WARNING: Mature content and topics. Graphic depiction of death and murder. Triggering. Mention of trauma and non-con.


: probe :

: to try and get information


"Bye, Hinata! Bye, Naruto! You two better behave!!!" Kiba yelled as he waved enthusiastically at the duo who were waving back with matching smiles whilst Akamaru howled in the same energy.

"-And don't forget to-!" Sakura cut herself off and sighed in defeat "Nevermind... I should've told Hinata instead of Naruto"

"Correct. Why?" Shino said "Because Naruto would not remember all the procedures and information"

Off in the distance, Naruto awkwardly laughed as he crossed his arms, "They're treating us as if we're going on a long vacation, dattebayo"

"Let them be, Naruto-kun" Hinata giggled "Kiba-kun and Shino-kun are always like that, and I bet Sakura-san is worried, too"

Alright, so here's the situation here...

Naruto and Hinata have been sent on a mission together, because, according to Shikamaru, the obnoxious blonde just isn't ready to take on solo missions until the Kyūbi is showing signs of being active again.

Because knowing Naruto? A simple C-ranked scroll delivery mission could turn to S-ranked battlefield.

So, Kakashi made Hinata, who just so happened to walk in to file in her renewed profile during the mission briefing, escort Naruto to the Hidden Lime Village.

"Besides," Hinata said as she looked up at him "Naruto-kun, we still are yet to see if your new arm is completely capable to keep up with you"

"Oh come on, you too?" Naruto deadpanned "I told'ya already, didn't I? I already made hundreds of Rasengans with this, and not a scratch! Well... Aside from the bandages"

The Hyūga fell silent before she clapped her hands enthusiastically, "I can give you some wraps from the compound. Like the ones Neji-nii-san used to constantly wear. They're perfectly designed to withstand the Jūken, which means it lets chakra pass through and not break within strong impact, like raging rivers through mesh..!"

The Uzumaki could almost laugh at her enthusiasm. Hinata might be rebellious to most of the Hyūga traditions, but she's still a Hyūga. She still holds pride when it comes to her clan, whether it be their Taijutsu, Dōjutsu, or even down to their materials.

It's a mystery amongst many on how Hyūgas can emit strong chakra from all of their chakra points yet their clothes don't get ruined. But thanks to Hinata, Naruto learned that they use specialized cloth that are durable to chakra, from their mission gears and traditional clothes up to their casual clothes, goes to show how prepared they are to fight at all times.

But it was a material only they use and know how to make, part of one of the millions of secrets the Hyūga keep from the outside world.

"That's awesome!" Naruto cheered "I'd be cutting my bill by half if I had one of those! You're so awesome, Hinata!"

"I-It's nothing" Hinata bashfully said as a blush crept to her face "Father wouldn't mind as long as you don't sell it"

"Mahh, of course not! I make my own money!" The blonde proudly said.


Land of Lime was not too far away from the Hidden Leaf, and they are trading partners for fruits and spices for medicine and technology.

And since Konohagakure had been back on its feet from the war, they're prepared to trade medicines and modern technology again. Not only were there new buildings, but there were also studies and researches in the Leaf, they were starting to create mass communication systems and entertainment via portable technology.

And with both Senju Tsunade and Haruno Sakura choosing to focus on Medical Researches, and Subaku no Temari often over at Konoha as an ambassador of Sunagakure with some Suna medical ninjas looking to be abroad workers to help with the funding and man power, Konohagakure had been one of the most advanced and fruitful in terms of Medicals.

Kakashi had been nothing but about improvement lately, pushing for technology and entertainment, in hopes into making people's lives easier and more enjoyable.

Naruto could see it now, Konohagakure with high technology that is good for transportation, bringing ordinary people to different spots in the huge village in a matter of minutes or seconds. Building lit up with LED. Maybe even the paper usage would be reduced due to posters being used less because televisions would be all around playing ads.

It's a beautiful future filled with innovation.

Taking out the scroll from his backpack, Naruto smiled at it with a very determined look, "Fruits and spices now, data chips and gadgets tomorrow!"

