A Will of Namazu
Author's note 1: Finally started this new series ''Hannibal'' – in French, of course. But I don't mind English. And it's FAN-TAS-TIC! #iamafaniamafan. I'm so completely enthralled by the story! And in love!
So I've read all your reviews and I'm really happy that you seemed to like A Will of Namazu. As my very first SasuHina fanfiction I needed to make you discover the inner pains Hinata managed to hide within and from everyone else. She can be weak for many, but she could also be stronger for others. I think she is stronger than anyone gives her credit for but for some reasons of mine, I want to see her broken. I want you to see her broken. Then blackened, a bit like Sasuke. Will she be considered as an enemy of Konohagakure? I'll be the judge of that. Thank you for your support and reviews!
Author's note 2: And because this is a Romance/Hurt/Comfort fanfiction, you'll see why I think Hyuuga Hinata should have been the one to end up with Uchiha Sasuke. For this chapter, I was inspired by Azula's mental breakdown (from ''Avatar: The Last Airbender''). Watch it on YouTube, tap « Azula's Mental Breakdown » and you'll find it; her last battle against her brother Zuko left her absolutely broken and when she cried...it makes me think that Hinata's own mental breakdown is kind of similar.
By the way, I'm sure everyone has read ''Naruto'''s last chapter by now and to put it lightly...I'm so disappointed. Especially with Sakura. Didn't she confess to Naruto? This is...I don't have any words to describe that. Sure, Naruto and Hinata look great together but I had this feeling that Hinata would have been absolutely gorgeous with Sasuke. She understands everyone!
Uh. Whatever.
Find a song to listen to while reading.
Chapter Four : Red in the Snow
Their camp was situated on the west of her position behind snowy hills, according to the man she had caught sneaking on her three hours ago. Hinata's Byakugan was strong and efficient enough to see through powerful genjutsu and the more she learned with the Hyuuga scrolls she took with her weeks ago, the longer she could cast some dangerous genjutsu over her preys to use them. Part of the training she imposed on herself concerned all sorts of ninjutsu and genjutsu she could learn and utilize them to protect herself and kill – she was still a kunoichi and the last times she had killed were out of necessity. Sort of. Or maybe Hinata didn't know if killing was becoming something she did most of the time because she didn't want to have to face her regrets later or because she feared retaliation. Killing was something the old Hyuuga Hinata had always despised and avoided – unless she really had no further choice – but now that she had faced the horrors of the Fourth Shinobi War, hesitation seemed to have vanished from her mind and thoughts. The void that her mind was working on pushed all forms of perplexity away and if Hinata wanted to be frank, she wouldn't need to lie to herself; she would have already broken in tears after having taken the life of a target because she was too kind-hearted for a kunoichi, too innocent to hurt someone very badly. This time she had stayed silent and had listened, head slightly tilted, to the wind blowing furiously through the corpse's clothes. There were no tears, they would have frozen on her cheeks. And for several seconds she had watched her work, had admired the blood reddening the pure, white snow she loved so much.
She was a kunoichi. Shinobis killed. Hinata was an innocent and kind kunoichi but this time, there were no kindness and no innocence in this crime.
The bloody, slaughtered body she had buried under tons of snow was a horrible beginning but efficiently worth it. The idea of bursting into tears hadn't even crossed her mind and Hinata had both sounded and looked so aloof that it was alien to act like an actual Hyuuga – or something else. Her clan members sure were aloof persons who veiled their emotions behind those impassive masks but for someone like Hinata, it sounded out of place. Wrong. Her father had told her she was the spitting image of her mother – kind-hearted, soft and very beautiful. Exotic. She gave smiles that were so similar to her that it was hurting her father, their looks were just so alike. So kind and innocent. 'Weakling', Hinata had been called.
But weaknesses themselves could hide a greater, darker strenght within.
