Chapter Twelve.
"I said, I think you should come with me." He sounded bored and rather than threatening, looked more scared and was shaking pathetically in his hospital gown and fluffy white slippers.
"Wh-what do you me-mean?" She didn't mean to stutter but given the situation, it was understandable.
"I think I need to tell you something…" He was then cut off by Kakashi.
"Not alone you're not." Said Kakashi and he DID say it threateningly. He held Hinata's hand tightly, letting her know he was going to stay by her side.
"Look red-eye! This is a difficult thing for a person like me. Hyuuga-Sama, I'm sorry I scared you." He sounded sincere but she couldn't trust him. "I just couldn't believe what I was hearing … you were trying to be understanding and I just couldn't bare it." He shook his head as if there was a bad taste in his mouth – regret. "I made a promise to your aunt and as much I can endure the pain and the sleeplessness, for some reason you are my weak spot." His head hung low and seeing that no-one was moving, sighed and closed the door. "If you so much as move your lips during our conversation, I'll make you regret every second of whatever life you have left when I'm done with you." It wasn't known who he was addressing. Maybe it was both of them. Neither one of them moved and Ao made his way over to the sofa and sat down.
"Your Aunt Hanabi went missing a long time ago. There was a reason for this apart from the death of your mother who trust me, she mourned bitterly over. You were so young at the time perhaps you cannot remember but your aunt would spend a lot of time away from home. Either at the hospital or to collect herbs for the hospital. One day, many years her long disapearence and when she was a young girl of 16, she was training to become a medical-nin. She wanted to impress her superiors and requested to be sent to a small Island belonging to the Land of Water. It possessed (and still does) special medicinal herbs which are highly sought after and are expensive if bought privately. She took it upon herself to collect some and bring it back to your village. Dispite the dangers, she prepared for the journey and took with her several guards. It was there she was found by the local inhabitants there who alerted the Mizukage of that time. We were ordered to go and capture the Byakugan at all costs."
"By the time we had arrived the villagers, fearing your people and how they looked, killed the guards. The curse mark upon each dead guard prevented the Byakugan from being extracted by my squad and though she was missing, they told us that the female Hyuuga was alive. It was said she fought hard and well throughout the whole onslaught, killing 7 of the villagers and was only stopped when a young man appeared and helped his fellow countrymen. A man, if you could call him that, called Kisame."
Hinata's eyes bulged at the name (Kakashi looking slightly puzzled) and seeing from her reaction that she knew who the man was, Ao nodded his head gently and then continued his story. "It took us over a week to find where Kisame and your aunt were. He recently had become a member of the Cipher Squad and was taking his sabbatical. It was only thanks to her leaving a trail of herbs behind her that led us to them. He had bound her tightly with chakra ropes with a large cave behind a waterfall. No-one would have known its location. After confronting Kisame, he and I had a small fight during which I was separated from the rest of my comrades and somehow, managed to help her escape. After travelling some distance away by me carrying her, I untied her, showed her the best way to elude the others and gave her what food and water I had."
He knew that Hinata would want to know why but he think she knew why already. Taking a moment to pause, he then continued. "My men still believed that Kisame had her and when he originally returned to duty, he laughed at their stupidity and said she must have tried to have run away and fallen into the waterfall to her death. It was only until later why I realised he was covering for me and her. It was about 5 months later when Hanabi returned to the Land of Water. She had done so with any escort or anyone knowing. We arranged to meet in a small village and she wore a veil that covered her eyes so no one could see that she was a Hyuuga." He looked like he was about to cry and staring straight at Hinata with his wild eyes spoke again.
"Hinata, she was pregnant." He carried on as quickly as possible so he would not give into any weakness whilst telling her this. "She was frightened by what the Clan would say or for what future her child would have, so she sought me." He started to mumble a little and they couldn't hear what he was saying.
"Sorry." He said before trying to speak again. "She arranged with me a safe place for the birth and sent word to her Master (Tsunande-Sama) that she would need extra time to complete her personal mission to study some rare herbs. We found a secluded island with no inhabitants and it was there she stayed for several months, gave birth and took care of her son. After 6 months, and when Hanabi had come back after visiting her family, Kisame found us."
"I still don't know how but when he saw her he tried to take her with him. Thankfully, her son was sleeping and she had not changed at all. We fought again and after he managed to rip my eye out of its socket, he left, saying he was going to keep coming back until she was his again. She had no choice but to make sure the boy would be safe, so I took the boy to the village and stayed to make sure he was picked up by a good family. I spied on them for almost 3 months until I was satisfied with their care of him. She decided during this time to return to Konoha when you were shortly born."
Hinata felt guilty at the thought of her aunt having to go through the trauma of being captured, raped, hiding her pregnancy from her family and then having to abandon her son. It was horrible but it was true that the Clan would not have understood and she most certainly would have been cast out and disgraced by her fathers, brothers and family. They would have taken the child from her who would have been ostracised for being a bastard without even having the Byakugan. Her aunt did the best thing for her child and family … and it seems Ao saved her several times.
"There is a reason why I am telling you this," Ao looked straight at her again, pleadingly. "Hanabi died trying to save me. It was over 2 years after she left that she returned to Kirigakure and was found by my comrades. They beat her badly for escaping them before and hit her so badly that her left eye filled with blood and had smashed the back of her skull. She was slowly bleeding to death and when I arrived, they smiled at me. Saying that as I was head of the ANBU Hunter-nin Corps, I should quickly claim the remaining eye." He looked angry for a monent but didn't stop talking.
"It still makes me feel sick. Even as she was dying, she kept saying "okay… it's okay…". If I refused, they would have killed me and she knew it. She smiled at me during the procedure and even when she was blind, she was still smiling. She said the word "gift…" and then died. I couldn't show any remorse, nothing. I had to pretend that I was satisfied with what had happened and even when they dismembered her head to show the then Mizukage… I could show no reaction. When this was done, I immediately set about taking her body to the spot I took her son, near the gate of the village and cremated her remains."
Kakashi could feel his anger and hatred growing for the coward spurting all this drabble at them. He squeezed gently Hinata's hand but somehow she was staying strong. He was so proud of her.
"You must feel so guilty…" Hinata said, sighing loudly after. "I think she knew you had no choice and would prefer it was you who had her eye and not someone else. You should think that way too, Ao-Sama." At last, after the onslaught of banter, she had the information she needed and more than she bargained for. Ao looked relieved though sad.
"I should have done something…" he began but Kakashi cut him short.
"Sadly, that is something you'll have to live with." Hinata slowly nodded her head but slowly rising up, her hand still in Kakashi's hand, she tried to speak.
"Ao-Sama, my cousin is still alive. Does he know anything about this?"Ao shook his head.
"I believe it might be a good then to tell Chōjūrō." Ao looked at her slightly shocked, before looking down and nodding his head. "He will not be angry with you. You saved him and his mother. My family would have made their lives a living hell and you gave him a future."
Ao felt thankful for her words but also felt the hidden anger within them. To her, he had abandoned his aunt because he didn't want to risk his life or reputation. She could never forgive or understand a person who could do that. But she would pretend for everyone's sake… especially her family and cousin.
Ao quietly left the room and closed the door behind him. Kakashi and Hinata looked at each other before squeezing each other's hands and leaving the family room together.