A little note on some of the chapter titles: I've been using a combination of 30_quills prompts and Rare_pairings prompts. While to me 30_quills seems more chapter centric, the Rare_pairings prompts allow me to write shorter drabble-esque pieces of each chapter. So I usually group three together to describe the "goal" of the chapter. I wish there was just a category for hate!fics, but…I guess tragedy is close enough.

Coercion

Arc I: Swaying the Branch

In a world without words


Where?

She remembered seeing Kiba, she remembered being in the stands at the exams…but she didn't remember being in the room she found herself in. Hinata panicked, where was she? Why was she there? Her breath quickened, but then she calmed down slowly, slowly. She was a ninja, observe, deduce, and take necessary action. She wasn't dead. Death would be more remarkable than this room she was in she was sure. This wasn't Konoha, had she been there she would have been in either a hospital bead or in her home. Which could only mean…

"I've been captured by the enemy…" she whispered. Her heart pounded, what was she to do now? What did they want from her? How could she get out? Where was she? Was she in Suna? Did the Sound Nin get her?

'All right, you've observed, but you're not done deducing. Figure out who took you. Observe some more,' she told herself. Hinata took a few deep breaths and calmed down. She had enough chakra to check at least down the hall, she sensed she wasn't fully recovered from her injury. She put a hand on her chest. 'But someone took care of me…'

She activated her byakugan, searching and observing the area around her. Sound headbands, Sound ninja. They took her. The big question was: why? She had to do some information gathering. In order to do that, she had to get out. Hinata knew she could easily blast the lock open, but…what would she do after?

She had to figure out the guard patterns. Once she got out, she had to blend in with the pedestrians, but she'd figure that out once she made it that far. Or if she was fortunate, she would gain enough energy to observe all of this before she made her moves.

All that was left to do now in the meantime was to bide her time.

Who?

Hinata spent days in that cell. She was fed regularly, but she still couldn't seem to gain enough energy to see further than the hallway before her. What was more she could still feel that her injury wasn't fully healed and she didn't know what to do about it. She had none of the necessary medical equipment. She could check and see what was wrong, but…at this rate she would bleed out eventually. She knew the principles of healing with chakra, but she didn't know much. She still did her best, and minimized the bleeding, but sometimes she would cough up a little blood.

Hinata knew that she had to attempt to heal herself, but she was afraid because she could make such a huge mistake and kill herself by accident. As much as she didn't want to admit it, but dying here would not be so terrible. Well, dying itself would be terrible, but the results would not be. The Sound would lose out on any information she could have told them, her byakugan would be deactivated and her body didn't have much in terms of Konoha secrets other than her eyes.

She raised her hands over her heart; they trembled with the idea of what she had to do, of what might happen. Just as she began to channel chakra to her fingers, the door swung open. Hinata jumped to her feet. She was surprised to see that blue haired kid, Kabuto standing in the doorway. He smiled at her and walked ahead slowly. She took a step back, noting the Sound nin headband on his head.

"I'm sorry I didn't come to see you sooner, Hinata. Perhaps you remember me? I'm Kabuto. I was a bit preoccupied with another patient. I knew my healing would hold you together for a few days until I got time to treat you properly. Really, who knew your wounds would reopen? What a cruel cousin you have" he said. Hinata narrowed her eyes and backed up against the wall as though she could phase through it.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you," he said, adjusting his glasses. Hinata tilted her head in scrutiny, putting a hand over her chest. Her eyes widened in fear. 'Not now…don't betray my weaknesses now!' she begged her body. Too late, she was gripped in pain and coughed up a good amount of blood. Kabuto had his arm around her instantly and was guiding her out of the cell.

"We're moving her to the medical ward. I've got to treat her now," he said to the guard. Hinata couldn't say a word, the pain was too great.

"Don't throw her over your shoulder like a sack of potatoes, you'll kill her for sure," Kabuto instructed. "Hold her gently, she is my patient."

Hinata blacked out after that. She would die for sure…she knew it.

Why?

She woke up in a room, in a bed, still alive. She wanted to sit up, but she was too tired to. She felt herself about to panic, but she took a few deep breaths. 'For someone who was captured by an enemy, you sure are calm,' she thought. Hinata ran a hand over her body, scanning to see what had happened. Since her fight with Neji, Hinata learned the importance of being aware of what was going on in your own body and developed a technique to check her vital organs and chakra points. Her injury, the one that had her coughing up blood, was completely treated. Hinata began to assess her situation. She didn't sense that they wanted any Konoha secrets from her. She was fed regularly, she even received medical treatment. No, they would be trying to torture her for information. For a bunch of people that wanted to destroy Konoha, she was being treated much too gently. No, something more was wanted from her.

'What do they want from me? Why?' she said. She put her hands over her face. Not information…what good would a byakugan user be to them?

The door opened and she turned her head to see who had come in. Kabuto was there, blood spattered across his shirt. Hinata previously had no strength, but seeing him in such a state caused her to leap from her hospital bed and jump toward the window. She was just a hair too slow, for he got to her before she could even get her foot on the window sill and restrained her.

"Hold still. Such sudden moves will reopen your wounds after I just treated them," he said. Hinata struggled only more: he was going to cut her open!

"The blood on my shirt was not from me cutting open anyone. A patient merely had a bad episode. Stop moving or else you'll only hurt yourself," he continued patiently. Hinata squirmed a bit more before she felt a sharp pain in her chest. She calmed down a bit and stopped moving. He eased her back into her bed.

"That's it. I'm not going to hurt you. I just came to check on you before I gave you an exam," he said checking the window. "I'll get changed and see you in a few moments. Don't strain yourself. I can't afford to have you hurt."

He left and she looked down at her legs beneath the blankets. Why? Why was he keeping her alive? What was with the reassuring tone? Something was wrong. Were they holding her for ransom? Why would they do that? What would they gain?

Kabuto came back and smiled at her. She was so wary she couldn't find it in her to smile back.

"Now, I'm going to check your heart and your circulation. I want to see if all your struggling has done any damage," he said. His hands were cold, the stethoscope against her skin was cold, but he handled her as though she were a china doll. She was wearing nothing but a thin hospital gown and suddenly, his closeness bothered her. She didn't know him or what he wanted. Why was she alive? Why wasn't she in a dark, dank cell being questioned?

"You're probably wondering what we want from you," he said. She breathed sharply and he grinned. "I thought as much. It's simple. I'm highly competent on my own, but I want someone to be my right hand. Someone who can monitor dissention among the ranks. No one else can do this but you."

Hinata was stunned. What on earth was he thinking? That made no sense! Capture an enemy ninja and make that person the monitor of rebellion among your own ranks? That was insane! Unless…what did he say?

"No one else can do this but you."

What was it that she had that no one else had? Realization hit her hard. Her byakugan. She had the byakugan, she could see everything he couldn't. He needed her skill. Hinata bit her lip as she took all this in. A small, guilty part of her was happy. She was needed, she was taken because she had a skill that no on else had. Wait…Others had the skill: her father, Neji, Hanabi…there was an entire clan to pick from. Why her?

"You seem to be all right. I'm going to have to leave for a few weeks, so you just relax and don't strain yourself," he said. "It is my medial recommendation to not run away. You'll aggravate your injury and you'll probably bleed out before you make it back to Konoha."

Hinata stared after him as he left the room. She didn't want to admit that he was right…but he was right…

Now you know how Hinata ended up in the Sound Village in the first place…well technically it's not even a village, but…you guys have read the manga like I have so you know. How did she ever end up so dismal and dark? That can't be answered in one chapter, so read and find out is al I can say.