Last week Itachi and Jiraiya worked out a peace treaty with Cloud.
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Disclaimer: Kishimoto owns Naruto.
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Chapter 20 – Hinata's Regret
"We've got three more to stick up this morning." The Jounin said grumpily as he tossed a bag onto the ground in front of the large Konoha village gate. Rising forty or more feet into the air it was the only "official" way in and out of the village and heavily guarded twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week by a contingent of ten Shinobi. All of whom groaned in annoyance as the contents of the bag rolled around, as if trying one last desperate attempt to escape.
"You stick them up. It's beginning to gross me out, staring at those heads all day." One of the guards, a woman in her early twenties and dressed in an odd assortment of long, brightly colored skirts and a long crocheted shawl snapped.
Her companion, a man dressed in the regular Chuunin garb of black pants and green vest stepped up to her and wiggled his fingers in front of her face, "Oh mystical gypsy girl, tell me the fortune of the three heads in the bag."
She slapped his hand away and put her hands on her hips, "How about I tell your fortune? You will meet an unidentifiable end when the forensics team is unable to put all the pieces back to together to determine a cause of death."
"Ha! That's a good one!" The Chuunin laughed as he opened the bag. Executions were always at five in the morning so that the heads could be mounted by seven. The reasoning was that those on their way to work or doing their daily shopping would see the new heads and be intimidated enough to stop fighting the new government. Of course, whether it was working or not was certainly in question. Everyday since the coup there had been at least one new head to display.
Each head was placed on a short spike that was attached to a wide, tall wooden wall that had been constructed for the purpose. After being speared through the neck a protective clear-plastic bag was secured over it to keep it from rotting. It was certainly a very gory display, and the proliferation of wild flowers – the Yamanakas still hadn't re-opened their flower shop yet - that decorated the ground under it gave it a distinct air of mourning.
Securing the head the man turned around and stepped back surprised. "Geeze Itachi, next time you sneak up on me warn me first!"
"Since you have attained the rank of Chuunin, that should not be necessary." Itachi stated plainly.
"Yeah, amazing how things work out that way." He said sarcastically. "I guess your momma never taught you any manners."
Itachi didn't show any indication that he had heard the comment as he absent-mindedly adjusted the pack he had thrown over his left shoulder. There were still a lot of people upset with the Uchiha and starting another fight would be counterproductive. No matter how much he wanted to beat the shit out him. Turning away from the morbid display he headed to his house.
Jiraiya had taken off on his own a few hours after they had left Cloud, claiming he had received some sort of lead as to her whereabouts at one of the hostess clubs he had been frequenting during their stay. Itachi wasn't sure if he was imagining it or not, but the Sannin seemed to be very worried about her.
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"You don't want to go in their right now." Sasuke was leaning up against the outside wall of the house with his arms folded over his chest and a disgruntled expression on his face, "It's very noisy."
"Where's you shoes?" Itachi noticed the boy was standing on the gravel barefoot.
"Don't need 'em. It's summer."
"You'll get cut walking around outside like that."
"I'll live."
"Whatever. It sounds quiet now. What's going on? Parents arguing?" Itachi couldn't hear anything in the house, although he did detect the chakra signatures of Fugaku, Mikoto and Naruto.
"Well, it hasn't gotten noisy yet, but wait a minute. We got our report cards and…" Sasuke was interrupted.
"What the hell is this? You got one D and the rest were C's." Fugaku's angry voice echoed down the hallway and through the door.
"It's started." Sasuke smirked.
"What are you laughing at?" Itachi asked quietly.
"The idiot goofs off too much. I told him so. I told him dad would strangle him if he didn't do better in class but Naruto thinks he only needs to be powerful to be a good ninja." Sasuke answered as a wide grin spread across his face.
"And what about your report card? You were out of class for several weeks."
"First in the class. Shikamaru was second. We were competing to see who could get first, but he decided it was too much trouble and I'm positive he blew off the last test so he could be second. Sometimes he's no fun at all. Hinata was third, but the teacher told her that if Sakura was here she would have been third because her grades were so good. Everyone misses her. Are you going to go get her now?"
"Hmmm. I want to talk to father about that." Taking off his shoes, Itachi made his way into the house and down the hall to the living room, but the yelling picked up again, and he stood still so he could listen.
Mikoto's voice joined the argument, "Your parents must be rolling over in their graves, Naruto! How could you do this to them?
"I'm not smart enough to learn this stuff! It's too hard!" Naruto tried to defend himself. His voice was defensive, but there was an air of helplessness in it that made Itachi frown in empathy.
