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Summary: Sasuke has returned to Konohagakure after 5 years, and his two biggest fans have stopped chasing him. But there's another kunoichi in his life. SasuHina With slight NaruSaku, NejiTen, & ShikaIno

Disclaimer: I am not a genius, I do not own Naruto.

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Chapter Eleven: Grave Responsibility

Neji looked though the closed door using his Byakugan. He studied Hinata closely, and frowned at what he saw. She was just sitting next to her unconscious father, her eyes and mannerisms soulless. She barely moved, her eyes firmly fixed on Hiashi's pale face. Neji wanted to go into the room, but both sisters asked him to wait outside. He moved his gaze to Hanabi. She was sleeping in a chair next to Hinata's. His eyes quickly went up to Hiashi as he stirred.

"Ugh…" Hiashi winced as he opened his eyes. "Hinata? Hanabi? You're both alright…"

"…Otousan." Hinata whispered. "What happened? Why are you here?" She snapped out of her daze and looked at him in concern.

"It doesn't matter as long as you're safe."

"Please, just tell me."

"Someone tried to kidnap Hanabi…" Hiashi muttered in a painful fashion.

"Nani? Who?"

"…It was…uhn…Uchiha Itachi." Her father winced again.

"Why would he want Hanabi?"

"He thought she was you."

"…" Hinata stared at him, and went into deep thought. 'Uchiha Itachi…Why…?' Suddenly the images of Naruto and Sasuke appeared in her mind. "He's insane…" she muttered, unconsciously clenching her fists.

"Uhh…" Hanabi woke up and jumped to her feet. "Otousan!"

"Hanabi…"

"Otousan, are you okay?"

"I'm fine." He had a distant look on his face, and Hanabi could see his pain.

"Neesan, you have to help him!" she pleaded. "Please…" Hinata placed her hands over their father and green chakra started emitting from them. "Neesan, why isn't it working?"

"I-I'm not sure…" Hinata's eyes widened as she felt her father's chilling hands grasp hers.

"It's no use Hinata. Tsunade-sama said there is nothing that can help…"

"Otousan, please don't say that…" Hanabi looked at him in desperation.

"Gomen Hanabi," he said as he winced from the pain. "Hinata…" She looked at him. "You'll have to take my place. Be strong."

"No!" Hanabi tried to stop the tears that were forming in her eyes. Hiashi reached up to stroke her face, and then it fell to his side. Hanabi's eyes welled up with tears, and she couldn't stop them from flowing down her face. "Otousan…" She picked up his lifeless hand. Hinata backed up, and left for the door. She couldn't take it anymore.

"Hinata-chan?" Neji said as she pushed pass him. "Hinata-chan!" He watched her walk out, and then he headed into the room. "Hanabi-san?" He walked over to his sobbing cousin.

"Neji?" She wiped her eyes and then hugged him. "He's gone…" she cried into his shirt. "Otousan's gone…"

"Gomen." He embraced her with one arm and covered Hiashi's face with a sheet with the other. "Let's get you home…" He picked his cousin up and carried her back toward the compound.

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Hinata's bangs were plastered to her face as the rain beat down on her. It had been a couple of days since Hiashi's death, and she had avoided everyone. Her thoughts raced as she stood in front of a grave. Her eyes focused on the gravestone, and her fists unconsciously clenched. Hanabi stood next to her, lost in her own thoughts. She tilted her head toward the ground and closed her eyes. The horrible memories flooded her mind.

Hanabi sat in Hinata's room. She came in to see what Hinata was up to. She missed her sister, and just wanted to know why Hinata kept so many secrets. She saw the ANBU mask and uniform in the wardrobe, but that didn't answer all of Hanabi's questions. She laid back on the bed and closed her eyes, trying to figure out where else to search.

"So, this is where you live little kunoichi…" Hanabi sat up and gasped. She felt the cold metal of a kunai against her throat.

"…" She stared into the crimson eyes of the Sharingan Master.

