A/N: Heeeeey guys! =^w^= What's up? Thank you all so much for all those reviews! We've prepared an extra long chapter for you in gratitude, hopefully yall love it!


Chapter 7. Open Your Eyes

As the density of the forest ahead of them began to decrease, Sasuke slowed down, shortly switching to mere jogging. He didn't feel quite exhausted despite being almost out of chakra - physically he had barely moved last night as the whole fight had escalated pretty quickly. And although he couldn't say that he was exactly full of energy, the ninja still had enough to move around freely. If they encountered an enemy on their way, that would be a different story, though.

Fortunately, there was nobody, at least for now. Hinata was still resting unconscious on his back, so he couldn't really use her Byakugan to check where exactly he was heading to. As far as could calculate by looking at the stars, they were approaching Mountains' Graveyard, the hideout of Akatsuki he'd briefly visited before thanks to Madara. Was it wise to go directly there in his current state? Probably not quite; however, he had taken his time to think on the best way to hide from the masked man, and he realized that it was worth to take his chances with this wild card.

The reason for that was the fact that Madara was most likely pretty busy right now. With Sasuke's Amaterasu having killed Kisame (and the teen was sure the nukenin was dead), as well as released the tailed beast, it would take him some time to take care of things back at the destroyed camp. As far as Sasuke was concerned, his ancestor had no way to extinguish such an amount of black flames any quickly, if he even could do it at all.

That's why even if someone else was there in the hideout, he reckoned he could talk himself out of it… somehow. After all, Madara had brought him there before, and whoever else could be residing within should be aware of it. And if they would turn incredibly lucky and nobody would be there at all… Perhaps it would give them some opportunities he didn't even dare to think about for now.

Sasuke stopped, feeling the slight movement on his back and turning his head a bit. A subdued groan reached his ear, and Hinata's hands clasped on his chest.

"Are you awake now?" he asked neutrally, feeling as the girl froze, this time being quite tensed up. Clearly, she was indeed.

"W-What-what is g-going on...?" She raised his head, staring at the wild hair on his nape dumbly.

"Kisame is dead. You got caught in the fire and I… saved you." It was almost uncomfortable to say something like that. But at the same time, it was relieving, though he would never admit it aloud, of course.

"T-The fire…? Oh… b-but… What about the rest of-of the team?" she babbled.

"I don't know," he replied honestly. "Kakashi helped them get away, I presume. The two of us didn't make it in time to get in his jutsu."

"I see…," she replied sadly. "Um… could you please let me go?"

"Just jump off." He almost shrugged. Did she really need to ask for his permission?

The girl dismounted, carefully stepping on the ground. They continued to move onward, this time by just walking. Not only because - unknown to Sasuke since he never bothered to look at her - Hinata was barely able to keep up. The girl was limping and panting heavily behind him as her leg had been horribly burned and, from what she could see with her dōjutsu, the right ankle was cracked. The Uchiha himself tried to stay as vigilant as possible, not making a single noise. He realized that somebody must have spotted them back at the camp earlier this night and reported it to Akatsuki, which caused Kisame's ambush in the end. That's why they could very well be watched right now as well.

"Agh!" Hinata yelped and tripped, falling on her knees and wincing in pain.

Sasuke stopped, finally turning around to look at her with uncovered irritation.

"You need to stay quiet. The enemy is most likely lurking around."

"I-I'm sorry…," she almost sobbed, making the teen frown. Seeing her in such a pitiful state, he wondered what was this little princess even doing among kunoichi. If she was this delicate and fragile, her place was among civilians. Did she even want to be a ninja?

It makes sense that she's a part of the tracking squad. Don't think she's capable of doing anything else, he thought without any malice, realizing that it probably wasn't her fault. They likely assume she's powerful just because she's a daughter of Hiashi… Ignorant fools. All of a sudden, he found himself being able to relate to this - being a child shouldering high expectations of the clan and the parents. And failing these expectations too...

He looked away, gritting his teeth at the unwanted memory that made something inside of him shrink as he refused to watch his equally unwanted teammate struggle desperately in front of him, attempting to stand up and falling back every time.

Sasuke closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. At any rate, the commanders in Konoha had never been very bright, so it wasn't surprising at all that they had assigned someone like her for a mission this dangerous.

"Get up," he ordered and came close to her, reaching out his hand.

The girl raised her head, quickly wiping her tears and looking at his palm a bit perplexedly as if she'd have never expected him to make a friendly gesture like this. Even though it could barely be called friendly, of course. She knew that he was doing it out of necessity, not because he really wanted to help. Still, she slowly raised her own shaky hand. As soon as their fingers got in touch, he grabbed her roughly and pulled the kunoichi upwards, making her gasp in pain once more.

"What's wrong?" he asked quietly, looking in her white irises darkly.

"M-My leg… it's…"

The ninja lowered his eyes, instantly noticing that her limb was severely damaged.

He sighed again. Leaving her here was not an option, of course - not only because of the moral side of the matter, but it would also be absolutely moronic given that he'd already decided to save her, and the current situation had been caused by that very decision.

That's why he quickly took his sword off his waist, handing it to her.

"Use it as a walking stick. Can you?"

She blinked and bit her lip unsurely, slowly taking the weapon into her hands and then attempting to lean on it, making a step. Then another. And another.

"Y-Yes, I think I can…," she finally stuttered.

"Hn." He turned away, continuing to walk in the direction of the graveyard. He was feeling a bit torn. This girl was clearly a burden to him, but a burden he had willingly accepted. He wasn't sure if he should he be angry, or if this was something he'd had coming with such attitude.