Fugaku spoke this time, "You are the son of the Fourth Hokage. That position doesn't go to idiots, therefore, as his child you are not an idiot."
"Well then I guess I'm not his son because I am an idiot!" Naruto was yelling now.
There was a loud "smack" followed by the sound of something falling on the floor. Fugaku yelled, "You will not speak that way about Minato again. Your parents gave their lives so you could live, don't turn your back on their sacrifice."
Itachi peaked into the room and saw Fugaku and Mikoto standing over a tearful Naruto who was sitting on the floor, wiping his eyes. There was a large red mark on the side of his face that showed up bright red, no doubt because of his fair skin.
"How… how would you kn..know who my parent are?" Naruto sobbed, "I could have… been… been mixed up…"
Fugaku sighed and shook his head, "I was there. The only other baby was Sasuke and you two are definitely not going to be confused for each other. Besides, you look almost exactly like your father. I gave you his scrapbook when you moved in here, you can look for yourself. But remember, don't show it to anyone else. We need to keep that a secret for a while longer."
"We'll hire a tutor, Naruto." Mikoto's voice was now kind as she knelt down to rub the boy's back. "But it won't do any good if you don't want to learn. You've seen all the studying Itachi and Sheeta do. Even though neither is attending school they still have to read and learn."
"I'll expect you to get nothing below a B from this moment on." Fugaku stated clearly, then walked out of the room. "Ah, Itachi. I got your message, good work. We were able to pull the ninja off the border to Lightning country and…"
Itachi interrupted, "What about Sakura? Shall I go after her now?"
"Kakashi traced her to southern Wind country near a large port city. The trail went cold. Even his dogs couldn't sniff anything out."
"Can I go look?" Itachi had a feeling the answer would be no, and his suspicions were, unfortunately correct.
"I want you to take some paperwork to Mist for Madara to sign. You will take Sheeta and Nui with you. He has agreed to return the twins, but don't tell anyone yet. I don't want to raise their grandparent's spirits only to crush them again when he backs out of his agreement."
Itachi sighed in frustration, "Her trail is getting cold. The longer we wait… " He remembered Pein's concerns – if the child decided she was abandoned she might start working for Root.
"She is being compensated. Remember, I listed her as being on a mission…"
Itachi interrupted, "So what? How do I know you're actually putting money into her account? The village is broke right now and if she disappears…"
Fugaku grabbed the front of Itachi's shirt and shoved him against the wall, "Do you want to say that again, or would you prefer to back off right now and get ready for your next mission?"
"If I don't say it, who will?" Itachi growled.
Fugaku threw him to the ground and stepped over him. "Think what you will, then. Kakashi is working on it. If you have any questions ask him when he gets back. Which, by the way, won't be until after you get back from Mist."
Sitting up, Itachi glared at his father's back as it disappeared down the hall and out the front door. Something was going on with Sakura, and it didn't sound very positive. Kakashi was tracking her, that much Itachi now knew for certain. But what was the purpose of the tracking? To follow her progress, hoping she leads them to Root's commanders or to rescue her? Frankly, it sounded like any attempt at rescue was at the bottom of the list.
"So where's my present?" Sasuke walked into the hall and stared down at Itachi, who was now sitting on the floor deep in thought.
"Present?"
"It was my birthday last week."
"Oh." He dug around in his pack and pulled out a small electronic device, "There. Happy birthday."
"Thanks!" Sasuke's face brightened as he looked it over. "This is the latest game! It's totally sold out in the Fire capital!" Sasuke took off into the living room, "Naruto! I got a game, let's play!"
"That's not exactly helpful." Mikoto mumbled as she wandered into the hall and looked sternly at her eldest son.
"Kind of hard, huh? Naruto needs to play less and Sasuke needs to play more." Itachi yawned as he stood up.
"Yeah. Naruto's fit in so well here Fugaku and I decided to just keep him with us until he graduates. I know that makes things harder for you, with your Akatsuki mission and all, but…" Mikoto's voice trailed off.
"It will make things very difficult." Itachi admitted. "But I'll find a way to work around it."
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Night had fallen and Itachi was slowly making his way along the shore of the lake, taking the scenic route to Sheeta's house. The air was filled with the clicking of cicadas and the chirping of crickets as he silently waded through the cool water. Soon enough, though, he heard the sounds of sniffling and saw something sitting on a small bank. Coming closer, he recognized the small shadow as Hinata.
