stopping but after a surprise attack from a group of Cloud nin scouting the area (He had no idea why since they were no where near their village) and thirty casualties, they had no choice but to tend to the able injured and kill the ones too injured to continue. Brutal, he knew, but he didn't have time to piggy back wounded shinobi. He wished them a safe passageway to hell, because let's face it: They were all going to hell, including him. He didn't care, as long as purpose was fulfilled.
'Hero Water,' the boy thought absently, 'It shouldn't be too tedious to acquire.'
He could recall a past mission before his departure from Konoha that involved Hero Water. It was supposed to give the user immense chakra, if he remembered correctly, but at the cost of a shortened lifespan. Why Orochimaru wanted it, Sasuke did not know nor did he care in the slightest fashion. He only there on orders to retrieve it.
Sasuke Uchiha had changed drastically after his time with Orochimaru. His attire now consisted of a loosely worn white kimono (the Uchiha crest on the back of it of course), a dark blue hakama, and navy bottoms. Although he still had both shuriken and kunai, his primary weapon was his Kusanagi, which had fairly good range in combat. With his blade and stoic poise, Sasuke had quickly climbed the ranks of Oto and had earned the respect of his fellow nin.
Despite having power and respect, he always felt that something was missing. At first he believed it to be love, but quickly dismissed the thought. He didn't need love and the women in Oto, konoichi or not, would practically rip their clothes of when you offered sex. After dissming the thought of love he realized why he thought love in the first place. He wanted family.
Everytime he thought of family, his thought always crept toward his old teamates and sensei. They were his family. He had left those close to him in order to gain power, and he knew that, given the chance to do it all over, he wouldn't have changed a thing.
'Except maybe killing Naruto that day..'
He wasn't foolish enough to think he could kill Itachi at his current level of power. He was strong, more so than that snake bastard, but he wasn't ready to face his god forsaken brother yet. He had all plans on bidding his time and waiting for the opportunity to dispose of Orochimaru. He had learned all he could from the Saninn and knew that it was only a matter of time before Orochimaru attempted to obtain his body for himself. Had he been squeamish, he might have shuddered at the thought of that disgusting snake taking his body.
Lost in idle thoughts of the past, future, and his plans to kill the Sanin, he failed to notice that he was being called.
"Sasuke-sama?"
Turning slightly, he saw an Oto jonin beckoning him over. Leisurely strolling toward the jonin, Sasuke wondered if he had been caught the other night. After they had set camp for the night, he had snuck out and pages Konoha a visit. It was tiring on his body, but he often went to the Uchiha districts to remind himself of what exactly he had lost. He let his heart become overcome with raw rage and fully intended to unleash it upon Itachi when the time came.
"What is it?" he asked after a moment of observing the scene and situation.
"Sir..we found Amari here..he's injured."
"I can see that."
"We didn't know if..you wanted to dispose of him.."
'Amari,' Sasuke thought. Amari was one of the few people Sasuke had actually bonded with while he had been with the snake. They had often sparred together and he had become quite fond of him, seeing him as a brother almost.
Said boy looked up at him. "Sasuke..I'm too injured to continue without assistance.."
Saying nothing, Sasuke took a moment to once over Amari's body. He had multiple third degree burns, probably from a lightening attack of some sort, and his leg was awkwardly bent at an impossible angle.
Closing his eyes, Sasuke slowly unsheathed his sword, making Amati look up at him in confusion.
"S-sasuke..?"
Sasuke glared at the nin beside him. "I told you to dispose of everyone too injured to continue. I would have rather not have seen this, as I'm compelled to put Amari out of his misery myself, as a friend should."
The jonin cowered. "Apologies, Sasuke-sama."
Ignoring the cowardly jonin, Sasuke turned his attention to Amari, who was looking at him with angry disbelief.
"You dare raise your blade to me?! After all we've been through, you think of me so-"
With a flick of his wrist, Sasuke silenced him forever. "Forgive me," he said as he dabbed the spot of blood the had splattered on his cheek.
Turning around, he noticed that the rest of the Too nin had gathered around him. Cleaning his blade with Amari's shirt, he promptly left while calling out that anyone not able to run for the rest of the trip would be killed in the same fashion.