"There it is," he murmured a few minutes later as they finally went out of the forest and approached the cliff.

He looked down, scanning the familiar area with his eyes. His Sharingan was still deactivated for obvious reasons, but his eyesight was sharp enough even without it. Sasuke could see that the place looked almost completely abandoned, no signs of any presence notable.

"Can you see anybody inside?" he asked quietly.

The girl quickly looked across the area with her own dōjustu, including the complicated net of catacombs that went deep underground.

"N-No… I don't see anybody. There-there is something odd, though," she said, sounding and looking a bit lost and frightened.

"What is it?"

The girl pursed her lips and frowned.

"There are many weird-looking p-plants… I can see that-that they possess chakra. It is not strong, b-but… There are so many of them…"

"Hmpf. Plants? You must be kidding me, Hyūga." He almost rolled his eyes and came close to the edge, belatedly realizing that she most likely wouldn't be able to jump down.

"Get back on me," he ordered, turning around and looking at her impassively.

The girl blushed, taking a step away from him.

"Uh… e-excuse m-me…?"

"Get on my back. We need to go down fast; how are you planning to do this alone?"

"I-I'll manage it somehow," she replied stubbornly, gripping his sword more tightly than before.

The ninja nearly roared in frustration. He was beginning to think that the sole purpose of this girl's existence was to represent everything that could annoy him…

"Fine. Stay here and wait for Akatsuki to come and take your empty head, I don't care." He turned back abruptly, looking down and preparing to jump.

"M-My head is not empty, Uchiha-san!" she exclaimed suddenly, limping towards him and stopping right next to the Uchiha a couple of seconds later.

"...What is this?" he deadpanned, staring at the thin thread she was holding in her hands.

"A rope," she replied simply and smiled without looking at him, carefully sitting down on the edge of the cliff. "I-I can take care of myself, Uchiha-san. I am a kunoichi."

"Hn. Whatever." He turned away and jumped down, landing on the smooth ancient ground moments later.

Hinata Hyūga… She was most likely just testing his patience on purpose, she had to be. Otherwise, he just couldn't explain why she was so unnerving. Did she really believe that she was a capable kunoichi? Did she honestly think that she knew what it was even like to be a ninja? Had she ever faced an opponent stronger than her cousin…?

Sasuke shook his head. Maybe he should've left her back there to die in the fire after all...

-=OwO=-

At the same time in Konoha, a pair of ninjas were infiltrating the ANBU Root hidden chambers. It was night outside so the regular citizens were already asleep, however, the inside guards remained vigilant. Before making a step forward, Neji scanned the territory every time to make sure there was no one to see them, or at least if they could take care of those in their way.

Having passed the first layer of Root's headquarters, the team didn't meet that many guards for some reason. They were all in all successful in avoiding everybody. As they progressed further, they ended up in a long dark corridor. At the end of it, they could see a small glimmer of light - most likely it was the next big chamber. Neji motioned Ino to stop, as he started to scan the place ahead with his dōjutsu. At this point, they'd already got rid of the silly disguise they'd had to put on earlier. Now they were both wearing black clothing, wrapped in grey cloaks with hoods over their heads. Their faces were also covered by the standard ANBU masks, so the coverage was pretty decent - or so they thought.

The Hyūga checked their surroundings once more, and it appeared that nobody was close to them. There were a few people in the next big room, though. The place appeared to be a huge open hall with multiple paths leading to the centre of it. The rooms on each side of the corridor they were about to pass were also partially filled with Root members. Some of them were studying, some of them were training, and the rest - sleeping. It wasn't any surprising that not a single one of them was doing anything for their own entertainment.

"Be prepared to fight from now on. Although we should proceed with extreme caution, I think the next chamber might be something important. So they'll probably have some kind of hidden security," whispered Neji without turning to face his partner. The kunoichi was covering his back, looking in the opposite way. She didn't reply, just tapped the jōnin twice on his shoulder to signal him that she understood.

Neji nodded to himself, gulping nervously.

It's good that we decided to go as a two-man team initially. Anything more than that would probably get us too much attention, the teen thought, looking around for the hundredth time. Hopefully, he managed to get here in time as well. Our movements will depend on him covering us from the distance...

The boy tapped Ino on her hand, and the pair started to move soundlessly further into the corridor. They passed of few rooms quickly and quietly, reaching the fifth room on the right side that was currently empty. They lingered there, as Neji tried to open the lock on it. Having done so successfully, the pair entered the room and then closed the door. This was one appeared to be a study room used by Root recruits. Neji thought they might check things out there, as something useful might come up. Since they couldn't light up any torches, or turn on the lights, the whole thing was mostly done by the Hyūga who carefully looked over all the documents and books available in the room. Unfortunately, not much was found of use, as most of the material was made strictly for study purposes. However, there were a few interesting notes scribbled by the recruits themselves. One of them read:

'Danzō-sama assigned yet another platoon to the former Uchiha compound territory. It seems he's taken a great interest in the sole survivor after Itachi's death. Must research ways to counter, and neutralize Sharingan techniques.'

Neji scratched his chin. Interesting. I guess Sasuke had his reasons to target Danzō after all, thought the teen, making a quick copy of the note as the evidence. There were a few more scribbled on the pages of various books:

'Takeshi-san disappeared tonight. He's the fifth one this month since that training program started. Seniors told us that all the people went into a deep cover for the sake of Konoha. If that's the case, why were their rooms and belongings completely destroyed?'

Neji narrowed his eyes, looking at the book. Something really sinister was happening in the ANBU Root, something even the Hokage most likely didn't know about. He put the book away, but before that he noticed a list of names on the other page of it, stopping on it for a moment.

