Chapter 19.

"How can it be?"

Tenten didn't need to say that, for the same question was in everyone's mind at that moment.

Their group of four stood aghast on top of the wall. They needed some time to process the situation. Time that they didn't have.

"What do you see?" asked Kakashi, trusting that Hinata had already started scanning the village with her Byakugan.

"The center is a wreck, but most of the village seems intact," was an immediate reply. "Battles everywhere…"

"What about my clan?" asked Ino, panic evident in her voice. "Is the compound alright?"

"It's intact," Hinata confirmed, looking at other clans' seats. She didn't see much damage until her attention reached her own clan.

The Hyuga clan's main house compound was ravaged, Root lurking in every corner. Her clansmen were being arrested or killed. The only part of their lands that stood its ground so far was the branch house. A large force of the remaining Hyuga were concentrated there. Root hadn't reached them yet, but soon they will, and her clan will inevitably fall.

Dread washed over Hinata's whole being. She had to help them. It was her clan too. Hanabi–

"Oh, God," the realization shook Hinata, "Hanabi… We have to find Hanabi!"

"And we will, but first we need to regroup. Find Shikamaru and others and then–"

"What are you talking about? Kakashi, she is your sister!"

"And that's precisely why she's going to be fine. She can take care of herself. Besides, I asked Gai to look after her while we went on our mission–"

"Gai-sensei can't even walk! How can you trust him with something that important?!"

Hurt passed in Kakashi's face and Hinata couldn't feel bad at all. Not when her little sister was at stake.

"Listen, my clan is in danger, my sister is in danger. I have to help both, but I cannot do it at the same time," she pressed on. "Please."

She couldn't help either of them if Kakashi was being honest. Her husband sighed and shook his head ruefully. There was no way to make Hinata back down.

"Alright. But I will be one to go to the Hyuga compound. You find Hanabi."

Hinata smiled, giving him a determined nod. She knew that he'd understand.

Kakashi was in Hyuga clan's good grace, so they won't oppose him. After agreeing to rendezvous at Shikamaru's compound, Hinata left their group to search for her sister.

"I'm going too," Tenten informed them not long after.

Kakashi nodded. The girl wasn't from a clan, so her family was much more vulnerable to leave behind. Also, Copy Nin had a feeling she'll leave anyway, with or without his permission.

"So, we are heading to the Hyugas', right?" asked Ino, who decided to follow Kakashi once she learned that her own family was safe within the walls of Shikamaru's compound.

"No. We are heading to Shikamaru's."

"What? But I thought–"

"I lied," Kakashi confessed. "We can't risk by going there, and we won't be able to help anyway. Hyugas are not idiots. As soon as they saw they were being attacked and were going to lose, they should have retreated. Yet, a large force remained in a branch house compound, while some of them were still fighting the enemy. All this is too suspicious."

Ino nodded weakly, watching Kakashi summon his ninken, trying to have faith in the older shinobi. His reasoning made sense, but seemed a little too cold of a calculation.

After giving orders to his pack to locate Hiashi Hyuga, Kakashi was surprised to see all eight of them head in the opposite direction of the Hyuga compound. He found it interesting but decided to ponder on it later. Their forces were likely in disarray, and their communications were not in the best state.

They had to get to Shikamaru and finally learn what the hell happened in their village.

Hinata was jumping from roof to roof, trying her best to avoid any Root. Hanabi was her first priority, and so far she was successful in evading confrontation. She had her Byakugan to help her find her sister, but looking for her in a big village was like trying to find a needle in a haystack. She had to narrow down the search area. The Hyuga mansion was skipped because she didn't see Hanabi there, and even if she was there, Kakashi will take care of her. Thus, the only other logical choice was their with Kakashi's house, which is where she was currently headed.

As soon as she neared the house Hinata stopped in her tracks. Root ninjas she spotted from miles away, seemed to finally make their move. Only when she arrived close enough did they knock the door of Kakashi's house.

'What is she doing?' went through Hinata's mind when the door was opened by Hanabi.

She knows better than walk into a trap like that. And what was Gai doing there, just sitting in his wheelchair in the corridor right behind Hanabi? Her questions were answered when Hanabi suddenly ducked down and a wheelchair flied above her head, slamming into the Root agent, taking him by surprise. The other two that stood some distance away reacted immediately, attacking the girl.

"No!" a yell of panic slipped Hinata's lips, but her worries were for naught.