"Hmm…" he stared at her, then moved his gaze toward the doorway.

"I thought I sensed someone." Hiashi stated. "Step away from my daughter."

"She may not be the one I was looking for, but she'll do…" Itachi gripped Hanabi's wrist tightly, causing the young Hyuuga to whimper slightly.

"Otousan!" Itachi just smirked, and went toward Hiashi.

The Hyuuga Clan leader studied the advancing Uchiha for a moment, and started his attack. He knew he had to get Hanabi away from him before he could seriously fight. Hiashi seemed to be holding his own for the moment, but Itachi obviously had the upper hand and both knew it. The elder Uchiha effortlessly fought, even with the extra baggage of Hanabi, and threw Hiashi through the doorway into the wall. Itachi moved forward and stopped when he saw another figure.

"Hiashi-sama." Neji mumbled. He stared at his uncle, before moving his eyes toward the intruder. "Uchiha Itachi…"

"It seems that the whole family is here. Except one." Itachi stated.

"Hinata-chan…" Neji muttered to himself in realization. "Let go off her and leave…Now!" Neji took a step forward.

"Neji." Hiashi stood next to him. "Just get Hanabi to safety," he whispered. Neji wanted to protest, but just nodded. The two went at Itachi at the same time.

"You'll have to do better than that," he said. Neji adjusted his position.

"There!" He gathered chakra in his fist and struck Itachi's wrist. The strike was just enough to get the Sharingan Master to let go of his cousin. "Hanabi-san!" Neji grabbed her and disappeared.

"Otousan!" Hanabi screamed as she was dragged away.

"Gomen," Neji said. "But we have to go!" He picked her up, and took off away from their home.

Hanabi had no clue where she was when Neji stopped at a foreign building. Neji knocked on the door, and the two were greeted by a friendly face. Neji told Tenten what was happening, and she agreed to protect Hanabi. He made a promise to them that he would be back in the morning, and then disappeared. Hanabi couldn't sleep easy that night, she was constantly thinking about her family. She woke up the next morning anxiously waiting for Neji's return, but she wasn't ready for the news when he came.

"Hanabi-san, Hinata-chan…" a familiar voice called to them. It was soft and full of concern. Neji walked up to his cousins. "Everyone else is gone, and I don't think the rain will let up soon." He held an umbrella over their heads. "Come on. Let's go home." Hanabi was the only one who turned and faced him.

"Okay Neji…" she nodded and waited for him.

"Hinata-chan?" he asked. "Are you coming?" She stood motionless and unaffected by Neji's voice or the rain. He sighed and placed his hand gently on her shoulder. "I'll come back…Come on Hanabi-san." He started to lead her away.

"But what about Neesan?" she asked desperately.

"Don't worry. She just needs some time alone." Neji looked back at the new head of the Hyuuga Clan. 'Just stay alert.' he thought.

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Hinata brushed back her bangs as she sat up in her bed. She sighed and made her way to her bathroom. Turning on the bath water, she stripped out of her clothes. She then gently slipped into the warm water in an attempt to relax herself. She had so many racing thoughts, so many emotions swirling inside her, but she kept everything bottle inside. She had to be strong, for Hanabi, and she felt that only one could be so emotional and unstable at one time. She rested her head on the back of the tub, and stared at the ceiling.

'Uchiha Itachi was after me…' she thought. 'No doubt he was really after Naruto or maybe even his brother…' She closed her eyes. 'He mistook Hanabi for me and Otousan paid for it with his life. If-if only I wasn't on that stupid mission.'

After washing up, Hinata got out of the tub and wrapped a towel and robe around her. She went to her room and started to pull out clothes to wear. She slipped on her normal tan cargo pants, but pulled on a tight fitting v-neck shirt over her upper body instead of her normal top. It was a pale olive green with sleeves that ended between her elbows and wrists. She walked over to her mirror and started to brush her hair. She left it down, and fixing her hitai-ate, she went toward the door. She stopped at her open wardrobe, and stared at her mask. She shut her eyes tightly and headed out of her room and down the hall. She stopped outside of the living area when she heard voices.

