CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
The Day The Sun Never Rose!
XXX
111 Days Since Sasuke
The bombings had stopped. Thick, black plumes of smoke were rising from everywhere. Hinata sat in one of the many field hospitals next to her father, with his hand in hers, thinking about how it could've been her in that hospital bed. He pulled her in. As disappointed as he was in her, he was still her father.
Hanabi sat on the other side of the bed, bent over, with her head in her lap and her arms wrapped around her knees. "How are you feeling?" she asked her little sister.
Hanabi reared her head. "I'm okay," she assured her.
Hinata returned her attention to Hiashi, who had a bloody bandage wrapped around his scalp, covering his eyes. "Luckily, he'll be okay too." The nurse said his injuries weren't too bad. They just had to be extra cautious considering he had a head injury.
Hanabi looked back at the city. The sunset dyed all the buildings orange. The skies had opened up to create a beautiful blend of colours, from pink to red to yellow, to every shade in between. It heavily contrasted the destruction that'd been left behind. Fires ravaged sections of the city. Kiri shinobi were working overtime to ensure that the fires were put out. "Who could've done this?" Hanabi asked.
"We'll find out when Neji comes back."
"How will he find us?"
"The Hyuuga Main Family Head is lying unconscious in a field hospital. The word will spread," Hinata assured her.
"Yeah, you're probably right." Hinata offered her spare arm to Hanabi, inviting her little sister to sit down next to her. Hanabi accepted the offer. "I just wish we could've sprung for a more… fitting hospital room," Hanabi said, looking around at the injured shinobi around her.
"True, but it's better we avoid tall and important buildings. We never know where the next set of bombs could be."
"Yeah, you're right… you're always right."
"Except for when I chose to leave you alone," Hinata was willing to admit. "I'm sorry for that."
"No… I overreacted. I'm sorry for punching you."
"You've got a good punch on you. You've gotten so strong," Hinata said, running her hand through Hanabi's hair.
"It's because I've been training," Hanabi said, pulling one of her kimono sleeves back to reveal her 'muscles'. Hanabi was probably the only human being on earth paler than Hinata.
"Whoa! You've gotten so strong. You might even be stronger than me."
"I could never be stronger than you."
"Don't underestimate yourself, Hanabi. Or should I say, Lady Hanabi?"
"Don't call me that," she playfully pushed Hinata off, "You're the one who deserves to be the Hyuuga heiress. Not me."
"You'll make a better Hyuuga Head than I ever could. Just make sure to ban that stupid Caged Bird Seal when you become Hyuuga Head."
Hinata suddenly turned to her father. "What's wrong?" Hanabi asked. Hinata just stared at the old man. He was still unconscious.
"No… I just thought I felt him squeeze my hand," Hinata noted, "Must've just been a muscle spasm."
XXX
Tenten marched up and down the Homebase walls to make sure everyone was in position. She walked from position to position carrying a big metal ball covered in paper tags. As she marched, she repeated, "It works just like a kunai launcher. You aim at the bad guy and they're no more. I call it a cannonball."
"But Lady Tenten, I don't know how to operate a kunai launcher. My aim is not that good," a young man complained.
"That's the fun part about the cannonball," she said, pointing to the layer of tags around the metal sphere, "Unlike a kunai, you don't have to hit them directly. Just make sure you aim in the vicinity and watch the magic happen."
Rock Lee flickered to the weapons expert's side, "Tenten."
"It's Lady Tenten to you," Tenten replied, taking full advantage of the fact that she'd been given the role of Major General of the Long-Range Division. Her command was second to only the Kage when it came to the division's movements.
Rock Lee stiffened up. "Uh, sorry, Lady Tenten."
"I'm just pulling your leg, Lee. What's up?"
"I was sent by Lady Hokage to make sure everything was still quiet on your end."