Hinata tilted her head in confusion, he got in front of her with a huge smile as he walked backwards, "Imagine, Hinata! Konoha with very big buildings lit up 24-7, long trains zooming across bridges above heads, gigantic televisions on constant play showing news and ads for people to see, peaceful and secured residential areas for the villagers to stay away from the constant bustle of the lively part, and portable little messengers in the pockets of people! It's gonna be amazing!"

"Oh, wow..." The amazed bluenette gaped "N-Naruto-kun, that sounds really beautiful..! I-I wanna live in a place like that..."

"Right?!" The blonde said enthusiastically "I promise you this, Hinata! Now that I'm the Hokage's little apprentice and the future Hokage; I'll keep pushing for that beautiful future I painted for you! You're gonna live in the future you want, I'll make sure of it!"

"R-Really?" Hinata asked, her eyes wide and sparkly in anticipation, making Naruto grin and nod "Really! A big and beautiful and bright and beautiful Konoha for you to live in!"

"You said 'beautiful' twice, Naruto-kun" The Hyūga laughed, making the Uzumaki laugh along and say "Of course! Because 'beautiful' it will be!"

The laughter of two ambitious young adults echoed in harmony.

If only a warm send off and beautiful promises were all it took to make what they thought was now a peaceful world better...


It's like one of their worst nightmares just came into reality.

Bodies of dead villagers laid cold on the dirt path as far as the eye could see, structures and food painted crimson from the river of life that ones flew.

"W-What..."

Frozen to their spots, eyes wide and jaws dropped in shock and utter horror, the two Konoha ninjas did not expect to arrive at a once lively and joyful village welcomed by iron-like smells and corpses awaiting their arrival.

Who would do such a thing?!

Snapping out from his daze, Naruto quickly formed a seal, "Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Eight clones appeared and all quickly ran into the village with haste, screaming at the top of their lungs for survivors.

Naruto never really resulted into killing off his enemies, he found it to be against his conscience to take away a life. He remembers but one victim he had, and it was Yura.

Though he thought at the time that it was Itachi, and he had every intent to kill, he didn't think it would actually kill off the great Uchiha Itachi, it would at the very least leave him completely fightless. So when it turned out to be someone else, it did the job.

He remembered not being bothered at all after killing his first and so far only human, afterall, he was mentally prepared and that it was all part of a job that he doomed himself into...

Then does that mean that, if Hinata'd killed before, she also felt no remorse?

They were ninjas afterall... Was it acceptable?

But who would in their right mind actually murders an entire village?!

"Byakūgan!"

Naruto did not even have time to catch Hinata's wrist to hide her from the crime scene as she was too quick to jump in.

"Hinata!" He called out, catching up next to her.

It was disgusting. Lives wasted. Taken away with only one blade, she assumes due to the same sized slashes across the bodies, spilling guts and blood for all to see.

"SOMEONE PLEASE ANSWER!!! ANY SURVIVORS OUT THERE?!?!" She yelled as loud as her voice would let her, jumping from roof to roof.

"OOOOI!!! ANYONE OUT THERE?!?!" He yelled with desperation strongly laced in his voice as he followed close behind "MAKE A SOUND!!! ANY SIGN!!! MAKE AN S.O.S.!!!"

The two kept screaming along with some clones as they covered the entire village, and even if the Hyūga knew already that not even one was still breathing as she already saw, she still kept calling, in denial that a mass murder occurred during the so called "Beginning of the Era of Peace".


A loud screech of a messenger eagle pierced through the thick atmosphere as the kunoichi sent it off, both her and the shinobi's hair blown back at the power of its wings.

The pair managed to find a single messenger eagle amongst the ghost town, they were lucky enough to at least find that.

The soles of their shoes were already stained with red from the puddles of blood they stepped on during their search.

The two hid amongst the trees, away from the corpse bin that a village turned into.

"The corpses were over a week old"

Hinata's voice had nothing in it, like a stoic Hyūga.

