Author: Silver Star Dragon
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
Pairings:
Main: Hinata/Gaara
Past: Hikaru/Hiashi, Mai/Mamoru
Secondary: Ino/Shino, Timoko/Genma
Rating: PG-13 (May go higher)
Timeline: Hinata is nearing her 19th birthday.
White Dove's Legacy
In the deep of the night, everyone in the Hyuga Clan was in bed. Everyone, but one. Hisa had gotten little sleep the night before and was not planning to get any sleep tonight as well. She wanted Hinata dead. Wanted the weak half-breed out of the gene pool. She had heard that the Kazekage Gaara was now involved and she knew that he would not let this go. If only those traps had worked! She had to end the attempts against Hinata because Hiashi was getting wise. She knew that if Hiashi ever found out about all the attempts, about the death already on her hands, she would be dead before anyone could save her.
And what of that damn Kuraku Clan? There were many rumors about that Clan. That they could use the darkness to teleport themselves or see things, or even talk to others-
Hisa gasped as the shadows began to move like some sort of large snake was slithering around. She actives her Byakugan but could find nothing.
Hisa... There was a soft voice in the darkness. Soft, silky, deadly. And yet... There was nothing there.
Hisa... There was nothing there!
HISA! She began to whimper.
"What do you want? Go away!"
Hisa we know! The DARKNESS knows! It was like the darkness was closing in on her, suffocating her.
Hisa's screams of terror awoke everyone. Guards burst in to her inner rooms, turning on lights. There was nothing there.
"They are after me! The Kuraku are attacking me!" She screamed at them. All she got was a blank stare. Hiashi came walking calmly into her quarters with Neji and Hanabi on his heels.
"Why would the Kuraku be after you Hisa?" Hiashi's voice was cold as ice.
"Because of your weak willed daughter. Oh we all know how much you wanted her to be strong. You beat her trying to make her stronger and when you couldn't you just gave her back to her mother's bastard Clan. You tainted the line. You wanted that bitch and when you got her, couldn't produce a strong heir! You gave that bastard Clan a piece of our guarded bloodline, pathetic though it was, unbranded." Hisa snarled, unaware it seemed of how cold the room had grown. Hiashi's eyes were growing harder and anyone that thought he was weak was wise to think about getting the hell out of that room. "You need to step down Hiashi. Give Hyuga a stronger lead-"
"SILENCE! You got what you wanted Hisa. Me in your bed and a daughter to make you lady of the Hyuga. Now as for the Kuraku, you forget that I was a teammate to the Kuraku, the Kuraku leader herself. I know that she doesn't waste her energies on nothing. So why would the Kuraku be after you?" He walked closer and she walked backwards to get away from him. "If they are after you, what do you know?" Hiashi fairly purred. Hisa said nothing just stood there trembling. Hiashi turned on his heel and left. Everyone followed him out. Hanabi looked over her shoulder at her mother's face before returning to her room.
Hisa remained frozen for only a few more seconds before turning on every light and lighting every candle she could find. There would be no darkness in her rooms ever again.
Hisa...
Across Konoha, a woman sat in a circle of candles watching from a patch of darkness as a white-eyed woman attempt to banish the darkness from every corner of her room and laughed softly. She really was only playing; trying to see if she could shake down the deceitful bitch.
"That was rather mean you know." The woman looked up to see a man standing just outside the light. There was enough light for her to see the light bounce off a metal senbon in his mouth.
"Genma! You shouldn't see me like this." Timoko waved her hand, sending the flames away into total darkness. Shouldn't see her half-decayed form that was quickly gaining its flesh.
"Why?" She could hear him coming closer.
"Because I'm a monster, Genma. I don't want you to come to harm from knowing me."
"Knowing you or loving you?"
"..."
"Are you afraid?"
"...yes"
"Of what?"
"Not of what, of whom. You. You have never accepted my attentions... how did you get in here?" In the dark Timoko's eyes narrowed at the senbon user who had stopped a hands breath's away from her. She could feel him grinning.
"Funny thing that. Your Dipper just said 'come on in kid. Wipe your feet.' Damn near got stood on by Mai telling me you were in your room and asked me to tell you that she would be out for awhile. I've been trying to get close to you ever since you were a Chunin." She could hear his voice become clearer, telling her that he had taken his senbon out. "As for your attentions... would you accept mine?"
