A/N: A special thank you to all my lovely reviewers: risen truth ruthless lies, NaviTheGoddess, Lecs, AN1M3STAR, Jao Jao and Nova5621.
Lecs, you'll see in this chapter what the contents of that scroll mentioned in the previous chapter are. ;-) I've also been thinking about the question you brought up in your review of the previous chapter. Will the story end as ItaHina or SasuHina? I've charted out the storyline and I have it ending as ItaHina. If everyone really wants it to be a SasuHina, I'm willing to reconsider. I'm still early along in this story, but I've been planning a short sequel that might have a Sasu- someone pairing it in. I'm not sure if anyone has any preference for Sasuke pairings. I'm not a fan of Sakura, so I won't make it SasuSaku. I'm leaving towards either Sasuke-Temari or Sasuke-Hana. If I switched the pairings around, I could make this story the SasuHina and the other one the Itachi-Temari or Itachi-Hana one. Does anyone have any strong opinions on the matter?
NavitheGoddess, I'm glad that you enjoyed my little Icha Icha Uchicha pun! I was giggling to myself while writing it. :-)
I'm still looking for a beta, so if anyone's interested, please let me know.
I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Chapter Five
Secrets of the Past
a.k.a "He's knocking on the door of the truth."
One couldn't tell from the mask covering his face, but the fox masked ANBU was grinning like mad as he and his three teammates hurried back to the Hidden Leaf village after their trip to the Fire Shrine. He stretched his arms over his head and remarked to his two companions, "Dunno why the Pervy Sage made this an ANBU mission. We haven't bumped into an ounce of trouble."
The panther masked ANBU member sighed heavily. "Try not to be any more of an idiot than is strictly necessary, Fox," he snapped with unnecessary emphasis on the codename.
"There's no need to call me names," the fox masked ANBU said petulantly.
"It's your codename, dobe," was the reply.
"Let's play nice, children," the dog masked ANBU drawled. Then he remarked to himself, "Honestly what did I do to deserve being put with you two?"
"Just try not to let your guard down, Fox. Our mission's really just starting," the beaver masked ANBU remarked seriously. If he didn't need to wear his mask, he could have cowed the fox masked ninja with just a look.
"You can count of me, Beaver. Believe it!"
The panther, beaver and beaver masked ninjas groaned in unison.
The fox masked nin paused in his stride and quirked his head to the left. "Foxes are known for their great sense of smell and amazing intellect."
The dog masked nin turned his head slightly in the direction that his partner had indicated, completely on his guard. He also sensed the presence lurking in the trees nearby. The panther masked member realized in a split second what was going on as well and replied with a sneer, "Foxes aren't known for that, dobe."
The fox masked nin was about to retort when the two presences lurking the trees to their left finally made themselves known. Two ninjas in the distinctive Akatsuki cloaks appeared before them. One of the men wore a dark mask with a white hood. The sclera of his poisonous green eyes were bloody. The panther masked nin didn't recognize the symbol on his slashed hitai-ate. It appeared to be a downwards arrow. His companion was a slight young man with pale skin and icy blue eyes and hair. The symbol on the younger man's slashed hitai-ate was also unfamiliar. It was five circles arrayed in a cross; it reminded him a bit of the symbol from Frost Country.
"You can stop that charade, ANBU," said the older Akatsuki member. "I know you were just trying to distract us so you could prepare yourselves for battle. It won't work."
"Who says that it hasn't?" the dog masked nin countered. "Raikiri!"
With the discordant shrieks of a thousand birds, the ball of lightening in the ninja's hand pierced right through his opponent's heart.
"You'll have to do better than that," the older man sneered. "Why don't you just give me fox and save all of us some trouble."
Naruto was pretty sure that Kakashi-sensei had nailed the Akatsuki guy through the heart with his Raikiri. But he knew better than anyone that the Akatsuki had some pretty crazy ninja skills, so he was not remotely surprised when the older of the two Akatsuki members brushed off the dog masked ninja and threw off his red cloud embellished cloak. Four masks on his back erupted from his body. The man was like… some sort of patchwork monster. His skin looked as if it'd been stitched together haphazardly by a mad quilt maker. It was grotesque. The four masks formed crazy looking rag dolls.
The fox-masked nin scratched his head in confusion. "Are you a missing nin from the land of demented quilt makers or something?"
Kakazu snorted in disgust. "Just come along quietly, nine tails, and your companions don't have to die."
"Not on your life," said Naruto unsheathing his katana. His companions did the same.
Sasuke watched carefully as the blue masked doll thing collapsed into a gelatinous black puddle and died. That particular mask had erupted from the place on the ninja's body where a person's heart was usually located. It was the spot where Kakashi's Raikiri had pierced the man's body.
"Well that was anti-climactic, Kakazu. After all that, one of those monsters just fell down dead? Lord Pein is always going on about how strong you are. I'm yet to be impressed," sneered his companion.
"Why don't you focus on your battle, Shinku, and leave off criticizing things that you don't understand."
The battle erupted in a flurry of taijutsu. Kakazu danced across the wooded clearing dodging the kicks and punches aimed at him from the dog and beaver masked nins. Two of the creepy ragdoll looking things chased after then, blowing fireballs and bolts of lightning at the two ANBU.
The younger Akatsuki member went after the panther and fox masked ninjas.
"Hyōton: Tsubame Fubuki!" he called out after making several quick hand signs.
A storm of small birds erupted from the air around the panther and fox masked nins and then dived in for an aerial assault. Noticing from the other ninja's hand signs that it was an Ice Style Combination Jutsu, Sasuke quickly formed the handsigns for the Fireball Jutsu.
"Hyōton: Tsubame Fubuki!" he called, breathing out the fire into a continuous flame rather than a ball. The small sparrows, which were looking more like senbon than birds, melted to the ground.
"Look out, panther," the fox masked nin called. "One of those creepy ragdoll things is coming after us. It looks ready to cast a wind style jutsu. I'm going to try and knock it away with my own wind jutsu."
Sasuke cursed as he summersaulted out of the way to avoid the blast of air just as the pale haired Akatsuki member went at him with his sword. Was that fool going to use his Rasen Shuriken jutsu? That was much too dangerous for close quarters. Not only would it eat up much of Naruto's chakra reserves, but it would probably filet Sasuke into little bits. Marvelous.
"You're not going to use that jutsu, are you?" the panther masked nin called to his partner.
"My super awesome signature jutsu?" asked the fox masked nin. "I wish. It's a bit too risky for the present circumstance."
Taking advantage of the panther masked nin's distraction with ragdoll monster, the pale haired man weaved another group of signs. "Hyōton: Haryū Mōko!" he called out.
