Hyuuga Hokage
by
TheGraey1
Chapter 4
xxxxx
Hinata stood looking over a cliff. The ground for as far as even her eyes could see was blacker than obsidian. Below her a multiple valleys flowed with what looked like thick blood red lava. Other rivers were yellow liquid substance that was unknown to her. The sky was milky white that slowly became darker at time passed. A loud sound of thunder echoed through the area shaking the ground Hinata stood on. The ground was too soft to stand on. Hinata did not move being afraid to sink into the ground. It was an area of a never ending apocalypse.
Hinata went to activate her Byakugan when the thunder became so loud and horrible that Hinata covered her ears. The ground began to shake violently knocking her off balance. Hinata did not hit the ground. She was drawn upward away from the area. Her body moved on its own. She turned around to face the receding landscape.
The horrible landscape faded from view as a light blue glow over took Hinata. Hinata blinked as the blue light blinded her for a few seconds. She blinked twice seeing she was now in a cavern lit by countless blue crystals. A loud deafening scraping sound faded away. She stood in front of a large crystal that reflected the cave including a double of herself. She turned around seeing herself on her knees.
This Hinata's eyes were closed with drool spit running down her chin. Her body shaking in shock. Hinata walked over to her other self. "Are you alright?"
The kneeling Hinata looked up. She opened her eyes and Hinata gasped in horror. "MY EYES! MY EYES!" screamed the kneeling Hinata.
Then Hinata knew what landscape it was she stood on. It was the surface the of eyes of the kneeling Hianta. The thunder was the screams of the kneeling Hinata. Hinata backed away in fear as her own vision blurred and fade. Horror came over her as what happened to her double now started to affect her."MY EYES!" she yelled.
"MY EYES!"
"MY EYES!"
"MY EYES!"
"MY EYES!"
"MY EYES!"
"MY EYES!"
"MY EYES!"
"MY EYES!"
"MY EYES!" yelled Hinata waking up in a cold sweat and her heart pounding against her chest. Out of all the bad things that happened to her, that nightmare is in the top five.
Shizune heard the yell and ran into the tent. "Hinata-sama!"
Hianta blinked and looked around. Like the other times she had that horrid nightmare and awoke, she was too scared to blink afraid that briefest of moments in darkness of the closed eyes would caused the horrid vision of the nightmare to become reality.
"Just a nightmare," said Hinata getting her nerves under control. "How long was I asleep?"
"Sixteen hours," answered Shizune. "How are your eyes?"
The last time Hinata was out for that long was after Neji almost killed her in the Chunin Exams.
Hinata hesitated for a moment and pushed the fear about her eyes to the back of her mind. She activated the Byakugan and sighed with relief. "They're fine," she said after deactivating them.
"Must've been one crazy dream," said Shizune.
"Not as crazy as the other one," said Hinata in an attempt to not talk about it. "In the other one I was picked to become the new Hokage."
"That wasn't a dream and you are the acting Hokage," said Shizune.
"Oh."
Shizune picked up the candle. "Strange the candle should've prevented dreams. The material its made from does that so a stressed person can peacefully sleep. Must be a defect. How do you feel overall?"
"Besides being Hokage, I'm fine," said Hinata. Her stomach growled. "I am hungry and need some water."
Shizune handed her a ration bar and a canteen of water. The water had no taste. She gave Shizune a twisted expression.
"With the village's waterworks contaminated because of the destroyed sewer system we have to use water formed from water jutsu so its distilled water for now. ANBU is using prisoners to clean up that mess," explained Shizune. "We're living on ration bars and foraging in the forest for the moment until fresh food can be brought in. What happened scared off the majority of animal life for about ten miles in all directions. The Nara say it will take some time for the animals to return so we can hunt. They don't recommend hunting right now. Scaring off what's left will make things worse."
"Has the ground been leveled off yet?" asked Hinata.
"Not yet," sighed Shizune. "Its slow moving. It will probably take a month."
"The moment it is have the waterlines put in place. We can go a long time without food. Water is a different matter. No amount of training can prevent a ninja from death by dehydration because of a lack of water," said Hinata.
"Yamoto-san is using his bloodlimit to create quick housing on what level ground there is. Its a temporary fix until better materials can be brought in," continued Shizune.
Hinata took a bite out of her ration bar and shuddered. As bad as taking liquid medicine. Feeling a little better as the ration bar filled her with energy she asked, "What happened at the battle at the Daiymo's Tent?"
