Chapter 23.

Konoha was beautiful.

The thought spontaneously came to Hinata while she was scouting out the village with her Byakugan. Hyugas were not allowed to use their doujutsu in Konoha, but today was an exception. Hinata used this as an opportunity to drink in the sight of her village before it possibly changed forever. She could see the Leaf from any magnification, and by God it was beautiful. Stylized, uniform architecture with quaint streets and plenty of greenery still kept Konoha alluring even after so many generations of war and destruction.

Hinata sighed. Hopefully, what was to come won't change that. Satisfied with her observations, she turned around to face her Hokage and their small strike force.

"As expected, Root is policing the streets. They are everywhere," she reported.

"Good. That makes them more spread out," Tsunade nodded. "Makes our initial attack even easier."

Hinata glanced at her friends, all of them gathered up behind Tsunade. Everyone was in their battle gear, even Shizune. They were prepared. As were the civilians that hid behind in the forest a few miles away.

"Are you ready, neesan?" she heard Hanabi's voice, slightly worried.

"I am," Hinata simply said, nodding and putting on her bandana.

Normally, she wore her headband loosely around her neck, but for their plan to work she had to change that. She also dyed her hair a dark brown color to match an average Hyuga. She was to pretend to be one of the branch house members after all. Hinata would then infiltrate the village while Hanabi stayed with the main forces as their source of information on the battlefield.

"Alright, guys, it's time to move," they all heard Tsunade's order and immediately advanced.

They ran as fast as they could, because once they reached a certain distance they will inevitably be spotted by the enemy. To avoid revealing Hinata, they used shadow clones. A whole lot of them. Thankfully, Naruto had chakra in abundance, even though his physical condition was not the best.

For a few minutes they ran in peace, until the first wave of attack was launched from Konoha.

"They spotted us," Ino reported, glancing at Sai. The whole group adjusted their maneuvering to accommodate for the missiles flying their way. Expertly dodging the enemy's long-range jutsu, their group was only slightly hindered in their advance.

Hearing his signal, the artist ninja nodded, pulling out a clean scroll and quickly drawing a bird. As soon as the inky creature materialized, Ino and Tsunade jumped on it and began their ascension. They won't be taking part in the fight for a while. They had a more important role to fulfil as part of their plan.

The rest of their squad, which now consisted of Hinata, Hanabi, team 7, Anko and Shizune continued their sprint towards Konoha. The enemy's missile jutsu were now expectedly focused on Tsunade and Ino in the sky, so it was only a matter of time until their ground attack reached the village.

The ground shook with explosions. Fire flared in the sky. The smell of smoke hit their nostrils. Everybody on the field now knew – the battle had begun.

So did everyone watching from afar.

"You think they'll make it?" asked Akino, the distant exlposions flashing in his sunglasses even from miles away.

"Of course," Pakkun replied, turning away from the carnage to address his fellow ninken. "Remember the plan? As soon as they breach the wall we must report back to the main force. If something goes wrong we are cleared to improvise."

Everyone nodded. Their Boss's friends relied on them. These shinobi all had to be present during the initial attack, and so the role of maintaining communication and commanding their ambush had fallen on the ninken.

"Am I the only one to find it kinda ironic? That we are supposed to give orders to those humans now?" Biscuit asked, a little apprehensive due their unexpected responsibility.

"Heh, you are right," Pakkun snorted. "But we can't help being the most capable out of everyone who stayed back, so let's do our best."

"Yeah!" the rest of them chorused, following after their leader towards the forest.

Meanwhile, the battle raged on.

"So far so good," Naruto said as his clones smashed into the enemy lines. White smoke filled the air as the doubles burst from Root's retaliation. This heavy shroud was used by the friends to pass even further in relative cover.

Wasn't long until the blond jinchuuriki's onslaught was in danger of getting destroyed, however. Enemy seemed to combine their jutsu into one large Fire Release technique and send it towards the advancing group. The massive wall of fire would've consumed all of them if it weren't for Sasuke's Amaterasu.

"Don't get too cocky, idiot," the Uchiha retorted almost immediately as his black flames overpowered the enemy's fire and forced them to retreat.