A strange looking creature began forming out of the air and solidifying into ice. With a roar, the Ice Tiger charged the panther masked nin. At the same time, the wand ragdoll monster closed in on Sasuke, blowing a huge blast of wind at the Konoha nin. The panther masked ninja gritted his teeth in annoyance. What on earth was Naruto doing? Oh right, nothing!
With his Sharingan predicting the trajectory of the two attacks, the Konoha nin spun narrowly out of the way to avoid both of the attacks. The ragdoll monster's jutsu blew the missing nin's Ice Tiger into a million pieces. All that was left of the ice tiger was a pile of what looked like shattered glass.
"I've got the timing now, panther!" called his partner. "Fūton: Shinkūha!"
The fox masked nin let out a long breath of chakra imbued air which cut the wind monster clean in half. It also melted to the ground in a pile of black goo.
"Kakazu, I wish you wouldn't have your little monsters interfere with my battles, you just cost me an Ice Tiger. I hope you're happy."
The older Akatsuki member gritted in teeth in annoyance. He kicked the beaver nin savagely into a tree before landing a blow on the dog masked nin. He turned to his partner. "What have I told you about running your mouth, Shinku?"
The early rays of light streamed in through his hospital window. His east facing room must have been on the fifth or six floor of the hospital - high enough up that the morning rays weren't obstructed by other buildings.
He blinked a couple of times, trying to clear his muddled head. His memory was a jumble of flashes: a crane masked ANBU hanging limp from the strings of the puppet master jutsu, the agonizing pain of the poison polluting his blood, Shizune and Tsunade extracting the poison from his body. Shizune's tears had dripped on his face as she tried to hold down his struggling form.
He had been sedated and at some later point for Tsunade to administer the antidote. He would live, it seemed. His head felt like it was full of cobwebs, the sedatives making his limber mind into thick molasses. His mouth felt like it was full of cotton balls.
But his right hand felt warm. He glanced to his right side to find the blonde head of his female teammate resting on the bed by his right side. Her glorious blonde hair was spread across the edge of his bed, turning to spun gold in the morning light. Her bowed head rested in the crook of her right elbow while her left arm lay along the side of the bed lightly holding his right hand in her left. Kami, was she beautiful. Had she been there by his side all night?
"Troublesome," he muttered fondly to himself.
He must have been staring at her for a while because he didn't immediately turn to acknowledge the slight shuffle of footsteps in his doorway. Peering into the doorway, he gave his oldest friend a small smile. He tried to ignore is friend's knowing smirk.
"Choji."
The Akimichi dropped the small bag he had been carrying onto the chair next to the girl. Skirting Shikamaru's bed on his way across the room, Choji lingered by the large windows taking up most of the left wall of the room. Looking outside, Choji asked, "It's a beautiful morning. Would you mind if I opened the window?"
Shikamaru stretched and let out a loud yawn. "Nah, go for it."
Grinning, Choji lifted up the glass of the middle window. Turning back to his friend, he remarked, "I'm surprised to see you awake so early in the day. The nurses thought you'd wake up this morning, but I was sure you'd use this as an excuse to sleep past noon."
Shikamaru shrugged nonchalantly. "The sun woke me up."
Walking over to the right side of the room, Choji picked up the empty chair next to Ino and carried it over to the left side of the bed. He maneuvered with care so that the bag resting on top of the chair didn't fall onto the ground. "Don't want to wake sleeping beauty over there," Choji explained as he sat down.
Shikamaru snorted in amusement, glancing at Ino's sleeping head and asked, "How long have I been out of it?"
Picking up the bag and plopping down in chair, Choji pulled out a small paper container. As he opened the small box, he said, "Well, you came in yesterday around lunchtime and now you're just waking up. So I guess you've been out of it for almost a whole day. You had us worried." He pulled out two donuts from the box and handed one to Shikamaru. "Hospital food is rubbish."
"Awesome, thanks," Shikamaru murmured as he accepted it with his left hand. "Was it that serious?" Shikamaru wondered. "I don't remember much."
"It was a very tricky poison, apparently. Luckily Lady Tsunade was able to concoct an antidote pretty quickly for you. Ino was worried about it, but she knows more about medical ninjutsu than I do. We both know that she likes to worry about us."
Shikamaru snorted and looked at her sleeping blonde head. "It's a full time job with us."
"She refused to leave your side before you woke up. One of the nurses tried to shoo her out after visiting hours ended, but Ino kicked up such a fuss that the nurse gave up."
"Troublesome," muttered Shikamaru. "She's scary when she gets like that."
Choji chuckled and started on a second donut. "Wouldn't have her any other way."
"Do you know how the rest of my team is doing? I remember some things, but it's a bit blurry. Stupid meds."
Choji looked uncomfortable for a beat before replying, "Uchiha Itachi, stopped by for a bit while you were unconscious. He and Neji are doing fine. Genma…Genma's dead."
Shikamaru's face fell and he clutched his fist unconsciously. "I remembered something like that, but I hoped it was a delusion from the poison."
Ino let out a little noise and stirred. Shikamaru realized with a jolt that he had clenched the hand that Ino was holding.
Choji continued, "Yeah, Itachi seemed pretty beat up about it."
"I remember Shizune's tears dripping on my face as she held my shoulders while Tsunade extracted some of the poison," Shikamaru muttered, looking down at the blonde girl as she turned her head to him.
"They were supposed to be married in October," Ino whispered, her voice still rough with sleep.
"I should've been better. Itachi shouldn't always have to do everything himself. He offered the strategy and we went with it. It was a different strategy than I might have used, but it was the better…"
Ino suddenly sat back and stretched, arching her back and stretching out her arms. Shikamaru was distracted for a moment by the sight. She leaned back in her chair and propped up her feet on the bed, crossed at the ankles. Putting her long hair back into a ponytail, she said, "You shouldn't be so hard on yourself, Shika. I'm sure that you did your best. Itachi's a formidable tactician, but you shouldn't be afraid to discuss strategies with him in the field. He's the captain and he ultimately makes the call, but you shouldn't always defer to him."
"You have no idea what you're taking about, Ino," Shikamaru said with a frown. "I am nowhere near Itachi's level. It would be disrespectful to contradict his strategy and offer my own."
Ino frowned back. "You may not be at Itachi's level with your jutsu, but you're just as good tactically as he is, maybe even better. Why would Jiraiya have put you on that squad but to supplement Itachi's strategies? You're part of ANBU Team Alpha, Jiraiya's go to ANBU team. Don't sell yourself short. You're a great shinobi."
