Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Chapter Six

Sunrise109

Start of flashback

"Spend the next month preparing yourself mentally and physically for your mission. Then, I expect you to bring Itachi back to me chakraless. My spies have already pinpointed his most recent location for you."

After Danzo had dismissed Hinata that evening, she had spent the following month largely trying to distract herself from the mission she had been assigned. She wanted of think of anything but the task of taking Itachi down. Even though she knew she had to do this for the protection of the Leaf village, or so Danzo had said, Hinata was becoming less and less desirous of using her forbidden jutsu on any more ninja.

The last person I use it on will be Itachi Uchiha. Then no more. Hinata silently promised herself.

Perhaps, after bringing Itachi to Danzo, the Hyuuga heiress would be in a better position to persuade her master that she no longer wanted to use Koryoku.

Sooner than she expected, the day of her mission arrived.

Hinata found herself standing motionlessly before the gates of the Hyuuga compound.

She wanted to be there, and perhaps catch a glimpse of a family member one last time before she departed. Hinata hoped to be successful in her mission, but even the most confident of ninjas (and Hinata was certainly not one of them) often experienced a slight sense of dread before an important assignment.

Moreover, Itachi Uchiha was definitely not an opponent to be taken lightly.

"You there… Can I help you?"

Hinata immediately snapped out of her thoughts.

The lithe form of her younger sister had just emerged onto the wooden engawa veranda of the Clan Household.

Hinata relaxed. She wasn't afraid of being spotted by her younger sister. Afterall, she was disguised as Kimiko Yuhei.

"Sorry to have bothered you. I must be on my way. I stopped by as I wanted to admire the architecture of your Compound."

Baffled, Hanabi started as though intending to confront Hinata. Visitors to their Compound were rare, and something about this mysterious woman's explanation just didn't add up in Hanabi's mind. Plus, she reminded Hanabi of someone…

Hinata had expected Hanabi to react exactly in the way of curiosity, but unfortunately didn't have time to waste. It had been a mistake to stop by her Clan's Compound after all these months.

Without averting her gaze to look up, Hinata registered the presence of a ninja wearing a frog mask who was suddenly perched on the tree behind her younger sister, overlooking the rear wall of the Clan Compound.

Hanabi had not seen them.

Hinata sighed. It really was time for her to go.

"Take care of yourself, little sister." She said, before disappearing.

Hanabi froze, gazing at the spot where Hinata had left. All thoughts of activating Byakugan and pursing her had flown out of her mind as she contemplated those six words.

It couldn't be?

~.~

Hinata stood in a shadowy area of the forestland just adjacent to the entrance gates to the Hidden Leaf village, her long purple cloak billowing behind her lazily in the breeze.

"You should get to the Hidden Rain village around mid-afternoon. We have some Root Anbu stationed there already. They will meet you in a forest clearing on the outskirts. They will tell you where to find Itachi."

"Understood." Hinata replied, slipping on her fox mask, as was protocol on any Root mission.

Time seemed to speed up as they travelled in silence, filtering through forests, one after another, the early morning sunlight peeking through the multiple shades of tree leaves. Hinata's purple cloak trailed behind her, surprisingly agile and light.

"Bear to the right and head in a south-east direction until you reach a creek…"

Before they knew it, five hours had already passed of travelling.

"… There you will find the Rain Village Root squadron waiting for you."

Hinata smiled and nodded once at the frog-masked Anbu member who had accompanied her for the majority of this journey, and with that final signal, he was gone.

She was now on her own until she reached the next meeting point.

Already, Hinata could envision through her Byakugan the terrain in the distance becoming more industrialised, and the climate was slightly cooler this part of the borderlands to the Hidden Rain village.

As Hinata made her way to the next meeting point where she would find Danzo's spies, who were privy of Itachi's current location somehow, she realised she was getting closer to meeting Itachi and wondered how things would turn out, and what the outcome of her mission would be.

I hope I can succeed in bringing him back to Danzo.

End of flashback

~.~

When Hinata woke up, she was lying on a futon in a small room.

She remembered bits and pieces of the previous evening. How two obsidian eyes had gazed down upon her as she slipped in and out of consciousness, and her surroundings shifted, signalling they were moving at high speeds through unfamiliar terrain. She had felt surprisingly safe in his arms. Hinata remembered watching Itachi subtly shake his head at her once, as if signalling for her to go back to sleep. They weren't alone. There had been another shinobi with him, and if Hinata wasn't so sure she hadn't been imagining it, she was certain his striking features made him resemble a shark.

Now, Hinata was alone, in an unfamiliar room, and she was left to recollect her thoughts.

A day seemed to have already passed, if the rays of sunlight shyly peeking through the window of the small room was anything to go by, since she had fought Itachi in that tiny tavern yesterday evening.

Her mission hadn't gone according to plan.

Now what would happen?

Where even was she?

Hinata unexpectedly remembered that her brown contacts were still in her eyes and would need removing and replacing.

Was there any point in replacing them with new ones now? Was there any need for her to even wear them again?