"Yep. No sign of the Akatsuki's movements. No sign of Danzo," Tenten explained before pointing at a row of trees a few kilometres away. Before he left, A had ordered thousands of trees to be destroyed so the enemy wouldn't have foliage to hide under as they approached the village. They had him to thank. "I believe they're somewhere beyond those lines of trees. I doubt they'll attack tonight though. If they do, word will reach you before they reach these gates, that's for sure."
"We have movement!"
Tenten and Lee stared out at the field. Two figures were moving up the hill towards the village walls. They were both dressed in the Akatsuki black and red trench coats.
"Is that…?" Lee wanted to make sure the description matched what both he and Tenten had heard from Naruto and the group.
Orange hair. Piercings. Grey-purple eyes.
That had to be Pain.
"What do we do, Lady Tenten?"
It was only two of them.
"Wait…" Tenten ordered.
The taller, more muscular Pain bent down and cupped his hands. The petite, female Pain placed both feet on the larger Pain's hands.
"This world shall know pain."
"Blast them!" Tenten yelled.
The cannons roared. The female Pain was launched into the air. The male Pain was destroyed by four direct cannon hits. He lay there was a metallic heap on the grassy plains. The female Pain soared overhead.
XXX
She crashed into the war room through the curved window. Tsunade, Kakashi, Neji, and Might Guy all turned to face her. The Animal Pain dusted herself off. "What a throw," she congratulated herself.
"Pain?" everyone turned to the young lady.
The orange-haired woman strutted across the deathly silent hall, the echo of her clicking heels filling the void. She looked around, her Rinnegan scanning the area, "I've come to check on the negotiation proceedings. Where's Danzo?"
"I see you've got a new body," Neji commented. He'd been keeping track of Pain's myriad of bodies along with Jiraiya. His Animal Path had gone through the most abuse, starting off with a ponytailed man who got blasted to death by a Rasengan, then a short-haired woman who got her body destroyed by Utakata's final explosion, now he'd settled on an orange-haired woman whose silken hair ran all the way down to her hips.
"Yes," Pain replied, "Until you figure out the secrets of my Rinnegan, I will continue to send wave after wave of myself until I win."
"I always wondered," Kakashi interrupted, "do you have a vat of orange dye just sitting around, waiting for you to get a new body?"
"Perhaps."
"That must cost a lot of money," Kakashi added, "Paying for the dye that is, plus the vats to store it in, and how would you get that stuff delivered to someplace like the Hidden Rain Village?"
"Your stalling will not work on me, Hatake. Now answer my question," Pain demanded.
"What was your question again?"
"Where is Danzo?"
"Danzo? We were just looking for him ourselves… we were hoping you knew."
"So, I believe that means you declined his offer for surrender?"
"Offer for surrender?" Kakashi asked.
Pain glared at him. "Let's not play these games when the lives of your entire army rest in my hands. All it takes is one command, and we tear down these walls brick by brick," she said, walking over to the hole in the window.
"Wait!" Tsunade finally spoke up, "Let's not get too hasty here. We're still deciding what course of action we wish to take."
Pain turned to them. "What course is action is available to you? Either you surrender, or we burn the village to the ground."
"I admire your confidence, but it won't be so simple when said village has a dozen Kage and jinchuuriki ready to die for it," Neji noted.
Pain's pupils expanded, "I don't like liars," she turned away from them. "You have an hour to respond before we come in and get a response for ourselves."
"Wait!" Tsunade's shouting had no effect. Pain leapt out of the war room and hopped from building to building. She slammed her head against the broken remnants of her round table in defeat.
Kakashi stood up.
"Where are you going?" Might Guy asked.
"To rally the troops," he replied, leaving the room.
XXX
"Lady Hyuuga," a nurse said gently, placing her hand on Hanabi's shoulder. The Hyuuga heiress had fallen asleep on her sister's back. Hinata had fallen asleep herself, leaning against Hiashi's unconscious body, their fingers still intertwined. "Lady Hyuuga," the nurse repeated, this time a little louder.
