A/N

Sorry for the late update, got caught up with Rock Lee no Seishun Full-Power Ninden anime. Never knew Neji could be so funny. hahaha. And I missed him in the main series. Nejiko, Nejimi, Nejio! haha

sweetgirl929- thanks for following :)

mrstoy - as always, thanks ! :D and good to hear you're baby's fine, and hopefully the cough has now subsided. xoxo for your family :D

ilovekoga - yep, i personally felt it wasn't exciting, but i gotta put some history there so there can be some clarity :D And i did get some sleep, thanks always for your reviews and concern :)

sailorangelmoon1- It is , indeed , thus the rating is M because... uh, it'll have some violence and gore, some sexual references.. and the "L"s... hehe. Thanks for reviewing ! :)

Two chapters will be uploaded today... I do hope you'll enjoy them :)

here goes chapter 6.. r & r please. :)


Chapter 7

"Holy shit, she's legit as tit!"

His outburst has gained another opportunity for his sister to whack his muddled head.

"Fuck! What the hell was that for, Tem?" He absentmindedly rubbed his sore head. Temari only rolled her eyes. He swept his eyes to an annoyed Gaara, a shocked Tenzou and finally landed to Hinata who blinked twice.

"That's no way to welcome our guests, stupid! And shut your trap if you can't even be polite for once!" Seriously! He wondered if Temari was just hiding her surprise over the fact that the Hyuuga was alive, or had he really been that slow and hungry to put two and two together. They of course knew of her "death" after the Chuunin Exams.

"I was just surprised, geez, sis!" He scratched his head. He'll never understand women, but seeing that she's the only steady feminine presence in his life who sorta became his mother/sister/best friend/glue to their dysfunctional family, he's just gonna have to suck it up and heed Baki-sensei's unsolicited man-to-man talk /advice: there's no point in trying to win an argument with a sexually frustrated woman. Not that he's encouraging his sister to surrender her carnal treasure (no fucking way, not in her age now, man), but hey, her harboring an unrequited not-so-secret affection for years for a certain shinobi was just too frustrating to look at and unfortunately he and his brother has to see it remain, well, unrecognized.

Which reminds him of the kunoichi in front of him. She used to like the fox boy, right?

Before he could ask her regarding Naruto, Gaara stepped in the conversation.

"So my deductions were correct, it is really you, Hyuuga-san." "We've heard you were killed, but from what we ride from your file, it can only be you. But it is still shocking to see you in the flesh." They had both figured out from the file? He shrugged his shoulder. As expected from Gaara and Temari. Guess he was the odd one out. Suddenly his traitorous stomach growled. Urgh.

Temari smirked. Tsch. Happy now, sis? "Gaara, we are all famished. We might as well continue this conversation over dinner, and possibly after that?" She looked at all four people. They all nodded.

"Very well. I'll lead you to your rooms. Please do come at this floor's dining room 30 minutes from now, it's where we dine once all the maids are out. Come follow me." His sister stood up and made a beeline to the door, the two Konoha shinobis bowed to the Kazekage before following Temari.

"Time for some grub, Gaara. Might as well grab the chance to bathe, and meet them again in 30 minutes." He stuffed his hands to his pockets and headed to the door, expecting Gaara to follow. No matter how busy their lifestyle is, all three siblings always made it a point to meet during meals, no matter how short the mealtime will be.

When Gaara did not follow and only remained in his chair, Kankuro paused and looked at his brother. What is he thinking now? "What's wrong, bro?" No response. He cocked his left eyebrow. "Ah, Gaara?" he asked in a louder voice. This time the young leader heard him, who only nodded. "Nothing. See you."

And with that they both exited the Kazekage office, one troubled by today's happenings, the other too hungry to think and notice his younger brother's contemplation.


