A Lion's Roar

by swagmoney5

Being reincarnated is an interesting life story, when a child from our world is reborn as Hinata Hyuga, she decided to get off of her ass and give her shot at being a hero. When you have too much knowledge and too much time, the only option is to train and become stronger and to make those around her stronger as well. Survival of the fittest and she wants to help everyone survive.

15. Shatterpoint

"Hinata Hyuga, Shikamaru Nara, Sasuke Uchiha, Choji Akemichi, Naruto Uzumaki, Ino Yamanaka, Kiba Inuzuka, and Shino Aburame. Your mission is to be led by Jonin Hinata Hyuga and Chunin Shikamaru Nara. Hinata will lead of Sasuke, Naruto, and Kiba. Shikamaru will lead Choji, Ino, and Shino. Is this clear?"

"YES" We all chorused standing in front of Tsunade.

"Your mission is recon, you are to track and retrieve information on the missing Leaf kunoichi Sakura Haruno. Find out as much information as possible so we can send in a team to eliminate the threat. This is recon only." She sent a pointed look to Naruto. "That means you will do your best to stay undetected, do not engage in combat unless absolutely necessary. Do not fail this mission and all of you brats better come back in one piece. Scatter!" We flashed out of her office and began our journey, Kiba and my squad tracking one of the scents of his teammate, Shino and his squad tracking the other. I never in my mind thought Sakura would go rogue, I knew she harbored deep rooted issues but I didn't know that my meddling and changing the team lineup would have such a negative affect on Sakura. Instead of Sasuke leaving to Orochimaru, Sakura did. I don't know why but I know it's my fault. If I wasn't here this would have never happened. This mission, if we find her, I want to convince her to come back or at least find out why she betrayed her home.

—

"KIBA DUCK!" Akamaru jumped in Kiba's way, taking the full blunt of the fireball that was meant for Kiba. He let out a whimper and went limp. Naruto retaliated instantly and used the last of this chakra represent seals to take the guy out. Sasuke had Naruto's back and knocked out the humanoid like creature that was aiming for Naruto.

"You BASTARDS hurt Akamaru I'm going to rip all of you to shreds!" Kiba yelled out, his voice feral and shaking. He was pissed and the killing intent he was letting off was so potent it rivaled Kakashi's. His mind went blank as he got down on all fours and began shredding through the enemy as Akamaru lay steaming on the ground, little whimpers being the only indicator that he's alive.

My first mission leading as a Jonin without Kakashi was not supposed to go this way. it was a simple recon but Kami forbid that something goes well for us. Our trail went cold which means Shikamaru's squad hopefully found Sakura's whereabouts, so as we were taking layout of the land and searching for why her scent led to this area, we were caught in an ambush. The chakra of the people attaching us was so animalistic in Nature Kiba and Akamaru deduced it as that, leaving me no need to use chakra on my Byakugan for the moment. It was a dumb mistake that I'm paying for. The ambush was instant and Sasuke took a Kunai to the shoulder protecting Naruto's back. After that all hell broke loose. The attackers were not normal, they were henchman of Orochimaru and they all were upgraded with the curse mark that made their minds unstable and they only knew to attack and aim for the kill. There were hundreds of them and they made up for their lack of brains with their inhuman strength. Each person I took down it seemed that two more replaced him. They were here for Sasuke and no way in hell was I going to let that happen.

Kiba was wild and not moving in any particular fashion, his vision was red and he was more reckless than usual. Somehow they managed to separate Naruto and Sasuke from Kiba and I which was not good, we needed to reconnect as soon as possible but Kiba was not listening to reason and I couldn't leave him here alone. Naruto and Sasuke were strong enough to stay safe, I'm betting on it. Trying to protect everyone was proving difficult and with the amount of jutsu's I've used in the past few hours, my chakra is running dangerously low. I received a blow to the head that was also making my vision hazy and more difficult to make clear decisions. The glint of a Kunai showed itself aiming at Akamaru and before they could react, I flashed over, grabbing the kunai and throwing it back the direction it came. It made contact by the outraged cry that escaped someone's lips. With the distraction of the Kunai, I failed to see the senbon hidden in the shadow and it pierced my forearm. I pulled it out and picked Akamaru up and with one hand began to focus on healing him while making sure Kiba was not in too much danger. After the wound was no longer too dangerous, I laid Akamaru down and rejoined the battle.

My heart began to beat at an irregular pattern and blood was dripping out of my eyes like tears. I realized the purpose of the senbon too late: poison. There was no way I was going to make it out of this, my medical skills were still not good enough to remove the poison from my system fast enough to counteract it's effects and if I go down, they would take Kiba down too. I'm banking on Orochimaru still not wanting to kill me so I can pull out a final move and either win or get captured. I have to let Kiba escape and get the treatment his wounds need. He's running on pure adrenaline now and wont be able to fight for long either.

"Kiba Akamaru is fine, he's safe. Get the hell out of here and go find Naruto and Sasuke. Leave this to me!" he snapped out of his trance and looked at his partner in crime, then to me in horror at my appearance.

"No way idiot, I'm not leaving you here."

"This is an order from your superior, not your friend. Get your ass out of here now, I'm right behind you!" I snapped at him, all sense of kindness leaving my voice. He knew I was serious and so he picked up Akamaru and gave me one last glance.

"Don't you dare die on me, I'll kill you myself if that happens. I already lost Sakura, I'm not losing you too." I gave a bloodied smirk and he disappeared from my sight.

"I've been meaning to try this out for a while, now's a good a time as any! You fuckers will make perfect practice." I activated my Byakugan once again and made the series of hand signs, pulling the Hydrogen and Oxygen molecules in the air to form into water as I pumped the remaining reserves of Chakra into my final jutsu. The water encased me and I watched my Chakra flow through the water molding it into the shaky form of a Lion's head. I pushed my chakra into it to control the movements and electrified the water around me, shocking me slightly but nothing compared to what I have in store. Black dots danced across my bloodied vision and the poison was taking more effect. I ignored the burning of my insides from chakra strain and the intense pain of the drug and kept pushing. The water raised me off the ground and I completed the last hand sign.

"Lions Roar!" A loud roar echoed across the area and the lion crashed into the opponents around me, hitting with such an intense pressure to kill those it hit directly and the extra spray of water acting as a conductor for the lightning to send a large dose of electricity to the rest. Everyone went down and I crashed to the ground in a panting mess. My body was heavy and I could barely hold an eyelid open as I lay face down into the muddied ground around me and coughed up blood.

I let out a sigh of relief that I'd managed to semi-pull off an armored jutsu I had been creating to help me match up to the power of the Susanoo and Kyuubi cloak. My vision was blurred and a form was coming back. I thought it was one of my team members but the obnoxious slow clapping said otherwise. My vision faded completely along with the rest of my strength, I was pushing myself to stay awake at this point.

"That was marvelous, to create such a powerful jutsu that took out my best men in one hit. You really are something special little Hyuga. But look at your pitiful state now, come with me and I will give you more power. Don't worry, when Sasuke-kun realized you've joined me he will come running too. Together we will be all powerful."

"F-f-fuck you snake bastard. Sasuke's (ugh) he's not an ob-object."

"So be it." He let out a devious chuckle and a pressure hit the base of my neck and I was out completely.

(3d Pov)\

Sasuke, Naruto, and Kiba finished off the rest of their opponents and ran to where Hinata was seen last. The scene they were met with was gruesome. There were craters from punches and attack, bodies lay strewn about with their limbs twisted in unnatural angles and their muscles spasming from the mass electrical surge. The only thing they were thinking was "what the hell happened here." That was until they noticed there was a small pool of blood with the outline of a body but nothing there. Kiba smelt the blood and grimaced at the familiar scent of his best friend. Sasuke and Naruto new from the look in his eyes who made that dent in the ground. They all looked around frantically but new in their hearts that Hinata was gone. There were footprints leading to and away from her body, they were too big to be hers and each knew she had been kidnapped.

Sasuke was first to act, he grabbed Kiba by his fur coat and pinned him up against a tree, his 3 tomoe Sharingan spinning threateningly.

"You did this, this is all your fault. If you hadn't left her she'd be fine. She'd be in my arms right now safe, not heading to Kami knows where because you are such a fuck up. It should have been you! Not her, you Kiba!" Sasuke was yelling out his frustrations, putting the blame on Kiba even though he felt the blame was on him just as much. Kiba did nothing to stop it. He agreed with everything, it was his fault. If he hadn't left his best friend alone, if he'd disobeyed her orders than she'd be fine and he'd be the one possibly dead. Naruto was pushing down the fox that was threatening to come out. His elongated nails were pushing into his palms and when Sasuke prepared to throw another punch, he stepped in, gripping Sasuke's fist tightly.

"Stop. This is not one person's fault, it is all of ours so stop. Hinata-chan is strong, stronger than all of us. We're going to get her back. We're going to get her back I promise. Dammit, we're going to take her back!" Naruto had fire burning in his eyes, his determination gave hope to Sasuke and Kiba, if anyone would be able to save her it would be them. No matter what. With guilt and an overwhelming desire to save their comrade, the trio left to meet back with Shikamaru's squad. They knew that if anyone could make a solid plan, it would be the lazy genius. The reunited classmates returned to the village and the looks on their faces and the battered bodies of Naruto, Sasuke, Kiba, and Akamaru as well as the absence of a familiar blue haired girl altered the gate guards that the mission went awry and she was missing, if not worse.

The news of Hinata's kidnapping spread like wildfire and the wails of Hanabi echoed throughout the village. ANBU went back to the crime scene and determined Hinata was in Orochimaru's clutches, the fears of Kakashi, Tsunade, Zabuza, and Hiashi came to fruition. He needed her for something despicable and Hinata needed to be rescued sooner rather than later, at his mercy he will do his best to break the young girl. Tsunade prepared a squad of elites stationed in the village: Hiashi, Kakashi, Zabuza, and Shino with the plan planned out to a T under the guidance of Shikaku and Shikamaru. The rest of the Konoha 11 were not aloud to join the mission because of their overemotional states, none of the were thinking clearly and all of them were pissed to not be able to help. So, Shikamaru played double agent and gave information to the Konoha 11 plus Gaara to go on the rescue mission as well, just hidden in the shadows and as backup to step in when things go bad. And knowing it has to do with Orochimaru, things will always go bad. Sasuke was the worst off, he knew what the snake man was after, him. He was willing to trade himself for Hinata, give up his body so she can keep hers. He was on a team, but he was also on a solo mission that he thinks nobody knows about. After weeks of planning and scouting, they found her location and everything was ready to be set into motion.

