Inuzuka, Kiba suddenly stopped. Slowly a lump formed in his throat. It became difficult to breath. He took a deep inhale of air and sorted out the scents to make sure he did not get it wrong the first time. He smelled decomposing flesh, a hint of burnt foliage that usually resulted from explosions, and five distinct scents from five different humans. He did not know four of them but the last scent made the lump in his throat.
Hinata… Kiba thought as he turned to his teammate for this particular mission he was getting back from, carrying some fragile merchandise to the sand country.
"We have to turn southeast."
His teammate looked at him questionably to tired from traveling overnight to voice their questions.
"A Konoha ninja is in trouble."
Without needing any more discussion Kiba and a chunin named Kimiko jogged southeast.
"Do you know this ninja, Kiba?" Kimiko's black eyes penetrated Kiba demanding the truth.
"Yeah…" Kiba whispered, his lump in his throat was getting bigger as the scent of Hinata's blood became stronger.
A gentle whimper brought Kiba's eyes to the side where his faithful companion Akamaru jumped beside him. The forest suddenly cleared and in the clearing laid four men. Three of them wore neutral colors and the forth had the bright robes of a noble.
A noble and his guards went out playing and had an accident? Kiba thought as his throat problem subsided a little not seeing Hinata.
"Try to find Hinata's scent Akamaru."
Akamaru immediately started smelling the outskirts of the clearing trying to find where Hinata left the clearing. Kiba started to study the open space and tried to piece together the fight trying to imagine what happened.
"They surrounded your friend and this man." Kimiko said pointing to the noble. Kiba nodded his head confirming this.
"One of them charged and it seems your friend dodged with the noble. Then another enemy stopped them. She killed him. Then another one of them cut her off from moving. Her track is deep here so she must have been holding the man off, but there is blood where she was standing. Why?"
"The noble attacked her."
"How do you know that?"
"Her left heel track is slightly deeper then the right meaning she shifted her weight to see behind her. Also the last enemy was holding her."
Kimiko continued her story, "She pushed up on her kunai and got that enemy off guard and then she turned and struck the enemy behind her… many times." Kimiko starred at the man lying with multiple stab wounds.
"She then killed the last guard by…" Kimiko starred at the last guard with multiple fine cuts all over his body and then starred at the chakra burns on his head.
"She used chakra to cut him then cut off blood vessels in the brain." Kiba clarified for Kimiko.
"Then she attacked him." She starred at the mutilated face of the nobleman.
"Something is not right."
"What Kiba?"
"The Hinata I know would not do this."
"Kiba isn't your friend a ninja?"
"Yeah. So?"
"Ninja's are forced to…" Kimiko was interrupted by a bark from Akamaru.
"You found her trail? Great!" Kiba ran with Akamaru out of the clearing with Kimiko close behind them.
After about thirty minutes of tracking they found a beat up Hinata on the ground unconscious.
"Hinata!"
Kiba turned over Hinata and ordered Kimiko to start a fire and get some food and water. Kimiko immediately complied. Kiba surveyed Hinata's wounds, a scratch on her arm, a clean cut by her eye and a lot of bruises. Kiba frowned; Hinata would not faint from something like this. Kiba brought out his first aid kit and started to bandage Hinata's arm and face. But once he gently touched her cut with ointment Hinata immediately screeched in anguish, thrashed in Kiba's arms and opened her eyes.
Hinata starred at Kiba with pain and confusion. Kiba starred at Hinata in disbelief. Her left eye was the normal lilac pupiless Hyuuga eye. Her right eye on the other hand was a soft brown with flecks of Hyuuga lilac.
"Hinata what happened to you?"
Tears welled in the mix-matched eyes and Hinata started to hiccup.
"I want to go back to Konoha." Hinata gently grasped Kiba's jacket.
Kiba went silent with concern before speaking again, "Lets eat and rest first."
Hinata nodded.
Entering the Konoha gates Hinata suddenly had a mixed feelings about returning to her home. In response to this new feeling Hinata dropped her head until the fringe of her bangs covered her eyes. Kimiko left and Kiba lead Hinata to the Hokage's office. At the receptionists desk Kiba explained that he wanted to inform how Hinata's and his mission went. The bored receptionist waved them through to the Hokage's personal office. Now inside the room Hinata started to feel nervous and uncomfortable. Her feet unconsciously started to shift back and forth and her index fingertips started to push together to form the typical nervous Hinata pose.
Kiba starred at the stack of papers on Tsunade's desk. They were taller than him and he had a good feeling that the Fire Country's Leader was slacking. Papers were suddenly thrown on the floor and a very pissed Hokage faced them.
"How does anybody expect me to get all this paper work done when a war is about to start?"
Not wanting to infuriate her and get a smack of her infamous strength Kiba stayed quiet. Tsunande gaze shifted from Kiba to Hinata and her eyes widened.
"Where were you? You were do back yesterday, Hinata."
When Hinata did not say anything Kiba side glanced at Hinata. Seeing that she was in the total social nervous shutdown mode Kiba tried to speak for her. Tsunade stopped him before he even started and asked Hinata her question again.
"I-I- H-He I- ah mean L-Lord Haishin. Lord H-Haishin a-attacked me." Hinata looked up finally at her ninja leader and Tsunade's eyebrows lifted up with surprise. They quickly lowered.
Tsunade eyes then became serious; to fight both the sound and traitors inside Kohona could be disastrous.
"Did he give you the scroll Hinata?"