"We won but with a cost," answered Shizune. "Three ANBU are injured and are bed ridden for the foreseeable future. Four ANBU died in battle and Koharu-san was killed in battle. Homura-san cremated her body except for an arm that Homura-san placed in some type of clear stuff that is akin to amber that traps an insect. The arm has whatever it is that killed Kohura-san. Shikaku-san was seriously injured because he ingested seven or eight solider pills at once. That flooded his chakra system. In a sense he went the opposite of complete chakra exhaustion and almost drowned in the excess chakra. The upside is Yamato-san built a temporary hospital. Ino-san is currently visiting nearby places that sells medical equipment. She and a team of gennin will buy what medical supplies they can."
"Danzo," hissed Hinata with anger that surprised Shizune. Hinata took a moment to calm down. "Do you have something I can write on?"
"I have a notebook and a pen. I can take notes for you," said Shizune.
"Have ANBU examine the arm the moment they have the resources. Does anyone know why Shikaku-san did that?" asked Hinata.
"A ROOT agent ingested the red Akimichi Pill," answered Shizune. "It made him as strong as a Kage. What Shkaku-san did made him equal to the ROOT agent. He used his shadow to trap the ROOT agent. The ROOT agent died from the red pill's side affect. ANBU struck him in the vitals to be sure."
Hinata knew what Chouji did three years ago and it almost killed him. Hinata did not know the details of the pills or what they did but for Chouji to take those pills showed the situation had been dire. Hinata then had a thought. "Would those pills be a clan secret?"
"Yes. Before he passed out Shikaku-san said something about clans being compromised," said Shizune.
"Danzo tried to escape the Daiymo's tent when it was realized that he had a Sharingan that is covered by those bandages. The eye belonged to Shisui Uchicha-san. Danzo was the one who murdered Shisui, not Itachi," said Hinata. "Shikaku-san tried to stop Danzo with his shadow. Danzo used some kind of countermeasure that turned some of the shadow into projectiles. Thinking back on it, Shikaku-san's body language and facial expression meant that he was surprised that an outsider knew a Nara jutsu."
Shizune was shocked by that. "So Danzo-san-
"Do not give honorifics to traitors and criminals. They lost their right to such formalities," said Hinata.
"O-ok," said Shizune. "Could Danzo have sent ROOT to infiltrate the clans to learn their secrets? And did you say he murdered Shisui-san? Then what about Itachi?"
"I don't know," said Hinata. "There are a few possibilities. There is infiltration. Another possibility is that there are traitors within the clans. Shisui-san, it could be that Danzo and Itachi worked together to get the eye. There are things about the Uchiha Massacre that did not make sense to my clan. According to some Hyuuga who used to work with Itachi, they said while he was strong and powerful he was not powerful enough to murder his clan by himself."
"I hope you're wrong," said Shizune. "It is possible that Danzo used the eye to hypnotize Itachi to kill off his clan with help from ROOT agents. One of the first things Tsunade-sama did as Hokage was read all the information about the Uchiha Massacre. We found out Shisui's sharingan had the ability to cause complete hypnosis."
"It explains why any thoughts of being Hokage had been blocked from my mind and why Kurenei-sensei's gift activated," said Hinata. "I will meditate on it later and should reach the proper conclusion. When my two days are up and after I publicly announce myself as Hokage, I will order a clan meeting. I will discuss with the clan leaders more about this. As for Itachi, I will talk to Homura-san at some point. Did anyone manage to take a prisoner?"
"No. Those ROOT faced the same fate as the two you and Rabbit fought. They were either killed in battle or committed suicide. They to had seals that activated after death and incinerated their bodies to ashes," answered Shizune.
"With the village destroyed any clues to where Danzo may go will be hard if not impossible to find provided he did not destroy any proof that can used against him," said Hinata.
"He probably did destroy any evidence. We still should try," said Shizune.
"Criminals do tend to overlook that one small piece of evidence," added Hinata. "This next thing I do not want to do yet. I have to put Danzo in the Bingo Book."
"Why don't you want to do it?" asked Shizune.
"It is not that I do not want to. I should make other official decisions first before declaring someone a missing-nin," explained Hinata. "If one of my first official decision is to label someone a missing-nin it can send the wrong message to the villagers and ninja forces. I could come off as someone who is too readily to strike out against anyone who acts against the village or me even if it is to the scale of what Danzo did."
"You can delay the entry into the Bingo Book by a day or two," suggested Shizune.
"That is a good idea," said Hinata. "Danzo's new entry will label him as a S-rank missing-nin. His crimes include treason, assassination attempts against the current Hokage and the current Fire Daiymo. Attempted murder and murder of ANBU forces and the murder of Elder Kohura . Brainwashing of Kohona civilians including children."