Success: Aburame, Hyūga, Inuzuka... Yamanaka? What the hell is this supposed to mean? He's gone through the names of prominent Konoha clans. Could it be that some of the members of these clans were also parts of ANBU Root as well? He thought about it for a second, trying to remember if anyone from the Hyūga was permitted by Hiashi-sama for this line of work, but couldn't think of anyone. If there was such a person, logically it had to be somebody from the Main House; someone as smart and experienced as Danzō would never take the risk of recruiting a Branch House member since each of them was branded with the cursed seal. However, seeing all this, Neji couldn't be sure that some Hyūga members weren't taken either by persuasion or force.

He frowned, turning to face Ino who was standing on-guard by the door. The girl motioned him to stop as soon as she detected some movement inside of the dark chamber. Neji's silhouette slowly walked up to her and stopped behind the girl. The teen then activated Byakugan, scanning the corridor once again. It appeared that some of the Root shinobi left their rooms, and headed towards the open hall on the other end of the passage. The pair waited for them to disappear, and as Neji gave her another pat on the shoulder, the kunoichi slowly and quietly opened the door.

They passed by a few rooms that were still occupied, being extra careful not to make a single sound. They dashed from one shadow to another, whether by floor or ceiling. As they almost reached the end of the corridor, the pair stopped once again. The door that led to one of the rooms was slightly opened. Neji quickly checked it out; it seemed that only one person was inside, busy studying some kind of a book. The jōnin tried to touch the door to check if it would make any sound. Fortunately for them, the hinges were oiled well enough as the teen slowly opened it a bit, just enough for him to squeeze inside. Thankfully, the only light source was a candle that was lit on the table the young Root shinobi was sitting by.

The Hyūga quietly crept up to the unsuspecting student, and hit him on the head, catching the unconscious body. Ino entered the room shortly after, closing the door behind her. Neji put the body roughly under the table and started searching the room for anything useful. Once again this was a study room with lots of books, scrolls and documents. This time Ino also was inspecting them, having taken the candle.

Neji deactivated his Byakugan to catch some rest from using it and started going through the books that the unconscious Root ninja had gathered. Most of it was just manuals and guides, as well as theory books on all kinds of techniques. What caught his eye, however, was that most of these operatives were focused on countering genjutsu-type techniques, especially Sharingan-based ones. It seemed that the Root was actively preparing for some kind of confrontation with a Sharingan user. But why?

More of this, huh. These guys seem to be obsessed with the Uchiha clan. I think I fully understand Sasuke's concern now, Neji thought. This time no scribbled notes were found, so the teen just put all the books back in their places. He glanced at Ino, who just nodded back stating that she was ready to go. She put out the candle, and the pair quickly left the room, closing the door behind them.

From what Neji could see with Byakugan, they were almost at the central hall. As they were leaving the final corridor, the two of them realized it was pointless to hide as the colossal place was lit well enough. It looked like a series of bridges connecting different parts of the headquarters together. On the walls, there were massive pipes stretching from below and above, seemingly endless. The hall was empty at the moment, and as the Hyūga checked the area thoroughly, he couldn't find anyone. The pair lingered for a moment, trying to see if there were any traps set for unwelcome guests but after a few minutes they decided that it was safe started moving further. They weren't running, nor were they trying to crouch; just walking forward, quickly coming up to the middle of the bridge.

Although the space around them was lit and everything could be seen quite easily, it still retained some manner of darkness. However, this didn't help Ino and Neji at all. They realized they were out there in the open and that anybody could easily notice them right now. They quickly reached the end of the bridge and switched the route, this one leading to another set of corridors and rooms. The Hyūga quickly checked which direction would be preferable, and decided to continue walking forward turning.

As they passed yet another turn, they were unable to react in time to a pair of Root shinobi appearing as if from thin air right in front of them. They both had their masks on as well; despite not attacking right away, they looked pretty menacing.

"No students are to roam this sector tonight. Which squad are you from, and who is your handler?" asked one of the of senior Root shinobi. His voice was deep, but devoid of any kind of emotion so it was hard to understand whether he was threatening or not. Ino flinched, opening her mouth behind the mask, but Neji was the first to answer:

"We're from the eastern sector, currently waiting to be assigned to a new squad as our handler was transferred to the Uchiha compound platoon," he changed his voice and tried to match the emotionless tone that he heard from this Root ninja. They didn't reply immediately, as if thinking whether to believe them or not. The other shinobi spoke next:

"You know full well you're not allowed to be here at this moment. Only when summoned by Danzō-sama."

The infiltrators took their time to respond as well. Unfortunately, it seemed they wouldn't have a chance to gather any intel about the inner behaviour patterns of Root, especially considering that they were always a subject to change at random times. However, the Hyūga still wanted to resolve this peacefully and once again was ready to speak when Ino shouted:

"Watch out!" She pushed Neji to the side and quickly used a substitute technique to avoid the incoming attack. What the jōnin couldn't recognize immediately as he didn't know the hand signs, the kunoichi knew perfectly was about to happen. One of the Root ninjas attempted to use the body switch technique; however, the girl was quicker to react. The stealth infiltration part was over; now they needed to quickly take care of these two, and find a way out. At this point, neither of them had a doubt: this was hostile territory, and the enemy wouldn't hesitate to kill them the moment they got a chance.

-=OwO=-

As the two of them walked into the catacombs, the atmosphere was getting more and more gloomy the deeper they went. Although torches on the walls were dimly lighting the passage ahead, Hinata still felt visibly uncomfortable, especially knowing that they were essentially in the wolf's lair right now.