"I'm a fool and now I'm in the hospital. I was so intimidated taking on an S-class Akatsuki member with Genma and Neji that Genma died. All the while Itachi was fighting Orochimaru by himself."
"Well three of you are still alive after facing two S-class Akatsuki members. I would chalk that up on the success column," Ino countered.
"It doesn't feel like a success. If it was, Genma would still be alive."
Ino sighed. Her teammate was so stubborn. "If any other team had faced those two Akatsuki members, I'm sure that all of the members would be dead or worse."
"What's worse than being dead?" wondered Choji.
"Captured," replied Ino.
"ANBU Team Beta would have a better result than my team did," Shikamaru countered.
"Kakashi-sensei's team?" Ino wondered. "If any other team might have survived against the Akatsuki it would have been them. But if they failed, the results would have been more disastrous than death."
"Genma's death just feels so wrong. If any of us should have died, it should have been me. He deserved to live more than…"
"Don't you dare say that," Ino growled. "You can't weigh one life against another like that. You do deserve to live, don't you ever think differently."
Shikamaru stared at the wall in silence.
"Are you listening to me, Shika?"
Her query was met with silence. Choji glanced across at her worriedly; Shikamaru continued to stare at the wall.
Ino let out an angry breath before standing and sweeping out of the room. She turned in the doorway. "We're not done talking about this, Shika. I'm sorry for leaving just as you got here, Choji, but that idiot is being so difficult. I can't sit here and listen to him talk about himself like that."
"Running my mouth!" Shinku growled. "I'll run my mouth as much as I like, you creepy fossil. Just keep your monsters out of my fight. The ninetails might be your mark, but I'm going to capture him for Lord Pein! You've already hit your quota when you got the seven tails. I'm going to prove myself to those Rain shinobi by capturing the strongest of the tailed beasts. I'm Mizore Shiku of the Crimson Sleet! Bane of the Village Hidden in the Frost."
Kakazu looked furious. "You talk too much," he said. Black cords sprung out from the edges of the patched skin on the missing nin's body. They flew through the air and wrapped around his partner's throat, arms and legs.
"W-what are you doing?" asked Shinku.
The ANBU team watched spellbound as a second group of cords whipped through the air. They stopped in front of his chest. "Leader's going to be upset, but I don't care. I've never liked you."
"You can't! Kakazu!" the young man hollered in fright before the group of cords in front of him ripped his still beating heart out of his body.
"Whoa!" yelled the fox masked ninja. "That man was your teammate!"
Kakazu released his Akatsuki partner's dead body. It fell to the ground in a bloody heap. He brought the still beating heart back to his body and let the black cords pull it into his body. The ANBU team shivered in disgust. He glanced back at the ragdoll monster in a pool by Naruto's feet. "What a waste. Wind affinities are so rare," was all Kakazu said in reply.
Hinata looked up from her green tea as Ino sat down with a plate of Namagashi for them to share. She flipped a long blonde bang out of her face and said, "So how are things going with you? I'm glad that we got to get together for a chat before I have to go on a mission again. This ANBU stuff is more troublesome than I would have expected."
Hinata chuckled. "If it's ANBU, shouldn't you be keeping it quiet?"
Ino waved a hand at Hinata. "Probably. But I don't see why we have to be so secret about it. It's true that people aren't supposed to know that we're a part of it, but we all have tattoos for Kami's sake! It's not that difficult to find out who's in it and who's not."
"I guess you're right."
"And besides, you're a Tokubetsu Jonin, so you're allowed to know that I'm in ANBU. You have the correct clearance level."
"You have a point. So did you get to visit Shikamaru in the hospital yesterday?"
"Yes. I just left this morning."
"Tsunade-sama administered the antidote yesterday, right?"
"Yeah. She put it in his IV last night. I left Shikamaru with Choji this morning. Shika already started picking a fight with me after he woke up. What am I going to do with that guy? He makes it so difficult sometimes."
"What as the fight about?"
"ANBU stuff. I don't really want to talk about it. I'm still angry about it."
"If you need someone to talk to, you know I'm always here," Hinata said.
"Thanks, Hinata. Oh, that reminds me. When I was sitting with Shikamaru, his ANBU captain came to visit. He caught me by the vending machines later and was asking about you and your shift at the hospital. I didn't know that you knew Uchiha Itachi. Though I guess you probably met him through Sasuke. What did you think of Itachi?"
"Itachi is…really wonderful."
"Shikamaru practically worships the ground he walks on. It's kinda funny actually. When we were genin on the same team, I never thought that I would meet anyone with such a strategic mind as genius as Shikamaru's. He would literally run mental circles around me when he thought it was worth the effort. But Shikamaru's found an equal in Itachi. You should see their shoji matches. It's pretty intense. Well… actually the matches themselves are super boring; it's just the fact there's never really a clear winner that's so interesting. And Itachi pushes Shikamaru to be a better ninja. Shika's learned tons of new strategies and his ninjutsu, taijutsu and genjutsu have really improved. Sure he complains that it's troublesome, but he's improved in leaps and bounds. Now, it only Shikamaru would stop holding the man on such a pedestal."
"Itachi must be a good teacher," Hinata replied softly.
"Yeah. I bet half of the ninjas in Konoha and probably in every other ninja village would kill for a chance to learn from him. I wouldn't mind having a private session with him myself."
Hinata blushed again.
Ino peered at her closely, a wicked smile spreading across her face. "So what is it about Itachi that has you blushing so much, Hina?"
"Er," Hinata stuttered. "It's that…well…um…we sort of made out yesterday…"
"Fuck yeah, girl!" Ino squealed. "You have to tell me everything! So are you two, like, dating now? Oh my god! You have to make me your maid of honor."
Hinata sputtered. "It's not like that! Besides, it's infinitely more complicated with all the clan stuff."
Ino's face fell. "Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. Yeah, all that heiress stuff blows. I've got all these demands from my clan too and we're really small. I can't imagine all the pressure that the Hyuga clan is putting on you."
"Yeah," Hinata sighed.
"Are they still on your case about the hospital?"
"Yep. My father was telling me yesterday that the elders are going to make me battle with Hanabi to prove my worth as the next head of the Hyuga clan. Our battle is scheduled in December around my eighteenth birthday."
"This is news to me!" Ino replied in shock. "So if you are defeated, you have to join the Branch house?"
"My father was mysteriously enigmatic about that. He said that there might be other ways that I can be of use to the clan."
"Hm, I don't like the sound of that. Sounds like they want to sell you off to someone or something." Ino was momentarily robbed of speech. "But….but they wouldn't….they couldn't….right?"