Since Itachi knows I'm a member of the Hyuuga Clan, perhaps lifting my disguise will make me appear less disingenuous to him, and may aid me in these next few determining hours…

Was Itachi truly as unhinged a criminal as Danzo had made him out to be?

If it was true that he was, why hadn't he already put an end to her life?

Or was he going to get information from her first, before putting an end to her?

Now that Hinata had removed her contact lenses, she gazed at her appearance in her tiny mirror retrieved from her weapons pouch.

Two translucent eyes gazed back at her, framed by raven-black hair that reached just before her shoulder blades. Her attire was in the same condition it had been in originally, even after her battle with Itachi.

At that moment, the door suddenly opened.

Her opalescent gaze met that of a stoic Uchiha, who looked almost bored—if his crossed arms and relaxed posture were anything to go by. But Hinata could see that those indifferent onyx eyes belied potent calculatedness.

"Have you come to finish me off, Itachi Uchiha?" Hinata asked. She slowly and carefully rose to her feet so that they were now standing on an equal level, analysing his every move with narrowed and distrusting eyes.

"Wouldn't you already be dead if I had wanted to finish you?" Itachi asked rhetorically.

Hinata remained silent, assessing him. Any sudden movement could give away that he wasn't being honest with her. But that moment never came.

"… Hyuuga Hinata."

The Hyuuga heiress almost flinched at hearing her name but managed to simply avert her gaze to the space on the wall to Itachi's right as his frame filled the doorway, blocking out her view of what was behind him.

Could she escape, realistically?

Perhaps not while Itachi was watching her, but if she stole a moment to activate her Byakugan—

"Yes…" Hinata finally uttered out, wisely giving up all hope of trying to escape while Itachi's watchful gaze surveyed her every move and he was only meters away.

Now that her real identity was out in the open, there was no point in hiding behind Danzo's made-up alias of Kimiko Yuhei.

"Are you able to freely tell me who sent you after me?"

Hinata found herself taken by surprise by Itachi's solicitous question, and immediately shook her head.

"I will find a way around that later." Itachi stated. Just as he thought, it wouldn't be that easy. "What is the name of the jutsu you tried to use against me earlier?"

The Uchiha prodigy had been analysing Hinata's every movement through his Sharingan during their battle yesterday, and it was the first time he had seen a jutsu of its kind. Itachi sensed it was dangerous, and that's why he had immediately intercepted it and eliminated the threat.

"The name of the jutsu is Koryoku… it's short for Gentle Step: Koryoku jutsu," Hinata began, unsure of why she was freely divulging this information to him. However, she knew Itachi was unlikely to take no for an answer.

"It's a rare forbidden jutsu that runs in the Hyuuga Clan. Only one or two Hyuuga a generation are able to master it. I am unfortunately one of them. It works by permanently removing a shinobi's chakra."

"And you sought out Danzo Shimura's help after your father asked you to leave your Clan's compound because of the horrifying jutsu you'd learnt?"

Hinata nodded slowly, intrigued by Itachi's deduction skills. And acumen. He wasn't called a prodigy without reason.

Itachi knew how Danzo's methods worked—including the Curse Seals he placed on the underside of his Root members' tongues. Hinata need only speak his name to activate it and cause her whole body to become paralysed.

Itachi's gaze trailed over Hinata's face, taking in her large translucent eyes, which appeared unexpectedly… soft. A lot different from how calculating they had appeared earlier in their battle. Maybe it was the brown contact lenses she had been wearing that had this effect, compared to her natural eye colour. The Hyuuga heiress' current unnatural chrome coloured hair framed her elegantly structured face, ending at the nape of her neck at the back and drifting down in an angled cut so that it went downwards along her collarbone.

Hinata had collaborated with Danzo and had gone to extreme lengths in order to deceive Itachi of her true identity, but her bloodline limit and unique fighting style had easily given her away.

"I have a question for you, Itachi. What do you intend to do with me?"

Hinata spoke uncertainly, her hands instinctively clenching to form fists.

She would not go down without a fight, no matter how futile it seemed, if he suddenly changed his mind and decided to eliminate her.

Itachi swiftly stepped backwards out of the doorway and turned his back on her, indicating for her to follow him without asking questions.

A moment later…

"Eat." He stated, referring to the now fully visible parlour, which had a dining table, and was currently being occupied by the sturdy frame of Kisame, who was wolfing down some waffles with gusto. There was another plate of waffles and an apple on the opposite end of the table.

There were no other plates there, so Hinata assumed Itachi must have already eaten.

"Wow, I'm so hungry now, Itachi! You now owe me one for doing most of our last mission!" Kisame grinned, his beady eyes shifting to land on Hinata. "I guess now I understand why you slipped away, it has to do with this kunoichi. My name's Kisame, by the way."

"Nice to meet you, Kisame-san, I'm Hyuuga Hinata." The Hyuuga heiress automatically responded.

Hinata didn't know what to make of the bizarre display, or of what to think about the fact that Itachi was happy to keep her alive.

Itachi sighed.