"Um - Sasuke-san…"

Of course, he didn't respond, steadily striding ahead as before. She coughed, this time saying a bit louder:

"S-Sasuke-san, could you please tell me w-what exactly we're looking for?"

It took him a few seconds to open his mouth and reluctantly utter:

"Some intel on Akatsuki, whatever it may be."

"Uh… d-do you have any idea what it might look like? I-I could help - with my Byakugan…"

"It could be anything or nothing at all. Regardless, we must gather everything we can while we have this chance. I don't think we have much time, definitely not enough to scout through the entire place. If you think that you can help, just do it. Don't ask me."

She nodded, though realizing that he wouldn't see it as he was walking in front of her. The kunoichi activated her dōjutsu and quickly scanned the area surrounding them, frowning.

"It-it seems like this place is much more vast than I would imagine…"

Sasuke said nothing, so she continued after a short pause,

"It goes very deep down underground, for hundreds of yards, and I-I can see a giant statue at the very bottom."

"A statue?" The Uchiha frowned. Could it be the very statue Akatsuki used to contain the tailed beasts?

"Yes. It is surrounded by countless plants - I told you about them... N-no, now that I look at them closely… they are more like-like humans!" she yelped in fear.

"Zetsu," he murmured, remembering the odd creature from before - Madara's minion. "Are there any of them around?"

"A few," she nodded again, grabbing his sword more tightly. "It-it appears like they're patrolling the place."

"I hope I don't need to tell you what you must do if one of them approaches us. You're a kunoichi, aren't you?" he said in a slightly mocking tone which made the girl lower her eyes. Plants or not, she had yet to kill someone in her life - she still lacked that kind of experience despite being a ninja. But, at the same time, she realized he was right - there was no other choice. It was either their lives or the enemy's.

"Yes, I am," she replied firmly a few seconds later, once again looking at the unruly hair on his nape. "Sasuke-san, why are you always so angry at me?"

As expected, he didn't react to her words.

"Is there anything I could do to-to fix that? I-I don't want us to be enemies-"

"Hn. Enemies? Don't make me laugh, Hyūga," he still didn't stop nor look at her at all. "You'll never be a match for me. Besides, I won't fall low enough to fight a silly girl from a clan of cowards and scum," his voice cracked and deepened a bit, but Hinata didn't notice it as she was completely outraged by his words.

"So now you are insulting my entire clan?" she asked coldly, stopping. Surprisingly, it made the shinobi stop as well, quickly turning around to face her. The girl looked directly into his eyes, absently noticing that the pattern of his Sharingan was now different from what she'd seen before.

"Your clan is an insult to itself. It is ironic that it still exists at all. Could be one of the reasons why Konoha is rotting in its core." He looked really angry now, and Hinata knew it was unwise to provoke Sasuke any further. A part of her wanted to just shut up and pretend that it never happened; another part of her wanted to prove it to him that she was no coward.

Because she wasn't one for sure!

"Why are you saying this? Is that all because of what happened to your own clan? How is the Hyūga clan guilty for that, Sasuke-san?" she asked calmly, almost politely, not looking away from his face nor blinking at all.

The teen's burning red eyes narrowed at her with burning hatred which, she assumed, was directed at her.

"I find it unfair what Konoha did to the Uchiha clan while yours is doing perfectly fine."

Konoha did…? she blinked, not understanding what exactly he was trying to say.

"And w-what makes you think this way about us?" she asked, feeling the increasing confusion yet deciding to push a bit more, "Because we are doing 'perfectly fine', doesn't it mean that we are actually good enough? A Hyūga would always protect their family with everything we have."

He took a moment to think about it rationally despite slowly beginning to boil inside again. Why, really? Why did he feel so uncomfortable whenever Hinata initiated a conversation with him? Why did she annoy him this much despite being nothing but nice and friendly? Surely, she wasn't worse than Sakura and Ino were back in the academy years. If anything, she was their polar opposite; normally, it should've made him tolerate her at the very least, maybe even like her to an extent. No, there had to be a deeper reason behind it… And perhaps, she actually was shrewd enough to figure it out before he would.

The problem was not the girl herself; it was the clan she belonged in that made him feel so many different things at once. And also the fact that Hinata - as painful as it was for him to admit - was similar to himself in many ways. Had things taken a different turn all those years ago, maybe he would be exactly like her nowadays - powerless, aimless, meek. Exactly the way he was as a child prior to the massacre...

And now, whenever he looked at her, it made him feel so many things that it was slowly beginning to overwhelm him every time they interacted. It made Sasuke want her to just leave him alone and vanish from his sight as soon as possible, just so that it would stop. He felt jealousy - because she still had her family and he didn't. He felt indignation - because he disliked seeing her this way, so weak and fragile, clearly lacking a purpose in life. He felt torn apart - because he knew he could've been the same had the Uchiha clan not been wiped out. And he hated this idea, which was quite a contradictory conclusion since it implied that he partly wouldn't want them all to be alive, which obviously couldn't be true.

But most of all, remembering what he was told about them as a child, and also the things he'd seen in their estate a few days ago, he felt disgusted - because...

For a few seconds, he didn't say anything, making the girl want to step back under his intimidating gaze. But then his body visibly relaxed, and his eyes turned back to the regular Sharingan, the bloody fire in them eventually fading completely.

"For someone who possesses a dōjutsu that allows you to see so much, you are ridiculously blind to the reality you live in. An Uchiha would sacrifice everything, including his whole clan, just to save a single sibling if needed. Your brethren, on the other hand - you enslave your own blood and flesh, forcing them to serve your Main House under those cursed seals. The Hyūga clan is not even a family; it's just like I said, you're a bunch of slavers who always hide behind the backs of their slaves. This is the reason why I despise you and your pathetic clan. Is it clear?" He turned around, leaving her there with her white eyes widely open in shock at his stinging words.