Hinata shrugged her shoulders. "I have no idea."
"So have you started to prepare for the battle?"
"Kind of…not really."
"Hinata, you have to start training for this! Have you thought about asking Sasuke to train with you? And maybe Neji too?"
"Yes, I already spoke to Sasuke about it. I haven't had a chance to ask Neji yet. I hope it won't be a conflict of interest for him."
Ino nodded. "Your old genin teammates are on my ANBU squad and we train together when we're not on missions. I'm sure that Kiba and Shino wouldn't mind you if you train with us."
"Thanks. I'll probably take you up on the offer," Hinata said.
"Just be careful not to burn yourself out. When I first joined ANBU, I was still helping out Anko and Ibiki at T&I in my free time and got really worn down. If you find yourself starting to burn out, you might want to work at the hospital part-time at least until all this is over. I'm sure Tsunade would be understanding about the situation."
"Yeah, I was thinking that I might have to do that. Unfortunately, I have a feeling I'd be playing right into the elders' hands. They want me to quit the hospital."
"That is pretty sneaky of them," Ino signed. "I also heard that the Hyuga clan is entertaining visitors. Izumo and Kotetsu had a pretty amusing story about their run in with the pair and my father said that he got an order from your father for an elaborate floral centerpiece yesterday. Does it have anything to do with your visitors?"
"You heard about the Kenkaji noblemen? Yes, their names are Hato Kaba and Okami. They are the family who provide us with the silks for our ceremonial robes."
"That's strange. Do these usually deliver their silks in person?"
"Never. This is the first time I've ever met them."
"Hm," mused Ino. "That is rather strange. I wonder what they're up to. So what did the clan have you doing yesterday?"
"Well, my father, Neji and the three elders and I had to have lunch with our visitors yesterday." Noting Ino's raised eyebrows, Hinata continued, "And yes, they are as obnoxious as Izumo and Kotetsu said. Neji told me afterwards that he really didn't like them either."
Ino giggled. "I hope they won't be hanging around too long then."
"Me too," Hinata muttered.
"So your father says that there are other ways for you to help that clan that don't involve being a part of the branch house. And then those two noblemen come all the way over to Konoha. That seems pretty suspicious."
"Yeah. I had to show the son, Okami, around the gardens yesterday and he tried to kiss me and give me a pendant. I think he's pushing for marriage. I'm not sure what I would do if the elders tried to sell me off in a marriage contract."
"Say no, of course," Ino answered immediately. "I almost feel sorry for this nobleman when he's theoretically competing with Itachi Uchiha for your affections. You and Itachi should just elope or something."
"I hardly know the man. But, Ino, this is serious. What do you think I should do if they start pushing an arranged marriage?"
"Well I'd start by saying no and see what happens. I would suggest going to the next meeting of the elders with your father. You'll have to do that eventually as the head of the clan, so it'll be good practice regardless. And speak up for yourself. Remember when I was telling you a year or so ago that my clan was trying to push me into an arranged marriage with Fu from the Foundation?"
Hinata nodded. "If I remember correctly, you went a meeting of the elders and kicked up a fuss."
"In a way, yes. I calmly explained to them that I couldn't marry Fu. My father and I had prepared for the confrontation in advance, so we had discussed what we believed their response would be to my argument. Then I practiced my speech on my old genin team. Choji was a sweetheart about it, giving me hugs and support. Shikamaru said it was troublesome, but was a great help. He naturally was able to think of every possible variation in the elder's response, several which my father and I hadn't even considered. So when the time came to have the elders' meeting, I was more than prepared. My well thought out argument impressed them so much that they got them off my back."
"You make it sound so easy," Hinata sighed.
"It wasn't easy. It was very difficult and stressful, but it was worth it in the end. Apparently part of the reason why the elders wanted to force my hand with this arranged marriage was because they thought I was soft and wouldn't be a strong leader for the clan. Basically they had decided that Fu would be a better leader, so they tried to get me to marry him to make it official. In confronting them about it, I forced them to look closer at me and they finally recognized that I could be a good leader for the clan. So in conclusion, it doesn't hurt to make your opinions known. This might just be a test that the Hyuga clan elders are conducting for you."
"You're probably right. But I lack your confidence... I don't know if I could do that," Hinata looked uncomfortable.
Ino winked at her. "I have the utmost faith in you, Hina. Talk to your dad and if you want to practice with me, I'd be more than happy to. I can even strong arm Shikamaru into helping out. It never hurts to give his brain a run around. And when all is said and done, if you want me to Shintenshin on in there and do the fussing for you, you only need to ask."
"That's…very kind of you."
"Don't mention it. And as a last resort if there's nothing we can do and they're pushing your hand, we could always run off to Kumo or something. Kumo loves bloodlines and Kumo ninjas are hot. Besides, the chunin exams are over there this year, so it wouldn't be too difficult."
"Ino, sometimes I don't know whether to be filled with joy or horror by the fact you're my best friend."
"I love you too, darling. Oh, speaking of best friends, Kiba was telling me that Naruto's planning a surprise party for Sasuke. We'll probably have you collect Sasuke and bring him to Naruto's apartment at a prearranged time."
"Sure," shrugged Hinata.
"Also, I wanted to ask you to keep an eye on me during the party, if you don't mind. I have a tendency to hook up with Shikamaru whenever Naruto throws a party. I don't' know what Naruto mixes in his drinks, but it's bad news."
"Okay, I'll see what I can do. Have you thought about wearing a chastity belt or something when you go to Naruto's parties?"
"Girl, you give the absolute worst advice!"
Clutching his arm against his shoulder, Sasuke grunted in pain as Naruto pulled out the spear that had pierced through the fleshy part of his shoulder. "Physical attacks won't work, Panther! He can harden his body with that Earth Style ninjutsu. Lightening style jutsus are our best bet against him!"
Holding a hand emanating green healing chakra at his shoulder, Sasuke closed up the wound as best he could. A trail of blood still dripped down the back of his ANBU vest. Kakazu jumped down between the two ANBU members, aiming for Naruto with his black threads.
The ragdoll with the lightening jutsu came among them again. Sasuke was able to dodge the first bolt, but the second bolt was point blank. To lessen the damage from the bolt, he conducted a chidori current through his body.
He heard a strange popping sound from behind him. Sasuke cursed. Of course the storage scroll opened up. It had met the two requirements, blood and chakra.
The beaver and dog masked nins were battling the fire style ragdoll. The Akatsuki member was focused on Sasuke and Naruto, but that didn't mean the older two ANBU were in the clear.
