It's mission time!
That means action and some non-graphic death.
Chapter 8: Keep breathing (don't lose your nerve)
It had been a terrible morning for Hinata. She'd slept fitfully and woken up later than planned, still tired. As she'd originally intended to use leftovers from yesterday to pack obentos for herself and Tenten, she ended up rushing through the kitchen to throw a simple meal together. Leaving the kitchen, she'd run into Hanabi who had been surprised to see her and demanded an explanation about her date. Outraged, Hanabi had dragged a passing Neji into the conversation who had looked disgruntled both by the topic and by having to be a part of the discussion at all.
"This was supposed to be your, what, first date in months? And he blew you off?!" Hanabi fumed.
"Well, he didn't mean to —"
"Oh my god, nee-sama, don't make excuses for him! You always —"
"Hanabi," Neji cut in with a stern look all too reminiscent of their father that Hanabi snapped her mouth shut. He signed, looking back at Hinata, face lined with something like pity. "Hinata-sama has a mission to get to which is far more important than this. You can continue this conversation when she gets back if Hinata-sama so wishes."
Hinata had gladly taken Neji's intervention to escape Hanabi's tirade. Now she was running to the village gates, hair a mess, and nearly tripped to a stop when she saw who else was there.
Tenten was chatting with Izumo and Kotetsu, a pack secured to her back. A little further away from her stood Sasuke and a haggard looking Naruto.
Lavender eyes met blue and Hinata squeaked.
"Hinata-chan!" Naruto called, perking up.
Averting her gaze, she met one obsidian eye and ducked her head to stare at her feet instead.
She made her way over reluctantly. When Naruto reached out, she reflexively stepped back. "Naruto-kun…"
Naruto frowned guiltily, lowering his arms. "Hinata-chan, I'm so sorry! I was on my way and then I ran into baa-chan. I hadn't seen her in ages, so when she wanted to have a drink I figured I'd just have one quickly, but then Kakashi-sensei joined and…." He stopped himself there, nervously ruffling the back of his hair. "I'm just really sorry, I didn't mean to mess up our date."
Hinata's ears felt hot. She looked over and saw Tenten, Izumo and Kotetsu still ostensibly occupied in conversation, but there's no way they couldn't hear what was going on. Naruto's voice was so loud.
Sasuke wasn't polite enough to pretend. Hinata's skin prickled with the heat of his stare.
Shaking her head, Hinata turned her attention back to Naruto. She understood Tsunade's importance to Naruto and didn't blame him for having a drink with her. But Naruto and her hadn't been able to spend any significant alone time together in a long time. She'd been so excited only to be left waiting for hours.
"I'm not mad…just disappointed," she said. The troubled look on Naruto's face made Hinata want to take back her words. To say that it was nothing and she didn't mind at all. As she opened her mouth to do just that, Hanabi and Neji's upset faces flashed before her eyes.
And, strangely, Sasuke's voice echoed in her mind.
"You should leave that idiot to face the consequences of his actions."
Her lips trembled, but she pressed them together in a firm line. "Naruto-kun, can we please not talk about this now?"
"But Hinata-chan —!" Naruto protested
"I just…I need some time to think."
Naruto's entire body seemed to slump. "Alright. But how about I take you out as soon as you get back? Just the two of us? And then we can talk?" His blue eyes glittered so hopefully that Hinata couldn't help but agree with a weak smile.
"Mm."
"So, ready to go, Hinata-chan?" Tenten asked, walking over. She set both hands on her hips and gave them a jaunty grin.
Hinata nodded, hands clasping over the straps of her backpack. She gave Naruto an uncertain wave, catching Sasuke's gaze over the blond's shoulder. Blinking, she inclined her head and he cocked a brow in return. Flustered, Hinata turned to follow her mission partner on the trail leading out of Konoha.
As soon as they'd walked into the forest, trees hiding the way back, Hinata felt compelled to activate her byakugan. A swirling rinnegan and sharingan pierced her gaze from the back of her head and she gasped, quickly deactivating her kekkei genkai.
"Cute," Tenten remarked.
"Eh?"
"Stealing one last glance of your lover even after an argument," Tenten teased. "It's cute."
Hinata could only blush.
It was a one day journey to the capital of Hi no Kuni going at a quick but not strenuous pace. Hinata and Tenten camped out, eating the bentos Hinata had packed and then turning to rations. They didn't waste time on foraging for more substantial food, instead prioritizing efficiency.
When Hinata and Tenten reached the capital, they picked up the noble family that had hired them as escorts. Tokugawa Katsutoshi and Ichika as well as their son Kenta greeted them politely, offering them refreshments which they accepted graciously before setting out with the family's carriage.