Just as one of them closed in on Hanabi he met Gai's foot. The impact of the hit was so strong that the unsuspecting Root was instantly knocked unconscious. The last of their enemies didn't fare much better. Moving unexpectedly fast for a retired and crippled ninja, Gai dealt with him in a matter of seconds. By the time Hinata approached them the battle was long over.

"Neechan!"

Reunited, the two sisters wasted no time in giving each other a hug and filling each other in on what happened.

Hinata then turned to the man who saved her sister and thanked him, feeling guilty that she doubted him and her husband.

"No need to thank me, I would never allow such precious youth to be harmed by anyone!" Gai boomed, standing comfortably on one leg. "Come on, let us reunite with my Rival! I'm afraid it's going to get much more dangerous around here soon."

"Neechan, it's really bad, we have to warn others," Hanabi elaborated Gai's foreboding statement. "Branch house betrayed us. They joined Danzou and took everyone from the main family away."

Hinata didn't even have time for the shock to settle in, as she remembered Kakashi's concerns regarding the same topic not long ago.

"Kakashi!" she exclaimed, now worry starting to finally take over. "I'm an idiot! We need to hurry, maybe he still hadn't reached it yet..."

"What are you talking about, sis?"

"I sent Kakashi to our clan to help them, even though he found them suspicious. And now you tell me our own clan betrayed us…"

"He could be in trouble!" Hanabi finished, feeling dread creep upon her as well.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's save Kakashi!" Gai urged, determination adding fuel to his usual already energetic self.

Despite the confidence in his tone, both sisters had a feeling he was as worried for his friend as they were.

The group bumped into a lot of Root during their way. The skirmishes were fierce, and sometimes they received help from a random rebel shinobi, which only further demonstrated the chaos their village was in. Hinata was once more impressed by her husband's rival. Despite losing his wheelchair, Gai was able to keep up with them somewhat, alternating between running on his arms and jumping on his healthy leg. Having been explained of the situation by her sister, Hanabi wondered how Kakashi was doing with other Hyugas.

Hinata's Byakugan was of little help to them, having been using it pretty much non-stop for the last twelve hours. The smallest amount of chakra sent to her eyes caused excruciating pain and did nothing to improve her sight, so Hanabi was their only source of working Byakugan for the time being. Despite the girl's talent and hard work, her Byakugan didn't possess enough reach and clarity to be able to distinguish Kakashi from hundreds of other shinobi from miles away. Not only that, but her reserves were quickly depleting, starting to make her vision hazy and unreliable.

"I still can't find him," Hanabi informed her companions, feeling more and more stressed by the minute. "We need to get closer."

"Getting closer is dangerous. We mustn't forget that they are Hyuga too. They can see you as well as you can see them."

Despite appearances, Gai was a jounin. He could shake his easygoing attitude and adopt a serious demeanor when the situation demanded.

"Gai-sensei is right."

Hinata was torn. The longer they spend in this uncertainty the more time for the enemy to make their move. If what Hanabi was telling was correct, then nobody else in the village knew about the Hyuga branch house's betrayal.

What would Kakashi do in her place? Hinata's current companions were among the closest people of her husband's, so when she asked them it was no surprise that both had a thought to share.

"My Rival is an extremely guarded man. If he expressed doubt regarding Hyugas then it is safe to assume that he took some precautions," Gai was the first to speak up, stroking his chin thoughtfully.

"I agree. He is also quite stubborn," supplied Hanabi. "So I think he didn't go to the Hyuga mansion at all."

"You think he lied to me?" asked Hinata, thinking to herself that it was the only time she'd gladly have Kakashi lie to her.

"Think about it, sis. He didn't let you go there and instead sent you after me. Even though our clan doesn't hate him, he still works for Danzou in their eyes. So going to them would have been a bad idea."

"They would've been less likely to listen to him," nodded Gai, seeing reason in the girl's words. She knew his friend well.

Hinata took a few moments to think about it. The streets ahead were thrashed. Battles and skirmishes broke out all around them. Hanabi informed them that Shikamaru's forces were able to use narrow Konoha streets and general chaos to lay ambushes on Root squadrons, and it seemed that the Nara genius was outplaying the enemy overall. However, Hinata knew that it wasn't going to last for long. If Hyuga clan's branch house was on Danzou's side, then their Byakugan would render any tactical move from Shikamaru's part completely ineffective. The longer Shikamaru is kept in dark about the situation the more people they were going to lose.

