Oh…thanks to Seven Deadly for pointing out a few odd things from the last chap. I know I won't be able to correct them because I already posted it…but I'm still going to mention them anyway (In case some readers are wondering too.)

First, the chunin kids that Naruto was taking over? Well, my bad. They are just supposed to be students because they still need to pass the exams for them to be considered as chunins. Chunins are mid-level ninjas (Well, let's just pretend that all chunins still have a subject or two left in the academy…shall we? Learning is an endless process anyway. *winks*)

Then about the 'Akamichi' kid who was Hinata's student? (The one who yelled at Naruto?) Akamichi was the name of Choji's clan…so, if some are wondering, let's just say that the Akamichi kid just have the chance to get a name that was also a clan's name.

Thank you for the helpful review Seven Deadly!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. All credits belong to the great Masashi Kishimoto-sama.

-o-o-o-

Chapter Thirteen

The woman studied her appearance. "This is the Hyuga heiress?" She asked Itachi—who still has not loosened the grip on the girl. "She has…blue hair. Hyuga's are brown haired or black."

Itachi pulled the girl forward, making Hinata flinched. "She's the one"

"Hm…" Konan walked towards them. She waved her hand into the air and white papers began to appear around a startled Hinata. Staring at them nervously, the Hyuga took a step back to avoid touching the jutsu papers and stopped when she felt Itachi's body behind her.

"I am going to cover your mouth and bind your hands and feet." Konan told her. Her voice was neither cruel nor snappy, it was just lacking of emotion. "I don't like hearing you plead for your life when I take you to Yahiko…and I don't want to waste my time on you when you try for an escape."

The papers began to swirl and Hinata closed her eyes when she felt them on her face.

Itachi pulled her back, stepping forward and shielding her from Konan's chakra controlled parchments. "She doesn't need that Konan." He told his fellow Akatsuki. "Your papers will suck her chakra out."

Konan frowned. She never heard Itachi say things like this before. If anything else, Uchiha Itachi was always the less spoken of all the Akatsuki members. He would just do what he was assigned to do and leave when he was not needed.

Hinata's eyes darted to the dark haired man, and somehow, she mentally preferred to be with this kind of Akatsuki than the others. She knew it was a stupid notion…choosing one dangerous rogue nin from another… but right now, that was all that she could think of.

"She can't escape from you." Itachi reminded the Akatsuki female.

"She can't." The woman agreed. "But she's a jounin. She'll try something, I'm sure of it. Konohan nins just don't give up that easily."

Itachi pushed Hinata forward to Konan—and it was done rather gruffly— making her stumble on her own two feet. "She may…but as I said, it won't work against you. I just don't want your papers sucking all her chakra…and put all the work I've done for nothing."

The sharingan user has a point, and Konan decided to take him up for it. "Fine, but if she tries anything…" Grabbing Hinata by her neck, she led her to the room where Pein was.

Itachi proceeded to his own assigned room with a tense look on his eyes, but not before watching in silence as Hinata was being pulled into a dangerous chasm with every step she took with Konan. Itachi knew nothing would come to her yet…since Kakuzu— the self appointed surgeon and poison expert of the group— haven't arrived yet.

Right now, Hyuga Hinata needs to be strong…and he was going to watch her closely.

-o-

The permission was granted.

Tsunade, at last, granted them permission to pursue the missing nins named Hidan and Kakuzu—the Akatsuki who killed Asuma Sarutobi—their beloved sensei and the father of Kurenai's unborn child.

Of course, they have to endure Tsunade's deafening lecture first about how dangerous their request was and that their parents would not allow it. They may be qualified nins now, but that doesn't mean their high ranked fathers could not interfere.

But they were persistent, and somehow, they managed to convince the sanin with truthful words. Shikamaru was right, all they have to do was to tell the Hokage how they really feel and she would understand. Tsunade may be rough on the outside but she actually understands these kinds of things than most people. She has endured a lot from her past after all, and revenge and loss of love ones was not a rare feeling for the great Hokage.

"Hey." Ino looked at Shikamaru and noticed the pack of cigarettes on his vest pocket—the same kind that Asuma uses. They just left training ground seven after a short training session with Choji. Their mission won't start until tomorrow morning and the team decided to calm their nerves a bit with physical practice. "Since when did you start smoking Shikamaru?" Ino asked, diverting the topic from the 'revenge' mission for a moment. "That's bad for your heath you know…"

The Nara looked at his teammate lazily. "Get off my case Ino, Let's focus on the mission that we need to do." Pushing the cigarette pack deeper into his pocket, he placed his hands behind his neck. Unknown to Ino, the cigarette pack belongs to Asuma. He found it on the jounin's vest the day he died and the Nara has it with him ever since.

