Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I only own the plot for this story.

Sorry it's so late. I typed it up on my laptop, but when I moved it onto a disk to put on my computer, it got corrupted and I lost this and the epilogue I finished. So I kinda felt unmotivated, but I'll try to finish this fic. The beginning is boring, but the end is better.

Quick Recap (since it's been so long between updates and everyone's probably forgotten what happened): Someone's killing members of the Hyuuga, and each murder is worse than the previous. Hiashi was just killed and there is only one target left.

The Hyuuga household was in an uproar. The leader of the clan, the strongest Hyuuga, had just died a horrible death despite the numerous precautions and guards. The ANBU had seen Hiashi about 10 minutes prior to the discovery of his murder; someone extremely skilled had gotten past the guards, killed Hiashi in a painful and showy manner, and had managed to escape in that short period of time. The adults talked about the scene in hushed whispers, shooting furtive glances at dark corners and changing the subject when children or other members of Konoha were around.

Overall, the adults tried to spare the children, and ANBU guarded the room around the clock from adventurous daredevils trying to sneak a peek at what the adults were trying to hide from them. Hiashi's body had been removed and the pieces put into an order that resembled his original self. The pieces were wrapped in a white shroud both to cover and bind the remains while they prepared for his cremation. The room was left untouched and various nin went in daily to investigate, to find some clue as to how the murderer had entered and left, and how they had killed Hiashi so easily that the man could only manage to make a small noise before the thump of his body hitting the floor alerted the guards.

Hyuuga Ridou was livid and ranted continually of the ANBU and Hokage's incompetence, of how their inattention had resulted in Hiashi's death. He needled his guards continuously and snorted in contempt when they assured his that the room was safe. He only sat down after he had checked a room himself.

Ridou's paranoia and fear spread to the other Hyuuga. Although they were sure that the last remaining council member was the final target, many were still afraid. After all, shouldn't Hyuuga Hiashi, leader of the clan and head of the council, have been the final target? Ridou must have done something terrible, and many wondered what a demon's punishment was, if Hiashi's had only been that of Hell.

"Maybe he…"

"Probably he…"

"I hope the killer…"

The atmosphere if the house was gloomy and expectant. Tension and fear were most common, although some Hyuuga were merely irritated or even excited.

Neji felt as though he were separated from everyone else by a glass wall. He understood their fears and emotions, but he himself felt nothing. Perhaps the life of a shinobi had desensitized him, or perhaps so many deaths muted the effect.

In any case, he was one of the shinobi who volunteered to investigate Hiashi's death. Hanabi had demanded to be included in the investigation of her father's death, but the leader of the investigation refused to enlist her. She was too emotional, too overbearing. This type of work required cooperation and a cool head. Angered she took up with Ridou and spent her time badmouthing the Hokage and complaining or talking with him about her plans for the clan's future.

She got over her father's death quickly.

It had been a week since Hiashi's death and they were almost done examining the room. After today, the furniture and mats would be destroyed and the Hyuuga could begin to repair and refurnish the room. The bloodstains had been cleaned the day Hiashi's body had been removed. It was only Hiashi's blood and only showed Hiashi's attempt to reach the door. Apparently, Hiashi had not managed to injure his attacker.

Despite the cleaning, some dark stains still remained, and Neji remembered the scene each time he looked at one. The stain where Hiashi's dismembered leg had been, the place where Hiashi's shoulder had almost been cut off. The one below where Hiashi's head had hung, where the blood had dripped down, was a particularly stubborn, if small bloodstain.

The results of the investigation were horrible. They could not determine from where the killer had entered or left; they could not determine how events had progressed in those ten minutes; the only thing they could determine was that Hiashi had died of bloodloss, some from his leg and shoulder and the multitude of small slashes, but mostly from the gaping hole in his stomach. Hiashi had suffered the wounds and burning poison, and then bleeding to death from his stomach. The poison was only meant to inflict pain, the chemicals reacting with blood and tissue but not causing major damage.

The killer was indeed quite angry and quite prepared to take revenge.

A week passed, and then another. People became more paranoid, certain that the killer was going to strike any second. Some speculated that he had finished with Hiashi's death, or that he had chickened out. Optimists said he was too afraid to try or had died already.