"I think we should go and warn the others about the Hyugas."

Agreed, the three of them hurried to Shikamaru's. Each of them still harboring uncertain feelings about their decision. They hoped they were right in assuming that Kakashi would not get caught like that. They also hoped that he would share his suspicions with Shikmaru and others, because by the time they get to them it could be too late.

Just as the thought crossed their minds, a sizeable group of Konoha shinobi led by a Root lieutenant appeared before them.

"You are under arrest for attacking authorities. Surrender peacefully and your relation to the rebellion will be determined later, after which a suitable punishment will be carried out," the only Root among the group declared.

The other ninjas looked like regular jounins. They didn't belong to any major clan, so it was no surprise that in such a tumultuous event they chose to side with the government and the order it supposedly provided.

"Comrades, why are you fighting on their side?" Gai roared, accusation and disappointment mixing in with the righteous fury. "Can't you see that you are helping these criminals in terrorizing Konoha?!"

His fellow jounins looked uncomfortable, avoiding Gai's passionate gaze. Some of them lowered their weapons a fraction, looking at each other with hesitation. Nevertheless, they remained by the Root shinobi's side.

"Resistance to arrest, defamation of the government and destabilization of the Village Hidden in the Leaf," the Root kept stating all their alleged crimes against the Leaf, until he took a battle stance and ordered his subordinates to fight. "Arrest them."

Kunai flew both ways, jutsus were exchanged as freely as blows. Their group fought valiantly but three of them against more than ten experienced jounins stood no chance. Just as Gai was subdued, receiving a hard kick to his disabled leg from the Root, a blur of green slammed into their captor's side.

An audible crack echoed along the street, turning everyone's attention to the green blur. The blur turned into yet another shinobi, and that shinobi was not on Danzou's side.

"Lee!" the punisher squad heard their captive say, and they immediately recognized their enemy.

Much like his friends from his generation, Rock Lee was making a name for himself among Konoha shinobi. An apprentice to the legendary Green Beast was second in taijutsu only to his famed master. The same master who was currently held hostage by these ninjas.

Losing all the will to fight now that their leader was dead, the remaining Konoha shinobi reluctantly allowed them to pass. There was never much motivation for them to fight in the first place, so they were not going to risk their necks fighting their comrades.

Hinata and Hanabi thanked their luck that one of their friends had been nearby to help. After a short exchange, Lee picked his sensei up and together the four of them headed to outskirts of Konoha were the Nara compound was located.

Shikamaru didn't understand. None of his friends or advisors did. They all looked on the same map on his table and had similar lost expressions on their faces.

"How are they outmaneuvering us on every occasion?" the Nara Head asked no one in particular.

The enemy was good. But not so good as to completely see through all their traps and decoys, evade the bulk of their forces and strike where it would hurt the most. That was just impossible.

"It is as if they can see our every move," commented gravely another member of the Nara clan.

"That's because they do."

Everyone turned their heads towards the Copy Nin, who seemed to have just arrived.

"Explain," asked Shikamaru, ready to get very angry if it was something that Kakashi chose to withhold from them again and was only telling them now.

"When we came back, Hinata noticed suspicious activity in the Hyuga compound. It looked like the main house was fighting but the branch house just idly stood by," Kakashi said, knowing that more explanations won't be necessary.

"You are telling they betrayed us?!" one of the advisors asked, horrified. "But that's… that's…"

"Catastrophic," Shikamaru finished for the man who seemed to be on a verge of panic attack.

Catastrophic was just about right regarding their situation. How can you fight the Byakugan? All the strategy and positioning goes out the window now that their enemy has unobstructed vision of the whole battlefield.

"We have no choice but to give them a fight. With Naruto on our side–"

"Naruto is not here."

At once, everyone's attention was back to Kakashi.

"What do you mean 'he is not here'?" asked Shikamaru, the panic starting to grow.

"Don't worry, he is safe," Kakashi assured. "Just injured and on his way to Tsunade-sama."

And so, Kakashi began explaining what happened on their mission earlier and how they came upon their village in a state of civil war. In return, Shikamaru filled him in on what had happened while they were away. Apparently, there were multiple fights that broke out in various places. Nobody knows exactly what led to the conflict, but it was clear that Danzou was prepared. Sakura made a tough decision to abandon her position at the hospital to join them in their fight. She was currently on the battlefield with others, tending to the injured and engaging in combat herself. Most ot the civilians fled, completely unchecked. It seemed Danzou didn't care where they went as long as they came back when everything is settled.

