Resurrection
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or anything related to Naruto in this story as it belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.
A/N: Whoa... sincere apologies for the long wait! Thanks massively to those of you who are continually giving me your generous support by reviewing, favouriting, following and reading my story!
I hope you enjoy! :D
Chapter Seven
Written by 10ShizukaYuukiMistress10
Danzo signalled for his two bodyguards to leave—one loyal Hyuuga and one rapt Aburame. He sat in the open courtyard of his underground organisation of Root Anbu. The courtyard air was stiff with residue and smelt of sweat. Many of his followers trained there in the early hours of the morning.
Now it was late in the afternoon.
Danzo stood up wearily.
He had already heard wind of the ludicrous rumours going around the village. The timid, weak Hyuuga girl was going out to kill Orochimaru.
"I know you're there." He said. He spoke to the other presence in the room almost welcomingly.
Had she come here to inform him of this dangerous path she had chosen? Not that he had ever spoken to the Hyuuga in her sixteen years of existence before.
Maybe she has come crawling to me to ask for help and advice in defeating the Snake Sanin. Yes, that must be it.
Danzo noticed the shadows behind his pillars shift. Out stepped a form.
Hinata crossed the courtyard and halted in front of Danzo. Balefully pressing her lips into a line, she bowed.
"Greetings, Danzo."
A deep breath.
"I was hoping you would let me borrow a Bingo Book. Since I'm neither Anbu nor Jonin, I am not authorised to possess one. But I hope you'll let me be an exception."
This Hyuuga was interesting. She had lengthy midnight-blue hair, a long and slender fringe, dark, thick lashes and almost piercing translucent eyes.
Hinata continued, a dangerous glint in her eyes. "Since you're so accustomed to violating the rules, Danzo."
"What do you really want?"
"The Bingo Book."
Danzo studied her profile carefully.
"So it seems."
He could feel his visible eye fill with mirth.
"You're treading on thin ice."
"I know." Hinata retorted, trying not to let her animosity control her speech.
Wavering for a split second, Danzo finally pondered her strange request.
"Yes, you may have it." He said finally. He turned and left the open courtyard. He made no signal for her to follow him.
Hinata waited.
Minutes later, Danzo emerged holding the Bingo Book in a hand outstretched towards her.
It seemed unreal that Danzo would actually give something up of his without some sort of personal gain on his part.
Hinata took it slowly.
Sifting fretfully through the pages of the hard book, she subconsciously found herself stopping on the page with the image of Sasuke Uchiha on it.
:: O :: BINGO BOOK :: O ::
Basic Information:
Name: Sasuke Uchiha
Age: 16
Criminal Rank: S-Class
Status: Active
Team: Haruno Sakura (Former), Uzumaki Naruto (Former), Hatake Kakashi (Former)
Alliances: Orochimaru, Suigestu, Karin, Juugo
Bloodline Limit: Mangekyo Sharingan
Criminal Biography: Defected the Hidden Leaf Village and became Orochimaru's apprentice in pursuit for power. Following this, Uchiha Sasuke attempted to kill his former teammates and comrades during close encounters. He is known to have currently murdered twenty-one male shinobi and twelve female kunoichi.
Deepening chills raced over Hinata's skin as she swiftly flicked to the next page like the previous one had bitten her. The information she had just read about Sasuke reminded her of something she had forgotten: he was a former criminal.
A criminal.
He still was, according to this book. Slowly, Hinata placed the Bingo Book into her backpack. As her hands went back to her sides, her fingers brushed against the coil of rope she had hooked against her hip.
Why hasn't Sasuke been removed from the Bingo Book yet? Strange… but I suppose Bingo Book criminals aren't meant to convert to the good side… they usually just perish as time goes on by unknown causes. Murder. Spiked drinks. Spiked food. Ambush. Assassination. Abduction. Seduction. The list goes on.
Sasuke had the blood of thirty-three people on his hands. Possibly more. That was what disturbed her most.
Well, very soon she would have the blood of the Snake Sanin on her own hands.
"You took away my team's memories."
It just came out. She didn't mean for it to. But it did.
Danzo calmly smiled. I thought you would never ask. "What makes you think that?"
"Two reliable sources confirmed for me that you took away my team's memories."