She felt his lips on hers. Her mind shut down. It didn't restart for several hours.
Itachi Uchiha wondered if killing his Clan was starting to come back and haunt him. No, it had to be the amount of alcohol he had consumed with the help of Kisame, his partner. He had some weird hangover memories. So when he found himself in a darken room, sitting tied to his chair across from a decaying snake headed woman, he figured that this was another hangover from hell.
"This is not a dream." The decaying woman said calmly. She shifted to look at Kisame who was snoring on the bed. "Tell me he doesn't sound that loud all the time."
"Hn."
"I see that you're as talkative as you were when you were younger."
"Who are you?"
"I am Mai Kuraku." The alcohol must be doing a number on him because there was no way that a Kuraku would be speaking to him. They didn't have anything to do with him.
"How did you find me?" She looked down at her body which was continuing to decay.
"My bloodline trait. I just bounced around in the dark until I came across you and your partner drinking. I paid your bar bill, bought medicine for your hangover, and this room. You own me several thousand ryo. But I'm willing to forgive the debt for a bit of information."
"Oh? And what do you want to know?"
"I want to know what you learned about the death of Hikaru Hyuga." Itachi blinked his red eyes at her.
"That's it?" He narrowed his gaze. "That's all?" Drunk as he may have been he tried to summon up the energy to call on the Sharingan.
"Don't be thinking about turning on the Sharingan. Trust me; it won't work because I've broken Sharingan users before. It will only hurt you and annoy me and I just might break them down to nothing but a different eye color in my rage." She wagged her finger at him. "Now I am only here for myself. I am not here with the blessing of the Hokage. I've waited 15 years for answers as to why my sister is dead. You found something out. I know you did because they closed the case." She stood up and leaned into his face. "You will tell me."
"And if I don't?" Itachi sounded amused.
"I will toss you into the darkness during a teleport. You'll never find your way out. You'll never die always hunger and thirst."
"You will never get your information either."
"Wrong. I'll be able to find you. Besides what's the problem telling me? I'm not asking where your hideout is. I don't care about your organization. I want justice for my sister. What did you learn about Hikaru's death?"
"You won't get the justice you want."
"Are you really so sure? Oh I'll get justice. I may have to become a missing-nin, but who cares? My daughters are strong ANBU."
"If I remember, Tsunade blames your Clan for the death of her boyfriend so you're making an enemy of Konoha's princess."
"Too late. Tsunade is a drunk. At least we brought the body back so she had it. She left my father out there to rot."
"I am certain that she doesn't see it that way."
"Enough chit-chat. Answer the damn question."
"Hn."
"Itachi..." Mai warned him. He could see a slight glow in the eyes of the mask. Itachi knew when he was at a disadvantage. No amount of alcohol could change that knowledge.
"Very well. This is what I know..." Itachi told Mai everything that he remembered. Which was everything. At some point during the conversation, he noticed that Mai had stopped decaying.
"I see. I see, thank you." She dropped a purse on the table. He could hear the soft clacking of coins. "Here is something for your trouble. The bonds will disappear after I'm gone." The snake-masked woman said softly. She walked towards a shadow and disappeared in it. Several seconds later, Itachi felt his arms loosen up. The room was empty save for a confused and hung-over Sharingan user and a snoring fish/human.
5 days later
Hinata studied the woman standing across the training arena from her. Mizuki was wearing a confused expression on her face as Hinata failed to perform a Kuraku jutsu known as Dark Barrier. They had been trying all morning and were getting nowhere. Mizuki had never yelled at Hinata, never hit her, never did anything negative about Hinata's failure. Neither had any other sister over these past 5 days.
"I don't understand why it doesn't want to work." Mizuki grumbled to herself. "It always works." Mizuki was wearing her black and green jumper as she called it with full ninja boots that had a steel insert in the toe. Her black gloves went up under her arm guards and her hair was tied back in a severe braid. Her hitae-ate was tied on her upper right arm. She had dirt spots on her forehead.
"Maybe I can't." Hinata whispered fearfully. "Maybe my grandfather's blood..."
"No, that's not it." Mizuki said calmly. "The Kuraku gene can never been removed or diluted. Don't ask me about it, I never did pay much attention. I was usually running around getting into trouble."
"Were you in a lot of trouble?" Hinata wiped her forehead on the sleeve of her lavender and silver jumper. She was dressed much the same as Mizuki but her hitae-ate was tied around her waist.