What did Neji's death did to her exactly? She had thought that she would likely be able to lie her way around and show that coping with the deaths of so many people wouldn't break her, she had said that her father's passing wouldn't have such an impact on her. Had she been wrong all this time? More than likely. Her smiles and the looks she would give to anyone here for her spoke for herself, her behaviour showed more agressiveness and more anger towards everyone in her path. Hinata had begun to shut down, her mind slowly becoming the void that was starting to invade her entire body and soul. This void erased any form of rational thought that the Hyuuga Hinata everyone in Konohagakure knew was still the one they used to love and know; it was blackened, ruled by an unique thought this woman seemed to follow. If deciding to become stronger was her purpose, then something must have driven her to start this killing rampage on her path – a path where she could still count the number of corpses she was leaving behind. Anger? Sadness? Or a darker feeling that, strangely, has begun to fuel her resentment and this alien killing intent radiating off from her?
White eyes closed slowly behind the cloth that was covering them and she activated her Byakugan. The camp was fairly large and occupied a good portion of the hill; there were many people groveling around, talking with animosity. Concentrating a little more she could perceive the traps set all around their lair; thin, almost invisible strings shaken by the gentle breeze. They were everywhere – in the air, on the ground (while being covered by snow), everywhere! Had she not been a Byakugan user and extended her range of vision she would have been caught long before she could have shed blood. Hinata hadn't trained to read on someone's lips (something she vowed to do right after having stolen the scrolls) but there were words brought to her by the wind. She leaned closer.
''...sealed completely...can't open...need a Hyuuga…''
This perked Hinata's attention. Fighting against her own astonishment she stealthily moved and blended into the snow, for her coat was as white as the frozen element. Why would those thieves need a Hyuuga? Were the scrolls really sealed? And more importantly, did those sacred scrolls belong to the Hyuuga clan?
There was ruff grunt. ''We're no shinobis and certainly not Hyuuga. Even if we're skilled in our domain we'd be long dead before we got one in our hands.'' A short pause and a curse. ''Why did those rich imbeciles have those scrolls anyway? They don't even belong to the Hyuuga clan and don't have their freaky white eyes!''
''That Shion guy said those scrolls were given to the males of his family from generation to generation, bla bla bla...but I think he was lying. Why in the world such a proud clan would give their sacred scrolls to idiotic rich civilians who aren't even capable to protect themselves? From what we've gathered about them, the Hyuuga clan is overprotective of their secrets and their eyes, because they wouldn't want them in the hands of someone who would use their power in a wrong way, they're too selfish to share. So the question is, how the hell did they get those scrolls?''
''Now isn't the time to answer riddles, idiot!'' There was another pause in which the wind whistled before their words rang in Hinata's strained ears. ''Taka told us to be observant and on watch, he must be expecting some company soon since those Shion must have ratted us out to a Shinobi Village. And if we're damn lucky – which I seriously doubt considering Taka's malchance – we won't have to deal with shinobis from the Hidden Village of the Leaf and possibly irate Hyuugas. Who is that desperate to die by their hands? I'm not and I'll tell you what: if a Hyuuga shows up here to kill us, just run! I heard their techniques are deadly!''
''But what if Taka hears about our—''
They were still talking but Hinata had already tuned them out as she processed all those informations in her mind – precious informations that were indeed very interesting, more interesting than ever now. She didn't even react to the hushed tone of those two men as they shared dreading thoughts and words that they surely didn't want anyone else to hear, she was too caught up in her thoughts. And Hinata was, at this point, on the verge of screaming in outrage. She had even deactivated her Byakugan to collect her thoughts in blackness.
The scrolls were sealed by the Hyuuga clan. The scrolls could only be unsealed by the Hyuuga clan only. Those scrolls were stolen and belonged to the Hyuuga clan! How did those Shion happen to have these in their hands? If this was true and not some made up lie by those thugs then there were numerous possibilities and explanations to this unamusing charade – because Hinata, who was thoroughly against violence, was feeling rather eager to shed the blood of every trap master of this camp.
Either A: a member of the Hyuuga clan, from the Branch House or the Main House, had certainly long ago disappeared from Konohagakure and was carrying with him/her three sacred scrolls belonging to the clan. The possibilities of him/her having been attacked while travelling were impossible to count but there was a high chance that the Hyuuga shinobi was likely dead. His/Her scrolls may have been found on his/her corpse by those Shion guys.
