Anko watched the little Hyuuga warily, trusting Ibiki to keep an eye on the Elders.
They were deep in the bowels of T , by the cells only the worst, most dangerous spies and traitors were usually kept in. Spies and traitors, and, as of recently, Hyuuga Hotaru and four Main House Elders. They have been imprisoned for over a month already, kept alive with regular meals and bathroom breaks, but with their chakra sealed and their status apparent to all who happened to walk past.
Until now.
Ibiki himself had come to drag her from her interrogation of one of the many still-sealed ROOT agents, though Anko's protests, insults, and grumbling had trailed off with every level of the building they descended.
Finding the little Hyuuga from the bar and five other old Hyuuga men waiting by the door to the lowest-level cells, only Tonbo to watch over them, had had Anko on-guard faster than even a mention of her old sensei could manage. She'd shot a sharp look at Ibiki, but the man had merely dismissed Tonbo and unlocked the door, stepping through casually like it was just another corridor.
With Ibiki leading the group of Hyuuga, Anko had brought up the rear, and as such had the perfect viewpoint for the reactions of the Hyuuga to what lay beyond the door.
T was not a place for the weak or the kind-hearted. And while nobody would typically accuse Hyuuga of either, Anko had known for a while that Kurenai's little Hyuuga was not atypicalHyuuga.
Yet the girl who now stood in the room hardly felt like the one Anko had met before. The blank expression on the Hyuuga's face and the cold, dead look in her eyes was closer to the ROOT agent Ibiki had dragged Anko from than the teenaged gnat who'd drooled on Genma's shoulder the last time Anko had seen her.
Anko was no stranger to masks and adapting to circumstances, but the dispassionate way the girl stared into the cells housing the disgraced Elders and her traitor grandfather sent a shiver of revulsion down her spine.
There was nothing of the child that trusted deeply enough to fall asleep in a bar full of shinobi in the girl's mien, no trace of the softness she'd seen directed at Shiranui and Raido. The Hyuuga Head stared at the imprisoned Elders with flat, cold eyes, her chakra so repressed as to resemble a void, and that empty blankness would've been eerie if not for who Anko had been raised by, though Anko wrenched her mind away from the thought before it could fully coalesce.
"Elder Shirabu, I hear you refused to relinquish your seal-keys." The girl murmured at last, breaking the silence that had been growing increasingly more tense ever since she'd stepped into room housing the cells with the imprisoned Hyuuga.
"You hear correctly." The man she'd addressed responded haughtily, chin still held high even though his once-pristine robes now bore stains and tears and his hair had grown matted and tangled after a month of imprisonment.
The girl hummed, though her expression didn't so much as twitch. "Your reasons?"
"The Branch members were sealed to protect our dojutsu." HyuugaShirabu replied immediately, narrowing his eyes at the Head of his Clan as if she was being intentionally obtuse.
"Then why were the Main Branch members not sealed as well?" The girl asked rhetorically, barely enough inflection to her words for it to count as a question. "We are just as likely to be killed in the field. Try again, please."
"You'll weaken the Clan." Shirabu spat, his earlier affability quickly forgotten in light of the Hyuuga Head's immediate dismissalof his reasoning.
"With Neji-nii-san's guidance, many Branch members are on the path to rapid advancement in skill and rank." The girl pointed out factually, her voice still calm and even, at odds with the situation and the Elder's growing ire. "How is that weakening?"
"You're naive to think you'll be able to remain Head once you free them all."Shirabu sneered, trying a new angle since his original one wasn't working.
The Hyuuga Head blinked, the first crack in that emotionless mask since she'd stepped foot into the basement.
"What makes you think I wish to remain Head?" she asked bluntly, though, again, it didn't seem like she was expecting a response, for she sighed and shook her head. "You have a choice, Elder Shirabu. You can relinquish your keys and the Hyuuga name voluntarily, in which case I will ensure that once your sentence is through, you leave a free man."
Anko shot a glance at Ibiki, uncertain of the validity of the claim the girl was making, but Ibiki was watching the Hyuuga Head like a hawk, and if Anko didn't know him better, she'd have said he waswary.
"Or?" Shirabu mocked, clearly hearing the unspoken alternative that the girl had left hanging in the air.
The little Hyuuga didn't disappoint.
"Or I take them from you by force, with little care for my methods." She replied simply, her tone never once shifting from that steady, factual drone, to the point where it took Anko a few seconds to process the actual words she'd uttered. "What will it be?"
"You lie." Shirabu sneered, but Anko caught the doubt that had entered the Elder's eyes, as well as the subtle glance he shot at the cell where Hotaru was being kept. "There is no way to take the keys by force."
