Venatori
Summary: Kankuro was a few minutes too late, and Kiba died. Now, Shino and Hinata work to ensure that no more traitors get away alive. Divergence from chapter 212.
The Laughing Phoenix does not own Naruto and makes no profit from this work, other than her sense of accomplishment.
WARNING: Massive spoilers in future chapters. Character death. Blood, gore, and questionable use of medical knowledge and techniques. Some OOC-ness. Language.
Drawing and Entering
Two days after receiving their codenames and masks, Shino and Hinata came to an agreement on the most difficult part of being hunter-nin yet: remembering what names to use. They had new names now, new identities that they had to protect, and the sooner they got accustomed to them the better. That didn't make it easier – Hinata periodically slipped, saying "Sh-Kuroi," getting more and more frustrated with herself each time. In a fit of pure contrariness, Shino spent twelve hours refusing to use names at all, taking advantage of the fact that the two were alone to simply speak without them.
Hinata would have been more irritated about this, except that when Shino started using identifiers again he consistently used 'Shiroi' for her, even if he did pause before he spoke occasionally in a way that meant he was reviewing his choice of name before he spoke.
The problem of naming conventions was further complicated by the fact that both Hinata and Shino were more than a little nervous about their mission. They were after a former Konoha-nin who'd defected to Oto as a genin, with orders to terminate him and 'disappear' the body. While they'd taken similar missions before, there was an unspoken agreement that this one mattered more, that it would spell the success or failure of their careers as hunter-nin.
With that in mind, the first order of business was locating their target. Prior intelligence had their mark running missions along the southern edge of the territory claimed by Oto, frequently as part of a small squad. The squad was part of a small rotation that policed the border, interacting with travelers on a regular basis. Winter was grudgingly loosening its hold on the region, which meant that the first civilian trading caravans were moving, carrying furs and textiles and the winter crops, such as wheat and root vegetables. As a result, the small country taverns and inns were beginning to see more strangers – Hinata and Shino could easily investigate without standing out.
Thus, their first destination was a town a day's walk inside the border of Hi no Kuni. Sealing their masks into the inside of the strap holding their packs shut, they changed into nondescript civilian clothing and disguised their more distinctive attributes, namely Hinata's eyes, before entering on foot. Entering the nearest public house, they purchased a cheap meal and settled in an out of the way corner, surreptitiously using chakra to boost their hearing. Drawing out their meal as long as feasible, they listened in on as many conversations as they could, but without success. No mention was made of anything that might be shinobi activity.
Leaving the relative warmth of the building behind, they split up. Hinata went for the small market for another round of eavesdropping while Shino loitered along the town walls, scrutinizing the caravan traffic. As the afternoon began to edge on to the evening, they slipped into a wayfarer's inn just inside the gate, comparing notes as they listened to the activity around them.
Early in the morning two days later, they left the town, slipping back into their hunter-nin uniforms once they were a few miles away, then moving for the border, following the trail they'd assembled from dropped scraps of information. Another day of lurking around a trading post and they had a rough idea of where their target might be found.
Two more weeks of tracking followed, Kuroi and Shiroi using every trick they'd learned over the long months spent under Jakkaru's guidance to pick up and follow the Oto patrols' trails. Accustomed as they were to Konoha's more laid-back shinobi, watching the Oto nin was mildly disorientating – none of them trusted the others much, and plenty of sniping, both verbal and physical, went on between putative teammates. Before too long their target wandered away from the group long enough for Kuroi and Shiroi to take him down quickly and quietly.
Unrolling a scroll with a mostly complete seal, Kuroi made some rapid additions to the matrix, then sealed the corpse. As he did so, Shiroi moved about the killing zone, making sure all traces of their presence and attack were erased.
