How Things Change:
Chapter XI~ The Traitor
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"I'm sorry Hinata," Iruka whispered, with a frown. "I know you worked so hard to make it here today, and I really don't want to do this, but I am going to have to fail you."
Tears began to fall down Hinata's cheeks as nodded her head, her eyes downcast.
"I u-understand. I'm s-sorry for w-wasting your time,"
A pang of guilt hit Iruka's heart, as he watched her cry. This was the part of his job he hated the most.
"There is always next year, Hinata-chan," he said gently as he rested his hand on her shoulder.
Hinata only nodded, and slowly made her way out of the office through the rear door. They never exited from the door they entered, as the instructors didn't wish to subject the failures to humiliation. This way they avoided being seen by the remaining students who required testing.
To fail the Genin examination was a huge disappointment, and this was one way they attempted to relieve those who failed from becoming too embarrassed. Unfortunately, it didn't work. Everyone always found out who failed, moments after it happened.
If Iruka has been paying attention instead of wallowing in pity, and maybe if Mizuki wasn't cheering internally that his plan was so far working, maybe they would have noticed Hinata's form straightening in confidence as she exited, or the fact that a smile now graced her lips, and her once tearful eyes were far from being red and puffy. Oh, how she loved Genjutsu.
As it was, they both remained uneducated to this fact, much to Hinata's enjoyment.
'Check.'
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Hinata sat on the lone swing on the other side of the street from the main entrance to the academy, a frown present on her face.
"I'm so glad she didn't pass, can you believe what could have happened if she had?" a woman whispered harshly to her friend. "She of all people should never become a ninja!"
"Yeah a demo—"
"Shh, we aren't supposed to talk about that! If Hokage-sama finds out…" a third woman responded.
Her friend nodded, and stopped what she was about to say. She then turned away from Hinata, but not before scowling at her. She hated her, it would seem.
Hinata sighed, the frown still present. At least she could say she wasn't faking it, anymore. As much as she told herself it didn't, the stares of hatred always made her heart clench. Didn't anyone realize she was protecting them from the demon? Or was it true; was she really the one to blame?
A sigh escaped her lips from the despairing thought.
A few more minutes passed, before she felt a presence creep up upon her, "Hey there, why so gloomy?!"
Looking startled, she exclaimed, "M-Mizuki-sensei!"
He smiled; a sense of menace present in his eyes. If she wasn't so adept at reading peoples body language (thanks to Hiashi, she was an expert at it now) she may have missed it. He was pretty good at acting, she'd give him that. It was probably why he went undetected as a security threat to the village for so long. Not to mention, he had a completely clean record.
"Hinata-chan, I will cut straight to the chase since I have such good news! I talked to Iruka, and begged for him to reconsider. It took a lot of coaxing on my end, but I managed to get him to agree to letting you have another shot at getting your headband!"
Hinata internally frowned, but outwardly a huge grin graced her lips.
"R-really? What do I h-have to d-do?" she said, hope filled her quivering voice.
He smiled, "Well first…"
Hinata listened. On the outside she remained naïve, but on the inside…
'And that's checkmate. I knew there was something wrong with you from the beginning, Mizuki-sensei…'
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A few hours later, Hinata lay on the forest floor, exhausted. Her clothes were tattered as if she had been training vigorously, and her breaths came out in sharp breaths. Sitting up, she looked to the sky, a smile on her face.
He was incoming in 3, 2, 1…
Under her breath, she whispered, "It's finally show time…"
As much as she had started enjoying the academy (though she refused to admit to anyone, especially her brother), she was happy to finally be seeing some real action. Besides training with Kakashi, and a few other Jōnin he was friends with, she didn't get much hands on experiences being an academy student and all. This might actually be a challenge for her, or at least, she hoped it would be.
"Hinata! So good you could make it!" Mizuki said as he smiled. "Did you complete your required task?"
His sickly sweet smile sent a wave of intense hatred down Hinata's back, though she did an excellent job to keep it from showing. She really wanted to wipe that fake smile off of his face. It was the kind of murderous face that brought back bad memories for her. Memories she never wanted to remember…
Hinata stumbled to her feet and nodded slowly. Pulling the scroll from the ground, it was easy for her to pretend it was heavy. As it was, it WAS heavy. Kushina had rigged the scroll with chakra resistant seals that increased the weight of an object. They purposely did it to slow Mizuki down, and seeing as he had neither held nor seen the scroll before he would be none the wiser of the seals.
"Great! Now pass over the scroll!"
Hinata smiled, and rolled the giant scroll toward her sensei. It was much too heavy for her to throw it without making Mizuki see the real strength she possessed.