Frankly, he wasn't even sure why he said all this. On a global scale, Sasuke didn't give a rat's ass about this girl and her clan; they were merely products of the corrupt system currently in place, nothing more. He didn't really think that their existence was any relevant when it came to Konoha's major flaws, or at least they certainly weren't its biggest problem. But, since she decided to challenge him like that, he didn't hesitate to express the way he did and had always viewed the Hyūga clan. Especially after she had dared mention his own family and compare...

Maybe now she will finally leave me alone, he thought irritably, continuing to walk down the empty corridor.

-=OwO=-

As Ino pushed Neji out of the way, dodging the attack herself as well, the kunoichi quickly found that the Root ninjas were much a lot faster than Neji and herself. One of them immediately jumped towards her, unsheathing his katana. Before the girl could take out her kunai, the enemy was violently pushed over the bridge by the Hyūga's Vacuum Palm; the teen then took a standard combat stance after attacking the Root shinobi. He then turned to face the second guard who was standing still with a formed Tiger hand seal. Neji's eyes widened behind the mask as the pair was quickly engulfed by fire. The Root ninja shifted his own mask back to cover his mouth again as soon as the technique was over. His partner quickly jumped over the other side of the bridge, seemingly unscratched.

"Did you get them?"

"I don't know yet," answered the ninja with long orange hair. He took a few steps towards where the infiltrators had stood. Some of the wooden planks of the bridge were still burning, while others were just covered in soot.

"Who do you think it was? They're definitely not ours," spoke the other ninja, looking over the bridge. His partner shrugged.

"No idea, but the guy who attacked you is obviously a Hyūga. The kunoichi though..." The man paused, remembering the voice of one of the intruders, and how she managed to notice his attack. "It seems this night will be most unpleasant. Come, we're going to find them."

Neji and Ino were quickly moving away, eventually hiding in one of the open pipes way below the bridge. Neji was scanning their surroundings to make sure no one would catch them by surprise while Ino was discarding her cape, panting.

"This is bad. Do you know what that guy tried to use on you? You've gotta be kidding me..." Her voice was more than a bit nervous. She adjusted her mask a bit, but Neji would have guessed that even behind it she was obviously distressed.

"I take it he's a Yamanaka?" asked Neji with an impassive tone. The girl looked at him.

"Yeah... Exactly. Well, hopefully, we're not gonna encounter him again. We're not here to fight, we're here to gather intel, right? We should just find the office or whatever of that guy, take anything we can and get out."

Neji frowned. He knew that it was no longer a possibility. The Root had just been alerted to their presence, and they definitely would not be getting out of there without a fight. The enemy probably had already guessed that there was a Hyūga and a Yamanaka, and knowing what Danzō was capable of, as well as his apparent obsession with kekkei genkai... The jōnin sighed as he briefly deactivated his dōjutsu.

"Follow me, I found a route to his personal chambers. We'll be able to get through with minimal resistance if we hurry up."

The pair used the pipe to trespass further. They got rid of their hooded capes on the way, now only being dressed in the usual Konoha shinobi black clothes, and their faces still covered with masks. About ten minutes later they ended up in another huge hall that was covered with pipes of all sizes. Probably one of the many rudimentary rooms that Konoha's canalization was filled with.

They jumped down and proceeded to one of the passages. It led them to a series of different rooms of all kinds. Some of them were labs, some were studying rooms, some were humble restrooms. There were places that looked like infirmaries at first glance, but at a more careful look, they seemed more like some creepy experimental places. There were also a few Root shinobi patrolling the place, but Neji and Ino quickly incapacitated them, hiding the unconscious ninja offhandedly as they realized they were very short on time.

"I know this guy is the type that reaches results by any means, but... The hell is all this?" Ino asked looking around one of those hospital-like rooms. There were strange flasks of different sizes all over the place. Some of them were filled with odd liquids, others with... Organs? Human organs…?

They then noticed huge glass vessels where a grown human would fit. There were also tables with shackles on them, some of them even had traces of gore that couldn't be wiped anymore.

"This is gross…," she drawled, wincing. Neji was busy looking over the papers that were scattered all over the tables. They were detailing different kinds of experiments on living human beings. He remembered that something similar had happened in Konoha in the past with of the three legendary Sannin, namely the infamous Orochimaru. He was known for his experiments in Konoha performed on his own comrades as well as other innocent people. Supposedly, he'd been caught back then but somehow he'd managed to get away, as they all knew...

Neji sighed as he remembered reading the classified documents about some of Konoha's past. Since he'd become a jōnin and considering his clan's status, he was able to get access to a lot of interesting, yet disturbing information about their village.

I wonder if he works with Orochimaru as well. There were reports back in the day that he was suspected in providing that psycho with test subjects in return for data. If this is ANBU's work, we're well over our heads here…, thought Neji as he glanced at Ino. He took a scroll out of his bag and placed some of the important documents on it. With a hand seal the documents disappeared, and the scroll closed by itself. He put it back in his bag and headed towards the exit.

"Come, we shouldn't linger here for too long."

"What do you mean? We're here for data, right? Let's take some more, search in other rooms," the kunoichi argued. Neji decided not to explain to her the full picture of their current situation. The Root headquarters have probably been completely shut closed, while all the active members put on alert to find the intruders no matter what.

"I've already got some here, as well as memorized the stuff we found upstairs. We cannot stay in one location for too long, let's keep moving."

Ino shook her head but didn't object. He was, after all, the leader on this mission.

