You're a warrior. Warriors don't give up, and they don't back down. Puck up your sword and shield and fight.
-Anonymous.
The rest of the journey was quiet, if not a little awkward. Hinata didn't talk to her client until absolutely necessary. In those cases too, their conversation--if that was they could be called--were only a few words long, spoken in cold tones. It wasn't really Hinata's fault, considering Kyoko had tried to kill her just a few hours ago.
Hence, Hinata couldn't help but inaudibly sigh in relief when the gates of Kyoko's mansion came into view.
"Lady Hinata?"
At the sound of her name, Hinata turned to Kyoko, her eyes questioning. Kyoko turned away from her cold stare, uncomfortable.
"Will you, erm, be telling telling your Hokage about earlier?"
By earlier, Hinata assumed she meant her attempt to kill her.
"Of course, I will. Not doing so would be going against the vows I've made as a Shinobi."
So is hiding that Uchiha's location from the Hokage.
Hinata groaned internally at the thought, pursing her lips at the more logical side of her mind.
Threat of death, remember?
The voice in her head made a sound suspiciously like a snort.
Whatever you say.
Behind her, Kyoko's heart dropped into her stomach. Her father would never forgive her, if he ever found out about her failed attempt. They could also loose the leaf as a potential ally.
Father would never look at me again. Then, I will become even more of a failure than I already am.
Desperately, she clenched her fists.
"They won't believe you. Not over me!"
Hinata watched quietly as Kyoko rambled on, pathetic hope filling her eyes, her voice rising in pitch.
"That's right! You don't have proof!" She ended, her finger pointing at her companion accusingly.
As irritating as it was, it was the truth. Hinata didn't have any proof.
However...
"I have a witness."
She got two responses to her statement.
One was Kyoko's; the colour draining from her face as she realized that she had lost from the start. Even if, by some miracle, she had succeeded in killing Hinata, it would have been of no use if her partner ended up telling the Hokage anyway.
At the same time, Hinata felt a spike of Chakra in the surroundings. But, just as quickly as it had made itself known,but disappeared; the only indication that he'd heard her.
Itachi pursed his lips, eyebrows lowering from when they had shot up at her statement.
She'd caught him off guard. Again.
"How bold." He murmured softly, watching the two women in front of him.
This better not turn into a habit.
Despite the thought, he felt his lips twitch into a smirk, blood pumping with anticipation. Watching the Hyuga was quite entertaining; an escape from his monotonous life.
As she turned away from the mansion, refusing the idea to stay that the Chief had so generously offered, Itachi watched her eyes.
They were deep in thought, calculating, planning.
She was going to do something, he just knew it. Perhaps, she was finally tired of his endless warnings and constant following.
Well, what are you going to do about it?
For about an hour, he just followed, his guard up waiting for her to attack. Glancing at their surroundings, he predicted her course of action.
She was walking on foot, while Itachi was jumping from tree to tree, swiftly and quietly, with the grace of a trained killer.
That was what he was, after all--A trained killer.
Looking up, he noticed the forest around them getting denser. Cramped spaces weren't ideal for fighting. Which meant that, if she was going to attack him, it was going to be right about-
He cursed silently when his vision was obscured by some leaves.
Quickly jumping to the next tree, he landed silently, his body tense, anticipating an attack.
There was nothing.
He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, disappointment filling him as Hinata casually came unto view. Then, he noticed that her Chakra was less than half its normal amount.
Ah, a shadow clone.
The hair on his neck stood.
His eyes widened briefly as he turned around just in time to dodge the kunai coming straight at him. Watching it wiz past him, he noticed a paper attached to it.
An explosive tag.
Shit.
Quickly, he jumped away, narrowly missing the explosion that followed, but not so lucky with the smoke. He coughed, pressing a hand to his nose as he jumped at a considerable distance.
No sooner had he landed, the hair on his neck stood again. Turning around quickly, he caught Hinata's Chakra-infused palm and pulled her forward.
Her Chakra was a little more than half. This was more likely to be the real one.
Pivoting so that he was behind her, he slammed her into a nearby tree, twisting her arm behind her back. His other hand went to clutch the back of her neck.
Smirking lightly, he tightened his hold.
"You're done."
She didn't reply. Instead, she just turned her face sideways, staring at him blankly.
He furrowed his eyebrows at her lack of response.
Narrowing his eyes, his mind came up with only one possibility.
But, before he could contemplate his course of action, the girl in his hold poofed, leaving behind nothing but smoke.
Which means that..
The girl he had seen before with less than a half chakra, the one who had casually walked out of the clearing had been the real Hinata.
And right now, she was coming straight at him, her eyes twinkling--burning--with determination.
It almost took his breath away.
Swiftly moving out of the way, he grabbed her wrist, once again twisting her arm behind her. His other hand went for a kunai. Quickly retrieving it, he aimed for her neck.