Taking advantage of the panther masked ANBU's distraction with his faulty sealing scroll, Kakazu put his hands together for a jutsu, calling out, "Katon: Zukokku!"
The fire style ragdoll's mask opened up and a large concentration of fire chakra was gathering itself together into a truly horrific attack. Yamato and Kakashi glanced at each other before gathering water chakra and hitting the ground with their palms calling out, "Suiton: Suijinheki!"
The tower water wall came up just as the fire jutsu was spun out towards the two ANBU. It seared the ground and devastated everything in its path.
"The water wall wasn't enough," gasped Yamato as he jumped back. "We'll never be able to get far enough away in time."
Kakashi channeled more chakra into his Sharingan to release the Mangekyo version. He murmured, "Kamui." The wall of flame dissolved into a void created by Kakashi's Mangekyo Sharingan.
Kakashi fell to his knees in exhaustion. "Damn, his partner mumbled to himself. Hold on, dog."
Facing the fire style ragdoll, the beaver masked nin called out, "Mokuton: Mokusatsu Shibari no Jutsu!" Several branches burst from his shoulder to bind the fire monster tightly. Forming signs with his other hand, he called out, "Suiton: Suigadan!"
Bullets of water hit the rag doll point blank, restrained as it was by the woodstyle jutsu. The fire style rag doll fell in a puddle at Yamato's feet.
"How did all your scrolls fall out, Panther?" asked the Fox masked nin.
"I'm not sure, dobe," growled the other ANBU. "Cover me while I seal them away again."
"I can't believe you messed up a simple sealing jutsu. Even I was able to manage that one."
"Just shut up and cover me," the panther masked ninja sighed.
"Will do," said the fox masked nin, bounding off.
Sasuke leaned down to pick up the first scroll. He groaned when he noticed his bloody handprint on it. Jiraiya was going to be upset.
"Lightening ragdoll coming at us at nine o'clock. Looks like it's readying for a jutsu - it's gathering a huge amount of chakra.
"Raiton: Gian!" yelled Kakazu from the other side of the wooded clearing.
"Fūton: Shinkūha!" Naruto yelled, trying to bat away the huge lightening style jutsu with a wind style cutting jutsu. Naruto was able to knock away more than half of it, but the reminder still barreled down on the pair of ANBU teammates. "It's no good, Sasuke. Incoming!"
Naruto jumped beside him. Sasuke summoned chakra to his hands and dropped the scroll on the floor. Kicking it behind him, he lifted up his hands casting his own lightening justsu. He was able to mitigate its effects with his own jutsu.
"Let's kill that annoying ragdoll," the fox masked ninja growled.
"Chidori Eisō!" Sasuke said, piercing the lightening creature with his chidori spear.
"Fūton: Shinkūha!" said Naruto, slicing the creature in half like he did to the wind style ragdoll.
Naruto dusted off his vest and looked where the beaver masked ANBU was crouching over the dog masked ANBU in the other corner of the clearing. "Everything alright, Beaver? What happened to the Akatsuki guy? Is Dog alright?"
Sasuke glanced at the scrolls still scattered around him. "Did he retreat?"
Yamato straightened up and faced the other two members of the team. "The Akatsuki retreated just after you destroyed his lightening monster. We had eliminated four of his monsters. He probably calculated his odds and decided it was better to have a tactical retreat. But we shouldn't let our guard down. Stay on your toes. Dog should be fine. He's just suffering from chakra exhaustion."
"Well that's good," said Naruto.
Yamato looked at them closer. "What's with all those scrolls? Did you release your storage scroll by accident, Fox?"
The fox masked ninja crossed his arms over his chest. "Why is it that when any one makes a mistake, they blame me!"
"Because it's usually your fault," drawled the panther masked him. He called over to his other teammate, "Beaver. Those are my scrolls. My storage scroll unsealed itself during the fight when it came in contact with my chakra and blood."
"That's unfortunate," said the beaver masked nin. "Fox, help Panther pick up the rest of those scrolls. It looks like one of the scrolls itself is unraveling. You'll want to seal that one back up, Panther."
"Jeez, Panther. You just can't do anything right today, can you?" teased the Fox masked nin.
Sasuke ran a hand through his hair. He realized a second too late that his hand was still slick with his blood, so his hair became a nasty bloodied matted mess. "I don't know what happened. My blood and chakra shouldn't have unsealed the Fire Shrine's scroll. I don't know what I did wrong."
Naruto chuckled before picking up the sealing scroll and rummaging around the clearing for the other scrolls. Sighing heavily, Sasuke picked up the one unraveling at his feet. There were two familiar clan symbols painted on the top of the scroll. "What on earth?"
Stepping out of his apartment building, Itachi was surprised to run almost immediately into his cousin Shisui and one of the older Uchiha's students. It was the boy with the spiky black hair. Come to think of it, the boy wore his in a style reminiscent of Sasuke's. Itachi wondered if it was intentional. Too bad he couldn't remember the kid's name.
"Hey, Shisui," Itachi said.
"Oh, hi there, 'tachi. You remember my student Kosho."
"Nice to see you again, kid," Itachi said to the genin. Kosho smirked. Yep, this kid reminded Itachi a lot of his younger brother.
"We were just going to do some training for the chunin exams," Shisui remarked.
"Taijutsu," said the boy.
Itachi quirked an eyebrow. "That must be why you're trying to hide that bag of popcorn behind your back, right, Shisui?"
Shisui smiled cheekily, "You don't miss a trick do, you, 'tachi. Though we actually are going to do some taijutsu training. It's a secret Uchiha clan training technique."
Itachi snorted. All the same, he fell into step with his friend and his friend's student. "So where are Rock Lee and Maito Gai training?"
"Are you sure that you haven't learned how to read minds?" Shisui teased.
"Still working on it," Itachi quipped dryly. "Maybe you're just too predictable, Shisui."
"Touche," Shisui laughed. "Would you like to join us, Itachi?"
"I can always use more taijutsu training." Itachi glanced at Shisui's student who was listening to the older men's exchange avidly. Glancing over at the boy, Itachi asked, "So where are the chunin exams this year?"
Kosho Uchiha tried to hide his excitement at speaking to the Uchiha Head with a cool façade. He said, "It's in the Village Hidden in the Clouds."
"Interesting."
Shisui handed the bag of popcorn to Kosho and said to his student, "Why don't you scout ahead for Lee and Gai. Find us a good hiding place where they won't see us. This is also an exercise in stealth. We don't actually want to get roped into their training session."
