Dreamcatcher
By Airyo
The Price of a Secret - 2
Itachi sat by the side of Inoichi's hospital bed, feet apart and elbows braced on his knees. The beeps of the heart rate monitor broke the silence into even intervals. It was soothing - a meditation on a fundamental pattern of life.
Hinata had been unharmed, shaken but she had recomposed herself quickly. Too quickly, in Itachi's opinion. She was used to waking up nearly incoherent, and piecing herself back together.
He'd escorted her home and had been assured by one of her cousins, Hikaru, that she would be in good hands. There was little he could do for her when all she wanted was to rest and forget today happened.
Itachi ran his hands through his bangs in a rare show of frustration. He was not accustomed to helplessness. He had been arrogant to think he could solve it so easily when others before him had tried for years. Hinata wasn't a mission with defined parameters, and he still found himself slipping into that mindset. If only to mute his own worry. The soldier did not care, did not feel outside the boundaries of his mission, but the man wearing the soldier's uniform certainly did.
Fortunately for Hinata, she had gotten off lightly compared to Inoichi. The medics weren't sure when the Yamanaka clan head would wake. It could take a day, a month, or a year. Inoichi had agreed to this experiment because he was a friendly guy who liked to help his comrades - Itachi hated the idea that a simple act of goodwill could end his career.
Sakura's approaching chakra signature was a welcome distraction. She knocked on the door before entering. "Itachi-sensei. I think I found something." Sakura spared a quick glance to Inoichi. There was no doubt that she already heard the circumstances of the mindwalker's coma, but professionalism took over. Sakura held up a file that was labeled as "classified" in enormous red block letters.
"About Hinata?" he asked.
Sakura shook her head, sending short pink locks flying about her face. "Unfortunately, I have very little on her since she was only recently registered as ninja. Civilians aren't required to come in for check-ups. This is about her father, the current Hyuuga clan head."
She glanced at Itachi, silently asking if the room was secure.
"Go on," Itachi said. Sakura sighed, as if she still couldn't quite believe what she was about to say.
"One of the medic's notes from over a decade ago listed symptoms that line up with terminal disease." Itachi waited for Sakura to explain, as Hyuuga Hiashi was very much so alive. "Well...there's still no known cure, so it's a medical miracle or someone had done something desperate and possibly illegal."
Itachi made the connections in moments, unearthing it from a thousand jumbled memories and theories. His father cursing Hiashi's strange personality shifts. Inoichi's off-hand comment about how the Hyuuga head had changed. Hiashi's terminal illness. The Hyuuga rebellion that separated twin brothers after ten years together. The Caged-Bird Seal's properties when applied late. Hinata's almost fanatical adherence to her Branch status. Her alienation from her father.
Her tears when she woke up - expression fearful, and tinged with grief.
Any one piece by itself would have been meaningless, but if all he knew was truth…then it pointed to a horrifying possibility.
"Or," he murmured. "Someone had managed the impossible."
AN: Aaaaaah I am so close to the end and so close to revealing the secret. All the pieces are posted now and I will confirm next chapter. I only have time on weekends to write, but I'll try to get it out in less than a week. In the meantime, cookies for those who guess. :)