"D..does this mean I p…passed?" she panted, obviously worn out from her "training".
His innocent smile then took a twisted turn. She did her best to let it surprise her.
"Unfortunately, no, you have not passed. But as a Chūnin of Konohagakure no Sato, I am placing you under arrest for TREASON! Your sentence is DEATH!" he yelled as he tossed a giant shuriken toward her. It was hiding it in his hand with a simple Genjutsu. A Genjutsu he didn't realize was useless on Hinata, thanks to her eyes.
Narrowing her eyes, she was ready to substitute with a nearby branch, when someone shoved her forcefully out of the way.
While she had noticed the presence of someone approaching, she ignored it as she had assumed it was just the backup she had called in previously. It was her fault for not realizing it sooner.
Rolling to stop, she gasped when a droplet of blood landed on and rolled down her cheek.
"GAH!"
"Iruka-sensei!" Hinata yelled, as she fell toward the fallen Chūnin.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't Iruka," Mizuki said, "I really don't want to do this, but you've seen too much. I'll just have to kill you, as well!"
He was consumed by madness.
Iruka stood to his feet shakily, the Shuriken embedded in his unprotected back. A few droplet of blood hung from his mouth, signifying the blade had gone through his back and nicked his lung. Luckily for Iruka, having the ability to stand, it came to reason it had just barely missed his spine. Spinal cord injuries were tough to heal, even for Tsunade. If it had pierced his spine, he may have been left paralyzed for the remainder of his life, if he had even survived to tell the tale.
"What a…are you d…doing, Mizuki!" he asked through ragged breaths.
Mizuki laughed, "What do you think, Iruka! I'm ridding the world once and for all of this monster!"
"Hinata is not a monster!" Iruka gasped out, as he very carefully removed the shuriken from his back.
Being as skilled as he was with first-aid, he knew exactly how to remove it without causing too much damage. It was still risky, but fighting with an enlarged shuriken inside of him, was even more so. Pulling a small, red pill from his pouch, Iruka quickly swallowed it. Hinata recognized it as a pill Tsunade regularly kept on her in cases of emergency. It was to help stop bleeding and offered a touch of pain relief medication, but not so much as to leave someone sluggish in a battle. It was a type of pill to use in emergency situations only, as it carried some hefty side effects when its affects wore off.
Mizuki snarled, obviously pissed off by what Iruka had just said, "How can you say that! You out of everyone should understand my pain!"
Iruka only shook his head, trying to ready himself to stop Mizuki inata.
"You're parents both perished during the Kyūbi's attack! Everyone you loved was taken from you! Murdered! And you dare protect this monster?!"
Mizuki was furious.
Iruka coughed up more blood—a sign the shuriken got his lung worse than Hinata originally thought— as he whispered, "Run, Hinata! Save yourself! Get help, I'll hold him off for you!"
Hinata shook her head, and looked to Mizuki, "W-what do you mean?"
Her eyes were wide in fear, looking similarly to that of a deer which got caught in a spotlight.
Mizuki's murderous glare switched to Hinata, his eyes were crying for blood. He wanted nothing more than to kill her, torture her. Hinata almost shuddered as memories from a certain night entered her mind, though she tried to keep that fear hidden.
"MIZUKI, DON'T!" however, Iruka's plea was ignored.
"You are the Kyūbi no Yōko! And you are the one responsible for the deaths of every innocent person who died during the attack twelve years ago!"
"Don't listen to him, Hinata!" Iruka desperately shouted. "It isn't true! It is true the Kyūbi killed all of those innocent people, but you are not the demon! I promise!"
Hinata's head turned downward, and a chill soon filled the air.
Looking up, Hinata smiled innocently. No fear was present on her face. In actuality, she looked far more confident than anyone had ever seen her look before in class. Her eyes held a certain look which put them both on edge.
She was even emitting killing intent that sent noticeable chills down both of their backs!
"I know," was all she said, before she disappeared from both of their view.
Early on she had realized her best attributes were her speed and her flexibility; two skills she trained with one of Kakashi's best friends—Maito Gai—to better suit her fighting style, a loose derivative of the gentle fist. She was great at the original version of her family's fighting style as it suited her flexibility greatly, however, it would look pretty suspicious if what appeared to be a non-Hyūga using it. So, she soon learned she had to compromise and this was the result of her training.
Iruka's eye widened in shock as he was surprised to see Hinata reappear in front of Mizuki only a moment later, a fist flying for his exposed gut.
Barely able to dodge, Mizuki leapt back in surprise.
Before he could recover, Hinata swept her leg low, to knock his feet out from beneath him.