"Yeah," Itachi remarked. "Gai and Lee take their training very seriously. Hey, Shisui, do you remember that time…"
"When they caught us spying and we ended up running a thousand laps around Konoha with them? How could I not? I still have the blisters on my feet. I wish I had their kind of stamina."
"Don't we all," Itachi agreed.
Kosho watched the two older Uchihas with his blood red Sharingan. "But how will you find my hiding place?"
"Oh, we'll find your hiding place," his sensei reassured him. "You're good, kid, but not as good as us."
Kosho pouted before heading into the forest.
"Modest too," Itachi remarked.
Shisui glanced over at Itachi. "I've been meaning to talk with you about something, but I didn't want to ask in front of my student."
"No problem." Itachi shrugged.
"Kosho is Kagami's grandson and Masaru's son."
Itachi brushed his bangs back from his face. "I knew the boy looked familiar. Though I thought it was just because he was copying Sasuke's hairstyle."
"Yeah, it's a bit frightening that. Never thought one of my students would look up to your brother as a fashion icon. Kami, do you remember that skirt he used to wear a couple years back? It was after the Sound Village came to Konoha for the Chunin exams."
Itachi did remember. That was a particularly stressful time. Sasuke was taking the exams for the first time just as Itachi turned eighteen and became the Head of the Uchiha clan. An up and coming village had joined the chunin exams that year, the Sound Village. They were rumored to have some sort of connection to the Akatsuki, so the Konoha ANBU couldn't be too careful. With ninja from other villages coming to watch their genin's tournaments, an invasion could be quite easily arranged.
xxx
Itachi hadn't been pleased when Kakashi said that he was planning to send his brother's team to the chunin exams. Itachi had cited the success rate of rookie genin cells to the Copy nin, who merely shrugged and pulled out his copy of Icha Icha Paradise.
One of the Sannin, Jiraiya, was working with Naruto on his jutsu in preparation for the exam. It wouldn't do to have Konoha's jinchuriki vulnerable with all of these foreign ninja around and the Akatsuki becoming more daring. Kakashi was teaching Sasuke the chidori and Itachi helped him with his Sharingan in between ANBU missions.
The genin from other villages usually arrived a couple days before the exam to get hotel rooms and have their jonin sensei sign up their teams. Sasuke had gotten into a spat with one of the teams from Suna, which had almost turned into an international incident. Of course Sasuke would pick a fight with the team made up of the Kazekage's three children.
However, one group of these newcomers had an even stranger impact on Itachi's younger brother. For some reason Sasuke was really taken with the clothes worn by the genin of the Sound Village. Itachi didn't really see what was so cool about them. A blue cloth tied over the pants by a purple rope belt? Who thinks of these things? Shinoibi villages were usually some of the last places to see the fashion trends, but that particular one was just strange.
"You're not going outside like that, are you?" asked Itachi as he ate some of the cinnamon buns he had found in the fridge that morning.
Sasuke turned to look at his brother. He silently secured his sword behind his back in the purple rope belt.
"But where do you keep your hip pouch and shuriken holster?" Itachi wondered.
Sasuke merely shrugged and walked out. Itachi rubbed a hand over his eyes. He would never get used to Sasuke's strange pre-teen antics. His mother wandered into the kitchen half a second after the front door closed. She held the shirt she had been folding against her chest.
"Where you practicing a genjutsu or something?" At his puzzled look, Mikoto put the blue shirt she was folding down on the table and sat down next to her son. She looked at him with an earnest expression. "I'm losing it, Itachi. I thought that I saw your brother leave just now in a blue skirt. I need to get my eyes checked. I know that I used the Sharingan a lot when I was an active kunoichi, but I didn't think it could cause hallucinations this many years later."
Itachi dropped his head down on the table. His mother's jokes weren't always funny. Sasuke had fully embraced the Sound Village clothing trends, much to Itachi's dismay.
"Sas-" Sakura skidded to a stop when she caught a glance at his clothing. "Oh," she said. She looked at him curiously, not finding it in her heart to make fun of the clothes of the boy she was crushing on.
Kakashi wandered up to his team members and stopped in his tracks when he eyed Sasuke. "What on earth is that?"
"I dunno," Sasuke replied. "I thought it looked cool."
Naruto ran up to the group clustered around the bridge to the Uchiha compound. "Sorry I'm late. Hey wait. Why are you wearing a skirt, Sasuke?"
"It's all the rage in the Sound Village."
Shisui and Itachi had both assigned to the ANBU team in charge of surveillance for the second portion of the exams in the Forest of Death. It had been quite a surprise when Mitarashi Anko, a member of another surveillance team, found the bodies of one of the Grass Village teams discarded in the bushes near the test.
Someone was trying to infiltrate the exam. This didn't bode well for Konoha or for the genin in the exam. There were two young jinjuriki in the Forest of Death right now. Itachi felt an icy chill of foreboding as he and Shisui raced through the forest with Anko following not far behind. There was an unusual chakra signature towards the middle of the forest. It was of a man with elite jonin or even kage level chakra reserves. No genin with the exception of Uzumaki Naruto possessed such high chakra reserves. The sand jinchuriki had astounding chakra reserves too, but they paled in comparison to this stranger and those of Uzumaki Naruto.
When he, Shisui and Anko arrived at the scene, his heart nearly stopped beating when he caught sight of Orochimaru fighting his brother's team. The Snake Sannin was focused on Sasuke. Naruto was fighting against two snake summons on the forest floor. The kunoichi on their team was cowering on a branch above.
Just as Itachi arrived, Orochimaru had dived at Sasuke. Stretching out his neck grotesquely, the snake sannin looked like he meant to bite the boy in the neck. Pushing more chakra into his feet, Itachi ran at the Snake Sannin and kicked his head aside and into the tree nearby.
The skirmish between the Sannin and the ANBU had passed in a blur. Orochimaru's summons were causing havoc, so Itachi went to help Sasuke and his teammates get rid of the monstrous serpents. After they had gotten rid of the snakes, Itachi went back to help Shisui and Anko. A terrifying sight greeted him, Shisui collapsed on the forest floor. He looked dead for all intents and purposes.
Itachi didn't notice the tomoe of his Sharingan blend together, but a tremendous rage welled up in his heart and he was able to drive away Orochimaru from the forest. When he got back, Sasuke's team was waiting anxiously as Anko worked on sucking the poison out of the Shisui's bite.
Itachi would later discover that he had awakened his Mangekyo Sharingan that day.
Shisui recovered, but the terror at seeing his friend lifeless on that branch in the Forest of Death would haunt Itachi for weeks.
