"Welcome to Suna indeed," Itachi worded once he entered Yugao's assigned apartment. He eyed the purple-haired kunoichi and mentioned, "I found two poorly hidden microphones in my complex, Hinata had none and neither did Asura."
"I didn't have any either," she almost dared him to check for himself. She was angry and bitter memories kept teasing her mind ever since she saw just one fleck of sand a couple days ago. Suna was difficult to get to, that was why it made for the perfect place to blend in for their mission. She still didn't have to like it. She was a kunoichi, she would see this mission through to the very end. So what if she had to harness her violent urges when it came to that man.
"I see," he said, more to himself than anyone else, "I assume a few shinobi are interested in knowing if I am truly loyal to Leaf, and in part, loyal to the Sand."
"Will you report it?"
Itachi glanced at Yugao again and told her, "I will let them draw their own conclusions."
She nodded once, rather firmly, and turned her attention away from the Uchiha and his rather commanding presence. They were still waiting for Hinata and Asura to clean up Akina and join them. Conversations needed to be had.
"Would you like some tea?" his calm voice asked politely.
Yugao closed her eyes and mentally counted to four before re-opening them. The Uchiha man was certainly making himself at home, now wasn't he? She ignored him and instead decided to stare at the plain tan walls of the apartment. There were three rooms in each of the four apartments; a place to sleep, a place to shower, and a combined place to eat and relax. The four apartments were lined up next to each other on the ground floor, Itachi and Yugao had agreed, rather silently, on the order on which they would take the rooms. From left to right, it went Itachi, Hinata, Asura, and then Yugao.
"Here, this will help with your headache," Itachi handed her a cup of piping hot tea.
It took her a few seconds, but eventually her hand reached out and clasped the tea, sniffing it as she did so. Yugao wouldn't put it past him to try and kill her. "I don't have a headache," she said automatically. Her eyes were strained, but her actual head did not hurt. Besides, she was a kunoichi, she could lie if she wanted to.
The silence lingered, as usual, between the two ninja's on assignment. What the hell was taking the civilians so long?
-SoP-
"You a-are sure of this?" Hinata asked as she patted Akina on the back to burp her.
Asura nodded grimly, "I would have never known had it not been for Dr. Senju; er I mean Lady Hokage, sharing his medical file with me. I think her aim is to see if we can attempt to cure him, or at least give it our best effort."
Hinata shook her head twice side to side, "The b-blind part I can under-understand," she blushed at the memories of helping clear Sasuke's vision, "b-but the cancer, has he b-been receiving any treatment?"
Asura stared down her young apprentice, "What do you mean you understand the blindness?"
The Hyuuga's cheeks reddened further and stuttered even worse through her response, "I-I-I healed Sasuke's eyes before. His blood-bloodline caused his vis-vision to get worse."
"Alright," Asura tried to smile at her, "calm down Hinata. I know you had a slight stutter, but why has it gotten so much worse?"
"I-I'm sorry," was all she could say, looking down at the wooden floor of apartment.
Asura knew she had to take her time with Hanabi's older sister, the two girls were honestly nothing alike. Oh, how she missed her son and daughter-in-law. And her husband too, even though they had been drifting further and further apart, she still loved the man. And with her own twin and father gone…it was all just too much to think about. All she had left was the miracle baby known as Akina, she was her only family left.
No, that wasn't true was it?
That Kurenai woman was carrying Asuma's child within her. Even though she had never met her before, she was giving her a semblance of her brother back. And she couldn't forget about Hinata now too, though they weren't as close as she'd like them to be. There was a connection there though, a bond strengthened through the understanding pain of loss. They were friends, of course, but Asura hoped to truly get to know the shy Hyuuga.
"So w-what should we do about Itachi?"
The elder doctor pursed her lips for a moment, "We need to assess him. I am no oncologist, but according to these records, his cancer was in the beginning stages."
Hinata frowned, "I still have a-a hard time believing that he's sick, I never w-would have noticed until it was too late."
Asura nodded, "Me too, but Lady Tsunade gave me a copy of his chart for a reason, though its far from complete. We'll get him alone and talk to him about it; something tells me that this is going to be difficult."
-SoP-
"Captain Hyuuga, this is Inuzuka reporting in, do you copy?" the man whispered.
Neji spoke into the hands-free wire, "Go ahead Inuzuka." They were surrounded by thick wood, moving in on their targeted location swiftly. The air was thick with the dense forest surrounding the two Anbu teams.