Dinner with the two ANBUs was polite. Greetings here and there, small talk about the Kages, yada, yada, yada. Too serious for my liking, Kankuro thought. He hoped that the conversation would get lighter once they begin the after-dinner talk, whatever the hell that means. It doesn't concern him directly, and he's happily contented on being both Temari and Gaara's shadows. But being the middle child, you sometimes gotta go and support your younger brother for his politics and follow your sister's commands (yes, that's how direct she is – pleas and requests aren't in Temari's books) because you don't want another earful of reprimands for being a bad host. Kami-sama must have hated him so much from his previous life for making him suffer this Middle Child Syndrome shit, or whatever this is.

He only noticed that everyone was done eating when he heard Temari cleaning the table and Gaara putting the dishes to the sink. Yamato and Hinata offered to help, but Temari refused. It is indeed highly improper for them to let their guests get worked up over dirty plates. He made his way to the sink and started to clean out the dishes. No other people are in the tower from 8 pm onwards, except them and some guards. No matter how public their life is, no one wants to get suffocated 24/7, and thank Kami Baki-sensei made it a rule that no maids or workers are allowed inside when 8 pm comes. Kankuro sees it as a blessing, mainly because he doesn't want other people to know about some of his, uh, very-private room activities.

"Hinata-chan, why don't you go ahead upstairs and make your reports for the Hokage. I'm pretty sure you have quite the narrative report to make". Now he really is sure that this Yamato guy is nice, if it were him in his place, he would never be that polite to dismiss someone. His lines would have been "I really have something I wanna say to my brother, and you might as well go on and get lost." Blunt and straightforward, no point in doing the wishy-washy. But this is the Hyuuga heiress – no, scratch that – ex-Hyuuga heiress they're talking about, so it wouldn't hurt to show the girl some manners, right?

The girl nodded her head. She got the message, and slowly made her way out of the kitchen and into her room.

Yamato waited for a few moments, and looked at the three siblings. They also stared at him, waiting for him to continue their conversation. Temari was relaxed, she's always been good with diplomatic situations. But Gaara was different, and might he say, agitated and confused? Granted that his demeanor wasn't the nicest (that is already a given), but what the hell was he confused about, the Hokage already sent him a letter regarding the Hyuuga.

Yamato took out three scrolls out of his Jounin jacket, and gave it one to each of them. "The Hokage would like you all to read the scrolls before I give out other information. She wants to hear your outlook with what's inside the scroll first before we proceed with the arrangements.

The three read the scrolls in silence. ANBU Proclamation No. 718. Kankuro read the content marked confidential. He read it. Then he reread it. And to make sure he's not mistaken but what his eyes witness, read it again. Konoha. ANBU. FUCK Section. Wh-what?

Hinata? Was she one of them?

His eyes grew wide on the second part of the scroll. It was a letter mainly addressed to Gaara, but Tsunade-sama explained that she would want his siblings to know that she is requesting that her shinobi (now they knew as Hinata) render her ANBU and other skills to Suna now that Chiyo-sama is dead. He hasn't had enough time to react to the fact that once-shy-and-dead-heiress-now-batshit-deadly-and-secretly-alive-ANBU Hinata Hyuuga being a "tapper" or a "sleeper" or any other mumbo-jumbo they call the members of that section. And now he just discovered that the Hokage wanted that she work for this village's ANBU? If she's going to be in the ranks, she obviously needed a partner. She already has Yamato and the Dog. Why can't she go back to Konoha if she's that much of an asset to them?

"Is this true?" Temari's breathy voice snapped his inner turmoil back to the serious-faced Yamato. He empathized with his sister. This information is just too much.

Yamato nodded. "Yes. And the Hokage wants to know if you three will grant her request."

The androgenous part of him said yes, it would be nice to have some new female presence in Suna, not to mention that her work involved fucking and sleeping around, and maybe, just maybe, he can have some taste with that? Haha.

He shook his head. No. He can't be thinking of that. It would only prove his sister's s correct, that, one, he fucks everyone within his age group who has a vagina and isn't related to him; and two, that he perfected the term "Man Whore" to a T.

Enough with inner mind sexual debate, he chastised himself. Get back to the topic, jerk.

