A/N: oh wow! the feedback for this fic has been so nice! Thank you so much for reading.
This is it. The moment Kinoto has been waiting for.
The Namikaze has left to fulfill his own mission and the asset has gone ahead to scout the area and won't be back for some time.
It's just Kinoto and his two targets.
Alone at last.
Kinoto erases his chakra signature and slowly approaches the girls. He's about to slice the Nohara's throat when an unnaturally thick mist envelops their small camp. Kinoto recognizes the jutsu and quickly retreats before anybody notices him.
He observes the ensuing battle with a sharp eye, making sure to keep his concealing seal activated. It irks him that after months of waiting and careful planning that it won't be him that lands the killing blow. Oh well, so long as the outcome of the battle ends with both girls dead. That is all that matters.
(He ignores the small, rebellious part of him—its voice getting louder with each passing day he spends with his targets—that begs him to intervene; to stop this and save them.)
The targets put up a good fight, the Hyuuga dealing precise blows with lethal grace, but against a full squad of Kiri ANBU, they never could have stood a chance. The Hyuuga goes down with a well-executed water bullet.
It's only when Kinoto realizes they intend to capture the Nohara and harvest the Hyuuga's doujutsu that he intervenes.
He cannot run the risk of the target breaking under torture and divulging the village's secrets. As for the Hyuuga, the byakugan belongs to Konoha and only Konoha.
However, there is only one of him and three of them. The other two had fallen to his targets. An impressive feat for two mere chuunin.
In the end, he chooses to secure the byakugan over reacquiring the Nohara.
The Kiri ANBU leaves with the girl.
Kinoto doesn't worry too much about it. He'd placed a tracking seal on the target long ago.
He crouches beside his other target, his sandals sinking into the wet earth. She is unconscious, her body bent oddly and covered in blood and mud.
A small part of him—one he keeps hidden because if it is found out he'll be sent to the re-education center again and you can only be sent there so many times before they deem you defective and send you to the Pit—is glad for it, that she won't be aware, her eyes closed. Kinoto doesn't want to watch the life leave such kind eyes.
(How odd for a goddess to care so much. Were their hearts not made of distant diamonds; beautiful but unfeeling?)
Kindness in their profession is such a rarity. It isn't a tool's place to be compassionate. Yet she is and Kinoto believes she is stronger for it.
He raises his hands, each one wielding a kunai, and holds them over her eyes. A quick downward thrust is all it will take to secure her kekkei genkai and complete his mission.
(Can it even be called death for one such as her? What is death to a goddess but another state of being?)
Kinoto allows himself to sigh.
It's a shame that such a treasure must be destroyed.
Oh well.
Orders are orders.
Kinoto moves only to stop abruptly, the blade's point a hair-widths away from piercing the Hyuuga's closed eyes.
The asset has returned.
Kinoto draws his signature tighter and slaps on a couple of anti-tracking seals onto his bare bicep. He retreats back into the surrounding trees. Kinoto watches as the asset and his summons burst into the campground-turned-battlefield.
The Hatake crouches protectively over the target and his summons are quick to surround the two, keeping guard. He checks her over for injuries and snarls when he spots the bloody shredded ruins of her flak jacket caused by the water bullet.
Kinoto had already examined the wound and deemed it non-threatening. There would be some scarring but she will live. The rest of her injuries are superficial.
Kinoto contemplates subduing and acquiring the asset. It would please his lord greatly. Ultimately, he decides against it. There is a...dangerous aurora emanating from the Hatake as he barks orders to his summons, fingers curled like claws and eyes two dark slits. His mask is pulled down to expose his large canines as he takes in deep mouthfuls of air, drool dripping from his maw.
Kinoto has heard rumors of ninken users going feral on the battlefield. He's never actually seen it with his own eyes until now.
Kinoto applies another genjutsu to further hide himself.
With the Hatake's current state...whatever combat they engage in will be bloody and brutal. Something he knows can't afford at the moment.
The asset's eyes narrow into two sharp, black points and he throws back his head to let loose a howl that makes Kinoto's ears ring and his bones ache. His summons are quick to follow after their master, the Hyuuga slung over the back of the largest beast, as he follows whatever trail the ANBU have been careless enough to leave behind
Kinoto activates the tracking seal and lets it guide him, making sure to keep clear of the asset's path.