"Y-Yes." Hinata pulled out the scroll Lord Haishin gave to her and then handed it over to the Hokage.
Tsunade broke the wax seal on the scroll and unrolled it. Her eyes knitted together in confusion.
"These sound movements seem legitimate. Why would he attack you?"
Hinata could hear Lord Haishin's voice ringing in her head telling her about a Hyuuga wanting to attack her. Hinata weighed her options inside her head. If she told Tsunade then the Hyuuga's would be charged with a crime decimating the Hyuuga prestige and life. Or she could keep what Lord Haishin said a secret and investigate the matter herself, probably killing herself in the process.
She chose option number two.
"I do not know why."
Tsunade's shoulders slumped and she sighed.
"Both of you get out of here. Write up and send in your official report of your missions."
Kiba stepped forward, "What about Hinata's eyes? Can't you fix them?"
Tsunade shook her head, "No one is allowed to heal a Hyuuga's eyes but the Hyuuga."
Kiba looked at her with disbelief, "Why is a stupid rule like that allowed? Come on it will take two seconds a minutes tops to heal her eye!"
Hinata pulled herself closer together. She hated this type of talk. She just wanted to get out of the Hokage's office that suddenly felt too small to hold the Hokage, Kiba, and herself.
"The Hyuuga must keep their secrets secret. Now leave."
Kiba looked like he was going to say something else but Hinata gently tugged on his jacket and Kiba's anger deflated until it was gone. They both left the office heading for the Hyuuga compound. Upon reaching it Kiba suggested for him to come with her into the compound but Hinata refused. Kiba and Hinata parted ways.
Inside the compound the usual black sheep Hinata felt even more out of place. She quietly went into a building farthest away from the Hyuuga gates. Inside the building was a stoic white room. Everything was sterilized and in its proper place. This was the Hyuuga healing room. Sitting in a chair in the corner sat the specially trained healer. Whenever something happened to anyone's byuakugen they came to this place. The healer, a distant cousin named Shiro, got up from his chair and walked over to the quivering Hinata. He gently raised her head and looked into Hinata's eyes with his byuakugen activated. He starred at her for a long while. Hinata shook in fear. Shiro then walked over to his desk in another corner and started to write down notes, his long, loose black hair falling over his shoulders and onto the desk.
"What happened?"
Hinata told the healer the story stuttering along the way. Shiro took notes and once Hinata was down he looked up and at her.
"I will send your status report to Hiashi-sama. I suggest you clean up and head over to his office."
Hinata wanted to ask why he was not healing her but was too afraid. Instead she did what the man said and cleaned herself up. After taking a long bath and getting dressed she went over to her fathers office and meeting room. She took a deep breath and opened the door. In the room her father was sitting down and beside him was her sister Hanabi. In two long rows behind him were most if not all of the Hyuuga elders. All of their faces had no emotion on them.
Hinata quietly walked in the room and sat down.
"Look at me."
Hinata looked up at her father. Hiashi brought out the scroll that Shiro wrote on about her.
"It says in this report that your byuakugen cannot be mended together. It says a charka infused knife probably was used against you. Which means someone is letting out our secrets or Lord Hiashi made a lucky guess."
Internally Hinata was panicking. No one can mend my charka coils in my eye? What's going to happen to me? Who did this? Hinata widened her eyesight so she was not only starring at her father but also the Hyuuga elders behind him. Everyone had a cold mask on. Hinata switched her widened gaze on Hanabi. Her face had a cold mask of indifference. Hinata tried for years to get to know her only sister but was always shut out. But because Hinata tried to get to know Hanabi and her emotions Hinata knew her weakness of where Hanabi showed her emotions. Hinata looked at Hanabi's right big toe. It was slightly extended from its usual position. Hanabi was at present happy. But Hinata could not think about why she was happy at the moment because her father was talking again.
"Hinata in one month you will be seventeen. On your birthday you will become the Hyuuga head and leader. But because of this injury," Hanabi's toe extended further in delight, "you will always have to have a bodyguard around you as well as always being on guard. You can not be a leader if you are dead."
Hanabi's toe immediately scrunched up indicating she was very mad. A couple of the elders masks slipped showing disbelief and anger.
Hiashi signaled that the meeting was over and everyone slowly filed out. Hinata walked to the Hyuuga gardens and sat next to her favorite pond. She watched the wind make the red and orange leaves on the nearby trees shake.
So I have to survive one month until my seventeenth birthday. Hinata thought before looking at the pond.
The large fish in the pond swam freely before his large body suddenly got stuck in a clump of seaweed. The large fish thrashed about but could not get itself free. Hinata then gently untangled the seaweed and watched as the fish franticly swam away from her, not at least thankful. Hinata stood up. She did not expect any thanks.
Hanabi set done her brush and cracked her fingers. A branch Hyuuga member gently knocked on Hanabi's door and came in.
"Hanabi-sama it is time for sleep."
Hanabi immediately threw the first thing that came into her hand, a kunai; a kunai was always under her chair just in case. The branch member barely ducked out of the way and stood.
"Fine, get my futon out you lazy scum."
The branch member calmly went over to Hanabi's closet and pulled out a futon. She laid it down and left the room. Hanabi snorted and picked up her brush again.
My original plan on having Hinata blinded and then disowned when she came back to Kohona failed. I blame that foolish Lord I gave my plans to. I had only one month to come up with another plan to kill my sister with out me being blamed. I have always loved a challenge.