Crimson Seal - 8

Quick Poll: Favorite Sasuke pairing?

And half of you should probably know that you missed the first chapter of the two that were uploaded the other day. (deja vu and references to the matrix will always be your hint that you're getting ahead of yourself in my stories)

His gaze kept traveling back to the large gate at the front of the village, still trying to make sense of the situation.

She should have been back by now. Hinata should have been back here before them. She departed from the construction site two- No, it was close to three hours now and she still was no where to be seen.

He had even asked the villagers that were usually around the gate at the time she would have been back. If she had taken the right path, which she had. The whole squad has seen her run right down it and at that pace she would have gotten back to the village even earlier. Still, the ninja that guarded the gate reported no sightings of her, nothing unusual happening.

So why wasn't she back yet?

The mission was done she should have been here. Unless... unless this latest, he nearly sighed aloud. What was the best way to word it? Lack of completion? It was certainly better than using the f-word that Hinata seemed to dread whenever they came back from a mission and she hadn't quite gotten her part right. She always fell short in some aspect.

He could only think of one logical explanation for that though. That it was the pressure of her clan. He knew she wasn't the heiress anymore. Everyone in the village knew that Hanabi was the new heiress, the daughter Hiashi was training to lead the clan one day. According to Kurenai when he spoke with her about it once Hiashi felt Hinata was no longer fit to be heiress. That even though she was born first her sister was more qualified for the position. That Hiashi had been disappointed with his eldest daughter's performance in both the school and now the missions.

The fact that she had not even completed one was not helping matters in the least. So, if she had taken a longer path or stayed out there in the forest to think about this last mission she must be miserable. She certainly didn't smile as often as she used to.

He realized her clan had expected more from her than his did of him, but still. Kiba didn't understand what else she could do to please her father. Besides finish the missions and train her ninja skills more. Was she suppose to take back the heiress title from Hanabi? Would that help at all?

It was a complete mystery to him how the clan operated. Especially since the firstborn was usually made the heir. That had been the case with Hiashi and his brother, Hizashi had become part of the Branch House. So technically Hanabi should be of the Branch House since she was born second, but since she was now the heiress did that make her and Hinata's positions switched? Was Hinata suppose to join the Branch House now?

He had been on the verge of asking Hinata that very question once when Kurenai caught his eye and gave a shake of her head. As if to tell him not to ask her that, as if if he did she would breakdown right there and start crying.

She probably thought they didn't notice or denied that they had seen her upset before after coming out of the compound. Even in the mornings when she must have only been awake for a few minutes her eyes would be a light red from fresh tears. The reason for it was never given, even when she would rub at them occasionally afterward, making sure they were dry.

It bothered him more than he would like that she would walk around as if everything was fine when it obviously wasn't. If she was crying there had to be a problem at that compound. Which was evident in the Main Branch. Hiashi didn't even look at his daughter when she left, always focused on the younger sibling in some strict training session. It was a wonder Hinata's eyes weren't red all the time with the way her own family treated her.

As if she didn't exist.

The other members of the clan didn't do that though. Sure, they were probably upset with her for being knocked out of her position as heiress, but they didn't go to such an extent like her blood-related family did.

Sometimes he wondered if that was what had started this behavior. If it really was the issue of who was heiress or something else entirely. How could a father push their own daughter away so casually? Always giving her the same cold hard stare that he gave complete strangers, talking in a clipped tone to show his constant aggravation.

It was the most ridiculous thing he had ever seen, but he wasn't aloud to talk about it. To ask Hinata what was wrong because she never wanted to talk about it. She acted like it didn't bother her when it did, but he couldn't say a thing until she was ready to sit down with him - or even the squad. She respected Kurenai who had more or less taken Hinata under her wing much like a mother hen would and she wouldn't even talk to her about it.

So all he could do was wait with the rest of them for her to be ready.