Hanabi began to stir, which awoke Hinata. "Yes?" Hanabi groaned. Her voice still hoarse from her long nap.
"Sorry, Lady Hyuuga, but we need to get Lord Hiashi moving soon," the nurse explained.
Hinata looked around the noisy field hospital whilst groggily scratching her eyes. "Where are you taking him?"
"To the main hospital closer to the centre of the village," the nurse explained through the noise.
"Why? What's going on?" Hanabi wondered, finally standing up. Now that both she and Hinata weren't leaning on Hiashi, two mednin arrived to lift him off his bed and onto a stretcher.
The nurse looked around for a moment before leaning in to whisper, "Tsunade has told us to move all the important patients closer. She fears an invasion may be minutes away."
"Minutes?" Hanabi stood up. "It's minutes away and everyone's still here?" she asked. The field hospitals were a few hundred metres from the walls. If they came crashing down, or if White Zetsu clones came pouring in, it would be mere minutes before they descended on the hospitals.
"Shush. We won't be able to move everyone closer to the centre. Which is why only Lord Hiashi is being moved from this hospital."
Hinata stood up too. She looked around at the hospital for another moment. The tiny tent was damp and noisy, filled to the brim with dozens of shinobi of all age groups and rankings. Thirteen-year-old genin to sixty-year-old jounin, all stuffed into this one hospital. Was Tsunade willing to let all of them get caught in the crossfire?
"Well, did she say what the evacuation plan was for when things go wrong?"
"Evacuation plan?" the nurse looked at her like she was crazy, "Lady Hinata… this is a military base. There is no evacuation plan. We either fight or we die."
There was no way. "Where is Lady Tsunade at the moment?"
"She's in her war room."
"I need to go talk to her," Hinata said, picking up her jacket.
Hanabi grabbed it, "Where are you going?"
"I need to go speak with Lady Tsunade."
"No, you don't. You need to be here with father and me, in case things go wrong."
"But you're going to the centre of the village, there's no way an invading force will make it that deep into the camp."
Hanabi refused to let go. Hinata stared at her sister. She stared into Hanabi's blank lavender eyes. All they reflected was fear. How could she have been so selfish? After all, the Hyuuga Family had been in hiding throughout the war. The only reason they'd come to the Kumo Homebase was to rest and recover for the winter. Hanabi hadn't expected to see conflict, and now with Neji gone and Hiashi unconscious, Hinata was her only form of protection.
The older Hyuuga sister loosened her grip on the coat. "Okay… let's get going towards the centre."
XXX
The Hyuuga Family ran into the central hospital just in time for the second round of bombs to go off. The first explosion went off in a nearby building. The shockwave rippled through the city. Hinata threw herself onto Hanabi and bore the brunt of the heat.
They were both dragged in soon after.
Explosion after explosion went off, levelling several buildings, and sending dozens of bodies flying through the air.
Fortunately, just as Tsunade had expected, most of the explosions went off near the edges of the village, so moving the injured to the centre probably saved quite a few people.
Unfortunately, the explosions were only the start of the assault.
Tenten loosed the first shot of war as an army of White Zetsu exploded out of the forest, making a charge for the walls. She fired a single shot. It soared across the open field, releasing dozens of paper tags before crashing into a cluster of zombies. The paper bombs erupted in a sequence, catching a few more drones.
As mindless as ever, with no sense of self-preservation, the Zetsu army soldiered on. No one breaking stride. If they made it to the wall, all hell would break loose.
"Fire!" the weapons expert commanded.
Her shouts were drowned out by the proceeding cannon fire. The walls were shrouded in a thick blanket of smoke, occasionally illuminated by the next volley of cannon fire. Everyone's aim was off, but as Tenten explained, they didn't need to be precise, they just needed to cut down as many as possible before they reached the walls.
Rock Lee dragged a cartload of heavy steel balls, wrapped in paper bomb tags, up the ramp to the wall where Tenten stood. "How are the north, west, and east sides doing?" Tenten asked as Lee delivered three balls to each cannon.