Although the Tokugawas offered Hinata and Tenten seats inside the carriage, the kunoichi declined and chose to sit at the back while the horses trotted through the cobbled streets of the city. Once they left the capital and the roads got rougher, the horses slowed to a walk and the girls hopped off to walk alongside. They kept an eye out for disturbances, but fortunately the journey was peaceful.
Over the four days of the mission they stopped occasionally for breaks for their clients as well as to spend the night at inns in neighbouring villages. Hinata and Tenten took shifts during the night, trading off patrolling and catching some sleep in a shared room while their clients and the driver slept in their own quarters.
Tokugawa Katsutoshi and Ichika were reserved, keeping to themselves. Their son Kenta however looked only a few years older than the kunoichi and was eager to make conversation. Hinata felt nervous whenever his attention fell on her and was happy to let Tenten field his questions, which the older girl did confidently.
"Hinata-san, you have such unusual eyes, I've never seen any that colour before," Kenta said when they had stopped to let the horses drink some water. It was the fourth day of their trip and they were nearing their destination.
"Um..." Hinata gripped the edges of her long-sleeved shirt.
"They're cute right?" Tenten said, cutting in smoothly. "But that's just because Hinata-chan is cute. You should see them in action, they're pretty intimidating. It'd be better if you don't have to see that though."
"Ha, I suppose you're right," Kenta agreed with a nervous chuckle, climbing back into the carriage.
Hinata shot her friend a grateful smile and Tenten winked back at her. "I'm glad you're feeling better," Tenten said as they started walking again.
"Hm?" Hinata looked at her friend questioningly.
"Well you seemed down after your talk with Naruto right before we left. But you seem brighter again," Tenten said with a light shrug.
Hinata automatically frowned, thinking of her conversation with Naruto.
"Ah, I didn't mean to bring the mood down."
Hinata waved her hands reassuringly. "It's nothing, Tenten-san! You're right, being on this mission did take my mind off things."
"I'm glad," Tenten said, shooting her a grin. "And I'm here to talk, if you need. Not that I have much luck in the romance department."
"Oh? I thought you were seeing someone from Kusagakure?"
Tenten groaned. "That fizzled out. I've just been so busy trying to get Ningu Tententen up and running. It doesn't bode well when you're more excited to see a weapons shipment come in than to see your boyfriend."
Hinata laughed lightly. She knew very well how excited Tenten could get over new weapons.
Tenten laughed as well. "Yeah, I probably shouldn't count on anything serious until I get a little less busy. The only advice I could give is based on what didn't work out for me. Communicating and spending time together. Once you stop doing that properly, it's easy for distance to grow and feelings to fade." She sighed wistfully. "He was really pretty though."
"Prettier than the bashosen?" Hinata asked.
"Okay, not that pretty," Tenten replied with zero hesitation.
"It would be nice to find a guy you like more than weapons," Hinata mused quietly, less teasing than she had intended.
"Isn't that every girl's dream?" Tenten joked.
Hinata's mind was filled with blue eyes and blond hair when she replied. "You're right."
They continued walking into the early evening. After passing many grain and vegetable fields, a large estate came into view. They were at the edge of the border between Hi no Kuni and Ta no Kuni.
Tenten let out a loud sigh of relief, stretching her arms above her head. "Halfway done, Hinata-chan."
Hinata smiled, knowing Tenten disliked missions like this. Escort missions passed slowly as they needed to travel at a pace comfortable to their clients. The kunoichi would leave the Tokugawas to meet with the lord of the house and spend the evening. Then tomorrow they would need to start another four day trip to escort the nobles back to the capital.
The carriage rode past the gates up to the entrance where Lord Mogami and three servants were waiting to receive the Tokugawa family.
Hinata ignored the feeling of Mogami's eyes on her as the Tokugawas exited the carriage. She was used to the stares whenever she went on missions outside of Konoha, her eyes making her an oddity.
As the nobles greeted each other formally, Hinata shared a glance with Tenten, silently agreeing to do a perimeter check. Hinata activated her byakugan for a quick scan, but immediately froze.
Chakra was energy, something contained by every living being. Ninja had highly developed chakra coils and emanated a great deal of chakra. Even the few exceptions like Gai and Lee could not be mistaken for civilians.
With her byakugan locked onto Lord Mogami, despite how well the chakra was suppressed, there was no mistaking the chakra network of a ninja.
Eyes shooting up, Hinata met Lord Mogami's eyes dead on and was hit with a harsh wave of killing intent.
But Hinata wasn't a genin who got frightened by something like that.