Either B: the Hyuuga faced a funest fate and must have been murdered – in that case, Hinata feared that she would possibly find well conserved Hyuuga eyes somewhere in this camp and if someone had them transplanted in his eyeballs, plucking the eyeballs out while making the profanator suffer the living hell would somehow relieve her. The sacred scrolls may have been taken on the corpse, probably by Shion guys in the past and they must have gushed over their prize so many times that they must have forgotten the real story. Lying must have been so much easier than telling the truth, thus avoiding a cold, indignant humiliation and a cruel, extremely painful death from the hands of a Hyuuga should he hear about the scrolls.
Either C: ...there were liars from the beginning and those Shion might be guilty in some way or another, along with those thieves. Maybe they were partners and the theft was some kind of trap that certainly would have led to an ambush to whoever had come to help them recover their 'stolen treasure'. This assumption may be considered as paranoid but who would trust anyone? Hinata was done trusting everyone's words. Especially Naruto's.
Hinata actually struggled to keep down those urges to get out of her hideout and slaughter everyone in this camp of thieves. No matter what they would want to say for their defense it wouldn't do it. Stealing sacred scrolls from her clan was already something she couldn't tolerate but to have the gall to pretend that those scrolls were passed from generation to generation in a simple civilian family was outrageous, insulting. Thinking about just made her hands shake in eagerness to hurt, to tear apart – to kill.
The thought alone should have shocked her to the bone but she didn't even flinch or blink, so concentrated on visualizing the terrible slaughter she was about to commit. Her face, which was half covered by the cloth around her eyes, showed a gentle, 'almost warm' smile. It would have looked awfully wrong if her lavender eyes were uncovered and cast the look devoid of emotion they were holding. If you were very attentive and sensitive, you would have felt that intense yet kept down killing intent floating around her, contrasting with this smile of hers on her pink, lush lips. Anyone who knew Hyuuga Hinata as the kindest woman would be unpleasantly proven wrong if they were to say that she was incapable of feeling and doing something so intense and dark as assassinating mercilessly, because her personality was just too innocent and sweet to be questioned. Everyone thought and affirmed that she was far too innocent to have done something so horrible.
Was she still that innocent and sweet since her terrible mental breakdown?
'I've buried myself.'
No one in this camp was going to remain alive. Hyuuga Hinata will make sure of that. There will be red in the snow.
As dawn began to light everything around him with the first sunbeams Uchiha Sasuke had wasted no time in waiting for the three others to catch up – they will eventually and if one of them tried to slow him down, there will be blood. He had left long before Kakashi and Naruto could stop him. The young avenger didn't sleep last night and couldn't have found rest with the nightmares plaguing and waiting for him; remaining awake had become a habit he couldn't get rid of. Seeing his dead parents in his nightmares, listening to Itachi's cruel words telling him he wasn't even worth killing and having to face the walking corpse of his older brother had broken something in his mind that made everyone question his sanity: mental issues were a matter that no one was comfortable with and Sasuke would bet his arm that Haruno Sakura was stupid enough to think that they could rebuild their life together if – always that if, because Sakura was the kind of woman who would always try to have him even if he was blackened with madness – he accepted to let her get him. No matter what would transpire of the consequences of her words and actions, he was sure that the pink-haired idiot would find a way to forgive him for any of his actions.
So Sasuke didn't feel any regret for piercing Sakura with his Chidori.
''Sasuke…'' her voice cracked slightly, as if she was ready to cry. ''Since when—''
His obsidian eyes were as cold as the winter itself and showed a promise of death. He didn't even want to humour her and chose to respond. ''Since you and Naruto brought me back to Konoha. Against my will. I had this feeling that this buffoon would have found a way to sway the other Kage into letting me go despite my crimes, because he had always thought that I still could come back as Uchiha Sasuke and have a life there. I really should have killed you when I had the chance. Had the Copy-Ninja not interfered your body would be buried under tones of water thanks to my Chidori.'' He almost smirked as Sakura flinched at his words and some tears fell from her green eyes. ''Did you ever wonder why I always wanted to cut my ties with you all and this dreaded village?''
She didn't respond. Of course not.
''Of course not.'' Sasuke deadpanned. ''Here, let me show you.''
And before she could even open her lips in a scream she felt the burning, extremely painful blow of his powerful jutsu in her chest. Sakura hadn't seen him move but she could feel this excruciating pain. It radiated through her body like thousands of burning nerves all hit at the same time, rendering her completely still. Her body couldn't respond to her and all the poor girl could do was watching those obsidian eyes looking down at her with cold, hurtful indifference. Her blood must be pouring down on his arm, soaking his arm wet with the dark liquid.