Everyone else paused to catch their breath and stared at the ridiculous power displays from the two. As soon as Sasuke dissolved his Amaterasu it was their turn to showcase their abilities. They tried to use their flashiest, most powerful techniques to draw the enemy's attention while Hanabi and Hinata were sneaking deeper inside the village in all the havoc. They could have been watched, so they made extra effort to make it look as if Hinata was chasing Hanabi.

When they were a good distance away from the battle, Hanabi purposefully slowed down. To make it seem as if she was getting tired and allow Hinata to catch up to her. The girl looked back and indeed, her sister was closing the distance. Farther back behind her, the battle still carried on. With her Byakugan it was clear that more and more of the Root and Hyuga forces of Danzou's were being relocated to that spot. Inadvertently, she caught civlians evacuating the area or hiding inside their houses. She felt guilty attacking her own village and endangering all those innocents, but there was no other choice.

Finally, it was time for Hanabi to get caught by the "branch member" of her clan. Still looking back, she made a show of tripping and allowing disguised Hinata to pin her down. The move was timely as there were two more Hyuga enemies who noticed them and were coming up.

"They are coming," Hanabi whispered to her sister, who was holding her down on the ground.

"What's going on here?" they heard a voice.

"Don't you recognize her," asked Hinata loudly.

Confidence was key, and even a minimal disguise was enough to fool almost anyone in highly stressful situations. It seemed the branch house member didn't recognize Hinata, as his eyes widened in surprise.

"I see, it really is her," he said, taking a closer look at Hanabi.

The second ninja looked just as lost as the first one. Obviously, those two weren't comfortable with taking their relative, much less a child, captive.

"What's going to happen to her?" asked one of them.

"They'll probably deal with her later, there is a more urgent problem right now," Hinata replied, hinting that they needed to deliver Hanabi back to the compound.

Their two companions shared a look.

"You are right," said the first unsurely, glancing in the direction of the battle.

"You know," the second started, "will you be able to deliver Hanabi… san yourself? I think we are needed back at the gate."

Hinata mentally celebrated. Those two were definitely trying to push the responsibility on her. Even now, when the branch house was calling all the shots, some of its members were reluctant to harm members of the main family.

"Sure," she replied easily, tightening her hold on Hanabi's shoulder.

Once their interference left, Hinata made sure to tamper the chakra suppression binds on her sister's wrists, so that when the time comes, she could easily free herself. Then, the two rushed to the mansion. Their trek there was as uneventful as before, and Hinata took the opportunity to monitor the ongoing fight back at the gates. Sasuke and Naruto, with the support of everyone else, were repelling wave after wave of enemies. However, Hinata could see everyone's chakra was steadily getting lower. Soon they will have to retreat and initiate the second phase of their plan.

"We are here," she heard Hanabi whisper when they finally reached the compound.

The guards looked as shocked as those two Hyuga they met earlier, and just like them, they allowed Hinata and her captive entrance without a hitch. It was when Hinata brought Hanabi to their Father's room that the problems began.

Hinata immediately recognized the person who was guarding her father. And it seemed that Iroha had also recognized her, despite the different hair color. He couldn't do anything, though, as Hinata quickly knocked him down before what was happening registered in his mind. Iroha's prone body flew through the door, breaking it off its hinges and into Hiashi's room, making Hinata wince. She didn't mean that.

The Head of their clan stood abruptly, prepared for a fight, when he saw who was standing in the doorframe.

"Hanabi? Hinata?" he asked, not believing his eyes.

"There is no time, Father," Hanabi said, we are getting us out of here.

Hiashi Hyuga looked at his daughters' determined faces before nodding. They clearly had a plan.

The three of them rushed along the corridors, neutralizing every Hyuga guard on their way and freeing their relatives from the main house. Hiashi made sure not to kill anyone using the Curse Mark. Even though they betrayed him, they were kind enough to spare everyone in the main family and treated them with respect. They were basically hostages rather than prisoners, and for that, Hiashi will not enforce unnecessary violence upon the branch house. It was easy to defeat them anyway, as Hiashi could disable evey single one of them with a single hand seal. In less than half an hour, the whole Hyuga clan main house was liberated, all of them ready to fight.

