Chapter 10
Blood. Blood covered everything; it soaked every surface and scrap of fabric on her person. A throbbing pain in her right arm kept her from moving the limb. Her left arm held her only weapon and if she wiped the blood from her eyes, then she'd be defenseless. If she let her guard down, then she knew they would finish her. She couldn't be finished here—she didn't remember why at the moment, but she knew that she couldn't die in a place like this.
Sharp light flashed off of the kunai she held and momentarily blinded one of her opponents. She took that advantage and lunged forward. Her body moved without the direction of her conscious brain; her legs moved in a complicated pattern of feints and kicks. More blood—that horrid sticky liquid—spilled over her hand. She killed two more of her enemies before her back hit the wall of the cabin.
"Nowhere to go, woman," the white-haired man growled. He spat a glob of spit and blood onto the ground at her feet. "Now come here."
Wild green eyes looked over the men in front of her. They glanced at the bodies on the floor of the cabin—following the trail of dead or dying men and one woman—and stopped at the scene she was trying so hard to escape.
There, against the wall, was a bed with a ragged mattress covered in blood. Near the foot of the bed a red liquid pooled around the outline of an inverted "V"—which revealed the only relatively clean part of the fabric. Leather strips attached to the legs of the bed and it was obvious that whoever lay in that bed last did so against her will. It didn't take much intelligence to figure out who that person was and what they did there.
No, the woman thought. Never again.
She had one more ace up her sleeve and she'd use it to get away. There was no way in hell she'd go back to that wretched corner. The eyes of her adversaries widened when she dropped the kunai and raised her hand in front of her in a one-handed seal. Without shouting out the name of her jutsu, she slowly melted away until blood red rose petals were all that remained.
"That won't work, woman," the white-haired man yelled. He grabbed the rose petals with both hands and threw them at the bed. Coughing came from that corner as her genjutsu disappeared and she rolled over to leave the stinking mattress.
"No," the man said, pushing her down again. "You're mine and you're never going to get away."
A primal scream left her throat as he descended once again.
"NNNOOOOO!"
"Oi! Hinata!"
Hinata paused in her kata at the loud voice, but didn't turn around and didn't stop her movements. Her relationship with other people remained strained at the moment. She wasn't the same person since coming back from Sakura's mission and it showed.
With more and more women entering the Academy and passing the tests, the number of kunoichi under the care of the Code became larger and larger. In fact, some genin teams were beginning to have two females with one male rather than the other way around. Tsunade gave the young Hyuuga more of the burden since she couldn't do so herself and the former head of their secret organization suddenly and unofficially resigned. The stress was getting to her and causing her to isolate herself from her friends and family.
The only person happy with the "new" her was her father.
Ino may have been a better choice with her Intelligence training and the network of spies ready at her fingertips, but she didn't have Hinata's ability to remain hidden in plain sight. Ten-ten may have been better for her business-like attitude and ability to separate herself from her work, but she didn't have Hinata's status in the village. And Sakura couldn't do it because…well because she was the former head of the Code and it's network of safe houses. The only person left was Hinata—and she hated it.
"Hinata!" the voice called again.
The dark-haired Hyuuga sighed and turned around to face her former teammate and current irritant, Kiba and his dog Akamaru. Her voice was quiet, but still retained the slight layer of steel she'd recently acquired.
"Kiba-kun, what brings you here today?"
"We need to talk about the Code, Hinata."
"What code?" Hinata asked. Her voice was frigid with fury and fear. He knows the penalty, she screamed inside her head. Why is he talking about this? Stop before I have to turn you over to ANBU, Kiba-kun!
Kiba frowned at his friend's tone of voice and almost backed down. But the image of his sister this morning flashed through his mind and his resolve returned.
"Drop the act, Hinata. You know what I'm talking about."
"You'll be punished for this," she replied. Hinata felt sick to her stomach, but remained firm. She had to if she was going to continue on as the head of their organization.