But no, many thought. No one could come so far only to suddenly give up. The killer must be planning something, or celebrating in anticipation of getting the blood price.

A month passed, and the feeling of danger seemed to fade. It was three months since the killing spree started, and a month and a half since the last death. Perhaps there really would be nothing else. Some of the fear faded, and people resumed their normal routines, although all remained wary and watchful.

Then, two months after Hiashi's death, a note appeared. A note on a plain white card. On Ridou's bedside table to be discovered when he awoke.

A SINNER, BUT NOT A DEMON

The previous chaos immediately resurfaced, but worse. Ridou was not the last target; anyone could be the final target now. The killer had also gotten into Ridou's bedroom which was more heavily guarded than Hiashi's had been. The man had not awoken, and the two ANBU guarding the door had neither heard nor seen anything.

A room without windows and the only door guarded by two ANBU. This killer wanted to create an uproar, to create fear. It was all part of the final punishment, the retribution.

Throughout the course of the week, 2 or 3 white cards appeared everyday in various places. All were cryptic messages that hinted at the final death. Finally the killer decided to finish the lovely game of terrorize the Hyuuga.

A white card appeared on the table at breakfast, although servants swore it had not been there as they set the table. The message had been discovered when someone had picked up a fruit bowl and discovered the card leaning against the pitcher behind the bowl.

TOMORROW NIGHT

The next morning, everyone was nervous, even Ridou who knew he should be fine. ANBU had tried to determine the next target, but there seemed to be no connection between those who had just been killed and one other Hyuuga. In the end, they decided to guard Hinata and Hanabi as well as other important members of the family who had dealt often with those who had been killed.

Many people still worried anyway. Perhaps they had unknowingly done something to offend the psychopath, for the killer obviously suffered from mental delusions. Perhaps they had participated in the deed and would be killed for it. Neji was assigned to guard Hanabi, but the girl protested. Wasn't she as strong as her Neji (no), and couldn't she take care of herself now that she had prior warning? Her six guards were cut to three and Neji asked to join Hinata's three.

Tsunade assigned 2 ANBU squads and 10 or so jounin to protect the Hyuuga. This was not just about the Hyuuga. This was about Konoha and its ability to protect its citizens. Already, other villages knew of the murders within the most powerful clan in Konoha.

To make matters worse, spies had determined that Uchiha Itachi and Hyuuga Mari had been in Stone country during the first four murders. Now, no one knew who to expect or who to protect.

Saturday night, Hinata and Hanabi, along with 6 guards and Neji, were in a room on the top floor. There was only one flight of stairs up, and ANBU could guard the outside with a clear view of anyone approaching.

The sun sank below the treetops, and Neji and the guards got into position. Earlier, ANBU had set up traps and shields around the room. Five other rooms in the house had been prepared in the same way with two or three Hyuuga in each room. Fewer traps wee set, and there were more guards for each possible target.

Also, other possible targets could help fight the killer, although Hanabi had snorted and said that if she were the target, she might as well go it alone for all of the help Hinata would be. Neji clenched his teeth and reminded himself that he was supposed to protect Hanabi, not attack her.

The sky darkened further, and everyone became more alert and wary. The slightest sound caused the guards to draw their weapons and look about wildly. Hanabi had already activated her byakugan and turned periodically to make sure no one was trying to sneak into the room.

Hinata sat in a corner away from everyone else. She seemed to be meditating and did not move a single centimeter. Her eyelids twitched when the others reacted wildly, but other than that, she did not move. A slight pulse of chakra every once in a while assured Neji that she was indeed still alive.

Neji paced the room while the other guard checked the wards on the room. One ward was a simple genjutsu that prevented anyone outside from seeing into the room. They would only see an empty room. A second ward prevented chakra from entering the room, so the killer could not determine where anyone was. No one had been previously informed of where they would be, so the killer did not know where anyone was.

Neji and one guard stayed in the room. Two guards watched from above and two from below, while one patrolled randomly.

The single clock in the room ticked loudly. An hour passed, then another. 10 o'clock, and the killer had not yet attacked. Every team had a flare to send up in case of attack, but they had seen nor heard nothing.