He has to find the Nohara.
Kinoto cannot fail his master. A tool that cannot perform its purpose isn't one that deserves to exist.
Hinata watches in numb silence as Rin's body falls lifelessly to the ground, the cursed seal over her heart completely destroyed.
(What was she thinking!? Rin should have waited for Namikaze-sensei or Uzumaki-san—for anybody! Hinata doesn't care who as long as she was alive. Why did it come down to this? Why had they picked Rin? Why couldn't Rin be more selfish with her life? Why did she choose to leave them? Why whywHyWHY?)
There's a sudden shift in the air, charged and heavy. Hinata's heart jumps and the hair on the back of her neck prickles as the feeling expands. Even the surrounding enemy nin pause at the unexpected change, looking around for the cause.
And then in an instant it snaps, the energy rebounding in a shockwave and Kakashi drops face-first to the floor, the enemy stumbling back as something monstrous—gods have mercy, what is that?—roars in the distance, killing intent seeping into the air and curling tight around her neck like a promise.
Hinata has never felt anything like it. Not even on the frontlines where killing intent is so deeply saturated in everything has she felt anything like this. Never this intense and...
Hinata chokes, her tears making a path through the dirt and blood on her face.
There.
Four and a half meters.
Hinata inhales shakily.
A lone figure stands at the end of the clearing, the moon working as a backdrop and obscuring them in shadow.
….and never from a single person.
Hinata takes a step back in fear.
She knows with utmost certainty that this isn't a person she can defeat. They're likely on the same tier as Namikaze-sensei. A level she can't hope to compete against and expect to come out victorious.
S-rank.
The enemy-nin begin shouting but Hinata can't bring herself to worry about that, her attention going from the newcomer to the still bodies of her teammates. Hinata doesn't have time to worry if this new unknown is an ally or foe.
(She's hopelessly outnumbered and outclassed, either way.)
Hinata lunges forward.
"Please, please, gods, please be alive," she chants under her breath. Hinata frantically pushes her fingers against Kakashi's neck. She can't lose another team, another precious person—she just can't!
Hinata chokes back a sob when she feels a pulse—it's weak but at least it's there and thank kami, he's alive!
Her hands curl tightly into the collar of Kakashi's uniform as she allows herself a single tear of relief. Taking a fortifying breath, Hinata positions him on her back and stands on unsteady legs. She looks down at Rin, into her empty eyes, those clouded over in death, and clamps down on the urge to scream, to cry because Rin is dead, her best friend is dead!
Hinata doesn't want to leave Rin here. In the mud and filth, far from Konoha, but Hinata doesn't have a body scroll on her, doesn't have the time to spare to search Kakashi on the off-chance that maybe he has one hidden away, and she can't carry two people and Kakashi's pulse is starting to slow—oh gods, oh gods, what is that ?
The earth lets loose a deafening rumble as it cracks and erupts. It is followed by the screams of the enemy ninja around her as they are impaled by the dark, twisted protrusions that burst from the ground.
Hinata doesn't think.
She reacts.
Hinata ducks and weaves around the strange doton jutsu. She ignores the dead bodies around her, those not fast enough to escape the jutsu's deadly grasp, and pumps what little chakra she can spare into her legs to speed their escape.
She doesn't know who's work this is but whoever they are, they are dangerous. And Hinata cannot risk running into them, cannot risk what is left of her team, cannot risk Kakashi's life, not even to try and salvage what is left of her best friend.
She won't lose him like she did Suki and Akio-sensei, like she nearly did Hayate, like she just lost Rin—
Hinata is close, her doujutsu showing her a way out of this mess. She is so close when someone drops in front of her, blocking her exit.
Hinata slides to a stop, already in her clan's fighting stance, ready to fight despite knowing she stands no chance. Not against this… monster. Not against someone who radiates such immense power and hate.
This person is too much for someone like her to handle. The sheer amount of chakra they possess is too much for her doujutsu, the density of it similar to the foreign one that had enveloped Rin right as Kakashi's hand pierced her flesh—
Her byakugan wavers and Hinata grits her teeth, letting the doujutsu go reluctantly. It's useless against the one she faces now and plus, she needs to conserve all the chakra she can.