"I don't care about the punishment!" Kiba yelled. "Nee-san has been acting weird ever since she came back from that long solo mission. Five months ago she was fine and now she jumps at any little noise and avoids the academy like it was a trash dump or something. She won't look me in the eye and now she won't even consider seeing the man she's been in love with for years! What exactly happened to my sister and what did the flowers in her arrangement mean?"
"She's avoiding men?" Hinata stilled and narrowed her eyes. "And children?"
"Yes!"
This could be a problem, Hinata thought. She glanced back at her friend and frowned. Her heart went out to the young man who obviously loved his sister. An idea formed in the back of her mind—one that would solve her latest behavioral problems as well as give Kiba the information he needed.
"Kiba-kun, I need to ask permission before I tell you anything," she began. "But come back here in an hour and I'll tell you what I can."
"I won't settle for anything less than the truth," the dog-nin said.
"You will settle for whatever I tell you," Hinata shot back. The now familiar frozen feeling entered her voice and her eyes. Another crack appeared on her heart to join the others that appeared since her promotion within the organization. She felt possessed as she stared down her old friend. "And you will be content with what I tell you."
Akamaru whimpered when the Hyuuga disappeared and Kiba petted the large dog on the head.
"I know, Akamaru," Kiba sighed. "I miss the old Hinata, too."
"NNNOOOO!"
The scream woke the woman up from a sound sleep, but she didn't mind so much. The elderly looking lady simply stood up from her desk and walked over to the figure thrashing and shaking in the bed across the room. The mattress barely moved when she sat next to the young woman and gently shook her shoulder.
"Kunoichi-sama," the elderly woman spoke in a calm voice that nonetheless held authority. "Wake up. It is just a dream." Years of experience allowed the elderly lady to quietly move back so that when the younger woman suddenly sat up, their heads wouldn't collide.
"It was a dream," she repeated to the terrified young one. "They can't hurt you here."
Clammy hands came up to push pale pink hair from a wide forehead; bottle green eyes flashed over the room—checking for threats—before resting on the other woman; labored breathing relaxed until it became steady and deep. The younger woman licked dry, cracked lips and spoke in a raspy voice.
"A dream," she echoed. "Only a dream and still I react. It's been a month, Koto-san."
"Some things take time," Koto answered.
"Time," the younger woman sneered. "It always comes back to time. And I don't have enough of it."
"You have all the time in the worl—"
"No I don't!" the younger interrupted. "And don't lie to me and say I do. I have to get over this and get on with my life. I've responsibilities—people who count on me. I must get over this."
"We have offered to remove one of your responsibilities from your shoulders, Kunoichi-sama," Koto gently reminded. "The offer remains."
Pale hands became fists and eyes turned hard with hate at the statement. The kunoichi turned her head and glared at the older woman.
"I have no wish for you to remove that particular responsibility, Koto-san," she snarled. "It is the only thing that gives me the drive to move on."
"As you wish, Kunoichi-sama," Koto patted the sheets next to her and stood up. "The cart is arriving later today. If there are any messages you wish to send to anyone, you can commission a basket at noon."
The kunoichi watched the elderly woman leave the room and thumped down onto her bed. The strain of getting up wore on her mind, although her body was perfectly healthy. A familiar fluttering in her belly reminded her that she needed to eat soon and a small smile covered her face.
I'll beat this, she thought. I will.
"Tsunade-sama," Hinata called from the doorway. She hated bothering the older woman, but Kiba wouldn't wait forever. "I must speak to you about Inuzuka Hana and her situation."
Tsunade looked away from the annoyed blue eyes in front of her and focused on Hinata. The younger woman blushed when she realized whose meeting she just interrupted. Kakashi and Sasuke nodded in acknowledgement of her presence while Naruto gave her a wan smile. Hinata's heart ached at that smile since it paled in comparison to the other ones he used to give her.
"Is it truly important, Hinata?" the Godaime asked.
"Yes, Hokage-sama," Hinata forced herself to dismiss the others from her mind and only looked at Tsunade.