"I have movement sixty feet from my north, I don't think I've been spotted."
"Keep low, Nara's squad will be coming from the west, make sure you don't give away your position," the captain advised sternly.
"Copy," came the whispered audio feed.
Neji stealthily moved forward until he was forced to climb down from the trees and tread the earth carefully. The reported hide-out was supposedly 50 miles ahead of their current location, but he wasn't surprised that they were already running into interference. He; however, was more than ready for an encounter with the enemy. Neji was quite looking forward to meeting Sasuke on the battlefield, the man who all but destroyed his home life.
It seemed ten minutes later that he heard from Uzumaki, "Hey Neji, I just spotted someone thirty feet south from me," Naruto's booming voice sounded in his ears.
They weren't surrounded were they? There was no way the enemy knew they were coming, then again, the leader of Sound, Orochimaru, wasn't a feared man for nothing. But now that even Naruto had spotted someone…wait. Neji stopped short and calculated the likelihood of it all. No, it couldn't be could it? He sighed, of course it could be. "Uzumaki, hold your position and tell me exactly what you see and when you see it."
"Got it."
"Okay, Inuzuka, transform into a tree with purple leaves and remain there until I say so."
"Copy that Captain," Kiba mouthed hesitantly yet quietly all the same.
He took in a deep breath, "Naruto, tell me what you see."
"I see the forest, duh. Oh wow, I've never seen such a cool tree before! It's twenty feet to my south, believe it!" Neji pinched the upper portion of his nose and caught up to Inuzuka just as Nara and his squad entered the same clearing. "Uh, Neji I can see you. Watch out, you are right where I saw someone earlier!"
Shikamaru smirked at Neji just as the Hyuuga Captain had Kiba release the transformation.
"Kiba!?" Naruto yelled out, "That was you the whole time?"
The Hyuuga Anbu Captain nearly rolled his eyes at the blonde's performance in ninja abilities. The man was a genius when it came to battle, but he really needed work on his stealth. Neji's patience was thin as he whispered harshly, "Silence Uzumaki! We are on a mission, lower your voice!"
"Hmph, you don't have to yell," the powerful blonde pouted.
"Let's regroup," Shikamaru said with a yawn.
Hyuuga nodded, "My byakugan can see the building, but I can't make out any activity inside, Inuzuka reported earlier that he couldn't sniff out a trace of anything recent. What did your team find?"
Nara nodded, "We did a perimeter check but everything is quiet so far." Already the cognitive wheels of his mind were spinning. The elite shogi player just had a feeling that this mission was going to be a failure. In more than one way.
Neji contemplated everything they knew so far and stated, "Do we stick with the original plan then? Surround the hideout and close in on all directions?" He too had an ill-fated feeling in regards to this mission. Even though he was anxious to meet up with the man who betrayed him and Konoha…betrayed his innocent cousin…he had to make sure he was on top of his game.
"It might be best if we team up in pairs of two, stand back to back and survey the area as we move in. That way we have a chance to call for back-up in case we run into some trouble. I'm surprised we haven't run into any traps yet, other than Naruto's disorientation, but I bet the hide-out itself will be one trap after another."
"More than likely," Kiba agreed.
"I wasn't disoriented, I just forgot where Inuzuka was!"
"Quiet Naruto," Shikamaru complained with a frown, a thought had taken root and was bothering him.
Hyuuga nodded, "Pair up and let's move out. Uzumaki, you're with me."
Neji and Shikamaru shared a glance before departing and the Byakugan-weilder recognized the shared look for what it was. A warning. Something wasn't right here, he could feel it. They were prepared to fight for their lives, as they were for every mission. Still, there was just a sense of foreboding that seemed to punch him in the gut. His light, grayish eyes sought out the brilliant blue hues of Naruto and with a nod they set out to take their place, moving in slow and careful steps. Just as the instinct that danger was present crept down his well-trained shinobi spine.
-SoP-
It was about time, Yugao thought to herself as the good Dr. Sarutobi and her young ward finally graced them with their presence. The infant was wide awake and laughing unabashedly at something Hinata was doing to her. The sight warranted a smile but the kunoichi held the emotion back. Her own behavior in recent months has surprised herself into giving the mission her all. Somehow, some way, caring for the Hyuuga girl took root. It was like she wasn't just another client to protect, or just some other random civilian that couldn't find their way out of a jam. Hinata was different. Hinata was…Yugao was still trying to figure Hinata Hyuuga out. If anything, Hinata Hyuuga was made for being a mother. She was kind and compassionate and stubborn enough to raise the child with a firm yet gentle hand.