If he voiced out and said No, who knows what that crazy Hokage may think about Suna and their alliance? This could be another means to strengthen Suna and Konoha's alliance. Hinata would be a fine addition to the shinobi ranks. Her sexual activities aside, the girl can really fight.

Not to forget the fact that she was also Chiyo-sama's pupil, Suna's best Medical-Nin before her and her brother succumbed to being hermits. And currently their medical personnel needed the help they can get. Getting caught in another attack from any S-rank criminals who use poisons to their opponents like adding sugar to their coffee is no laughing joke. It nearly took his life. Suna needs to improve its medical facilities, programs and most importantly their greenhouses and pharmacy.

He looked at his brother who was waiting for his and Temari's answers. Both he and Temari nodded to Gaara's direction.

"Please tell the Hokage that Hyuuga-san is welcome to serve Suna. And please tell her that I have assigned my brother as her partner. Kankuro has been an ANBU shinobi two weeks before the attack happened. He may not look like it but he's talented. And as for Hyuuga-san's … field of specialty, it is not for us to judge her character based on what she is ordered to do. Your village's secret is safe with us." Kankuro wished he could decline, but that was a command from Gaara the Kazekage, not Gaara the brother, so he did not speak. Yamato was clearly pleased with his answer. "Arigatou, Kazekage-sama, Temari-san, Kankuro-san. I will tell the Hokage about your decision once I get back to the village."

"Having heard your answer to the Hokage's question, she also specified that it is part of my mission to brief you about Hinata-chan's history that was purposely left out in here profile. I can clear out some things that happened to her after the Chuunin exams. I am now ready to answer your questions."

This is their chance to answer any of their questions. Bring it on.

"Why stay here in Suna? Why can't she come back to Konoha?" Temari blurted out. Spot on, sis.

"Remember her characteristic markings reflected in her profile?" Temari and Kankuro nodded, Gaara only continued staring. "The most important ones are those of her forehead and the one on her tongue. Her forehead, Chiyo-sama later reported, was not only burned to deform her. A cursed seal was placed in her skull before her forehead was burned, and there is a strong chance that Danzo did it. A few months when Hinata-chan was taken by Chiyo-sama, she took her to one of her journeys. Their journey needed them to cross Konoha, and once they got 5 miles South of Konoha and its gates, Hinata-chan fell to the ground and shrieked in pain while grabbing her forehead. A few minutes later she fell unconscious, mainly due to the intense ache. Chiyo-sama took her away from their usual route. 8 miles away from Konoha and 30 minutes later Hinata-chan was conscious again. Chiyo-sama concluded that she can't come near 5 miles from any direction of Konoha."

"The hell! That Danzo's one sick bastard! He already tortured her while she was inside, and now she can't come back to Konoha." Temari's outburst was not met with Kankuro's usual retorts. He too thought of the elder as such. Torture was enough, cursing the girl and keeping her away from her home was just too much.

"That's just the tip of the iceberg and the start of her hell. Danzo's one paranoid jerk, too. Aside from the cursed seal on her forehead, there's also another one on her tongue. When she was 14, me and her other partner would ask her what happened. Try as she might, she can't verbalize them. She only gets frustrated and cried because she can't speak of her unfortunate situation. She has no choice but to keep it her secret, but Kakashi-senpai and I think that it was just a continuation of her torture."

"Son of a bitch." Now it was Gaara who spoke. Yamato was slightly shocked of the Kazekage's cursing, but refrained from speaking. "He's too careful to let things slip, isn't he? And there isn't much evidence and paper trail to prove it was his doing."

"Hai, Kazekage-sama. He's too slick. And of course we don't want him to go and hunt Hinata-chan again. Whatever went down in there, only Hinata-chan, Danzo and his minions knew. I'm just thankful it was Chiyo-sama who saw her."

"You said something about Kakashi." Kankuro followed up.

"Yes. In her file, her partners are Dog and Cat. I am Cat. Kakashi is Dog."

