(A/N: Gomen nasai! I am not good with fight scenes… -.-' Hehehe. I was kinda hyper when I typed part of this chapter. You'll know where I'm talking about when you read… Anyway, I don't own Naruto. Please review? I don't care if it says finished, PLEASE REVIEW AND MAKE AN AUTHORESS HAPPY?!)
Chapter 17: Alternate Ending!
Kabuto watched as she took three of her kunai and tossed them to the side. She struck three of his men, instantly killing them when their tips embedded themselves into their foreheads and chests with the help of her chakra.
Following her lead, Sasuke and Suigetsu ran after the three remaining ninja, effectively killing them after expending much effort.
Kabuto watched Hinata with interest as she ran at him with a simple kunai after killing three of his men. When she was close enough, he jumped out of the way, successfully avoiding her kunai, but getting slashed unexpectedly by the chakra she had pushed into the blade.
She landed a few feet from where he stood, brandishing her kunai near her face. Keeping her eyes on the opponent at hand, she spoke. "Sasuke-san, Suigetsu-nii, go back to Konoha. This fight is between Kabuto and me. There is no hope for all three of us to survive. If you two return, at least I know you'll make it. Don't wait on me, or expect me to come back. Go. Now!"
"Iie. I will stay here to fight with you! There will be a higher chance of survival with all three of us fighting together. There is no way I am leaving you here Nee-chan."
"I agree with Suigetsu. We will stay and help you fight. Think of what Hikari would say if we left you and you died. She would hate us."
Hinata sighed and watched Kabuto carefully as he stood across from her, gazing at them with a bemused expression. "Stay if you must but keep out of my way. I want to kill this man. He is the one who murdered Itachi-koi." She growled, pushing back her feelings of loss and anger, trying to keep her head clear to fight the villain.
"Oh, don't blame me for the loss of your lover. It is your fault for not trying hard enough to save him. I was only following orders." The look of pleasure that passed across Kabuto's face when Hinata's eyes began to tear up disgusted the two other men in the clearing.
Upon glancing at one another, Sasuke nodded his head and spoke: "We will let you exact your revenge upon Kabuto, but we will intervene if we see that you could be killed."
"Fine. I guess that is the only way you will allow me to fight alone?" Hinata replied sarcastically, growling once again.
"Aa. We won't interfere otherwise." Suigetsu said, making sure that he conveyed his sincerity to her.
Wasting no more time, Hinata leapt forward, hoping to catch Kabuto off guard. She failed, for at the last moment, he bounded backward launching a kunai back at her.
She caught it, and tossed it aside. Hinata performed the hand signs for Mizu Bushin no jutsu. Her clone immediately appeared.
While Kabuto was searching for it so as not to be harmed by either one of them, Hinata pulled a small number of senbon from her weapons pouch, and threw them at Kabuto. While he was occupied with blocking them, her clone appeared above him, throwing more senbon, this time tipped with a deadly poison. The clone disappeared after its purpose was fulfilled. The poison was not as fast working as she would have liked, but it would suffice for this battle: the better to let him suffer before he died. She would much rather have that, than to have him die a painless death. She couldn't allow that to happen.
Smirking when he was scraped only in the slightest by one of the senbon thrown from above, she leapt toward Kabuto when his eyes closed slightly from a wince. He parried her assault, glaring daggers when she leered at him. "Those senbon were tipped with poison." She sneered.
Kabuto's eyes widened as he looked down at his faintly bleeding scrape. There was no jutsu he could perform to rid himself of the poison during battle. "Well, if I cannot save myself, I will take you down with me!" He shouted, propelling himself forward, drawing a katana from one of his downed men into hand.
Hinata leapt into to avoid his razor sharp katana only seconds before it sliced the air where she had previously stood. Upon searching out a matching sword of her own, Hinata swung with all her might, only managing to cut off a lock of Kabuto's hair.
He smirked slightly, disappearing before her eyes only to be replaced with a log. She scowled. How did I miss the hand signs for that!?
Gasping faintly, Hinata spun around, only to have Kabuto shove a kunai into her shoulder. Blood spattered both ninja's faces and bodies. Almost forced to her knees in pain, she held her hand to the wound and angrily yanked the kunai from her arm.
