Another one. So tired. Thanks for reading, double thanks for talking to me.

Own Naruto I do not.

Chapter 3

Sasuke hadn't exactly agreed or disagreed to work with her.

After the altercation they had just looked at each other, chakra exhausted and separated. Sasuke had retreated into his own home and Hinata made it back to her own district. She stayed in her small apartment the rest of the night and after completing the required training regiment to keep her body fit and her chakra aligned she fell asleep.

They had both been ordered to report to the Hokage office that following morning, whether Sasuke would show was beyond Hinata's knowledge.

Going through the same hallways she had passed through previously, receiving the same looks she had received yesterday, she made her way through the double doors.

As she walked through she caught the end of a conversation.

"-and after your aid to the leaf in the great war you avoided prison but you agreed that as penance the leaf would receive 100 years of your service. That's your life Sasuke. Whether your thick headedness will allow you to believe it, you owe the leaf your life. Do you know how many kill order requests I've received for you from other villages? You owe me, and you owe Naurto and by extension Hinata as well."

"I've seen the girl's history Kakashi, you really think she's ready for the missions you want me to carry out?"

Kakashi smirked. "I've seen your track record as well, and honestly it's a surprise you're not in jail or dead. People are more than their past Sasuke, I think Hinata will surprise you."

Hinata decided to make her presence known.

"Good," Kakashi stated. "You're both here we can begin."

Sasuke didn't look in her direction. This was okay with her, the least amount of interaction she had with the bad mannered man the better.

"What I'm about to tell you is classified and will be an S-rank mission. Naruto doesn't even know this." Hinata attempted to pay even more attention then she already had. Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

Kakashi handed each of them a folder, inside five men were pictured. None of them appeared to be the kindest men and they all were depicted in Konoha prison wear.

"This one of Konoha's best kept secrets of the war."

"I could name a few more," Sasuke said under his breath. Hinata had to admit she was kind of curious about the secrets the Uchiha possessed in general, let alone about her village, but she held her tongue in favour of listening to what else Kakashi had to say.

"The men you are seeing aren't in any bingo book, but they are S, no S+ ranked criminals. So notorious that when they were arrested, Minato was told to put them under the prison."

"Why weren't they killed?" Hinata asked. To her that seemed the simplest solution.

"That would have been the wisest decision. But in their final moments before capture they used a forbidden jutsu called the Blood Binding Soul Stealer. " Kakashi started looking grim.

"And that does what exactly?" Sasuke stated impatiently. Hinata took note that the man wasn't necessarily fond of over or drawn out explanation.

"It binds the caster of the jutsu to the land and life of where it originates. If the caster dies of anything but old age, so does everything that's bound to them."

"When you say the place the jutsu originates...you mean- so everyone in the leaf villages lives are gone if one of these men happens to meet an untimely end?" Hinata questioned. She honestly couldn't believe it. They had been so fixated on Orochimaru and Obito and whoever else when this ticking time bomb awaited in the village.

"How convenient, why am I not surprised this corrupt village set on this for what, five years? Kami Kakashi…"

Kakashi looked as though he had the fate of the world on his shoulders.

"You know as well as I that this is a nation run not by one, but by many…"

Hinata in a way pitied Kakashi, he was a man of action forced into a role that was political and slow moving. Coming from a background based in politics herself, she knew how much harder it was to fight with words then fist.

"Kakashi-sensei, " said Hinata with a sombre expression. "Hokage-sama. What are your orders, how do we neutralize this theat?"

Sasuke, who didn't seem to feel the need to chime in, resided in the corner.

"It took Minoto and the nine tails to bring them down last time. However, you know that in a position of peace I can't send Naruto out, it would raise too many flags sending my successor on mission.."

Hinata hated to admit it made sense.

"You have two of the most powerful dojutsu in the nation. Sasuke, your power equals that of Naruto, and Hinata you have been trained by the most powerful kage and jinchuriki in the nation. Working together I think that you're the leafs greatest chance at coming out of this whole."

Hinata understood. This was covert op to apprehend an unimaginable target. In this instance, Kakashi couldn't send a whole army, it would raise many flags. Hinata straightened her kunai pouch a bit. She would do it for Neiji, and the leaf village, even if it cost her her life.

Sasuke on the other hand didn't seem to share the same loyal intent.

"Before you argue Sasuke, if you complete this task, my last act as Hokage, which will be coming up shortly, will be to pardon you."

Sasuke closed his lips on whatever he had been about to say. Hinata raised her eyebrows at the remark. She didn't think that Kakashi would put those kinds of cards on the table, however she was very familiar with the strategy of putting a monster on the field in favor of taking out several larger ones.

"I do this for you and I get to roam wherever, whenever I want, I also get to restore my clan as I see fit." His voice was deep Hinata noticed. Hinata realized it was the first time he didn't sound angry or wasn't yelling.

She begrudgingly admitted that she liked this tone, it was soothing like when a mother watched her normally screaming baby peacefully sleeping.

"If you manage to complete this task, you have a deal. I cannot promise that no one will try and murder you though, you don't exactly inspire many people with kind thoughts at the moment. Regarding the extension of your clan, as Gai would say, I'm all for young love."