The one saving grace after the chunin exams were over was that Sasuke had made chunin and had discarded the skirt and rope belt for the navy blue fatigues and forest green flak jacket common amongst Konoha's chunin. Itachi caught his mother burning the blue cloth and purple rope belt. She was muttering to herself whether or not this was karmic vengeance for all the times that she had dressed her son up like a doll in those silk hakamas when he was a child.
xxx
"What I wanted to tell you was that Kosho mentioned that Sasuke stopped by his house before he went on a mission. You know what genin are like. Kosho acts cool, but he's just a kid. And kids get excited when they get to talk to people they admire." Shisui looked wistful for a moment. "Kosho and Aoshiso used to worship the ground I walked on, but they've gotten to know me too well so the novelty's worn off."
Itachi snorted. "Are you telling me this because you want me to tell Sasuke to stop stealing away your genin team's worshipful attention of you?"
Shisui scratched his head. "I hadn't even thought about asking you that. That's not a bad idea."
Itachi fought valiantly to keep a straight face. "I'm just imagining what that conversation would sound like."
Shisui cringed. "On second thought, that doesn't sound like such a good idea after all." He paused before continuing in the original vein. "That got me thinking. It's the eleventh anniversary now. Sasuke'll be heading to the Military Police Department again. He gets a bit closer every year. Now that he's talking to Kagami about it too, he's knocking on the door of the truth."
Itachi looked down at his hands. "I'm going to tell him. I'm going to tell Sasuke the truth this year."
"What?" Shisui gasped. "You can't be serious!"
"I told him the truth about the Uchiha clan's plans for the coup. I'm going to tell him about the assassinations when he gets back from his mission."
Shisui put his hand on Itachi's shoulder. "If you'd like me to be there for it, I can."
Itachi gripped his friend's arm and gave him a small smile. "You helped me with the planning, but I executed the orders. I should tell him myself."
Shisui looked uneasy. "How did he react to the truth about the coup?"
Itachi looked uncomfortable. "Not well. He didn't believe me. He kicked over the coffee table and stormed out."
Shisui looked offended. "That's a nice coffee table."
"I haven't spoken to him since. We haven't been able to spend as much time together now that we need to stagger our ANBU missions. Usually only one of us is in the village at a time."
"If he reacted like that to news of the coup, I'm afraid to think what he'll do if you tell him about your mission."
"Me too," replied Itachi.
After her cousin was made the Head of the Branch House, Hyuga Neji had taken to wearing the traditional black and white Hyuga clothing. Hanabi enjoyed teasing him about it. Hinata was too terrified of her precarious position as the Hyuga heiress to do the same.
Whenever the three cousins trained together, Hanabi always tried to mess up her unflappable older cousin's immaculate clothing and hair. Although she wasn't a fire type, Hanabi was relatively proficient with the Uchiha clan's trademark Fireball Jutsu. She had been peer pressured by her three Uchiha teammates into learning it. Last year when they had been training together, Hanabi was able to surprise Neji with it and burn the edges of his long hair. The resulting scuffle and killer intent was amusing until Hinata got caught in the crossfire.
Hanabi was beginning to train for her chunin exams, so Neji and Hinata were working to help her perfect her Hyuga style taijutsu and ninjutsu as well as teach the genin several of their trademark jutsus. The three cousins shared water affinities.
Her teammates were both members of the Uchiha clan as was her sensei. Uchiha Kosho had awakened his Sharingan on his last mission, so he was training with Shisui-sensei to help perfect his use of the new visual jutsu.
Although they deemed it an unnecessary exercise, Shisui-sensei had brought chakra paper to their last team meeting. Hyuga Hanabi discovered that she had a water affinity, which was not news to her. Uchiha Kosho discovered that he was a fire affinity, which was not news to him. Uchiha Aoshiso discovered that he was a wind affinity, which had news for him. That explained why he had considerable difficulty picking up the Fireball jutsu - Kosho just said it was because he was an idiot.
Apparently wind affinities were a rare thing, the only other Konoha ninjas with wind affinities were Sarutobi Asuma and Uzumaki Naruto. Shisui was friendly with Asuma, so he had conned the other ninja into giving his student some pointers in controlling and learning wind jutsu. Aoshiso was hoping that this would give him an opportunity to learn the Wind Style: Rasen Shuriken from Uzumaki Naruto, but Shisui didn't think it would be wise. He explained to a skeptical Aoshiso that the jutsu he described was a S-Rank jutsu that required immense chakra reserves. Naruto could perform the jutsu a couple of times in one day; if Aoshiso attempted it once, he would probably die from chakra depletion.
Shisui-sensei could use Water Jutsu, but he didn't have a water affinity like Hanabi's sister and cousin, so he was unable to perform high level ones. He had seen several with his Sharingan and understood the basics of them; however, Hanabi had trouble perfecting the jutsu when she didn't have someone to demonstrate the technique for her.
After Hanabi had pierced the leaves of a nearby tree for the fifth time with the water senbon jutsu, Hinata nodded approvingly. "You've got it pretty well down, Hanabi. You're using a bit more chakra than you should be with your water transformation. The nature transformation is flawless. I had the same problem perfecting it myself, but with a little practice, you should have it down."
"Awesome, thanks, Hina!" said Hanabi. She held out a hand and carefully created a water senbon in it. "It's handy to be able to use chakra senbon and water senbon in case I run out of kunai."
Training today was especially difficult. The three Hyuga cousins were standing on the large lake by the corner of the Uchiha compound. Hinata explained that it would help them preserve chakra when performing back to back water style jutsu. It also served as a chakra control exercise. Hanabi had only recently learned to walk on water with her chakra.
Neji stood a little ways off, "Hinata's water senbon jutsu would be a good jutsu to practice against rotation. Hina, I want to you attack Hanabi with the water senbon. Hanabi, I want you to knock them away with rotation."
"Alright," said Hanabi nervously. Her chakra control hadn't improved enough to perfect the Main House technique. She hoped that Neji wouldn't be too disappointed. She summoned chakra, focusing on all of her chakra points as best she could. She didn't had time to doubt herself before Hinata attacked her with a flurry of senbon. "Hakkeshō Kaiten!"
Expelling chakra from as many chakra points as she could and twirling around, Hanabi was able to knock away a good amount of the chakra needles. When she stopped, breathing heavily, she noticed that several of Hinata's senbon had pierced her. Cursing, she pulled one out from her stomach, two from her lower back and three on each leg.
Hinata and Neji looked at each other before walking over to Hanabi. "Your chakra control is definitely improving, but I don't think you should use it until you are able to project chakra from ever point in your body," said Neji. "There are several openings in your rotation which can be breached as Hinata was able to with her water senbon. I don't think you should use this in the chunin exams until you've perfected it."