Kabuto laughed maniacally, in spite of the pain he was feeling. The poison was slowly shutting his system down and it was affecting his fighting. I need to end this soon, else I will die before I have a chance to bring her down with me.
Will this man ever die? Hinata thought as she panted. She heard his laughter and stood straight, knowing that he would be out of the picture soon. She stuck her katana into the ground and balanced on the handle while performing the hand signs to activate her Byakugan. I haven't used my Byakugan in battle since Neji-nii died, much less my Jyuuken. Let's hope I'm no worse than I was before. Lunging forward, she shot her chakra coated hands toward Kabuto's lungs.
Before Kabuto knew what had happened, he was lying on his back in the grass struggling to breathe. He opened his eyes to see a smirking Hinata standing over him. Slowly getting to his feet without letting his eyes leave her, he reached out and grasped the hilt of his katana.
Hinata believed he did not possess the strength to lift his heavy weapon, so when he took it from the ground and swung at her with faster speed than she assumed possible, she was unable to move from its path quickly enough to avoid it. A flash of dark colors blinded her for a moment, but when the blurry figure cleared, she saw that Sasuke had jumped in front of the sword. She gasped. "Sasuke-san!"
He laughed slightly, painfully. "You can't afford to loose anymore blood. Besides, if I just let you get hurt like that when I could have done something about it, I would feel as though I were useless."
A choking noise sounded from behind Sasuke. The katana fell from Kabuto's grip and slid from Sasuke's shoulder to the grass below him as the former leader fell face-first into the ground. Sasuke winced, feeling the sword slicing down his shoulder due to gravity.
"I've finally done it. He's finally dead. It took so long, and so much pain, but I finally did it. I can't believe he's dead. Honestly, I didn't think I would survive this." She turned her attention back to Sasuke and hugged him carefully.
He expected her hug in the same way he had expected her to hug him when she had woken up crying from her nightmare: He hadn't. She let him go, and Sasuke winced as she put pressure on his newly acquired wound, trying to staunch the flow of blood. "Domo arigatou, Sasuke-kun! You helped me finally achieve my purpose in life. Kabuto is dead! I finally avenged Itachi-koi." She removed her hand from his wound to find that it was bloodier than she had suspected it to be.
Gasping, she replaced her hand. Suigetsu watched as her hand began to glow blue with healing energy. Sasuke tensed as his damaged shoulder began to heal, feeling the strange sensation of the fibers of his skin knitting back together.
Slowly, Hinata withdrew her hand and began to heal her own injuries with the precious remains of her chakra.
"What now?" Suigetsu asked.
"Now, we return to Konoha and report to Naruto-san that the mission was a success. Then we go home and continue with our everyday lives. We will let the daimyo who rules over Otogakure settle their own affairs now that it is no longer a ninja village. If you want, you may come back to Konoha with us and live there, Suigetsu-nii."
"I would love to come back with you." Suigetsu gave her a side long glance, making sure she was okay.
"We need to get going before some villager from Oto comes to find out what all the noise was." Hinata said, making her way across the clearing after putting away her kunai, not bothering to conceal that a fight had occurred.
Sasuke and Suigetsu followed her, both catching one of her arms as she wavered on her feet, and leaving the bodies of seven Oto ninja behind as they made their way home. That night, as they made camp, the two men agreed that they would take the shifts and let Hinata sleep because of her exhaustion. Reluctantly, she agreed, and she and Sasuke went to their tents to sleep, leaving Suigetsu to take first watch.
"Itachi-koi? Is that you?" Asked the girl, looking into the red eyes of the man before her.
"Hai, Hina-hime. It is. You did not have to risk your life to avenge me. You knew that. And yet, still you did. Why?" His blood red Sharingan bore into her own, pure white Byakugan. There was little else that she could see.
"Because I love you. I expected that we would be an equal match and you and I could meet once again after the battle. I wanted to die, honorably, so that I could be with you again."
"Nii-san changed that, though, did he not? Now what are you going to do?"
"I don't know. I feel so…torn. I love you. I will always love you, but I think I'm falling in love with Sasuke-san. Itachi-koi, tell me what I should do!" She said as a tear escaped her eye.
