Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Chapter Two

Sunrise109

Hinata's knees squealed in protest as she kneeled silently on the hard ground, finally daring to raise her head.

"You have summoned for me, Danzo-sama." Hinata said quietly. This was the first time he had summoned for her in person. Anxiety and fear gripped her body. She wondered if she was finally being punished for daring to befriend Usagi, another Root member.

"You may stand."

At the admission, Hinata stood up.

The room they were inside was actually quite spectacular. There were shoji sliding doors in the front and the back of the room, painted with decorative symbols and images. The single light bulb on the centre of the ceiling cast the whole place in a crimson glow. A few strong incense sticks were burning in the background, causing her nose to prickle.

Danzo's only visible eye sparkled as he regarded Hinata from his chair in the middle of the spacious and otherwise empty room. They were supposedly the only ones there, but Danzo was never alone. Her intuition told her otherwise and the shadows around them were not merely shadows. It was unsettling to say the least.

"I wanted to formally discuss your future training regime with you, Hyuuga." Danzo said evenly.

Hinata nodded quietly. She was already required to train eight hours daily with the other Root members. And take part in Root missions five days a week. On top of that, Danzo sometimes took her away from his underground headquarters to force her to use her forbidden jutsu on random shinobi…

Danzo simply chuckled to himself quietly. His visible eye crinkled as if he had read her mind. Hinata always wondered what lay behind the bandages covering his right eye… they were all over his chest and arms too.

Hinata had once analysed Danzo with her Byakugan. She had sensed a significant disturbance in his chakra flows… and something very unusual.

Danzo's voice suddenly snapped her out of her thoughts.

"I wish to increase the intensely of your training. You've been here for over a year now, and I want to put you to use very soon."

Hinata had known it would amount to this all along. Danzo's ulterior motives, the Koryoku at his disposal…

The question Hinata now had for herself, was how far she'd be willing to bloody and dirty her hands for her new instructor. Working for Danzo was like working for a different Hokage in some senses. Tsunade and Danzo tended to disagree on virtually all matters.

"Now let's discuss the technicalities of your forbidden jutsu." Danzo said curtly.

"Yes, Danzo-sama." Hinata replied, remaining where she stood silently.

"If the chakra point located directly in the centre of the heart is stricken, the entire chakra pathway will immediately shut down and result in the target's permanent inability to use their chakra. This technique is only accessible to one or two Hyuuga every generation. It requires attention to the operation of the chakra system on a subatomic level, such that those who are able to unlock it possess an unnaturally keen awareness of chakra flows in the body. Anyone who doesn't possess this heightened ability would simply exert too little or too much force, crushing their target's heart and resulting in their instant death rather than making a tiny vacuum in their Gate of Life, and permanently removing their chakra. For this reason, the Head of the Hyuuga Clan forbid the use of this jutsu among Hyuugas centuries ago. However, I am of the view that the jutsu was banned for more political reasons."

All this information wasn't anything new to her.

Hinata was far from stupid. She could see the planning and scheming constantly going on inside Danzo's sole visible eye. And she noticed that eye was always centred on her. It never failed to make her feel uncomfortable, like a specimen being scrutinised under a microscope.

Through Danzo's narrow-minded tunnel vision, all that he ever saw in her was a weapon which he was itching to wield against someone.

Hinata realised that her curiosity to figure out who this person was, continued increasing with each passing day.

The sound of Danzo's chair creaking as he stood up swiftly drew her attention back to his surprisingly frightening physique.

"You are the offset to ninja themselves. Extinguisher of the light of shinobi. In the future, I have aspirations for you to become an anti-Akatsuki weapon, swiftly snuffing them to their demise, my Hinata. But first things first, you must prove yourself. For now, I want you to focus on taking down one particular ninja."

Who?

Hinata didn't realise it, but her whole body had been subconsciously inching forward, trying to get closer to the enigma and mystery surrounding Danzo's target. Would it be someone who she knew?

However, Hinata didn't dare chance asking her instructor who it was.

Closing his eye, Danzo lifted up his wooden walking stick and indicated towards the closed window. Following his movement, Hinata's eyes widened as she witnessed a snake being carried away into the air by the unforgiving talons of a hawk. Was this an omen?

"I want you to use Koryoku on him, exactly as you have done it many times in the past. And bring him to me afterwards."

Hinata's heart was racing so fast that she didn't even notice the corners of Danzo's mouth shifting upwards pleasingly.