"They had no chance to escape, the murderer used only one katana to kill all in his path starting from the village entrance" She told her analysis "He moved at the speed of a well trained ninja, and was quick enough not to let anyone escape. The surrounding area had no signs of human activity, which in our case, means no one snuck out or escaped"

Naruto's lips were pursed shut as he sat against a tree motionlessly.

"I saw that Konoha was the first village that they agreed into making trades with, so no other shinobi had business to go there" She continued "I also found three suicides in three different houses, relatively new compared from the others"

How could she say all of those non-chalantly?

"Probably travelling merchants that returned home to nothing"

Where did her emotions go?

"None of them were even in the right state of mind to send out an S.O.S. since they were too baffled at the moment"

Was she used to it?!

"Hinata"

It was her turn to fall silent.

"Have you killed before?"

Hinata stood still in the middle of the trees as Naruto looked at her with dead eyes.

What kind of question was that?

"Of course" She said in a tone lower than her usual voice "Have you not?"

It felt like his mouth was dry from her response, but he replied "Once"

Hinata didn't even look surprised at his answer. Naruto, on the other hand, was by hers.

The two fell into heavy silence.

"How many?" He asked again, not knowing what to expect.

"Too many to count" She answered, her eyes set into only one point in the air.

"When did you start?"

"Forgive me, but I can't answer that for I do not remember" Hinata said with narrowed eyes "I do not keep track of my accomplishments, I have little to nothing to learn from it. I count my failures, because that's where all the lessons are. I do not keep track of how many I've killed, who I've killed, and when I've killed, because in the end of the day, I am a kunoichi"

Something about her response made him mad.

"So what if you're a kunoichi?!" Naruto snapped as he got on his feet, "You're allowed to learn from mistakes, then that means you're also allowed to bask in your success! What kind of thinking is that?! Killing is still killing, Hinata!"

She stood in place, still. As if she's not even listening.

"Listen, will'ya?! What's the difference between a life from another?!"

"I value mine more than my enemies'!" Hinata finally raised her voice, snapping her glare to meet his, "My ninja life and my personal life are different!"

"At least mine has morals!" Naruto yelled back in anger, defensive of her statement, "I don't care if I only have one life to live because I won't have to go around pretendin' I didn't take away another and ruin their friends' and families' lives!"

"Then what do you expect me to do, huh?" She hissed, walking up to him with little space between as she glared up at him, chin raised high, "I am a Hyūga of pure pedigree, my eyes are targeted the day I was born, it has zero defences unlike the branch. I killed an entire camp in this very gear and bathed in their blood before they could rip away my eyes and use my body to reproduce more Byakūgan and for their own sick pleasure"

He could only glare back down, not wanting to back down.

"My instincts are finely honed to kill, and that's what I did" She said "You don't know me, so don't you dare judge me"

That's right...

"Beyond that kunoichi who is selfless enough to protect me with her life, and that village girl who would try her best to please those who are around her..." Naruto thought "There are more layers... I don't know her past, her methods, her motivation, her dreams, and probably more. Especially her sins"

Behind that perfect girl he knew, were stains and scars of what is part of her.

"Not everything goes your way, Naruto-kun. You can't always follow your heart" She said with a certain venom in her voice "You can't be a Hokage who has no dirt. No one can. You have to make the tough calls, throw away emotions, for the salvation of the village, whether you like it or not"

And she was right.

"I thought you, of all people, would know"

And with that, Hinata spun on her heel and walked back to the village of corpses. Leaving Naruto alone with his thoughts...

And as he was truly alone, all of the anger that he felt suddenly melted away, but was replaced by nothing but sadness, pain, regret, and remorse.

Clenching his fists, he quickly turned and punched an innocent tree, making his left hand bleed.

Stubborn. That's what he was. He didn't admit he was wrong.

Terrible. Definitely him.

Just who would actually insult and belittle the most wonderful person, Hyūga Hinata?

A monster.

Neji, her very own older cousin, did just that, and Naruto proved him wrong, the two Hyūgas became the siblings anyone would envy.

Hiashi, her one and only father also did that, Naruto proved him wrong, and now, their relationship rekindled better than ever.

Heck, even her bullies back then, they never returned once Naruto proved them wrong, they never came back since they were now people not to be messed with.

