Dear sister,
I know this letter will come as a surprise to you, and for that I am sorry. It's hard to know who to trust these days, so I had to be sure that I was giving it to you at the right time and place. Actually, I don't know if you will ever receive this––to me, it seems unlikely that you will think to visit Uncle Hizashi's home, because you only do what Command tells you to do.
This is not an insult, merely an acknowledgement of how we were raised. After all, I was always the rebellious one. But if you do happen to make it to Uncle Hizashi's house, then I enthusiastically welcome you to read this. Know that I feel proud of you for doing something so outside of your comfort zone.
I'm sure this is confusing to you. The truth is…I'm not sure how to start. For years I've been just like you––working hard to please Command, doing missions, training nonstop––until the nightmares started, and all I could think of was mom. I know I was only six when she died, but still––I could remember the frantic look she carried in her eyes, her shaking hands, and the offerings she would leave around the house. I guess what I'm trying to say is….I feel complicated about her death.
Okay. I should be more clear. I feel like her death wasn't an accident. I feel like her decline was structural––purposeful, and I have grown distrustful of….Hm. Well, I don't agree with the idea of re-training and want to investigate it for myself.
So yeah. That's all I'm trying to say, I guess. I have a plan, and I wanted to let you know. I went to Uncle Hizashi's to find out more about our family history…and I have come to understand him as a person I can almost trust. Almost. I can only hope that you feel the same way. I left my baby bracelet––the little golden one––on mom's shrine, did you see it?
Anyway. I know this is long, and I haven't said very much, but things feel very difficult for me at B6 right now. I have a plan that will get me sent to re-training, where I hope to find some answers––or at least, the man who I think tortured our mother.
Before that happens I plan to visit Uncle Hizashi one last time, and pass along another note. I don't know when, and I'm sorry I can't give you the date or any other concrete details.
I have always loved you, sister. I'm so sorry that I've been bad at expressing it. I'll update you as soon as I know more.
Love,
Hanabi
Hinata tossed the letter into the bathroom sink with muted panic. Shuffling––she was wearing 4-inch heels today––she bent to her bag and pulled out a box of matches. She lit one easily, and flicked it into the sink with the letter, watching it go up in small flames.
The fire wouldn't be enough to alert the smoke detectors. Hinata was in the office bathroom, trying to calm herself down. She'd opened the letter at her desk––not her new apartment––and skimmed the details before deciding that she was in far too open of an environment for the types of things Hanabi was saying.
Immediately, she sprang up, passing June, the secretary, who didn't give her a second glance, and held the letter to her racing chest. She read it three times, front to back to front again, trying to understand what her baby sister was trying to say. A familiar panic rose up in Hinata's chest––the type that came when she thought of her mother and her often frantic behavior. Hinata swallowed and took a deep breath.
She was at work. She didn't have time to process this. Even as she tried to control her breathing, staring at herself in the wide bathroom mirror, she couldn't help but think of her little sister going through something as horrible and rigorous as re-training. Hinata had never been, but if it was anything like counseling––well, Hinata never wanted to go.
Did that mean that Hanabi had already been through counseling enough times to go to re-training? There was usually a process for these things, and re-training was the last stop. Hinata breathed in haggardly, thinking about the things Hanabi had written. She was investigating their mother's death? Just what did that mean? They had been told that Hitomi's death was an accident; a symptom of her mental deterioration.
When Hiashi sat his daughters down in the dining room to tell them she had passed away on a mission, Hinata could not have imagined that the story had been a lie. Hiashi was strict, private, and demanding of them––but he had never lied. It wasn't his style. He didn't have time for it. So when Hinata found out that Hitomi's psychosis had finally affected a mission––that she had mistaken an enemy for an old, deceased teammate and had gotten herself killed in the crossfire––Hinata believed it.
And yet, young Hanabi had not. Hinata felt herself lean heavily over the counter, trying to collect herself. Her phone was buzzing in her vintage Prada purse Ino had gotten her––but she couldn't be bothered. Her mind was racing a mile a minute––could she go to Hanabi and stop her? Should she talk to Neji? Should she––
"You don't look so good," June, the secretary, said as she came into the bathroom. She barely looked at Hinata as she leaned forward to check her makeup, patting lipstick on her mouth. "And––ew, what's that smell?"
Hinata turned on the faucet, washing away the bits of ash that remained in the sink. She bid June, the secretary, a good day as she hurried back to her corner of the office, shoving all of her feelings back down inside of her. She didn't have time to think too much about this. She couldn't control her sister any more than she could control her own mission.