"Now what do we do?" asked their leader, as the last guard was knocked out and neutralized.

"Now we help everyone else," replied Hanabi.

Hiashi smiled, making everyone stare at the patriarch. In those thirteen years since his wife died, Hiashi Hyuga hasn't properly smiled not even once. Seeing him genuinely smile now was even more shocking than getting freed by his daughters.

"I like your plan," Hiashi said. "Let's start with Inuzukas."

This made sense, considering that those were the fiercest opposers of Danzou's regime. Their prowess in direct confrontation also made them a good choice for the first ones to be set free. Unfortunately, Hinata won't be able to help them with that.

"Father, may I ask for a favor?" she addressed him, steeling her expression.

"What is it, Hinata?"

"Please spare some men to help me get Kakashi out," she beseeched, hoping he'd hear her out.

To her surprise, he didn't argue at all.

"Of course. Without Hatake we all would've been in a much worse position. Through you, he is also part of our family," Hiashi acknowledged. "Take twenty good men and go save your husband."

That was as far as he'd go in admitting that Hinata was his daughter and not just a Hyuga. Hinata smiled to him, bowing in gratitude. The squad of twenty of her relatives had already assembled beside her.

Hiashi watched his eldest daughter depart and hoped that after all of this is over, he'd get a chance to sit down with her and properly explain why he disowned her and made Hanabi the heir. He didn't expect her to forgive him, but still wanted to at least explain his actions.

"Father, shall we go?" he heard Hanabi say beside him, and he nodded, ordering the rest of his clan to move out.

Danzou couldn't believe what was happening.

How could a group of insurgents barge in his village and wreak so much havoc? And where were his dear old councilors, Homura and Koharu?

"You really are arrogant, aren't you?" he heard Orochimaru sneer from beside him.

Danzou glared at his ally, it wasn't his fault those damn Hyugas were so honorable. They refused to destroy their enemy, and now their enemy was going to destroy them. They were at a risk of a snowball effect, with the Hyugas other clans were surely to rebel. It seemed it was time for Danzou to resort to drastic measures.

"It is clear that the attack is just a distraction, they came here for something else," Orochimaru offered, trying to be cooperative for the time being.

"Obviously the prisoners," Shimura replied. "Those fools are too predictable, risking their own lives to save their so-called comrades. So be it. I will show them how idiotic their decision is."

"You don't mean to let them save the hostages, do you?"

Danzou smirked at his slithery companion.

"Sacrificing lesser for a bigger objective is part of war. Now stop annoying me and get ready. We are heading out to meet our 'guests'."

With those words, Danzou ordered his reserves to move against the Hyuga uprising, while he himself together with Orochimaru were intended to fight the attackers.

Orochimaru only grinned in response. Giving up his imprisoned enemies for a chance to destroy the attackers and crush the Hyuga… No matter what the old man said, he was an arrogant bastard. But the Sannin couldn't argue that it was a valid idea. By this point, he was just curious how will the rebels respond.

"Oh I wonder just what Tsunade is up to…"

Hinata and her squad rapidly advanced towards the Torture and Interrogation headquarters. They met with surprisingly little resistance, and Hinata could see why. With her Byakugan, the whole village was like on the palm of her hand. Most of Danzou's forces were battling the Hyuga led by her father and Naruto's group. Danzou clearly was giving up on Kakashi and other high-ranking hostages in exchange for securing victory over Hyugas and the initial attackers.

"You see it as well, Hinata-sama?" asked one of her distant cousins.

"Yes," she nodded, thinking. "We have to hurry if we want to help Father and others."

And hurry they did.

When they stormed the T&I department, Hinata was surprised by the battle already raging on inside. It seemed the staff there didn't take liking to their command and decided to take matters in their own hands. Hinata and her clansmen helped their struggling comrades to defeat the Root stationed in the building and the fight was quickly over.

"He's on the basement floor, room 5," told them Ibiki, holding up a wound on his shoulder. "I'll gather everyone. It's time we joined the fight."