Viridian eyes finally widened in realization and she was about to cough harshly when his free hand clamped her mouth shut in a painful grip. Sakura coughed in his hand, blood spluttering through his fingers, but Sasuke didn't seem to care as he just leaned in without breaking contact. Her vision was already starting to blurry but she managed to blink away the blurredness from her tearful eyes. Who was this man? He really wasn't the Uchiha Sasuke she had been in love with all those years ago, it was…
A monster.
''Poor, poor Haruno Sakura,'' he sneered, venom dripping with such force that she trembled. ''An idiotic girl like you won't ever spark some interest in me. What do you know about love? You can't love someone you don't even understand, stupid girl. It's finally time to end your fucking fantasy. But once again, I'm thanking you for your cooperation.''
By eliminating Sakura on the spot he will succeed in stopping the other two, eventually escaping them. Haruno Sakura being the only medic in Team 7 skilled enough to heal whatever kind of injury she could be able to heal herself but with this severe injury in her chest, the healing would be quite difficult. Sasuke found himself pleasantly surprised not to care about Sakura's fate; the girl had it coming. Had Kakashi not interfered she would have been long dead – finally dead and not still alive, still hoping and being this annoying. Should he have snapped a little earlier, he would have gone to Naruto and not the pink-haired idiot. But his plan would have eventually backfired as she would have healed the blonde dobe in no time and they would have already been on his heels, as soon as the Jinchuuriki was up on his feet. So yes, eliminating Sakura had been the best solution to the problem and since there musn't be any village nearby she would be dead before Kakashi and Naruto could ask for help. And Sasuke may have been an absolute heartless bastard for 'thanking her for being cooperative' but she had been waiting to tell him this for a while, always fidgeting in his presence and under his hard stare. He couldn't have been more lucky. Sakura was too shallow to understand her long-time 'love' and would probably be disgusted by those sides of him – that is, if she survived his Chidori.
Finally.
The 'maid' on his back was still stuck in his Tsukuyomi, maybe long brain-dead for all he could care since she wasn't a shinobi and didn't have the basics to break away from a genjutsu. Good, he would be free to slaughter her in the best way she deserved. The mission? None of his business. He had never sworn he wouldn't betray Konohagakure ever again and he never would. Uzumaki Naruto and Haruno Sakura had been the stupidest 'teammates' to think that he would accept a life in the village that had the Uchiha clan slaughtered by one of their kin, Senju Tsunade had been foolish and incompetent enough to let him go on a stupid C-rank mission and give him his Sharingan back (it may be half of its power but enough for now). Konohagakure will remain hated by Uchiha Sasuke for having messed up with his family and made them look like traitors. Severing and cutting his bonds off with this village was the best way to remain in the shadows and out of their damn business. Sasuke didn't even want to think about becoming Rokudaime Hokage in this village ever again, he had enough of it. First brought back by this imbecile, this blonde loudmouth, then branded? Everyone had limits, even Uchiha Sasuke and being branded was the last thing he wanted to be. It had to be removed, one way or another. The seal on his forehead would remain there forever, unless…
Of course! Sasuke almost cursed out loud. There was someone who would know about this kind of seal. And the funny thing?
She also happened to be a missing-nin.
The reason – the only reason – Senju Tsunade hadn't been able to beat the hell out of the two Elders after having heard their words about adding Hyuuga Hinata into their Bingo Book was just because Shizune had burst in her office to tell her that the Hyuuga Council requested a meeting with the Godaime Hokage. She had only taken five minutes to reach her sensei's office but it had been long enough for the Sannin to tear her entire office apart just to reach the two Elder bastards; Tsunade had bee wild and livid, the veins on her forehead testifying her wrath. Even if Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu were two of the most powerful shinobis of their village, Tsunade was just as powerful as they were. They would have barely made it alive had Shizune not burst in.