"This is getting on my nerves," Hanabi growled. "What is he trying to do by making us wait four hours?"

"Do you think, perhaps, that the killer has already attacked someone else before they were able to send a flare?" The guard asked.

"N-no." Everyone started at the quiet voice from the corner. Hinata had not moved since they had settled down, and they had begun to disregard her presence. "In each room...a person has a communicator that allows us to communicate with other rooms, and w-we send a signal every ten minutes to make sure everything is fine."

"When did that happen?"
"Um, j-just before we split into our groups. It was…my idea, and Hokage-sama thought it would be useful. I have the communicator for our group.

"The killer probably stole the communicator and is sending a signal." Hanabi criticized.

"N-no, these communicators are k-keyed to the p-person to whom it was assigned." Her face grew red at from embarrassment as everyone stared at her. She lifted the edge of her heavy coat to show a small black box clipped to her waist. "Um, I-I send a small pulse of chakra every ten minutes…and the signal travels to the second communicator…and theirs to the third. There is a pulse when I begin the chain…and if they do not receive the passing signal within fifteen seconds of my starting-or if there is an unregistered signal, we assume that a s-safe room has been attacked.

Her eyes flicked to the clock. The seconds hand was rounding on the twelve, and the moment it clicked into position, a small burst of chakra pulsed from her hip. It was very faint and hardly noticeable. "I…just started the chain." A few seconds later, another pulse indicated that all of the rooms were fine. "The chain just finished, so it will be ten minutes before I…have to do anything again."

She shifted her eyes from the clock and looked at her companions for the first time that night. Suddenly, she flickered from sight. A thump signaled the beginning of the killers attack as someone fell to the floor.

"Don't worry, he's only unconscious, a cold voice announced.

'No, it can't be, don't let it be her.' Neji turned knowing what he would see and dreading it.

Hinata stood poised and at ease over the body. A smile danced across her lips as she straightened to her full height and looking Neji straight in the eyes. When had her eyes become so dull, so cold. Her white eyes were blank and her face held an expression of mild interest that lacked the childish naïveté that Neji had come to think of as Hinata's character. Nothing of his gentle cousin remained in this new woman. Hinata's sweet, elfin features were sharp and cunning, her smile more of sneer, her innocent gaze mocking.

Neji barely manage to move out of the way as she flickered from sight again. He shifted to the side from instinct and luck more than skill as she punched down on where he had been a moment before. When had she become so fast?

She reappeared a meter from Neji, her face twisted in annoyance. She dodged the blur that was Hanabi and went for Neji again.

"Hinata-sama, what--" Neji cut off abruptly as he dove and flattened himself against the wall.

"It's you!" Hanabi screamed. "I knew I should have gotten rid of you a long time ago!"

"Shut up, brat." Hinata's quiet voice was devoid of emotion as she flitted into view in front of the clock. She looked at her two relatives for a moment; then her face darkened.

"I will kill you." She unleashed a volley of kunai. Neji was frozen to the spot as they flew past him and struck the space where Hanabi had been.

Neji turned back in shock. Hanabi was the final target. Hinata had killed her father and grandparents and even the aunt that had loved her and was going after her sister to round off the killing spree. 'But why did she go for me?' He jumped aside as Hanabi flew past. 'What's going on?'

"Tch, I messed up," Hinata murmured. "Now I have to take both of you out."

"Wait, Hinata-sama, please explain what's going on." Neji's head overflowed with questions, with realizations, with relief. The conflict was nearing conclusion, and soon he would know the answer to the mystery of the murders.

"Don't bother talking to her," Hanabi spat as she attempted to skewer her sister.

"Why not?" Hinata taunted. "You don't want him to know the truth?" Two blurs raced around the room, and kunai and shuriken seemed to sprout from furniture and walls.

A spray of blood indicated first hit, and the two sisters reappeared, Hanabi clutching her shoulder and Hinata holding a bloody kunai. 'Hinata is beating Hanabi!' a distant part of his mind cheered. Hinata's eyes flicked to Neji's and seemed to soften a little as she looked at one of the few precious people she had left.

