"Then come with us." The chakra stopped flowing to her fingers as she looked up at him in shock.

Was seriously asking her to join the Akatsuki? She wasn't strong enough to be in the Akatsuki! She wasn't sure she wanted to be in a group like that! They were a band of criminals! She was a missing nin, but she wasn't a criminal! She had relaxed as she healed the two of them but she was suddenly reminded exactly who they were and that she was terrified. If she said thank you, but no would they kill her?

"Wh-what for?" She stammered out.

"To be a medical nin." He said matter of factly. He said it like he was telling her the weather. She remembered she had stopped healing him and slowly went back to pressing her finger to his pale chest. "Leader-sama has caught word of you and he doesn't want to miss the opportunity." He watched her with a hawk-like gaze, maybe he was expecting her to run, she was too tired to get up let alone run.

"H-he wants the Byakugan." She said knowingly suddenly very conscious of her activated blood limit. "I..." She started finishing her healing as she pulled out some bandages. "I-I couldn't do what you do. I couldn't kill anyone just because I was told to." She tilted her head sadly as she started to rap his chest, she hoped he would at least let her finish before killing her.

"I said nothing about killing, I said medical-nin." She could almost hear a tinge of amusement in the deep voice. He thought this was funny. Her face turned red.

Though the thought was seeded, if she was hurting no one this would actually benefit her. If she was part of the Akatsuki she wouldn't have to worry about the Hyuuga finding her anymore because they wouldn't want her anymore. She really didn't think anyone else, but her heartless elders would believe she joined the Akatsuki. Her clan already thought the worst of her. She cursed herself for actually thinking of it that way.

"Y-you… You could promise me that?" She asked cautiously. This decision would change her life, she had to be careful.

"I will personally see to it you do not have to." That was more of a shock than the offer. She had the feeling it had nothing to do with her helping him, though. The Bakugan was on the line so she imagined he had been told to deal with her if she had objections. She hoped the next step wasn't threats.

"I-I…" She wanted to say no, but that could be fatal, she wanted to say yes to have a place to stay without having to change her name again and lie to people who were kind to her. This was either her standing against the Akatsuki's offer or taking them up on the opportunity. Then started to realize what this was, they weren't just asking for the Bakugan, they were asking for her, as a medical ninja. Had she finally shown her worth? Had someone noticed she was worth something other than her family's pet. She finished his wrapping with her gentle fingers and gave him a silent nod the cast her eyes down, she hoped she was right.

"Then you should sleep, once we can get Kisame on his feet, we will take you to leader-sama." She felt like she made a deal with the devil. An offer she couldn't refuse, but she felt horrible for not flying wanting to refuse it because it benefited her.

She cleaned her hands and yawned. She heard her stomach growl and she blushed.

"I'll make a fire." He said as he started to get up. Hinata frantically pressed his shoulders down.

"N-no you'll reopen your wounds. I can take care of it." She pleaded with him.

He raised an eyebrow at her and stopped trying to get up. Once she was sure he was going to stay resting she let go of his bare shoulders.

She tiredly got up stretching the muscles in her tired back. She placed his robe back over his shoulders earning her another unreadable gaze before turning to her next task. She started a very small fire and pulled out some rations from her bag. She still had some fresh food from Suna and she made enough for both of them. The large blue man she now knew as Kisame would be hungry when he woke up and she may have to get more food from a local village because it wouldn't be wise to move him for a few days.

She took the food over to Itachi who gave her a hardened stare. "You should eat in your condition." She said trying to convince him when he didn't take the food she tried something else. "D-doctor's orders." She pressed. She cursed her stutter, it wasn't helping her point at all. She watched him in slight awe as he nodded taking the food and eating silently. She gave a sigh of relief because she didn't know what else she could have said. She didn't think threatening him was a good idea. She went back to her bag and eat silently as well and gave a few glance at her dinner partner. Sasuke looked a lot like him. Itachi's hair was much longer and his eyes showed age and wisdom far beyond his years, but you could definitely tell they were brothers.

Her thoughts wandered back to Sasuke. She hadn't truly met him until he had caught her watching Naruto. Suddenly a pain started in her chest as she started to remember her village and all the people she had left behind to be free. She was far from what she had imagined a missing-nin to be. She had improved in her training, but she was still as emotional as ever. She could feel the tear coming to her eyes and she had to stop them. She wasn't alone. She focused back in from her thoughts to realize she had been staring at Itachi the whole time she was thinking. She was suddenly mortified, her face turned red in embarrassment. Not only had he caught her staring, but he saw all the emotions that she just went through.

She finished eating quickly and bowed her head in goodnight, moving over to her patient she placed her open sleeping bag over him setting his head on her lap and leaned to the side on a tree. If he woke up she wanted to know. She looked gave one last look over to Itachi who was examining her once more before letting her exhaustion take her to sleep.

***TheUnstableLiz***

I appreciate CONSTRUCTIVE comments and reviews.

I can not answer questions of guests. I don't want this section a mile long and bloating the word count too much.

If you have a question please log in and PM me. I will answer any and all questions!

I will point out I am not sure of and will not be following the timeline of the show anything that seems out of place is a result of that.

I will also point out that anyone who is out of character by a lot is the fault of me not knowing the character well enough and I apologize for that.I apologize for spelling and grammar, I am a computer scientist, not a writer.