It's about time,lolz, chapter 11

Naruto and all characters © Masashi Kishimoto, okays

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"Looks like we just might finally have an assignment for you, Miss Uchiha."

"Huh." Hinata jumped up from her bed, tired and startled by Kisame's sudden appearance. He walked boldly around the bed and leaned frighteningly close to her face.

"You know, if I was still your enemy, I could've easily entertained myself by killing you in plenty of interesting ways right about now." Kisame said with a grin and a chuckle. Hinata rolled her eyes and slumped to the floor, still trying to get over the unpleasant shock of waking up to find a blue, shark faced killing machine smirking over her and trying her hardest not to make herself sick by imagining him shredding her to pieces just for the fun of it.

"What in the world is it?" She asked, while staring coolly at him and trying to do her best bored and uncaring Itachi imitation.

"Hmph." Kisame stared back at her, which made her even more tense.

"Trying to act all superior and princess-like while still in your underwear, eh? You stuck-up kekkei genkai types always have the biggest egos. You and Itachi are a good match, did you ever think of that? Even if you two are supposedly related."

Hinata began to blush furiously and quickly threw a blanket over herself.

"Much better, humility looks better on you than pride does" Kisame said with cocky satisfaction in his voice. "Anyways basically we'll finally be putting those sweet feminine charms of yours and gifted tracking skills to good use. I'll let Itachi tell you more about it when you're properly dressed." With those words he finally left the room. Hinata let out a relieved sigh and started to stretch. What was up with that? She thought to herself.

Sure, she felt grateful that Itachi was respectful enough to get her a room of her own at the inn where they were currently staying at in Wave Country, but didn't that give her a right to some privacy rather than having to worry about waking up to someone standing over her like in some sort of cliché horror movie? And what was it that Kisame had called her? Miss Uchiha?

Hinata tried in vain to swallow a frustrated scream that was threatening to burst out. Uchiha indeed. Some sort of Uchiha I ended up being, she thought caustically. She wasn't an Uchiha anymore, much as she wished she still was. She was just plain old miss Hyuuga again. As Mrs. Uchiha, she was considered by everyone to be a lucky and respected woman with a bright future ahead of her. As miss Hyuuga, she was considered to be a frightened little girl who liked to hide and run away. Perhaps I should use my "sweet feminine charms" on Itachi and get him to marry me, so that I can take on that name once again, she thought to herself only half sarcastically. Absolutely anything seemed worth becoming Mrs. Uchiha once again.8888888

Hinata found Itachi and Kisame outside waiting for her. They were shamelessly easy to find dressed as they were in full Akatsuki garb. She wondered why Akatsuki members didn't bother with trying to hide themselves by wearing something a little less obvious from time to time. Maybe it was out of pride or bravado, she thought while picking up her pace; or out of a desire to cause people to fear them. Well, they've certainly been successful at that, she thought to herself. Luckily, she hadn't been forced to dress like them yet, but she did have to wear mostly black or red when on missions with them, so that she'd be in their view at all times, even if she somehow managed to slip away.

It was awkward for her. Red had never suited her. She was used to wearing softer colors. She wasn't used to appearing so bold. What kind of girl must people think I am, traveling everywhere with those two? She wondered as she approached them. Certainly not a good girl, she was sure of that.

"Has Kisame been bothering you lately?" Itachi asked, his voice showing that he didn't really care either way while Kisame wore his usual smirk.

"Nn…not really, why?" She answered, caught off guard.

Itachi gave an annoyed stare at her stutter, which she ignored.

"Because you won't need to worry about him or even me for awhile," he said.

Hinata's eyes opened wide and she clenched her teeth to keep her jaw from dropping also. Were they going to leave her alone? That would be too good to imagine. It made things way, way too easy for her.

"Don't think even for one second that we're letting you go or even leaving you alone here," Itachi said, breaking into Hinata's thoughts and seeming to know her mind as usual, which made her feel exposed and uncomfortable. Hinata hated the way that Itachi seemed to know her more than anyone else ever did without even trying.

"Unless you want to be killed here and now, or be sent back to Konoha to be interrogated and tortured by that Ibiki, then you'd best forget about any escape plans," he continued.

Hinata's face went scarlet. "There are no escape plans," she answered in her most innocent tone of voice, but Itachi still appeared to be doubtful. He took her by the arm and led her further away from the curious gazes of any onlookers who might've been watching.

"Very well then, because what we have in mind for you is probably more difficult and of greater importance than any of the C and D ranked missions that your Hokage most likely entrusted you with," he explained coldly. Hinata looked down at the dirt and clenched her fists in frustration. Itachi also had a way of hitting her where it hurt the most.

It was a fact that in most missions in the past, Hinata had only been useful for her Byakugan, and Tsunade had known it. Even after she had worked herself to near death to earn her Chunin title, she was still often treated like a genin by her peers. Marrying Sasuke hadn't helped at all, as she was then treated as though her only purpose in life was to bring new Uchiha children into the world. Sadly, due to Hinata's fragile and shaky health, even that simple purpose had been too difficult for her to achieve, making her feel especially useless. Perhaps things would've been different if I had given Sasuke a child, she thought despondently.