Their decision was everything but for the good the village. Was it some kind of sick joke or were the Elders actually thinking about adding an innocent kunoichi into the Bingo Book just because they feared that she must have acted like Uchiha Sasuke did in the past? Hyuuga Hinata was no traitor, had no interest in joining Orochimaru (who had miraculously been resurrected for a reason Tsunade still couldn't stand) to grow stronger or...or anything like that. The Hyuuga clan will scream in outrage if she talked about the rash decision and the nerve of those sons of bitches, there was no doubt that Hyuuga Hanabi – who had been made the heiress after Hinata's 'defection' – would hex Homura and Koharu for even demanding something that insulting.
''You two are pathetic!'' Tsunade had spat with venom in their faces. ''Why the hell should I comply? Are you scared of something? Hyuuga Hinata isn't Uchiha Sasuke and will never be, for God's sake!''
Tsunade swore she had seen a slight – almost imperceptible – tremor on Homura's cheek when she had roared that last sentence seconds ago before she had stormed out of her ravaged office but again, her eyes could have played tricks on her.
'But what if…'
Those bastards, along with Danzo, had been responsible for orchestring the Uchiha massacre all those years ago, Tsunade hadn't forgotten about this and would gladly chew them about this if they tried to force her to add one of her most trusted kunoichi into the Bingo Book again. Homura and Koharu may resent her for Pein's invasion in their village but in the end they were more guilty than she was and for that, she was sure that their life wouldn't last; it will be a matter of time until the last Uchiha decides to slaughter them. But there was that nagging feeling about Hinata that bothered Tsunade and while she wouldn't admit it to anyone beside Shizune, she was worried and suspicious about the sudden decision of the Elders.
She had eventually exposed her thoughts to Hyuuga Hanabi who, despite her aloof and unnerving attitude, showed intense emotions when Tsunade had evoked Hinata; the girl had looked worried sick about her older sister and completely ready to burst into tears – even though she controlled herself quite well. It took much more self-control to fool the blonde Sannin. Hanabi had wasted no time in gathering the Hyuuga Council, face hardened and typical of the Hyuuga, and had almost immediately summoned a meeting with the Elders. She had to admit that the young girl didn't look someone who had lost her father weeks ago due to his mysterious death and while all the Hyuuga clan was damn good in hiding their emotions behind this emotionless mask, the legendary kunoichi
If there wasn't any bloodshed in the following days, then Tsunade would just have to be patient for it.
Red. Red everywhere around him, reddened snow. Red in the snow. And a white figure spinning around, moving with such grace that it actually looked like a dance. Screams of agony from his men piercing his ears. A woman dancing around, sporting a beautiful smile and eyes devoid of any emotion – an extremely bizarre and disturbing contrast regarding her exotic beauty – while slaughtering his minions.
Blood spluttered out of Taka's mouth as he coughed harshly, his lungs on fire and his head throbbing with one hell of headache. The pain that pinned his body down was unbearable and the man found himself very tempted to howl through this torture. After some minutes of coughing and blood spilling over his chin he slowly opened his eyes, fearing the worst.
Magnificent, white lavender eyes staring right at him were the first thing he saw and that made him gasp in fright and jump. Or so he thought he jumped; trying to move his fingers Taka realized in horror that he couldn't move at all. It was as if his body was completely frozen everywhere it hurt. His blue eyes widened in growing dread as he began to realize that his life might be taken in a few minutes. Brutally taken.
A warm, soft smile adorned the face of the stunning girl before him, which looked disturbing and completely in contrast with those creepy white eyes devoid of any emotion. ''You're awake at last, I was beginning to worry,'' she said in a polite tone. ''We have much to talk about, just you and me. It's no use trying to move, I've blocked all your chakra points for quite a while. In fact, we have hours before us.''
His eyes wandered around him. They weren't outside anymore as the landscape was made of dark walls. A few lights were turned on and the man could vaguely recognize the surroundings as his underground quarters, built under tons of snow to bury himself and work on his experimentations. A sense of slight panic washed over him and he had to swallow a few times to calm down. If they were in his hidden underground quarters then that surely meant she had found...
Taka had to take several deep breaths before addressing her in his hoarse voice. ''What...what have you done?''