Which reminded her––she had been in the process of buying a few first-class plane tickets to Rome. Sasuke had mentioned this to her in passing a few days ago, and had sent in an itinerary for it just this morning. He was out of the office for some event and told her to use the company credit card in his absence.
"You're going too," he said––not asking; a demand. After the weekend she'd had away, seeing him reminded her of the dream she'd had––his face against her neck––and she twitched uncomfortably, throwing her eyes to the screen. "I will need you at the conference. Don't worry about making room accommodations; Sakura's mother's family owns a villa in the countryside. Just reach out to the staff and tell them to have everything ready."
"What about––what about my classes?" She found herself wondering aloud.
Sasuke merely looked at her. The look was frank––uninterested. It wasn't his job to figure out her life. She quietly blushed and excused herself from his office.
Now she clicked into the airline, seamlessly purchasing five obnoxiously priced international airline tickets––and so last minute too! As she did so, it occurred to her that she wouldn't be able to make the trip to Osaka to catch Hanabi, and the thought twisted her stomach so terribly that she thought she would vomit right there.
"Oi," June, the secretary, was suddenly at her desk, staring down at her with disdain. "Uchiha-sama has been calling you non-stop. Why is it I'm doing your job, eh?"
"Huh?" Hinata looked over at her bag.
"Your phone," June, the secretary, pointed with a red acrylic nail. It occurred to Hinata that this was the longest the two women had ever spoken.
As if on cue, it began to buzz again. Hinata answered it with flaming cheeks, hoping that June, the secretary, would walk away and leave Hinata to apologize in privacy.
-:-
Naruto, Shisui, and Sasuke drank whiskeys in the garden, watching through the sliding door as the women gathered on the indoor couches and gushed over the size of Uchiha Izumi's belly. The garden was lightly decorated with string-lights, pink and blue lanterns, and different, hanging baby-related illustrations.
"I thought men weren't supposed to come to these things," Naruto complained as he looked woefully at the bar towards the back of the garden. He was already on his third drink; he'd have to slow down if he was going to make it through the rest of the day.
"You're a modern man," Shisui said good-naturedly, though Sasuke knew the darkness in his eyes and said nothing. "This is a modern problem."
The music was up-beat and loud. The garden was full of bodies––Itachi and Izumi's closest friends and family. Even Fugaku and Mikoto had stopped by in the earlier parts of the day, but Mikoto had gotten tired early on, especially after restarting a bout of treatment. She left Sasuke her present for Izumi and the child, which Sasuke put in the pile of other exuberant gifts.
The largest ones were from himself and Sakura––all her ideas, of course. Sasuke could barely remember what they'd purchased––some sort of talking rocking horse? A miniature craft table? A lifetime supply of baby shoes?
Cheers erupted from inside the townhome as the women all stood up to play some sort of game. From the depths of the indoors, Itachi emerged, looking harried.
"You clean up well," Sasuke commented, an eyebrow raised at Itachi's smooth sepia-toned shirt. He and Izumi had gone with a rose gold theme for their party; Izumi wearing a slightly pinker silk dress which shimmered like water over her baby bump. "Have a drink with us?"
"How could I refuse?" Itachi seemed to grumble. He walked to the bar and back in less than two minutes, carrying four shots between his hands. "C'mon gentleman, let's celebrate."
He made it sound like a chore––Itachi could suck the fun out of almost anything. Sasuke and Naruto exchanged a look before knocking back the tequila. Shisui merely drank his shyly, not willing to engage in such ravenous displays of boredom. Yet.
"Another round?" Naruto said, ears turning just the slightest of pinks. At the nods of the gentleman around him, he quickly skipped off. Another round of laughter was heard coming from the living room.
"What are they doing?" Shisui wondered, cocking his head, his dark eyes sliding over Itachi as he asked. Sasuke was beginning to feel like a third wheel––––sometimes, Shisui spoke to Itachi just so that he could have an excuse to look at him.
Itachi shrugged, looking back––but just for a moment. "Pin the tail on the embryo or something. I don't understand this tradition."
"I think Sakura planned that one," Sasuke said.
Naruto came back to their table with four more shots of tequila when a strange light entered his eyes. He looked up excitedly, almost spilling all four, as he waved his arm. "Oi! Hinata-chan! What are you doing here?"