The girl sighed again, and she seemed almost regretful as she asked, "Is that your final answer?"
When Shirabu remained silent, Anko watched as the girl nodded at Ibiki, who, in turn, unlocked the door holding the Elder. As if on some unforeseen signal, one of the Hyuuga who had entered with the Hyuuga Head strolled into the open cell, shoulders squared and head held high. Without much fanfare, he pressed his palm to Shirabu's stomach, dug his nails in, thenwrenchedhis hand back, and Anko felt her ears pop, as if a great pressure had been released.
Shirabu collapsed to the ground with a broken gasp, chakra leaking from him like water from a sieve. The man who'd reduced him to that state stood over him like a vengeful god, a grimly satisfied expression in his grey eyes as he watched the Elder bleed chakra at a frightful rate.
"My niece sends her regards." The nameless Hyuuga murmured coldly, tucking his hands into the sleeves of his robe as he watched Shirabu's coils empty of every last drop of chakra as if he werestanding vigil.
Eventually, Shirabu's twitching ceased, and with one final, gasping breath, he stilled.
The Hyuuga who had been the one to wrench Shirabu's chakra gates open merely turned on his heel and calmly exited the cell, returning to his post at the Hyuuga Head's side as if he had plucked some weeds rather than executed a man.
Because that was what thiswas, Anko realised as gooseflesh threatened to break out over her skin, shooting Ibiki another panicked look, who returned it with a grim nod.
Yet neither the Hyuuga Head nor her entourage seemed to notice the life they had so carelessly snuffed out, moving swiftly onto the next cell.
"Elder Kentarou," The girl greeted, inclining her head at the slightly younger Elder, his face not as weathered, his hair not as grey as Shirabu's, "same terms."
Kentarou's gaze, unlike that of his Clan Head, was glued to Shirabu's body, taking in the feeble husk on the floor with calculating eyes.
"How long would my sentence be?" he asked after a beat, drawing a derisive snort from one of the other imprisoned Elders, though the Hyuuga Head just hummed contemplatively.
"You were made an Elder recently." She began, and that, Anko mused, was likely the explanation behind the man's comparative youth. "Beyond inaction in the face of the cruelty of your peers and your noncompliance with the Yamanaka once Grandfather was removed from power, there is no real charge against you. A few more days, at most."
Kentarou narrowed his eyes, gaze flickering to the Head of his Clan, clearly recognising that his fate sounded too good to be true.
"However," the girl continued, her expression still blank, voice still eerily steady, "once you relinquish the Hyuuga name, you will no longer be under my protection."
Anko blinked, not would-?
Her gaze fell to one of the other Hyuuga standing by the girl, noting the way his eyes were narrowed on Kentarou, as if waiting for the slightest misstep. Anko felt the blood drain from her face as she realised what the Hyuuga Head was implying and couldn't help the way her heartrate picked up at the casual threat of cruelty.
"I only hold five keys, but I renounce them and my Clan name all the same." Kentarou announced solemnly, clearly having no desire to end up like Shirabu.
The Hyuuga Head merely nodded, then turned to the man to her right. "Hajime-san, Elder Kentarou has pled for mercy. Are you willing to grant it?"
"Yes, Hinata-sama." The man replied easily, for all that his gaze never once left Kentarou nor lost its bloodthirsty edge. "How would you like to remove his keys?"
"Individually, if you please." The girl answered, then turned her attention to the next cell.
Anko could only watch numbly as the remaining imprisoned Elders spat vitriol at the Hyuuga Head, clinging to their reasoning until the bitter end, but the insults and jibes seemed to fall on deaf ears.
Until the girl got to Hotaru.
"Granddaughter." The man greeted tonelessly, though the address was far more personal than Anko had expected.
"Grandfather." The girl returned, and the similarity of her tone and cadence to Hotaru's was disturbing.
"What fate have you planned for me?" Hotaru asked idly, an unreadable glint in his eyes as he considered his granndaughter. "Am I to choose from the same foolish terms you laid out before the others, or do you at least have the honour to kill me yourself?"
"No, Grandfather." The girl denied quietly, but her back was straight and words gave no quarter as she added; "Killing you would be a kindness, and you've made your stance on that clear."
Ankoflinched.
"...You've grown ruthless." Hotaru remarked simply, tilting his head as he considered his granddaughter. "Perhaps, in another life, I would have been proud."
"Perhaps, in another life, your acknowledgement would have been enough to change my decision." The girl acknowledged quietly, then exhaled heavily. "But not in this one."
