Hinata was stunned when Tsunade only gave her a warning for her blows against Sakura ('well, it's not like Sakura hasn't thrown her fair share of punches' were Tsunade's exact words). She was still allowed to wander throughout the village for a few hours so long as Naruto, Kiba, or Shino were with her, and the restraints had to be on at all times. Often, all three of them stayed with her.
After she returned to the T&I corps, Ibiki would ask her a few questions. Hinata only answered about half of the questions, and was purposefully vague in her answers. Despite this, they didn't revoke her outside privileges.
Hinata hadn't asked Konoha if they had killed Tobi-sensei. When she tried, her mouth wouldn't form the words, and Ibiki would probably lie to her anyways. In the end, Tobi-sensei was gone and that was it. She gave herself a week to wait for the Akatsuki to break her out of Konoha.
She was out the final, seventh day when they ran into Neji. "Oi, Neji-kun!" Naruto called out, and Hinata almost cringed. "Come say hi!" Neji turned and saw her.
Her cousin had completely hated her up until the last time he had met her. Then, they had fought anyways, because Hinata had needed to stay with the Akatsuki, and he had almost drowned.
"Ah, Hinata-san...? When did you get here?"
Hinata shrugged. "About a week, I think. I was unconscious at the time."
He nodded. "I had heard rumors. It's good to have you back," he said.
"I guess," she replied. "How is Hanabi?"
"Hanabi-sama is quite talented. She rivals me in ability." Hinata nodded. "Are you going to re-join the clan?" he asked.
"I was kicked out because I was too weak," Hinata said. "It was only after I left the Hyuuga that I became strong. I won't return to them."
Neji nodded, and looked as though he respected her decision. "Do you have a new surname?"
"I'm still Hinata of the Akatsuki, for now."
"I see. Good luck, Hinata-san."
"Thank you, Neji-san." They bowed to each other, and Neji left. Hinata sighed. She remembered the first time Itachi had asked her if she wanted vengeance on her clan. It wasn't the only time he had asked her about it, and during a subsequent visit to the dango stand, she had told Itachi that she wanted them to see her grow up to outdo them all in the ninja arts and rise higher than any of them ever could.
She couldn't afford to waste away in the T&I corps. She needed to train and continue to become stronger. No Akatsuki member came to rescue her, and if they weren't coming to her, then she wasn't going to them.
When she was returned to her cell, she requested to talk to Tsunade-san. Tsunade entered her room. "What do you want?" Tsunade asked.
"I want to leave this room for good, and I want these chakra-sucking cuffs off."
Tsunade raised an eyebrow. "Do you swear to be loyal to the village and me?"
"I do so swear," Hinata said.
Tsunade grinned. "It's good to have you with us, Hinata-san. Where will you live? Will you be returning to the Hyuuga?"
"If you could procure an apartment for me, I would be grateful," Hinata said.
"Done. Will you be joining the ranks of the Konoha shinobi?" Hinata paused for a moment.
"Yes."
"Good. You'll be reunited with your old team soon." Tsunade turned to leave.
"Wait," Hinata said. Tsunade faced her. "I will only become a Konoha shinobi under two conditions."
"Shoot."
"First of all, I will not accept Kurenai-san as my superior. She taught me nothing. Secondly, I will only join if I am awarded the rank of Jonin."
"You think you're jonin material, huh?"
"I'm an A-ranked criminal in the Bingo book."
Tsunade grinned. "We'll see, Hinata-san. Ibiki," Tsunade yelled, "discharge Hinata-san." She turned back to Hinata. "Go to the Hokage tower and speak with the receptionist when you're done here. Dismissed." Tsunade left.
Ibiki frowned at Hinata. "Follow me," he grumbled. Hinata filled out the paperwork necessary to leave, and the hated cuffs were removed.
"I don't suppose you have any more information you'd like to tell us?" Ibiki asked.
"Nope." Hinata took her badge of citizenship and left.
The next day Hinata was summoned to Tsunade's office. "Hinata, I officially welcome you into the ranks of our shinobi. I award you the rank and title of Jonin." Hinata bowed her head. "You will meet with your new partner at a later date, and you will be partnered for the first six months of being a jonin. Here." Tsunade handed Hinata a new forehead protector. Hinata untied her missing nin headband from her neck and tied the new one on in its place.