—

(Hinata POV)

Pain, thats all I could feel as my senses began to come back. I opened my eyes and the area around me was lit with a faint glow of artificial light dancing across the wetness of the dark grey rock. It was eerily silent save for the drip of water that hit against the floor next to me every few seconds. I couldn't move the only feelings I had were of the cold shackles rubbing against the raw skin of my wrists and ankles, the constant draining of my chakra, and the pain. It was no longer a dull throb but a burning fire coursing through my veins. Each breath rattled in my chest, the obvious signs of broken ribs. My foot was twisted at an odd angle as well: dislocated. I don't know where I am, the last thing my foggy memory could piece together was Kiba's retreating from. What the hell did I do to end up in such a pitiful state. How long have I been gone, where the fuck am I. My gut twisted and I knew whatever I was in for, it wouldn't be good.

The light of the cave brightened up and I was finally able to make out where I was, not a cave but a cell. The barred cell door was unlocked and Orochimaru walked in licking his lips. He was followed by Kabuto sporting a lecherous grin, and limping slightly and the clank of a metal limb was coming from him.

"You've finally awoken my sweet little Hyuga. Is everything to your liking?" Orochimaru's deep voice laughed out at his version of a joke. I couldn't open my mouth to say anything back. "Kabuto, you know what to do."

"Yes my lord." Kabuto knelt down next to me but I had no power to move away. He pulled me into his lap and began to heal me. His chakra was as soothing as the first time, cooling and comforting. It made me uneasy that he was able to manipulate his chakra in such a way to make it feel so calming, it took away all of my nerves which made me more wary. The blood that was still dripping down my head stopped and the rest of my major injuries hurt a hell of a lot less. The blood blocking off my throat was cleared. The small amount of my chakra began to leave my body and mix with Kabuto's. He groaned in pleasure moaning about how my chakra is addicting. It sent shivers down my spine, but the intense feeling of his chakra overpowered it and kept flowing to relax me as fast as I tensed up. (A/n remember Kabuto is a chakra whore for some reason, like a vampire with blood.)

"W-what the hell do you want with m-me." My hoarse and shaking voice spoke out.

"I want 3 things from you, and in return I will do 3 things for you." His yellow eyes peirced into my soul as he spoke out his next words. "You have more information than I was even able to acquire. I am after ultimate knowledge and I want to know what you know and how you know it. Kabuto informed me of your knowledge on my old partner Sasori, you knew he was a spy even before I did. Tell me how you gained this information and I will give you the power you desire. I see it in your eyes, the intense craving for strength, for power. I will give it to you." He waited for my reaction but I gave none, it was still processing and my body was still in too much pain to really respond. He clicked his tongue in annoyance but continued on anyways. "I want Sasuke Uchiha's eyes. The legendary Shairingan. With those eyes I will have every juts in my arsenal. You and Sasuke are close, the darkness in his heart was counteracted by you and the 9-tails. If I have you, Sasuke will come and then I can have his body and your mind. You bring the Uchiha to me and stay by my side and I will make sure no one you love will die. I'll even bring your lovely mother back to you. And last, I want to destroy the hidden leaf village and the bastards of the Akatsuki. With the Sharingan and you by my side it will be easy and we wont fail. You willingly join me and my conquest I will give you everything you desire in the new chaotic world of mine. With ultimate power and knowledge, what you wish I will give."

His argument was sound, he's right I do desire power, more so than I'd like to admit. I'm not that far off from Orochimaru but my ultimate goals are opposing his and there is no way in hell I'd give to him like that. Sasuke is not somebody to just take, he's my Sasuke and no way would I let him or anyone else take him from me. The village he wants to destroy is the one I'm trying to protect, the Akatsuki are also on my list. They deserve better and I'm going to fight for them, to give them a better chance at life and if he's standing in my way of that, I will stop trying to save him. At this rate it seems like he is too far gone.

"Fuck you." I rasped out as my eyes glared into his golden ones. The healing from Kabuto ceased and the pain flooded back in. I gasped in pain and blacked out again.

"If you wont willingly concede to me, there are other methods. I don't care what it takes. Kabuto you know what to do, bring her in and get to work. Break her body, her mind. Do whatever it takes to get the information I desire. Then when that is complete, make her give in to me, to give in to the bloodlust she is holding back. I want my weapon."

—

(3d person POV) Warning: This will be graphic descriptions of torture mentally and physically so skip this if you can't handle it!

The blue haired girl blinked open her lavender eyes, scanning the area around her in slight worry. Her thoughts were racing when she realized she was in strapped to a chair in a sterile room filled with different weapons and medical supplies. The room was bright with white light and she looked in a mirror at her disheveled form.

She was stripped down to the bare minimum to cover herself. Her usually beautiful face was swollen and bruised with blood caked on from when it poured out of her eyes and mouth. Her hair was matted with blood and her eyes which were normally vibrant were dull and sunken in from the week of not eating. Her cheeks were hollow and beginning to fit the look of a skeleton. Her eyes filled with panic at the sight of when she finally realized she was looking in a mirror at herself and not some random girl. Her breathing was ragged and her emaciated state made her look younger than her 13 year old self. Bruises and cuts were stretched across her thinning toned stomach and legs. There was a small puncture wound on her thigh, but the blood had clotted leaving the dark purple trail of blood trailing down her leg. She grit her teeth as the door opened, she prepared something snarky to say to mask the terror she was feeling but all of her thoughts disappeared as the person came into view.

A girl of 14 with short pink hair and emerald eyes stepped into view wearing the traditional attire of a follower of Orochimaru. Her green eyes seemed to glow with a look of pure hatred and sadistic joy at seeing the girl she had spent so much time hating in such a shitty condition. Hinata let out a shaky sigh as she saw her old friend looking so evil. She didn't understand, was Sakura there to get her out. If she was any less naive she would have believed it, but the pure unbridled hatred that Saukra carried, and the fact that she was a missing ninja answered her questions for her. Sakura was not there for any friendly means. The emotions she had been suppressing on the aspect of her former pink haired friend welled up and with teary eyes and a broken voice, Hinata finally spoke.

"Sakura… why." The question was vague but Sakura was no idiot. Her red lined lips twitched up in a smirk that was so full of malice and the intent of pain. She let out a laugh and stared Hinata down, not afraid of the strong girl who was so weak at the moment.

"Why, I did this because of you. I hate you, I hate everything about you. You stole everything from me, Sasuke-kun is mine. I should have been on his team, not you. I was supposed to get stronger alongside him, to see him everyday and have him talk to me. He is supposed to love me, I'll give him everything. You're just a pretty face that has nothing going for you, you are not good, you are just a thief. Sasuke-kun needs a lady who is strong but a lady he can protect, who will give him children. You're not worthy enough to be anywhere near him. Lord Orochimaru knows this is the truth and recognized my talent. I will follow Lord Orochimaru wherever as long as it means Sasuke-kun will be mine. He promised me that my Sasuke-kun would come to him, and I will be right here too by his side as we laugh over your broken body. Sasuke will forget all about you and finally realize his love for me. Luck for me, I am one of the ones who get's to break oh-so-strong Hinata. If I'm lucky, when I'm done with you, you'll keel over and die." She sneered at Hinata, her evil laugh echoing through the room. The words processed in the Hyuga's head and she felt pain, not for herself but for Sakura. She felt guilty that Sakura's words had truth, Hinata did take Sakura's place on Team 7. She was there to reach her goals but Hinata thinks Sakura may be right in thinking that Hinata was just being selfish.

Hinata was silent and Sakura took it as a sign of defeat, her acceptance that she was nothing more than scum and deserving her death. The pink rogue's mind was clouded with her supposed love for Sasuke and when Orochimaru noticed this, he manipulated the girl with empty, sweet promises of Saskue being hers if she follows him and puts her exceptional Genjutsu skills to benefit Orochimaru. What better way to break Hinata and get her to spill her secrets and make her a mindless, bloodlust filled drone for Orochimaru's than by using her friends against her. Flip the tables and make her dreams and ideals seem selfish until she gives up. Finally, the lavender eyed girl controlled her thoughts, wanting to not upset Sakura more in this tense situation.

"You- you might be right. I am selfish, I am a liar. I cant deny it, but that is my job as a kunoichi to be that way. The one thing you're wrong about is Orochimaru. Sakura, Orochimaru is using you, he doesn't ever plan to bring you and Sasuke together, he wants to kill Sasuke and take his body. If you love him as much as you say you do, you'd realize this and let me go. Together we can stop Orochimaru and keep Sasuke safe." Sakura slapped Hinata across her bruised face, the force snapping her head to the side. Her shrill voice rang out in fury.

"You dumb bitch, I'm not dumb enough to fall for a trick like that. Why would I believe such a crazy story from a lying bitch like you when I know the truth, Sasuke-kun loves me and is stuck with you but soon, he'll accept his desires. Lord Orochimaru promised me Sasuke-kun would come to him, to me, none of your lies will sway me from the truth."

"Sakura please listen to me!" Hinata begged out which resulted in her being met with another forceful slap. Sakura walked out of the room when she sensed Kabuto returning. Hinata had her eyes downcast, she was furious that Orochimaru was able to manipulate Sakura like that. Furious that Sakura was so hateful. Furious at the situation she was stuck in for what seemed like forever. Kabuto walked back in, the clink of his metal leg being the only sound aside from the ragged breathing of the hungry girl.

All of the pain inside of her was pushed aside as she yanked against her chains, pulling herself to attack Kabuto. Shouting at him for lying to Sakura for their own personal game. Screaming to be set free. Kabuto placed his hand over her mouth and tightened her binds around her body more, leaving no room for movement. Kabuto intertwined their chakra for a bit, getting his fix of the otherworldly chakra Hinata possesses before he was ready.

"Now now little lion. I will only let you go when you give Orochimaru what he wants. Are you ready to talk yet?"

