"They left?" said Tsunade, shocked.
"Yes, ma'am. The one with the big sword attacked, but Itachi made him stop," added Shino. Kiba nodded and Akamaru barked in agreement.
"Hmm…" said Tsunade thoughtfully. "I wonder why."
There was a long pause in the room as the four of them thought. Finally, Tsunade broke the silence.
"Thank you for telling me. You may leave." She turned to look out her large window.
"Yes ma'am!" Kiba and Shino said in unison, and they left without another word to the Hokage.
Meanwhile, Hinata lay silently in her hospital bed, wide awake. Her mind was working rapidly around the event that had just taken place. What was that look Itachi had given her, anyway? And why hadn't he wanted to attack?
Perhaps he was just out of chakra, she thought. Yeah, that had to be it. But the town didn't look like it had been in peril when her and
the team returned. But they had been looking for Naruto… So why was everyone so calm about it, then?
Right in the midst of this thought, the door to her room opened, and there was her cousin Neji, looking as unconcerned as ever. He thanked Sakura, who had escorted him, and sat in the chair beside Hinata's bed. She propped herself up, happy to see him. Neji was always willing to help Hinata, and was always there for her. He was also the youngest Jonin of Konoha, and Hinata wished to be as great a ninja as him one day.
"How do you feel?" asked Neji.
"Fine," Hinata replied.
"I heard about what happened. You were visited by the Akatsuki. And not just any member, either. Itachi Uchiha."
Hinata felt an electric shock run down her spine at the mention of that name.
"Are you sure you're alright?" Neji asked again.
"I promise, I'm fine. None of us were hurt." Hinata paused, then decided to tell Neji that "Itachi stopped Kisame from attacking.
Neji's eyes widened slightly. "Really? Do you know why?"
Hinata shrugged. "Um, all he said was that we weren't worth it."
"Hmm…" said Neji. "That's very strange."
Silence fell between them. As they sat there quietly, the door opened once more. It was Hinata's father, Hiashi Hyuuga
"Neji," he said. Neji looked back at him. "Let us continue your training."
"Yes, Hiashi," said Neji. He stood up and walked toward his uncle.
"But first, Neji," said Hiashi, "let me have a word with Hinata."
Neji gave a brief nod of his head. "I'll be at the house," he said. And with that, he was gone, leaving Hinata alone with her father. Hinata hung her head, ready to get contradicted, like she always was, by him.
Hiashi walked over to the bed, but didn't take the seat. "Look into my eyes, daughter," he said. Hinata raised her pure white eyes to look into her father's identical ones.
"I'm disappointed in you, Hinata. As always, you were just harder on your team." He tore his eyes away from hers to look out the window. "You're the only one that ended up in the hospital. And I have heard that they didn't attack."
"Um," Hinata shyly piped up. "I was… kind of abused…"
"Kind of," said Hiashi. He looked back at Hinata furiously. "Hinata, that's ridiculous. If you don't have courage to face the enemy, no matter how strong, then you don't have what it takes to be a ninja. You might as well give it up." He turned his back her way and walked towards the door, and then stopped, with his hand on the doorknob.
"You're nothing but a humiliation to the Hyuuga clan," he said. And then he disappeared behind the door, leaving Hinata alone and ashamed.