"Dismissed."
Hinata left the tower. Outside, Naruto, Kiba, and Shino were waiting. "Congratulations, Hinata-chan!" Naruto cheered.
"Welcome back!" Kiba grinned. Shino only nodded.
"Why aren't you on our team, though?" Kiba asked. "We've been waiting forever to put Team Eight back together again." Hinata sighed, and put her hand on his arm.
"Kurenai was always one of the weaker of the Jonin. I told Tsunade-sama that I refuse to acknowledge her as my superior. Besides," Hinata smirked, "I'm a Jonin now." Kiba's jaw dropped.
"Really?" Kiba asked.
"That's awesome!" Naruto cheered. "Hey, do you think she'd make me a Jonin if I demanded it?"
"You have to abandon your village first," Hinata told him with a straight face.
"Eh? Really?"
Hinata laughed. "Of course not. You only have to beat me in a fight."
"Um... never mind..." Naruto sulked. Hinata rolled her eyes.
"You'll get there." She turned her eyes upward. "I do wonder who my new partner will be, though." Her only true partner would always be Tobi.
"Mm. Hey, Hinata-chan, do you have a new surname yet?" Kiba asked.
"No. Why?"
"Well, you don't like being called 'Hyuuga' right? When people meet you for the first time, you usually give them your full name."
Hinata bit her lip. "Up until now, I've called myself 'Akatsuki no Hinata', but I guess I can't keep saying that forever..." she turned to face Kiba and smiled. "Don't worry, I'll figure something else out soon."
They went out to a barbeque place to celebrate with Hinata. As they were walking, they ran into Shikamaru, Ino, and Chouji. "Yo!" Naruto waved to them. "How's it going?"
"You broke into my house!" Ino said. "How do you think it's 'going'?"
"Ehehe, you're still mad about that?" Naruto said.
Kiba grimaced. "I forgot all about it."
"Sorry, Ino. It couldn't be helped," Shino said.
She glared at the three boys. "Baka! All of you."
"Hinata-san, are you a Konoha shinobi again?" Shikamaru asked. Hinata nodded.
"Yeah, we're going to eat barbeque and celebrate!" Naruto cheered.
"Oh, we just came from there," Chouji said. "Here's a coupon." He handed it to Hinata. "Welcome back."
"Thanks," she smiled.
"We'll catch you later," Shikamaru said, and steered a still-heated Ino away.
The group of four ate and had fun all day. They visited the Hokage mountain and hiked to the very top until they could see over the whole village. They practiced sparring against one another- nothing too difficult, just some fun among friends- and then had dinner with Kiba's family. Kiba's mother was very funny, and his older sister was endearing and took to Hinata immediately. When the sun went down, Kiba invited them to climb up onto the roof with him and stargaze. She remembered Tobi's ridiculous constellation inventions, like 'Tobipheus' the tiger, and Hinata-eopia, a lioness.
The moon was only a sliver in the sky, but it was bright. Like a shinobi, it either shone brightly or disappeared.
She elbowed Kiba lightly. "Mm?" he asked.
"I think I just found my new name."
"Yeah?"
"Shintsuki Hinata." It meant 'new moon'. She thought it was fitting, given that she was starting her life over again in the village. She liked that it kept the 'tsuki' part of Akatsuki with her, too.
People still gave her wary looks when she traveled through the village. They knew she was Akatsuki, and she was still hated and feared by the people. She would be remembered as a traitor forever.
She wouldn't fight it; being a member of the Akatsuki would always important to her. So it was Shintsuki Hinata. She didn't quite belong to the Akatsuki, and she didn't quite belong to Konoha.
When Hinata went home to her apartment that night, she tore off a part of her Akatsuki cloak and tied it around her arm. Let people remember her as a member of the Akatsuki, that she was strong and not to be taken lightly. It was her own badge of honor.
Hinata placed her missing nin headband underneath her pillow. She wasn't going to wear it, but she didn't want to throw it away yet. She didn't know if she would return to the Akatsuki in the future. Hinata hadn't lied when she told Tsunade that she was loyal to her, but she had told Pein the same thing six months ago, and she hadn't lied to him, either. It depended on who she needed to protect at the time.