"Go to hell you psycho!" She spat out angrily, not knowing the repercussions of her actions.

"I was afraid it would come to this. If starving you wasn't enough, it's time to up the ante. The longer you don't talk the more I torture you. The problem is I don't want your precious mind breaking just yet, I need information first so until you decide to tell me what I need to know, the only thing you will be saying is a countdown from 1000 by 7. The more you focus on that, the longer you stay sane. I'll end everything as soon as you talk. Let's start shall we." Kabuto placed a while lab coat on and picked up the scalpel on the tray beside Hinata. She looked up at him with narrowed eyes, egging him to do his worst. He pushed the glasses back up the bridge of his nose ran the scalpel deeply along her forearm watching in sadistic glee as the red blood slowly trickled out of the wound. Hinata started her count back from a thousand while doing her best to keep her voice even to not show any pain. The only sign of her struggle was the tense jaw and lone tear escaping her eye. He made a few more incisions on sensitive areas but realized that this was not going to take him anywhere.

"8-867… 8-8-860…853-3." Hinata's hands were gripping the handles of the chair tightly, her knuckles white as paper. He took his hooked kunai, meant for slashing and not stabbing, from the tray and with swiftness of a ninja, jammed it into her hand, pushing the curved blade through until it was stuck in the chair. With his medical prowess, he made sure to hit no vital spots, when healed, there would be no sign of damage except for a scar.

A loud bloodcurdling scream ripped from the girls throat and Kabuto ceased his torture and waited for the cries to subside.

"This will all be over if you tell me what I want to know." His voice was light and sympathetic, contrasting with the blood covering his face and clothes. Hinata gave a pause before glaring up at Kabuto.

"Is that all you have to make me talk? My grandma stabs harder than you and she's dead." She gasped out, her voice tight from pain but the annoyance was there. A bloody smirk was given to aggravate her torturer. She was not giving in to him and he wanted to see how far he'd be able to push her.

"So be it." Kabuto ripped out the blade and stabbed it into the wound healing on her thigh, pushing past the newly reformed tissues deep into the muscle fiber. The sounds of ripping flesh and cries echoing throughout the bace once more.

"Fuck you Voldemort and Harry Potter lovechild." He looked at her confused, not understanding the insult. Usually she was better at pissing people off but the pain was getting to her, making her insults less effective when what she is saying doesn't exist.

"I don't her counting. Start over." Kabuto demanded as he continued his escapade of stabbing and slicing Hinata in places that would leave no lasting damage but was sure to hurt like hell. After she couldn't take any more pain, her head slumped down and she was out cold. Kabuto healed her body to about 50 percent so she was in no danger of blood loss and forced nutrients through a tube into her system.

The next few days went the same, Kabuto using various blades to cut up her body, re-opening wounds to make it more painful as well as digging his fingers into deep punctures to get the blood gushing. Hinata continued her counting, never making it past 587 before she'd pass out or have to start over from screaming and losing count. Not once did she beg for mercy or say anything other than less and less comprehensible insults, she never gave into the pain and forced her mind to focus on her goals, her family, her friends, and her counting to keep from giving in. When Kabuto deemed using blades worthless, he switched over to other methods of pain. He wanted to find her limit, have her beg for mercy, tell all of her secrets and give in. Kabuto wanted Hinata to accept her fate, to give in to the torture and tell them what they need to know. She was nothing more than an addicting chakra fix and pawn for his master.

Kabuto wrapped his hands around her shaking left leg and jammed his fingers between her tibia and fibula, with a grunt of effort he detached the bones from one another. Hinata's scream was louder and more shrill than before. The pain of her bones being broken one by one was slowly breaking her spirit. She kept counting through her screams but soon stopped when Kabuto decided to speak again.

"You know the best part of being medically trained? Each injury I cause, I can heal. I can break your bones over and over but there will be no evidence, I can break your body as much as I want without causing lasting damage. Well, physically at least. I wonder how many times I can snap your legs before you give in or shut down. Which one will come first? This can all end if you tell me what Lord Orochimaru desires?" Hinata's once Lavender eyes were grey and glassy, there was only a small spark of determination left within them.

"573…F-fuck…566…" She continued to count, not having the energy to respond. All of her focus was on the numbers, a way to remove herself from the living hell she was going through. After her bone had been set, Kabuto took to dislocating her shoulder that had finished it's healing from the previous few days. This time her scream lacked its pain, it was more hollow and Kabuto knew he was getting somewhere finally. Her cries died out and her body went slack once again as she gave into the one outlet she had; sleep.

—

"Lord Orochimaru we are getting somewhere. It has been 3 weeks, I think it is time to let Haruno-san have her fun with my Hime. Physical torture will only bring us so far, with Haruno's genjutsu capabilities, the best thing now would be to let her mess with Hinata's brain. Torture her mentally until she is ready to spill. You need to make sure she does not go overboard, her hatred for Hinata may be too strong, we can't have her dying on us."

"Tomorrow then. Haruno will begin her work, as soon as we get somewhere, dispose of Haruno. She is an annoying brat and of no use to me as soon as I have Hinata and her knowledge on my side." Orochimaru licked his lips and shooed his second in command off to work on his test subjects.

"Hai."

—

Sakura skipped in glee into Hinata's room. She was met with a wonderful sight of the girl who she pushed all of her hatred on. The girl who ruined her life and tried to take her soulmate away from her. She took her best friend, her love, even her own teammates liked Hinata more than they ever liked Sakura and now it's time for vengeance. The so called friends and family Hinata loved would show her how worthless she really is, they would turn against her and make her biggest fears come true. Sakura wanted to break Hinata, send her past the precipice of insanity and destroy the girl who tried to take everything.

Hinata was slumped over. Her body was covered in dried blood, too much so to tell the origins of the blood. Her hair had lost it's blue and was now a dark purple/black from the blood that had coated it. The visible skin was purple and green from bruising. Sakura grabbed Hinata's hair and lifted her head to see her face. Her cheeks were hollow and her face was void of emotion, she looked helpless and disgusting but Sakura was still angry. She was still pretty but now less, her beauty was hidden under blood and bruises, she was no longer pretty enough for Sasuke.

Hinata woke up staring into the green eyes of her friend. She smiled a bit, still delirious from the pain as she thought Sakura was there to save her from the tirade of Kabuto. Without wasting a moment, Sakura let her chakra flow out of her body and permeate the air as well as force itself into the brain of the broken girl in front of her. To make sure Hinata would not be able to break out of the Genjutsu, Sakura formed layers. Her first layer was a simple genjutsu of the surroundings to get Hinata caught, then she began to mix and weave the perfect scenarios. Hinata could feel the change and knew she was in a Genjutsu, and as she released it, she was still trapped, There were too many layers and it was distorting so much of reality Hinata could not tell the real from the fake anymore.

Sakura started with bringing Hinata back to the academy and having the childhood bullies, along with Sakura this time, insult Hinata for everything they could. After a while of having Hinata relive some of her more hurtful school moments, Sakura went to the next level. She cast a Genjutsu that made the person see what caused them the most emotional pain. First was her watching her mother die over and over. With the death, each time Sakura would change a detail making it unnoticeable of shifting the memory. Over the next few hours, Sakura changed her mother's death to blaming Hinata for the death. Her mother wailing out for her daughter and then when she was bloody, would blame Hinata for the death saying "You could have saved me." and "It's your fault Hanabi will grow up without a mother." Tears began to pour down Hinata's face unconsciously and Sakura delved deeper, delighted in the first crack in Hinata's mind.

Next she went on to the Uchiha massacre, having Hinata remember the details exactly, Sakura noticed a genjutsu around the memory and she thought it was a blockade to hide traumatic memories so of course she undid it and let the memories flood in. Hinata remembered the massacre, the fight with Obito, the pain, Itachi leaving. Once again, the cold dead bodies of Fugaku and Mikoto emerged from the darkness and pushed all opf the blame on Hinata. 'If she wasn't so selfish and told people of her knowledge from the beginning they wouldn't be dead and so on.' The next crack was complete and Hinata's silent cries turned into loud sobbing, begging for forgiveness and the memories to stop.

Sakura pushed on to the next stage of her specially developed torture genjutsu. This delved into Hinata's brain and found all of her insecurities, guilt, and doubt of herself and manifested them into real situations. The genjutsu's felt so real for Hinata. They had been going on nonstop for days and she was breaking. The fears she had of not doing the right thing with her knowledge, that her hero complex was actually going to make her a villain, that everyone would leave her once again and she'd be alone, that everything she was doing just made things worse for everyone. Each of these deep rooted fears Hinata had came to life. Her friends that she loved and worked hard for either turned their backs on her or she was forced to watch them die while she was helpless. They all blamed her and said they hated her; that their deaths were her fault and if she'd never been born they would have been happier. The people she loved abandoned her and she was alone. It all felt so real, that loneliness that she'd fought so hard to escape came back full force. She watched herself kill her friends and family as she laughed. She watched others kill them. Each scene was different and got harder and harder to get through until finally the glass shattered. The mental and physical torture became too much and Hinata couldn't take anymore. She wouldn't give Orochiamaru anything but she also couldn't keep going. She wanted out, she wanted to die. She believed that everyone she had loved was either dead or wanted her dead, it was game over.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry." Hinata repeated over and over, stuck in her trance. She cried and screamed and finally gave in. "Please, she begged. Please just kill me. I can't take it anymore I know I ruined everything. I know you hate me so please stop this and KILL ME! END IT I GIVE UP!" The genjutsu was released and Hinata found herself back in the room of hell. She stared into the eyes of Sakura, her own eyes completely lifeless. "Please, just take the pain away." She whispered pleadingly. Sakura was prepared to give Hinata her wish but Kabuto stepped in and made Sakura leave. Hinata's eyes fixed on his form and for the first time in a while, she showed true terror. Her body shook in fear and she whimpered, her eyes wide and scared like a deer caught in headlights. Kabuto stalked to her and asked her to give him answers. She was unresponsive, just saying she's sorry and asking to have the pain go away. He sighed, she was not going anywhere in her mentally and physically broken state. She thought almost everything she loved was gone and had nothing, the only bit of hope and sanity she had left at the moment was the understanding of the silver outline now. She knew it was a genjutsu, all of it, her memories Itachi had created were finally revealed. It wasn't much, it was really nothing. Even with the subconscious knowledge, it felt too real and she was close to her mind shattering into an impossible mess to fix. Even with her understanding, she didn't think she would ever get out. Her blank and lifeless eyes barely noticed as Kabuto heard yelling and rushed out.