Again Mizuki leapt out of the way, only this time he threw a few kunai at her as he jumped away.
Twisting out of the way of the incoming projectiles, Hinata quickly back flipped from him. Upon landing, she put her hands up into a familiar hand sign, which caused Mizuki to curse under his breath. It was obvious what attack she was attempting to use; their village's Jōnin were famous for its use, after all.
"Shadow Clone no Jutsu!" she yelled, as twelve solid clones popped into existence.
Every single one of them was a perfect replica of her, and looked nothing like the failing clones she tried to create during her Genin exam. They were flawless. This was not attack she should know at her level!
"AHHH!" they yelled unanimously, fully intent on capturing Mizuki at all cost.
Realizing he was currently outmatched and that he already had the scroll he was after, Mizuki turned to flee. As soon as he was out of her sight, Hinata dispelled her clones, and pushed a button on the side of her neck that activated her walkie-talkie.
"The mouse has entered the trap. I repeat, the mouse has entered the trap!" she paused for a moment, "And we require immediate medical attention! We have a wounded Chūnin, with what appears to be severe damage to his lung!"
A voice responded back a moment later, Hinata could easily tell it was Kakashi, "Roger! Help is on the way! Good job, Hinata! We will handle the rest from here."
Turning toward Iruka, she hurried to pull her first aid kit out, and the last thing she said to Iruka before he passed out was, "Everything is going to be okay. Thank you."
Hinata smiled at him as his eyes closed shut.
She was thankful he didn't consider her a monster.
Most people did.
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"Damn that demon bitch!" Mizuki snarled as he lugged the heavy scroll throughout the forest.
She had ruined his plan, and now he might not make it out alive. Looking over his shoulder, he noticed no one was following him.
"She must still be too preoccupied with Iruka," he said to himself, trying to reason with himself.
Surely he was safe, right? If there was anyone after him, he would surely have been caught already, right?
Feeling as if he was far enough away to rest for a minute and to catch his breath, Mizuki slid the scroll from his shoulder. It was heavy, which meant it probably contained a good amount of jutsu in it, much to his enjoyment. He finally succeeded in his plan! His years of planning finally paid off!
He might as well take a peek while he was resting, right? Maybe he could use a jutsu to help his escape go more smoothly?
With a grin he popped a soldier pill into his mouth in case he needed the extra chakra for a technique, and he slowly began to unwind the scroll. His eyes became as round as saucer at what he saw.
"It's blank?!" he cried frantically, trying to not believe what his eyes were seeing.
"Kai!" he yelled out, hoping it was just hidden by a Genjutsu.
However, the scroll remained blank.
Hoping there was at least one thing on it, he hurried to unwrap it the rest of the way, and much to his enjoyment there was something written on it.
That joy soon turned to absolute horror, when he finally read what it said.
GOT'CHA!
Before he could take a single step to flee, a hand grabbed his shoulder, firmly. He would not be escaping, it soon became apparent. The grip was much too tight to make it possible; whoever it was, was far more powerful than he.
"I think you will be coming with me," a voice said into his ear only a notch above a whisper. "I don't appreciate what you said to my little sister."
That simple phrase sent a chill down his back.
Sweating profusely, he nearly shat his pants when he turned around to the voice.
He was surrounded by ANBU.
And, worst of all, Hatake Kakashi was the one holding him. He was well known as to being one of the Leaf's finest. Worst of all, he had his famous Sharingan uncovered.
"Morino Ibiki is expecting you, as is Mitarashi Anko," Kakashi whispered in amusement so only he could hear him.
Mizuki's mind went blank. Even he could see he was far too outnumbered to try and fight back.
"Well, shit…" was the last thing he muttered before being knocked unconscious by Kakashi's Sharingan.
"Well shit, indeed," Kakashi said with a smile, as he disappeared with his prisoner; his fellow ANBU members following suit.
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The next day passed in a blur for Hinata as luckily for her, they considered what she had done to be an A-Rank mission. From which she received a really nice paycheck. Now she could afford to get Kakashi that special edition of his favorite book he wanted!
Pushing the thought away, she continued on her way.
Coming up to the Hospital, she ignored the glares from the surrounding patients, and went to the front desk. Luckily for her, Chie was there.
"Hinata-chan! What can I do for you?" she asked sweetly.
Hinata smiled. Ever since that night she saved her, Chie had remained a favorite of hers.
"What room is Iruka-san in?" she asked, sweetly.
Looking down at her clipboard briefly, she said, "He is in room 202 on the second floor. I'm sure you can find your way, right?"
Hinata nodded quickly.
"Thank you!" she then turned and hurried off.
Chie only then realized there was a bouquet in her hands.