Just like he had been doing for nearly two hours. He wished Kurenai had let him tell that man off back there, but she had given him a stern look after Hinata run off. Another cue not to say anything. She certainly seemed to be doing that a lot. There was a rule of silence always hanging over his neck and he beginning to get sick of it. Perhaps he should just ask Hinata what he wanted to ask when Kurenai wasn't around-

A bark sounded from his side, paws pressing hard into his thigh. "What is it, Akamaru?" He asked just before the stench of blood hit his nostrils and he growled at the scent. It was more unexpected than anything, he didn't mind the smell considering his chosen line of work, but he also didn't care to smell so much of it from someone heading toward the village. Such a thing only meant that one of their own was injured and he found that much more displeasing than the smell of iron.

His nose twitched an instant later.

Wait. Just beneath that overpowering scent was one he knew well. "Hinata!" Kiba sprung to his feet, Akamaru already racing forward at his side. He could hear Shino and Kurenai moving behind him as he sped out of the gates and down the road to the source.

It was after rounding a bend that he saw her and nearly slammed to a stop. All that blood he was smelling, it was coming from her. There were streaks of bright red running along her arms and legs, a few specks on her face. Her hands and feet looked like they been dipped in a bucketful of blood. Her sandals were soaked, the bottom of her pants up to her mid-thigh were a deep red and after that there were slashes of blotches of red further up. The white of her jacket had become nearly all red. The only thing that seemed to have survived the red massacre was the top of her shirt and even then he could spot tiny flecks of red scattered along the fabric.

What had happened? How had she gotten back to the village in this state? Unless...

"Hina." He charged the last stretch of land to her, stopping only to take her arm, bringing it up to his face before he sniffed deeply. A sigh escaped him when it didn't register as hers. But if it wasn't hers where had all this blood come from? Had she gone swimming in a pool of it? Where had she come across it? Why hadn't he caught a whiff of it before if she had stayed on the path to the village?

"Hinata, what happened?"

Kurenai's voice broke through his mind then and he glanced to her, needing to share the news first before she really did become a mother hen. "It's not her blood."

"Then whose is it?" Shino was there as well now, slightly more calm after knowing it wasn't their teammates blood but still obviously disturbed by the scene. He was just as worried about Hinata as the rest of the team.

"It's the other nin-ninja's." His gaze went up rather than down like the other two. Her voice just then had seemed to float, up until the end that is and whatever haze she was in she must have broken through. But there was still the remains of a smile on her face, the corner of her lips turned up though they were now falling rapidly to form a frown.

He couldn't imagine a reason for her to be smiling when she was covered in blood from head-to-toe. Something must have happened out there in the forest. Well, something had clearly happened. He just couldn't imagine it was good.

Hinata got rather squeamish around blood so it didn't make sense that she would be smiling before they approached. Because she had been just before he came around the corner, though his eyes had been drawn to the blood rather than her little grin at the time. Now he was wondering what he had missed. Why was she smiling? Not that he would complain, but...

The moment he smelled her beneath the blood he had thought the worst had happened.. He wouldn't have imagined to see her doing fine, not on the path bleeding to death.

His gaze dropped down then, going to her hand that was clenched around a blood soaked headband. So it had been other ninjas, from another clan. Dead, in their own country.

"Other ninjas?" Kurenai reached forward as she spoke, taking the headband from Hinata's fingers to look more closely at it. "Do you know what happened?"

He caught her shaking her head as his gaze moved back up to look at her. That smile from before was completely gone now. She looked saddened just from thinking about what had happened to the other ninjas. "I-i found them af-after they were k-killed in the f-forest. I could sm-smell the b-blood right off the trail an-and went to i-investigate. That's when I found th-them."

"Did you see who did this?"

His gaze flickered to Kurenai for a moment then back to Hinata. The blood on her clothes was still damp, but the layer in direct contact with her skin had begun to dry on. So it was possible she had seen the culprits. The blood must have still been warm when she found them. And she had gone through it to get to that headband, he wouldn't have thought she would do such a thing. Even just to check what village they were from.

It was a miracle she hadn't collapsed after doing such a thing or during. How had she managed it?

Hinata was still silent, prompting Kurenai to ask the question again, this time more softly. She had to still be in shock after doing such a thing. "I... I didn't see anyone i-in the area, just the b-bodies," Hinata muttered.