Less than ten minutes after they appeared from the trees, converging on their mark, there was no sign anybody had been there. An hour later and ten miles away, Kuroi and Shiroi put the finishing touches to the corpse – strategic holes slit to allow scavengers easy access, the body was dropped into a slight ravine, and insects and carrion birds summoned. A hand had been carefully removed so as to make it look like the work of beasts and re-sealed as evidence. Tucking the scroll away, Kuroi cocked a head at his partner. A nod, and they were on the move again, making for Hi no Kuni's borders and Konoha.
When they reported back in at the hunter-nin offices, the Inu were greeted by Jakkaru's delighted laugh and Ryouken's calm approbation. With them came specs for two upcoming missions: another in Oto territory for the two of them later that month, and one along the border with Tsuchi no Kuni as backup for Saru in six weeks.
The next two months went smoothly, both in the masks and out – their second mission in Oto, removing a retired shinobi-turned-innkeeper who'd sold out his teammates, proved to be as straightforward as their first. As Shiori commented to her partner, Oto-nin's suspicious natures worked against them as often as not, as few of them trusted anybody else to watch their backs. The mission along Iwa was even easier, as Saru only needed backup to support his alibi and keep his cover as an elderly cloth merchant intact, leaving them playing civilians.
Back in Konoha, the pair took mostly in-village or daylong missions, spending their spare time either working with their various mentors or visiting the Inuzuka and Aburame clans. There was a week where Kurenai and Anko appropriated them both for dance lessons, everything from formal court dances to street performer's routines.
"Well done Shino!" Kurenai called to her student from her perch on a stump. The Aburame had just completed a rather tricky and athletic routine involving rhythmic clapping, stomping, leaps and a couple of backflips.
"Now, ya gotta remember," Anko said, throwing a water bottle to Shino at speed, "the balance on this one's a tricky thing. Too unstable, you'll go sprawlin' – not that that can't be useful sometimes. Too good, and you'll be picked out as shinobi." She grinned at Shino's look of polite incredulity. "Go take a seat and think about that some. Hina-chan, you're up!"
Hinata took her place, then began a ribbon dance under their sensei's watchful eye. The girl's memory for patterns was particularly good and her balance excellent, a circumstance her teachers intended to take full advantage of. When she'd completed the routine once, Kurenai hopped down from her perch and joined her, walking her through the process of weaving a mild genjutsu into her motions. When she mastered the technique, Hinata would be able to hypnotize her audience, luring them into a stupor or even sleep – giving her an invaluable opportunity to do a little snooping.
Tsume, hearing about the dance lessons from Hiroto, had the two come by for a crash course on hand drums and simple flutes, courtesy of some of the older Inuzuka. Both had been subjected to lessons on traditional instruments as children and picked up the new instruments fairly quickly. One afternoon, after classes had let out for the day, Hinata looked up from her conversation with Hana to see Shino deep in conversation with some of the clan youngsters. Giggling broke out as the group dispersed, Shino reaching for his flute.
At the first notes, puppies and children alike began scrambling in a game of tag. Shino stopped mid-phrase, and the players froze, with the exception of a little girl who'd been mid-leap and landed with an "oomph". Giggles and calls of "Atsuko's it, Atsuko's it!" broke out and when Shino resumed playing the children took off again, Atsuko chasing the others around. A few more rounds later, Hinata found herself being tagged by a grey puppy, and, laughing, joined the game.
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Hanabi wiped the sweat from her brow as she trotted through the halls of the Hyuuga compound, headed for her room. She'd been practicing her water-walking when a passing clan elder decided to 'assist' in her training by disturbing the water, which made balancing all the more difficult. Her father's study door opened ahead and she immediately slowed to a walk. Hyuuga, she'd been told more than once, do not run in the house.
"Hanabi, have you seen your sister?" her father asked.
"No Father. I think she's still on her mission."
"Hm. Get cleaned up and come join me, I wish to introduce you to the clan accounts."
"Yes Father."
Hiashi sighed as his youngest hurried off to her room. Hanabi needed to learn the art of moving quickly and efficiently without hurrying, but time would teach her that. Stepping back into his office, he reached for a ledger. He would have preferred to start Hanabi off with the household accounts, which were simpler, but as Hinata was not present to guide her sister through them the clan investments would have to do.
