The next morning Hinata said goodbye to Anko and headed out to the library. She looked up books on chakra and its effects on cells, tissues, blood, and sinews of the body. She flipped through them and hissed through her teeth. This was definitely over her head.
Hinata grabbed a medical dictionary and went back to her work space. She decided to break it up into smaller problems. That was a common way for medic nin to start their healing. Start with the most basic problem and then progressively become more complicated. What was the first problem?
Hinata would have to fuse the bone of the new arm to Deidara's body. If she were lucky, Deidara's arm would have been removed from its socket, and Hinata could pop the new bone into the socket and start from there.
She swiped a few more books on the skeleton and dove in.
"Let me have a look at your arm," Hinata said, putting down the last thick volume Deidara had given to her. It was well past three a.m. He removed his cloak and Hinata took off the bandages wrapped around it. "They really did a number on you. Who was it?" Deidara shrugged. "Right, never mind. Don't tell me."
"Ne, Hinata-chan, not that it's my business- you're helping me, after all- but, are you still in the Akatsuki?" he asked. Hinata activated her Byakugan.
"I call it a leave of absence."
"I'm not leaving the Akatsuki," Hinata said, "but I'm not leaving Konoha either." Deidara nodded, and Hinata started to bandage up his shoulders again. "Why... why didn't anyone come to Konoha to rescue me?" Hinata asked. "If you had come in my first week of being here..."
"Leader-sama's orders. If one of us is weak enough to get caught, we aren't worthy enough of Akatsuki in the first place. I was on a mission; I didn't even know until later. I'm sorry, Hinata-chan."
Hinata looked down. "I understand."
"So... do you like it here?" Deidara asked.
"Yeah," Hinata said. "My partner here would be recruitment material for the Akatsuki if she wasn't so loyal to Konoha."
"Oh?"
"She's powerful, finds a sadistic pleasure in giving other people pain, and her job is to mess with people's minds."
"That does fit the requirements," Deidara snickered.
Hinata grinned. "That's it for now. Come check on my progress in two weeks. The Akatsuki don't know you're here, I take it?"
"No."
"Better be off, then. Don't want to be caught by either Konoha or Akatsuki," Hinata said. Deidara raised his eyebrows.
"Afraid to be caught with your forbidden love?" he asked.
"I'll take out another limb," Hinata said. Deidara laughed and jumped out the window. Hinata leaned against the wall with a smile on her face as she watched him fly away.
Hinata threw herself into medical terminology and the study of the body. Sasori's notes were invaluable to her. She liked reading the notes, too. She felt closer to her friend when she understood the concepts he explained on paper.
One scroll explained Kakuzu's immortality technique in detail. Hinata could probably sew the arm on to Deidara's body, but how would he control the arm? Could he form chakra strings inside his body to move the tendons? Would that stimulate the chakra reservoirs in the arms so he could still form seals?
Hinata started writing her own notes, scratching out whole pages when she found a flaw that should have been obvious from the beginning. A few theories seemed to be holding up thus far, but they were incomplete.
The two-week mark was only a few days away. Hinata still didn't feel confident enough about any of the theories to actually attempt a fusion. There were still too many unknown factors to make a fusion successful.
"Knock knock," A voice said from the window. Hinata didn't even look up from the book she was studying.
"What do you need, Anko-san?"
"Want to go get some dango?"
"Sorry, I'm busy," Hinata said.
"Can I help with anything?"
"Not unless you know a jutsu to bring back the dead," Hinata murmured.
Anko slammed Hinata to the ground and pulled a kunai to her neck. "What is wrong with you?" Anko said. "You've been disappearing for days. You only show up to our morning workout, and even then your mind is always on something else. You've shut yourself off from the world, and now you're asking about bringing back the dead. Do you know who you sound like?"
Hinata massaged her eye with a palm, ignoring the kunai at her throat. "I'm sorry."
"What is going on, Hinata?" Anko asked, putting the kunai away and pushing off of her. Hinata sat up and rested her head against the wall. How much should she tell Anko?
"I'm not trying to bring someone back from the dead, or discover immortality. I'm working on a new jutsu, and it's really important."
"I've seen you learn a new jutsu, Hinata. You weren't this obsessed."
"This is a different kind of jutsu."
Anko gave her a flat look. "Let me in, Hinata." Anko wasn't buying it, and at this point Hinata couldn't think of a convincing lie. It was time to either dismiss Anko or admit everything. Hinata sighed.
"I have a friend who kind of got his arms blown off," she said. "I'm trying to figure out a way to reattach his arms so he can still move them and form seals and such." Anko's eyes narrowed.
"One would assume this friend is a member of the Akatsuki?"
"Pretty much."
"Hinata, what will I ever do with you?"
"Buy dango with me."
Anko smirked. "That can be arranged." Anko and Hinata started their walk to the dango place. "You do realize you're supposed to be discovering the Will of Fire, right?"
"I'm supposed to discover an abstract concept that will lead me to abandon all of my individual ideas and bind me to the village forever. Forgive me for focusing my attention on something else." Hinata wondered when she had grown such a blunt attitude. Blame it on outside influences.