(third person POV)

Kabuto ran out of the room as Hinata's unresponsive eyes shut as she slumped over and passed out mumbling numbers in variants of 7.

Shino's bugs ate through the chakra barrier around the hideout Pakkun and Shino traced Hinata to. The hideout was inconspicuous and covered in intense genjutsu to the point only the highest levels of Ninja's would be able to see through. There were too many weaves of the intricate jutsu so instead of releasing it bit by bit, Shino has his chakra consuming beetles eat a hole in the barrier. The looks on everyone's faces in this advanced ninja squad were deadly. None of them wanted to accept Hinata is quite possibly dead, nobody wanted to think of the horror she might have endured if she's alive. They all suppressed their feelings like the hardened shinobi they were and only allowed their anger and determination to be seen.

Zabuza's hands were twitching, he was ready to rip apart each and every person he came across to reach the girl who saved him, the one he was supposed to protect. Kakashi's Sharingan was glowing brightly as he continued to sniff for the bluenette's familiar scent. He was not going to let another important person die, he couldn't. Shino was scared for his friend, he knew his part was over and he'd stay behind as backup, but the bugs crawling inside him were moving erratically making him uneasy with the ominous feelings. Hiashi was the worst off, if any of his teammates had been lesser men, they would have shit themselves at the dangerous look in Hiashi's eyes. He was burning in a silent fury that no man would willingly cross. His daughter, his pride was taken from him and as her father, he was going to protect his little girl. He'd failed her once, he was not going to do it again. The killer intent radiating off of Hiashi was almost visible. At this point nobody cared of Orochimaru was a Sanin or a Genin, he could have an army at his disposal but nothing would stop the success of this rescue mission.

Further back, unknown to the elite squad, a few members of the konoha 11 were separated into teams of 2, following Shikamaru's command. Sasuke and Naruto were the frontline, they were the ones to go in and get Hinata if the fighting starts. behind them was squadron 2, Shikamaru and Choji who were there for direction and the possible aid of whoever ends up rescuing the girl. Squadron 3 was off to the left, that consisted of Neji and Tenten who were the defense of the group, they would keep the path clear for Hinata getting a safe escape route for as far as possible. Lee was in recovery alongside Kiba so they were not aloud to join the endeavor.

Shino's bugs made a big enough hole for the squad to slip through, Shino stayed back, his bugs on guard while he hid in wait for the signal to clear a path to leave. A deep, loud yell echoed in the cave and he knew the battle had started. Nartuo's inhuman hearing picked up on the sounds of battle so Shikamaru gave them the signal to move in. If Kakashi, Hiashi, and Zabuza were busy fighting, they would slip by unseen and find their teammate. Naruto and Sasuke used a henge and transformed themselves into people they had fought before the abduction and ran into the cave, going through the same opening Shino had made earlier. They moved through the shadows in silence, keeping their chakra suppressed as well even if it was unnecessary based on all the fighting being focused on Kakashi's squad. They opened each door they found, encountering various people Orochimaru had kept prisoner, but there was still no sign of her anywhere.

Zabuza used his executioners blade to the max effect, slicing through anyone who dared to come close to him. Each swing brought him deeper into the hideout and he was still at a loss, finding only empty rooms on his journey. Hiashi had the same luck, he spared no mercy and without batting an eye, killed anyone in the vicinity of him. It wasn't enough for him, he wanted them all dead. He growled in frustration when Orochimaru didn't bother to show his face, he kidnaps his daughter and yet is too much of a coward to face them. Hiashi wanted blood, Orochimaru's blood on his hands, he wanted to break the man over and over until there was nothing left. Kakashi was fighting madly, his brain was clouded in flashbacks of his comrades deaths, he tried but failed at not letting his mind revert to the dark place it had finally emerged from. He was no longer Kakashi-sensei, at the moment he fully embraced his title of cold-blooded Kakashi and struck down everyone with a swift and merciless manner to the point that his opponents began to flee. Kakashi stopped searching fro Hinata, he convinced himself she was dead and he was getting revenge, that was until the familiar scent of her blood invaded his nose. It was faint, extremely so, but it was still relatively fresh smelling so it could have only been there in the last few days. He pushed down his darkness and for the last time, let the little ray of hope that she was alive burn inside him.

"Found it!" Kakashi summoned 2 of his best ninken fighters and had them go to Zabuza and Hiashi to get them to follow him to where Hinata was. They reacted quickly and changed their course of slaughter to reach the girl who had been missing for a month.

Sasuke and Naruto were alone so they dropped the henge and focused on moving faster to find Hinata. They caught a break in the most unlikely of ways when Naruto was shoved to the side and a body latched onto Sasuke.

"Ohh Sasuke-kun I knew you'd come for me! Lord Orochimaru was right, you our love knows no bounds. I even took care of that little hurdle that was putting a strain in our love, now you will finally realize your love for me!" The pink pawn of Orochimaru squealed into her love's ear, rubbing her face against his arm as she spoke. Naruto sat back up and looked extremely confused.

"Huh, what are you talking about Sakura? Why are you following a bastard like Orochimaru, you do know he Hurt Hina-chan right? Come help us find her, we can all go home together dattebayo." The blushing girl's eyes narrowed at the name, but a smirk overtook her features. Sasuke wasn't as slow on the uptake, he didn't blindly think the best in people like Naruto, he figured out what was going on. The animosity Sakura held for Hinata, the psychotic love she held for him, her saying their little hurdle was taken care of.

"You're as dumb as ever Naruto, isn't that right Sasuke-kun! We can take him out together and finally be alone. I already took care of one of your teammates and Lord Orochimaru has no use for him." She bat her eyelashes at him.

Sasuke removed Sakura from his side and pinned her against the wall by her throat.

"Where. Is. She." Sakura gaped for breath, clawing at Sasuke's arms. It was then Naruto realized the situation and placed a chakra suppressant seal on Sakura to prevent her from fighting or using any of her terrifying Genjutsus. Sasuke unceremoniously dropped her to the floor, his Uchiha glare in full effect.

"You want to see what I did to her? It's all in the name of love, when you see how pitiful it really is, you will finally accept my never ending love for you Sasuke-kun." Naruto and Sasuke exchanged looks saying 'she's delusional' as they trailed behind the skipping girl. The more they walked, the heavier the pit of dread grew in their bodies. What did Sakura really do to Hinata, what happened to her? They reached a corridor at the same time as Kakashi, Zabuza not far behind them. Kakashi gave them stern looks and a wary glance towards the bright smile Sakura held as he stopped at a door.

The smell of blood was overwhelming now and Kakashi hesitantly opened the door, worried on what he could find. Hinata's chakra was coming from the room but it was faint and moving so erratically that he knew she was panicking in a way he didn't think possible. Sasuke and Naruto tied Sakura up and stood by Kakashi, Zabuza, and the newly arrived Hiashi; ready to open the door. Sakura was brimming in joy to watch as the people closest to Hinata would finally see her for the pathetic trash she is, the tortured and broken mess. A girl who cries for her own death.

The door was slammed open and everyone froze in utter horror at the sight before them. Hinata was slumped over in a chair, her thin body clothed in her undergarments and her pale skin covered in blood. It was horrific at the amount of blood covering her and the floors to the point it was a miracle she hadn't bled out. Beside her were all the weapons used, they were various and bloodied. The bones in her left leg were protruding out of her skin and her shoulder was twisted at an unnatural angle. Naruto took a step forward to free her, but then she looked up. Her eyes, the eyes that always held love and mischief, the one part of herself that she could never hide her emotions in. The ever expressive face of Hinata was blank, not in a ninja way but in a soulless and empty way. Her lavender eyes that Naruto loved were milky and showed nothing but fear, she held no recognition for them, at least the them that were in front of her. She didn't think they were real, the real ones beat her, hated her, died because of her.

"Oh God."

Sasuke saw red, there was nothing but the broken girl chained up before him. She didn't look alive, he didn't know if she really was alive anymore and it was his fault. His Sharingan manifested and the pattern changed into a pinwheel swirl. His eyes burned, he felt nothing but guilt and hatred. The rage inside of him was greater than that for Danzo, the girl he loved and promised to protect was sitting there dead because of him, because of Orochimaru, because of Sakura.

Naruto felt the familiar red hot wrath of the Nine tails chakra flow throughout his body. His nails sharpened, the whiskers darkened, his fangs elongated. He wanted nothing more than to give in and rip everyone in this hideout apart. The red bubbling chakra of Kuruma bubbled around Naruto and took shape of the 1 tailed chakra cloak. He heard the sounds of people coming and he was ready, he wanted blood, he wanted revenge. His hatred merged with Kuruma and they prepared for vengeance.

Kakashi sank to his knees at the sight. She was so empty, the pain she must have endured he couldn't fathom. He was her sensei, her guardian and he failed her like he failed them. Rin, Obito, Minato-sensei. She was another added to the list of failures, she may be alive, but would she ever really be living again after this. All he could see is blood, her blood, their blood. Was he cursed to this world to destroy others? The fear in her eyes, it was so intense, she was nothing but emptiness and fear. He brought his hands up to his face and pushed back the tears trying to fall, he couldn't look anymore.

Zabuza had seen brutal scenes in his life. He had inflicted torture upon others numerous times, but the scene he was met with was one that made him want to empty the contents of his stomach. This wasn't just a form of torture, it was inhumane at its core. He was a demon but for someone to allow this, they were the devil itself. The only reason for her to be so messed up was because she didn't do whatever it was they wanted. He has seen people hold back from talking but no torture has ever gone this far, people either die or give in sooner or later, but she was just…broken. Zabuza knew it wasn't just physical torture, the fear, the emptiness, her not recognizing them right away, the fucked with her mind and he didn't know what to do. Hinata was strong mentally and physically, her enduring this long was proof but Zabuza didn't know if she would ever recover. It felt like losing Haku all over again, he should have been there, he was her protecter but he wasn't there. He will not let her give up her fight, not after she did it for so long. He was a demon

Hiashi began shaking the room with the chakra flowing out of his body. His daughter was before him, beaten and broken. He should have been there for her more, told her he loved her more, maybe she'd be ok if he had done something different. This was Orochimaru's fault, he did this to his daughter. Everyone here was going to pay for laying a hand on one of the people he loves the most, it should have been him in her place. He want's to take her pain away, to hold her and let her know everything will be alright, to let her know daddy is there and he will protect her. He will avenge his daughter even if it costs him his life, he will hold her and say he loves her and give her away to be safe.