The smile remained warm while the eyes remained devoid. ''Oh, I'm sorry.'' Though she didn't even sound sorry at all. ''I forget my manners. Since you're asking me this I shall answer truthfully: I've slaughtered all of your men in this camp, activated all your traps and fooled them in. This has taken me quite a while to count them all but all of them are definitely dead.'' Seeing his horror-stricken look she had the decence to 'look sorry' while smiling. ''But that's not as horrible as you think, compared to what you've been keeping hidden in your lair.''
And then he felt it. It had been kept down or Taka was too stunned to actually feel it but there was an intense killing intent swarming around this female; it was so dark and yet rather hard to notice because of the distraction her smile caused. In his frantic terror he recognized the bocal she was showing him, holding the pair of white eyes so similar to her own. His heartbeat missed a beat before going faster as terror filled him completely and Taka couldn't help but silently wish that the girl would let him go. Alive.
''My clan is very protective of its secrets concerning our Byakugan because they fear that if a family member is killed, his eyes will be taken and all its precious secrets about our dojutsu stolen,'' she said casually while looking at the white eyes in the bocal with sorrow on her beautiful face. ''That's why we seal them before dying. But the possibility of some scum taking them even if they are sealed is high and frightening. However, we're not known for hiding because some third-rate psychopath like you steal our secrets – we hunt them down until we have them in our hands and what we do with them...it isn't pretty at all. So my three questions are,'' she ticked off three slender, feminine fingers to emphasize her point. ''Whose Hyuuga these eyes belong to, why did you steal those scrolls and why are you keeping them? I know you're surely aware that you won't last longer than five minutes against me, certainly not without two arms missing.''
Hinata would never be able to say where all this confidence came to her but it felt good. So good. And it was so good to see this horror-stricken and terror-filled look in the man's eyes that she almost giggled – it would surely have been absolutely weird and insane to giggle over someone in such a horrible state but again, Hyuuga Hinata could no longer call herself sane (the Hyuuga was sure that her sanity had been massacred, torn off her along with Neji and her father). It also felt immensely good to hear his yells of anguish at discovering that his arms were, indeed, missing; there were now two bloody, bandaged stumps and his limbs were currently feeding the rats. Hinata had sliced them off after she had incapacitated him with an axe she had found in the camp, using the bloody battlefield to shed even more blood from the son of bitch who killed a member of her clan.
She might not be sane anymore, but Hyuuga Hinata still could avenge a late Hyuuga by slaughtering the culprit.
Having enough of hearing him scream his head off she backhanded him, effectively cutting him off. She wasn't smiling anymore and her face was frigtheningly blank.
''Is that it?'' Not even waiting for an answer she abruptly leaned in, milky white eyes staring into widened, terror-stricken blue eyes with such force that he couldn't find the will to look away. ''Now talk.''
She didn't have to tell him twice. ''I-I don't know!'' he managed to scream. ''We found the body like that! It was over twenty years ago w-when my former boss brought it back to Snow Country and said that w-we'll keep his eyes. He never said why we should keep them.''
''You mean he was already dead when you found him?'' She wasn't buying it. And the bastard knew it.
''Yes! He told us that Hyuuga eyes have powerful properties that could help us. He said that we would be able to see much further than normal eyes would see, that we could be stronger t-to expand our business!'' He gulped upon seeing the girl leaning in again, her white eyes haunting him. ''H-he told us to keep the eyes in case we'd need other pairs of Hyuuga eyes…''
Dread filled Taka once again as Hinata slowly narrowed her eyes at him and he gasped loudly. ''A-alright!'' he shrieked once again, panicking. ''I'll tell you everything, just don't kill me please!''
That she could promise. But lying was also becoming instinctive to Hyuuga Hinata.
Hinata found herself hours later staring at the battered, massacred and lifeless body of this Taka man lying in the ground, a thoughtful frown marring her face. She had dragged him away a bit earlier from the town in Snow Country to 'have a last chat' away from the destroyed battlefield (she had deemed necessary to bomb the whole place to cover any marks of her passage and macabre slaughter, it wouldn't be good if anyone from a Hidden Village were to find out. Especially the shinobis from the Hidden Leaf). The fact that she was gripping his decapitated head between her gloved hands wasn't really helping but she didn't even seem to mind. Or notice. She was mulling over the informations that sack of bile had revealed and even failed to acknowledge the crows that had started to gather over the corpse and nibble the fresh flesh.