"You three may go," the blonde woman ordered. "And I don't want to hear anymore about going after Sakura."
"But Baa-chan…"
"Enough!" Tsunade roared. "She's safe and she is away from this village of her own free will. Sakura is using this time away from Konoha to good use and is on an extended mission to learn about the poisons found on this continent. This is at the request of the Council and she's the most qualified person to do this assignment. She can't complain about it, so neither can you."
The blonde man grumbled for a bit, but left along with both Sharingan wielders. Hinata didn't wait for the door to slam shut fully before she rested her hands on Tsunade's desk and leaned forward.
"We need to adjust the Code and enlarge the number of moderators in it," she announced. Her pale eyes flashed as her suppressed stress began to push through. "Hana-san isn't as healed as the therapists indicated and she's not the only kunoichi who is suffering."
"Hinata," Tsunade stared at the almost frantic woman in front of her. "This isn't like you."
"Of course this isn't like me!" Hinata yelled. She ran shaking hands through her long hair and pulled the midnight-blue strands away from her face. "Tsunade-sama, I'm not cut out for this…all of the lies and deceit; all of the stress and knowing everyone's secrets is changing me and I don't like it. Sakura was much better than me about dealing with the stresses of this job. I just can't keep sending those bouquets and then seeing what happens to the women when the treatments don't work."
The Hyuuga was hanging onto her sanity by a few threads and Tsunade knew that soon she might have to create a bouquet for the woman in front of her. The Hokage brought her hands to rest under her chin and stared at Hinata for a long moment. Although part of her wished to reach out and comfort the other woman, the part of her that acted as the leader of her village would not allow her to do so. There was no trace of helplessness in her voice when she spoke next, but it was there in her honey-brown eyes.
"What do you suggest, Hinata?" Tsunade asked. "There is no one else I can trust with this. The Council doesn't pay for our little organization within the shinobi ranks so I can't hire someone to do this for you. Ino and Ten-ten aren't capable of handling this responsibility as well as juggling their own."
"I know! I know, but neither am I. Godaime-sama, I want to be me again," Hinata pleaded. "I'm sick of acting tough and aggressive. I've pulled rank on three more missions since Sakura went missing and each time my teammates found it very strange that I would do so. People will start to get suspicious and that will put more of our women in jeopardy."
"I understand your position, Hinata," Tsunade murmured. "But frankly, the change in your attitude lately is just what a kunoichi is supposed to be. There've been no complaints about your job performance and your mission success rate is noticeably higher."
"I don't care if they're higher."
The younger woman seemed to fold in on herself as she collapsed onto the chair behind her. A shaking hand went up to push the hair out of her eyes and rested against her forehead. Leaning her elbow on the armrest, Hinata looked at her leader with pleading eyes.
"I want to be me again," Hinata whispered. "I want to be the quiet girl who gets to sit next to Naruto when he's eating ramen. I want to sit down and press flowers into my scrapbook without remembering that the last bunch I sent off sentenced a woman to solitary confinement. I want to be me again."
Tsunade's eyes softened as the young woman broke down in tears—cradling her aching head in her hands.
"Godaime-sama," she sobbed. "I'm sick of trying to be Sakura."
A/N:
Should I end it there? I think I'll end it there.
Yay! Writing funk over with and now I'm writing a lot. I have the next three chapters outlined and ready for fleshing out. Whoo-hoo!
Thanks for the reviews guys. I know several of you were concerned over Hinata's…um…aggressiveness in the past two chapters, but it's all part of the story, don't worry. It's been almost 10 years since the series began and everyone changes when they get put in a new job with new stresses.
I imagine that any job involving protecting other people—with the high chance of having to hurt someone to do it—will change anyone's personality. Especially when you get put in a high-ranking position on really short notice. That's my reasoning for Hinata's OOC-ness.
As for the flower code…I'm glad I've got so many of you guessing! It makes my writer's heart proud that I can do that.
But here's a hint:
It has almost nothing to do with the "traditional" symbolic meanings of different flowers.
Sorry, riverbreeze…