Tapping his fingers on the leather binding, he considered the question of his eldest. The elders were beginning to make noises about her future – the seal was no longer being thrown around after the response he'd given the last time it was suggested, but some were of the opinion that Hinata would best serve the clan in a good marriage. Who exactly her putative spouse should be was a matter of debate, and one Hiashi was content to encourage as the longer it took them to agree, the longer Hinata had to consolidate her own position.
The troubling thing about it was that he was no longer sure what her position was. Oh, Hinata was ever the dutiful child and heir, and he knew she'd do what she saw as best for the clan…but he didn't know what she defined as 'best for the clan' anymore. Her gentle nature and habit of being kind to everybody made Hiashi certain that she wished to unite the clan. Beyond that, well, the girl spent more time outside the clan than in it, and it seemed like half her time was spent beyond the village walls. Perhaps she was building up relationships outside the clan? Alliances and such? Not a bad plan as such things went, though it would send the elders into fits.
Making a mental note to arrange regular meetings with Hinata when he saw her next, Hiashi reached for a pile of scrap paper for Hanabi to work on. Regardless of what Hinata was up to, and the elders' opinions on the matter, his eldest had duties to her clan. She simply needed to be reminded of them.
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Another month after the mission to Iwa found Shino and Hinata wandering the streets of Konoha with Kurenai, heading to meet up with Hana at the vet clinic before going for lunch. Kurenai smiled at the backs of her student's dark heads, bent close as they debated a minor point of a novel. Every day it became easier to see the forms of the adults they were becoming, and while Kiba had left marks on them all (his loss would ever be one of her biggest regrets) she couldn't be prouder.
Hana was waiting for them when they arrived at the clinic, and before long they were seated in a small restaurant a few blocks down, bowls of noodles ordered. The conversation was light – both Shino and Hinata tried to talk Hana into reading the novel they'd been discussing earlier, Kurenai was briefly teased about her 'nameless boyfriend', and Hana gleefully shared small bits of gossip from the clinic. After lunch the group repaired to the training grounds for some genjutsu work, Hana having agreed to play test dummy.
When Hinata entered the Hyuuga compound late that afternoon, it was in a good mood. The conviviality of lunch had carried over into their practice, which had gone particularly well. A soft cough and a "Might I walk with you, Hinata-sama?" brought her back down to earth.
"O-of course, Isamu-san," Hinata obediently slowed her pace for the man, shuffling along on his cane. "H-how are you today?"
"Quite well, Hinata-sama, quite well." They walked for a few more minutes in silence before he spoke again. "It is good to see you at home, Hinata-sama. Your frequent absences have been a matter of concern."
"I've been o-on missions, Isamu-san," Hinata said quickly. "Shino-kun a-and I prefer to stay busy."
"And you are to be commended, of course," Isamu began, then paused. "There are those of us who are merely concerned that you might be expending your energies…ah…inefficiently."
Hinata very determinedly did not clench her fist or drop her eyes, although it was close. "Inefficiently, Isamu-san?"
"Hinata-sama must of course fulfill her duties as a shinobi, but your duties to the clan must be given more priority." He smiled slightly. "You are very conscientious, Hinata-sama, so you will surely understand."
Despite her best efforts, Hinata flushed a little at the implied insult. "Gomen, Isamu-san, but there are some instances in which my duties to the clan are superseded."
"The recent increase in missions, I presume?" Isamu raised an eyebrow. "Could you perhaps tell me more about them?"
"No, Isamu-san, I cannot."
Isamu didn't press farther, bowing briefly and turning down another hallway.
The next evening, Hiashi summoned his eldest daughter to his office. Hinata's behavior had begun to concern other members of the main house, and he needed to sort this out soon, before it escalated. "Hinata, there are concerns that you are neglecting your duties to your clan."