"Hm?" Itachi titled his head, looking at Sasuke curiously.
Sasuke didn't return his stare. "You asked for those legal documents, did you not? I forgot them at the office in my rush to get here."
Instead of looking at his brother, he watched his assistant meagerly cross into the yard towards them, her arms delicately clasped in front of her. She was wearing a baby-blue knit mini dress and chunky white heels that seemed perfect for the occasion, and her hair was swept away from her face in a tortoiseshell hair clip. Her face was flushed pink as she bowed before them.
"I–I'm so sorry to interrupt such a private event," she said, turning to his brother, and bowing again. "I wish my dearest congratulations to you and your family, Uchiha-san."
Itachi lifted his eyebrows over Hinata's bowed form, and Sasuke made himself look elsewhere.
"Thank you…."
"Hyuga, Hinata, sir," Hinata said, rising into an upward position as her long strands of hair flew around her shoulders. Sasuke caught the smell of citrus, and this time ginger. "I'm Uchiha-san's assistant."
"I'm so glad you're here," Naruto burst out, a smile splitting his face. "Let me go get you a shot!"
"Um…I don't think I can––"
"Sure you can, Hyuga," Sasuke found himself lifting the corners of his mouth into a smirk as he pushed his own shot towards her. "As a thank you for coming all this way."
Her face reddened, and Sasuke found himself enjoying teasing her. He leaned against the table, looking down at the shot, and then back at her. Her mouth was hanging open at being caught on the spot, and idly Sasuke wondered if he should begin to feel bad.
"It's a great honor," Shisui said, a mischievous smile also adorning his face. "Right, Sasuke? It's rare that an employee is invited to such a private, family event."
"O-Oh! I'm so s-sorry, I––"
Sasuke glared at him. Now they were just being assoles on purpose. He stepped slightly in front of her, looking down at her alarmed face and shook his head, "They're teasing me, Hinata, not you. I wouldn't have asked you to come if it wasn't important. You also don't have to take the shot if you don't want to––I'm just in a celebratory mood. You see, my brother is having a baby."
"Oh," Hinata said––the only word it seemed she could muster in the face of four handsome men. She distracted herself by pulling a stack of papers from her leather bag. "Well, here are the documents you asked for. The paralegal also looked them over just before I arrived. I will take my leave now so that you can enjoy the––"
"Huh," Sasuke flipped through them. "How'd you get him to look them over so last minute?"
The contracted paralegal was notoriously hard to reach and hated doing things in a crunch. This was a feat indeed.
"I…um…have a way with words?"
Shisui barked a laugh at this, shaking his head incredulously, "I'd love to see that."
Sasuke glared at him, and so he walked towards the bar. Sasuke had enough dirt on him to last a lifetime, Shisui should pick his battles better.
Sasuke handed the stack over to Itachi, who looked entirely disinterested. His expression seemed to say, you made her come for this? Which Sasuke thought was an irrational response, considering that Itachi had a big debate in two days, and he needed to be prepared for it.
"I appreciate the effort you've made to help my foolish little brother complete this task," Itachi finally said, tucking the paperwork under his arm. He, too, seemed needlessly amused at the appearance of Sasuke's diligent assistant. "Please, enjoy the festivities. It seems Sasuke admires you quite a bit, not to mention I heard you saved his life. You are welcome here."
Hinata turned redder somehow, as she bowed her thanks to Itachi. Now that her hands were empty of paperwork, she turned slowly and wrapped her fingers around the shot glass Sasuke handed to her. He raised his eyebrows intriguingly, watching her take it back, her eyebrows creasing in disgust. There was an almost immediate redness to her ears.
"Would you like another?" Naruto asked.
"Oh––I couldn't, I––"
"Hinata-chan," the patio door slid open. Sakura had extrapolated herself from the baby shower games going on in the family room and was coming right towards her. Sakura raised an eyebrow at her fiancé, before turning to the woman, and taking her hands in hers. "I didn't know you were invited!"
Sasuke suddenly felt the need to save the woman from more attempts to speak––she had been a blubbering mess the entire time she'd been there, which only amounted to about ten minutes. As he prepared to step in between the two women, he noticed––with an irritated bout of clarity––that all of his male friends had promptly vacated the table. Itachi, back inside with his wife; and Shisui and Naruto to the bar.
Traitors.
"I asked her to come," Sasuke said, taking his future wife under his arm, if only to drag her away from his assistant. The woman had claws. "I forgot some important papers related to Itachi's upcoming debate, and thought now was a good time to hand them off before our trip to Rome."