Unbeknownst to them, at the same time, the third shinobi of their team was moving through the Root hideout by himself. He was far less delicate with the Root ninja than the two of them, not hesitating to kill those who he couldn't subdue. Since Neji and Ino had alerted the enemy to their presence - and he had already figured it out - he couldn't move freely in the shadows as much as it would be to his advantage. However, he didn't stop and continued following Neji's plan.

-=OwO=-

Still feeling mad enough - although now rather due to himself losing control again than because of Hinata - Sasuke eventually paused, realizing that he was at a dead end of the tunnel. There was only one door ahead to the left of him, and he didn't feel like facing the Hyūga again right now, so he walked into the room, looking around. Luckily, some of his chakra had restored by now, so he could at least use his dōjutsu to scan the place thoroughly.

To his disappointment, though, he couldn't see anything relevant. The place seemed to be long abandoned as multiple patches of spiderweb together with a thick layer of dust covered various test tubes, scrolls and other equipment.

"Damn it…," he cursed quietly, but then his eyes widened as he spotted the familiar signature - his clan's crest - on the farthest wall. He slowly came close, mesmerized by the sudden discovery and then touching it carefully with his fingertips.

Nothing happened.

"There is a lever behind that bookshelf," the sudden echo of Hinata's quiet voice made him flinch, quickly turning on his heels and glaring at her furiously.

"Don't ever sneak on me like that, Hyūga," he growled. "You might get yourself killed."

"Pardon me, Sasuke-san," she replied monotonously, not looking at him this time. He also noticed that her voice was now quiet, weak… almost defeated.

The effect of what he'd told her a few minutes ago?

"Hn." He turned to the bookshelf, instantly finding the leverage. The wall began to move, revealing the entrance to a secret hall - this one was surprisingly not entirely dark, lit by the familiar torches placed across the room.

They walked in, and almost the same second Sasuke forgot how to breathe as he realized what he was seeing. The entire wall to the right of them was made into a rack with numerous cells. And each cell contained a vial in which there was a… Sharingan eye!

"This is-" He gasped, his face twisting in rage as his body began to shake.

"The creatures… They are coming," said Hinata quietly, standing behind him with her back against his own.

"Like I care!" he growled in a deep raspy voice, stepping towards the rack.

This was despicable. He knew that Madara had helped Itachi get rid of his - no, their clan, but for him to do it so cynically... and to pedantically take all these eyes and store them here…? For what sake? Was the man completely out of his mind?

The teen looked around the room for the first time just in an attempt to distract himself for a moment. The entire place appeared to be a mixture of a laboratory and an armoury of some sort as there were multiple weapons resting on the opposite wall, but there were also countless tools, books and scrolls all over the place.

Sasuke's gaze returned to the cells with glass tubes, the eyes of the dead staring at him blankly through the odd liquid. This was the most surreal, creepy and heartbreaking thing he had experienced since Itachi's Tsukuyomi… The ninja knew that he couldn't let his emotions take over his mind no matter what. And yet… He walked by the rack, reading the names carefully inscribed on every vial. Sayu… Maya… Aoba… Mikoto! Even his mother's…!

He kept reading the names without really comprehending them. Every single one felt to him like a tiny poisonous needle piercing his heart… But he just couldn't stop. At least not until his gaze finally froze on the only name he needed to see.

Itachi.

The boy took the two vessels out of the wooden cell, carefully putting them in his pockets and then stepping back.

"They're almost here," he heard Hinata's whisper from the door.

"Then take care of them!" the Uchiha growled, quickly weaving hand seals.

He would not allow Madara, nor anybody else, to desecrate his clan's remnants like this. The least he could do for them all, aside from taking care of that man later, was to give them a proper funeral… Even if it would cost him the few bits of chakra he had remaining.

Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu! The fireball was really small, but it was enough to ignite the rack, the flames slowly beginning to consume the tubes one by one.

"Sasuke…? What are you doing here?!" asked the unfamiliar voice.

He slowly turned towards the door, looking at the white creature that was staring at him with a mixture of surprise, anxiety and anger. Sasuke then noticed Hinata - she was motionless, clearly trying to be stealthy as she was leaning on the wall just behind Zetsu and watching the scene in front of her in awe, still gripping the Uchiha's sword with her hands.

"Taking what's rightfully mine," the teen replied, putting his hands into his pockets and touching the vials as if making sure they were safe.

"You are not allowed to be here! Madara will not like this!"

"And who's going to tell him?" asked Sasuke coldly, still not moving.

"He will know in no time! The Nine-Tails has already been captured; soon he will come after you as well! He-" Before Sasuke would say or do anything, his own blade sliced through Zetsu's neck, taking his head off and making him collapse on the floor with a thud.

The room was left in a complete silence disturbed only by the cracking of the wood as more and more of the eye store was beginning to burn with each passing moment. Sasuke's eyes moved to Hinata who was panting, staring at the dead creature with intense wrath. For the first time, Sasuke could see her angry; it was easily readable in her eyes, in her expression, in her posture, and it was also... strangely amusing for him to observe.

"We need to get out of here. If what he said is true, we are in danger," said Sasuke almost casually, moving away from the wall that was already half-covered with fire.

"N-Naruto-kun… T-This thing said M-Madara - he's-!"

"Right now there is nothing you can do. If you die here, you won't help Naruto for sure," he reasoned, walking to the opposite end of the room. "Keep the sword for now. I'll borrow this…" He took the huge non-folding fan off the other wall, glancing at the three commas printed on its white surface.