"Let's get you to the hospital then."

"Uh, it-it's not-"

"I know it's not your blood, but just in case." Kurenai with the headband still in hand looked to Shino and Kiba. "Get her to the hospital. I'll go report this to the Hokage."

Kiba nodded his head as Shino said, "Of course."

Once Kurenai was off and heading back to the village Kiba took one of Hinata's arms in hand, along with Shino they made their way down the path and back to the gates. Akamaru walking alongside them, continuously sniffing at the air.

He was on the verge of asking his companion what he was looking for when a figure rushed past him to Hinata. "What happened here?" The words were harsh, demanding, something he recognized right away and Kiba turned swiftly to see Hiashi standing in front of his daughter, reaching forward to press a hand to her forehead when she stepped back quickly, smearing the stone below in blood as she nearly slipped backwards.

If not for his and Shino's grip on her arms she would have landed flat on her back, but they were able to steady her even as a sharp cry had pierced the air following the movement. "No!"

Kiba glanced to Hinata to see a hand hovering over her left brow and the patch of skin above it almost protectively, her eyes just barely narrowed at her father. Hiashi had stepped back and - for a split second - he thought he saw surprise register in those cold eyes before the emotion was erased. How odd.

Usually Hinata would be delighted to see her father actually attempting to be such, but right now it was like she hiding from him. Not allowing her own father to touch her. It was almost exactly like that one time years ago...

"Akamaru?" He glanced down at his companion who had jumped onto his back legs and placed the front paws along Hinata's leg when she had been about to fall. Akamaru was sniffing at her pant leg now and at his unspoken question the dog barked in the affirmative.

The same scent from that time before was clinging to her, but could that alone really explain her odd behavior? The smile, this reaction to her father. It really was just like that one time.

Laughter filled the yard as the colorful unicorn burst apart at the seams, scattering tiny pieces of candy onto the grass below. The one kid that had hit the figure squarely in the belly currently stood motionless, glancing around with the blindfold still over their eyes. "Did I hit it?"

It caused Kiba to laugh louder with the rest of the kids that had come for the Hyuuga heiress' birthday. The day was going quite well, even if he found that one aspect annoying.

The feel of eyes constantly on the courtyard, the smell of not one but two strangers. Though there was only one here. His eyes flickered over to the spot where the scent was strongest. On the edge of a building overlooking the yard a young man sat on the corner of the roof. Shisui Uchiha, the emblem of the clan was prominent on his clothing so there was no mistaking who it was.

Though why an Uchiha would care to be at any place with a Hyuuga was beyond him. They weren't quite as outwardly hostile as his sister mentioned seeing years ago, but there was still obvious tension between the clans. So it would make no sense that he was here.

Having the constant feeling of being watched wasn't on his list of activities for today, but it seemed to have stopped just now. He looked back to where the Uchiha had been before his gaze followed his nose to the table of presents. To see a new one lying there on the top just as Hiashi told Hinata to go open her gifts, that the cake would come next.

The soft pitter-patter of her feet sounded in his ears before he saw her reach the table, and then her hands reaching up to the newest present on top. It didn't contain a card like the others and the packaging itself was plain, but she was grinning as she took hold of it and brought it down from the pile.

Hinata made short work of the wrapping, tearing it off with a certain glee only possessed on these days. Then she was tugging the lip of the box out from the front and looking inside.

A voice sounded behind her shortly after, "What did you get?"

"Uh." She had closed the lid shortly after hearing his voice and glanced over her shoulder at her father, grinning from ear-to-ear. "It's a secret."

That feeling was creeping it's way up the back of his neck again as the other kids moved forward to request the next present she opened or ask to be told what was inside the box. She continued to give her mysterious answers, evidently enjoying the aspect of being secretive.

His gaze was moving away from her though to another rooftop. To see the outline of Shisui turning around and walking away after all this time. Right after delivering the package and seeing her reaction to what lied within. The package that smelled different from the person that had delivered it.