"What are you going to do about all this Neji-san?" a female voice asked.

"Nothing…"

"What do you mean nothing!" a aggravated male voice asked.

"I didn't stutter Uzumaki. I mean nothing. Care for me to spell it out?" Neji's voice was equally aggravated and also thickly coated in sarcasm. "Hinata-chan doesn't want anyone in our clan to do anything. Now with her being the head of our clan, I can't go against her word, and as her cousin, I won't."

"Neji-san…" the female said. "Who did this? Maybe we can help."

"No, I can't tell you…and don't ask Hinata-chan."

"Sakura-chan? Naruto?" Hinata finally stepped into the room. "Why are you here?"

"Hinata-chan!" Sakura ran up to her and gave her a hug. "We haven't seen you in days. Are you okay?"

"Hai…" She gently pulled away from her friend, and look at Naruto. She then focused on Neji. "Where is Hanabi?"

"She went to meet up with her team." Hinata nodded. "Hinata-chan…I need to go meet with Lee and Tenten-chan for mission. I'll be back in a few days."

"Sayonara," she said as he left. "So are you just here to check up on me?"

"Well no. We wanted to know who did all this."

"But your baka cousin wouldn't tell us anything," Naruto seethed.

"Naruto-kun!" Sakura looked at him in annoyance. "You shouldn't bring that up!"

"It's alright Sakura-chan." Hinata ran her fingers through her hair and sighed. "He knows that I don't want any of you involved…"

"But we could help you," Naruto said.

"No. You couldn't. It would all just become worse." She looked at them with painfully serious eyes.

"Just tell us who did this," the kitsune pleaded, "Please?" Hinata looked at the ground.

"…"

"Come on Hinata-chan. We care about you, and we hate seeing you like this…" Sakura stated in concern.

"If you promise not to do anything about it…I'll tell you," she muttered. "And you have to promise not to tell Sasuke-kun either."

"But Hinata-chan, he wants to know too," Sakura said.

"Just promise me!" She looked up at them, her eyes intense and serious.

"Fine," Naruto replied. Sakura nodded.

"…It was…it was Uchiha Itachi…" she muttered.

"No."

"Him again!" Naruto fumed. "I'm going to kill him!"

"Naruto-kun!" Sakura yelled.

"You promised," Hinata reminded him softly. "Besides this is still none of your business. So just drop it and remember your promise," she said darkly.

"Hinata-chan." Naruto looked at her, and noticed a certain familiar expression. Sakura noticed it too, and it sent chills down her spine.

"Why would he do such a thing?"

"Like he needs a reason…"

"Just drop it!" Hinata yelled. "I don't want to talk about it!" She started to leave the room. "Like I said, this is none of your business…" The two stunned jounin just stood there as they listened to the door close.

Hinata walked out of the compound and started through Konoha. She tried to suppress her overwhelming emotions. She just need to get away, away from her friends and away from the questions. She ran down the path toward the training grounds as fast as she could. She needed to focus her mind on something else, anything else. She stopped in the middle of the training area and stared at the sky. Her breath was uneasy as her emotions started to come to the surface. She sighed and forced herself to move. Her emotions made her legs weak. Hinata slowly walked to the training posts and took in a deep breath. She calmed herself as she started to strike the posts with tremendous force.

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Sasuke walked the path toward his apartment. Naruto and Sakura promised to stop by after they talked to Hinata. He wanted to see her, it was just that he didn't know what to say. He unlocked his front door and went to his room. He sat down on his bed and started to sort through his thoughts. He had a bad feeling about everything, and he didn't what to do if he was right.

"Sasuke!" a muffled voice called, and Sasuke headed toward the door.

"Sakura, Naruto." He opened the door wider to let them in. "What's wrong with you?"

"You girlfriend flipped out on us…" Naruto mumbled.