Hiashi and Zabuza were the only two conscious of their actions at the moment. They exchanged glances and Zabuza knew what was coming. Hiashi walked over to his little girl and undid the bindings of her body and removed the chakra suppressors. With nothing holding her to the chair, she fell over but he caught her careful not to aggravate her injuries. She was shaking like a leaf but her eyes never moved, she didn't even blink. All she did was mumble numbers so quietly if he hadn't been listening he would have missed it. He took his hand and laid it on the top of her sticky, bloody hair, rubbing it softly to comfort her and let her know he wasn't going to hurt her.

"Hinata, daddy has you now, it's going to be alright. I won't let them hurt you anymore. I'm here, daddy has you now. I wont let them touch you, I have you. You are safe, I promise, you are safe." He spoke to her softer than he knew was even possible. Her eyes finally moved up to meet his and the ragged breaths she had slightly evened out. She was still shaking but the grey cloud over her eyes lifted in the slightest as she recognized him. He wrapped some of his chakra around her to let her feel him, feel the safety of a fathers embrace as he kept telling her who he was and that she was going to be ok.

Hinata was confused, her dad hated her. He wanted her dead, but he was right here. holding her and telling her she was going to be ok. She thought she was in another genjutsu and was waiting for the attack to come, but it never did. Everyone hated her, they wanted her dead, she was selfish. He told her over and over how he hated her and wanted her to die, how she was selfish and not his daughter, thats what she remembers, but this was different from the beatings. Instead she felt the cocoon of her fathers chakra coat her, it was real. It had to be. She looked up at him, seeing the familiar lavender eyes, but instead of the hate they held in all of her memories Sakura made her live through, she saw nothing but love. The same eyes that were always there when she did something good as a ninja. She let herself believe him, even if only in the slightest that it was him and that he was going to keep her safe from the monsters again. She stopped counting for the first time in a month, she had something else to focus on. Her dad was here to save her and even if it was a dream, she was ok with it. It was the first dream that wasn't bad in forever. She knew she didn't deserve it but it was all she could hold on to, to keep from fully losing herself.

"O-otou-s-s-san." her voice was hollow but she finally spoke to him, she stopped counting. She didn't notice anything else around her, all she saw through her swollen eyes was her dad.

"How touching, her beloved father is here to save her. Too bad, I still need her and she's staying with Sasuke-kun and I. She never gave told me what I wanted, never joined me so I punished her. I didn't think she would have lasted this long without giving in. Even I don't think I could take what she went through. Oh how her mind must be broken, tortured mentally and physically for over a month. I guess I can pardon her now since she brought me what I wanted." The snake gestured towards Sasuke who was focused on Sakura, his Sharingan still changing. Orochimaru licked his lips as he saw the Sharingan manifesting into the Mangekyou.

Zabuza sliced at Orochimaru but was easily dodged.

"What the fuck did you do to her?" He growled during his continuous attacks.

"I didn't do anything. Sakura and Kabuto were more than willing to do everything.I can tell you how I heard her screams echo across the walls, her cries and begging for someone to end the pain. I wonder if she'll ever trust you guys again after Sakura dealt with her. There is nothing more powerful in breaking a person and turning them to the dark side than having your ideals changed to be evil and the ones you love turn their back on you. I don't think she can even tell what is real or not right now." Orochumaru got tired of Zabuza and sent him flying through a wall. Kabuto finally made his appearance. Naruto's chakra finished taking shape and a second tail appeared as he charged at four eyes, starting their own fierce battle. Naruto was not going to let Kabuto go easy, he heard about Kabuto's treatment and his mind was clouded with the Foxes as he attacked over and over again, wanting to rip him to shreds. Any of the leftover henchmen that came to fight Naruto were smacked away with the flick of his tails.

Sasuke listened as Sakura raged on about the horrible things she did to Hinata, how she heard her beg for death. How worthless she was and how Sakura and Sasuke were meant to be together. Sasuke finally lost it when Sakura mentioned the breaking point, how her fragile mind slowly began to shatter. He didn't understand the power he was feeling, but let it consume him anyways. Blood dripped down from his burning eye and black flames surrounded Sakura, licking at her form. The black flames reached the pink haired girl and she let out shrieks and cries of pain at the burning of her flesh. Sasuke grabbed his sword and stabbed it into Sakura, sending electricity through the blade and into her body. She convulsed and continued her screaming as the black flames devoured her from. Sasuke limited the flames, making the death to be drawn out, she didn't deserve mercy. Sasuke wanted to wait and only kill Danzo, but this was necessary for him.

Orochimaru watched in glee at the sadistic smirk that crossed Sasuke's features. He enjoyed watching the boy kill Sakura in a drawn out hellfire death, his Sharingan was marvelous and was soon to be his. How perfect it turned out for Orochimaru, Sasuke came to him and had a power upgrade as well as a darker side. The Sanin stalked over to Sasuke who was panting and weakened substantially from the use of Amaterasu.

Hiashi kissed Hinata on her bloody temple, ignoring the dried blood that cracked off onto his lips.

"I love you my daughter. I couldn't have asked for anyone better to be my offspring and the new leader of our clan. Keep fighting, never stop fighting for what you believe in. Don't let this hold you back, it will be hard but I need you to push through. I love you, this is for you. Be safe and tell Hanabi I love her. I love you, I promise to avenge you." Hiashi kicked Kakashi up and carefully handed him his daughter, giving her possibly the last kiss from him. "Get her out of here, keep her safe. I leave her to you Hatake. protect my baby girl." Kakashi stared down at the girl in his arms and tightened his hold on her, saying the fated words again.

"I promise to keep her safe." Hiashi was not going to allow Sasuke to be taken, naruto to be injured. He saw how the boys looked at his daughter and how much his oblivious daughter cared for them. They were truly best friends, teammates, family. He was not going to let Orochimaru and his underlings hurt her anymore. As Orochimaru stalked closer to Sasuke, Hiashi intervened and started an intense battle to the death. Sasuke snapped out of it and saw Kakashi holding an ALIVE Hinata. She was still shaking in fear, but there were tears in her eyes as she began to realize what was going to happen, why her father said those things to her. She called out to him to let her take his place but her father didn't listen. Hiashi said to leave, to protect his daughter and that's what Sasuke planned to do. They picked up Naruto and Zabuza on the way out, Kakashi holding the frail girl in his arms as the boys shielded the screaming girl. She didn't acknowledge them, she didn't even know who was with her all she thought about was her dad and leaving him with the monsters. She was scared, she didn't want to go back but she didn't want to lose her father. Kakashi finally stopped the hysterical girl by knocking her out so they could move in silence and stop her mind from breaking even more.

Shino, Shikamaru, Choji, Neji, and Tenten saw the team re-emerge with Hinata. At first it was herd to recognize her but when they did, hearts were shattered at the sight. When the shock of her state was over, Shikamaru was the first to deduce the reasoning Hiashi was missing on the return. He had stayed behind to make sure everyone else made it safe, he sacrificed himself for his daughter and her friends. They all moved out, running at breakneck speed to get Hinata to Lady Tsunade for healing.

—Hinata's body physically healed quickly because majority of the injuries had already been healed by Kabuto, the issue was her mental state. Tsunade fixed what she could, some scaring left behind on the more serious stab wounds. She needed more help for when Hinata's mind was stable enough to wake herself up. To get an understanding of what happened to help Hinata in the best way possible she bought it Inoichi, Anko, and Ibiki. Ibiki was an expert in the mind and had been through the most torture of them so he would know how to help her be less fragile. Inoichi would be able to delve into her mind and give them an exact recollection of what Hinata endured and was the psychiatrist of sorts for ninja's that have PTSD. He would also hopefully be able to peice the broken pieces of her mind back together. Anko knows Orochimaru the best and would know how his mind works enough to help Hinata find a way to get over her fear of the snake man. Nobody truly knew the horror and thought this would be the best solution… that was until Inoichi brought Anko and Ibiki to watch the speeded up memories from the start of the mission to the end of the kidnapping.

After a few days of watching, the 3 most esteemed members of the TI department were pulled out from the girls mind. Inoichi collapsed on his knees and threw up in the garbage can beside Hinata's hospital bed. His daughter's best frined, sweet Hinata had endured a pain that Inoichi couldn't even fathom. Ibiki was pale and fully disgusted at what he had watched. He was no softie, he enjoyed breaking people's minds, but the torture this girl went through was disgusting for someone so young. He had to give credit to the girl, he knew she was tough, but this. She was strong willed, took the torture better than any man other than himself, he wanted to see how she would end up after she finally woke up. Anko clenched her fist's in anger, snakes pushing themselves out of her large overcoat. She knew how bad Orochimaru could be for someone's mental state, and by the looks of it, Hinata was going to have a hell of a time getting over her fucked up torture. She hated Orochimaru, but this, this was something she never believed her master was capable of. Was this what he hid behind closed doors, his never-ending quest for ultimate knowledge and power really made him into the devil and now more so than ever, Anko wanted him eliminated. He was weak, there was no way he could have killed Hiashi Hyuga without severe damages.

Tsunade was called back into the room and Ibiki and Anko gave her the full report of Hinata's abduction; Inoichi was still trying to remove the memories from his mind and did not want to re-think of them by giving a report. The blonde woman gripped her desk in her hands and with each word of the report, the desk was being cracked until it was nothing but shredded wood chips. Damn her teammate, how could Orochimaru have stooped so low, how could Sakura, a sweet Konoha kunoichi turn into such a psychopath. How was she going to tell this to everyone, how was she going to take care of Hinata when she woke up. On top of the shit she went through, the pain wasn't over. She didn't know it in her comatose state, but her last remaining parent was gone at the tender age of 13, she was now the leader of her clan, she was going to have to take care of little sister more so than ever, and Tsunade didn't know if Hinata could handle it all, at least she wont be doing it alone.

