Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Chapter Three

Sunrise109

He was very fast. That was to be expected, coming from a Hyuuga. But his jabs and strikes never missed. They always landed on their target. Which, in this case, happened to be Hinata.

But she couldn't let Tamagi outshine her in front of Danzo. It was an insult to Danzo's harsh training methods, and the day-in day-out hardships she had to endure.

Hinata, being a Root member, which was far more challenging in comparison to Konoha's standard Anbu Black Ops, endured rigorous training and trials.

She would not allow herself to be taken lightly.

Even with her injuries, and knowing she'd made a bad start, Hinata managed to pick up the pace, until they were fighting on an equal level. At least that was what she had thought, when—

Out of nowhere, his hand disappeared… and when she least expected it, his blow sent her flying across the room until her body collided with the ground in a sickening thud.

Blood trickled down her mouth as Hinata lay slumped on the floor, her body bruised and battered. At least three of her vital chakra points were completely blocked. And she could see with her Byakugan that there also appeared to be some internal damage done to her organs.

"Get up." Danzo ordered harshly. He looked stern, unforgiving, and her recent performance had certainly done nothing to affirm his judgement that she was the right person for his task.

He would still take his chances with her, however...

Hinata managed to raise herself into a sitting position, quickly pressing a hand imbued with green healing chakra against her stomach to make standing up less strenuous.

Slowly and shakily rising to her feet, the Hyuuga heiress fixed her eyes on a stoic Danzo and a judgmental looking ex-Hyuuga.

"You see, my Hinata… You will only get one chance to render your target useless with Koryoku. If you miss, that will be the end of you." He paused, eyeing her intensely. "Of course, I cannot allow that to happen so shortly after acquiring a weapon as invaluable as you. So, you better learn how to strike and never miss."

Hinata nearly flinched. How long would she have to train like this until she was ready to face off Danzo's target?

Without her consciously being aware of it, her hands began to tighten into fists, nails digging slightly into her palms.

"I promise to learn how to never miss, Danzo-sama." Hinata replied, her translucent gaze hardening. "Whatever the cost may be."

"That's good." Danzo said, immediately impressed by her determination. If he had caught wind of this Hyuuga girl's potential sooner, he would've hired and trained her as one of his Root members years in advance.

Danzo turned away from them, heading towards the exit. He stopped to speak just before he reached the shoji sliding door.

"Now I have other matters to attend to. Resume your training."

Hinata watched Danzo go silently.

~.~

"If I have to pay for the damages of another building of mine that you get destroyed, I'm hiring an assassin to take you down, Deidara. I'll do it without batting an eyelash, in spite of our five years of business together." The fuming male threatened, the visible parts of his face, which was mostly obscured by his hood, contorted in rage, making the comical tattoos on his features look twice as scary.

Deidara sat back, relaxed and resigned, on an expensive couch in the parlour of the fourth floor of the building complex.

"Don't say that, you're my business partner. I'll pay you double this time for the damages, un?" The blonde offered, casually pulling out a stack of cash from his pouch. Then his features darkened, "I've been getting a bad feeling about things lately, dude. I'm being tracked down by some persistent ninja. It's proving difficult to get them off my trail."

"And I care, because?" His business partner responded in exasperation.

Deidara scoffed at his partner's cold indifference, but suddenly his sea blue eyes lit up.

"You're right, I know it's probably nothing. I'm worrying for no reason. Just remember, one day I'm going to become a world-renowned artist, and I'll blow the world away with the power of my art!"

Deidara deftly denoted a tiny butterfly-shaped piece of clay with a snap of his fingers, causing it to explode mid-air.

"Hey, watch it! You'll spoil the carpet, you brat!"

Deidara quickly retorted, "On the bright side, I'm going to plan an art festival one day. I'll develop bigger bombs, flashier ones, and everyone will want to pay to see it! It'll be good for business!"

His tattooed business partner found it hard not to laugh after hearing that, but when he recalled the sheer cost of the recent building which Deidara had booby trapped with his bombs and was now completely demolished due to intruders infiltrating it, his features darkened.

"Stop getting my buildings destroyed! Bottom line!" He was even tempted to jab Deidara in the chest, however he knew how temperamental the blue-eyed ninja could get and didn't want to risk losing his hand. "Here's the bill. Pay your debts on time or else." He warned, passing on to Deidara the sheet of paper with the figures. Then he left.

"Whoof." Deidara let out a noise of surprise. There were several digits.

Unbeknownst to Deidara or his business partner, Uchiha Itachi was in the premises, going through the archives on the seventh and final floor of the building. He had masked his chakra and had a crow keeping watch of the movements of the other two down below him, perched outside the windowsill of their parlour and kept invisible by genjutsu. Itachi had so far been able to salvage various scrolls detailing the secrets behind Deidara's jutsu and his eerie abilities.

Stealth was one of Itachi's strengths, and he had already memorised almost all the contents of several of the scrolls he'd looked through, thanks to his bloodline limit.