"You thought now was a good time to do business?" Sakura said through her teeth. It seemed that she and Hinata had yet to resolve whatever had gone down between them, despite the kind letter and box of chocolates Hinata had sent.
The good-naturedness of his general disposition was starting to wear off as Sakura let her jealousy cause a scene between them. Even Hinata seemed to notice as she began to back away, her eyes downcast.
She interjected bravely, smiling in the face of hostility, "A-actually, Sakura-san, I w-was on my way out. I only came to drop off the documents and have already called a car, so…"
She was lying and she was good at it. Sasuke noticed her tell––a miniscule twist of her fingers.
"Nonsense, she should stay, Sakura-chan," Shisui reappeared, becoming more and more messy the more he drank whisky sours with Naruto in the back. He'd even unbuttoned the first couple buttons of his shirt, revealing the lines of a swirling tattoo. Sasuke rolled his eyes at this, beginning to think it was a good idea for his assistant to leave. He didn't think he'd be putting her in this awkward of a position.
"Besides," Shisui handed Hinata a second shot, which she stared at despondently like she'd just been chained to a fence. "Zumi-chan is about to start the gender reveal, see? It would be rude to leave."
They turned her heads to watch Itachi help Izumi onto the patio. Internally, Sasuke swore. Shisui was actually drunk now. He only called Izumi that when he was nearly obliterated. It was a name from their childhood that he only used sardonically, at present. Sasuke nudged him in the rib, practically begging him to behave while Hinata nodded slowly, not wanting to appear rude to her boss's family.
Shisui seemed to get the picture, squaring his shoulders and putting his glass down. "I'll take you to get some food," he said kindly to Hinata. He took her by the crook of her arm, leading her to a dessert table off to the side of the yard. He winked at Sasuke as he swept her away.
Sakura glared at him as she grabbed his hand and led him to the quickly forming circle around Izumi and Itachi. They were both holding some sort of rocket contraption.
"We are going to need to have a conversation when we get home," Sakura said.
Sasuke wondered how he could avoid that. Unfortunately, he wouldn't have to wonder much longer.
-:-
"I'm sorry I didn't introduce myself," the man said, leading Hinata to a table of beautifully plated desserts. Her eyes settled on a heap of cinnamon rolls, and she felt her stomach growl against her best wishes. "I'm Uchiha Shisui."
Hinata looked at him carefully––he had a distinctly Uchiha look to him, however his hair was curly, and his face was on the rounder side; not as gaunt. He was even taller than the rest of them. His gait was steady, even though he smelled like whisky. Hinata cataloged all of this, anticipating adding it to the dossier she was building. Her recent meeting with Neji echoed in her mind and lingered like a taste you couldn't get out of your mouth.
"Nice to meet you, Shisui-san," Hinata said politely, lifting her head to look up at him. "Are you and Uchiha-san related?"
"No, no we aren't," Shisui looked disgusted at the thought for some reason. "Not at all. We Uchiha are a large, damn near ancient clan. There are many of us, but Itachi and Sasuke are a part of the Main House."
"What does that mean?" Hinata wondered, gingerly picking up a cinnamon roll with a napkin. In the background, people from the inside were coming out to the patio and circled around Itachi and Izumi, their voices lifting in the wind. As Hinata watched, something in her stomach became troubled. She put her cinnamon roll down on the table, and felt Shisui's eyes on her as she did this.
"Nothing, these days," Shisui said––which seemed like a lie, and probably was. Why mention it, if not? "That's old, antiquated stuff. My folks don't even talk about the Main House anymore."
"I bet the family reunions are f-fun?" Hinata suggested. She looked around again as more people came out––some had distinct Uchiha features, others did not. "Kinda like this?"
"Are you gonna eat that?" Shisui asked, still looking at the cinnamon roll. When she picked it up, he led her to the bar where he ordered another whiskey. He handed one to her without her asking, and took the second for himself. "You're gonna need that," he said, gesturing to the glass that was already slick with condensation. "Especially if you would call this 'fun.'"
The music turned down once it seemed like everyone was finally outside. Shisui led Hinata to a round table that was covered in an expensively textured blue tablecloth. There was a framed image sitting on it that said "this table thinks it's a boy!"