"Hyuuga, you have failed to defeat me and bring me back to your master, Danzo." Itachi stated slowly, his voice impassive. "I have no desire or any plans to kill you. You don't have many options at this point. Do you think Danzo will show you mercy if you return to him empty-handed now?"

Hinata paused for a moment, her mind racing.

Was this another rhetorical question?

She couldn't help but recall what had happened to all the shinobi she had been instructed to use her Koryoku jutsu on by Danzo… they had been sent away and doomed to a gloomy future in the Hidden Sound village, likely facing death in their helpless state.

Hinata was oddly comforted by the fact that Itachi already knew Danzo's character so well. She supposed that, before he defected from the Leaf village, he must have had some dealings with the elder, especially to have so quickly deduced that it was him who had sent Hinata after him.

What did Danzo have on Itachi? He did not seem like the monster Danzo had made him out to be, that required immediate disabling. Of course, Itachi was still a criminal for his past treacherous crimes and his affiliation with the Akatsuki, but why unnecessarily go after Itachi now, after all these years?

Clearly, there was something Danzo was not telling her.

"Where do you think I should go, then, Itachi?" Hinata asked, before she realised that the words were out of her mouth. She had intended for the thought to remain in her mind.

Itachi, from where he stood before her, wearing his lengthy red and black Akatsuki cloak which suited him in an odd way, seemed to chuckle lightly.

"You'll be useful to my Leader, Pain, if you're willing to stay with us. We can make use of a medical ninja."

Hinata was surprised that Itachi hadn't immediately mentioned her forbidden jutsu, Koryoku, jumping on the chance to exploit it like her master had. Clearly, he had heard the potent distaste in her voice when she'd explained it to him.

Was this proposal something Hinata could really accept?

"Sleep over it."

Itachi turned away from her after that remark and glanced at his partner who was now done eating, having carefully watched their exchange throughout.

"We'll meet you here again tomorrow morning. This cottage is owned by an elderly widow named Kikyo. She is the one who made breakfast for us. I'm indebted to her for taking me in one fateful night when I needed a place to stay."

Itachi's mind automatically went back the dark night of the Uchiha massacre. He'd stayed hidden for the remainder of the night and waited to meet the Third Hokage first thing the following morning, in which the patriarch had solemnly lamented to Itachi how he regretted that things had turned out this way, with the burden falling entirely on his sole shoulders. After that, it had been a day of travelling for long hours on end, and although he had emerged from massacring his Clan, with the assistance of Madara Uchiha, relatively unscathed, it had drained him psychologically.

The emotional and mental toll had been great, and Itachi had found his movements gradually becoming sluggish. He had been relatively close to the Hidden Rain village and didn't want to meet the Akatsuki leader there until he was at full strength, in case they double-crossed him.

He had encountered an elderly widow working meticulously outside of her modest cottage, and had momentarily considered using his Sharingan to get the assistance he needed from her, but she had spoken up and offered him shelter and food before he could make any move. Clearly, he had looked more forlorn and drained than he realised, the burden of what he'd done weighting down on him.

Itachi had been hugely grateful to her and a decade later, he still relied on her assistance and had an unusually warm connection with the kind, elderly woman, the first person to show him warmth and comfort after the atrocities he'd committed.

Itachi returned to the present, and met Hinata's uncertain gaze.

"Yo! Hinawa… or Hinata, is it? Your waffles are going cold. Do you still want them?" Kisame chirped up.

"Um… Yes." Hinata said. "Thank you for reminding me."

Itachi made to exit the small cottage, Kisame following. Before Itachi reached the door, he turned to her one last time.

"Kikyo will probably be back from shopping at the market this afternoon to greet you. In the meantime, you're free to do as you please."

Hinata watched Itachi and Kisame disappear through the doorway casually.

Surprise filled her every pore—couldn't she simply flee? Quickly activating Byakugan, Hinata surveyed the whole cottage and three miles from its centre for any signs of traps, genjutsu, or spies… but there was nothing.

This is my perfect chance to escape back to the Leaf village.

But did she want to?

Hinata deliberated for a moment, and saw the now cold plate of waffles and apple lying on the simple maple table, waiting for her to eat it. Then she remembered that it was only polite to wait to greet her host, thanking her for allowing her to recuperate there and making her breakfast. After that, she would bid Kikyo leave and then she would escape.

And return home to…

To what?

Unnervingly, Itachi seemed to understand her tricky situation with Danzo and even seemed to want to help her out of it.

But the Akatsuki? Wouldn't joining them mean severing all ties to her home? Wasn't that a worse option?

Perhaps I will need to sleep over this after all. Hinata thought. Itachi has already made it crystal clear that he has no desire of harming me, for some reason, even though I tracked him down and tried to take away all his chakra.

Which is the part she couldn't understand the most.

Why does he want to help me?

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS GO TO: busi . sibeko1, LB Cat, Guest, Guest, I-Love-Trunks1, christinamoondust, Lovehina and Hinatashine! Thank you soo much for taking the time to review this story! I'm really truly happy you guys are enjoying it so far!

I hope you all liked this chapter! Please let me know all your wonderful thoughts in a review!

Until next time! :D

Sunrise109