"No. I did not think so." Hotaru agreed, and something unspoken seemed to pass between grandfather and granddaughter as they held eye-contact, a silent lament for a what-could-have-been if better choices had been made. Then, Hotaru smirked, sharp and snide and mocking. "Come now, granddaughter. Get whatever torture you have in mind over with already and let's end this farce."
The girl rolled her shoulders then straightened her posture even more, and when she spoke, her voice was flat and cold and factual.
"With Morino Ibiki and Mitarashi Anko as witnesses, I hereby cast Hyuuga Hotaru out of the Hyuuga Clan and strip him of his name and title." She declared for the room at large, though her gaze never left her grandfather. "He will henceforth be Clanless, and he will find no solace nor protection among me and mine. For the crimes he committed against my Clan over the last five decades, I call on the accords signed between Konohagakure's founders and the original Head of the Hyuuga Clan and the right of retribution in kind."
She dug into her pouch, pulling a small scroll out and holding it out to Ibiki, who took it warily. "This is a copy of the official accords, for your consideration, should you wish."
Then, the girl considered her grandfather once more, something almost wistful passing through her eyes before she closed them, taking a slow breath to settle her nerves as she brought a half-seal to her chest.
For long minutes, nothing happened.
Then, Anko felt a blanket ofintentspread over Hotaru, cold and stifling and with so many layers Anko had no hope of evencountingthem. She saw the moment Hotaru caught onto his granddaughter's plan, his eyes widening with panicked realisation, but they turned unseeing before he could say anything, the net of one of the most complicated genjutsu Anko had ever seen wrapping around him like a noose.
"…Hinata-sama?" One of the Hyuuga called when the girl remained still even after the genjutsu settled, and Anko watched as the Hyuuga Head blinked her eyes open and slowly turned her head, her expression eerily vacant.
"…I will personally remove whatever seals are still tied to my Grandfather from the remaining Branch members." She announced after a few seconds, voice faraway and eyes distant.
"You plan to keep him here indefinitely?" Ibiki asked sharply, speaking for the first time since they'd walked into the cells.
"With his chakra sealed, he cannot break the genjutsu." The girl replied, the roundabout confirmation somehow more cruel than a simpleyeswould have been.
"What did you show him?" Anko couldn't help but ask, repressing a shiver when those dead eyes cut to her, though the girl hardly seemed toseeher.
"A more just world." She replied simply.
"And the dead?" Ibiki pressed when no more seemed forthcoming, gesturing to the cells with the dead Elders faux-idly.
The Hyuuga Head considered the bodies thoughtfully, then took out three black-rimmed scrolls and handed them to three of the Hyuuga accompanying her, who wordlessly set about sealing up the bodies.
Once they returned, she turned her attention to the scrolls in her hand, a considering expression on her face. Then, she suddenly pursed her cheeks, and, with a crease of concentration between her brows, exhaled slowly.
Except the edges of her breath were tinged with blue and purple, and Anko only realised what the girl had done once the scrolls in her hand caught fire, flickering a cheerful reddish orange as the flames consumed the paper.
Right before the fire reached the bottom of the scrolls, the Hyuuga tilted her hand and dropped them, and Anko watched, bile in her throat, as the remnants of the scroll pins and a pile of ash hit the stone floor, the bodies within but a memory.
"My apologies for the mess." The girl murmured absently, then turned those dead eyes of hers to Ibiki. "Thank you for your time. May we leave?"
"…By all means." Ibiki returned gruffly, though his eyes were trained on the small smattering of ash on the floor, an unreadable expression on his face.
It was only after the Hyuuga Head and her entourage took their leave that Anko dared turn horrified eyes to the man, feeling too many things for her comfort and aware that none of them weregood.
"I didn't realise we were still in the Warring States' mentality of exacting justice." She managed to choke out, drawing Ibiki's gaze to her, though she could see that even the older man wasn't as unaffected as he tried to seem.
"The Hyuuga laws predate the Village ones." He said simply, and Anko balled her hands into fists and hissed;
"And that makes what she just did alright?!"
But Ibiki merely met her gaze and inclined his head. "Legally, yes."
"I suppose I should have expected Orochimaru's apprentice to harbour compassion for traitors." Kentarou mused from his cell, out of breath butalive,and Anko would not be made to apologise for the three senbon that found themselves lodged in the side of the man's throat not a second later.
For once, though, Ibiki let it slide, andthatsaid more about what they'd just witnessed than anything else could have.
(More importantly, Kurenai couldneverknow of what had just transpired.)