Hanabi pouted. "It's really close; I don't see why I shouldn't use it."
Hinata pulled out a senbon that she had missed from her shoulder blade. "It's dangerous having this many holes in your defense. It uses a lot of chakra and as you have it now, it doesn't knock away all of the projectiles. If these were poisoned senbon you'd be dead."
Hanabi sighed in defeat. "I guess you have a point. But I don't really have any other defensive jutsu. My book is comprised mostly of offensive jutsu."
Neji nodded in understanding. "I have a water style defensive jutsu that I want to teach you. This is effective in dodging weapons, but it will also block other people's ninjutsu. It's especially effective against fire style jutsu. It's called the water wall. Watch, here are the hand signs. "Tora - Mi - Ne - Mi - Tora."
"Okay," said Hanabi, moving her fingers into the signs as Neji. "Suiton: Suijinheki!" A wall of water sprung up in front of her from the pond. "Neat!"
As he reached down to collect the scroll, he noticed something strange at the top of the scroll. It was the crest of his clan and next to it, the crest of the Hyuga clan. What on earth? The scroll shouldn't have opened with his blood and chakra; he hadn't had anything to do with the original sealing. Many scrolls would open when anyone's blood and chakra was applied to them. However, these scrolls that they had collected were secret scrolls. They should only react to the Hokage's blood and chakra or the blood and chakra of the parties involved in the scroll.
He knew that he shouldn't read it; that was shinoibi rule number who knows. But it had opened to his chakra and it had his clan symbol and the Hyuga clan's symbol on it, so he felt justified. He could beg for Jiraiya's forgiveness later.
Glancing around the clearing to be sure no one was watching, he noted that Naruto had his back turned as he picked up some of the other scrolls. Yamato was still tending to Kakashi who had fainted again. That man fainted so often. Sasuke wouldn't be surprised if the Copy nin did it so he wouldn't have to walk back to Konoha himself. Poor Yamato would probably be forced to carry Kakashi on his back.
Confident that he wouldn't be noticed, he unfurled and quickly skimmed the text of the document. He was bowled over to see several familiar names among its contents.
In order to ensure peace in the Konoha Village and to further the balance of power, we Sarutobi Hiruzen, Uchiha Fugaku and Hyuga Hiashi agree to the following terms as witnessed by Shimura Danzo, Uchiha Inabi, Uchiha Tekka, Uchiha Yakumi, Uchiha Yashiro, Hyuga Kaede, Hyuga Kioshi and Hyuga Mitsui.
On her eighteenth birthday, Hyuga Hinata, the heiress of the Hyuga Clan, will be wed to Uchiha Itachi, the heir of the Uchiha Clan. Her dowry will be one third of the Hyuga Main House's wealth at that time. With her marriage, Hyuga Hinata will denounce any claims she has to be the next Head of the Hyuga Clan as she will become a member of the Uchiha Clan. The title will be passed to the next eligible heiress or heir within the Hyuga Clan.
Any children from this union in possession of the Byakugan will become members of the Hyuga Clan while any other children will be members of the Uchiha Clan.
Sarutobi Hiruzen
Uchiha Fugaku
Hyuga Hiashi
Witnesses:
Shimura Danzo
Uchiha Inabi
Uchiha Tekka
Uchiha Yakumi
Uchiha Yashiro
Hyuga Kaede
Hyuga Kioshi
Hyuga Mitsui
He was sure his hands were trembling as he rolled up the scroll again and sealed it shut. Hinata and Itachi? Why had he never heard of this before? The names of five of the witnesses were hauntingly familiar. He had seen them all together in another set of documents only this week.
A date was written at the top. This treaty was signed two months before the accident, the accident in which Sasuke's father as well as all of the Uchiha and the Hokage's witnesses had died. The only people still alive who had signed this document were the members of the Hyuga clan. The Third Hokage, Shimura Danzo and the six members of the Uchiha clan were now dead. Why had he not heard about this treaty? Was it a secret? Were the Hyuga trying to cover it up?
His mind flew back to the conversation he had with Uchiha Kagami before he left on his mission.
xxx
"I only attended one meeting. Hiruzen and Fugaku meet in the Hokage's sound proofed office for days after the conspiracy was uncovered. The co-conspirators attended some and even Hyuga Hiashi and the Hyuga clan elders attended a handful," said Kagami Uchiha.
"The Hyuga clan?" Sasuke asked, " Why on earth would the Hyuga clan have become involved in Uchiha clan business?"
"The Uchiha clan is very powerful, Sasuke. We have some of the strongest ninjas within our clan. We possess one of the most powerful kekkei genkai as well. However, the Uchiha are a warlike clan, we do not possess much in the way of material wealth. The Hyuga also possess a powerful kekkei genkai and strong ninja; however, they have something that we don't have: vast riches."
"Hm," pondered Sasuke. "So you're saying that if the Hyuga clan attended this meeting, it was most likely because the Hokage was relying on them to offer the Uchiha a monetary bribe?"
"That would be my best guess."
xxx
A monetary bribe, a wealthy bride. The Hyuga clan would have to sign over one third of their wealth to the Uchiha clan when Hinata and Itachi were married. The fact the money transfer would have to wait until Hinata's eighteenth birthday ensured the Uchiha clan's good behavior until then. The Hyuga clan would benefit in the chance that Hinata had any children with the Byakugan. The Hyuga clan was hard on Hinata, but they were very impressed with Itachi. They had been impressed even eleven years ago when his brother was only thirteen.
"Hey, Panther, is everything alright. You look pale? Is that wound still bothering you?" the fox masked nin asked wandering up to him. He held out the storage scroll and Sasuke dropped the Uchiha-Hyuga treaty in it.
"I'll be fine," replied Sasuke.
Here's a list of the jutsus used:
Raikiri - Lightning Blade
Hyōton: Tsubame Fubuki - Ice Style: Swallow Snow Storm
Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu - Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu
Hyōton: Haryū Mōko - Ice Release: Tearing Dragon Fierce Tiger
Fūton: Shinkūha - Wind Style: Vacuum Blast
Katon: Zukokku - Fire Style: Searing Migraine
Suiton: Suijinheki - Water Style: Water Wall
Kamui
Mokuton: Mokusatsu Shibari no Jutsu - Wood Style: Silent Strangle Jutsu
Suiton: Suigadan - Water Style: Water Fang Bullet
Raiton: Gian - Lightning Style: False Darkness
Chidori Eisō - Chidori Sharp Spear
Hakkeshō Kaiten - Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven
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