Hinata blinks as she catches her first real look at the unknown.
He's a lot...smaller than what she first assumed. You would think a person with such presence and power would be...taller.
The strange ninja stands there, blood dripping down the odd white clay mask he's wearing, his single eye-hole looking directly at her.
Hinata doesn't dare make the first move. He's already proven to be much faster and stronger than her. If she has to, she will use that jutsu. It is untested, but if she has to she will use the Protective Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms. It might not hold for very long or even work but is better than nothing.
They stand there at a stalemate—Hinata holding her stance steady despite the light tremble starting to develop in her limbs. The boy, on the other hand, remains motionless save for the rapid movement of his chest as he breathes harshly.
And then suddenly he's directly in front of her, mere inches away, arms outstretched, and Hinata reacts on instinct, flinging Kakashi into the foliage, chakra laced palm hitting the stranger's heart in a kill-shot.
The sound of flesh being torn open echoes on the quiet battleground.
Rin stares into the darkness, mind blank in fear as it stares back at her via a single, yellow ringed eye— about the height of the Hokage monument, she thinks—blinking down at her.
Rin opens her mouth and screams.
Hinata stares in shock. It should have been a kill-shot if her hand hadn't gone through him like he was made out of air!
Hinata slowly pulls her hand out, looking down at it. She flexes her fingers, equally awed and terrified when there is no blood.
Then what had made that sound—
squelch!thud!
Hinata whirls her head around to look behind her.
There's a dead Kiri ANBU on the ground, red pooling under them and wetting her sandals. Hinata swallows heavily when she sees the hole in the middle of their chest. She catches movement out of the corner of her eyes and watches in a stupor as the masked-nin pulls their bloodied fist back to their side, blood and gore plopping onto the floor.
Hinata swallows again. She slowly turns to face the cloaked shinobi properly once more.
She doesn't—she doesn't understand.
Why would this stranger...save me?...what does he want?
The masked-nin watches her through that single eyehole, and though the night obscures what lays behind, she knows she is his sole focus; his gaze hungrily taking her in.
Oh.
Oh gods. He wants...
Hinata's eyes widen as realization dawns on her and she tries to take a step back. The boy grabs her upper arm and pulls her closer and Hinata freezes as his hand goes for her face.
...my eyes?! No!
Hinata grimaces and squeezes her eyes shut, struggling against the grip he has on her.
She stills as his hand, wet and warm, cups her cheek gently. Hinata opens her eyes in surprise at the gentle touch.
This...this isn't what she was expecting.
His hold on her arm relaxes, sliding down to intertwine their fingers.
His hand...in hers...there's something familiar about it—about him...
His thumb strokes her cheek. Hinata shivers at the trail of blood he leaves on her skin, eyes falling half-closed.
And then it hits her.
She's so... tired.
Distantly she is aware of genjutsu weaving around her, foreign but benign chakra infiltrating her system, cocooning her in chakra so warm and familiar.
Hinata yawns, eyelids drooping. She tries to fight the genjutsu. Hinata can't let her guard down, not now when she should be trying to find some way to get out of here because Kakashi is hurt and he's counting on her and...and all she really wants to know is who this familiar stranger is.
"Who are you?" she whispers in a daze, his thumb pulling lightly at her bottom lip when he swipes down.
His hand on her face stops its tender caress at her question. Very gently—he's been so gentle with her, why?—he leans forward, the cool press of his mask against her forehead pleasing.
Hinata blinks slowly, the black dots in her vision mingling with the bloody splotches on his bone-white mask.
"...'m yours…" he croaks, sounding like he swallowed a mouthful of glass and washed it down with a cup of sake.
"...mine…?" Hinata mumbles.
She feels more than sees him nod against her before she succumbs to the sleep genjutsu.
Adrenaline fills Kinoto when the mokuton user gently picks up the Hyuuga. He tries to move but the tree roots embedded in his leg and shoulder keep him pinned down.
Kinoto helplessly watches as the masked-nin also grabs the asset and makes off with the both of them.