"The worst of it seems to be coming at us from the south," Lee said, looking out at the waves of white approaching the wall. "But, as long as we keep them out of the city…"
"How are things going down there?" she asked, gesturing down to the group gathering behind the walls.
"Kakashi has taken command of the first defensive wave. Him and Guy-Sensei are just clearing away the injured before they are ready to proceed."
"Tell them they have five minutes… maximum," Tenten replied before firing another volley of explosive tags into the battlefield.
The field outside the Kumo Homebase looked like the surface of the moon as White Zetsu fell into massive craters that had opened up from cannonballs that had landed too close to home.
Even though a few would fall in, another dozen would step on that Zetsu's corpse to jump over the crater and continue the burst forward.
The White Zetsu were the least of their worries though.
"Lee! Tell them their remaining time's just dropped to about three minutes!" Tenten yelled from the top of the wall.
From the thick forests emerged the two chakra cannons the Akatsuki had stolen from Suna and Iwa. Tenten wasn't sure whether to tell them to get down or create a barrier. The chakra cannons were created to level the tailed beasts, what would they do to a wall made of wood and concrete?
"What do we do, Tenten?" Lee asked.
"Focus fire on the chakra cannons!"
"We won't be able to reach them!"
Six White Zetsu loaded the cannons up. The energy it required drained them of their life essences until they were nothing but thin sticks of wood. The barrel lowered to aim at them.
"Get out of the way!" she warned.
Both cannons fired, carving holes in the wall. Tons of material rained down, sending shinobi and medics alike tumbling into the wreckage.
"Watch your 2 o'clock," a voice called.
"Ao?" Tenten almost broke her neck looking back at the blue-haired man.
He directed her head slightly to the right.
Pain. The Animal Path. She'd used the chakra cannons as a distraction to get a bit closer. "Summoning Jutsu!" the Animal Pain slapped her hand against the floor.
A giant ox came rushing at the walls.
Tenten's heart started racing, "Stop it! Stop it before it creates a hole in the wall!"
The team's inaccuracy came back to bite them in the butt as not only did it take several precious seconds to turn the cannons, but only Tenten's shot hit the ox directly. The giant mammal turned sharply at the last second to dig its horns into the wall and run along its side as it demolished the structure.
Both Tenten and Lee fell. They were swallowed whole by the rain of concrete and wood as they disappeared under the mountain of rubble and screaming bodies.
The wall was wide open. The ox turned to the village and started smashing into buildings. Soon, it was joined by a giant rhinoceros, and then a giant bird.
"Lee!" Might Guy wanted to charge into the falling wall, but Kakashi pulled him back. "What are you doing? Lee's trapped in there."
"We've got bigger problems, Guy. Three massive animals have entered the city and we're still up against thousands of White Zetsu. Lee's a big boy. He'll get himself out of there." The first defensive unit came face-to-face with the White Zetsu army now that there was no barrier standing between them. "Hold!" Kakashi commanded.
"Hold?" one of the shinobi asked.
"Yes… hold," Kakashi held his nerve.
The army approached.
They were within 500 metres.
"We have to rush out and catch them!"
"I said hold."
400 metres.
"Kakashi?" Guy started asking questions.
350.
The explosions went off.
In a chain.
Explosion after explosion.
They didn't stop.
The closer the White Zetsu army got, the more of them died.
"You laced the ground with mines?" Guy asked.
"When did you get the time? We were walking through these fields just last week," Tenten wondered.
"Are you going to ask questions or are you going to charge?" Kakashi yelled.
"Charge!" the legions of shinobi sprinted past him.
As the explosions died down, the first defensive unit rushed out to taste combat. They clashed in a violent storm of fire, water, lightning, earth, wind, and fists. While most of the shinobi tried to keep a five-metre gap, so they could comfortably use their ninjutsu, the Zetsu army simply rushed in head first and beat them with their fists.