His daughter's spine stiffened. "I apologize if I have given that impression, Father, but I do not understand."
"You spend the majority of your time outside the compound and take on more long-term missions than is customary for a shinobi of your age and skill level. Tell me, what is so important about these missions?"
"Gomen, Father, but I cannot say."
Hiashi paused, parsing that. "Are you saying that you have no explanation to give?"
"No Father, but I cannot discuss my missions."
Once again, his daughter delivered the unexpected. "Hinata, you are underage, and as your father and clan head it is my job to know what duties you undertake for the village. You will explain yourself."
After a pause, Hinata spoke. "Gomen Father, but I cannot say. My orders are explicit on the matter."
"Then who can give me an explanation?" Hiashi demanded, irritated. "Your sensei, Yuuhi? The Hokage?"
"Hokage-sama could explain it, yes."
"Hinata, I fail to see why explaining your neglect of your duties to your clan should fall on the Hokage."
"Gomen, Father, but I cannot say." Frustrated by the direction the conversation had taken, Hiashi brusquely dismissed his daughter. If it took speaking with Tsunade to determine the problem of his eldest, then he would have to arrange a meeting with her later.
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A week and a half later, during their last meeting before they all left the village for missions, Kurenai noticed that Hinata's mind was elsewhere. After the second near miss by a kunai, she called a halt to the training exercise and shooed Shino away, asking for the chance to talk to Hinata alone first. With a little prodding, she got the whole story: the nosy questions from her clan that she could not answer, the order from her father she'd had to refuse, the pressure to be the obedient Hyuuga daughter when she was settling into a new role as Inu-Shiroi.
"Well, it sounds like you have quite a lot on your plate," Kurenai mused. At Hinata's embarrassed flush, she went on. "That's not a bad thing, Hinata. You've come a very long way from when we first met, and I could not be prouder of you. Now," she wrapped an arm over the girl's shoulders and pulled her close. "What should we do to help you feel less stressed?"
"I-I can't tell my clan about what I'm doing." Hinata murmured. "I asked H-Hokage-sama to speak with Father about it, and they have a meeting scheduled for the day after Shino-kun and I get back from our next mission."
"So it sounds like most of the stress is coming from your family." When Hinata nodded, Kurenai continued. "Well, does spending time out of the compound help? With Shino and I or the Inuzuka?"
Hinata nodded, then shook her head. "Th-the more time I spend away from the compound the more questions I am asked when I go back."
"Hmmm. Well, would you like to spend the night at my apartment every so often? Shibi-san or Tsume-san would offer you a room if you wanted to stay a few nights." Hinata's reply was muffled, but Kurenai heard enough to essay another question. "Hinata, are you still considering moving out?"
Hinata's shoulders hunched. "I – yes? Maybe? I don't know."
Kurenai rubbed her back soothingly. "That's alright, you don't have to make any decisions yet. Just think over your options and we can talk about it again whenever you like, okay?"
Hinata nodded, and Kurenai closed the topic. But while Shiroi and Kuroi were out of the village, chasing down a lead on a spy, the question rolled around in the back of Hinata's mind.
Kurenai beat them back, and spent an extra hour after her post-mission debrief speaking with Anko and the Hokage. "I worry about Hinata," she said, hands folded in front of her. "Her relationship with her clan is tense, and the stress is affecting her in training." In broad strokes, she laid out what she knew of the most recent developments, stressing the perpetual put-downs and dictatorial orders as a recurring theme of Hinata's interactions with her extended family. "The most recent demands for her to divulge her missions in particular worry me," Kurenai finished. "Hinata will never betray confidential information, but that will not stop her father from asking."
"Hinata is a chuunin, Kurenai," Tsunade pointed out.
"I know she's no longer my student. If she were I could tell Hiashi to keep his nose out of her business and he'd have to at least pretend to listen to me."