"You sure about that last part?" asked Shizune.
"Sai-san."
"Good point," conceded Shizune. "What about stealing secrets from the clans?"
"Mentioning that may not be smart. If other villages realize that Danzo has our clan secrets, those village may offer Danzo sancuary from hunter-nin and bounty hunters in exchange for the information," answered Hinata.
"Anything else?" asked Shizune.
Hinata looked at the comatose Tsunade. "Take Tsunade-san somewhere safe. You are more familiar with ANBU members than I am. Pick two or three ANBU and take her somewhere safe. You can pick the place. Do not tell anyone including me. Before you object realize that the fewer people that know the better. This will be a secret between you and your team. . .oh no. . .secrets. . .how many people know I am the Hokage?"
"Just the ANBU who fought at the meeting ground," said Shizune. "The secret is safe. Also a third of the Hokage's Tower is nearly finished. A temporary office can be set up of you after you make your public debut."
Hinata exhaled the breath she had been holding. "Who is the Jonin Commander since Shikaku-san is injured?"
"You'll have to pick someone," answered Shizune.
"Inoichi-san comes to mind," said Hinata. "He is a capable ninja and leader."
"He's also too stubborn," said Shizune. "About as bad two other blondes we know. Chouza-san doesn't have the hardness the job requires."
"Can a Special Jonin be picked?" asked Hinata.
"You can promote one. . .but."
"But they tend to be. . .eccentric," sighed Hinata with images of Ikibi and Anko running through her mind.
"Summon shit crazy you mean," muttered Shizune.
Hinata ignored the swearing. She did not care for swearing. Hanging around Kiba however let her learn how to tune it out. "Yamoto-san is currently busy with the rebuilding. Gai-san, I do not know what he would do in the long run if I gave him the position. I cannot choose Neji-san. It would look like nepotism on my part and I do not want to deal with that kind of headache. That leaves. . .Kakashi-san. I worked with him before. He does live up to his reputation."
"Including his tardiness. If you worked with him that means you experienced that," said Shizune.
"He was only a few minutes late," said Hinata. "Because the mission dealt with his team he decided to show up on time. Will he show up on time as the Jonin Commander?"
"The truth is that we adjust our schedules to take Kakashi-san into consideration. He only thinks he's purposely late," smiled Shizune. "Everyone plays along making him think he has something over us."
Hinata did not like having to the take the time to readjust a schedule because of one person. On the other hand it was funny in a way. Right now she needed all the humor she can get. "Very well. Find him and bring to me as soon as possible. What is the security situation?"
"So far so good," answered Shizune. "We could use more help. Too many teams are out on missions. The chakra barrier is back up to twenty percent. By the end of the week the barrier should be back to full power.
Hinata thought things through for a moment. "D-Rank missions are a moot point at the moment. I don't want to use untrained Gennin but it can't be helped. Have one or two Gennin be attached to each patrol group. Consider it on the job training with the added bonus of extra eyes and ears. That should be it."
Shizune bowed then walked to the tent entrance. "Wait. One last thing," said Hinata. "When Tsunade-sama wakes up, ask her why she picked me and why she did not tell me before the attack."
"Oh, I will," said Shizune who made it a promise to herself. She wanted answers to because she cannot figure out why Tsunade did everything this way. At least Hinata is a good pick for the moment. Shizune just prayed that nothing too serious happened too soon to the young woman.
Hinata sat in a meditation position after Shizune left. It took her five minutes of silence just to clear her mind of everything that happened; the destruction of the village, her confession to Naruto, being picked as Hokage even if its temporary, and Danzo's betrayal. After clearing her mind she began focusing on each problem individually in order of events.
First was the destruction of the village. Rebuilding will take time. Should Kohona even be rebuilt here? Why not bury the remains and move a few miles in a new direction and start from scratch. A fresh village can be built and greatly improved upon over the old. If there was one flaw with Kohona and no doubt the other Villages is that they are very slow to change. From common jutsus to technology, advancements are at a snail's pace. A fresh village would permit new advancements across the board. It would be hard but the faces on Mount Hokage can be moved to a newly created mountain. On the other hand there is the civilian population. While a new village is being built they would have to continue to be refugees in the smaller villages they are at right now. They simply do not have the training or ability to rough it in the wild like ninjas. There is also how long a new village can take to build. Surely much longer than rebuilding this one. By the time a new village is built too many civilians may choose not to return having created new lives for themselves. That big of a loss would hurt a new village financially. The security required while building a new village would be insane. The moment certain Hidden Villages found out what is happening is the moment real trouble starts. She decided it would be better to rebuild here while encouraging new ideas and innovations to go along with the rebuilt village.