She was lying when she said they—meaning Jiraiya and Kakashi—were reliable but let Danzo think that she wasn't.
"You seemed to assume that I was in denial. I neither confirmed nor denied that I took your memories. Now what do you want to know?"
"Danzo, when someone like you gets defensive towards someone like me who is being offensive, it instantly spells out trouble. T-R-O-U-B-L-E." She snarled quietly. "You're now going to tell me why you did it. I want a good reason."
Taking away someone's memories is like stealing candy from a kid, now is it?
Both immoral and disgusting.
Danzo shook his head, amused. "Who would've thought that the rumours of a peaceful, meek Hyuuga heiress were all false? I admit, I don't know what exactly Jiraiya and Kakashi were trying to accomplish but—"
He didn't know after all!
"You don't seem to care," Hinata deadpanned slowly. "You just took away our memories without a proper reason and you didn't even care!"
Danzo considered this. He smiled wryly. "Would you like to know something? I heard you're going out to kill Orochimaru. I know it's just a whim. You're not really sure who killed Naruto—you can't possibly remember, can you?"
"Where is this going?" Hinata asked cautiously, taking a step backwards.
Danzo ignored her. "Who killed Naruto? You. You killed Naruto. Why do you think there was so much blood on you when you were found?"
"You—" Hinata started cursing.
Danzo eyed her in amusement. "Awful, isn't it? Finding out you killed your own comrade... the village hero..."
Hinata's eyes snapped towards him.
"You're assuming I believe that?"
Danzo's eyebrows furrowed. Of course she would…. Unless—
"—I know who it was that killed him!"
Before Danzo could react, Hinata punched him in the jaw and tied him to his chair. The coil of rope which had previously been against her hip was now securely wrapped all the way around Danzo Shimura and his chair. It was the only chair in the open courtyard, and it had been just a few inches behind him. He probably sat on it to oversee his trainees' sparring.
Not this time.
Disbelief was written all over Danzo's drained face. I did not anticipate that she would actually assault me!
"Are you scared or too shocked to be scared?" Hinata asked. She spoke to him like she was asking him for his order at a restaurant. It didn't feel good to be tormenting him but it did feel righteous in some bizarre way.
Danzo seemed to regain his composure.
"All I have to do is shout and a force of three dozen Root Anbu will be upon you."
"All you have to do is shout and show them how weak you have become. In no time, they will be in search for a stronger leader. Or someone will become that stronger leader." Hinata leaned in closer. "Stop trying to intimidate me: in case you haven't noticed, you're the one at a disadvantage."
Hinata gestured to him pitilessly tied to a chair.
Unsurprisingly, a smirk slowly rose on Danzo's face. "You are quite cold. Ruthless, in fact. I would not mind having an individual like you in my foundation. You could massively boost my assail squad."
"So you're trying to negotiate with me now?" Hinata said it flatly, slightly disgusted, hardly teasing.
She turned and walked away. She had other matters to deal with. She nearly reached the pillar where she could exit before stopping abruptly—
"—Poor mistaken girl. There is much you think you know but actually you don't know anything." Danzo chided calmly.
"This is just a front. Of course I don't know everything but it's necessary for me to act bold and confident. That's the only way I can get what I want now." Hinata didn't turn back to face him. She knew he was just toying with her. Yet Hinata pried. "What?"
"Oh no, I don't question your hard-core attitude. Or, at least, front of confidence. You're quite insecure about it, aren't you? Doubting that you can hold it up much longer—it's probably making you feel sick, being the kind-hearted person that you actually are. For me, cruelty comes naturally."
Hinata ignored this. She advanced back towards him and seemed to lean down closer to him. "What were you getting at earlier? About me not knowing anything?"
"Sarutobi Hiruzen, our deceased Third Hokage, was quite strategical. He had no idea when the invasion would be, but he could sense that it would be coming soon. So he set five days at the Death Forest. That would be enough time, wouldn't it? Five days. Hit or miss, the invasion would fall on one of those days, and you and the Uchiha would miss it. You would be safely hidden away in the Death Forest. The last place Orochimaru would expect to find you."
Hinata had regained some interest. "What are you inferring?"
Danzo sneered up at her from his chair. His visible eye was narrowed to a slit. "Didn't you suspect that it was extremely unusual behaviour for Iwagakure to be so lenient if they really thought your team were Alia's murderers? You specifically?"