Within seconds she put herself between the Tokugawas and Mogami. She could see Tenten shooting into action out of the corner of her eyes, ushering the Tokugawas back into the carriage.
Hinata swung out with a chakra laced hand to disable Mogami, but was surprised when she felt something wrap around her ankle and fling her away.
Rolling into a soft landing, Hinata was alarmed to see a distinctive elongated white limb shrinking back into the body of one of the servants.
"Is it really?" she whispered to herself. Launching herself forward, she aimed quick strikes at all four opponents. They seemed determined to avoid her hands, but she managed to land a few blows on one of the servants, slowing him down exponentially with each hit until he was indisposed.
Lying on the floor, his true form was revealed and Hinata cried out. "Tenten, these are white zetsu!"
Tenten soon joined the fray with her bō staff and Hinata gladly surrendered up the last two servants, singling out Mogami.
He evaded her swings, abandoning his disguise and using his mokuton ability to entangle her with tree roots sprouting from his body. It was difficult, but with all the training she'd been doing on her taijutsu Hinata was able to keep from tripping up and close the distance. She struck him at his core tenketsu, disabling him.
With her dōjutsu Hinata was able to sidestep the white roots that shot at her from behind while simultaneously shouting out a warning to Tenten. "There's five more! Two at your seven o'clock. I have the other three."
Hinata used kaiten to deflect all the attacks of the three white zetsu coming at her. Upon finishing her spin she jumped directly into a crescent kick and a series of palm strikes.
After ensuring her opponents were truly incapacitated with her byakugan, Hinata turned to help Tenten with the last two white zetsu, the brunette having already taken down the two servants.
The arc of Tenten's staff had a white zetsu leaping backwards to avoid it. Hinata swiped at its feet and when it dropped to its knees she jabbed her elbow between its shoulder blades. A shout of pain from Tenten distracted Hinata enough that the white zetsu was able to kick back at her knee but Hinata held her position through the pain. With a well-aimed palm strike the white zetsu was unconscious.
Tenten knocked out the remaining white zetsu with a final swing of her staff.
"Well that was unexpected," Tenten said, panting and still in her stance.
Hinata continued to scan the area with her kekkei genkai, making sure there were no other enemies. For such a large house, it was unusual that there were only nine occupants, but clearly this was not a normal situation.
"All clear?" Tenten asked expectantly, seeing as Hinata hadn't issued any warning of lurking enemies.
Hinata nodded, but kept her byakugan activated, too unnerved to relax her guard.
Tenten sighed, clutching shoulder. "That's going to leave a nasty bruise."
Hinata's right knee twinged in sympathy.
"Well, we can't leave them here. Pretty sure they can travel through dirt or something," Tenten huffed. "Good thing I always carry spare scrolls." She pulled out a scroll from her pack and used fūinjutsu to seal all nine white zetsu away. Tenten pointed at the gates. "I'll see how far the Tokugawas got in the carriage and let them know everything's taken care of." She tapped the corner of her eyes. "You good to take a look around?"
"Yes. Will you be able to send a message back to Hokage-sama?"
"On it."
Hinata walked as steadily as she could, pushing past the sting in her knee each time she put her weight on her right leg. There was no guesswork involved thanks to her dōjutsu and she went directly into a back room. She had expected it, but when she deactivated her byakugan the sight in front of her was worse than it had been through the walls.
Bodies. A lot of them. Strewn about carelessly in varying states of decay.
Retreating behind a mask of calm, Hinata examined the scene with analytical eyes. Then she closed her eyes in a silent prayer before exiting the room.
Hinata walked through the rest of the estate, but found nothing noteworthy. Back outside, she hurriedly used iryō ninjutsu on her knee. There were other scrapes and bruises on her body, but nothing that couldn't wait. With her knee patched up enough to run, she used shunshin to meet up with Tenten.
Tenten had already caught up to the Tokugawas. Their driver had managed to urge the horses a fair distance and they were now whinnying tiredly.
"We've already sent word to our Hokage, Tokugawa-sama. We'll escort you back to the capital and there should be more Konoha ninja waiting by the time we get there. They'll have some questions for you and there'll be guards to stay with you," Tenten was saying in a confident but kind tone.
"But we've already told you everything we know!" Tokugawa Katsutoshi said. His face was pale and drawn. His wife and son stood behind him, Kenta with a comforting hand on his mother's arm.
"I know you have," Tenten said. "But this is all for your safety, so please understand."
"What were those things?" Kenta asked. Hinata frowned, realizing he had seen the white zetsu's roots coming out of Mogami's body.
Tenten met Hinata's gaze, mirroring her grim expression. "Nothing good," Tenten replied.