Anko stifled a giggle, before offering her own opinion. "At th' moment, Hinata's not a risk – she's in no danger of crackin' up or goin' on a rampage. That bein' said, she's young enough for her to develop some dissociations in her head between her mask-self an' her normal life, an' that's somethin' we'll need to watch for. On a personal note, I'm with Kurenai – Hinata'd be better off out of that house."
"Hmmm." Tsunade folded her hands in front of her mouth, elbows resting on her desk. "Anko, I want you to keep a close eye on Hinata. If this goes critical I expect you to alert myself, Ryouken or Ibiki, but you're in an excellent position to intervene. Kurenai, your job is to keep your ear to the ground for vacancies close to either yourself, the Aburame clan, or the Inuzuka. You don't have to actively search them out, but it may be necessary for Hinata to relocate in a hurry."
Both the women blinked, a little surprised by their Hokage's brusque tone, but nodded. "Hai, Hokage-sama."
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When Shiroi returned to Konoha, it was to find Hinata beset from all sides. The elders had apparently been leaning on her father while she'd been away, and almost before she could put down her pack and change out of her traveling clothes she was summoned to Hiashi's office. Obedient to her secrecy oaths, Hinata told him nothing despite over an hour of questioning and lectures. Finally, Hiashi sent her to her room.
Glad of the chance to retreat and rest after a demanding mission, Hinata did as she was told, but was intercepted twice en route to her room by Isamu and Akira, both of whom wanted to know why she was 'neglecting her duties to the clan'. Isamu's tone was chiding, Akira's almost accusatory, and Hinata wanted to…she didn't know what she wanted to do. The Hinata she'd been all her life wanted to huddle into her coat, to disappear, but the Hinata who'd been building a career as Inu-Shiroi, hunter-nin, wanted to argue. Wanted to reprimand the two men, using language inappropriate to a young lady. Wanted to storm out of the compound, as if to prove they didn't own her.
In the end, exhaustion won out and she simply waited until they'd said their piece, then bowed silently and went to bed.
Early the next morning, she slipped out of the house and to the cemetery, forgoing breakfast. Kiba's tombstone shimmered a little under the morning dew, and Hinata felt the weight on her shoulders loosening as she knelt in front of it, whispering prayers. Taking one last look around to make sure she was alone, she quietly told her teammate everything.
"I-I like b-being a hunter-nin, Kiba. Not, not the end of the m-missions, but the early part, where we try to find our target. We're traveling so much and seeing so many things, it's amazing. A-and we always have to think, to be smarter than the person we're chasing, it's a little bit exciting."
"Only… only lately I've not wanted to go back to the compound. The elders keep asking why I'm away so much and the branch house looks at me like I'm a curiosity when they think I don't notice. I don't like it, I'm not, I'm not…I'm just me, Kiba-kun, why are they all having such trouble with that?"
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Tsunade leaned back in her chair as Hiashi swept from her office, folding her hands in front of her mouth. The conversation could admittedly have gone better, she supposed, but under the circumstances the result was likely as good as she was going to get. At least until Hiashi calmed down and began to think.
When she'd told him exactly how Hinata had been spending the past few months, Hiashi had been stunned for all of three minutes before he went stone-cold and absolutely furious. In a strange way, that heartened Tsunade – if Hiashi cared as little for his daughter as his prior actions seemed to suggest, he'd have been indifferent to how Konoha employed her. His reaction had instead been one of concern, even if it was couched in terms of respect and honor and duty and all the other nonsense the nobility trafficked in. Eventually Tsunade had been able to get a word in edgewise, and she took full advantage of the opportunity to shut Hiashi down completely. If he wanted to actually discuss anything of importance, then fine, but if all he was going to do was repeat himself to no useful end, then he could do so elsewhere. She had other meetings today.
Glancing over at the corner as the door thudded closed, she watched as Jakkaru uncurled from the shadow of a potted plant. "Thoughts?" she asked, idly.
"If possible, Hokage-sama, I would like to get the Inu out of Konoha for the next week or so." Jakkaru said, a frown audible. "If that is not possible, then I would recommend Hinata stay out of the Hyuuga compound as much as she can, so that the elders of her clan may have fewer chances to meddle."