Ino's lips pressed into a thin line. "Have they got any news about Hina yet?"

Shikamaru shook his head. "Nothing…I heard Otou-san says Kakashi's retrieval unit was having a hard time tracking it down. Kurenai-sensei has been worried sick." He shook his ponytailed head. "I would not be surprised…the one who was tasked with the Abduction was Uchiha Utachi."

"I'm really worried about her. I don't want to lose another person that's dear to me…"

Shikamaru glanced at his female teammate, wanting to comfort her but knew Ino was not one of those people who liked being consoled every time they are down. The Yamanaka prefers to be left alone if she's feeling kind of emotional.

And it was one of the common things they shared.

"That's why we have to do our best with this mission Ino." Shikamaru gave the girl a gentle slap on the back. "Taking out one or two of the Akatsuki can help the retrieval unit...a lot."

-o-

Hinata was brought into a room where a man with orange hair was waiting. He has weird looking eyes—purple in color with circles on his pupils. He also has piercings on the bridge of his nose, ears, and chin. The man was handsome and tall, and his face would have been naturally kind looking if it weren't for his seriousness and odd aura…

The aura of death and pain.

"Yahiko." Konan looked at the man, and for a brief moment, Hinata was sure that she saw the woman's eyes turned soft with…

Longing?

The unguarded emotion that broke Konan's stoic facade was so fast that Hinata was not even sure if she was just imagining it or not.

How odd…

Stealing a glance at the older woman again, the heiress can see no trace of the emotion that Konan has unconsciously let lose just seconds ago. Her guard was up now, and all emotions frozen and hidden where no one can see.

"My name is Pein…do I have to tell you that every time we talked Konan?" The man with the orange hair said with a deep voice, and just like Konan, he said the words without any emotion. "I am not Yahiko."

Konan's face remained cold as she decided not to let the matter go on any further. She gestured at the blue haired girl next to her. "The Hyuga. Itachi brought her here."

Pein raised one hand, and Hinata gasped as some unearthly force suddenly pulled her to the orange-haired Akatsuki. It was some kind of gravity pull and her body was powerless to resist. Pein caught her and without any warning, he took her chin with his strong fingers and raised it up, at the same time bending down so that his face was leveled with hers.

He studied her famous white eyes.

"Where's Kakuzu?" Pein asked, still holding Hinata's chin.

"We received no message since the last one that tells Hidan's head was cut off from his body. They might still be recuperating since they encountered the Konohan nins. I sent Zetsu to find out."

Hinata shook Pein's fingers off her chin. "W-what do you want with me? Are you going to remove my eyes?"

The man straightened up. "Maybe at first, as that was Tobi's suggestion. But it seems like I want not only the eyes but the potential of the bearer. Hyuga and Byakugan, always compatible, but if you remove the Byakugan from the Hyuga, it seems like we are getting half the power we need."

"Then what are you going to do with it? With me?" Hinata continued, deciding that she wanted to get real answers for herself. She deserves to know since whatever plans they have concocted would include her eyes…her life. "Yes, the Byakugan is powerful…but out of the three kekkei genkai, it's the least. You have the sharingan and the Rinnegan already…what do you need my eyes for?"

"You'll find out soon enough."

Hinata clenched her fists. "That is not good enough for me."

A few seconds later, Hinata's bloodcurdling scream could be heard…making Uchiha Itachi grit his teeth.

-o-o-o-

Sasuke watched the flickering lamp that was placed on the small table at the foot of the bed where he was lying down. Currently, they are at a feudal lord's estate—and the kind daimyo has offered them temporary lodging and other extravagant luxuries like food and clothing, all because of a mission that was well done.

But Sasuke doesn't care for any of these things, for in his mind; all he could think of was finishing the mission as fast as he could. He then could return to Konoha and ask Tsunade to let him go after the Akatsuki himself, threaten her if he has to…just to save Hinata and bring her back. If she was still alive that is…

And if they killed her already…

"Sasuke-kun…It's me." Sakura's voice from outside the door stopped Sasuke from his dark thoughts. "I know your still awake so no use pretending to be asleep."

"Hn."

The door slowly opened, and Sakura entered the room. She was wearing a white silk nightgown—probably a gift from the daimyo—and it clung to her beautifully, making the beautiful color of her hair to stand out.

She was beautiful, but Sasuke has no intention of telling her that. Sakura knew that she was beautiful…even though she was not vain enough to admit.