Nodding in gratitude, Hinata rushed downstairs where the cells were located, getting more and more excited with each step. With her Byakugan she could see him and Sakura and many more in their separate cells. She didn't pay much attention to the rest, but Kakashi looked physically unharmed.

Coming up to his cell, she punched through the reinforced door with her Gentle Fist a few times, slowly but surely breaking the barrier.

Her husband's shocked face greeted her when she finally set foot into the chamber. Clearly, her disguise didn't fool him. Even with his mask on, she could tell he felt as overwhelmed as her. That gave her courage more than anything.

Emotions running high, she practically slammed into Kakashi, making the unexpecting man stumble and fall.

"Ouch."

"Sorry," she said, remembering that he had to have been weakened by the interrogation. Immediately, she started checking him for injuries, frantically probing his body. "How do you feel? Does it hurt here? What about here?"

"Dear wife–"

"I'm so sorry, Kakashi I–"

"Hinata–"

"I was so worried. Thank God you are okay! You look so pale, did they feed you at all? I swear if Ibikimhmm–"

Hinata's rant was stopped short by her husband's maskless lips pressed up against her mouth. It took a whole second for her to realize that she was being kissed, but thankfully, Kakashi didn't plan to stop anytime soon. Their first kiss was long and clumsy, with neither of them really knowing what or how to do. All they knew was why, and that was the only thing that mattered.

Finally, they separated, in need of air, panting heavily. Hinata didn't know about Kakashi, but her heart was beating as fast as she was breathing. She touched her lips, looking somewhere over the horizon. Until she heard her husband's attempts at speaking.

"Hinata," he began, uncharacteristically fidgety, "these past days in solitary confinement gave me opportunity to think. Before, with all the Danzou business I couldn't tell it, but now that I got a few days off, I realized. Not that I didn't have these feelings back then, it's just I prefer to deal with things one by one. Don't think that it wasn't important, no. On the contrary, I wanted to weigh everything up before–"

His stream of consciousness was interrupted by Hinata's giggle. She thought she got the idea of where her husband was going, but she wanted to see him squirm a little more. Secretly, she adored the sight.

"What I'm trying to say is, I have great affection for you and I would– No, that's not quite right," he muttered the last part to himself, before starting over. "Hinata, it may sound premature, but I think I love you."

Hinata's eyes widened. She didn't really expect him to come out like this. She thought she was prepared, but the reality hit her harder than she could've imagined. She opened and closed her mouth in a futile attempt to form a coherent response and say something.

"You don't have to respond immediately, I realize that it's very sudden." He coughed, lamely following it up by a "Yes..."

It was literally the most Hinata saw Kakashi speak in one go. She was sure he'd never acted so 'uncool' before in his life. Emboldened by this, she leaned in and gave him a short peck on the lips.

"It's not sudden at all," she said with a cheeky smile. "I mean, the attraction was always there. At least on my part…"

It seemed her courage ended there and now it was her turn to act all timid.

"So, do you want to… give us a chance?" Kakashi asked, looking her straight in the eye, searching.

"I'm your wife and I'd like to stay that way," she replied, feeling the blush hit her.

To her consolation, Kakashi wasn't faring any better. He pulled his mask back up to hide his reddening cheeks. The two of them sat there with identical grins on the cold floor of a smelly cell and gazed at each other, savoring the moment. Until a loud voice interrupted, that is.

"This was seriously the worst confession I've ever seen."

Turning, they saw Sakura stand at the entrance, leaning on the doorframe. The pink-haired kunoichi smirked, wishing she had a camera to picture their faces at that moment.

"As much as I'd love to let you continue with the sweet moment, we have a war to win."

Immediately, both Kakashi and Hinata's faces hardened. No longer an awkward couple but a deadly team stood before Sakura.

"Let's go," Kakashi agreed, standing and helping his wife up.

He stretched, warming up his body for much awaited action.

"Are you okay, sensei?" Sakura asked, looking pointedly at Hinata. She already knew Kakashi's answer, and to know the truth she better ask his wife.

"He is weakened from all the…" Hinata didn't want to say torture, "but his chakra reserves are almost full, and there don't seem to be any wounds."