Zabuza was the first to read the report since he decided to take the role of guardian since it was put in Hiashi's will to give Zabuza the right's to what Hiashi would get if he were alive. Above all else he was glad Sasuke killed the pink haired girl that caused Hinata so much harm; he wasn't below killing a 14 year old girl but he was glad he didn't have to and she had already met her painful end. Naruto and the rest of Hinata's teammates and friends were clued into her situation as well, Tsunade wanted to let them know that when the girl woke up she would most likely have PTSD to an extreme extent and wanted them to be cautious around her.

Hizashi was taking care of Hanabi for the time being, he gave her a shoulder to cry on when she learned of her father's death and bought her to visit her sister when she looked less corpse-like. Hinata had visitors at all hours of the day, Gaara even managed to come for a day and leave her a sand rose as well as letters for her to read when she wakes up. Few people refused to leave her room and when visiting hours were over, they snuck back in to sleep beside her, ready to be there for whenever she woke up. Kakashi suspended Team 7's missions for now and whenever Shikamaru was not on missions he was beside the Hyuga. Kiba and Shino were struggling coping with Sakura's betrayed and death as well as the state Hinata was left in, Kiba blaming himself for his best girl-friend's capture.

Sasuke discovered that his evolution in the Sharingan was with the help of Shisui as they both never left her side. To keep his mind off it, he planned his part of the 'Take Out Danzo' plan and pissed off Naruto. Naruto was optimistic, he knew she was going to wake up soon and be fine after a bit of time. She was Hinata, she can push through anything. Naruto also knew that even if she wasn't fine, he would be there to help her be better.

—

(Hinata POV) About 2 weeks after getting back to the village

The white light, I really must have been dreaming about dad coming to get me, him holding me and promising I was going to be safe. That sliver of hope I had was slowly fading, that was until I heard the beeping of a heart monitor. My body didn't have that familiar mind numbing pain and there was no Kabuto telling me to keep counting, No Sakura showing me how worthless I was. None of my friends trying to kill me over and over. There was nothing, just the beeping and white. This might be heaven, possibly hell but I don't care. Nothing was worse than what I was going through. Maybe my wish was granted, everyone's wish was granted. Naruto, Sasuke, Kakashi, Shikamaru, Hanabi, everyone; they all got tired of torturing me and decided to end it. At least it's over.

I opened my eyes to see my purgatory but instead there were white ceilings of a hospital, not the cave, not heaven. I was alive which means my dad really did come for me. The memories came back in a flood, Dad he gave me to someone, he stayed back to fight. He has to be ok, right? He was all I had left, everyone else wanted me dead. They all hurt me because I'd hurt them. All I could see was the blood, I could feel the knives going into my skin, the sinister laugh of Sakura, my loved ones torturing me, me being the reason my mom died, I killed the Uchiha clan, everyone hates me. I hate me, I hate them, I can't do it anymore, I don't want to feel pain. He saved me from everyone, I need daddy, he has to be ok. He's strong enough to take on Orochimaru, he's the only one who didn't try to kill me, the only one whose life I didn't destroy in my pretend time as a hero.

I sat up, pushing down the phantom pains of Kabuto, my failures, my fear, the utter empty feeling that was overwhelming me and lifted my head to find daddy. He was no where in the room, maybe he's in the bathroom.

"She's awake, she's really awake dattebayo." That voice, no I can't do this anymore, not again. I started to involuntarily shake, my limbs were smaller than I remember and the red of my blood started to cover my arms. Naruto had a wide smile on his face I looked around and there was also Kakashi, Sasuke, Shisui, Neji, and Zabuza sitting in my room. All of their eyes were fixed on me and my body shook even more. I was scared. They were coming for me again, no I can't. I need dad, he will come save me from them again. "Hina-chan I've been waiting forever for you to wake up dattebayo." He reached his arms towards me, he was going to strangle me again. There were no chains so I flinched back into the bed and screamed.

"STAY AWAY STAY AWAY! I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE! OTOUSAN HELP!" I screamed out in a panic, he was going to hurt me, I don't want anymore. I would rather die, he want's me dead, he said so, they all do. They know I'm not a hero, they turned their backs on me. All I need is dad, he'll save me again. I stopped screaming but couldn't stop the shaking. There was only fear, it's going to happen again, I can't do it. First Kabuto, now this. "NO MORE! PLEASE!" Naruto moved away from me, his eyes wide as he looked to Kakashi for reassurance. He's going to join in too now. "otousan please." I whispered out before I started my counting, preparing myself to keep fighting like dad told me to, I'll keep fighting until he comes to save me again. I don't know how much more I can handle, everything else is gone, just fear, brokenness. I want to give in but dad told me I can't. My body shook with more fervor as Kakashi stood up walking closer to me. I pressed my back against the headboard until it was hurting as I cowered in fear. All I could see was the pain, the torture, him coming closer to make me repent for thinking I could be a hero, his incoming attacks to show how much he hates me. I don't want anymore, I'm alone again like I was. Just a sad and abused little orphan girl with dreams of grandeur, look where that got me. Scared and alone again, beaten and worthless.

Kakashi watched me, his grey eye never leaving my form. It wasn't as scary as it was a few days ago, it no longer held the hatred, but it's probably just a rouse to make me feel safe so he can make it hurt even worse. I wasn't sure anymore, I remember Kakashi from my past life, I remember him as my sensei who helped me through my first kills, but I also see him as the man who turned his back on me, he put his Chidori through my side, he helped Naruto and Sasuke explain their hate for me. At first I thought it was all genjutsu, I know Skaura had the skills to do it and hated me, but it felt so real. I don't know which Kakashi is real anymore, the pain was so real, all of it. It hurt by body, it hurt my mind. I wanted it to be over and I can't do anymore of my loved ones hurting me, leaving me. I can feel the pain, hear his words of contempt, the stupid thought that I would actually be a hero like Naruto or Spider-Man. My mind started shutting down again from the mass amount's of thought, all that was left was fear again.

My heart monitor sped up and was peeping rapidly, following the wild palpitations of my heart when Kakashi stood right in front of me. I gripped the blanket around myself as I continued my counting. A woman in a white nurses outfit rushed in the room and touched one of the bags connected to me, probably poison of some sort. My body felt heavy and my shaking stopped all at once as I faded into darkness.

—

A/N this is all while she's out, still in her pov though.

"Kakashi-sensei what was that? Why was she so scared?" Naruto asked. He was hurt that I looked so scared of him, my eyes were different from the other villagers that hated him because they were scared, I looked at him in pure terror and let out pained screams that were chilling. He didn't understand, he helped save her and I acted like he was the one who hurt me. Kakashi was still staring at my sleeping body and didn't answer so Zabuza did.

"You read the report, she saw all of us hurting her in one way or another, right now she cant distinguish us from the illusions she experienced. She thinks we all hate her and she's scared of us hurting her again. Hokage-sama said she'd probably be different and I think this is it, we have to get her to differentiate us from Sakura and get her trust again. The only person she trusts right now is her dad, he was the one who rescued her, it's like we weren't there."

"Oh." Naruto's big blue eyes narrowed in concentration for a second before his big smile came back. "Not a problem, I'm going to make her trust me in no time dattebayo!" He spoke with determination that filled the room and bought a hope to each person in it with the light that oozed out of him. Naruto believed in me to get better, he believed in himself to bring me out of the dark no matter how long it took. I was there for him and he's going to be there for me even more.

Sasuke was gripping tightly onto Shisui's arm before he abruptly got up and walked out of the room, a dark aura surrounding him as he went to his and my parents graves promising them all to help me and not let me get hurt anymore. He thought about my dad saving him and promised to repay the favor by helping Naruto to 'fix' me. He laid down the white flowers and wen't back to the hospital, his mood improved slightly not that it showed. He gathered everyone close to me who was in the village and brought them to my room so they could all figure out what to do to help me.

It was about 6 days after I woke up when I allowed the doctor to touch me when I was awake. I was shaking the whole time and bad flashbacks of Kabuto resurfaced but like I promised to my father, I would push through. At least nobody has tortured me yet. I have meetings with Inoichi every day at noon. I never spoke about anything except asking where my dad was int he meetings. He told me he saw everything so I don't have to talk about that, he wants me to talk about how I'm feeling and how my mental state is as he avoids talking about my dad. That's when I figured something was up, maybe he was hurt and in the hospital and can't see me until he's better. I tried not to think the worst, actually I try not to think at all. The worst part of my days was when people would come visit me, I would always start to shake and scream and have to be sedated because of it.

My first break through with people was with Shikamaru. He came into my room after I'd finished my body rehabilitation and silently set up a shoji board with a good bit of distance between us. He made the first move and sat waitng for me to do something. Inoichi said I need to try and distinguish my memories and remember who people really were. That everything after Kabuto wasn't real, it was all illusions. My shaky hand reached out and moved a piece. Shikamaru relaxed some and we continued playing in silence. This continued for a few days and gradually the shaking in my body stopped. I was scared a bit but not of Shikamaru. I would watch him all the time, my eyes blank instead of trembling in fear. I began to be able to notice differences between him and what Sakura showed me, he didn't have the silver glow that the Shikamaru who turned his back on me did. When he realized I had stopped shaking and was just staring, he let out a big sigh and started to talk.

"Listen, I know what you saw was bad but that wasn't me, that was Sakura and you know that. Think about it, pretending to be your friend or spending my time to torture you is too much of a drag. You know me, would I ever purposely make my life more troublesome? I was there the day we rescued you, I helped come up with the plan. You are a ninja, a kunoichi, and my best friend so stop looking at me like that. It wasn't me. This isn't you. It sounds harsh but you have to trust me, I'm never going to hurt you. Damn it Hinata, stop being such a troublesome woman and remember me because I hate this." I stared at him with tears in my eyes. The broken, lifeless look my eyes held flickered slightly, a spark of something shown and Shikamaru didn't miss it.