"I know you can't sleep. I've never seen you sleep these past days." Sakura seated herself beside Sasuke, her trained medic eyes examining the dark circles under the Uchiha's own dark orbs. "Sasuke-kun…are you trying to harm yourself?"

"Hn."

"Here." Sakura brought something out of her nightgown's hidden pocket. "It's calming pills. Lady Tsunade uses these on her patients before surgery…It makes them sleep."

Sasuke stared at the pills on Sakura's palm. "I don't need these."

"You do. I never saw you sleep…and your body needs to rest. Sasuke, please don't wait until your body can't take it anymore…It would be too late then."

"Would you just stop Sakura?" Sasuke was getting annoyed now. Sakura has been like this for days, always telling him what to do and what's good for him. He doesn't need that now…It just makes his head ache.

"You need these if you want to go after Hinata-chan." Sakura told him.

That made Sasuke blinked, and then he stared at his teammate's green eyes. She was smiling sadly at him, almost apologetic. Sakura gently touched his lips, and prodded it to open.

She slowly put two pills inside Sasuke's mouth. "Swallow." She told him. "You're not a little boy anymore Sasuke, learn to care for yourself more."

A few minutes later, Sakura raised the covers up to a sleeping Sasuke's chin. His brows were not furrowed anymore but relaxed. Looking at Sasuke's face, Sakura wondered how different he looked when he was awake—it was like she was looking at a little boy again, instead of a young adult that was molded by his dark and bloody past.

Sakura bent down and kissed Sasuke on the lips, unshed tears began to fall on her cheeks down into his forehead. "I love you…but I guess I have to accept the fact that I will never own your heart like Hinata-chan does."

(f) Sakura's face turned bitter as she saw team eight passed by them. Team seven was on a training session today and they are practicing on the training ground thirteen—their usual practice area, she might add—when team Kurenai decided to join them.

By the looks of it, only Kiba decided to join them, but dragged the rest of his teammates anyway.

Hinata lowered her head, hoping that her dark hair would cover her now red face. "Ano…Kiba-kun, we could just look for another training ground…we don't want to disturb Naruto-kun's team while they train."

Sakura knew the others won't mind Hinata's flushed face, for she has been like that every time Naruto was around. It was like a normal thing for the rest of Konoha eleven now, and no one bothered to mention it anymore—well, except for a few good natured teasing sometimes.

Though Sakura knew that the blush was not intended for Naruto this time.

Her head unconsciously snapped to Sasuke who was seated on the grass beside her. He was securely tying his left sandal and it looks like he was not even paying attention their newly arrived friends—but Sakura knew better. After all, what she accidentally witnessed two nights ago was still fresh inside her mind.

Too fresh.

She caught Sasuke dragging Hinata into some dark alley and kissed her.

"Oh come on Hina…" Kiba pouted. "I want to spar with Naruto again. I was not able to get back at him from the last time we trained together."

Hearing Kiba's words, Naruto perked up for the challenge. "Heh. I'll still beat you Kiba. I will beat you like a puppy."

"What did you say baka?" Kiba growled and the two were off on the middle of the training ground—wrestling each other like kids. Even Akamaru was hesitant to join Kiba and Naruto's antics, for the dog chose to lie on the grass beside Sakura instead and sleep.

"Ano…be careful Kiba-kun." Hinata can't get her eyes off her feet and she really felt like an idiot. For goodness sakes, she was a jounin and a teacher now…she should compose herself and act with a little more confidence in front of her fellow nins. But Uchiha Sasuke was here, and she has been avoiding him as best as she could after the night that he…he stole her first kiss.

Now she just can't look at him straight in the face.

The Aburame saw the Hyuga's troubled look. "Hinata-chan…is something bothering you?" The bug wielder asked, wrapping his arm around her in a brotherly sort of way. "You looked troubled…"

Hinata shook her head, eyes still on the ground. "I'm fine." Her answer was almost like a squeak.

"Are you sure?" Shino asked again, now realizing that Hinata was not even looking at Naruto while he was on the field and showing off. How odd, his teammate always have her eyes glued to Naruto whenever he was around.

"H-hai. I'm fine Shino-kun."

"Hinata-chan…" Sakura started. "Can we ta—"

"Hinata, spar with me." It was Sasuke. He stood up and adjusted his white arm guards. Looking at Hinata—who looks like she just saw a ghost—he smirked. "You came here to train right?" The girl has been avoiding him for days, and a little one on one would be a good way to talk to her.

He knew she might be angry at him, scared even…but Sasuke knew that he can never be sorry for something that he likes.