She stared at her pillow for a moment, musing as to where the headband would go in the future.
Hinata stepped into Tsunade's office. The door closed behind her. "Your partner will be here shortly," Tsunade grumbled, taking another few sheets of paper off the large stack on the side of her desk. "Will it never end...?"
"Yo, Tsunade-sama!" A woman with purple hair swung in through the window. "Eh, it was open? Dang it..."
Hinata swallowed once, and tried to keep the startled look off her face. She managed to do nothing more than coldly raise one eyebrow at the Hokage.
"Nobody uses the door these days," Tsunade growled. "Hinata, this is your new partner, Mitarashi Anko. Anko, this is- well, why don't you introduce yourself?"
"I'm Shintsuki Hinata."
"...Seriously, Tsunade? The runaway Hyuuga is my partner? Do you know Ibiki was fuming for hours because she escaped his grasp with sensitive information? And how does a missing nin become a jonin overnight?"
"I am not 'the runaway Hyuuga'," Hinata glared.
"Right, you're the traitorous Akatsuki residing in the village."
Hinata shrugged. The only title that offended her was 'Hyuuga'. Anything else was candy compared to that.
"Anko, do I need to remind you of another runaway who ended up with an S-ranked criminal?" Tsunade said.
Anko stiffened. "No, Tsunade-sama."
"That's what I thought. Dismissed, you two. Exit through the door," Tsunade sent a pointed look at Anko. Anko sighed in exasperation and led the way out. Hinata followed her.
"So, you think you're a Jonin, brat?"
"I was an A-ranked criminal, so yes." If Hinata had a dollar for every time she had to say that...
"Hm." Anko stopped, and then leaned forward until she was in Hinata's face. She squinted. "Well... last one to the dango shop has to pay!" Anko jumped away, cackling. Hinata used the Body Flicker to get ahead of Anko. After using it a few more times, she arrived at the dango shop.
Anko grinned at her from the shop. "Oh, look who finally made it! Come have a seat."
Hinata's lip twitched. "Shadow clone..."
"Yup, I was already here before I sent my clone in to go get you. Have some dango! My treat- just so long as you don't eat more than me." Had Anko forgotten that she said the last person to the dango shop had to pay?
Hinata wasn't going to remind her. She ordered some dango. While they were waiting, Anko started up a conversation.
"So, what are your hobbies?" Hinata blinked. She hadn't really done much since she got to the village. She decided to keep up the hobbies she'd started in the Akatsuki, even if the Akatsuki weren't next to her while she worked.
"Origami, eating dango, learning new techniques, sparring, and hanging out with psychopaths."
Anko laughed. "You and me, we're going to get along just fine." Hinata wasn't as sure as Anko.
"What are your hobbies, Mitarashi-san?"
"Oh, please, call me Anko. I like eating dango, playing with snakes, camping, annoying my superiors, and terrifying people in general, mostly criminals." Hinata wondered if she should tell her partner that she sounded like half of the Akatsuki. Probably not.
They received their dango and started in on it.
"You wanna spar after this?" Anko asked. Hinata nodded. Once they finished off the dango, they started off to a training area. "Okay, rules are: no fatal techniques, nothing big enough that it could damage Konoha or cause a big commotion, no severed limbs, and no calling for help from someone else. The spar ends when one of us is unconscious or verbally gives up. Ready?"
"Yeah." Hinata slid into a defensive position and clicked open her chakra blades. Anko rushed towards her and they fought using their nin tools and taijutsu. Anko's greatest weapon was her speed. Had Hinata not trained with Itachi, she would never have been able to dodge and block the woman's moves.
Anko jumped back. "Sen'eijashu!" A bunch of snakes shot out of Anko's arm and zipped towards Hinata. It was too quick to dodge.
"Water Style: Imperial Tsunami Strike!" She pushed the attack back with her jutsu and came on the offense. "Earth Style: Cave Technique!" The earth around Anko snapped shut in an instant, like an oyster protecting itself from attack. "Earth Style: Swamp Technique!" Hinata couldn't see anything besides a slight dampness around the edges of the ball of earth, but she knew inside it was a raging tempest of muddy earth.