She looked up at the bright sky, silent. Twenty years ago a member of the Hyuuga clan never returned to Konoha, making everyone who knew him personally worried. She couldn't know because she wasn't born at the time but there was...an intense feeling that made her heart clench at the thought of this Hyuuga member who never came back home. Sadness, she realized soon enough. Sorrow and anger. Shinobis were made to kill their enemies but when they were the ones massacred because of such petty reason as power, everyone questioned everyone else to know why they existed in the first place. This Hyuuga must have been fulfilling a mission for his village when he had been ambushed and killed and robbed, he might have made enemies during his lifetime but no one could have been that idiotic and suicidal to do that to a member of a clan as important and famous as the Hyuuga. This hunger for power was mind-eating.
She gripped the head a little more tightly between her hands and let out a giggle. ''Hunger and envy,'' she croaked between two giggles. ''I truly don't understand how people like you could disregard someone's life just to obtain power for something as meaningless and worthless as expanding business like…'' More giggles escaped her and she hastily pulled her gloves off to grasp the decapitated head harder, to the point that she could hear the bones crack under the sudden strenght sporting her grip.
Had Aburame Shino and Inuzuka Kiba been here with they would have stared at her with worry in their eyes, wondering if their friend was losing her mind. In her own Hinata was, indeed, losing herself to insanity; the look in her pearly white eyes, her behaviour in front of one of her victims were sufficent to guess her damaged mental state. Half-alking, half-giggling to the beheaded man she told him about how much she wished there wasn't madness in this world, how much she wanted to live peacefully without having to kill anyone, how much she wished this Fourth Shinobi War hadn't taken her brother away, how much she wished that her father hadn't suddenly died in such bizarre circumstances saying her words she had never heard before – how much she had never wanted to let madness overcome her mind so easily!
''Do you know how much this killing intent I feel everytime is growing inside of me?!'' Hinata was, at this point, shouting at the head at the top of her lungs with pure hatred visible on her beautiful face, eyes impossibly wide. ''It's constantly growing and I can't do anything to prevent it, to vainquish it! It's gaining power over me, taking over and I just can't have the upper hand against it! I. Just. Can't. Defeat. That! And you all…''
She took a time to breathe but it wasn't enough. It just wasn't enough. The death grip she had on the head was straining her hands but she didn't care – her thoughts were rushing in her mind, making sense or not, sane or not, and she couldn't stop that. Once again there were memories of Konohagakure – of her 'friends' – flashing in her mind while all those thoughts were causing an intense headache. There was cheerful laughter and she swore she could hear Uzumaki Naruto's voice right beside her.
''Guys, let's all have the night to celebrate!'' he had exclaimed, fist pumped in the air and grinning with this ever joyful nature in him.
She could hear their acceptance, see the genuine smiles on Sakura, Ino and everyone else she knew. Everyone had followed the hero of Konoha. Hinata had tagged along, smiling (but it was another facade). She just went with them because she was still hoping that Naruto would talk to her, comfort her about Neji's death.
Again there had the bitter, hurtful ignorance.
Her breath hitched in her throat and she felt her chakra flare inside her, unconsciously.
Days passed, turning to weeks. No Uzumaki Naruto showing at the Hyuuga gates. And there was this loathing silence that Hinata had grown to hate. It was becoming rather...hurtful. If she looked outside with her Byakugan she could see Naruto far away, far away from her and the Hyuuga estate – with Haruno Sakura or Uchiha Sasuke in his cell. But never at her side.
Not once.
Her nails dug into the skin and actually managed to piece it, digging deep into the skull and shattering it. Hinata's breaths were quickening, as if she was panicking. She either ignored or didn't notice the blood trickling through her fingers. The haunted look in her lavender eyes was slowly turning into one of those maddened looks she was terrorized to see into her reflection.
He lied. You never came. I was waiting for you. Where have you been? I'm turning invisible again. I wanted you to come to me and talk. Naruto? I'm scared.
I'm scared...of myself.
Naruto...my father...
Where were you? Where you avoiding me?
Where have you been?
I don't know what to feel...
Where have you been?
Something is wrong...with me...
Where. Have. You. Been?
...Father... Neji...
And with that, Hyuuga Hinata finally snapped.