Tsunade shook her head once. "Give it a week, Jakkaru, before you send the Inu out again. I don't think you'll have to tell Hinata to stay out of her clan elders' reach, but it should keep their tempers from spilling over if she's visible for the next few days." The hunter-nin bowed, and faded into the woodwork again.
For Hinata, the week that followed her father's 'discussion' with the Hokage was a highly uncomfortable affair. She supposed she should talk to him at some point, because now that he knew it wasn't as though she had to hide all the details, but it would be an incredibly awkward conversation. So she avoided it, and by extension her father, for as long as she could.
She couldn't evade it forever, though, and it was four days after Hiashi's conversation with Tsunade that Hinata was summoned into her father's office. Settling obediently across the desk from her father, Hinata waited, borrowing from her masked habits a little for patience and calm. It was Hiashi who broke the silence. "The Hokage informs me that you have been recruited into ANBU."
"Yes, Father."
"She further informs me that in the three months you have been working as a hunter-nin you and your partner have been remarkably successful."
"I believe so, Father."
Another long moment of silence followed. Hinata watched her father, wondering if, for the first time, she was seeing him struggle to find anything to say. When Hiashi spoke again, his voice was clipped. "You have gone behind my back to pursue this…career, neglected your duties to your clan, and engaged in behaviors unbefitting of a daughter of this family."
Hinata felt the old impulse to fold in on herself, and retaliated by straightening her back. "I have done what I felt best for my village, Father."
"You are underage, and are in no position to decide what is right for the village," Hiashi told her coolly. "As it stands I cannot withdraw you from the ANBU, but I can and will insist that you remain as a reserve until such time as you come of age. Then, you may go on missions as you please."
"I'm sorry, Father, but I cannot do that. The hunter-nin are too few."
"I am your father and the head of your clan, Hinata, and in this matter I will be obeyed."
Hinata bowed stiffly. "Then perhaps it would be best if I were to withdraw from the day to day dealings of the clan rather than disgrace it further, Hiashi-sama." Without waiting to be dismissed, she left the room. Had she looked back, she would have seen the expression of stunned disbelief on her father's face, as though he had been struck.
The next day, Hinata sought out her sensei. "I d-don't think I c-can remain there much l-longer," she told the older woman. "I-I said things…F-Father will be s-so angry."
Kurenai listened and did not judge. When Hinata and Shino were safely out of the village a week later on an escort mission to Suna, she had a brief discussion with Anko before making a visit to the Hokage.
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Shino and Hinata had barely been back in the village for half an hour, oddly relaxed by the mission to Suna and brief visit with Temari, when they were ambushed by their sensei and senpai.
"There you are!" Anko crowed, dropping from a tree and slinging her arms over their shoulders. "Nai-chaaaan, I found 'em!"
"Hello senpai," Shino said dryly.
"Shino, Hinata." Kurenai trotted up to them. "Good afternoon. Thank you Anko."
"Ehh, no problem." Anko grinned. "Tell them, Nai-chan!"
Kurenai favored her friend with a quick smile before turning to her erstwhile students. "Hinata, remember that conversation in which we discussed your moving out of the Hyuuga compound?" at her student's nod, she went on. "There is a vacancy coming up in my building, specifically on the floor below mine. It's a small two-bedroom apartment, but the location is good and the rent is reasonable." Kurenai did not mention that she had run the idea briefly by Tsunade, and that the Hokage was going to personally ensure that the rent remained reasonable. "Would you like to take a look?"
A/N
The title is taken from foxhunting terminology.
It'll be a bit interesting to see who shows up, given that this has been left alone so long. It's been over a year! The next chapter is mostly done and the 18th chapter is loosely framed, so hopefully I'll be posting quasi-regularly again before too long. Neji gets drugged stupid in the next chapter.
Next Chapter: Moving Day