Hinata had become something of an expert in water-based jutsu, but she would have been foolish not to acquire some wind and earth style techniques for times when her opponents were equally talented. She would have collapsed the cave, but they had agreed no fatal jutsu were to be used in this spar. Although she and Tobi-sensei had never had that rule, and both managed to escape the other's techniques without dying.
Sparring without rules was a way of testing one's worthiness in the Akatsuki.
A bunch of snakes broke through the earth and helped pull a growling, mud-soaked Anko out from the cave. "Get ready, brat," she snarled, releasing her snakes and pulling herself upright. Hinata bent her legs slightly and widened her stance. Now it was time for her defense.
"Fire Style: Explosion Technique!"
"Water Style: Water Prison Technique!" Hinata countered, and managed to cover herself in a layer of water just before the explosion hit her.
Hinata slammed through several trees, but her water prison held tight. When she touched the ground, she canceled her jutsu.
She jumped and rolled to the side as another fireball was thrown where she had landed. Hinata saw an explosion tag out of the corner of her eye and had to use the Body Flicker technique before it exploded. When she came out of the Body Flicker, Hinata blocked Anko's blow out of pure instinct and hit the woman with her own spiraling kick.
Anko barraged her with weapons and started another taijutsu fight. She slipped under Hinata's defense and punched Hinata up into the air. While Hinata was in the air, she was hit by a summoned snake in the shoulder.
The snake's head was as big as a basketball. Hinata managed to rip the snake out of her shoulder and threw needles into it, effectively stunning it.
Hinata's shadow clone caught Anko from behind and sent her flying towards Hinata. "Water Style: Hurricane Technique!" Anko was pulled into the technique, and started struggling for air. Just as Hinata was about to cancel the technique, Anko used an explosion tag to break free from it.
Anko landed on the ground in a crouch. Hinata brought up her arms, her chakra blades whirring.
"He he, you're pretty good!" Anko said. "Sparring match is over. I just wanted to see what stuff you were made of. We were both a bit sloppy, but not too bad, hmm?"
Hinata grinned. "Yup."
"Come on, let's go buy some more dango." Partnering up with Anko could be fun after all.
Hinata ran into Naruto, Kiba, and Shino the next day. "Hey, Hinata!" Naruto ran up to her. "Who's your new partner?"
"Mitarashi Anko."
Kiba gaped and Shino tilted his head in surprise.
"Who?" Naruto asked.
"Mitarashi Anko? That crazy lady with purple hair? The nightmare of interrogation and second proctor of the Chunin Exams? She's your partner?" Kiba asked.
"Oh, her! Now I remember," Naruto said. "Wait, what?"
Hinata shrugged. "I'm an expert in crazy."
The next day, Hinata and Anko began missions together. The two worked nearly flawlessly together, bouncing jutsu off each other. They were rivals in terms of power, but they were friends, and Anko was delighted to find someone who wasn't 'a complete stick in the mud'. Hinata went along with most of Anko's ideas with eagerness. Anko was almost like a female Tobi sometimes.
Neither brought up the other's past despite their closeness. Anko's contract with snakes (and the curse mark on her shoulder that Hinata sometimes caught a glimpse of) told Hinata who the S-ranked criminal was that Anko had known, and it was common knowledge that Hinata had been with the Akatsuki (wasn't like she tried to hide it).
Hinata had been startled and pleased to find that someone with the Akatsuki's lust of power and insane humor was a shinobi of Konoha. Had Hinata still been with the Akatsuki, she would have passed Anko's talents and personality on to Leader-sama for a suggestion of recruitment.
Hinata had been in the village for a little over a month and a half. She was walking with Naruto (they'd just finished off a bowl of ramen) and they turned a corner.
"Yo, Ino, Chouji, Shikamaru!" Naruto grinned. He and Hinata were walking up to the three. It became apparent that something wasn't right. There was a tightness to Shikamaru's eyes, and Ino's eyes were red from crying.
"Ano, what's wrong?" Naruto asked.
"Asuma-sensei's dead," Shikamaru said.
"What happened?" Naruto asked, his eyes wide. Ino stormed up to Naruto and Hinata. She glared at them.