They made it back to the capital in three days. The Tokugawas had wanted to go faster, but the horses couldn't take the strain. Tenten had tried her best to lighten up the tense atmosphere and Kenta had participated gamely. Hinata, too, had put as much effort as she could into keeping up light small talk.
When they arrived back at the Tokugawa household, the noble family was considerably calmer. They thanked Hinata and Tenten graciously, Kenta going out of his way to shake both of their hands.
As Tenten had predicted, there were Konoha ninja stationed at the Tokugawas. Of the five, Hinata recognized two as members of the Jōhōbu, two as fellow chunin and the last ninja was Sai.
"Mouse-hair, Hime," Sai greeted with a mirthless smile.
Tenten's answering grin was more a baring of teeth. "Sai, if you call me that again you're going to find kunai in some very uncomfortable places."
"Hi Sai-san," Hinata said from behind Tenten with an awkward wave.
Sai seemed to let Tenten's threat roll off his back. "I'm your ride back. Hokage-sama wants to see you right away."
"Thank you, Sai-san," Hinata said while Tenten just huffed and crossed her arms.
Sai brought to life a drawing of a hawk and owl, Hinata and Tenten sharing the owl while Sai took the hawk. They made it back to Konoha by nightfall and Hinata was thoroughly exhausted, barely keeping her grip on the strange texture of the ink bird.
They headed straight into the Hokage's office and were met by Kakashi, Shikamaru and Naruto.
Hinata faltered only slightly at the sight of the blond, forcing her eyes to stay trained on Kakashi.
They made their report quickly, the furrows in Kakashi's forehead growing deeper with each word. Hinata recounted her findings from her venture into the estate with as much detail as she could.
"I counted nineteen bodies, all civilian. From their clothing, I believe seven were servants and eight were members of the Mogami clan, including Lord Mogami. I recognized the emblems of the Chiba and Goto clans respectively on the clothing of the last four bodies."
Kakashi rubbed at his temples. "Chiba and Goto. Those were our last two escort missions."
There was a knock on the door.
"Good, he's here. Come in, Neji."
Hinata's head whipped around to watch her cousin step in. She pursed her lips to stop from speaking out. Neji gave her a silent nod before offering Kakashi a polite but shallow bow. "Hokage-sama, you called?"
"We've had three escort missions to the Mogami household in short succession. It was a little unusual, but the Fire Daimyo is informed of these requests and it seemed to be civilian business. Now that we know white zetsu are involved, that changes things," Kakashi said. He gestured at Shikamaru who stepped forward.
"We have an unknown number of white zetsu insinuating themselves into high society for unknown reasons. For now the only thing we're certain of is that they seem to have been operating out of the Mogami household and that they have killed and replaced two of the three nobles invited there in the past months," Shikamaru recapped. "We need to eliminate the imposters and we need more information on motive. Since they're mimicking civilians, it'll make them easier to track down, but we can't forget that they can just as easily mimic any of us, so we'll have to be careful."
"Right. So Hinata, Neji, Naruto, you'll be our white zetsu detectors. Tenten and Neji, you'll be going after the Goto white zetsu. Sai and Naruto, you're on the Chiba white zetsu." Both teams nodded and Kakashi turned to look at Hinata. "Hinata, you'll be heading back to the Mogami land to investigate further. I sent a messenger bird to Sasuke. He'll be back by afternoon and will join you. All teams will leave tomorrow. Your mission scrolls with further details will be ready for pickup in the morning."
"Yes, Hokage-sama," they echoed.
As they started to leave, Kakashi called out. "Naruto, Shikamaru, I'll need your help on strategy and preparing the mission details."
Hinata caught Naruto's glance at her as she stepped out of the Hokage's office and he stayed inside.
The walk home with Neji felt short. Hinata's mind was muddled, bouncing between what she had seen in the Mogami estate, her last conversation with Naruto and the upcoming mission. It was only when Neji was bidding her goodnight that Hinata snapped out of it.
"Neji-nii-san," she called out, soft voice loud in the quiet of the night. Neji turned to face her, giving her his full attention.
"I…I didn't realize you were back on the mission roster," Hinata said. She tugged at the bottom of her sleeves.
"Yes, I was cleared yesterday," Neji answered simply.
"Oh…Um, please be careful…and come back safely."
A minute passed with no words exchanged. Then Neji sighed. "Hinata-sama, do you not want me to go?" he asked.
"That's not it. I…"Hinata trailed off, brows drawing together in a worried frown.
"Oh? Because I may be a shinobi of the Leaf but I am a Hyuuga first. You need only say the word and —"
"I would never ask that of you!" Hinata protested, hands clasped against her chest.