The battle turned bloody very quickly.
"I'll go deal with the summons," Guy said before flickering away.
"Oh, Kakashi-sensei…"
The one-eyed jounin turned to look over his shoulder. As the crowds cleared and shinobi met zombies, Kakashi came face-to-face with one of his former students.
"Sasuke Uchiha," he muttered.
"No!" Sasuke lifted his head to reveal bandages wrapped around his eyes. "You call me Sasuke from now on. I have shed my Uchiha name and been reborn as a deadly shinobi in my own right."
Kakashi's shoulders dropped. He reached into his kunai pouch. "Those bandages… you overused your Mangekyou Sharingan, didn't you. And now you've gone blind," the jounin gripped his kunai hesitantly, "If only things had panned out differently, I could've taught you how to wield that power."
"How would you teach me anything about my ability? You're not even an Uchiha yourself."
Kakashi lifted his headband to reveal his own Mangekyou Sharingan. "Still to this day, you underestimate me."
"He has the Mangekyou…" a voice said.
Only now did Kakashi notice the black entity sticking out of Sasuke's sleeve. Black Zetsu had become the Uchiha's eyes in his blindness. Kakashi knew what to expect from Sasuke, to a certain extent, but with Black Zetsu up his sleeve, who knew what could happen.
"The Mangekyou Sharingan? When? When did you…?"
"It seems that while I may have taught you everything you know… I didn't teach you everything that I know."
"I know more than the simple tricks that you taught me," Sasuke said. The Chidori roared to life.
"Proceeds to use the technique that I created?"
"Not quite," Sasuke grinned, "Chidori Nagashi!" The whole area was covered in lightning. Those who were caught, collapsed and shook violently on the floor. "I have improved upon it, you see?"
"He's above us," Black Zetsu noted.
"Lightning Blade," Kakashi created his own ball of lightning. He split the lightning into both hands. With his left hand, he sic'd a bright blue dog on Sasuke. With his right, he landed and charged.
Sasuke threw his sword at the blue dog upon Black Zetsu telling him where it was coming from. "Quickly! Incoming from 45 degrees!"
Kakashi stopped and leapt away.
A large white spear drilled into the earth in front of him. He landed a few metres back. The spear reverted to paper.
"Why are you out on the battlefield without my permission?" a voice asked. Kakashi looked up.
"This is our bad, Lady Angel!" Juugo flickered onto the scene with Sakon by his side.
Konan had somehow floated over both armies undetected. She stayed hovering above them with two giant paper wings. "Get Sasuke back to Pain. There will be repercussions for losing him again."
"C'mon, you can't seriously expect us to follow the little twerp around like we're his parents or something," Sakon complained.
"Hey."
"Sorry, strike a nerve with the whole parent thing?" Sakon asked.
"I told you not to call me a twerp!" Sasuke grabbed Sakon's top and pulled him closer.
"You bumbling idiots," Ukon smacked the back of Sakon's head. He turned to Konan and Juugo, "All of you couldn't stop fighting for one second to actually check on the person we're meant to be fighting."
Kakashi was gone.
"A minor slip-up. I'll find him," Konan assured them, "You just get Sasuke back to Pain."
XXX
Hinata's eyes lit up.
"Akiko!"
"Who's that?" Hanabi asked.
"I can't talk right now. I need to check on Karin and Akiko!" she realised.
"No, you can't leave, it's too dangerous!"
Hinata ignored the nurse's warning and burst through the doors to run through the destroyed streets of Kumo Homebase. Usually, if she was in a rush she'd hop from rooftop to rooftop, but there were no rooftops. Entire buildings that usually went up three or four storeys were left as piles of rubble on the ground.
Everywhere she looked, bodies littered the ground. They were stacked on top of rubble piles. Hands, their nails bloodied by their attempts to claw themselves to safety, jutted out of the mix of concrete and wood.