"Asuma-sensei was k-killed by the Akatsuki," she said. She grabbed Hinata and threw her to the ground. Hinata didn't bother trying to get back up, it would only aggravate Ino. She wondered who had killed Asuma.
Ino pulled out a kunai and stood over Hinata. "Tell me what you know about the Akatsuki," she growled, "or I'll- I'll-"
Shikamaru pulled Ino back. "Calm down, Ino!"
"She's a traitor!" Ino screamed. "She has knowledge that can help us, help the village!" She trembled, and Shikamaru held her.
"I know," he said. "Chouji, take her." Chouji took Ino from Shikamaru and lead her back into the Yamanaka flower shop.
Hinata stood back up and brushed the dust off herself. She looked at Shikamaru and noted that he, too, had a look of contempt for her.
Shikamaru blinked and his eyes softened. He sighed. "Sorry about Ino. This kind of thing... it's hard." Hinata wanted to say that she understood, wanted to tell him that she, too, wanted revenge after one of her precious people were murdered.
But she didn't think it would help. He didn't want to sympathize with the enemy, not with the wound so fresh. "Who killed him?" Hinata asked instead.
"The guy with a scythe. There was another member of the Akatsuki there, too. We couldn't beat them." Hidan had killed Asuma, then. His partner was usually Kakuzu. Akatsuki members were usually paired with someone who shared some interest, even if they hated each other. The thing that kept Hidan and Kakuzu together was an obsession with immortality. To some extent, Sasori had shared the obsession, too, but his focus and energy had worked better with Deidara.
"Those two are difficult to fight," she said. "Asuma-sensei is someone I always considered to be strong. I'm sorry for the loss. He was a talented shinobi." It was as sincere as she could be. She disliked Kakuzu- coveting money was something she had despised even when she had been part of the Hyuuga clan, coupled with the fact that he had nearly killed her and Tobi- but Hidan, foul mouth and religion aside, had entertained the Akatsuki through their mundane meetings. He wasn't Deidara-senpai, but Hidan had his own brand of sarcasm.
Shikamaru nodded. "I know. Ino has a point, though. If you have any information that could have helped us while fighting them, Asuma-sensei might still be alive. We were fighting against the complete unknown."
Hinata shook her head. "Your analytical skills can tell you more about how to win than I can, Shikamaru. Kakuzu and Hidan are virtually impossible to beat as a team. They both found their own brand of 'immortality'." Hidan had tried to get Hinata and the other members to convert to worshipping Jashin. After he finished his speeches, he would end up full of kunai, shuriken, and forks. Hinata had thrown a few herself.
"Still, you must have sparred with some of the Akatsuki. What did you glean?" Shikamaru asked.
"The Akatsuki travel in pairs," Hinata said. "The only person whose jutsu and strategies I know is dead." It was only partially a lie. She had fought against some of the Akatsuki, and she had fought with all of them except Leader-sama at some point. But the person who she knew best, who she was partnered with, was dead.
Tobi... Hinata swallowed hard and looked away. She squeezed her eyes shut for a moment and forced back her emotions. She would deal with it later.
Her breath evened out, and looked back at Shikamaru. "Good luck," she said, and walked away. After a moment, Naruto followed her.
"Are you okay, Hinata?"
"I'll be fine, Naruto-kun," she grinned, but it came out as more of a grimace. "There's something I have to do. I'll catch up with you later, okay?"
"Alright. See you later, Hinata-chan!" Hinata swallowed her nervousness. She had to do this, and she had to do it before she backed out and changed her mind.
Author's Note: Yes! Another chapter up, extra-long for you all. Admit it, Anko is totally Akatsuki material (if Konoha hadn't found her after she left Orochimaru). Happy Valentine's Day everyone; of course I have nothing better to do tonight than upload a chapter to fanfiction... ;) Don't forget to buy your super-cheap chocolate tomorrow. Also, how do you like the new picture I drew for the story? Not too shabby, huh? Also, someone alerted me to the crap summary I had, so I wrote a more interesting (better?) one.
Super thank you to all you seriously wonderful, fantastic people reading this. I thought people wouldn't like last chapter very much, but I got such kind feedback!