He's a dangerous guy. Itachi thought. Pain will approve of him.

Suddenly, there was the sound of a miniature explosion down below. Itachi knew from the contents of Deidara's scrolls that the Hidden Stone shinobi was a specialist in Explosion Release and utilised clay infused with his explosive chakra in combat. He had formulated a plan to one day show the world the true beauty of his "art", and was apparently not shy of getting himself caught up in the explosion in the process.

Essentially a fanatic, Itachi thought, but then again, the Uchiha was used to such personalities after many long years of being a part of the Akatsuki organisation.

Wanting to finalise his research on the S-Class missing-nin soon, Itachi quickly wafted through the last of the scrolls, his crimson eyes with the black tomoe rapidly flicking over the delicate parchments one after the other…. Until he happened to come across a scroll about the Hyuuga Clan.

What is something like this doing here?

Already it was clear that Deidara was a well-research individual, and it wasn't so surprising that he had studied various Clan's bloodline limits. Itachi had already read his ramblings about the Sharingan. But what interested him about the Byakugan in particular?

Quickly listing it off as the fanatic's insecurity about doujutsu users and the natural threat they posed to him, Itachi was about to put the scroll away when his eyes fell upon the face of a young female Hyuuga in the appendix section at the bottom of the scroll.

The Uchiha prodigy's gaze lingered on the image for a moment longer than expected, somewhat captivated by the soft yet firm translucent gaze framed by long midnight hair staring back at him, before he promptly closed the scroll and pushed the image of the woman out of his mind.

The Hyuuga had an heiress, if Itachi remembered correctly, just as he had once been the heir to the Uchiha Clan. Was hers the face he'd just looked at?

Hanata? Hinawa? Or was it… Hinata?

Hinata Hyuuga?

Shaking his head at the absurdity of his thoughts, Itachi reminded himself that unnecessary curiosity got one into trouble. He had already forbidden himself, since defecting from the Leaf village, from musing about the people of the Leaf village he had left behind, or anyone from his past who was still alive. Sasuke was the only exception to this rule.

Now that Itachi's research was complete and he had come to a decision about the worthiness of the S-Class ninja's capabilities, it was time to deliver the news to the person in question.

A few minutes later, Deidara casually got up from his comfortable couch, after having enjoyed spending a few minutes entertaining outrageous thoughts about how he would develop his network of paid assassination contracts in order to raise money to pay off his debts. Just as he was about to exit the parlour, something out of the corner of his eye caught his attention.

There was a crow perched outside the window, against the backdrop of a skyline and city pouring with rain, and in the crow's small beak was a tiny scroll, ravelled up and bound with a seal, which was keeping the contents of the scroll from getting wet.

What is this?

Deidara opened the window suspiciously, at which point the crow immediately dropped the scroll into his outstretched hands before taking off suddenly.

The seal on the scroll had the image of a single scarlet cloud. The insignia brought up no recognition in Deidara's mind, which really irked him because he needed to know these things.

Finally opening up the scroll, Deidara's sky blue eyes roamed over its sparce contents, his heart racing in his chest, but the apprehension quickly dilated into anger:

If you want to know who we are, meet us here in your business partner's building complex, five months from today's date, at noon.

Do not disappoint us.

There was no signature.

"Tsk."

Deidara shrugged. It couldn't be helped. Curiosity gnawed at him as he gazed outside the window, where the sky was starting to brighten up.

Just don't underestimate me, you fools. I won't go through easily with whatever you want.

That would all be decided in a few months' time.

~.~

Three months of rigorous, relentless training had passed and Hinata was finally beginning to make some progress with her training instructor Tamagi Hyuuga. Danzo's presence had oddly been missing since he had introduced her to her new instructor, and he hadn't summoned for her again in person.

Hinata was currently at the end of one of her training sessions with Tamagi, dripping with sweat from head to toe, but she had seen signs of improvement in her performance today, occasionally being able to predict Tamagi's powerful blows and catch him off guard with her own subtle counterstrikes.

As Hinata bowed to Tamagi thankfully, his seemingly icy and disapproving features suddenly softened.

"You have progressed nicely, Hinata." He said.

"Thank you, Tamagi." Hinata acknowledged, face heating up slightly.

"Only a few Hyuuga have ever managed to learn your forbidden technique, albeit in secret, over the last few centuries. I'm impressed."

Hinata was glad they were now able to speak on a first name basis. She felt more comfortable being able to talk on equal grounds with the absence of any title or honorific.

"And those who did succeed in learning this devastating technique are now long dead. It's no surprise to me that the daughter of the Head of the Hyuuga Clan was capable of learning this."

They were all now dead. Although this was likely attributable to the fact that the Koryoku jutsu users only emerged once or twice a generation, Hinata couldn't shake off the feeling that other factors may have played a part in their deaths.

"I learnt it completely by mistake, and would do anything now to reverse my actions." She quickly confessed.

However, she knew it was too late for that. Even if she decided to back out now, Danzo would hear nothing of it.