So much damage in so little time.
It was a warzone.
"I've found you!" someone landed on Hinata, forcing her into the ground. She rolled for a few yards before getting back up and activating her Byakugan. She lowered her guard for a moment, "I knew you looked familiar, you're the little whore that killed Kidomaru!"
"And you're the crazy redhead that almost killed Fuu."
Tayuya grinned. "The bitch with the green hair? Yeah, I roughed her up, didn't I," she went straight into Curse Mark Stage Two, "And now it's your turn."
"Air Palm!"
Tayuya hopped away just in time to dodge the rush of air.
Hanabi landed between Hinata and Tayuya. "Hanabi? You're supposed to be with father."
"Go," the Hyuuga heiress demanded.
"What?"
"I don't know where you're going, but it must be important if you're willing to run into a warzone for it, so I'll hold her off while you go," Hanabi said.
"Aw, how sweet. I almost threw up in my mouth a bit," Tayuya wiped a tear from her eye.
"Are you sure you'll be able to handle her?" Hinata asked.
"You said it yourself… I've gotten much stronger since we last sparred," Hanabi said.
Hinata nodded. She flickered away.
Tayuya already had her flute in hand. "Are you done?"
"You're an annoying little brat, has anyone ever told you that?"
XXX
"Akiko! Karin! Akiko!" She wasn't anywhere near the hotel yet, but Hinata started screaming in hopes that if Akiko was somewhere under all this death and desolation, that there was a chance, just a chance that they were alive. "Karin! Akiko! Karin!"
She alternated between all the names she could think to call. The only replies she got were cries for help and screams for mercy. All she could do was cover her ears and focus on the mission at hand.
"Jinchuuriki!" Animal Pain crashed into the earth, grinding Hinata's face along the earth. This was the second time Hinata had been forced to the floor by a member of the Akatsuki. It was starting to get on her nerves, "Finally."
Hinata kicked her off. She staggered back.
"Shannaro!" Sakura crashed through onto the scene to almost destroy Pain's body. The Animal Path and Sakura made eye contact. Sakura was breathing heavily. She'd spent so much chakra healing survivors that she wasn't even sure if she'd have enough to take Pain on. "Hinata! Run!"
"Huh?" the jinchuuriki slowly rose to her feet.
"They're after you! Run! If they catch you all these lives were lost for nothing."
Hinata didn't need any more motivation. The more time she spent distracted by people, the less time Karin and Akiko had on the clock. She sprinted away.
"How brave of you. To take me on all by yourself," Pain asked. She took a step forward.
Chains wrapped around her legs.
She hit the ground.
"You assumed I was by myself?"
"I've got her," Anko dragged her through the streets of Kumo Homebase. Her hands on the ground, Animal Pain summoned three giant centipedes. Anko looked over her shoulder at the creatures as they pursued her. "Some help please!" Sakura followed closely behind them, picking away at the centipedes with concentrated blows of chakra.
"I've got them in my sights!"
"Summoning Jutsu!"
Sakura threw a punch straight through the summoning cloud. Her fist met metal. Animal Pain had been saved by her Asura counterpart. Sakura tossed the heap of metal aside before going for another hit.
"Shinra Tensei…"
She was launched into a nearby building.
Anko ground to a halt. Animal Pain now fully wrapped in chains. "Shit."
The clouds cleared to reveal the Deva, Preta, Naraka, and Human Pains.
"You've gone far enough," Deva Pain commented. "Bansho Tenin…"
Anko tried to stop herself, but the gravity overwhelmed her. She was drawn towards Deva Pain. She released Animal Pain to wrap a chain around a nearby pole. Her feet left the ground.
Human Pain drew a black rod from his sleeve. He leapt into the air.
"Fire Style: Burning Ash!" three of the six Pains were blinded by a thick cloud of ash.
The gravitational pull ceased.
Anko fell to cover the Animal Pain's eyes.
Human Pain looked back over his shoulder.