"You shouldn't be out here alone. There are still rogues running around." Itachi spoke softly as he approached the crying child.
She nodded in acknowledgement, but made no attempt to move from her position as she wrapped her arms around her legs and pulled them closer to her chest.
Itachi watched her for a minute then shook his head. "Come on, I'll take you home."
"I don't have a home." The girl mumbled.
"What do you mean?" Itachi climbed out of the water and up the small bank to sit next to her.
"The side branch doesn't want me back."
"Of course they do. The Hyuuga council is preparing for your return. They've finished removing all the seals from the rest of the clan, re-structured the internal hierarchy and set up a training program for you. I've heard the elders themselves say how much they want you back."
"My cousin said they don't and that they want me to die."
"You're cousins a jerk and deserves whatever ill-will befalls him for saying something like that. I assure you, the rest of your clan doesn't feel that way. You go over there for training everyday, what does your teacher think?"
"I didn't tell her what he said. But she's really nice. But still…"
Itachi leaned back on the grass and looked up at the starry sky. Things were always so complicated. He wondered if there was a universe somewhere that was simple, calm and predictable. "Hinata, what is really bothering you?"
"They haven't caught the people who murdered my parents. Why is it taking so long?" Hinata began crying again, but it was a quiet sobbing that made almost no noise.
"I don't know." Itachi replied truthfully. "It was obviously Root that did it, but the only way they could have pulled it off is if they had some Hyuugas working with them. The whole situation is difficult, Hinata. After all, we can't even figure out if Danzou is still alive or not."
"Hinata?" Toshiro pushed back a tree branch and walked out onto the small bank. "Good, you're here. We were very worried about you. You shouldn't wander off alone."
Hinata stood up quickly and bowed forward, "I'm so sorry! I thought I could be back before anyone noticed."
"What were you doing here?" Toshiro reached over and placed an arm around her small shoulders, pulling her close to him.
"Nothing." She sniffed and wiped her eyes.
Toshiro sighed, "Hinata, I told you not to listen to anything that Neji kid says to you. He's just being childish. Ignore him."
"Okay." Hinata waved to Itachi as she followed Toshiro back to the trail.
Itachi stood up and hopped back down to the beach, landing silently on the rocky ground. The mess with the Hyuugas was certainly something he hadn't been paying much attention to. However, he did know that the people responsible for the massacre had been identified by the survivors, Hinata included. In all, ten people had survived and the reforms they were enacting had made them very popular with the side-branch.
However, there were still some hold-outs who refused to be placated. They were so embittered by the injustices of the past that they were calling for the main branch to be disbanded. But the fact that this Neji kid had actually said he wanted Hinata to die made him pause. Of course, children spoke more from instinct than logic at times, but still… he wondered if the boy had overheard the other adults around him say the same thing. If he was just repeating gossip then there could be a problem with Hinata's safety.
Itachi huffed in frustration as he began kicking stones as he walked. Toshiro had been very worried when he had found Hinata missing, that had been very obvious. And apparently he already knew what Neji had been saying.
"If he hurts her I'll ring his neck." Itachi whispered angrily.
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"Hey. You don't want to go in there right now." Sheeta was sitting on a lawn chair in the front yard of her house reading a book with a flashlight.
"What is this, 'let's argue with our kids' week in Konoha?" Itachi was still a little grumpy from his walk on the beach and dropped down unceremoniously onto the dewy grass.
"Nui and her boyfriend just told mother and father that she's three months pregnant and their getting married next month. Father is dancing with joy and mother was so angry she tried to punch the father-to-be. Father stopped her though." Sheeta spoke matter-of-factly, without taking her eyes off her book, "This means she can't come with us. She doesn't want to do anything that could hurt the baby."
"Why'd they wait three months to say something?" Itachi asked curiously.
"She didn't know she was pregnant. She's so busy at the hospital and doing a lot of extra studying because she wants to be a surgeon. She said she literally didn't notice anything was wrong. Her boyfriend suspected, though, and made her go to a doctor this morning. They were so excited afterward." Sheeta perked up and gave Itachi a big smile.
"Wow. That's good news. I'm sure Emi will get over the shock soon enough."
An angry woman's voice drifted from the open doorway, "Is that Itachi out there with you Sheeta? You two better not be making any babies out there!"
Sheeta and Itachi turned bright red and their jaws dropped open in shock.
"Ummm… yeah… she's a little…" Sheeta stammered as she tried to recompose herself.
Itachi gave a short, embarrassed laugh, "It's okay." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box, "I did get you this though. Happy birthday."