Hinata sighed and looked away. It was too late for regrets and musings about the past now. It was thoughts like those that made her feel almost grateful to be free from her village and all of its expectations of who and what she should live her life like. Itachi took her chin into his hand and tilted her head back so that she was looking into his eyes once more while giving her a stare that effectively warned her to not get distracted again.

"Our leader's got quite an interesting list of possible Akatsuki recruits and underlings in the surrounding villages. Kisame and I will be busy with missions of our own, and our leader wouldn't want us to seem so desperate as to be trying to convince or force others to join us. Such methods may have worked in the past, but they would only seem pathetic now."

As if kidnapping your little brother's ex to take along with you on your more boring missions isn't pathetic enough already, Hinata thought scornfully.

"You get where this is leading, don't you?" Itachi asked as Hinata realized with some panic that she had stopped listening once again. "N…no I don't, she said, blushing. Damn it, a blush and a stutter all in one day, I thought I was over such childish behavior, she thought, disappointed with herself.

Itachi looked amused. "Surely you're not that slow. You are a woman, and therefore less intimidating and less likely to arouse suspicion. Most men would be willing to talk to you, rather than foolishly attack you or run away from you at first glance, as they would with us." Itachi made sure that he had Hinata's full attention before he continued.

"So, your job is to get close to them, seem as normal and innocent as possible before letting them in on the fact that they are wanted by Akatsuki. Make it sound as appealing as possible. Make them want to follow you, and then we'll deal with them afterwards." He made it sound as if it were the easiest job in the world. Hinata stood with her mouth open for awhile as Itachi and Kisame just stared expectantly at her; the oddly optimistic sound of birdsong being the only sound penetrating the awkward silence.

Finally, Hinata spoke up. "W…wait a minute. For Akatsuki to possibly be interested in these men; that means that they must be criminals."

"Well, that's obvious." Kisame said while looking at her as if she were the stupidest woman whom he had ever met, but Hinata kept on.

"Not only that, but they're probably highly skilled criminals with..."she looked shyly up at Itachi and Kisame, nervous about saying what she wanted to next.

"With"…Itachi said, prompting her to finish her statement.

She gave a nervous swallow before loudly speaking. "With bizarre and twisted minds. They're probably madmen who would do unspeakable things to me and kill me before they listened to a word that I had to say. This idea is…is…"

Hinata struggled to find the right words to say. "It's suicide, your trying to get me killed! I refuse!" She shouted.

Itachi smiled, a knowing, arrogant smile that sent shivers of dread running through her whole entire body. He slowly walked closer to her, and Kisame gave her a look that clearly seemed to say, "boy, are you in for it now."

"Stupid girl," Itachi whispered. "I don't need to 'try' to kill you. I could kill you with no blood spilled right at this instant. Anyone who found you would simply believe you dropped dead of a heart attack or something of the sort. You do have a weak heart after all, don't you?" He asked while stroking his fingers in circles round her chest.

Hinata felt completely frozen to the spot where she stood, trying to figure out a possible escape from this humiliation. Anger and loathing were starting to bubble up in her chest where his fingers were still slowly circling, as though he were purposely trying to make her as uncomfortable as possible in order to break her will.

I may indeed have a weak heart, but Itachi has a weakness also, his eyes. Hinata remembered with a flicker of hope. If I could possibly sever the flow of chakra there quick enough, perhaps I could blind him and get away. With that thought, she started to activate her Byakugan, but Itachi beat her to it, activating his sharingan first and attempting to trap her in a genjutsu.

Oh God, no! Hinata thought as darkness suddenly replaced the bright summer morning and she felt herself being pulled into another reality; knowing that she could face hours, maybe days, of punishment for refusing him, all in a matter of minutes. Her body then started to shake uncontrollably.

"A shinobi never refuses those in charge of them, always remember that." Hinata looked around in a panic but she couldn't even see Itachi. She screamed, but out of outrage and anger rather than from fear. She bit her bottom lip as hard as she possibly could, hoping that the sharp, intense pain would free her from the illusion.

I'm not living in the Hyuuga main house anymore, I'm no longer a child, she thought. So I shouldn't have to take punishments like one. She shut her eyes tightly and bit harder.

When she blinked once again, she was back outside of the inn. She heaved a deep sigh of relief, and it was then that she realized that blood was slowly dripping down from her lower lip. Suddenly dizzy, she began to collapse, but Itachi quickly held her up. As she started to regain her strength, she realized that Kisame was gone, and Itachi was standing there leaning against a tree as casually as if nothing at all had just happened in the last couple minutes. Such a two- sided personality, thought Hinata.

"Where is…," she began to ask, but Itachi held a finger to her lips to silence her. As he did so, the scarlet color spread throughout her lips, so that her mouth looked alluringly painted, like a geisha's.

"Beautiful," he whispered before unexpectedly overwhelming her with a kiss. What a strange method of punishment, thought Hinata, as she gasped for breath while slipping in and out of consciousness. 888888888

The summer sun was beating down oppressively over Sasuke as he panted and wiped the sweat from his face.