Hinata was again surprised at the Uchiha. From his demeanor toward her, and she assumed everyone else, she had figured procreating was the least of his worries. However, she would not judge him, maybe he would enter into an arranged marriage with a foreign woman and live the rest of his days in stoic bliss.

Hinata wished her goals were that simple.

Kakashi looked at Hinata expectedly as though looking for her to make a request as well. She simply gave him a small bow and he smiled.

"Great, now that those sworn to serve the leaf without question have had all their questions answered. You're dismissed, you leave at first light."

Sasuke turned on his heel and walked swiftly out of the office, Hinata turned to go as well when Kakashi stopped her.

"Ah Hinata, please wait, I have something for you."

Opening his top desk drawer on the right he pulled out a white porcelain mask. Hinata raised her eyebrow in suspicion of the animal that it depicted. Did Kakashi still think so little of her that he had chosen an animal that was known to be weak.

"A kitten?" she voiced her concerns.

Kakashi held the mask in both hands as he walked around his desk. He was a tall man, and even though he was older, he still appeared the same as she remembered when he taught at the academy. Reaching out he placed the mask firmly on Hinata's face. She didn't know if it was because of some sort of jutsu but it seemed to form and hug her face as though it were a second layer of skin.

"It isn't what you think Hinata." He stated. Calling her by her first name with no honorifics made her want to resume her blushing habit. "I don't think you to be weak, far from it honestly. Cats represent stealth and adaptability. They are highly intelligent and always land on their feet. "

Kakashi walked back to his desk and picked up an orange book whose title Hinata couldn't quite make out; she felt as though she was being dismissed. She turned to leave once more. As she walked toward the door Kakashi made one last remark.

"Odd thing cats. Did you know the common household cat will begin to devour their owner only minutes after their death?"

Hinata paused.

"Yes, quite odd." She whispered, as she exited the office.

Her visit seemed so short she didn't think she'd run into him.

Naruto always smelled like warm fires and the faint odor of ramen. That smell had not changed.

However, much had happened over the five years. Naruto had grown taller, she was now eye level with his chest. His bright orange outfit had now gained sophisticated off sets of black and white. His yellow cornsilk colored hair was much shorter and he wore wraps on both hands. His trademark whiskers sat under dense pools of blue that she had fond memories of looking into.

"Hinata," he breathed as he took her in.

They were standing outside the Hokage building, Hinata had been coming out, Naruto distractedly walking in. So distracted in fact that he had almost plowed into her.

"Naruto," she smiled kindly. "It's been a long time, I hope you're well."

"Yes… I… uh I'm great," He stated hurriedly.

Awkwardness sat in after that in which Naruto rubbed the back of his head and Hinata stared pointedly off into the distance.

"Look Hinata," Naruto started. "About how we left things...After Neiji died I just kinda crushed you further by rejecting your feelings. I never meant to be the reason that you left the village, I-"

Hinata interrupted him with a not so lady like snort. "You're still that little kid in the orange jumper if you think you're the reason that I left the village."

Naruto looked taken aback at her steady way of speaking to him.

Hinata sighed. "Naruto I'm glad that you rejected me honestly. " She looked at the boy she had once thought she would spend the rest of her life with. He looked tired and stressed from the lines that reflected around his eyes. But he had grown strong, and in what she could only guess to be a few months he would achieve something he had dreamed about since he was a child. "In a way you helped shape the person I am today." She reached up to slightly ruffle his hair. If she had been her younger self she would have fainted, woken up, and fainted again. But she just watched as a smile tugged at the end of Naruto's lips.

"I hope you know that you will make an excellent Hokage someday." She said this in berly more than a whisper but she knew he heard it. "And on that day it will truly be an honor to serve you."

Hinata smiled. For this time it was Naruto's turn to blush.

"Hina that was intense." Naruto said, exhaling a breath he had been holding. He rubbed the back of his head with a bandaged hand, a habit he still held from youth.

"Yeah, but on your way to being a great leader, you should remember to zip your pants before you leave your house Naruto," she whispered behind her hand with a giggle. Moving past her former flame she laughed once more as he gasped and dropped all the papers in his hands reaching for his paints.

There was a small part of her that felt fulfilled in knowing that the Naruto chapter of her life had ended with a smooth resolution. The words she had said were true, it would be her life's mission, she vowed, to serve whoever sat on that throne.

"Hinata," Naruto called as she had almost reached the end of the street.

She turned back to him.

"I recognize the look on your face. It's one I've seen many times on a friend of mine."

Naruto looked down, a smile fading from his face.

"You've gotten stronger, I can feel it and I'm really proud of Hina. But pervy sage once said for every step we move forward, there's always five more ropes from our past trying to pull us back."

Hinata had heard words similar to this, but hearing them from as carefree a person as Naruto was a little unnerving. However, as quickly as the seriousness had flashed across his face, it faded into his usual boy-like grin as he threw one of his bandaged arms around his head and scratched the back of his hairline once more.

"Eh, but what did that old perv know right? Catch you around Hinata."

With his fallen things in tow, he made his way through the Hokage buildings doors. Hinata shook her head and chuckled at the man.

"Bye Naruto."

Yeah. Review.