"You know what you need to do. You have been trying to avoid it your whole life, though. You need to move on. Don't be miserable because I have died. Laugh, smile, and have a good time once more. Love like you did when I lived, and be happy, for me. Move on, Hina-hime, we will be together once more, but for now, love again. You and I both know that you need it to mend your heart." Itachi reached his arm forward and stroked her cheek, wiping the tears from her eyes.
"Arigatou, Itachi-koi. You always did know exactly what words I needed to hear. Ashiteru wa."
"Ashiteru wa, Hina-hime."
Her dream of Itachi suddenly ended when she awoke to two frantic voices. "Hinata-nee!" Suigetsu shouted, standing outside of her tent and looking as though he wanted to enter, but refraining from doing so.
Fully awake, she stood and rushed from the tent. "What's wrong, what's happening?" She asked quickly, activating her Byakugan to scan the area.
"We've been trying to wake you for the past five minutes. Usually, you wake up the first time someone calls your name. We were starting to think something happened to you."
"I'm fine, I was just sleeping deeply and dreaming well for the first time in twelve years." She replied, stretching.
"It's time for us to clean up camp and get back to the village. Our allotted time is almost up," Sasuke warned, knowing they had to keep moving, and figuring that she was still exhausted from her fight, and the two large healing jutsus she had performed the night before.
"Right." They cleaned camp and arrived back at Konoha shortly after noon. They transported straight to Hokage Tower to talk to Naruto as soon as they were in range.
When Hinata, Sasuke, and Suigetsu appeared in the middle of his office, Naruto jumped and sank into his battle stance. Upon seeing who it was, he started to greet them, but broke off when Suigetsu made his presence known. "Why is Suigetsu in my office?" He asked with a voice of cold steel.
"Relax, he is with us." Hinata spoke.
Naruto glanced at her, then did a double-take. "You are not wearing your mask!"
"Iie. My mission was completed successfully. Even the one that you assigned which neither one of us knew of. I thank you for that."
"How are you going to tell everyone else in the village that you have been living among them for the past years? How are you going to explain to Kiba, Shino, the Hyuugas, and, most importantly, Hikari?"
"I am simply going to tell them it was Hinata, not Snake, whom they respected for all these years in a formal speech sometime later. Right now, I have to go tell Hikari and Keigo who I am before anything. Then maybe I'll arrange the speech for later in the week."
"And explain to me why Suigetsu is here." He demanded, not willing to address the man himself.
"He is the one who has been feeding us information on Oto for the past years. He was our double agent who gave us the correct times that we needed to know for the attack. I offered him a place here, because I think he has proved that he is trustworthy and has shown his loyalty to Konoha. I have been meeting with him for years now."
"Very well, I trust your judgment, but the first time it seems as though he is a spy for someone else, he dies. You can stay in one of the apartments in the city if you want. Agreed, Suigetsu?"
"Hai. And I will take you up on that offer."
"Okay. You are all dismissed. Suigetsu, follow me and I will show you your new home; then, you can follow me to the Uchiha district to meet back up with Sn- ah, Hinata-chan."
Hinata and Sasuke made their way back to the Uchiha Mansion. Hinata took a deep breath as she opened the door after putting on her mask and prepared herself for the oncoming emotions she had avoided for such a long time. "We're home!"
Hikari came running down the hall with Keigo following closely behind. "Snake-sama! You're back!" Both children hugged the older woman. Upon realizing what she had done, Hikari promptly let go.
"Listen, Hikari-chan. I need to tell you something, hanii. Let's go sit down and talk." Sasuke led them down the hall and entered the first door they came to. Sasuke sat a chair that they had found in the room while the children sat on the floor in front of him.
When every one was seated and comfortable, Hinata stood before them. She lowered her head and removed her mask, revealing her identity to Hikari. The younger girl sat, quiet for a few moments. "Kaa-san?" She said quietly.
"Hai." Hinata matched her tone. She was surprised when Hikari threw herself at her and hugged her tightly.
"Why didn't you tell me? Why, Kaa-san?" She cried, feeling betrayed, but incredibly uplifted. She felt her mother's fingers running through her hair, comforting her, and recognized it as a gesture that Snake-sama had always used. She wondered how she had never wondered about the woman's identity before, but relished the feeling all the same.