"Y-you were th-there with Otousan? You really didn't hurt me. I-I don't know it's too much." I whispered out, my voice trembling into a panic. He seems sincere but every time I see him, it brings me back to the cave, the room, Kabuto, being alone. Shikamaru didn't look phased by my reaction. He stood up and sat in front of me, moving the shoji board to the side. He brought my hands into his and stared me in the eyes. I started trembling and flinched back, but he kept his hold. I didn't scream like normal, it was less scary.

"Use your Byakugan. You can see chakra, you've told me about mine. Look at the chakra flowing through me." I nodded slowly catching my breath and activating my Byakugan. I looked to his center, the chakra flowing through his coils and relaxed slightly. His Chakra was the same from when we were kids, it was calm and lazy, dark but warm. His chakra wasn't flowing wildly like he was angry or wanted to attack. "See, it's the same as before. Think about the chakra of the me when Sakura showed you those visions. Feel it, feel the difference?" I nodded my head. Tears flowed out of my eyes and my body was racked with sobs as I remembered the chilling feeling of his chakra, it was evil, wild, and most of all pink. It wasn't him it was her, I knew it but I couldn't find the difference, it was so real but it wasn't Shikamaru, it was Sakura praying on my biggest fears. She may have been right on some of them, but he doesn't hate me.

Shikamaru knew me through and through so he knew that I finally figured it out. He knew exactly how to make me understand, how to figure out the difference between Sakura's illusions and the real people. Shikamaru went forward but I flinched back, I might know who he is but I can't have him touch me, contact still feels like Kabuto breaking my bones, stabbing me, hurting me over and over.

The next few weeks went the same, I had to be individually with each person and re-memorize their chakra and go through all of my memories to figure out the differences. It sucked, I passed out a lot from panicking and would have nightmares about my time in Orochimaru's lair. After a painstakingly long month, I was comfortable enough with everyone again. I still didn't let anyone touch me but it was progress and there were only short flashbacks when I would be afraid of them.

—

I found out my father had died from Sasuke. He told me how Orochimaru was going to take him in his weakened state after taking out Sakura but my dad stepped in and saved Sasuke making him promise to protect me and make sure I got out alive. It was hard, the person I fully trusted, the one who saved me was gone. I cried a lot, that same feeling of my mother dying came back again and this time it really was my fault. If I hadn't been kidnapped, none of this would have happened. If I had stopped pretending to be a hero, dad would be with me. At least Sasuke was ok, if Orochimaru had gotten him too I don't know what I'd do.

The one thing that kept me from breaking down fully was how when they ransacked the hideout- Orochimaru had moved to a new undisclosed location- there were all the bodies of everyone who had died except my father which means he is being kept for either reanimation purposes or he's alive and being used for something like Suigetsu is. I'm betting on the latter and it gave me a new drive, I need to track down Orochimaru to find my father and hopefully kill the seemingly immortal snake bastard and his lackey.

—

Zabuza moved into the compound with Hanabi and I as my guardian and he watched over me to make sure I didn't revert back to my original panic state. As much as he wanted to be the 'Demon' Zabuza but he took care of me with real care. He played it off like it was nothing, never failing to remind me I was a brat but every night I fell asleep with him in a futon next to mine and whenever I'd have a nightmare he would wake me up. I was made the head of my clan but I took a momentary pause on that and left Hizashi in charge with Neji second in command until I am prepared to lead. The clan elders were so pissed but said nothing for expense of my fragile mental state. Either way, Hizashi would be a perfect leader for the time being, I don't know if I am even fit to lead anymore anyways.

Tsunade allowed me to start fully training again, I did everything except work with weapons, I get a glimpse of a blade or I'd tremble and break down in terror. It's like the air is sucked out of my lungs and I'm back in the room having Kabuto torture me over and over while I counted back from 1000. Kakashi has been helping me train through this the most, having experience in getting over his own trauma after killing Rin with the Chidori.

Kakashi and I stood in front of one another and after a few days through training, I finally held a kunai in my hand without freaking out.

"Hinata-chan are you ready?" I sucked in a deep breath.

"Lets do this shit." Kakashi whipped out a kunai and held it a meter in front of me. The grip on my kunai faltered and it tumbled to the ground as I took a few steps back. Kakashi taking equal steps forward as I continued to move backward, fighting off the rising panic.

"Kakashi-sensei I-I don't know if I can do t-this anymore." I whimpered out as everything began to fade back into the hideout, Kabuto's sinister smile and glasses reflecting my bloodied body back to me were becoming more and more visible.

"Listen to me, don't focus on the kunai, focus on me. I'm not going to hurt you, this kunai is nothing but steel. It won't hurt you, it is controlled by me and I'm not going to hurt you. Breathe Hinata-chan breathe. You're strong, you've been dodging and deflecting Kunai since you were a cute little baby, nothing has changed now. You are still that girl, you are stronger, faster, and smarter than this scrap metal, don't let your fear of Kabuto continue to manifest itself into a fear of Kunai. What happened will NEVER happen again." Kakashi's bored tone was soothing in his empowering words.

"When you get over this fear Pakkun even promised to let you touch his paws."

After a few more trials, I managed to keep the kunai in my hand and only take a minor step back. With even more time, I was able to start defending from attacks and finally able to deflect a barrage of Kunai with only the slightest of a tremble. Everyone had been really big supporters in my rehabilitation mentally but Kakashi was the one of the ones there for me the most. He brought Hanabi and I dinner 3 times a week and made sure to train extra with me after out usual team training and my training with Tsunade. When Zabuza had to leave and Neji wasn't home, he would allow us to sleep at his house. He also aided me in getting over my Haphephobia by summoning all of his dogs and letting me play with them until I was finally comfortable with them touching me and licking me. That made nights easier because when I had nightmares I could move into bed with Sasuke, Naruto, or someone else and feel a little safer.

Training with Tsunade had also been ramped up a shit ton. I'm wasn't able to heal myself but after the incident, she made me train until I was dry of Chakra so that I'd be able to heal myself fast enough to avoid getting caught in situations like that by healing a poison enough to escape before collapsing. I also had two major training points with her. Tsunade gave me a scroll to read through. It was on how to create, activate, and use the Strength of 100 seal. My eyes trailed over the scroll maybe 5 times before I finally understood the basics. To begin to create the seal, I have to constantly have a steady flow of chakra to a tiny point on my forehead, making up a storage cell of sorts with a massive reserve of chakra. Sounds easy right? Fuck no it's not.

To continuously have chakra flowing to a spot on my forehead while also having chakra running throughout my body to use in training and such takes such precise control and the subconscious thinking of always putting chakra into that tiny spot to be stored up. It not only slowly drains my chakra throughout the day, it also makes me have to put more effort into everything I do because I always have to be aware and not accidentally stop putting chakra to store behind my forehead. I have most likely quadruple -if not more-than the chakra Sakura had when she started learning which will shorten the time it takes to form the seal by half if not more but it also makes it more difficult because I have more chakra to be in control of.

At first, I thought the Strength of 100 seal was just for medical purposes, when releasing the seal fully, it results in creation rebirth which means it regenerates cells as fast as they are destroyed for short term immortality- which is fucking awesome any way you look at it- but it has so many other uses. Just having the seal increases the user's natural strength by about double and when bits of the seal are released, only using it for enhancements, it can increase my strength by tenfold. It is a chakra storage with all the saved up chakra that I put into the seal, so if I'm running low on chakra, I can send some of the stored up chakra into my body to replenish my reserves depending on the level I want. Only using pieces of it result in black markings on the face, to full use it to it's full extent the markings will cover my body and speed up my self-healing, my chakra is a massive burst of strength, and can also use it to others benefit. Supposedly I should be able to use the Yin seal release to send some of the markings to whomever I'm touching to increase their chakra, or to speed up the healing I'm doing on them. I have to be touching them though.

Learning and accessing this jutsu is no small feat and is the only way I will continue to even remotely try to stand on grounds close with Naruto and Sasuke. I just have to work on the continuous flow of chakra while holding it in place to form the seal, when it shows up, I'll know by the change in my body internally and externally.

I asked about learning to summon Katsuyu but Tsunade said the only possible way to summon her is to have the seal, Katsuyu only reacts to the seal which is why only Tsunade has been able to summon her thus far which kind of sucks for me because I want a summon. Sasuke is learning snake summoning from Anko and he's going to get a Hawk summoning sometime in life, Naruto can summon freaking badass, monstrous Toads but I can't summon anything because I don't have the seal. I think though, if Sasuke had 2 summonings, I can possibly have 2 too. I remember Jiraiya just did the jutsu without a contract and then Boom! Toad summonings, so maybe if I do it, I'll get my own summoning animal. I don't think I'll die, at least I hope I wont, but to be as strong as I can and to find Orochimaru, I'll need as much power as I can get. Good or bad, right or wrong, I'm going to find my father and take him down.

In Tsunade's office, she was drinking Sake while I train. I returned from the hospital after healing a minor fracture in Izumo's wrist from messing around with Kotetsu.

"Lady Tsunade?"

"What do you want now?"

"What are the hand signs for the Summoning Jutsu?" I asked hoping to not draw suspicion to myself for asking again.

"Bird, Boar, Dog, Dragon, Hare, Horse, Monkey, Ox, Ram, Rat, Serpent, Tiger." She didn't even look up when talking. A smirk crossed my face and I did the hand signs, then bit my thumb to draw blood- this looks so easy but it fucking hurts like a bitch, what the hell Naruto makes it look so easy- and placed my hand on the ground. "Why do you- wait you stupid brat, you don't have a…" Tsunade shouted at me when she saw me put my hand on the ground. As she was finishing her sentence, I felt my body's insides jumble together and I was suddenly free falling straight into the most beautiful rocky area I've ever seen. Everything was made of stone but it was all glowing and ethereal looking. Maybe I really did die this time.

"Oh fuck." I was plummeting to the ground, my stomach was doing that flip-flop thing like on a rollercoaster when I hit something hard, but soft. No way in hell was it ground of any sort, especially not those glowing rocks. I was pushed off the landing pad and my eyes trailed up the golden, massive paw and followed it up to meet the head of a beautiful and deadly looking lion with a reddish, golden mane. He was like the god version of Mufasa if Mufasa was a supermodel lion. Did I summon myself into the lion realm or whatever it is called? Lions are my favorite animals besides snakes and to summon one would be so awesome, like I even formed my special jutsu I'm still working on after one. This is perfect if they want to be my summonings.