Sheeta took the present and opened it gingerly. The beautiful green and gold paper looked expensive and the white box inside was stamped with the gold lettering of a famous jeweler. Looking at it she felt butterflies begin to churn in her stomach. Inside was a red ring box and inside that…
"It's an engagement ring." Itachi replied quietly as he removed the ring and gently placed it on her right ring finger.
"It's beautiful." Sheeta was awestruck as she held up her hand. The thin gold band held a small pearl surrounded by even smaller diamonds. It was very delicate in appearance and fit perfectly.
Itachi pulled her to a standing position and wrapped his arms around her to pull her in for a kiss. Sheeta reached up to weave her fingers in his hair as the kiss deepened. He closed his eyes and concentrated on the feel of her body against his and for a short time he could have sworn they were the only two people in the world.
The feeling didn't last long, "Yeah, that's pretty much how it started." Nui was leaning on the porch railing staring down at the teens with a big grin on her face.
Breaking apart Sheeta gave a short laugh and Itachi sighed in amusement. The trip to Mist village was going to be very interesting.
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"The kids left this morning." Sarutobi stated as he stood looking out the window of the Hokage's office. Fugaku was sitting at the desk doing paperwork.
"Yeah. Sheeta's mother is in a tiff about her being alone with a boy, but I guess I can't blame her. Her sister left Konoha with her husband and ended up in an abusive relationship far from home and too afraid to come back. Having Aya away hasn't helped her mood any." Fugaku explained absentmindedly.
"I know how she feels, in a way, I guess. Asuma still hasn't come back."
"Well, he is helping us, nevertheless. He did agree to start keeping an eye on the situation in the capital."
"It is getting to be pretty obvious that Danzou had some operatives out there."
"Unfortunately. This whole mess was so well planned I don't know whether to be scared or awed."
The door opened slowly and an aide stuck her head through the door, "Excuse me, my Lord, but the Hyuuga elder council has an urgent matter to discuss."
"Let them in." Fugaku stood up and strode across the room to great them. "What's going on?"
"We came to discuss Lady Hinata." A tall man in his mid-thirties named Kan stepped forward. His Jounin attire was so impeccably pressed and clean that it looked like he had just bought it.
Fugaku crossed his arms over his chest. He was also dressed in the typical Jounin pants and vest but his were a little more travel worn than Kan's, "What have you decided?"
"We wish to conduct the ceremony to officially make her the clan head now instead of waiting for her to come of age. There is a growing dissension among the clan and we think that if we do this one small thing it will dispel some of the uncertainty. However, we would like her to continue living in Lord Toshiro's household for the time-being as it is better for her safety and state of mind to be away from the gossip."
"Very well. Toshiro has no problems continuing to care for Hinata or her sister. But keeping her away from the clan… you coddle her too much." Fugaku considered the girl to be weak and did not approve with the way she was being raised. He had pushed Itachi directly into the line-of-fire of the clan at an early age and the boy knew exactly what he was getting into as the heir of the Uchiha clan. Hinata, as far as he could tell, had no idea and was therefore over-sensitive when criticized.
"Yes, we acknowledge that. However, a few people have stated they wished she had been killed in the attack. Given that she is only nine and not able to defend herself against an adult Hyuuga there doesn't seem to be much of a choice here." Kan shook his head in resignation, as did the three other men who had followed him into the room.
Sarutobi spoke up, "How are you doing with you investigation?"
"Danzou's minions…" Kan sighed, "Well, that elder that appeared to have died from a stroke last week was actually poisoned. It's possible the ones who killed most of the main branch may have returned. We ordered toxicology test of three others who have died over the last few months and they also turned out to have been given the same poison. None were members of the main branch though so we are working with the police to determine a motive."
Fugaku returned to his desk as the Hyuugas left. Glancing down at the report on his desk he closed his eyes and shook his head. "So they're back. Finally. I guess I can take down the heads now."
"What?" Sarutobi turned around and gave the man an incredulous stare.
"I was fishing. They took the bait." Fugaku yelled, "Nozomi!"
The aide stepped into the room and bowed politely, "Yes my Lord?"
"Order the display of heads to be dismantled and dispose of the heads as per standard procedure."
"Yes sir!" He quickly left the room, shutting the door quietly behind him.
"Fishing?" Sarutobi was completely at a loss as to what was going on.
"Yeah. The ones who killed the main branch were working for Danzou, that has pretty much been determined, but they were also acting out of a sense of justice. And the best way to catch a person like that is to commit an act of injustice. Since the prisoners were being executed anyway, I decided to use their heads for bait."