"Too much for you?" Naruto asked him; mischievously giggling in that especially annoying way that only he knew how.

"No." Sasuke grunted coldly while giving him a hard look. Truth be told, he had been planning to spend the whole day lying lazily in bed, but when Naruto invited him over for a quick spar, he couldn't resist. He figured that beating the hell out of the lively blonde might be a good way to kill an afternoon and that Naruto would make the best kind of target to vent his frustrations out on.

Naruto has dreams and a future to look forward to, he thought as he aimed a violent blow to Naruto's face, which he carefully dodged. He has Sakura by his side, he thought as he pushed Naruto hard onto the dirt.

When the two had first formed a friendship, Naruto had nothing, while everyone assumed that Sasuke would one day have everything a shinobi could ever wish for. The tables had definitely been turned with time, Sasuke realized with an agonizing pang of jealousy.

While he was being distracted by his thoughts, Naruto had quickly gained an upper hand in their fight. He looked down pensively as Sasuke got up and brushed away the dirt clinging to his clothes.

"Let's take a break." Naruto said loudly, as if Sasuke were standing ten feet away from him, though he might as well have been, mentally.

He gave a small nod in reply, and Naruto led him over toward a place to sit.

"You know, Sasuke, you don't even really 'try' anymore. I think that you're seriously lacking in motivation these days." Naruto waited for a reply, but Sasuke only looked away. What, am I Shikamaru now? He thought; annoyed.

"If you were just a little more motivated, I think that no one else would even be able to touch you, except for me of course." Sasuke gave Naruto a hard, stony glance before again looking away. That just didn't sound right, Sasuke thought, getting even more annoyed as Naruto continued on with his pesky giggle yet again, but Naruto's face turned surprisingly serious within a matter of seconds.

"You know," he said looking down while kicking at the dirt. "I loved her too." He didn't even have to say her name. Sasuke knew who he meant. And he didn't want to have to hear another second of it. He got up and began walking away, hoping that Naruto would get the hint and just leave him the hell alone for once.

He didn't of course, and was quickly by Sasuke's side once again. Is he going to try and remind me? Sasuke wondered almost fearfully. About how they were happy together, he and Hinata, before her father broke them apart because of me? About how her whole life would've gone perfectly if I had never barged back into the picture? The way that Sakura and his life together is going perfectly right about now? Well, I'm not going to listen to any of it, he decided. I've heard enough from Kiba and Neji as it is. I'll kill him first.

"Why are you being so paranoid, Sasuke, I'm not trying to preach at you or anything." Naruto was now standing in front of Sasuke with a pleading, puppy dog kind of expression on his face. Damn you, Sasuke thought, wondering what Naruto would think of him if he had known how things had really ended between him and Hinata.

"Then hurry up and say what it is that you want to say," he snapped back in an icy tone of voice.

"What I'm trying to say is…well…that what happened to her, it doesn't have to be for nothing. That is…your motivation." Naruto was nervously stumbling over his words in an effort to find the right thing to say.

"How can she be my motivation if she's dead," Sasuke said in a much colder voice than he had expected to. Naruto's face fell instantly. Damn it, Sasuke thought. Does everybody mourn her more than I do? Is that even possible?

"What I mean, Sasuke, is that we can make sure that what happened to her doesn't happen to anyone else ever again in Konoha or in any other village. You especially should be able to understand that. Your father was in Konoha's police force, wasn't he?"

How many dead people was Naruto planning to bring up in one day, Sasuke wondered; growing more and more impatient.

"You're too idealistic for your own good, Naruto. Even if the security of Konoha is increased , how on earth do you expect to get in on the other villages' business?" Sasuke answered.

Naruto broke into an exuberant smile. "I thought you'd never ask. Tsunade has this new mission for us…"

Oh God, this is what he was trying to get at all along. Sasuke realized.

"…we're working with some of the other villages in an effort to stop a possible Akatsuki revival by hunting down possible recruits before Akatsuki can get to them and then possibly luring them…"

Sasuke seemed to spring to life at the mention of Akatsuki, even though he still didn't see what any of it had to do with Hinata.

"Go on." He ordered now that he was finally interested.

"Kiba will be coming along, and possibly Neji," Naruto continued. Ah, the two people I would just love to see most right now, Sasuke thought sarcastically.

"So what do you think? It will be just like old times." Naruto said, his face full of hope. Sasuke turned towards him.

"I'll think about it," he said before finally escaping.

END OF CHAP. 11

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-ducks under my chair- I'm SOOO sorry that I haven't updated in a month but I had started to run out of ideas so I decided to take a short break but I made up for it by making this one twice as long as most of the other ones.; I wish that it were more exciting or something though but at least it looks like Sasuke and Hinata might possibly run into each other soon. So yay.

But yeah, I wrote most of it while I was half asleep (please excuse any typos-faints-) so that's why it's kinda…I dunno, weird. Like…

ME: Oh my gosh, Itachi! Get your hands off Hinata-chan's chest!

Itachi: But I can't help myself.

ME: WHA!!! -chases him around with a fan-

Review as always, luvs. I missed reading all your reviews, even the not so good ones, lolz XD