The feeling he then experienced was a bit odd, but not bad at all. It was strangely familiar as if something from the long-forgotten times of his distant childhood… Somehow, he felt affiliated with this bizarre weapon, even despite knowing that he'd never seen this gunbai before.

"T-There are more of them coming!" exclaimed Hinata, stepping back from a few White Zetsu clones walking into the first section of the laboratory and then heading towards the two of them.

"Gather every scroll you can find here before we get out. I'll take care of these." He stepped forward, gripping the gunbai in his hand. There was a flash of fear in Zetsus' eyes as they saw him, and it made Sasuke grin as he began approaching them.

This will be my message for you, Madara… You are next.

-=OwO=-

Ino and Neji checked a few more rooms quickly on their way out, grabbing whatever they thought was important. Since they didn't have any bag to carry this amount of things with them they had to use sealing scrolls to take whatever items they needed. Unfortunately, those scrolls also had a limit, and they couldn't carry too many of them either. At this point they had one empty scroll to use remaining. The pair quickly ran to the end of the passage, stopping at the crossroads and leaning on the edge of the wall.

"This is bad. I have no idea how they're coordinating their movements, but they're surrounding us quickly with crazy efficiency," stated Neji grimly as he kept looking all over the area with his Byakugan. It seemed the Root headquarters were now fully cordoned, and their commanders were forcing everyone, even the rookies to take part in this hunt. However, of all the people he could see, Neji still hadn't managed to spot Danzō. This was the most frightening thing. Assuming that the man hadn't left this place for the night, it could only mean that he was hiding his presence on purpose somehow. Neji's chakra was already half-spent, a little more than that actually. And he knew that Ino would never be able to fight this amount of Root shinobi on her own. The good thing about this, though, was that the third member of the team - their reinforcement and, at this rate, their last hope at survival - was already nearby. All he had to do was give him a signal to follow. The pair quickly dealt with a few more Root shinobi on their way. It was becoming a bit too easy for them to do this, the thought of which bothered neither of them at the moment.

"Let's go this way. There will be a few squads on our way, but they're fairly spaced. We'll be able to deal with them if we use the element of surprise to our advantage," said Neji confidently, rushing forward. Unfortunately, he wasn't nearly as confident behind the facade; he was beginning to doubt they would even make it out alive. And if they would, there was no guarantee these Root servants wouldn't eventually figure out their identities and slay them sometime later in Konoha.

Besides, considering the list he'd found upstairs and that there was a confirmed Yamanaka among them, who was to say that there was no Hyūga amongst them too? Perhaps they were already being tracked with someone's Byakugan. And if not a Hyūga, then any sensory-type shinobi would be able to spot them in their own territory shortly in spite of all their efforts to conceal their presence.

Neji flinched. It seemed as if they were being... Guided to a certain point! Something the Hyūga realized way too late. As they barged through yet another set of doors they ended up in a huge hall with red lights all over the place. It looked like a dōjō or some kind of training ground. They stopped; the corridor behind them was quickly blocked by a huge stone wall. In front of them, they saw the two shinobi guards they had met earlier, one of them holding his hands on the ground.

"Good job. I told you your Earth Release techniques would come in handy here," spoke the tallest of them. The guy was standing still, having his arms crossed on his chest. The other one didn't reply, standing up to face the intruders as well.

"Looks like this is as far as you go. Considering you have Byakugan on your side, I find it ironic that you failed to notice the trap we have set for you. For someone who has managed to sneak in and run away from us, you seem ridiculously inexperienced."

With that phrase it finally sunk into Ino as well - Neji could see her beginning to tremble behind.

Of course! With all that's happened, I didn't pay attention to this at all. The way they placed the weaker and smaller squads for us to pave our way through them... Damn it! The Hyūga cursed himself for falling for such an obvious trap. He instantly activated his Byakugan again, taking a fighting stance. Ino stepped closer to him, taking a kunai out of her bag.

"You're getting too emotional again. Careful, or you'll end up in one of those disciplinary rooms again," said the other guy in a neutral tone while taking out his katana. "Since one of them is a Hyūga, we should try and take him alive, or at least kill him with the Byakugan activated. The other one can be disposed of immediately."

"Why don't you take on the Hyūga in that case? I'll handle the girl."

With this, both of the Root ninjas disappeared. The floor moved under Ino and Neji's feet, immediately separating them into different sides of the hall. Afterwards, the taller shinobi appeared behind Ino, aiming with his tanto at her neck. The kunoichi quickly dodged the blow, jumping away as far as possible from her assailant.

Neji found himself cornered which was unusual for him. The man with the katana was relentlessly attacking him, without allowing him to make any move aside from desperately dodging. Whenever he tried to use the Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm or the Palms Revolving Heaven, the enemy would just disappear underground only to jump out using his clones to attack again. It felt as if he had tremendous stamina and chakra reserves to waste, deliberately trying to wear out the Hyūga.

I need to warn him immediately! Neji thought, reaching into his bag to get an explosive tag out. It was specially designed for this mission; the tag was supposed to act as a beacon for their reinforcement. As he got it out, he quickly scanned the place to find the person not too far away from their current position. The Hyūga launched the tag to the nearby wall, activating it immediately with a quick hand seal.

"Distraction? Useless," the Root ninja suddenly spoke. He blocked the wall with the tag with his Earth Release technique only to continue his attack on the Hyūga.

At the same time, Ino and the other enemy kept clashing their weapons, with the hostile ninja clearly having the upper hand every time. The girl had never been a master of close quarter combat. She'd never been in this kind of situations in the first place, as she'd always specialized in a supportive role. Having already been cut in a few places on her arms, legs and sides, she once again jumped away from the enemy to catch her breath. Her opponent, for some reason, gave her a bit of time to do so, waiting to launch his next attack.