Yep. Sasuke Uchiha was definitely going to hell.
Hinata glared at nothing. It had been six days since Neji's death and nothing had come up. They had no idea who had done it and she was starting to lose patience. She was currently walking toward the Hokage's mansion because she had got a sudden mission alert. She didn't know what the details of the mission were, but the anbu that had sought her out said it involved Takigakure.
She let out a tiny sigh as she couldn't help think about Neji. He was also an Anbu member and had just come back from a mission when the incident occurred. She wondered if her cousin would ever receive justice for his murder. She snorted as she thought back to her previous thought. Justice.
'There is no justice in the world of ninja. We kill, steal, and destroy,' she thought.
As she was thinking she came across Naruto, who was just coming out of the ramen stand. The relationship between them had changed drastically following Hinata's acceptance into the Anbu Black Ops. Hinata didn't like being around the blonde simply because it reminded her of the shy weak girl that stalked him years ago. It made her sick.
Naruto didn't like being around her because after a night with Sakura she finally revealed that Hinata had the most obvious crush on him years ago. He felt bad for not noticing, so he usually avoided her at all cost, but seeing as how she was right in front of him, he couldn't dodge this time.
"Hinata-chan!," the blonde said with his usually grin, "Long time no see!"
"I suppose it has been Naruto.." she responded.
Noticing that she was in her ninja attire, he asked if she had been on her way to see the Hokage for a mission.
"Yes. I'm not sure what, but it had to do with Takigakure."
Naruto blinked. "Takigakure, you said?"
After a hasty nod, Naruto's expression changed completely.
"Well..I hope the village is ok..Shibuki as well."
"You know of them?"
Naruto smiled. "Of course! Sakura-chan, the teme, and I had a mission there when we were younger!"
At the mention of the youngest remaining Uchiha, Hinata thought about what it would be like fighting him. From what she had heard, he was strong enough to take out Yamato by his lonesome, all the while battling his teammates..or former teammates.
Wanting to get to the mansion, she bid the blonde a quick farewell, and after promising him to catch up sometime, continued on her way. When she got to the mansion, she didn't bother knocking as she knew would be expected.
"Hinata," Tsunade said, looking up from her paperwork, "Glad you're here. We have much to discuss."
"Hai Hokage-sama."
"First off, we have a lead in the death of Neji Hyuuga."
Her heart clenched in pain at the reminder that her cousin was deceased, but suppressing it, she asked the Hokage to continue.
"We found a small strand of hair on his clothing, and after a thorough analysis, we were able to find out whom the hair belonged to, though it might shock you."
She swallowed in anticipation. The sooner she knew, the sooner she could slit his or her throat. "Who was it?"
"Sasuke Uchiha."
She didn't understand. Wasn't the Uchiha at Oto getting violated by that snake pedophile?
"How is that possible?"
"I'm not sure, but that was his hair. Which brings me to my next topic."
Hinata forced herself to concentrate on the Hokage's words. She wouldn't let revenge take her over like it had done the Uchiha. She would release her anger when the moment was right.
"Takigakure sent out a distress signal about two days ago, claiming that they were attacked by sound ninja. They also claimed that the ringleader was a man with blood red eyes."
Her eyes widened in surprise. "Sharingan?"
"That's why you're here. We're only two days behind so if you head straight for Oto, we should be on a collision course. Your mission is simple. Bring in Sasuke. I'm assigning Shikamaru, Lee, and Shino to the mission with you instead of your team."
Shino. Their relationship had been strained ever since she joined the Anbu. He wanted her to quit. She didn't care what he wanted.
"If you're assigning people Sasuke knows, why not Naruto?"
Tsunade gave her a blank look. "You'll be fighting as if you were trying to kill. Naruto would intervene. And I'm sure you'd like to rough him up. Just don't kill him, alright?"
"Understood," she responded.
"Good. Dismissed. Pack up and head for the gate. Your team will meet you there."
Hinata left the mansion with a surge of adrenaline. The Hokage was allowing her to fight Sasuke if given the opportunity, as long as she didn't kill him.
As she packed her bags and stepped out the door of her house, she mumbled.
"I really want to.."
A/N: What you guys think? Should I continue this or forgo? Leave a review. Thanks.