The screams that escaped from her mouth were loud, so loud that they must be echoing through the forest. Anguish, anger, resentment, every emotion she had confined deep in her soul and mind were finally coming out of her in those terrible screams. The young Hyuuga was so caught up in her mental breakdown that she never registered herself bringing up a sharp kunai, plunging it into the horror-stricken face that would look like this until decaying, spilling blood all over her pale face and white coat. She drew it back, then plunged it again and stabbed hard with this kunai rendered extremely piercing because of her chakra. The sound of broken bones was awful but never stopped her wild gesture. Again and again, again and again. Until there was nothing left but an horribly ravaged, bloodied head with thousands of broken bones. Her body moved on its own towards the headless body and she attacked it with full force, still screaming at the top of her lungs. Her face now marred with madness, Hinata massacred the lifeless body of Taka even more than the others, breaking bones and emitting this dark aura – this growing killing intent she was talking about before her mental breakdown, she was showing it with this pure, authentic savagery that even her innocence and kind nature couldn't beat. She ignored the blood, didn't see the blood, she just wanted to slaughter and let the world hear her out, hear all her damaged mind and soul – hear and watch her mental breakdown like she would have wanted all Konohagakure to watch this because no one noticed through the surface. Not even Kiba and Shino, who had been two of the only ones to see that she wasn't well.
Had this always been buried under her smiles? Under this innocence? The war and Konohagakure had taken everything, leaving Hyuuga Hinata alone and dealing with a kind of grief that had strangled and killed the older Hyuuga Hinata that everyone knew and loved; the Fourth Shinobi War had taken Neji from her and somehow...Konoha had taken her father as well.
Would someone or something take Hanabi too?
Because she didn't know how and when, but there had been something wrong about Hyuuga Hiashi after the events of the Fourth Shinobi War. Maybe Hanabi and other members of the Main House had taken notice of it and brushed it off but Hinata had been more suspicious: there had been those late excursions out of the Hyuuga estate, when everyone was asleep, with a Hyuuga guard of the Branch House towards a meeting she hadn't heard of. She hadn't told anyone about this because they were all grieving over Neji's loss to the bloody war but there had been a clenching, dreadful feeling about her father and the fact that she couldn't have guessed what it was before he died had triggered something deep in her mind. First Neji, then her father? Was Hanabi next? There had to be something they had missed – that she had missed – to make her father decide to suddenly die.
What had she missed? What had she not seen?
Why had her father let himself die? Where was the truth?
She didn't know. Couldn't know.
So Hyuuga Hinata kept screaming and stabbing, spilling red in the snow. The world needed to hear her.
''She's stable. Finally.'' A voice stated.
A tired sigh. ''For how long? She has lost so much blood...''
A terrorized whisper. ''Who...who do you think did that to this girl?''
A tense pause. Then another whisper. ''Who knows.''
Back in Konohagakure, Tsunade's mug of hot coffee suddenly cracked when she was about to reach it.
Sharp, brown eyes widened at this. The last time...the last time this kind of phenomenom happened had been when Sabaku No Gaara had been captured by the Akatsuki and his Tailed Beast taken from him. All hope had seemed to be lost until Chiyo-baasama had decided, in an ultimate act of redemption and love, to save the young Godaime Kazekage by giving him her own life. Not believing in coincidences the Sannin quickly sobered up and stormed towards her door.
''Shizune!'' Tsunade barked as she wrung it open, effectively startling her student. ''Have Inuzuka Kiba and Aburame Shino ready for a retrieval mission right. Now!''
She wouldn't tell her student how worried she felt, because that feeling of dread was absolutely nothing compared to the fear that would overthrow her if her hunch wasn't just a hunch. The least she could do right now was wait until Inuzuka and Aburame come back with her...alive and well.
Tsunade had only waited for eight minutes before the two shinobis showed up running, confusion clearly visible on their face as they entered the still destroyed office of the Hokage. However their shock was brutally dismissed as the blonde Sannin barked again, not even letting them the time to ask one question.
''Your mission is to bring Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke, Uzumaki Naruto and Hatake Kakashi back in Konohagakure right now! I hereby forbid to rest until you found them. Understood?''
Because if she was right about this hunch of hers, then something terrible has once again happened to Team 7 and a certain pink-haired kunoichi.