"Shame it had to be you of all people to end up here. If you are who I think you are, that is," he spoke as he started to slowly walk towards her. A few lamps on their side of the hall were already broken, leaving a lot of spaces for their shadows to expand and dance in a creepy way. The kunoichi tried to relax and calm her breathing, but this was definitely a situation she was totally not prepared for. Not only that she couldn't fight on the same level as her opponent, but he was also apparently a Yamanaka who had most likely recognized her.

This is so fucking messed up! What have I gotten myself into... Screw you, Sasuke! the girl thought as she finally realized that her hands started to tremble - she was losing control over her body. The fatigue was dawning on her, as well as the stress of the whole situation.

"Ino!" shouted Neji as he blocked yet another blow from the enemy, trying desperately to reach her while being stopped by his opponent every time. "Snap out of it, it's not over yet!"

The girl shook her head and once again took a defensive position, biting her lip to the point of tasting her own blood. At the same moment, her enemy vanished. She gasped, turning around to see his blade nearing her head.

Neji pushed away his opponent which forced the latter to use another Earth Release technique to maintain balance, but this time Neji didn't back down. Instead, he hit the ground, but the foe quickly used his jutsu to send a block of the stone floor towards Ino. Her enemy saw this and quickly jumped away, as did she. At this moment the kunoichi felt the familiar relaxing embrace on herself. She no longer felt any fatigue as she was not controlling her body at all. Her enemy also stood still as if some force had frozen him in place.

Their eyes met for a moment.

"What... What the?!" he mumbled trying to regain control. "A Nara?!"

His partner noticed this, as well as the kunoichi who was now running towards the enemy. Shikamaru released his control over her while still holding the enemy with his shadows. Ino smiled - the jōnin had managed to follow through with the plan after all. She now understood - as soon as Neji had used the beacon tag, Shikamaru quickly joined the fight making his way through the walls with his own Earth Release technique.

The other Root ninja quickly separated the floor between his partner and Ino with a crack, making her stop. The crack followed the wall up to the ceiling where Shikamaru was sitting.

"Crap, he noticed me?" he murmured, jumping away from the enemy's attack and loosening his shadow technique which gave the enemy the required momentum to attack Ino. The ginger ninja jumped over the cracked floor with his tanto aimed at the girl's chest. She couldn't jump away, only putting her kunai in front of her as her last resort of defence. At the same time, Neji attacked the other enemy, catching him by surprise this time which allowed him to successfully incapacitate him. Before the Yamanaka Root ninja could reach Ino however, he once again felt the shadows binding him. It was at this moment that he once again felt something that was supposed to have been erased. He felt fear as the cold steel of her kunai lounged into his chest. The girl staggered back with a short scream the same second.

"No... No!" she mumbled, trying to put the man on the ground and take her weapon out of him which for some reason was now stuck. Her hands were trembling terribly as she felt his blood on her skin. Shikamaru quickly jumped from the hole in the wall he was sitting in to get closer to Ino.

"No, no, no…," she kept repeating quietly to herself. The exhausted Hyūga was trying to catch his breath, silently watching the scene. He took off his mask and wiped his face with his palm. So it has come to this…, he thought darkly, realizing what exactly had just happened. Of course, they didn't know whether the previous Root ninja they'd encountered were also from Yamanaka or any other clan, but it was obvious this wasn't something Ino was prepared for at all.

The kunoichi finally managed to take the kunai out of the motionless body beside her, throwing it away. As the man was now on the floor, the hood shifted from his head a bit, revealing his long orange hair. Shikamaru was now standing behind Ino, quickly grasping the gravity of the situation but not saying anything yet. Not until Ino reached out her hand to take off the mask from him.

"Stop. There's no need for that. He a Root shinobi, just like many before that you've already encountered. We need to get out of here right now or else we'll die," he spoke as he put his hand on her shoulder. The girl's hand stopped inches away from the mask on the corpse, but she didn't say anything. After a few seconds of hesitation, she grabbed the mask after all, and as she removed it she immediately fell back from the body, staring at it with utter horror. She was consumed by fear and disgust, sorrow and anger, regret and shock, all at the same time.

This wasn't supposed to happen. Nobody was supposed to die here today. Especially not by her hand. Of course, this was a secret mission by Hokage herself, but... This wasn't how it usually went, was it? No. Asuma-sensei's death was an exception. Everything else was supposed to be fine.

Although she didn't know this man very well, she still recognized him instantly. It was Fū Yamanaka. One of their own that had been recruited by ANBU at an early age. But what was he doing here in Root? Why him? Why had he tried to kill her?

All these questions started to pour into her head, and the girl finally realised the most horrifying thing. She had just killed someone. No, not just someone. She had killed her own clansman…

She grabbed her head trying to stop these intrusive thoughts, but it was too late. She had never imagined she would kill anyone; after all, she'd never been the type to be in this kind of combat. Seduce somebody? Yes. Set a trap? Certainly. Interrogate? Easily. But this…

How was she to explain this to her father, to any of her clansmen? She had killed her own... And now she was desperately trying to find someone to blame. Neji? All he'd done was protecting her and doing the same thing. Shikamaru? He'd saved both of them, nothing more, nothing less. Sasuke who had caused this mission to happen in the first place? Maybe… But then again, having seen all those atrocities kept hidden by Root, it was hard to blame him… And who else? The Fifth who didn't know anything about this yet…?

Ino closed her eyes, gripping the dead body in her hands. No... No. She had done it herself.

It was her fault.


A/N Pls let us know what you think in reviews! ^w^ Until next time!