"I couldn't, hanii. You were so young then, and I couldn't let you know because you might have told someone. I know you would never do it on purpose, but it might slip out. I am so sorry for everything that you've had to go through. I did it all for you, to make your life easier. I made sure that no one knew that I was the Hyuuga heiress so that you could live a happier life than I, so that you would be able to enjoy the freedom I was denied. I love you so much, Hikari." Hinata bent down and hugged her daughter back.
Sasuke watched the reunion, if you could call it that, of mother and daughter, slightly envious of their bond. No matter what Hinata put Hikari through, her daughter still accepted her apologies and forgave her. He had no idea where the jealousy came from, but he knew it was there. "What are you going to tell the rest of the village?"
"Naruto-san already knows, but I'm going to tell the rest of the village who I am and why I hid my identity in a speech later. I wanted you to know first, hanii."
Keigo was equally happy that she had survived, for she had been a nice girl when they had first met. Now, his adoptive mother was the same girl he had once known.
After two days of preparation, she wasn't sure she was ready, but Hinata was standing in front of the Village Hidden in the Leaves, about to reveal her identity.
Taking a deep breath, Hinata took courage from Hikari's reaction to her identity. Looking out at the mass of people who gathered, she wondered that people were so curious as to who she was. Then again, who wouldn't want to know who their fellow villager was? Glancing over the crowd once more, she spotted her sister, Hanabi, among them.
With a pang of guilt, she thought about the pain she had caused others, and her resolve to reveal her identity faltered slightly. She shook her head.
Taking one final steadying breath, she stepped out into the open, prepared to remove the mask she had hidden behind for so many years. As she looked at the villagers, she wondered how she could have been so heartless as to pretend to be dead. Could she not have just refused to live with the Hyuuga and not accept to be clan head to free both her daughter and herself from the restrictions of that life? She shook her head, knowing that the past was the past and nothing she could ever do would change that.
Slowly, she looked up, mask still upon her face, and spoke. "I have many regrets, and hiding my identity from you all the worst one I could harbour. I'm sorry for hiding myself from you all, but at the time, I felt it was necessary." Gradually, she lowered her hand and grasped her mask, taking the porcelain from her face.
Gasps rang from the audience as she looked back up. She caught many reactions from once-close friends and family alike. Hinata stood proudly before the audience, her resolve no longer faltering as she looked upon mixed anger, happiness, and undecided emotions.
As some members of the audience moved forward to speak to her, others remained frozen to the spot with shock, while still others moved to leave for their homes, their curiosity sated.
When all settled, Hinata looked upon the members of the congregation who were left behind. The surviving Konoha twelve, her daughter, Keigo, Naruto, and the Hyuugas were the only ones who stayed.
Kiba walked forward first. "Is that really you, Hinata-chan?" He raised a hand as if to touch her cheek, wondering if he was imagining things.
"Hai. It has been me the whole time. Listen, I'm sorry Kiba-kun. When I faked my death, I thought I was doing something right for a change. Under Father's roof, I could do nothing right. That was the whole reason he disowned me. I thought that if I could be rid of the Hyuuga, I might be able to raise Hikari the way I wanted and not have to worry about the approval of others. I thought I was doing what was right for her. I see now that it was a mistake. I can't believe I let everyone believe I was dead." For the first time in many years, Hinata cried publicly.
Shocked, Kiba stared at her for a long moment as he watched the forever-strong 'Snake' break down before him. Shino moved to his side and stood as a shadow. Silent, dark, imposing. "Did you really think it would be better to play dead when you could have disowned the Hyuuga instead of the other way around? Did you think that by acting dead you would accomplish anything but bringing others pain? All those times we went on missions to search for you… That last time when we met you… How could you not have told us?" He asked, asking the questions she had asked herself many times before in a pained voice.
Hinata looked down in shame, not bothering to come to her own defense because she believed she deserved everything that had happened to her.
"Do you think berating her on the choices she made in the past will do anything but push her further away from you? Do you think making her feel more pain than she already has will do anything? She had her reasons for doing everything. You feel betrayed. When you get over it, you will only feel guilty for voicing questions like that." A voice spoke out from behind Hinata. A hand placed on her shoulder and the familiar masculine voice made Hinata turn around.
Sasuke stood next to her with Suigetsu close behind. Sasuke wrapped his arm around her shoulder and rubbed her arm gently in a comforting manner.