"Kakashi-san was right," she smiled, "She is changing."
Fortunately for her, Hinata was too far away to hear.
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Dashing up the stairs, Hinata quickly ran to the room she was looking for, careful not to bump into anyone or anything.
Upon arriving to the door that said 202, she couldn't help but start to feel nervous. She wasn't one to do this sort of thing, after all. Steeling her nerves, she brought her hand up and knocked on the door three times, quickly.
For a moment nothing happened.
'Is he asleep?' she wondered.
Just when she was about to try knocking one last time, Iruka's familiar voice yelled out, "You can come in!"
The sound of the toilet flushing in the background made Hinata realize what she just interrupted and she couldn't help but flush in embarrassment.
Twisting the knob, she was surprised to see Iruka sitting up on his bed, his sheets haphazardly thrown over himself. He was so pale. He must have lost far more blood than she realized, she thought.
"Ah, Hinata-chan!" he smiled, "I was hoping you would stop by."
Hinata nodded shyly before she walked to his bedside. Shyly, she held the flowers out to him.
"Thank you! I love them," he said happily in return, as he accepted them and set them on the small table next to him.
A comfortable silence then fell over them.
Hinata was about to say something, when Iruka beat her to it, "Don't worry, Hinata-chan. Your secret is safe with me. Hokage-sama already filled me in on the details. Because of you, a traitor was caught and found guilty of his crimes; you should be feeling proud of yourself! You spent a whole two years undercover in my class, and if it weren't for you, we may have never realized what it was Mizuki was up to. Thank you for protecting my students!"
Hinata blushed at the praise, "It wasn't much…"
Her stutter wasn't pretend this time.
"Stop being so humble!" Iruka said, "Now come closer, I have something I want to give you."
Hinata nodded, and walked over to her sensei. When she was close enough, Iruka told her to close her eyes. Following his request, she was surprised to feel something being tied around her forehead.
"I'm sure you already knew this, but congratulation on passing the Genin exams! You are officially a Kunoichi of the Hidden Leaf Village!"
Hinata opened her eyes, and was shocked to see Iruka's headband missing from his own forehead. Lifting her hand to her own head, she realized quickly what had happened to it.
To have someone of a higher rank than you, pass their own headband on was a great, great honor.
"Are you sure?" she wondered out loud.
Iruka smiled, "Of course, Hyūga Hinata."
Hinata almost missed the name he called her, and quickly looked back toward him.
"What did you just say?"
Iruka shook his head and held his hands up, "Nothing, nothing. Now shoo, I am sure there are more important things you have to take care of, am I right?"
Hinata nodded, a smile still graced her lips. She was sure she heard him correctly. If he knew, that meant one of two things: either Kakashi or Minato had let him in on the secret, because he was considered trustable. There were only a handful of people who knew, and Iruka was now added to the very short list of people who they considered trustable enough.
"Thank you, Iruka-sensei! Get well soon! And I promise I will make you proud!" Hinata said over her shoulder, as she disappeared from his room.
Iruka's smile widened as she left, "You already have…"
End.
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Omake:
Just After Mizuki is Caught by Kakashi~
Elsewhere in the Village Hidden in the Leaves, a young, purple-haired woman sneezed.
"Bless you," Ibiki said nonchalantly.
"Thank you," a small, sadistic grin soon followed suit. "My interrogation senses are tingling."
Ibiki shook his head in dread. Anko had been waiting desperately to try out her new techniques on someone. And it appeared now was her chance.
If there was one thing you could always count on, it would definitely be her interrogation senses tingling.
Pushing a button on the small box on his table, he said, "Prepare Room 69 for interrogation, Rima. It is going to be a….fun one."
A soft cackling sound in the background could be heard, which his secretary knew meant one thing, and one thing only. A really, really, reeeeeeaaallly BIG mess was about to occur.
"Understood," turning to the people behind her, she said, "Alright interns, you heard the drill. Last one to put on their hazmat suit gets cleanup duty when Anko-san is finished!"
Ibiki laughed at the frantic screams of the people on the other end trying their damnest to not be the last one standing without a suit on. Who it would be today, he wondered.
Oh, how he did not miss his intern days, he mused.
A quick glance at Anko caused an involuntary shudder, "Why do I get the feeling she used to like the clean-up aspects of her job?"
Anko whipped her head around, and stopped her cackling just long enough to say one final thing, "That's because I did! HAHAHAHAHA!"
A sweat drop appeared on the back of Ibiki's head, as his thoughts were drowned out by her hysterical laughter.
"God help us all…" he shook his head as he went back to the very important task he was trying to complete: his newest Sudoku puzzle.
It really was a doozy.