It did seem awfully strange that Iwagakure were so willing to accept our actions and only ask of only one favour…
"…. Just sending out a replacement for a couple of days would be enough payment?"
Hinata felt sick to the stomach and her head pounded like someone was whacking it with a sledgehammer.
"The Third Hokage wanted to protect me?" Hinata whispered, reeling back a few steps. "So he lied to me? About the whole thing with the Alia replacement mission and Iwagakure thinking my team, I mean, I myself killed Alia? It was all to… protect me….? ... And Sasuke?"
Then it dawned on Hinata. The small doubts she'd had about the mission were all clear now.
There was no mission.
"Of course it backfired. I kind of made sure of that. I sent a Root member to alert you and the Uchiha at the Death Forest that the Hidden Leaf Village was under attack. I knew you would come."
Danzo's eyes flashed cynically.
"Why?" Hinata said simply, staring at the ground. "Why did he do it? Why did he want to protect us?"
Danzo sighed. He seemed to finally sag under the weight of his bindings.
"The fool was too compassionate. He knew you, Hinata, would act upon your emotions and try to attack Orochimaru—if you ever came to realising he was Naruto's killer—because he suspected your undivided admiration of the deceased boy, like all the rumours suggested, and worried that you would act upon these shattered emotions."
His words hit her like punches. The Hokage knew she'd had feelings for Naruto and had automatically predicted she would act upon these emotions, try to challenge Orochimaru and get killed by him in the process. Like a stupid, delirious, deluded girl.
—Well maybe she was.
Look at her now. She was about to set out to gain vengeance on Orochimaru.
Hinata straightened her back and glared quietly.
"Let me straighten out a few things, Danzo: the rumours you're always listening to are a bag of lies, you spit out the word "emotion" like is unnecessary when it is a necessity and, finally, if you continue to condemningly ridicule The Third's actions, sitting tied to a chair will seem like a luxury if I have anything to do about it."
Danzo continued, completely unfazed. Deaf to her threats. Hinata would have to give him credit for that. "As for the Uchiha, Sasuke, I believe his name is. Sarutobi knew that Orochimaru might attempt to take Sasuke back with him when the attack was over. That, I can understand. But why bother with a foolish girl acting on her emotions? Better she got killed off than soiling your village with unable shinobi."
Low jab, Danzo. However, Hinata was far from concerned. After all…
"I'm not the one tied to a chair."
Danzo grit his teeth. He finally snapped. "I will send my men to kill you—"
Hinata raised a hand and he silenced. "See you." Hinata said.
Ten minutes later, two Root Anbu—the loyal Hyuuga and the rapt Aburame—returned to the courtyard to find Danzo tied to a chair.
They exchanged uneasy glances. "Are we hallucinating?
Danzo bristled. "Don't just stand there! Untie me!"
When Hinata finally navigated her way out of the subterranean courtyard, she rubbed her eyes furiously. It had taken hours—the entire morning and some of the afternoon—to locate Danzo's secret underground lair. An underground courtyard underneath Training Field Eighteen.
A headache assaulted her head. Danzo made a lovely conversational partner. Hinata got what she had wanted in the end. The Bingo Book. And even more: she punished Danzo and the scoundrel got what he deserved.
Sasuke suddenly fell into step beside her. He didn't bother to explain why he had been following her or how he had managed to spy on her and Danzo's conversation.
"You're frightening." Sasuke stated. He stared straight ahead of them.
Hinata, noticing Sasuke's serious expression, laughed humourlessly. "The quiet ones are the deadliest. You should already know that."
After her laughter died, Hinata became serious. "What do you really want?"
Sasuke ignored her. "I was able to spy on you with a sand eye."
Hinata quirked an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
Sasuke outstretched his palm. There, in the centre of his palm was a human eye, flakes of sand occasionally slipping off of it.
Hinata suppressed the urge to continue staring at it and averted her gaze.
"You know what this means, don't you?" Sasuke questioned, looking at her closely.
"Yes." Hinata answered. "Gaara's back."
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A/N: Seeing as this is an Alternate Universe, there will be things about Gaara which you thought you knew that will be tested, up next!
Ja ne!~~~