Suigetsu had noticed them growing closer ever since Hinata had come to him after experiencing her nightmare once more. When Sasuke had saved Hinata's life during their fight with Kabuto, he had noticed that they had been even closer than before. Many times, he had contemplated the fact that they could be falling in love, but never had he seen any proof of that until now.
He watched as Sasuke reprimanded Shino for his words and knew his thoughts to be true.
After her former team left, Ino, Tenten, and Sakura, along with Shikamaru walked forward. They were ecstatic that she was alive, but sad that she had not trusted them with her secret as she had trusted Naruto and Sasuke. Hinata managed to refrain from saying that she hadn't trusted Sasuke with her secret, it had been given away, when Sasuke stiffened by her side.
As Ino, Shikamaru, Tenten, and Sakura left, part of her former clan walked forward with Hanabi at its head. "Onee-san! You're alive!" She cried and threw herself into her sister's arms.
Hinata was surprised by the warm welcome. "Imouto-chan. Hai, I'm alive."
Contrary to many people's belief, Hinata and her sister had been very close to each other. When Hinata had disappeared, Hanabi barely ate or slept. Upon realizing that would not please her sister had she still been alive, Hanabi immediately took up her position as Hyuuga leader when her age permitted it. It had taken her a while to fully get over the pain of her loss, but Hanabi finally accepted that her sister was dead.
Harbouring no anger toward her sister, when Hinata had revealed herself as Snake, Hanabi was ecstatic. "I missed you so much, Onee-san." Hanabi said quietly.
Hinata hugged Hanabi back tightly after her initial shock ended. "Sumimasen, Imouto-chan." She watched as her sister broke the embrace and stepped back to examine her.
Hanabi studied her carefully, then opened her mouth to speak. "Do you want to take your place as heiress, Onee-san?"
"Iie. I left for a reason. I don't want the title, nor the power. I wanted to protect Hikari from that, so I don't want to go back. I thank you though." Hinata watched as her sister's expression cleared and she bid Hanabi good bye.
"Sayonara, Onee-san." Hanabi said, waving back as she turned and led her clan to their home.
A few moments later, Naruto came up to Hinata. "Sasuke, did you know of the underlying mission I sent you and Hinata on?"
"There was another part to our mission?" He asked in reply.
"You did not tell him?" Naruto directed this question to Hinata.
"I saw no reason to. Before a week ago, I did not care. I do now and I thank you." She smiled gently, happily, and looked toward the arm Sasuke had draped over her shoulder.
He nodded and spoke again. "Nice to see it's mutual." He chuckled slightly as Hinata blushed for the first time in years and Sasuke looked confused.
"What? What was the underlying mission? Tell me." He demanded.
"I'll tell you when you're older." Naruto sighed dramatically, laughing as Sasuke scowled and Hinata giggled.
Sasuke glowered silently for a moment. "Wait a minute! I'm older than you are!" He exclaimed.
Both Hinata and Naruto burst out in uncontrollable laughter. By the time they stopped laughing, Naruto had tears running down his cheeks. Sasuke was still scowling when Hinata spoke up. "You have to figure it out on your own. Think deeply and you might figure it out." She laughed at his confused expression and turned to Naruto. "I think we should be getting home. Sasuke and I still have to unpack from our mission. At least I do anyway. I'm kind of a procrastinator." She smiled.
Naruto smiled back. "Alright. I have to go back to the Tower anyway."
He watched as Hinata and Sasuke walked away, his arm still draped over her shoulder. He smirked as he thought of their completed missions and wondered faintly what would happen to Hinata and Sasuke in the future.
(A/N: Ahahahahahahahahha! It is finished! I admit it is a weak ending, but I will do an epilogue if I can get 91 reviews in all on SL… I feel kind of sad now that it is over… I won't be updating anymore unless I get 91 reviews, and if I don't, then it's all over for this story. I'm glad to know the end, but I'm sad to know it ended…does that even make sense at all? Anyway…I is so tired right now I feel like I'm about to fall out of my chair unconscious. I just got home from church [I had fun by the way! Our youth band, Unashamed, is amazing!] and I just feel like jumping on my bed and sleeping. BUT I MUST UPDATE NOW! Anyway, review please? I'm gonna put this story on finished, but if I get enough reviews, I'll update again!)