He takes in a deep breath of unfiltered air, the lower half of his mask having broken during the attack, and reaches back and jerks the root there sharply to the side.
The sound of it breaking is especially loud in the silence that's encompassed the battleground—no, massacre.
Kinoto doesn't make a sound—he's too disciplined for such things—when he snaps off the other root in his leg. He doesn't bother extracting them further. These things are the only reason he hasn't bled out already.
He staggers over to where he last saw his other target's body. He stands over her bloodied body, his breathing ragged, and stares.
And stares.
Kinoto drops to his knees and traces the circle of jagged, scarred flesh where before there had been a gaping hole. He pushes with his index and middle fingers and sends the smallest pulse of chakra. The cursed seal flickers into view and Kinoto is quick to commit it to memory as it dissolves, ink spilling over the Nohara's sides.
A seal such as this one will be of great interest to his master. Fascinating, he thinks, watching the shallow rise and fall of his target's chest. Are all jinchuuriki this formidable?
Another push of chakra reveals the array Kiri used to seal the three-tails into his target.
Kinoto's mouth twists downward in displeasure.
The seal is a mockery to fuinjutsu. A gross malpractice of such a beautiful art. Where are the anchors? What was Kiri thinking using an odd-numbered seal?! Did they want the three-tails to escape before it even reaches the border?
Kinoto whips out his sealing supplies. Unfortunately, he can't rewrite the seal without freeing the Sanbi nor can he make any significant changes but he can tweak it here and there so it's not such an eyesore.
Kinoto sits back and admires his seal work. It's not his best but it will do. He takes off his cloak and wraps it around the asset. It wouldn't do for her to go and develop pneumonia and die after all she's gone through.
Kinoto puts his arms under the girl and lifts her up, ignoring the pain of his injuries, and begins the journey back to Konoha.
Obito carefully sets Hinata down beside Kakashi. He makes sure they're both as comfortable as he can make them before taking a step back. He'd placed them as close to the nearest Konoha outpost as he dared. He'll flare his chakra before he leaves to ensure they'll be found.
Obito frowns, tears gathering in his one eye.
They're not—they're imposters . He shouldn't care what happens to them but he can't—he can't leave them like that.
"Hm," Guruguru hums, "so this is the Hinata-chan you're always talking about, yeah, yeah?"
Obito doesn't respond.
Instead, he watches the fall and rise of their chests. Hinata's head lolls to the side, dropping onto Kakashi's shoulder.
"She's cute! Like a little bunny rabbit~!" Guruguru coos. A pause and then he gives a thoughtful hum, "Do girls poop too? You think if I ask her reeeeal nice she'll let me—"
"Guruguru," Obito interrupts, "take me back."
" Ooooh~ " The artificial human crows, " Right away, mister Obito! "
Obito allows the other to envelop him fully once more.
He has work to do if he wants the future he envisioned to come true.
And they'll thank him for it—Kakashi, Sensei, Hinata, and all the others—maybe not at first but they will. Eventually.
Obito's single eye throbs, the sharingan coming to life.
He's going to make a world where they can be happy and safe and alive. Where they can all be together like they are meant to be.
His sharingan spins, tomoes warping into a pinwheel shape.
A world with no hurt, no wars, no more tragedies. A world that only knows peace.
Obito will make that world a reality even if he has to build it upon the bones and ashes of the old one.
Nohara Rin
Kakashi stares blankly at the name carved in neat characters as the rain beats down on him. He stands there and he stares and stares and thinks, this all my fault. I killed her. I failed you, Obito, I broke my promise and now Rin is dead and it's my fault, I killed her, me, I did, it's all my fault I couldn't—
It's a vicious cycle, his guilt and self-loathing building up after each go.
Nohara Rin
Kakashi stands there, fingers numb and lips turning blue, and stares. He stares and stares and the cracks deep inside him spread like ink-stained webs.
He's so lost in this maelstrom of grief and pain he does not sense her approach.
But like always, he smells her.
Lavendergriefhoney pack
And like always, her scent calms him, her presence a healing balm for his hurting, cracked heart.
(They call him Nakamagoroshi no Kakashi, cursed with the Shinigami's touch; hailing from heart of Yomi itself.)