Then...

Who would prove him wrong if he himself is the one who made her feel bad?

Tears never stopped flowing down his cheeks as he repeatedly punched the tree before dropping to his knees.

He pulled his head back and slammed it against the very same tree, his hitai ate falling on impact.


"I'm sorry..."


Hinata was the most terrible person right now, she was pretty much sure about that.

Sliding down against a brick wall, she covered her mouth as she gripped her hair, staring wide eyed at the blood stained dirt before her.

"What have I done?" She thought, her heart in millions of pieces as she recalled her words, "Naruto-kun did not deserve that! Why did I yell? Why did I even speak?! He's right... I don't have morals..."

All her life, she was taught how to be a proper lady, talk when only spoken to and given permission, do what was told, stay quiet when not addressed.

She was groomed to be a puppet to her elders, but all she did was disobey, disobey, and disobey.

She did refused to wear mission gears that was designed for her. She refused to stop being an active ninja and dedicate herself to her clan. She refused to defeat Hanabi. And she refused to heed the advice they offered and let her sister be sealed.

She was anything but the perfect leader they wanted, one who would listen, one who would make the tough call. She only followed what she wanted, and she was paying the consequences, little by little.

When she was done listening to the insults thrown to her, she ended up not listening at all. All she did was what she wanted and what she thinks is right, she never listened to advices and criticism. She did not care what others think. She was deaf to her clan, and her clan no longer had power over her.

All except for a few. Her surrogate mother, Kurenai, who taught her about compassion and empathy above all else. Her late cousin, Neji, who taught her to become a better version of herself. Her devoted best friends, Kiba and Shino, whose been with her through thick and thin. And Naruto... The one who motivated her and kept her from giving up.

Clean as she may seem to be, dirty the same she was.

"Well well well... It seems that I have missed a spot"

A shadow loomed over her from above, and with a sharp gasp, Hinata jumped back and was met with a man cynical grin on his face on top of the roof, his right arm dragging behind him a big sack and the other a shiny and polished katana.

"What?" He asked with a psychotic look in his eyes "Not gonna say 'shit, I'm caught' or somethin', 'lil missy?"

"I don't curse" Hinata said, taking out a kunai, "And I wasn't hiding!"

With that, the kunoichi quickly jumped up and engaged in a battle of blades between a kunai and a katana.

"Ahahaha!!! A kunoichi!!!" The man laughed as she perfectly predicted his movements "I haven't had a good fight in twenty four years!!!"

Throwing aside his sack of stolen goods stained with blood, he pulled out another blade he wielded and took the girl by surprise.

Barely dodging the second katana by bending backwards, Hinata lifted a leg and kicked the man's jaw, performing summersaults to create space.

Discarding her kunai, she went into her Jūken stance and flaref her eyes into life.

There is no stronger blade than Hyūga Hinata's palms.


Eyes closed as he pressed his forehead against the assaulted tree, Naruto's snarl didn't fail to express his disdain over himself.

"I don't deserve to be Hinata's friend..." He thought as he slowly opened his eyes, looking at the blood seeping out of his knuckles.

But then, he sensed something.

Turning his head in high alert towards the village, he quickly got on his feet and raced towards the area, gasping her name in panic.


Hinata caught a blade between her hands and broke it in half with her knee, then being harshly kicked off the three story building.

She caught herself from falling head first by pivoting in the air and land harshly on her feet, hissing as she twisted her ankle.

"How much will the black market pay for your eyes?!" The man asked with a psychotic laugh, and as if on que, "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Four Narutos jumped up from all four directions, anger present in his eyes, "No one puts a price on Hinata!!!"

The man easily handled four different attacks, seemingly well versatile with his speed, foot works, and swordsmanship. He was not overwhelmed by the blonde's Taijutsu.

He can move almost as fast as Kiba, and his way of handling a sword is similar to Tenten's. Naruto could easily tell that this man was no joke.

Two of his three clones dispersed in one swift movement of the blade, barely missing the third.