With every sentence exchanged, they felt more and more doomed. Spelling their problems out like that made those problems much scarier.

"I think it's time for us to think about the plan of retreat," Kakashi finally said after digesting everything imparted on him by Shikamaru. "On our way here the gates were still not secured, maybe if we rush to the closest–"

Just as the suggestion was about to leave his lips, the ground under their feet began to tremble. The whole building was given a shake, and it stopped as suddenly as it appeared. A frazzled Ino burst into the room.

"Shikamaru, we are getting attacked! The enemy is coming from the forest!"

"What? How?" the questions escaped before the realization came.

The Hyugas. The Nara Clan Forest is located on the outskirts of Konoha, and it goes all the way to the Nara compound. It provided a great barrier for the enemy as nobody aside from the Nara clan knew how to navigate in it. People were more likely to get lost or get spotted before they reached their compound. As such, the resistance didn't assign many people on guarding the forest. All their forces were thrown on more obvious directions of assault. But now that the enemy had Hyugas in their disposal, they easily managed to avoid all of their patrols and passed through the forest in record time, taking the rebellion completely by surprise.

"How bad is it?" Kakashi asked, the feeling that they already lost creeping on his mind.

"Very bad. There is at least a hundred of them, and they have Hyugas!"

Everyone gasped. Now there was no question. They were betrayed, and they seemed to have no chance.

"Order a massive retreat," Shikamaru ordered to other commanders. "Send the message to other clans. Appeal to them one last time. Whoever is with us must flee the village. We will try to regroup outside the border of Konoha."

"Sir, what about those who are engaged in other locations throughout the village?"

Shikamaru screwed his eyes. "We can't help them. Order a retreat and hope for the best."

In the chaos of their retreat, Kakashi continued to absently analyse their current situation. It was highly unlikely that many shinobi will manage to escape the village, seeing as the civilians have been pouring out in a steady stream for the last hour. Thus, a plan started to form in his head. It was risky and completely depended on factors that he couldn't control, but it seemed like their only chance. Quickly writing a message on a piece of some random paper and pocketing it, he left to assist the retreat.

Danzou stood in the outskirts of the Nara Forest, giving out orders and overseeing the operation. It was a long time since he took part in action and the old Hokage had almost forgotten how good it felt to win a battle personally.

"Sir, we are pushing the enemy back. As predicted, they didn't expect us to attack from this side."

"Fools. Relying on… trees to protect them. Konoha may be hidden in leaves, but it is not protected by them," Danzou said, his head turning aside ever so slightly, eyes narrowing. "It is protected by me."

"Sir, they launched a flare. They are retreating."

"Go after them, but make sure it's an orderly chase. Keep monitoring. It still could be a trick."

Unbenknownst to others Danzou's eyes briefly darted from one corner to another, his sword hand tensing up in anticipation. His patience paid off, as when an enemy ninja lunged on him from the nearby tree, he was immediately cut down by Danzou's Wind Blade.

"Hmm, the enemy patrols we left behind in our haste seem to be a nuisance. See to it that our rear is sufficiently protected."

With those words their Hokage went back to his tent, leaving the Hyuga lieutenant alone with the dead body. He will wait until the battle is sealed and make an appearance then.

Hinata and her companions were almost there when they saw a flare go up in the sky. Everybody knew what it meant.

"They ordered a retreat."

Hanabi, on the verge of chakra exhaustion, used her Byakugan again and the sight before her was horrifying.

"We lost," she said, feeling her legs start to give out.

"What do you mean?" Hinata asked, catching her wavering sister.

"She means we lost this battle," Gai supplied, his tone grave. "You need to leave the village."

"We can't go without Kakashi and others!"

Gai looked conflicted but his promise to his friend seemed to prevail.

"I promised Kakashi that I'll not let you get caught."

"Then you'll have to help us."

Before the jounin could say anything the two sisters ran. Gai shook his head and cursed under his breath.

There was no way talking them out, and so the group went towards the designated place of retreat. Halfway to the closest gates of Konoha it was obvious that not all would be able to escape. Resistance was holding the gate, but they were not allowed to reinforce their positions by the endless swarm of Root and Danzou loyalists.