"He'll be defenceless without being about to use his ninjutsu or genjutsu, but don't be arrogant. He poses just as much a danger to you with only that katana of his. There will be no room for error. Consider it your life or his life."

He wields a katana?

Hinata couldn't recall anyone in the Leaf village who had wielded such a weapon to the point of infamy. That meant her target had to be from another village, or perhaps they had defected from the Leaf but her brain wasn't quick enough to figure it out who they could be. Clearly this was some kind of personal vendetta of Danzo's…

There was silence. Then, Danzo turned his head sharply.

"That's why I've ordered Tamagi to rigorously train you and refine your hand-to-hand combat."

Hinata immediately protested.

"Danzo-sama... I'm a Hyuuga. The only styles of taijutsu which are most effective for me are those of my Clan…"

Danzo's eye sharpened on her as he narrowed it silently.

"I know that."

Suddenly, the shoji door directly in front of them slid open to reveal a towering figure. A man she had never seen before with long dark hair like hers… and most inherently of all... translucent Hyuuga eyes.

He bowed respectfully to her, inciting her title quietly. "It's an honour, Heiress Hinata Hyuuga."

Hinata didn't know how to react. It had been so long since someone had formally addressed her by her title, it made her feel like a fish out of water, unable to think of what to say or do. Finally her mind kicked into gear and she bowed back to Tamagi. "It's an honour too, Tamagi Hyuuga."

Danzo resumed his lecture.

"Tamagi is an ex-Hyuuga patriarch. Outcast from the Clan decades ago. If they'd allowed him to stay, he would've revolutionised the Hyuuga Clan."

Danzo's chuckle sent her heart racing in fear. "He will be your new training instructor."

And faster than she could ever imagine, Tamagi struck out at her.

~.~

Itachi sat on the cliff, one leg propped up, the other dangling over the edge. The tip of his elbow rested on top of his propped knee, and his face rested on his palm.

Relaxed, yet conversely aware of his surroundings, Itachi knew he was in a safe place and completely alone.

The day had been long despite starting early, at the crack of dawn. Kisame had been injured the night before while they were on a reconnaissance mission. They had been trying to track down and gather intel on a rogue ninja from the Hidden Stone village before returning to the Akatsuki headquarters to report back to Pain their findings about the ninja.

The first place they had scoured had been booby-trapped throughout with explosives and Kisame had been too bold despite Itachi's warnings, underestimating the rogue ninja's capabilities to defend himself against spies.

Now it was noon, and Itachi stood up from the cliff edge overlooking the Hidden Stone village.

The mid-day sun bathed his face with warmth, and he allowed the rays to caress his stoic features, filling his insides with a warm feeling. Itachi truly appreciated the beauty of the natural world.

At that moment, the sleek silhouette of an infamous crow emerged in the distance, first a small black dot, before becoming larger and more defined as it glided through the air in his direction, swiftly landing on the Uchiha prodigy's arm, which had already been raised waiting for it, as if welcoming it home. Peering up at its master with obedient crimson eyes and twirling black tomoe, the summon communicated to Itachi via means of his Sharingan. This was how Itachi observed his surroundings and knew where his enemies lay in wait for him, or conversely, where his targets were at large.

After a moment of recollecting his crow's findings, Itachi released the summoning which disappeared instantly with a poof and set his calm obsidian gaze upon the grey, towering building complex dominating the skyline in the distance.

He had just tracked down his target.

Itachi knew exactly where the missing ninja had re-located to, after he had been alerted by yesterday's explosions that intruders had infiltrated his first hideout.

Little did the missing-nin know that the Akatsuki had set their sights on him.

Closing his eyes for a moment to recollect his mind properly, Itachi braced himself for the mission he was about to complete without the assistance of his partner.

It would be a simple task for him; stealthily observe the missing-nin's behaviour, and gather intel on his weaknesses, strengths and abilities, in order to create a bigger picture of his profile, before presenting Pain with the best way of getting him to join the Akatsuki, if he was deemed a promising asset by Itachi during this final leg of the mission. No doubt Kisame wouldn't be too happy to see the ninja who had put him out of action joining their organisation, but these things couldn't be helped.

If necessary, Itachi would engage with him, but he couldn't afford for things to go the way they had last night.

This time, there would be no room for mishappenings.

"Let's find out whether your abilities are worthy of the Akatsuki, rogue ninja."

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A/N: busi . sibeko 1 thank you for your review. To answer your question, Usagi is an OC. :)

Thanks also to all the new follows and favourites.

My updates may be a bit slower after today's new chapter.

See you later! :)