CHAPTER TWO

Missing

[Flashback]

Kiba yawned loudly, stretching his arms overhead. A large smile splashed across his bronzed face. "As soon as we get home, I'm visiting the village onsen. Are you two in?"

His feral slit pupils darted eagerly between his team members. Unkempt brown hair tangling in the chilly breeze. The sun was high in the sky, golden rays streaming down through the thick canopy, as if in celebration of their return after a tedious month-long mission.

Straight backed and immutable as ever, Shino replied, "I must see my father and tend to my Kikaichu. It has been a long trip. Perhaps another time."

Refusing to allow his spirits to dampen, the wild Inuzuka turned his attention to the Hyuuga kunoichi. "What about you, Hinata? Maybe we can eat some ramen after? I'll buy."

Hinata offered a bright smile at his offer. "I'd love to, Kiba, however I promised Hanabi we would visit Neji together as soon as I returned. She won't go to the graveyard without me."

Their expressions turned somber and the mood plunged.

"Ah," Kiba said quietly. "I understand. If you need me or want to join me for a meal later, send a message, okay? I'll always treat you to dinner."

Half hidden behind the tall collar of his long trench coat, Shino nodded in agreement.

"Thank you, Kiba."

Further conversation died in their throats as the mighty gates of Konoha were revealed.

Home.

Quickly exchanging greetings with the shinobi tending the guard station, they made their way through the busy streets and headed straight for the Hokage Tower to report in.

They were surprised to find the hall empty. The Hokage's office completely unguarded.

Moments before announcing their arrival, Kiba held a hand up, sensing something before the rest of his team. Holding a long finger to his lips, the trio followed his lead and stealthily approached the wall, and pressed their chakra laced ears against the barrier to the sounds of muffled voices.

"Nine days, Shikamaru! NINE. FUCKING. DAYS!" It was Naruto. His voice seething in frustration and anger. "Hiashi has been on my ass, and we have nothing except this."

The sound of rustling paper cut the air. Hinata assumed he was holding something up to show his trusted advisor and genius of their generation.

The shadow wielder responded in his detached objective sort of way. "It is something. The Kanedama gang are organized, powerful and connected. They do not commit crimes without reason. In the end they are businessmen. Have they made any demands on the Hyuuga?"

Naruto sounded defeated. "Not yet."

More silence preceded the blond Hokage's pained tone, his voice breaking. "What am I going to tell Hinata? She's supposed to arrive tomorrow with Team Eight and I- I can't tell her this! Not when I have nothing!"

The immediate response was cold. "Tell her nothing then. Team Three left yesterday to find Sasuke. The intel he's collected on the Kanedama over the past year will provide the foundation for our strategy. With him executing and leading, we will find the missing villagers and cripple one of the legs of the syndicate."

A beat passed as Naruto allowed the logic sink in. Only to turn around and toss it out the second story window. "But it's Hanabi."

Hinata stifled a gasp. Naruto was still speaking but she was no longer paying attention. Her mind reeled and retraced her memory. Trying to recall every detail of the conversation and how it all fit together.

Shino exchanged worried glances from behind his dark shades with Kiba before their focus rested on their only female teammate.

Anxiously, Hinata pressed her ear back to the wall, brows furrowed and heart racing. She needed to know more before she approached the two Leaf leaders.

Shikamaru was speaking. "…they are businessmen. As a Hyuuga, and more importantly the unmarked heir, she is too valuable. They will not kill her. They-"

The door blasted open with the force of Hinata's vacuum palm. She'd heard enough.

Hinata was angry, and she was never angry.

Everyone knew her as docile, nurturing, gentle. With eyes blazing and searing daggers into anyone who dared to meet her gaze, this was a side of her that surprised everyone- including herself. It was as if she'd been bottling up every wrong done to her, every source of pain, every rebellious thought she'd ever had and was ready to release it all in one glorious moment of destruction.

Shino and Kiba rushed into the small space behind her, not knowing what to do.

Naruto stared with eyes wide, blubbering, "Hi-Hinata?! What are you-?"

With a deceptively eerie calm, she recounted what she'd heard, "Nine days. My sister has been missing for nine days, and you didn't think to send a messenger bird to notify me?"

Her head tilted in questioning accusation.

"Hinata, I was going to tell you when you returned."

"Lies," she stopped him in his tracks.

Naruto shut his eyes briefly, realizing she'd overhead everything. He had not expected her fury to be this unrestrained. He decided to backtrack, "I was going to tell you, as soon as Sasuke returned and we had more intel to give you."

"What have you been doing for the past week? Where was my sister?" She prodded harshly.

"She was leading a practice mission for Hyuuga genin. Not under my orders." He emphasized the "not" in an attempt to deflect some blame, carefully watching Hinata like a cornered animal. "The Hyuuga elders sent them to the Hidden Cloud Village for surveillance. When they missed their daily check-in, the elders sent another team of Hyuuga to investigate. We were not notified by your clan until four days after she failed to report. We were kept in the dark as well. We're doing everything we can but we won't have much to go on until Sasuke returns from Mist."