"Nani?"

"Sasuke, it's nothing," Sakura said, "She's just going through a lot right now."

"…" He stared at the ground. "Did you find out who did this?"

"No," Sakura answered before Naruto could say anything. "We nagged her too much and she left."

"I need to talk to her…" Sasuke mumbled. He looked blankly at nothing.

"You alright teme?" Naruto asked, snapping Sasuke from his thoughts.

"Hai…I just need to do something."

"Okay," Sakura said, dragging a grumbling Naruto out the door. He was mumbling something about not wanting to be an errand boy. "We'll see you later then."

Sasuke watched them leave, and left soon after. He walked around Konoha looking for Hinata. He knew she probably wouldn't go back to her home, but he wasn't sure where else she would go. They always ran into each other at random. Heading in no particular direction, a thought finally hit him. He doubled back and ran toward the training grounds.

"…" He stopped and looked around. He finally saw a figure in the distance. 'Hinata-chan?' He ran toward her and stopped when he saw the training posts explode and splinters go flying everywhere. "…Hinata-chan…" He watched as she slumped to the ground.

"…" Hinata stared at her blood stained hands, and struggled to suck in a deep breath. All the training didn't help distract her from her thoughts. "Why…" she mumbled, and willed her emotions back down.

"Hinata-chan?" Sasuke said from behind her.

"…" Her eyes widened and she gasped. "What are you doing here?" she asked, getting to her feet.

"I haven't seen you in days…no one has." he started. "Why are you pushing yourself so hard?"

"It's nothing. I just haven't trained in awhile. That's all," she lied. She didn't dare look at him, because she knew she couldn't lie to his face.

"Training…" He gently took her by the shoulders and turned her around. "What's going on? Who caused this?"

"Nothing's going on." She stared at the ground. "I just figured I should gain strength for the sake of my clan…" She let out a forced laugh. "After all, I am taking over for Otousan."

"Hinata-chan, look at me." He lifted up her chin. "Now tell me the truth."

"…" She stared into his dark orbs. "I-I can't tell you."

"Whatever it is, I'll help. You know that." He attempted to pulled her in.

"No!" She ripped herself from his grip. "I don't want anyone else involved! No one will suffer for my mistakes!" She backed away from him. "You can't help…I-I'm not going to let you!"

"Hinata-chan, you have to tell me," Sasuke practically demanded.

"No!" she yelled and took another step back. "No…" Her voice softened as she pleaded, "Just drop this. Please. I need to figure this out by myself." She looked down at the ground.

"…You don't have to…" he mumbled. "You're not alone anymore."

"Gomen, but you can't help." she looked at him and started to walk backwards. "I have to go. Promise me you'll drop this…Please…" She turned around and left him. Sasuke just watched her disappear in silence.

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Author Notes:

Another chapter is done. Sorry for the delay again. I rewrote some of this chapter maybe as many as three or four times. It's seems a little Hinata-centric, but I guess that's to be expected. It also seemed like Sasuke and Hinata switched personalities, which I found interesting even though I wrote it. Anyways, if anyone is wondering about Hinata's spontaneous use of healing techniques, she learned it when she was training to become a Hunter Nin. I hope the flashback was easy to understand and pick out. I kind of wanted to add more Itachi at the end of this, but it would have been only a sentence or two. But all in all, I like it, and I hope you do too.

The next chapter will be Hinata-centric too, and more action packed. And, if all my ideas work, the one after may be like a filler and Sasuke-centric for all of you Sasuke lovers. Of course, that's not for awhile. I have about the next three chapters planned, in my head, but each only has parts planned, so I guess you'll just have to wait and see. I would say when I plan to get the next one up, but I hate not getting them up in when I say I will. So expect it soon, even if it's not real soon. I really hope you enjoyed this chapter and the ones to come. Thanks for all the reviews, they're encouraging. Please give me more! Next Chapter: Chapter Twelve: Under Attack

Later!

Ice Demon Meru

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