"We didn't know Kakashi was still active in ANBU." Gaara voiced what all three siblings were thinking.

Yamato tightened his lips. "Hinata-chan, well… (sigh) As much as it pains me to tell her story, it is very depressing, but I might as well start from when she lived with Chiyo-sama and Ebizo-sama." He placed his hands on the tabled and intertwined them.

"When Hinata-chan woke up 3 days in Suna, she was a mess. The nightmares. The shouts. The paranoia and the detachment. The debriefing done by the Honored Siblings was one of the most painful and tiresome they've done, as what Chiyo-sama reflected in her reports. She would have endless nights of panic attacks, her nightmares she would not speak off. She would only cry and hug herself, rock her knees and keep muttering "I'm sorry" or "I promise" or "I will protect you". She bathed twice a day, one hour early morning and one hour before she goes to bed, because, and I'm quoting Chiyo-sama here, she "needs to wash away so much blood". She can't be left alone in a room because she would scratch herself, because she thought she hadn't scrubbed herself enough and that she could still smell the blood in her body. She slept beside Lady Chiyo, because she's afraid of Ebizo-sama. She thought she was another man and would only freak out whenever he got a few meters away from him. She would not allow him to touch her, much less speak to her because she, and I quote, "doesn't want to be hurt again. All you men did was hurt me"."

Yamato paused. He saw Temari's reaction. Her hands were shakily touching her mouth, her eyes brimmed with tears. Kankuro has never seen Temari cry, much less get emotional over someone else's misfortune. Not another hormonal moment. He approached Temari and placed his shoulders on hers. She looked him in the eyes, and glanced to their younger brother.

His brother sat like a stone. Of course, they could all remember what hellish childhood they went through with their good-for-nothing Father. Hearing Yamato's confession about what Hyuuga Hinata had to suffer to survive, of her fear of getting hurt again, they could all relate to it, especially Gaara. Like one sick deja-vu.

"You may continue, Yamato-san." Temari held her voice and held her hands to both Kankuro and Gaara.

"Debriefing continued, medical and psychological check-ups were done to her by the siblings. She's detached when she's not manic, paranoid, anxious and fearful. It was painstakingly hard to deal with her, but fortunately they did not find her a lost case. Chiyo-sama continued to sleep beside her, cater to her needs and even allowed Hinata-chan to watch her do her medical stuff. She grew a certain attachment to the old lady and vice versa. That opened to opportunities for Chiyo-sama to know her, and later coaxed her brother to do the same. It really took some time, but she got along Ebizo-sama in the end."

"Unfortunately, the poison truly affected her body; the poison had taken effect before the antidote was administered. The antidote relieved her of the poison, but the effects it made to her body cannot be undone."

"What are you talking about?"

"It changed her chakra system. It even changed her chakra signature. Kakashi once said that Hinata-chan's chakra before and after her demise was different, it's almost like looking at two persons. Her current chakra system is darker and troubled. Gone was her calm chakra signature. It brought out some positive things anyway, after we had trainings. She can effortlessly totally mask her chakra signature – if by chance you're a sensory nin and you walk pass her, you would only think of her as a civilian. Perfect for her ANBU missions. She can hide her smell when she wants to, only Pakkun and the rest of Kakashi's pack of ninken can really smell her. She makes her own body and hair products, and there really is no scent, trust me. Still, the cons outweigh the pros." He stopped to take a deep breath.

"What else has that poison fucked up?"

Yamato met Kankuro's confused face. "Nosocomephobia, or the fear of hospitals – though I think it was because she was captured while she was having a check-up. A medic nin whose afraid of hospitals. Tsk. Maybe the same way that Tsunade-sama used to fear blood." He scratched his chin, deep in thought. "She has hypohydrosis, the inability to properly sweat, hence the use of spandex clothes permanently infused with water element and chakra to keep her from having heat strokes and passing out. It was designed by Chiyo-sama, and her Jounin jacket was treated the same way." He cleared his throat. "And lastly, her egg cells in her ovaries have greatly declined, and she has stopped having her period ever since."