"Oh you have no idea. You see I'm only a few months older than you. I do believe that the only person that has ever dragged me back was Itachi Uchiha, the other ANBU were too slow to catch me. Mother says I was always up to something." Mizuki smiled.
"You mean you knew Itachi Uchiha?"
"You're trying to get out of this jutsu. Not going to work." Mizuki said playfully. "Now let's get back to work." Hinata chuckled.
"Dragon, horse, dog, dragon. Those are the right hand signs right?"
"Yes." Mizuki watched Hinata perform the hand signs and everything.
"Dark Barrier." If it had been true to its form, the Dark Barrier would go up and be like an all against the nearest target. Mizuki should not be able to see Hinata. Yet there Hinata stood. Unguarded...
"Ohh hang on I figured out what's wrong." Mizuki chuckled. "Stupid me. I forgot that Dark Barrier means Dark Barrier. Here let me show you." Mizuki pulled a kunai out and threw it at Hinata. Immediately a barrier of darkness flung itself in front of Hinata.
"It worked..." Hinata said wonderingly. She could see a shadowy shield between her and Mizuki. "How come I can still see you?"
"The barrier on my end is dark. I can barely make out your form." Mizuki smiled as the barrier came down. "As well as a barrier to most attacks, it hides your next attack. Would you like to learn another?"
"Yes please!"
Before the two could start on another jutsu, Mitsuaki who had taken it upon herself to serve Hinata as her Lady-in-Waiting came to the edge of the training field. Mitsuaki was the daughter of a civilian Clan who had been abused. Her mother had asked the Third Hokage to place her daughter in a safe place. The Kuraku were considered safe and Mitsuaki found her place there.
"Lady Hinata, Lady Mizuki, Shibi and Shino are here along with Kiba and Akamaru. Also Ino Yamanka, Sakura Haruno... and Naruto Uzumaki." Mitsuaki held no dislike for Naruto, but she didn't like him either. And it wasn't the Nine-tailed Fox. Hinata turned white. Naruto had been her first crush but he could never look beyond Sakura who tried everything to get him to look at Hinata.
"Hinata? Are you alright? Do you want me to send away Naruto?" Mizuki asked her brows knitted together in thought.
"No...no, I can face him." Gaara...
"Very well. Why don't you get cleaned up?" Mizuki sniffed herself. "In fact, why don't we? I smell."
"Come Milady; let's get you into something comfortable." Mitsuaki led Hinata to her rooms. She helped Hinata out of her training clothes and into a warm bath. While Hinata cleaned up she picked a rose colored shirt with white capris. She aided Hinata into her clothes. She braided Hinata's hair, putting a flower at the end of the long tail. Hinata found the scent to be peaceful. Like a distant memory of kindness.
"What is this flower? I know it from somewhere."
"It was your mother's favorite. It's called Lily of the Valley." Hinata smiled at Mitsuaki. In these last five days she was learning so much about the mother she could never remember.
"Come on. Let's go meet my team and the others." Hinata said.
Hinata stared at her friends. Shino was standing close to Ino, Kiba and Akamaru were as far from Ino as possible, no doubt with a case of fleas. Sakura smiling at her with Naruto standing beside her. He had a grin on his face, but Hinata could almost sense something dark surrounding him and wasn't the Nine-tailed-Fox.
"Hey Hinata! I got Sasuke back! I brought him back!" Naruto exclaimed. He was jumping around and when he touched Hinata, the Dark Barrier slammed up and pushed Naruto away. He landed a few feet from her.
"Oh, Naruto... sorry I don't know why the Barrier-"
"It's okay" Naruto said rubbing the back of his head. "Hey at least you got a killer family huh? Out from under old man Hyuga. Now you don't have to be a ninja."
"Excuse me?" Yuzuki stood in the doorway. She looked angry. "Why does she not have to be a ninja?"
"Oh come on lady, everyone knows Hinata isn't a fighter. She's weak at jutsu, can't throw a punch-"
"If you'd like your tongue, stop wagging it." Shino said warningly. Naruto stopped talking, but he looked angry.
"Indeed, Naruto. The woman you speak of is my girlfriend." Gaara stood in the doorway with his siblings, both of them right behind him.
"Oh dear... I think everything just went to hell." Yuzuki muttered. Everyone figured out why quickly.
Gaara was pissed.