"Thank Ibiki and Yamanakas for that. They convinced Danzou to use a torture method that doesn't inflict permanent harm," Kakashi replied, regretting his choice of words as Hinata winced from the word 'torture'.

His wife clearly wanted him to elaborate on what kind of torture method didn't inflict physical harm, but knew that it wasn't the time. Instead, she grabbed his hand and squeezed it gently in reassurance. Even though she was pretty sure she was the one most reassured by the action.

"Come on, everybody is waiting for us," Sakura reminded, as other prisoners were already gathered in the hall, awaiting orders. "Kakashi-sensei, you are the leader."

"Alright," the Copy Nin said, tightening the headband around his head. "Let's move."

With those words, their little army rushed out of the T&I. Just as they were rounding the corner, they were already met with enemies. Unlike all Hinata's previous encounters, the ninjas that were standing in their way were neither Root nor Hyuga. They were just regular Konoha jounins. Some of them she recognized from her missions, others she regularly saw in her favorite places to eat... Hinata was sure everyone present was familiar with at least one person from the opposing group, and it sickened her that they were about to fight because of someone like Danzou.

Both groups stood opposite to each other, neither wanting to fight their fellow Konoha shinobi. As during the last time Hinata fought them together with Gai, Danzou loyalists seemed unsure. Kakashi looked conflicted as well. It was clear he was hesitant to harm those he considered his comrades.

Just as he was about to ask those ninjas to let them pass, he heard a strong voice.

"Citizens of Konoha, it is your Fifth Hokage, Tsunade Senju…" the voice spoke, unmistakably belonging to the name.

Kakashi wasn't the only one who heard it, it seemed. Everyone else, including the ninjas they were about to fight looked around, trying to figure out where the voice was coming from, only then realizing that it was inside their heads. Meanwhile, Tsunade continued to speak.

"…Please do not panic. I'm talking to every single one of you today, because I wanted to apologize…"

At those words, jounins shared confused looks.

"…I apologize for failing you. I couldn't protect Konoha from Danzou's tyranny a year ago, and now I have to come and fix my mistakes. For one whole year Danzou terrorized this village, spitting on the very foundation of Konoha's Will of Fire. He even went as far as imprisoning Naruto Uzumaki…"

At that, many shinobi gasped in shock. Hinata was sure many civilians were appalled as well. Danzou's policy of hiding the truth was rightfully biting him in the back.

"Did you hear that?" Kakashi shouted across the street to the group of jounins. "Tsunade-sama is here. Naruto is here. We don't have to fight!"

"…I am only asking you to endure one more day," Tsunade's voice kept reverberating in minds of everyone in Konoha. "One more day towards our freedom…"

With that, the telepathic message ceased, leaving the street in absolute silence. After a few seconds, the enemy jounins looked at each other, before lifting their hands in surrender and slowly approaching Kakashi's group.

"We mean no harm!" one of them rushed to explain, seeing Sakura's tense expression. He knew first-hand how ridiculously powerful the Sannin's apprentice was. "We want to join you against Danzou."

Hinata and Sakura exchanged a glance. Kakashi nodded, willing to give those people the benefit of the doubt.

"We are going to help Naruto and the rest," he announced to the newcomers, receiving a collective 'Yes, sir!'.

Kakashi and everyone waited for their new additions to integrate themselves within their group, before resuming their run. During their trek to the epicenter of the battle, they saw more and more Konoha shinobi turn against Danzou's Root. Hinata looked up at the sky, spotting Sai's bird with Tsunade and Ino on it. Judging from the direction of their descent, they were flying straight to Naruto and others. Hinata then glanced over at the battlefield itself, her eyes widening from what she saw there.

Or rather, who she saw.

"Danzou and Orochimaru are engaged in the battle!" she reported, feeling everyone in her group tense up. "Tsunade-sama is headed there too."

"That settles it," Sakura voiced everyone's thoughts. "Naruto, Tsunade-shishou, we are coming!"

Ah, I'm absolutely rubbish at writing intimate scenes.

The story is about to reach its climax soon. Is this what they call a cliffhanger?

Anyway, as always, thanks for reading, following, reviewing.