"I'll tell you Neji. I was planning to leave a letter, but I suppose this would be fine too." She slammed her palm to the floor and a ridge raced towards Hanabi.

"Hanabi killed Naruto."

Those three words sent Neji reeling. The final piece of the puzzle, but he was even more confused with even more questions.

"No, Naruto died on a mission." He dodged the corner of a table as it flew past to burst against the wall. Hinata snorted. He would never have believed his cousin capable of such an action.

"No, my family killed him, Hanabi killed him." She flinched a shuriken sank into her arm.

"He should have died," Hanabi shrilled. "You would let him taint our bloodline, give us over to that demon." Hinata charged forward, blades in both hands, eyes flashing in anger.

"You are the demon, you little bitch!" Two more surprises. Hinata actually shouted and she said a curse word.

Hanabi reached out to hit her older sister, but Hinata flowed to the side and snapped her elbow down. There was a loud crack and Neji heard Hanabi squeak in pain. Hanabi darted towards the window, numerous slashes on her body. Her arm dangled at her side uselessly, the white bone poking from her skin as she looked out the window frantically.

"Running for help now? Need someone to save you now that you can't hide behind daddy anymore?" Hinata rushed at her sister, but stopped suddenly as a shuriken whistled past her face. Had she not stopped, she would be dead or at least unable to see.

"She has me to help her." A brave honorable statement, but Neji's voice was full of sadness and betrayal. He had to protect a selfish little brat the he would rather hurt himself from the only family member that he actually liked.

"A branch member's duty." Hinata's remark stung, but he could hear her understanding beneath her words, could sense her forgiveness for his actions. Much as Neji hated Hanabi, he couldn't stand by and let her be annihilated by her older sister.

"Fine then. I did want to spare you, Neji."

The two on one battle began, and Hanabi and Neji could barely manage to keep up. Hanabi was already tired and injured and Neji could not bring himself to go all out even though his mind screamed that the killer must be eliminated. Hinata risked nothing and had somehow become stronger and more skilled seemed to rival Neji. Hanabi managed to land a few blows, but her refusal to work with those inferior to her hindered their efforts.

Hinata seemed to become faster rather than weaker as the fight progressed. A feral smile surfaced and her hands were a blur as they formed seals.

A part of Neji observed his cousin in amazement. It was the four-year-old Neji that had been buried for many years, the part that adored his cute younger cousin and wished for her to succeed.

Hinata taunted Hanabi every time the younger girl stopped to rest. About 10 years of buried hatred boiled forth in a stream of insults and taunts. Hinata bottle things up, and apparently she was unleashing everything now.

"You spied on my, you scheming little witch, and then you went whining to your father." Hinata's declaration of independence from Hanabi's father. "And then you all planned it. And then you got someone and make it look like an accident, like it was all in the line of duty." Quiet rage seethed in Hinata's accusations.

"You were forgetting your place and your duty to our family. We had to get rid of it to keep ourselves safe. Everyone could see what would happen, or at least everyone except Ridou. He was soft, said that we should leave you alone. And this is what you really are," Hanabi said bitterly.

Hinata's face was calm. "I am what I am, I am what you made me." She crouched down. "I will do what is right, I will make you pay for what you did to Naruto-kun." She sprung into the air, and Neji and Hanabi tried desperately to dodge the furious onslaught of attacks.

There was a muted popping noise as white smoke filled the room. Neji heard Hanabi scream as fingers jabbed the base of his neck. He fell to the floor, and Hinata waited in front of Hanabi as the smoke dissipated.

Hinata smirked as Hanabi's eyes widened. The coddled brat was scared. The usual contempt and superiority was gone. Hinata had stripped Hanabi of her confidence, and she planned to take much, much more. After all, demons are cruel, merciless beings, and Hinata's punishment would leave Hanabi wishing she had never been born, never seen her sister, never lived to see this day.

A demon's judgment upon another demon.

Okay, was anyone surprised? No, didn't think so. I'm not good at this kind of writing. Sorry about the delay. I'll post the (very short) epilogue on Wednesday or Thursday because I'm a very slow typer.

Star Lily