His kunai met with her own. Her free arm was awkwardly twisting backwards, as the sound of steel making contact with steel echoed in the silence.
She gritted be teeth as her arm was pushed backwards. Suddenly, she placed her foot next to his, twisting her torso as her other foot came for his face.
Itachi had to step away to avoid the hit. In the process, he let her go.
She was flexible beyond belief.
Landing gracefully on the ground below, he exhaled slowly. A second later, she landed across him, kunai still in hand.
He could feel the adrenaline pumping in his veins, anticipation coating every inch of his body.
What would she do next?
He raised an eyebrow when she dropped the kunai and activated her Byakugan. With growing excitement, he watched her fall into an unfamiliar stance.
He'd never seen a Hyuga in action.
"You're in range." Her voice seemed to echo all around. For a second, he found himself in pitch black darkness, the only source of light being the glowing Yin and Yang symbol and the inscription beneath his feet.
In the middle of the symbol stood Hinata, her eyes fierce, the very essence of a warrior emanating from her. He blinked, and the image was gone.
"Eight Trigrams. Sixty-Four Palms."
And she lunged.
"Two Palms!"
Her accuracy was on spot, he noted-
"Four Palms!"
-her speed increasing with each attack.
"Eight Palms!"
And yet, he still dodged-
"Sixteen Palms!"
-Every. Single. One.
Gritting her teeth, Hinata realised that if this went on, she would loose Chakra quickly. Catching her opponent off guard, she suddenly crouched low and swept her leg against the ground, intent on getting him off balance.
As he focused on avoiding her foot, she stopped just before her foot came into contact with his. Instead, she planted her foot into the ground, using the momentum of her attack to get closer. Immediately, she continued her barrage of attacks.
"Thirty-Two Palms!"
One of her hits made contact. His eyes widened. Then, another. And another and another-
"Sixty-Four Palms!" She finished, immediately jumping back.
Her heart sunk, realizing that even after he was off-balance, he still managed to dodge majority of her attacks. Only a few had made contact.
Her breathing was slightly laboured, as she took her stance again.
His eyes narrowed, finally feeling the numbness in his arm. Blood trailed down his cheek from the small cut, where her Chakra-infused palm had barely grazed him.
Loosing his arm was a disadvantage. He couldn't perform any Jutsu until the effect of her Chakra wore off. Though he still had his speed to his advantage, he didn't want to take any chances.
His death was supposed to be at the hands of Sasuke, but this Hyuga was seriously beginning to risk all his plans by her surprises.
The stunt she had pulled just before made him wonder just how many aces she had up her sleeve. If there were more surprises in store, he wasn't so keen in finding out right now, considering what her previous one had done to his arm.
As unpredictable as she was, it was better for him to only engage her when he was at his full potential.
Who knows just what trick she would play next?
With that thought in mind, he disappeared, his Chakra Signature completely disappearing as he travelled at full speed, making it impossible for her to keep up if she tried.
Hinata's eyes widened, when Itachi suddenly disappeared. She made a move to follow him, but soon realized that it was futile.
After another moment of hesitation, she turned the opposite direction and started walking. While doing so, she wondered why he'd left so abruptly.
Even without his arm, she had no doubt that he would be able to defeat her.
His eyes, which had been a dull red the last time she saw him, had, somewhere along the way turned into the colour of a crimson ruby, shining just as brightly.
Hinata had been on enough missions to know exactly what it was.
The thrill of a fight.
But, unlike the others she'd fought, he lacked the bloodlust she'd become accustomed to.
He didn't have any intention to kill her; he had made that clear. He fought simply to feel alive--the adrenaline pumping in his veins, his senses expanding, the unpredictability of it all.
Shaking herself to rid the thoughts of the Elder Uchiha, Hinata sighed.
She better hurry up.
At considerable distance, Itachi realized why exactly the Hyuga had caught his interest--and why exactly he wasn't so keen on killing her.
The world was against him. He had enemies everywhere. Everyone he encountered, tried to kill him.
'Kill on sight.' That.was what the Bingo book said about him.
Ever since he'd met the Hyuga, something had seemed off about her. Especially the way she fought. Sure, she was unpredictable, but that wasn't just it.
He now realized why.
Because, she wasn't trying to kill him.
She lacked killing intent. Often, his body reacted instinctively when he sensed killing intent. But, now that there was someone who'd wasn't trying to kill him, he didn't know what do to.
She wasn't trying to kill him. Instead, she was just trying to capture him.
Why? He didn't know. But, he had no intention of making it easy for her.
He smirked at the thought
Next time, I would be making the first move.
There you go, you slavering peasants!!
You may enjoy the feast I have so graciously put before you, to satiate your hunger.
Any compliments for the chef??
Be sure to leave behind a tip!!
-Your parallel-dimensional author.