Asuma had arrived on the battlefield.
Human Pain landed. But he didn't land on Anko as he had expected. He landed on a grassy hill. When he stood up and looked around, all he could see were more grassy hills that went on for miles.
He was in a genjutsu. "Clever," was all he could say.
Tree branches wrapped around Pain's body as a cherry blossom tree began to grow from behind him. All he could do was look up as Kurenai emerged from the tree's thick trunk.
Success. They'd killed one of the Pains.
"How'd everything go?" Anko asked, landing next to Kurenai, who was crouched over Human Pain's body.
"About as perfect as a plan executed against one of the Pains can go. Lord Jiraiya was right, genjutsu seems to be the play when facing these guys. As long as we blind the remaining bodies and try to take them out one by one, this fight may end sooner than expe…" Kurenai's speech was interrupted by the earth rumbling.
The giant rhino smashed through one of the walls and lumbered towards the two jounin.
"Summoning Jutsu!" Anko and Kurenai were coated by a thick cloud. A pair of snakes emerged from the seals and coiled around the rhinoceros to stop it in its tracks. "That was way too close, but they know we're here. Let's move."
"And the body?" Kurenai asked. "As long as it's just sitting here, they can bring it back to life."
"Good point." Anko rushed over to the Human Path's body and quickly sealed it in one of her scrolls.
XXX
Hinata had resorted to her age-old trick of activating the Byakugan and encircling the edges of the city. She had to do all of that whilst avoiding both the hordes of Zetsu and any Akatsuki members who'd snuck into the village, but if she had to do it to find Karin and Akiko, she'd do whatever she could.
"Karin! Karin!" Hinata sprinted to the redhead, who was standing alone, surrounded by rubble on all sides.
"Karin!"
She didn't respond.
"Karin?"
Hinata shook the sensory kunoichi.
"Karin?"
Her usually vibrant red eyes were now grey, empty. She was drooling. Her body almost limp. She was barely standing up.
"Karin?"
"She's in a genjutsu."
Hinata turned sharply. "Itachi?"
Karin collapsed.
Itachi stared at the Hyuuga. "She just experienced three days' worth of torture in a matter of seconds," Hinata covered her eyes. The Uchiha paused. "How will you fight me with your eyes closed?"
"I don't want to fight you. I just want to find Akiko."
"Akiko? Who is Akiko?"
"Why would you care?"
"General curiosity. Am I not allowed to care about your well-being?"
"I thought you were here to kill me," Hinata replied.
"… Yes… I guess I am."
"That's far enough, Itachi. Step away from Hinata."
Itachi rolled his eyes. He didn't need to look back. He knew that voice all too well. "Kakashi Hatake." Another figure flickered onto the battlefield. "Might Guy." A third fighter appeared. "Yamato."
For a moment, there was silence. "Anyone else feel like joining?" Itachi asked.
"One more, in fact."
"Neji Hyuuga."
"Four on one," Itachi noted.
"When were you going to tell us that you found the jinchuuriki?" Konan descended from the skies, "Let me join in and make things even."
"Things were even before you got here," Itachi replied.
"Lightning Blade: Surge!" Kakashi launched a wave of lightning. Itachi leapt up. Konan blocked with her wings.
Guy and Neji focused on Konan. Kakashi and Yamato battled away at Yamato.
Konan tried to keep her distance, but Neji and Guy locked in on her and never let her leave their sphere of influence. To her right was the greatest taijutsu user in history, and to her left, a Byakugan master, who could hit her over 128 times in an instant. All she could do was block and evade with paper.
Itachi was faring much better. He had dodged and hopped around the wooden structures. Kakashi came down and thrust around him with bolts of lightning. Itachi bobbed around all of them.
Kakashi leapt away.
A wooden cage trapped Itachi.
A bright red Susanoo exploded out of the cage. The skeletal avatar grimaced before extending one of its three bony arms out to grab Yamato.