Anko laughed. "Yeah, I don't really know what Tsunade-sama is thinking either."
On the way to the dango store, Hinata saw two people and almost stumbled. Her father and Hanabi were walking towards them from the opposite direction. Hinata's heart skipped a beat.
She turned back to Anko, determined to ignore them. "So, you'll help me, then?" Hinata asked.
"Huh? I'm no medic nin. But, sure, what the heck? Call me and I'll be there." Hinata grinned.
"H-Hinata?" Hanabi asked. Really? Hinata had hoped they would ignore her; she should've known better. That was the bad thing about returning to Konoha. She had to face all the people that she would really rather never see again.
Why wasn't she still a missing nin?
"Hello, Hyuuga Hanabi-san, and Hyuuga Hiashi-san," Hinata nodded politely. She moved to brush past them.
"How are you?" Hanabi asked.
"I'm doing well. And yourself?"
"Fine." Hanabi looked like she wanted to say something more. "Have... have you thought about rejoining the clan?"
"No. I am Shintsuki Hinata, and I am my own shinobi." Hanabi nodded.
"You should reconsider," Hiashi said. When Hinata looked at him, she could only see him telling her she was a worthless shinobi and daughter. Look how easily he had changed his mind.
"What, afraid I'll give my eyes away to Konoha's enemies?" Hinata snorted. She shook her head. "Or am I strong enough to make your clan look pathetic without me? Or maybe, you see me as a threat to the clan?" She smiled.
"Hinata-" Hanabi tried.
"I'd love to engage in idle chatter, but I must be going." She couldn't get to the dango stand fast enough. "That was painful," she said.
"I'm an orphan. Jealous?" Anko asked.
"Oh, definitely."
Deidara dropped by right on time. "Yo, what do you have for me, Hinata-chan?"
"I need longer. Give me another week, and you have to get your own arms." One theory seemed to be holding water, but Hinata wasn't ready to apply it. He nodded.
"This is your friend?" Anko asked, and his eyes snapped towards her.
"Yeah. Deidara, meet my partner, Anko," Hinata said.
"Ah. Nice to meet you, un."
"Likewise, I guess," Anko said. Deidara looked back to Hinata with a raised eyebrow.
"She figured out something was up. Anko can keep a secret," Hinata told him. He nodded, and left.
"He seems... nice," Anko offered.
"He is. Just don't ask about his art until it's festival time," Hinata said. Anko changed tracks.
"So, you'll be ready in a week?"
"Think so. Hey, Anko, do you know where I could get a lab rat?"
"Yeah. I'll drop it here the day after tomorrow- I promised Ibiki that I'd give myself to T&I tomorrow."
"Alright." Anko left, and Hinata slept for a few hours before returning her current library books and checking out new ones. As she walked up the street to her apartment, she saw Hanabi standing outside her door. Hinata watched Hanabi put her fist up to the door, but then drop it without knocking. Hanabi was holding an infant.
"Can I help you?" Hinata asked. Hanabi jumped.
"Hinata-san! When did you-"
"Who's this?" Hinata asked. The baby in Hanabi's arms was about six months old. The baby had the eyes of a Hyuuga.
"She's- she's our younger half-sister, Amane." Hinata gasped, and her eyes became round as saucers.
"Hiashi remarried?" she whispered.
"Yeah. We didn't think she'd be able to carry the baby all the way into the world, but she did."
Hinata smiled at the child. "Hello, Amane-chan!" She stroked the child's cheek. "Come on in, you two." She opened the door to her apartment and stepped in. "Welcome to my house." They entered and took off their shoes. Hanabi gave Amane to Hinata to hold. Soon, Amane and Hinata were sitting on the floor together.
"This is what you wanted to tell me earlier?" Hinata asked.
"Yes. I wondered how you would take it. You swore off the Hyuuga clan and became your own shinobi. Grandfather speculated that you might steal the child and raise her to hate the clan if you knew about her."
Hinata threw her a look. "What would I do with a child?" she said. "She's cute, but I couldn't take her away from you. I can't raise a kid."
Hanabi shrugged. "I thought it was stupid, so I snuck over here with her."
Hinata blinked. "They don't know she's here?"
"They think we're at the park, although I did have to shake off a branch-member babysitter on the way over, so they may suspect something."
"I see," Hinata said. There were no sounds except from the baby for a moment. "How have you been, Hanabi?" she asked finally. "Becoming the heiress is no easy thing."
"No, it's not," she agreed, "but it's better than getting a curse mark. I was glad to do the trade."
"Mm, maybe I should steal the child after all," Hinata said. "I don't want a face this cute to bear that ugly thing."
"Hinata!" Hanabi objected, but then softened. "I guess you could be right. I don't want her to get it either."
"I was lucky," Hinata admitted, "to leave the clan without having it branded on me."
"You were," Hanabi said. "I was jealous when I heard you weren't dead, but living free without a chain to anyone."
"Oh, I wouldn't say I was free- I had to stay with the Akatsuki- but I don't consider it a chain."
Hanabi nodded. "Are we okay, Hinata? I know I was never a very kind sister, but I never hated you. I want to talk to you and find out who you really are. Neji too." Hinata let the tension drop from her shoulders.