"I know," Neji said, "But you could. And if it were by your request, I would obey."
"I would never," Hinata repeated resolutely. "I just…worry." Although Neji was standing strong and tall before her now, she couldn't shake the image of how frail he'd been in the aftermath of the war. Hinata never wanted to hold Neji back and she knew he looked happiest when he was training, whether by himself or with her or with Lee and Tenten. Neji prided himself on his strength. And though she didn't want to hold him back, she was the reason his strength had taken a harsh blow.
Neji smiled slightly. "Hinata-sama, you need not worry about me. I am your protector."
"But I want to protect nii-san too. I want you to be safe," Hinata said plaintively.
"And I, you. I would gladly lay down my life with no regrets." Neji's arms were folded behind his back, long hair swaying in the wind. Abruptly, he looked up. "It's snowing."
Hinata's pale eyes flickered up as well, tracking the small flakes of snow floating down on them.
Neji looked back down at her. "Come, Hinata-sama. We should retire. We both have missions tomorrow."
Hinata smiled thinly. "Go ahead without me. I need to get some herbs from the garden. I've run low on ointment and want to make a fresh batch to take with me."
Neji paused for a moment, but ultimately nodded. "Very well. Goodnight, Hinata-sama."
"Goodnight," Hinata called softly, watching as his back disappeared into the compound. She stood under the moonlight, light snow falling around her, lips quivering from something other than the cold. "I would regret it," she murmured, but Neji was too far to hear her. Hinata's hands were still clasped at her chest, fingers digging into the material of her shirt.
The brief flare of chakra was so commonplace now that Hinata only startled for a second before turning around.
"Hinata."
"Sasuke-san." Hinata pressed her trembling lips into a small smile. Then her expression dropped in confusion. "Hokage-sama said you were on a mission?"
"I am." Sasuke examined her with his one visible eye. "I heard about the white zetsu. You're hurt."
Hinata shifted, absentmindedly reaching for her right knee though she knew there were more visible scratches on her body. The iryō ninjutsu had only been a quick fix to prevent it from hindering her while conserving her chakra and her knee still smarted. Sasuke's gaze tracked her movements and Hinata drew her hand back too late.
"Um, well, just a little," she admitted. "I'll just put some ointment on it and wrap it. It'll be fine."
"You should go to the hospital," Sasuke said shortly. There was a downturn to his lips and Hinata noticed that his hair looked messier than usual.
"Sasuke-san, did you finish you mission early?"
Sasuke's frown deepened and he looked away. "I just need to drop off the retrieved package in Kirigakure. It won't take long."
Hinata took the rare opportunity to study Sasuke's face without him looking back. Any thin flakes of snow that landed on his head melted immediately, leaving a trace of water that glinted against the pitch black of his hair. The moonlight washed out his already pale skin, bringing the shadows on his face into stark relief. He looked tired. "How many times have you used your rinnegan today?" Hinata asked.
Sasuke turned back to her, frown receding as he took in her worried expression. He smirked. "I told you, I can use it multiple times a day. I'm fine."
"Okay," Hinata conceded. She shook her head, smiling. "It seems like a pretty useful technique. I'm surprised Hokage-sama doesn't send all escort missions your way."
Sasuke glared at her, but Hinata could read playfulness in the lines of his mouth. "I told him to try it and see."
Hinata let out an airy giggle. She looked up at him, waiting, but he didn't say anything else. Hinata expected Sasuke to ask about the white zetsu or perhaps to leave now that he'd determined his future mission partner was in one piece, but he didn't.
"Um…I'll be heading to bed as soon as I stop by the garden," Hinata said. Sasuke only quirked a brow, but when Hinata hesitantly turned to leave, he followed.
He crouched down beside her as she gathered the herbs necessary for her ointment. Perhaps it was stillness that came with the late hour, but Hinata was surprised at how little she fumbled under Sasuke's watchful gaze.
He rose up when she did and it was then that he said goodbye in the form of a, "I'll meet you at the hospital tomorrow" and a pointed look at her right knee.
"Goodnight," Hinata said for the second time that night, hands clasped around a bundle of herbs this time rather than her shirt.
Some people have asked, so I wanted to clarify that though feelings might get messy, I don't intend to include any cheating in this fic. Since there isn't a tagging system on FFnet, I've gone ahead and added 'no cheating' to the fic summary as well. I completely understand that it can be triggering or a squick, so want to put it out there. If anything changes, I'll make sure to update the summary accordingly and put a warning.
Thanks again to everyone who continues to read and leave a review ^^ I appreciate it!
MVH