Yamato encased himself in a wooden shell.
Kakashi cracked the skeleton's frame with a well-placed hit to Susanoo's spine.
"Amaterasu!"
Kakashi was already gone.
They were both using the Sharingan to predict the others' next move. It would all come down to who landed the first blow.
Susanoo slammed the earth around Kakashi three times, missing all three attempts.
Yamato tossed wooden senbon through the cracks in Susanoo. Itachi jumped out of the flaming avatar.
"Can I offer you a trade?" Konan yelled.
"Fine," Itachi swapped opponents to take on Guy and Neji.
Konan launched a volley of papers at Kakashi.
"Earth Style: Mud Wall," he blocked all of them. Yamato did the same with a wooden wall.
Konan vaulted over their walls.
She fired on them from above.
Kakashi and Yamato had gone from offence to defence as it was their turn to dodge and weave around volleys of paper shuriken.
As Neji and Guy clashed with Itachi and Kakashi and Yamato clashed with Konan, Hinata took this as the perfect opportunity to take her leave.
But first, she shook Karin violently. "Karin, listen, I need you to tell me where Akiko is. Karin… Karin…"
"… Hi… Hinata?" the Uzumaki muscled herself back to full consciousness. She coughed up some blood before rolling over onto her side. "Hinata?"
"Karin… I need you to tell me where Akiko is."
Karin steadied her breathing enough to look into Hinata's eyes. "Hinata… Akiko is dead. She was injured in the initial explosion, so I took her to a field hospital near the wall and she was caught in the explosion."
"She… she what?"
"She was so close. I turned away for a few minutes to catch my breath and the whole tent just exploded behind me. I didn't know she was…" Karin's explanation was cut off by dust being thrown into the air.
Kisame arrived on the battlefield.
"I found Konan and Itachi," Kisame reported. He turned to Hinata and Karin, "I also found the jinchuuriki… and an Uzumaki."
"Hinata, run. I'll hold her off," Karin groaned.
"You're in worse shape than me," Hinata said.
"I'm an Uzumaki," Karin said, standing up. "It'll take more than a stupid genjutsu to put me down."
Karin was levelled by someone crashing into her. She flew through a building, knocking it down, and dropping the little home on top of her.
"KARIN!" Hinata looked around. It was Orochimaru. "You monster."
Hinata tried to stand but Sasori grabbed her shoulder and forced her into the ground, creating a little crater. That was the third time that day. "Yeah, yeah, we've heard the whole speech before."
Juugo appeared next to her.
Then Sakon.
Then Sasuke.
Then Tobi.
Then Kabuto.
All of them were covered in dirt and blood, but when Tayuya finally appeared, also in a similar condition, Hinata feared the worst. What had happened to Hanabi?
"Back away," Deva Pain warned, "Remember, that's a jinchuuriki right there."
Sasori leapt back onto the lip of the crater.
Hinata slowly rose to her feet.
She was surrounded.
Konan and Itachi appeared around the crater next.
"Make this easy for us, jinchuuriki," Pain demanded. "You're not fighting your way out of this."
Hinata's heart was racing at a hundred miles per hour.
Sitting there. At the bottom of that crater. With some of the strongest shinobi and kunoichi in the world looking down at her. Everything felt so hopeless. She just wanted to cry. Go home and just cry.
"No, get away," was all she could muster the energy to say. Even then, the message only escaped her lips as a whisper. The tears were flowing down her rosy cheeks. Thoughts were running through her head faster than she could even think. "Father… Hanabi… Akiko… Karin… Naruto… Guys?"
The darkness consumed her.
How had she gotten here?
Hinata felt so emotionless, so empty. She'd never felt this feeling before. She hated it so much. Why was she here? Why had she left Hanabi in that position? Why didn't she leave with Akiko when she went down to the Hyuuga House? Why did she accept this stupid title of jinchuuriki?
.
.
.
Why did she leave with Naruto all those years ago?
Naruto.