Kakashi sees how the poison of his name seeps into his packmate's daily life. It's like his father's death all over again.
He tries to distance himself, knowing that this time it will break him because now he knows and recognizes Hinata as pack and the thought of letting her go is...it is the definition of agony. But it is worse having to watch the others begin to shun and look unfavorably upon Hinata for the simple crime of being his friend.
Kakashi doesn't want to watch another packmate waste away.
However, Hinata grabs him tight with those deadly little hands of hers and doesn't let go.
("You are not going to push me away again. I won't let you." She intertwines their fingers, ghosts whispering around their embrace, "Don't you dare leave me too."
And so he stays becuase he could never deny her.)
Warmth seeps into his numbed fingers and they twitch in response. Kakashi looks down to investigate the odd sensation and finds Hinata's hand gripping his tight. He looks back up. Hinata's gaze is fixed forward on the memorial stone, her expression unreadable for once.
Kakashi hesitates at first before slowly forcing his frozen limbs to move. He doesn't stop until the whole left of him is aligned against her side, eagerly soaking in both her heat and comfort.
Kakashi lets out a shaky exhale.
Hinata doesn't look his way but she does squeeze his hand comfortingly and shuffles closer, threading their arms together in a hold that says I'm here for you. Together. Always.
He might have failed to protect Rin but he still has Hinata. And absolutely nobody—nobody, not even the bloody gods themselves—is going to take her from him. Because he made a promise (cracked but still there) and he'll tear through whoever he needs to keep it.
Once again, Kou comes to retrieve his teammate. The younger boy meets his eyes and nods once at him before escorting his mistress back to their compound.
Kakashi waits, head cocked and crouched low until the Hyuugas are long gone. Once he's sure there are none close by to disturb him, he throws his head back and inhales long and deep, reaching for that wild, pained part of himself, and he howls.
Another breath, another howl, as long as his lungs can stand. Some distance away he's joined by another and then another until the whole village is echoing with his grief.
Obito stares at the empty patch of bloodied dirt.
His head drops back and screams, the area around him exploding as tendrils of sharpened branches burst from the earth.
Danzo looks at the unconscious girl in Kinoto's arms, his expression stormy.
"Kinoto," he snaps. "Report. Now."
Kinoto squashes down the fleeting urge to take a deep breath. He opens his mouth and does as ordered, recounting everything in perfect detail.
His master's expression hardens at the mention of another mokuton user but it transforms into intrigue when he gets to the cursed seal used on the Nohara. Kinoto hands over a rough drawing of the seal he made for him to inspect.
Kinoto bows his head and offers the girl to his master
"My lord, I present to you the jinchuuriki of the Sanbi."
Danzo taps his cane on the floor. Another Root operative materializes from the shadows. Kinoto doesn't hesitate but he does tighten his grip on her before handing her over. The masked nin takes the girl and disappears with her.
"Well, done, Kinoto," Danzo says, settling behind his desk, "well done. The girl will be a valuable asset...once she's been properly conditioned."
Kinoto doesn't dare lift his head. He watches a thick line of blood seep from around the root lodged in his thigh. He tries not to think about the Nohara and fails.
"As for the Hyuuga...your previous orders are void." Danzo leans back in his chair and steeples his fingers together. "However, I want you to keep an eye on her. She might be of some use later. Leverage at least."
"Hai, my lord." Kinoto thumps his fist to his heart, the knot there loosening. "It will be done."
Kinoto respectfully leaves the man's office and heads to the medical bay.
He doesn't react as the masked medic pulls the roots out of his leg and shoulder. His mind is far away, his thoughts circling around one individual.
"Hyuuga Hinata," he says to himself, "Hinata Hyuuga." The medic glances at him once but otherwise ignores him. He mouths her name a few more times, each time just as enjoyable as the one before.
Hyuuga Hinata, he thinks, slipping on a new mask, and limping his way to the barracks, I hope you will be of use to my master. For both of our sakes.
Because if Kinoto has to raise his blade against her again...he doesn't know if he will be able to go through with it.
(Can a mortal even kill a goddess—even one made of sinew and blood? Is it possible?)
Kinoto inhales shakily as he lowers himself onto his assigned cot. He closes his eyes and falls immediately into a light sleep.