Dreamcatcher

By Airyo

The Price of a Secret - 5

Itachi summoned a raven. "Go fetch Naruto and Sasuke." The bird gave a squawk that sounded suspiciously like "roger" and flew out the window.

"Are you going to talk to Hinata then?" Sakura asked.

Itachi shook his head. "Not until I have more than a mere hunch. I cannot rush in accusing the Hyuuga clan head of identity theft without proof."

"Yeah, that might be just a little bit rude," Sakura agreed with a wry smile.

Minutes later, the remaining members of Team 7 teleported into the room.

"We didn't find very much," Sasuke reported. He looked as if someone had tried to attack him - his shirt was askew and someone had taken the liberty of running their fingers through his hair and scratching his face. Naruto had fared marginally better; he sported only one black eye from the Godaime.

"Anything may be useful," Itachi said. Sakura just sighed and started healing her boys as they gave a summary of their findings. Itachi listened with half an ear until the mention of Hikaru came up again. "Hyuuga Hikaru - elaborate on her."

Sasuke answered first. "She joined the Hyuuga several years later - her mother dropped her off with the Hyuuga. The thing is, no one really knows too much about her mother or her father."

Naruto had a similar story to tell. "Bastard told me to research this chick - there's nothing in her file before she's seven, which is really weird but the old bag wouldn't let me research further because she thinks I'm being creepy but really it's Bastard's fault."

Itachi frowned. "I left Hinata with her cousin Hikaru. Now I am suspicious of her origins-."

"That girl's mother was a Yamanaka. Distantly related." Team 7's heads all turned towards the fifth voice. Inoichi gave a little wave. "Hi." He struggled to sit up, but the seasoned medic in Sakura took over.

"Please stay down." She passed green glowing hands over Inoichi's body, before focusing on his temples. "How do you feel?"

"Like someone dumped my brain in a blender," was the raspy answer. Inoichi winced and propped himself up on his elbows. "The Hyuuga girl has a steel-trap mind."

"What do you mean?" Itachi questioned, stepping past his student. He ignored Sakura's glare. Now was not the time to coddle her patients.

"She didn't want me poking around one of her memories and so she tossed me in some sort of labyrinth. I probably wouldn't have ever made it out if I didn't have so much experience with mindscapes." Inoichi inched to a seated position and leaned back against his headboard with a sigh. "But you were discussing Hyuuga Hikaru?"

"I was saying that I left Hinata in her care. You said she was a Yamanaka?"

"That, I did not. Her mother was distantly related, but not of our clan. I only know because I keep track of all branches of the Yamanaka line. You know how tricky inheritance disputes can get." Sakura nodded with the rest of them, as she had been entangled in the ordeal surrounding Naruto's reveal as a Namikaze.

"You think her ties to your clan is an issue?" Itachi prompted. The Yamanaka clan head nodded.

"The problem is, her defense only works if the intruder is taken by surprise. Should I mindwalk her again," -Itachi glared but Inoichi just looked amused -"...hypothetically, it would not work. And Hinata has been forcibly mindwalked countless times, far more than any civilian should. It's a wonder that she has any mental defenses left."

Sasuke's eyes widened. "Aniki, if Hikaru has the ability to Yamanaka genes and Hinata had been repeated mindwalked...doesn't that mean that Hikaru has been…?" He turned towards his brother.

Itachi was already gone.

AN: What? I'm back? I'm stealth-fic-ing because we had an impromptu guest over and the "children" are therefore herded elsewhere. More writing time for moi. XD

Also, I got a tumblr and it is the worst decision of my life. Come say hi. Link in profile.