"What is a brat like you doing here? Speak before I eat you small one." His deep voice reverberated throughout the area. I got on my knees and bowed, wanting to show respect to the king of the animal kingdom.

"My name is Hinata Hyuga, I'm a ninja and I did the summoning jutsu without a contract and ended up here. I would like to prove myself as worthy and gain you as a summoning. I will do whatever it takes to please the lions if it means attaining you as a summoning Lion-sama."

"You look pitiful bowing like that,stand before me and let me see if you are worthy of summoning something as powerful as us Lions." I got off my knees and stared him in his beautiful blue eyes. His mouth was opened, showing his fangs that were bigger than my body, and his claws were out for show, shining in their deadliness. I didn't flinch away from his gaze once and he smiled at some point. It was not all friendly, it was to showcase his fangs even more, it was for intimidation. I still did not budge as his glowing blue eyes continued to bore into mine. He sucked in a deep breath and his eyes stopped glowing. "You truly don't look like much but I sense power from you. You have a light heart, but there is a new and intense darkness plaguing your mind. What makes you think you are worthy to summon me?"

"I have lived through utter hell, nothing you do will scare me off anymore. I am not a hero and am not innately good anymore and I may not be worthy but I want to prove myself to summon something as great as yourself." He opened his mouth and roared. It was loud- painstakingly so to the point my ears were ready to bleed- and the wind coming from his roar was so powerful I had to use a lot of chakra to keep my feet stuck to the gemstone beneath me so I was not blown away. My hands were covering my ears to help block the intense sounds of his roar and I crouched down as the strong tornado-like winds ripped around me. My chakra was wavering and my head was pounding from the roar and I slid back bit by bit as my chakra threatened to lose his hold. Tears ripped through my clothes and there were small painless lacerations on my arms from his wind and when I was finally about to lose my grip on the ground, he stopped.

"You are the first one not to be blown away and eaten little girl. I am impressed at your strength. Now answer me one final question. Why do you want a summon?

"To protect those I care for and to destroy those who threaten that." The gigantic beast smirked and his head dipped lower to mine, jaws open. I prepared to run, hopefully to not get eaten, but instead he licked me. His tongue was rough and left me slimy, but it was also nice and I giggled a bit for the first time. He was like a giant, super scary and intense pup.

"I like you, you're not a goody-goody pansy hero-type, you're willing to get dirty to succeed. Your reasoning is sound and you are an alpha at heart. On behalf of the all us at the Stonehenge of Raion, I Muramasa accept you as our summoning. Do not take this lightly, if you treat my children badly, I will eat you." A smaller lion walked up from over one of the giant glowing blue gemstones, this one was a normal sized female and had sleek black fur with a golden sheen. Her eyes were piercing blue as well and in her mouth she carried a scroll. She introduced herself as Kireina and I signed the contract of summoning the lions of the Stonehenge of Raion. (a/n Raion is lion in japanese so they live in the place of Stone lions basically) I was reverse summoned back to Tsunade's office and I'm positive if I wasn't so mentally fucked, Tsunade would have punched me to the moon for disappearing.

I arrived back in her office, Shizune and Tsunade were both freaking out- Shizune freaking out in a good way and Tsunade was threatening to pound me into the earth- when I poofed into existence, sprawled ungracefully on the floor. Shizune rushed over to me and helped me up, checking every part of my body to make sure I was fine. She started healing my small cuts whispering how much trouble I am in for stressing out Tsunade.

"You little brat! What the hell were you thinking, are you trying to kill yourself? I know things are hard for you right now and I can't begin to understand it but I already have Naruto going off pulling crazy stunts, I don't need you doing it too. You Idiot, I can't bare to lose you again." I blushed in embarrassment at making her so stressed out, she's always so tough so sometimes I forget how she has her own inner demons. Shizune released me after a flick to the forehead sending me into the wall, Tsunade pulled me into a hug. I tensed at first but reminded myself to relax.

"Guess what! I got a summoning contract!" Shizune gasped.

"Hinata-san are you serious?" She questioned. Tsunade just smirked at me, knowing the only reason I'm not dead is that I earned a contract.

"Yeah, it's a lion summoning, I didn't know that it existed but it does. The one I met was named Muramasa and he's a giant wind user with a loud ass roar. He kept threatening to eat me too. It was awesome! Oh shit, it's so late. I need to go find Naru, we're having dinner together. I can't wait to show him my summon, he's gonna be so jealoussss." I opened the window and jumped out Kakashi-style running across the rooftops to make it to Ichiraku's.

Naruto's blonde hair was bright against the warm glow of the setting sun, he looked at me as I jumped down beside him.

"Hina-chan you're late!" I had no time to react before he grabbed my hand and pulled me onto a stool. He ordered the Barbecue pork ramen and I had spicy miso. By the time I finished 2, Naruto had finished 9. "So Hina-chan, I'm learning this super awesome jutsu today with Pervy Sage. I'm gonna show Teme and blow him outta the water with it dattebayo!" Naruto continued on to excitedly tell me about the start of learning a jutsu where the first step involves designing his own seal and being able to create it with his chakra alone. Every other sentence he would include something about being able to finally destroy Sasuke and catch up to me. The smile on my face was more genuine that it had been in a long time, the brightness of Naruto was infectious and being around him was finally bringing me peace of mind. I was able to push aside the darkness momentarily as we were together. He really is the sun in a world of darkness. I also told him about my new summon while not so subtly bragging about the awesomeness if it.

"WHAT No way! That is so much cooler than most of my toads dattebayo! Ah man, why do I have to be the loser with stupid little toads." I giggled at his ranting but he got over it quickly and perked back up, putting me on his back and wrapping my legs around his waist as he ran up the Hokage mountain saying something along the lines "A real man doesn't let a lady run after dinner" which sounded like something Jiraiya taught him. We made it to the top and sitting on the top of the second's head were Kiba and Akamaru. Naruto disappeared saying he'd walk me home later and I was left alone with Kiba. He hadn't spoken to me since I got home and the air was tense. Kiba had his fists clenched and didn't even look in my direction. Akamaru nudged him before running and jumping into my arms, his body bigger than the last time I'd held him so I stumbled and let out an "oof."

I walked over and sat on Hashirama's head in silence. My mind was reeling in the darkness as I watched the sun set over the horizon. Akamaru stayed beside me, cuddling into my side and licking my hand for reassurance every few minutes. Kiba spared a few glances every once and awhile but the only sounds he made were a few low growls. I got fed up, being in silence brought me to a bad place and I needed it to be over. As fast as I could, I jumped and tackled Kiba, he reacted instantly and gripped my wrists as we rolled around throwing half hearted brawler style attacks at one another. Akamaru jumped in and with the sudden weight on me, I got distracted and Kiba pinned my arms, breathing heavily.

His coat was unzipped and messily hanging off his body, there were red marks from my weak hits and his hair was messier than normal. His presence always managed to rile me up and vice versa. We fought all the time, it has been that way since the day we met and I kicked his ass. If anyone had been considered my obvious rival it would be Kiba. I'd always wanted to match up with Itachi but that was different, Kiba and I were rivals through and through. We were best friends through our fists and arguments and I'd have it no other way. This was the first time in a long time that we had fought, no jutsu no ninja skills, just pure wrestling and I loved it.

I began to laugh under him and my eyes stopped and widened at his neck. Where his coat was usually covering there was the green mark of a bruise that was on its last stages if healing. It wasn't an ordinary bruise though, I'd lived long enough to know exactly what a hickey was and this was definitely it. There was only one person I could imagine Kiba getting a hickey from and I lost it and laughed until I was wheezing.

"What the hell are you laughing at. Damn it Hinata this isn't a time to be laughing."

"S-sorry -haha-, Shino gave you a -haha- a hickey!" Kiba's face flushed as red as the markings on his cheeks but he did nothing to deny it. After a bit I'd managed to stop my laughing and Kiba let me up. We'd sat side by side, Akamaru laying across out laps.

"I'm sorry. Damn it I'm so sorry Hinata. I'm a coward, I abandoned you and I can't shake the feeling that if I hadn't, if I fought with a level head you wouldn't have been hurt, you wouldn't have been broken and changed. I can smell it on you, Akamaru can too. The change inside of you, there is such a strong darkness within you that wasn't there before and I can't do anything about it."

"You already did. You being here, fighting me like we always did, you being you is enough to keep me sane and happy. None of it's your fault, it just showed me I need to be stronger and to do that I have to be willing to embrace the darkness. I'm not a hero, I never was. I was pretending and I finally realized that. To take out someone like Orochimaru, to finally be able to achieve my dreams I can no longer play the hero, I have to do whatever it takes even if it is in the darkness. The light in me was changed, coated in blood but now I have something stronger. Understanding." Kiba looked at me like I was crazy but said nothing about it, instead changing the subject to complain about how cool Shino is and how he never knows what he's thinking.

Kiba left late in the night and Naruto reappeared making me think he might have been listening. The look on Naruto's usually expressive face was unreadable but when his eyes re-focused onto me, he had a small smile. He reached out his hand using the other to rub the back of his neck sheepishly. I took his warm hand and he walked me back home, telling me stories about more of what he and Sasuke did when I was out.

"Hina-chan don't worry about anything anymore ok. I promise to always protect you from now on dattebayo. I never go back on my word, thats my ninja way." I kissed his cheek and walked inside able to hear him shout "YES SHE KISSED MY CHEEK DATTEBAYO!"

Dear Hinata-chan,

I am sorry I was not there for you and cannot be there when you wake up. I have failed in my duty to protect you but I promise to make it up to you someday. I think I finally understand more of what you were talking about with love, you are one of my loved ones. I realized this when Naruto-kun sent me the letter of your kidnapping. I was angry and what Temari described as worry for you. I am pleased to know you are alive and when you wake up please write me back so I do not have to worry for you anymore. The rose I left is infused with my chakra and will not break unless something happens to me, it also allows me to track it if we ever need to find you again. I was named Kazekage last week, my people were very accepting and there are few who are afraid of me still. I finally gained their respect and trust and that is once again thanks to you. Do not let this keep you down, you are strong Hinata-chan so keep fighting, don't lose what makes you, you.

Love,

Gaara.