When they finally arrived, the battle was raging on. It seemed their friends' strategy to use Choji's overwhelming power to break through had succeeded but rendered Choji himself incapacitated. Now the enemy was throwing everything they had on the gates to retake it. In the chaos of battle, they almost missed Kakashi. He was fighting on the frontlines, desperately trying to take as many enemies as possible before he goes down, it seemed.

Just when it seemed they were losing, Hinata and Rock Lee came to their help. Two tired shinobi wasn't much, but the element of surprise allowed them to turn the battle and repel this small attack for now.

"Kakashi!"

Silver-haired head turned, and before long the husband and wife were reunited.

"Glad that you guys made it here," he said, but his smile didn't quite reach his eyes. "As you can see there are many civilians who are trying to flee."

With those words he gestured at a steady stream of Konohans bursting out through the gate.

"Wish they were a bit faster though. We need to leave too."

Just as the last batch of civilians was about to leave, they heard screams from behind.

"Oh, no."

It was Danzou, in the flesh. And he looked smugger than ever, surrounded by a literal army of Root agents.

"Well, well, well," the usurper said. "We finally meet, Hatake."

The way he said Kakashi's name was filled with so much venom that even the Copy Nin was taken aback. Hadn't Danzou been such a horrible Hokage nobody would've betrayed him. And now he had the audacity to feel deceived.

"Danzou, this got too far. Let the civilians go at least."

A few civilian heads turned at Kakashi's selfless statement. Hinata was barely suppressing the anger.

'Don't you dare look surprised! He's been protecting you all these years!'

Other rebel ninjas stepped forward, ready to protect their fellow citizens.

"Ah, I was hoping you'd forgo the usual heroics today, but… It seems even a veteran of two wars is not resistant to this idealistic notion," Danzou sighed. "Very well. I don't need them anyway. They will come back. A day, a week, just you wait. Your precious citizens will come back and continue with their lives while you who so tirelessly worked to 'protect' them will rot in prison."

Hearing their permission, civilians hurried. Hanabi watched with disgust as these people abandoned their protectors, and when Kakashi nudged her to follow them she was downright hurt. 'I will never abandon my comrades!' was about to leave her lips before she saw a look in Kakashi's eyes. He was looking intently at the ground for some reason, and when she followed his gaze, she saw a small piece of paper there.

Making sure she stepped on it, Hanabi covertly tested if the paper stuck. Making sure the paper was on the bottom of her sandal, she reluctantly joined the civilians and got lost in the crowd. All the while telling herself that Kakashi and Hinata will be alright. That he will think of something.

"I will spare everyone who surrenders," Danzou declared benevolently.

If it is revealed, however, that they are the head of a clan, they will be removed from their position. He didn't say anything like that of course, but the intention was always there. Danzou couldn't lose the loyalty of so many great clans. The other Hidden Villages will come barging at his doors the moment they sense weakness. That is why dealing with this "rebellion" in one day was so imperative.

The old hokage smirked. All it took was pushing half the Hyugas to betray the other half, some intrigues here and there, a few provocations and the civil war started by itself.

Danzou watched with satisfaction as his enemies hung their heads low and surrendered. Just as he was about to gloat some more the damn Copy Nin started a ruckus. Imagine his surprise when Kakashi attacked his own wife with the Rasengan!

Hinata didn't expect what happened to her these last moments. One second he is apologizing, and another she found herself flying through the gate out of the village. Mid-air, she finally got her bearings and was able to safely land on the road a dozen meters away from the gate. Somehow Kakashi propelled her out of Konoha.

"Run!"

"Get out!"

"What are you waiting for!?"

Throwing one last conflicted look at her friends, Hinata decided to follow their request and ran as fast as she could.

"Shall we give chase?" one of Danzou's lieutenants asked.

"No. Let the girl flee. One less rat to worry about."

Instead, Hokage ordered to arrest everyone else. Kakashi watched them round up his friends, hoping that nobody gets killed as a result.

"Come on, move!" one of the Root urged, pushing him away from his spot in front of the gates.

He looked one more time through the tunnel before turning back and following the order.

Now it was up to them to save Konoha. Copy Nin allowed a smirk. Oh, how the tables have turned.

"What an irony," he muttered, just before something hit the back of his head and everything blacked out.

A good distance away, two sisters met up to continue their journey together. The only hint they had was Kakashi's message safely hidden in Hanabi's pocket.