"Hmmm… now that I think about it… one of the murdered Hyuugas was involved in the executions and another one designed the display board. I'm still not sure I agree with the method, but your motive… yeah I can live with that. Although it was rather traumatic for some of the villagers."
"Agreed. Even Sasuke had a nightmare about it. But the Hyuugas really want to catch these people. Anyone who can dispose of that many of their clansmen must be very powerful, and being on Danzou's side is giving them nightmares. The Hyuuga are an important asset to the village and we must keep them happy and safe." Fugaku leaned back in his chair and gazed at the ceiling, "I've already told them that they could handle the traitors as they see fit, but I also asked them not to injure any of the villagers or make too many more enemies of the side branch."
"Well, I guess I'll go downstairs and see if Konohamaru is awake yet." He gave a short laugh, "I told him yesterday I was going to teach him to read and he said, 'why should I'. That boy is going to be a handful. How did you get your boys to read?"
Fugaku blinked a couple times, surprised at the change of subject, "Oh… well… Itachi started to recognize the kanji in his storybooks and asked Mikoto why there were so many of the same ones. She told him what they meant and with his good memory he was reading in no time. Sasuke… I guess he just wanted to copy Itachi so when he saw his big brother reading he wanted to do it too."
"Sounds like my two boys. If one was doing something the other one had to do the same thing. Konohamaru has it a little harder, of course, with no siblings, but at least he can stand up for himself. I am grateful for that."
Fugaku watched the old man leave the office and wondered why, all of sudden, he had wanted to talk about kids. While he was a grandfather and very proud of his grandson, he rarely mentioned him.
His thoughts turned to the argument he had with Itachi a few days earlier about Sakura Haruno. Her case was getting more and more complicated. Pulling out a scroll from his desk he opened it and read through it for the twentieth time. It was a report from Kakashi, a few days before he had lost the girls trail.
"Entered the town of Fig Springs around noon. Immediately heard some gossip about a woman who was travelling with several children. The group was accosted by some rogue nin who threatened to kill them if they didn't give them a scroll. The children attacked the four rogues killing them and three bystanders who jumped in to stop the fight. A small girl with pink hair is accused of killing one of the townsmen. Reports from eyewitnesses say the children showed no remorse or any indication of emotions after the attack."
"Bringing Sakura back could be a blessing or a curse." Fugaku said quietly. "She will have an amazing set of skills for us to build upon, but if she can't re-adjust to Konoha we'll have to kill her." He wondered what Itachi would do about the situation, but he decided that his son would probably agree with him on this. Of course, he would probably try harder to save the girl before giving up, but that was to be expected. In the end though, Itachi would still strike her down if he had to. He knew his son well enough to know that much.
"It is a pity." He put the scroll back in his desk went back to work. Thoughts of the pink-haired child disappeared quickly in the complicated mesh of reports, spreadsheets, missions, and requests.
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"There's our ship!" Sheeta pointed excitedly at the corsair docked at the pier she and Itachi were walking toward. It was a medium-sized ship with one large mast and a figurehead of a cat with a fish tail at the front. Several people were milling about on the deck and appeared to be cleaning or putting stuff away. A gangplank had been lowered and the two teens made their way slowly up the steep board.
"It looks just like the boats in the movies, Itachi!" Sheeta had insisted on riding the corsair instead of a steamship, wanting to experience the ocean "as it was meant to be" as she had put it. Itachi didn't care one way or the other, as long as they got where they were going, and had given in without any fuss. Although his girlfriend's excitement was making him happy.
A crewman approached and gave them a friendly smile, "Welcome to the Catfish. We'll be leaving in about an hour so just make yourselves comfortable. We're not a cruise ship, as you know, we just take passengers to cover costs, so accommodations aren't spectacular."
"Oh, that's okay. The girl at the booking office said there's only two bedrooms, all the girls in one, all the boys in the other." Sheeta's smile was getting bigger by the moment as she looked around the deck.
The man laughed, "Yep! Get's kind of loud with all the snoring but, you get used to it after a while. Of course, you can always sleep on the deck, as long as you're out of the way."
"You're the only one who snores around here Daigo." An elderly man slowly made his way over to the trio, "Well, well, well. If it isn't Itachi Uchiha."
"You…" Itachi opened his eyes wide in amazement, "I remember you…"
"It's been a few years. You've grown quite a bit my boy."
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Next week, Itachi has a reunion with an old friend and they arrive in Mist.
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