And he would never be sorry that he kissed her.

Sakura looked surprised but Shino was just plain worried. "Sasuke, don't you think you are…overqualified to spar with Hina? You are captain of the Anbu squad, your strength is—"

"I won't hurt her. It's just a spar." Somehow, Sasuke can't help but stare at Shino's arm around the Hyuga. It was like the Aburame's arm has some gravity into it that pulls his eyes into staring even though he doesn't want to. "She's a jounin right?"

Hinata's flushed face paled and she looked at the Uchiha like he just offered her a death warrant. Sasuke on the other hand just looks like he was enjoying her weird reaction.

"You can spar with me Sasuke." Shino answered, wondering why the girl was looking like she on the verge of fainting. "Hinata was just dragged here by Kiba, I personally came to train."

"Hn." Sasuke flashed Hinata a look that promised a comeback. "Fine. Let's see what those arms around Hinata can do."

Shino frowned at the comment but decided to keep his mouth shut. Sometimes, it was better to just keep silent—though it was now making him wonder what the real issue was between Hinata and Sasuke. Did they have a fight or something?

Though it was hard to imagine Hinata picking up a fight…

When the two males left, Hinata breathed a sigh of relief as she muttered words of gratitude for Shino. Good thing the Aburame was with her—he always knew when to jump in and save her. Hinata guessed that he knew her enough to read her thoughts.

Her sweet Shino-kun.

"Are you avoiding Sasuke, Hinata?" Sakura asked, not looking at the heiress but at the two forms on the middle of the training field—punching and kicking at each other in a well coordinated manner, unlike the pair of loudmouths that were still on the ground, cursing at each other on the face.

"Wh-what?" Hinata was surprised at the question, then she waved her hands in denial. "H-how could you say that Sakura-chan? O-Of course not."

"Oh." Sakura faked a smile. "I don't know…It's just that I saw you avoiding him the other day. I was watching from the Hokage tower. I heard him calling for you but it seems like you…uhm…did not hear."

"Oh…I was in a hurry and—"

The pink haired medic nodded. "Well…an heiress is always busy."

"Yeah." Hinata smiled nervously, feeling the tension around them even though she can find no reason for Sakura to emit such mood. Taking a seat beside the Haruno, she patted Akamaru's large head when the giant ninken rested it on her lap.

"Tell me Hinata…" Sakura started again on a false cheery tone. "What are you doing in a dark alley at night?" (f)

"I know I have been a little…harsh with Hinata, after what I have witnessed." Sakura wiped her tears off Sasuke's face. "And I won't lie that I have not been wishing that she would just disappear…because I have, and I have done it a lot of times. But looking at you, worrying yourself about her…I realized that I would prefer a happy Sasuke than a troubled one…and now, if only I could…I would personally bring her back to you Sasuke-kun…"

-o-o-o-

Kisame smiled slyly as he removed his black coat. Tossing it into a chair, he looked at Itachi who was standing quietly by the window. The Uchiha was staring at nothingness with a pensive look on his face—like he usually does when he was not interested on the things that are going on around him. "Hey Itachi…I was not expecting that you would arrive here before me."

"Where's Deidara?"

"Oh, he got another job. He just dropped me off here then flew away with that dumb looking clay bird he calls art." The shark-like man plopped into the chair. "Hey, has anybody heard from the zombie duo?"

"Nothing."

"Ha, they sure are taking their time." Kisame shook his head. "And talking about time… you have the Hyuga girl by yourself for days…Damn Itachi, you're a lucky bastard. She's a pretty one…"

"Not everyone is as perverted as you."

"Oh come on, a man has needs…and I know even the great Uchiha Itachi has one."

Before Itachi could burn his partner with his Amaterasu for his bloody big mouth, the door opened and Konan appeared before them, looking as stone faced as ever.

"Konan." Kisame gave the only female of the group a nod.

"Itachi." Konan gestured at the sharingan user then deadpanned. "You have to watch the Hyuga for the meantime. Be sure that she won't escape and that she won't do anything that could harm her. The orders came from Yahiko so you won't be taking any jobs until he says so."

Kisame frowned. "Seems like a change of plans…"

"Hai." Konan turned to leave. "It seems Yahiko just found his replacement for Sasori."

-o-o-o-

Here ends the chapter.

RyoPyoTurtle: I love you too.

A shout out to BlueSmilez, magi, Blanche, and no.1

Please review and let me know what you think. Suggestions are very much appreciated and I honestly need it. Good suggestions always help me to imagine more and think big.

Until next chap!

-crazygurl12