Her shadowed grey eyes turned towards her male counterpart of this mission. Itachi wasted little to no time making himself at home in her own assigned quarters. He made tea for the both of them and then proceeded to make himself quite comfortable on the small couch and turned on the old television that was pre-furnished in the room.
Suppressing a sigh, Yugao had eventually joined him there, sitting as far away as possible. She was an excellent observer, one of the best even, but she was having a hard time getting a read out of him. He was a cold, emotionless mask of a man. Sure, that much she knew. And it made sense to her how he was so jaded. Murdering your entire family save one little brother could do that to a man. Then the man further served his country by spying on the uprising Akatsuki organization only to return and have your sole living relative shipped off to perform mission impossible. Yes, he had been through a lot early on in his ninja career, and she probably didn't even know the half of it. It bothered her how the old and now the new Hokage trusted him implicitly, and when she voiced her concern she was immediately shut down. How did the Lady Hokage state it? Oh right, something along the lines of "When a ninja loses his life while fighting for his country, we call him a hero. But when a ninja sacrifices everything except his own life in order to maintain peace, we call them a traitor." It just didn't make any sense at all how he could just be welcomed back into Konoha's arms after everything he'd done. She knew all about sacrifice, to hell with anyone who thought she didn't have a clue.
"Sorry we t-took so long," Hinata said, completely breaking Yugao out of her thoughts, "Akina needed to be f-fed."
"Worry not little sister," Itachi commented back to her, his voice smooth and calm as always, "did you eat as well?"
Hinata blushed at the inquisition, "I d-did," it was embarrassing how other people made sure she ate. "Um, wh-when will Kenta be here?" She felt so lost without her beloved dog.
Yugao eyed the shorter woman, wondering why her stutter had come back so fiercely, "He's been in Suna for two days now, we can collect him from the veterinarian's office whenever you are ready for him." Then again, Yugao thought to herself, the girl had been through a lot recently. Losing her sister, her best friend joining the army, her cousin leaving, her boyfriend leaving her and everyone else behind, caring for her sister's child all the while finding out she was pregnant herself. Perhaps her old habit of stuttering profusely was a way in sheltering herself.
"We will get the mutt tomorrow," Itachi intervened, "we must speak this night."
Asura nodded once, "We do. I know you both were wondering why I was so delayed to meet you before our trip here. I was meeting with the Lady Hokage, she has tasked me with reviewing some medical files," at this point her eyes bored into the unseeing eyes of Uchiha, "and asked me to deliver this scroll to our shinobi protectors."
Wordlessly Yugao took said scroll and opened it while Itachi merely stood there with his expression just as blank as his vision. She read it silently before her eyes widened just a fraction and her gaze snapped up to the crimson red gaze of the Uchiha. Lymphoma?
"Hinata?" Asura encouraged.
"I-Itachi, um," she started out with a nervous gulp, "I-I healed S-Sas," her eyes closed in pain as her body started to tremble, "I healed S-Sasuke's…Sasuke's eyes before. If you would allow me, I can l-look at yours as well and see if the damage is r-reparable."
For a long moment, no one said anything. Itachi didn't respond, and eventually it was Asura who continued on. Now that Yugao had been updated on the severity of Itachi's condition, the matter took a serious turn.
"I am not an oncologist," Asura admitted in an usually quiet voice, "and unfortunately Suna is not as advanced as Konoha when it comes to treatment options. But I will make sure that you have the best options available to you, depending on the stage of the disease, the outcome can be quite favorable if…"
"No, thank you."
Three pair of shocked eyes snapped up at him, yet his own gaze remained the same. So devoid of emotions it was almost sickening. And that was when Yugao began to understand, just a glimmer of the pain the man was constantly in. He had done so much, hurt so many, he felt he didn't deserve the chance to live. Part of Yugao agreed with the traitor, that he didn't deserve the life he breathed, and yet part of her…part of her didn't understand, and she knew she didn't want to understand.
She had her own battles to face; battles such as keeping her inner peace intact while she lived and breathed in the tortuous Sunagakure air. The same air the shinobi who killed her fiancé took into his lungs. Just the thought burned.