"The Hyuuga Clan blood runs strongly in your veins, Hinata. Although I know that working for Danzo can easily make you forget who you are, never forget your roots."

~.~

It was later that evening when he finally summoned for her.

Something felt different this time… Hinata was sure of it.

There were no shadows standing sentinel in the corners of the room.

It was just her and Danzo.

"You summoned for me, Danzo-sama?" Hinata said, barely able to keep the nerves from affecting her speech. Why had he summoned for her this time? Had he decided that she was the wrong person to carry out his mission for him?

Danzo closed his only visible eye. His build towered over her from where he stood just meters away.

"I'm going to reward you for your training just this once, my Hinata. Tamagi has informed me that you are almost ready. So, I'm going to tell you who your target is."

Hinata froze.

Danzo's eye finally opened, and he passed her the Bingo Book he had been holding.

"He is unhinged and must be taken down before, in his madness, he decides to return and threaten the peace and stability of the Leaf village."

For a moment, Hinata was puzzled. Then, it suddenly dawned on her who Danzo was referring to, without having to look at the Bingo Book.

"Uchiha Itachi." Hinata breathed.

Danzo neither confirmed nor denied it. His expression remained unchanged.

Hinata finally looked down at the Bing Book in her hands and started reading.

:: O :: BINGO BOOK :: O ::

Basic Information:

Name: Uchiha Itachi

Criminal Rank: S-Class

Status: Active

Team: Hoshigaki Kisame

Alliances: Akatsuki

Bloodline Limit: Sharingan, Mangekyo Sharingan

Criminal Biography: Formerly Anbu Captain of the Hidden Leaf Village, he massacred the Uchiha Clan in order to test the limits of his abilities, leaving his younger brother Uchiha Sasuke as the sole survivor. Itachi defected from the Leaf Village and joined the Akatsuki criminal organisation where he continues to operate to this day. Approach with extreme caution if unable to avoid direct confrontation with him, and do not engage in combat with him unless it is absolutely unavoidable.

Hinata subconsciously found herself transfixed by Itachi's image on the page. His harsh, graceful features. His calm yet intense obsidian eyes, almost piercing through her soul. Long black hair, dangling behind him in a low ponytail. And those two troughs, on opposite sides of his face.

Hinata pulled her shocked gaze away from the Bingo Book, and her eyes locked with Danzo's as he regarded her coolly.

"I believe that you are almost ready, my Hinata."

She had to diasble Itachi Uchiha with Koryoku.

And bring him back alive to Danzo.

This was a person she had only ever seen once from a distance, when he had walked past her Clan compound many years ago. All the members of her Clan at that time who were outside with her had tried not to openly stare at him, but some were desperate to look at the young prodigy, who by the age of eleven, had joined the Anbu Black Ops as its youngest member, and a year later was promoted to Captain.

All the female Branch Members who had stood by Hinata had suddenly audibly gushed when he seemed to stop and look in their direction. Their gazes had locked for a moment, both Hinata and Itachi's, and all she could remember was the hint of pain deeply disclosed within his calm and recollected chrome gaze before he turned away and continued on, mind focused on whatever was consuming him.

For whatever reason, even at the tender age of seven, the Hyuuga heiress had wanted to reach out to him and take away his pain. Distract him from what was plaguing his mind. But this was not possible.

The rest she knew about Itachi was from common knowledge, things that everyone knew about him, and it was unpleasant. Just as the Bingo Book had stated, he was the sole perpetrator of the downfall of the Uchiha Clan.

Hinata had always had trouble reconciling that image of a young teenaged boy in deep heart-wrenching pain, with the stoic cold-blooded killer staring back at her from the still pages of the Bingo Book.

The fact remained however, that Itachi was responsible for his actions and crimes. Hinata was now obliged, by order of Danzo, to take away the Uchiha prodigy's ability to ever use chakra again, before bringing him to face whatever judgement Danzo had in store for him.

An order is an order. Hinata repeated to herself, barely noticing her arms trembling, from both fear and determination. If she lost this battle in her mind, the battle was already lost before it played out in real life between her and Itachi.

I… I have to do this! For the sake of the Leaf village!

A fearlessness that was borderline insanity coursed through Hinata's brain as she slowly convinced herself that the mission she had just been assigned by Danzo was feasible for someone like her, who had spent a large portion of her life grappling with the reality of being unable to meet her father and Clan's high and overbearing expectations of her.

"Don't worry. I'll soon teach you how to counter that Sharingan of his." Danzo reassured her calmly.

~.~

That night, Hinata was unable to sleep.

She had her own simple, bare room to rest in, inside Danzo's underground headquarters. All Root members slept in individual rooms, which, for the most part, catered to their basic needs. For most of them, this place was home.

Without warning, all the past victims of Hinata's forbidden Gentle Step: Koryoku Jutsu flashed before her eyes. Including the startling clarity and vivacity of their pained expressions without their chakra… would Uchiha Itachi soon be among their number too?

As life would have it, her and Itachi's paths would soon cross.

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