Next was her confession to Naruto. Hinata grunted and pushed those thoughts aside. That is a whole different matter and will take much longer to meditate on. As much as Hinata wanted to dwell on it she is the Hokage and has to remain focused on the village.
Tsunade choosing her to be Hokage. Tbe same simple unanswered questioned bothered Hinata; why? Why her of all people? Sure what Shikaku said about her was true. There were others who could keep the village united like she did her clan. There had to be more than just a desire to keep the villagers from falling apart if Tsunade fell in battle. The only thing that made sense was the one thing Hinata did not like about herself. Something she recently discovered when she begun her semi-leadership of the clan. Hinata is a genius of politics. The inner workings of politics came easily to her as weapons to TenTen or Gentle Fist to Neji. That permitted Hinata realize what a cesspool politics can be. The backstabbing, the lies and deceit, the promises and treaties made and broken faster than the wind blows. Hinata is aware of it without the Byakugan's natural insight. Hinata never told anyone, including Kurenai and Hiashi about that side of her. The only thing worse than others wasting her time during political meetings and diplomatic missions is when she herself used the same political tricks. Did Tsunade suspect that about her? It would explain the decision to choose Hinata. Very few people can outmaneuver Hinata when it comes to the political arena. No doubt politicians inside and outside the village will be coming out of the woodwork to take advantage of the crisis. Hinata still has lingering doubts about physical fighting she has none when it comes to politics. Perhaps that is why Tsunade chose her.
Finally there is Danzo. How deep does his betrayal go? It is no secret he eyed the Hokage's position longer than the lives of Hinata's and her friend's parents. How many lives did he ruin and how many did he take in his quest to become Hokage? How many crises did Danzo, who was supposed to be the chief of security for Kohona, let happen to knock down the Hokages politically, weaken the village, just to make a grab for power? A sudden frightening possibility. Was Pein the result of something Danzo did in the past? Perhaps but not enough proof and information. Leave it as a thought for now. What about Orochimaru's experiments and that traitor's attack on Kohona during the Chunin Exams three years ago? What is confusing is why Danzo did not make an attempt for the Hokage position after the Sound/Suna attack failed. While not the most liked person in Kohona nobody would have questioned his loyalties. Its clear the only reason why Danzo did what he did now was because Hinata revealed Shuisi's stolen eye and that had been fluke.
A sudden unformed possibility grabbed Hinata's attention. It was murky and without shape. Hinata's instincts told her this is important. She grabbed the possibility and tried to give it clarity and form. The picture in her mind started to form edges and meaning. Almost, almost. The seed of understanding starting to grow roots and-
"You can't go in," said the ANBU standing guard outside the tent in a raised voice.
"I have to talk to the Hokage right now! Its an emergency!" said a young woman's voice in an accent that was familiar to Hinata.
Hinata blinked once then twice as she was brought out of her meditation without warning which angered her. Some people have said that interrupting a Hyuuga's meditation is as dangerous as trying to fight one up close and personal. "What's going on out there?" she demanded and not bothering to hide her anger.
"Foreign ninja," answered the ANBU.
Hinata stiffened where she sat. Did Akatsuki attack another village? Was there another Pein? No, there could not be another Akatsuki like him however it not mean there are other member that can attack the other villages.
"Just a moment," said Hinata. She dusted herself off. Taking the sealed scroll from her flak jacket, Hinata released the Hokage's Hat. With a sigh she put it on and adjusted it as well as she could. "Send her in."
"You sure?" asked the ANBU in a hesitant voice.
"Yes," said Hinata.
The tent flap opened and the foreign ninja lowered her head so she could enter the enter. "Sorry to come here without notice but there is an emergency at my village," said the ninja.
"An attack by Akatsuki?" asked Hinata.
The ninja stopped in mid movement still bent over. "How did you know?"
"It was obvious. This village was destroyed by Akatsuki. Attacking another Hidden Village at the same time is not beyond the realm of possibility," said Hinata.
The ninja stood up and looked directly at Hinata. They both stiffened and time stood still. The air became deadly and thick. "You. . .you're a Hyuuga," said the ninja with shock anger. "Your hair color. . .I know that color. . .you're Hinata Hyuuga!" said the ninja with anger.
"Kumo!" spat Hinata.
To be continued. . .
Author's Notes – This chapter is half the size of the previous chapter. Previous chapter being an even 6000 words and I got that number without trying! HA! How often does that happen? It was either continue this chapter or do a cliffhanger at this point. I chose the cliffhanger.