"Sakura rigorously planned this," Shisui said as if it annoyed him greatly. After this particular whiskey, he was certainly slurring. Hinata sipped hers slowly, wondering what else she could get out of the man, even as her stomach churned with an unknown unease. "Zumi-chan didn't even want it, I can see it on her face. Look at how fucking stressed she looks!"
Hinata turned her head obediently, and despite the fact that she didn't care much for this turn in conversation, she wanted to hear more about the Uchiha clan, and Shisui seemed to have a pair of drunkenly loose lips. Despite that, she looked over at the heads of the party goers.
Sasuke and Sakura were closest to their table, with Sakura wrapping her arm tightly around Sasuke's wasit––her diamond ring winking at Hinata flirtatiously. Itachi and Izumi were in the middle––and Shisui was right, the heavily pregnant woman did look quite uncomfortable in her bulbous pink maternity slip dress. Her dark eyes flitted around with unease as she gingerly held the rocket that would tell the onlookers the sex of her baby.
"Do you…do you know the new parents well?" Hinata ventured to ask.
"We grew up together," Shisui said, a dark look passing over his face. "It was 'tachi, Zumi-chan, and me. And now its––"
The music cut short and someone began speaking from the middle of the small circle. Hinata looked on, taking a small bite from her cinnamon roll––when she smelled it again.
Gunpowder.
It was a crisp scent, just metallic enough that your nose could pick it up if trained. Dread filled her as she began to look around the party for its source before it was too late. The other townhouses beside Itachi's were just as tall and left shadows. The alley? The roofs?
Shisui watched her as her eyes searched around. His face was carefully composed as he wrinkled his nose. Did he smell it, too?
The audience clapped, which made Hinata wince. She angled out of her chair, sliding her feet out of her high-heeled shoes, and pressing her toes into the grass. She was just posed enough to run. Itachi and Izumi held up their gender-reveal rockets towards the sky.
That's it! Hinata though with relief. That's where the gunpowder smell is coming from!
But even she knew that was a lie as the crowd counted down in unison, their voices bright with joy and anticipation. Itachi and Izumi looked at each other and smiled.
"Five…"
Shisui shifted beside her, his head raised to look at his friends, then at the sky. It seemed like the chanting had shocked him sober.
"Four…"
Hinata watched the hands lifted in celebration, four fingers joining the blue sky. Beside her, Shisui shifted again, reaching into the inside of his coat
"Three…"
Hinata felt her body trembling. The smell was getting stronger, and still, she saw no one.
"Two…"
Sakura squeezed Sasuke's side as he slipped a gaze over his shoulder at Hinata, his brow furrowing when he saw her look of distress. Sakura yanked him forward as Itachi and Izumi prepared to unleash the rockets to the sky.
"One!"
Everything happened quickly. Itachi and Izumi let the rockets off, and plumes of bright pink smoke filled the air. Then, almost immediately, a stream of gunshots fell onto the party in vapid fire.
Hinata threw herself to the ground, covering her head as chaos ensued. Beside her, Shisui flew from his seat and dived into the circle––gun drawn––as Hinata watched him get to Itachi, pulling him away from the middle. Naruto, who had been behind the celebrating couple, grabbed Izumi and put his body in front of hers as they quickly ran towards the house.
Sakura's long dress got tangled into the head of a small sprinkler in the grass, and Sasuke was nowhere to be seen. Hinata crawled towards her as more loud explosions went off in their vicinity. Quickly, Hinata tore the hem of the dress with her teeth, then sprang up in a low lunge and grabbed the woman's arm to lead her away.
Together they ran towards the open lip of the house as gunshots pierced the air and ground around them. Sakura was breathing heavily, and Hinata put a steadying hand on her back. Just before the two stumbled into the home, a pair of vases beside them exploded––shot by a spray of bullets––and sliced Hinata's bicep open.
She ignored the warm, wet sensation as she guided the woman inside, ducking more and more each time a gunshot went off. When she looked up to figure out where they should go next, she noticed Shikamaru holding a machine gun––where had he gotten that?––as he ushered women through a door leading to a basement. He saw Hinata and Sakura standing near the courtyard doorway and urgently called them forward.
As Hinata stepped into the threshold, she cast a parting look into the courtyard, where she watched Uchiha Sasuke casually take a machine gun from Naruto and begin to unleash rounds upon rounds into the distance. The target looked to be on a rooftop a couple of houses over.
He didn't even look bothered as the kickback of the machine jolted his body backwards. He didn't even break a sweat. A small smile stretched across his face as he fired back.
He made it look natural.