Hinata glared at him, quietly willing him to reveal the full truth. She could not quell her anger towards this man with whom she placed her blind trust since childhood. He knew how important Hanabi was to her. With her mother and cousin, Neji, gone, and her strained relationship with Hiashi, her sister was the only real family she felt she had left.

It was not his failure to return Hanabi that provoked her intrepid response. Hinata understood how long it took to travel and find a proper lead. She was upset that he planned to keep this secret from her and lied to her face about it. Betrayal slithered along her spine and firmly gripped her chest. Still, she loved him and wanted to trust him.

Naruto watched as his two door guards appeared at the destroyed entryway, ready for a fight. He'd had them escort an uncooperative Hiashi back to the Hyuuga Compound shortly before Hinata's dramatic entrance.

"Everyone out," the village Hokage ordered in an uncharacteristic show of authority. He was now standing behind his desk, hands splayed on the wooden surface as if to stabilize himself.

The group of shinobi filed out leaving Hinata, Naruto, and a thick web of tension.

The seriousness on his face quickly melted. "Please Hinata. Let's go back to my place and talk this through. You've just returned from a long mission. You're tired. You'll feel better after a bath and some rest. Let me take care of you," he mollified.

"Put me on the retrieval team," she blurted out, ignoring his attempts at diversion. How could she even think about relaxing with her sister being held hostage at who-knows-where.

When he did not agree right away, she continued, "You'll need a byakugan user on the mission. You know Team Eight has the best record for reconnaissance."

"Hinata…"

"No, Naruto! Don't write me off. I can do this!" She gritted her teeth, bracing herself for the rejection she knew was coming.

"As Hokage, it is my duty to ensure the safety of the village and all its citizens. Including you. This situation requires delicate precision. This will be an all ANBU team. I won't risk you, or any shinobi who hasn't earned the rank of jonin, on this mission. It's too dangerous!"

The Hyuuga swallowed hard, as her hands fisted at her sides. His words stung at her core. She never attempted the jonin trials at Naruto's insistence, and now he dared to use her rank against her. It felt rich coming from the genin Hokage who won the last war. For the first time during this encounter, she looked away from her lover. Her accusation, just above a whisper, held the force of a slap. "You don't think I can do it."

"Hinata, I love you. I know you're strong. You're one of the strongest kunoichi's in all of Konoha." His hand gestured out towards the window overlooking the village. His face wary. "But it's not only about your sister. Other children have been taken. I can't send you in, charged to kill, without knowing the stakes. I want to give this mission it's best chance, and yes- selfishly, I want to keep you safe! That is my duty as your Hokage, as your friend, as your future husband."

Chests heaving, eyes locked in fiery challenge, chakra crawling over their skin- they were at an impasse.

Hinata spoke with firm determination. "Naruto- I have never questioned your decisions. I have always stood by you, supported you, loved you. I will give you one last chance. I'm drawing a line in the sand, here and now. Your choice will determine the fate of our relationship. Do I have your permission to go after my sister, or not?"

A look of hurt crossed the kyuubi's still boyish features. He contemplated the repercussions of what she was saying, rubbing a rough palm over his golden face. Regret filled his deep blue eyes, all warmth drained from his presence. A stone faced kage now stood in the place of the once goofy troublemaker with a heart of gold. The aloof timbre of his verdict now served as the executioner's blade severing their bond. "I cannot in good conscience allow you to leave Konoha, or impart further knowledge of this classified assignment until it has come to conclusion."

Now it was Hinata's turn to feel the stab of pain twisting in her gut and reflected back in her stare. She lowered her head in a nod of disappointment and acceptance.

His next statement flowed with the subdued affection of a desperate and defeated man. "Wait for me at home, Hinata. You're too emotional to talk right now and you're not thinking clearly. I'll find you after I sort out the damage here."

Arms wrapped tightly around herself, Hinata could barely speak. It came out in a hushed murmur. "You're never going to put me first, are you?"

"What?"

"What happened to the boy who rushed in to save those he cared about, regardless of a plan? Where is the man I love, who would fight and could talk anyone into submission? You are the strongest shinobi in all of existence, but you sit in this office waiting for something to happen and still you will not even allow me to try. Why are you the exception, while I must stay on the sidelines?" A single tear trailed her smooth pale cheek, past trembling lips and down her pointed chin. She mourned the boy she loved and now realized was long gone.

"That's not fair, Hinata. Things are different now." His voice was gruff and defensive.

She turned her back to the man she once admired. Her heart hardened and she replied, "You're right. Things are different now… and so are you. It's over, Naruto."

Before he could gain an inch to change her mind, her feet were swiftly putting distance between herself and the seat Naruto always desired.

"HINATA! Come back so we can talk!" When she refused to listen, Naruto threw his hands in the air and yelled, "Fine. You and the rest of Team Eight are on probation! You're not leaving this village, Hinata! I won't allow it! HINATAAA!"

Upon exiting the building, Hinata muttered under her breath, "I'll prove you wrong, Naruto."

'And I will use everything in my arsenal to do it.'