"You mean to say…." Temari didn't want to continue saying what she was thinking about.

Yamato only nodded. "In the past it has dampened her to the point of depression. She thought she was a failure. Kakashi and I never wanted to discuss that ever again."

What the hell are they talking about? This some sort another telepathic talk show again?

"I think I would feel the same if I were in her shoes… You and Kakashi have been very supportive of her." It wasn't a question.

Yamato gave his best smile. "The three of us do have a weird partnership. We've all been teamed up since she was 13 and I'm happy that we have come a long way."

They all fell silent after that, caught in their own thoughts.

Kankuro coughed, getting the attention of one currently mute Gaara and his two depressed companions. Time to break this shitty flow of conversation.

"I'm really sorry to burst your bubble, Tem, but I don't want to continue hearing these depressing mushy talks and hear you singing those God awful mellow songs in the middle of the night. Keep those things in your sleepovers, Tem, no guy wants to hear you bawl over your sexual frustrations and unrequited love, you closet pervert! And certainly Yamato-san here doesn't want you to drown him into misery because of your Talk-no-Jutsu about Nara Shikamaru's emotional range equating to negative fifty. Seriously, you might as well run around stark naked and I bet both of my nuts that he's still gonna be too lazy to open his eyes and he'll only continue he's shitty dream to la-la land."

Kankuro badmouthing Nara Shikamaru always riled up Temari. She'll be hitting him with the paper fan anytime. And he rather see her angry and he would gladly accept her hits than see her crying or depressed.

"Temari-san, you like Shikamaru?" Yamato's eyes turned wide and Temari furiously blushed. She turned her direction to Kankuro and whacked him with gusto.

"You fucking sicko, why did you have to reveal that?!" Temari was shouting now.

"She doesn't just like him, Yamato-san, she's been infatuating, idolizing and fantasizing and loving him for what? Five years? Seriously, if I were in her case I'd stop hoping the guy has hots for me when clearly the feeling is not mutual." He crossed his hand on his chest and sneered at his sister.

"Oh, and how does that make you any different, you buffoon! I've practically heard you in your sleep muttering Sari-chan's name and moaning her name when you jerk-off for the past 6 years! And don't you dare deny it, I've seen a photo album in your boxer's compartment titled "My Private Movie" which contained almost a hundred or so candid shots of Sari-chan. That's borderline stalker and creepy, you bastard!" Kankuro virtually paled, his sister laughing her ass of her triumph and his downfall. How the hell does she know all that? Damn it! Temari and her underhanded tactics! "And the next time you try to talk about Shikamaru like that, I'm gonna go troll all over you, pull out your private movie ,which mcoincidentally is locked safely somewhere in my room, and mail that pretty little thing to Sari-chan!".

"Don't you dare threaten me, Temari or I'll –"

"Kankuro!"

Or else you'll what you, per-

"Temari!"

Both siblings swiveled their heads to look at a furious Gaara.

"You've been shouting all this time, you're going to wake up everyone in Suna if you keep talking like that."

"Ano, is everything all right?"

Yamato, Temari and Kankuro's gaze turned to the owner of the soft voice. Gaara knew who the owner was, so he slowly closed his eyes, turned around and opened them.

Hinata was wearing an oversized white shirt, and silk pajamas. The pajamas were printed with strawberry ice creams. Her long hair was untied and damp, her bangs and mask stuck to her forehead.

A particular statement once made by Shukaku during the Chuunin Exams shook his memory again.

Damn, kit. That little Hyuuga princess sure has some sweet smelling blood. Wouldn't you want to try to taste her blood, kit? Nah! Haha! She's out of bounds for our bloodlust, we don't want to destroy someone as precious as that, don't you think so? I dig for her beauty, kit, we've got ourselves a looker here. She may be weak, but she's one hell of a cutie pie.

And Gaara couldn't agree more.


Chapter 7 coming right up!