The sound of familiar crackling and dim blue light was the sign for Naruto to pull back, switching places at the last second, "Gentle Step: Twin Lion Fists!"

With one palm strike that was blocked by the blade, it shattered into hundreds of tiny pieces, not able to withstand the power of the jutsu.

And in the moment of shock, Hinata did not give the man a chance to recover, "Eight Trigrams: One palm! Two palms! Four palms! Eight palms! Sixteen palms! Thirty-two palms! Sixty-four palms!!"

Naruto could only stare in shock as Hinata mercilessly attacked the defenseless man with a combination of two deadly attacks.

But it was obvious that she held back as the chakra heads of lions around her palms became dimmer and smaller with each shot.

And as the man fell limply from the building, Naruto could only watch from the roof as Hinata followed down, arms crossed as she glared at the man with the bloody and scorched body with her powerful Byakūgan.

"Why did you do it? Why kill the entire village?" She asked, chin high as she asserted dominance, making the man weakly laugh and say "Then no one would complain when I steal their valuables... My name would go down in history..."

"Where are the others?" She asked again, trying to find out if there were more, "Nope... Just legendary me..."

With a tisk, she ended his life with one swing of a hand, using a similar technique to her 'Protective Eight Trigrams: Sixty Four Palms' to cleanly cut his head off without second thought.

"WHY WOULD YOU KILL HIM?!" Naruto screamed in shock as he jumped down, watching as the man's blood pooled underneath her, "H-He was already weak and defenseless and- Gah!! What if he was lying?! What if there's more?! W-We could've brought him back and let Ibiki and Anko interrogate him and-"

"I know what a liar looks like" Hinata cuts him off, taking him by surprise as she looked at him with flaring Byakūgan, similar to the ruthless looks that the other Hyūgas always hold, "He showed no signs of lying. And his brain had irreversible damages. He would've suffered more under the hands of the Torture and Interrogation when he has no secrets to tell"

This was the Ninja World. Where power is bestowed upon humans, to do good, or evil. Those who have chosen the wrong path are doomed to be hunted down, and those who have chosen to stop them, are doomed to hunt down.

Naruto knew it now all too well. Not even someone as kind and gentle as Hinata can escape the reality she was given.

If you are a ninja, you can not escape dirt.


So when days passed, and Naruto and Hinata's journey home came to an end;

"Heyyyy, Hinata! Naruto! You guys are back!" Sakura cheerfully greeted as she welcomed the two from the gates, she scratched her cheek with an apologetic look and said "Look, we're sorry for snooping, but we really got curious, and now the entire village knows about your- Huh?"

The pinkette was shocked as the shorter bluenette wordlessly passed her.

"Hey hey hey, Hinata! Mahhh, I know that face" Kiba said with sympathy, Shino put his hand on her head and rubbed her hair gently, the Inuzuka grinned and said "Don't'cha worry, we got the news a while back, and the description you sent matched a man who was sentenced to death in Blood Prison but escaped before gettin' there. Come on! We're headin' to Kurenai-sensei's to celebrate your mission success! She's bakin' cake!"

"What?" Hinata giggled as he slung an arm around her shoulder and lead her and Shino away with Akamaru tailing behind, "But Kiba-kun, the mission was to deliver the scroll, not bounty hunting"

"No. Your mission was a success, why?" Shino started "Because yours was an escorting mission, and you successfully defended your client"

Sakura was confused, making Sai raise a brow at her and ask "Have you not heard?"

"What happened?" She asked, he faked a smile and said "Hinata killed a man in front of Naruto"

"Oh..." The pinkette said as she sympathetically looked at her dull teammate, head hung low as he looked at the ground with a heavy frown, "What happened, Naruto?"

"We got into a fight..." Naruto admitted, his voice barely above a whisper, Sakura gave him an understanding smile and said "It's normal for a strong kunoichi like Hinata to do that, a Hyūga at that. But... I'm sorry you had to see-"

"No" He cut off, desperate blue eyes looking into her green ones, he looked miserable, "Sakura-chan, you don't understand! We got into a fight!"

"Oh"


Oh, gosh. That was a mess.

-OrenjiRabenda