"How could you let this happen!?" Tsunade scolded the Anbu Captain, slamming her fist down on her desk.
"I'm sorry, Madam Hokage." he whimpered. "We didn't think there'd be an attack so soon."
"Well because of your incompetence, we have extensive damages throughout the village, high costs to repair them, four dead soldiers, and a member of the Hyuuga Clan as a hostage, whom, I might add, is the very stalemate to keep us from going after her! We can't even sneak up on them! They're Sith! They can smell fear! If we even so much as cross the Fire Country border, they'll kill her! If anything happens to that girl, I will hold you personally responsible, Captain! Now get out!"
The Anbu Captain and two of his men slowly walked out of Tsunade's office, the sting of shame in their every step. Tsunade was left with Hiashi Hyuuga, the head of the Hyuuga Clan, Naruto, Kakashi, and Jiraiya.
"And what of my daughter, Madam Hokage?" Hiashi asked almost emotionlessly. Tsunade told him, "Well, it's nice that you're pretending to care about your daughter, Hiashi. But until we can come up with a plan to rescue her, we can't do anything."
"But we can't just leave her with them!" Naruto shouted. "It's my fault she was taken! I should have know Sasuke would have tried something!"
"How, Naruto?" Kakashi asked. "We have no idea what Sasuke's capable of now. His training with the Sith have made him impossible to face right now. Remember what Neji told us?" It was true, and Naruto knew it. He studied the Sith during his training, but he had never heard about the technique that was use against Neji.
"How is he, by the way?" Tsunade asked, asking about Neji. Hiashi told her, "He's stable. He'll be released tonight."
"Good. Until we can figure out what to do, all plans to extract Hinata Hyuuga will be on hold. You're all dismissed."
As they exited, Naruto held his head in shame.
"Naruto." Tsunade called for him. He turned back to face her. "I'm sorry you had to come home to this." He only nodded and exited.
When he walked out, he noticed someone sitting on the bench next to the door. It was Hinata's little sister, she was crying. He knelt down in front of her and asked her, "Hey, you're Hanabi, right?" She wiped her eyes and sobbed, "Yes, and you're Naruto. My sister talks about you all the time."
Naruto could help but chuckle a bit at that. He never thought Hinata would ever talk about him. He put his hand on Hanabi's shoulder and said to her, "Don't worry, I'll bring your sister home. One way or another."


Sasuke brought Hinata before Orochimaru. He couldn't help but laugh at the girl, "So weak, so fragile, but yet so vital to them. This is a Hyuuga Knight? Pathetic."
Hinata looked down in shame, only to have Karin pull her back up by her hair.
"You look at my master when he speaks, Hyuuga scum!" she hissed. Orochimaru said, "Now, you will be our prisoner. If you cooperate, you will not be harmed in any way. However, I'm sure that you remember what my apprentice did to you cousin. He can do far worst." Hinata twitched at the thought of Sasuke using that technique on her.
Orochimaru stood up from his chair and walked down to the young Hyuuga. His elongated tongue slithered out of his mouth and traced along Hinata's cheek. The girl whimpered at the feeling of the Sith's tongue on her skin. Also, the very sight of it didn't help either. He slurped it back into his mouth and said, "It would be a shame if something happened to someone a precious as you." He then looked at Karin, signaling her to take Hinata to the dungeon. Karin let Hinata's hair go, but gripped the back of her neck and dragged her to her cell.
Orochimaru turned back to face Sasuke. He told his apprentice, "You have done well, Sasuke. With a member of the Hyuuga clan in our grasp, they won't dare touch us."
Sasuke said nothing, only watched as Hinata and Karin exited. Orochimaru returned to his throne and looked up at his apprentice. He asked him, "Is there something troubling you, my young apprentice?" Sasuke said, "That girl, there's something different about her."
"Infatuated with her?" Orochimaru ask slyly.
"Hardly." Sasuke said, not acknowledging the joke. "On the surface, she was scared. But deep down, she was calm. Normally it the other way around. What do you think it means?"
Orochimaru scoffed and said, "Maybe your senses aren't as attuned as I had thought. You're getting emotions twisted."
With that, Sasuke left.


Sasuke walked down the stairs to the dungeons. He walked past the guards who knew better than to ask him to identify himself. He went down to the very last cell here Hinata was being kept. He looked inside to see her sitting in a lotus asana facing away from him, the cell light glowing down on her. He knew that she wouldn't try to make contact with any of the Hyuuga Clan, considering that the land was littered with blocking seals carved into the trees. Even if she tried, she couldn't make contact with anyone.
But there was something plaguing his mind. He knew that his senses were attuned, even if Orochimaru may not think so. Here she is, a hostage, used as a instrument to keep the Leaf Village from hunting him, and she was staying calm. He knew the Hyuuga were capable of some feats that could rival the Sith, but this was different. No one he had ever face with the powers of the Force could mask their inner emotions with their outer. That takes a lot of concentration. Even in his fight with her, he felt it. To which he asked to himself, "What are you truly hiding?"