"I... haven't wanted to see people from my old life, because the girl that I was? I won't ever be her again. But if you and Neji accept the real me? I might actually like that," Hinata said.
"Okay. If you want to drop by the old playground some afternoons, Amane and I will probably be over there. Neji comes with us sometimes, too."
"I will, Hanabi. But I'm busy with something for the next week that's really important to me. After that, you can expect me." Hanabi and Amane left.
The next day Anko came by with a rat. "Is one all you need?" she asked.
"Hopefully," Hinata replied.
"Can I stay and help you?"
"Yeah, that would be great."
Hinata set up her desk and the tools that she needed. Hinata's and Sasori's notes were taped to the wall in front of them. Hinata and Anko put on gloves. "I need you to sever it's limb right here, by the joint," Hinata said.
"Am I doing this with a kunai?" Anko asked.
"You're more familiar with it. You'll have better aim and precision than if you used a scalpel." Anko nodded and made the cut.
Hinata used her Healer's Palm to partially heal it until it was about the same condition as what Deidara's shoulder had been the week before. It wasn't entirely accurate to Deidara's condition; his had been sitting for a while, and it had puss on it. Hopefully infection hadn't settled in, or Hinata would have an even more difficult task ahead of her.
She was also reattaching the same limb to the animal; Deidara would be having a fusion. The limbs he brought had better be the same blood type, too.
Hinata blotted the blood from both the shoulder and the arm. She peeled back the skin and hovered a modified Healer's Palm until the bone started to fuse. When the fuse had taken all it was going to, Hinata took the small pins and fixed them to the bone. Next, she took a small needle and threaded it. She sewed the skin from the arm to the skin at the socket, and used her Healer's Palm to speed the tissue growth. The last step was to prick the paw of the newly reattached arm to stimulate the blood flow. Hinata waited for enough blood to leak out and then healed the hole she had made.
"That's it," she sighed in relief as Anko put the rat back into its cage. "All I can do now is wait and see how its recovery goes. In two days' time, I need to remove the pins, and I'll need to wait another day after that to make sure the pins' removal doesn't disturb the healing."
Anko nodded. "Want to go train, instead of waiting around here doing nothing?"
Hinata grinned. "I haven't sparred in forever! You're an angel, Anko."
Anko laughed. "Tell that to the poor souls in the T&I corps."
"I would, but they wouldn't believe me."
"Hinata, wake up." It was two days after the surgery had occurred on the rat. Hinata opened her eyes. The night was dark, and Anko was at her window.
She rolled out of bed and slid on her shinobi weapons. "What's going on?" she asked.
"The village is on fire." Anko jumped back, and Hinata followed her. Soon they were running towards the fire.
"What happened?" Hinata asked.
"Looks like a missing nin got in, but it could be another attack by the Kumo shinobi. It's too early to tell. Anyways, the fire has spread amazingly quickly- there's a whole prefecture that it's consumed now."
Hinata nodded and activated her Byakugan. "The Hyuuga estate has been caught in it?" Her mouth dried. Was Amane in danger?
"Most of the Hyuuga have evacuated; they alerted us to the problem and helped to evacuate the neighborhoods close to them." Hinata sighed in relief.
"Feeling for your old clan?" Anko asked.
"Oh, I meant to tell you- my father had another child. She, at least, is innocent of the Hyuuga clan."
"She is now, but she won't be in a few years," Anko said.
"I'll have corrupted her by then," Hinata promised. The fire was close enough that they were inhaling smoke and could feel the heat radiating off the buildings.
"Water Style: Imperial Tsunami Strike!" Hinata built up the largest wall of water she could, until it was massive and dwarfed the closest building. Hinata directed it into the fire, and the tsunami smothered it from above. The fire hissed and turned to smoke, but that was only a small part of it. She'd need several more tsunami's to take down the fiery blaze.
She gathered up her chakra and formed the seals to start again. It was going to be a long night.
Hinata staggered as the first light touched the sky. It was almost six in the morning, and the fire had only barely been put out.
"You need to get to a medic, you have chakra exhaustion," Anko said. She knew a few water techniques, too, but she had nowhere near the level of mastery over water that Hinata had.
"I'll be fine," Hinata replied. "Go see if the dango vender's open this early."
"He isn't, and we both know that. What? You want me gone so you can puke your guts out and die without me watching? Not gonna happen." Anko went and grabbed a medic- Sakura.
"How are you feeling, Hinata-san?" Sakura asked, placing her hands upon Hinata's back.
"Rather like you, I'd imagine, Sakura-san. Exhausted. Sleep-deprived." She waited for Sakura to finish. When she did, she turned to face Hinata.
"You have an extended exhaustion caused from before the fire. Whatever you've been doing lately, you need to take it easy and rest, or your body is going to collapse and shut down."
"I've been researching some things," Hinata told her. "But I will try to follow your advice, Sakura-san." Sakura nodded and walked away to help someone else.
When Hinata got back to her apartment, she found the rat had died.
Well, now that we've established I'm a jerk who can't be trusted with time commitments... who wants to get dango with me?
