This was really awkward. Maybe this was none of his business and he should keep his focus on himself and Sasuke. Still, something about this girl just really made Itachi not want to see her fall in the same trap as him. Dedication and loyalty can make you do some maddening, sick things.
So when Tsunade came in his hospital room the following morning, that Itachi has concluded was like clockwork, he told her he finally wanted to have a word with her. It had nothing to do with the Akatsuki or the Uchiha massacre, but it was still information that he felt was on a need to know basis.
Tsunade went through several different emotions once she heard the information about Hinata. "When was she in here? How the hell is she so damn sneaky?! Are you kidding me?! That bastard Danzo!"
Tsunade sat in the chair beside him and lowered her stethoscope back to hang around her neck. Itachi took a deep low breath before speaking again, "I believe being a personal spy for Lord Danzo could lead someone in getting caught up."
Tsunade looked up at him from her position of being stuck in thought, "What do you mean?"
"The Hyuga girl, she knows too much. Too much about everything. While he may not be able to pin point it to her, I am sure he has a hunch that she was the one that influenced me being here. It was not her motive for this to damage Danzo. I've noticed she is very…dedicated to him."
Tsuande sighed at this and rubbed the bridge of her nose in aggravation, "Tell me about it."
"He is most definitely using that dedication and loyalty to his advantage. I am not sure what he hopes to gain of her murdering off her clan though."
Tsunade looked back off into deep thought, her fingers tapping her chin. "Maybe hoping this would cause her to commit suicide. The obvious would be she would be on the run until someone from her own village found her and killed her. Or worse, a low life bounty hunter found her. She's still so fucking young, what the hell Danzo."
She couldn't stand this man how could someone be so evil.
Itachi looked out the hospital window as he went into his own train of thought, "I don't think she would run. I think the only punishment she would accept would be death."
"Why do you think she wouldn't run?"
He smiled at this, "She's tired. Her words not mine. She has been working under Danzo for what? Three or four years and she is already talking about retirement. The way Danzo pushes ninjas to their limits and doesn't give them a moment to mentally heal takes a toll. It is one thing to have the opportunity to take a mental break and you yourself choose to ignore it, but it is another thing to not have the option all together."
Tsunade slowly nodded her head to this, she had seen many ninjas just ignore taking much needed breaks. Just because it was easier to just keep working to ignore the pain of how rough the lifestyle of being a ninja could be.
Itachi was guilty of it, Kakashi was as well and in the past even herself until she mentally broke from it.
Tsunade almost felt as if maybe he planned on doing this to Hinata the moment he agreed to her exposing her identity to the rest of the ninja world. "I'm guessing he's starting to see her cracks. He sees her wearing down and wants her disposed of. She's like a rundown tool to him now. She's not useful anymore so he wants to dispose of her."
Itachi thought about Danzo, and how people like him pretended to care for you when in reality cared for only their own recognition. "Hmm, I agree. Unfortunately I can guarantee that Danzo had her trained well. She is not his personal spy for no reason. Your most advanced Anbu wouldn't even be able to find her now to bring her in. She plans to do this soon and once you're in that mode, there is no stopping. I do not know if she has anyone close or personal ties to anyone that you could get to reach out to her."
Tsunade chuckled to herself, shaking her head in disbelief. "Funny thing. Her cousin Neji, someone that she adores a great deal that she risked saving him over killing your brother is out on an escort mission with his teammates right now. They are too far out to bring back in on a short time scale. Still…I do have someone that is pretty good at finding her and I'm sure their hate for one another would prove to be enough to distract her to bring her in custody."
A ghost smile came over Itachi's face as he looked at a smirking Tsunade.
"Naruto."
"Uzumaki."
Naruto had a little pep to his step as he was making his way with the rest of Team Seven to the Hokage building. Why did he have this pep in his step you ask? He finally found out where that demon spawn lived. He finally was able to catch her off guard making her way to her sleeping quarters.
Which may he add was underground like granny had hinted at. It just wasn't some weird dungeon like how Tsunade fabricated.
Though Hinata seemed a bit out of it that night. He traced her chakra signature as soon as she hit the wood line to the typical spot they would meet in. She looked distracted and zoned out, something very rare.
Over time he began to noticed that Hinata was always on her toes and usually was impossible to track. Something was up?
Bah. Either way he tracked her sleeping quarters in case he did have to further interact with her she couldn't hide from him. He'd make it so she could never hide from him again.
Was that a little creepy? Maybe. He didn't care. He was just taking a lesson from Hinata anyways.
Naruto ignored the stares he was getting from Sai, Sakura and Kakashi and just kept bouncing along until they got to the Hokage's office. He tried to tell himself that the somber look on Tsunade's face was NOT going to bring him down. Nope. Nothing.
"Sakura. Shut the door for me. This is pretty important."
Shit. Dammit man. Come on Granny he was in a GOOD MOOD.
Sakura did as she was told and Sai, Sakura, Kakashi and Naruto stood before Tsunade waiting for her to continue speaking. Said person rubbed her face to wipe the frustration away and looked at the team in front of her.
"So. It would seem that Hinata has gotten herself in some trouble with Danzo. It would seem that he has his suspicions that Hinata had something to do with getting Itachi back in the village. Which seems to be something Danzo very much did not want to happen."
Sakura looked confused at the statement, "I'm sorry but I thought that she only did what Danzo instructed her to do. Why is he upset about this?"
Tsunade leaned back in her chair as her manicured nails tapped her desk, "It would seem that she gave me the information without Danzo knowing. So she did this without him granting her orders to do it. To Hinata, in her mind. She was doing the right thing getting Itachi back. Itachi back in the village would mean that Sasuke would come running for the chance to kill his brother. Hinata has been spending about 80 percent of her time at the borders waiting for Sasuke since you guys 'captured' Itachi and I use that term loosely."
"I knew it!" Naruto barked out with a successful smirk on his face that he knew all along that this Itachi thing had Hinata's sneaky name written all over it. Tsunade rolled her eyes, "Sai. Do you get where I'm going at with this?"
Without missing a beat he responded, "Danzo-sama is going to have her killed."
The room suddenly got cold to Naruto, "Wha…what?" It was barely above a whisper, but everyone seemed to notice the change in attitude from the blonde. For him to 'hate' her, he sure seemed concerned.
Sai ignored Naruto's question and continued to stare at Tsunade, "Has the order been put out yet? Was she the one to inform you? This would seem to be out of her…character."
Tsunade nodded at this before looking up at her office ceiling. Man this girl really got herself in some shit.
"Well you are correct Sai. I'm sure Hinata has a feeling, but she is very blindly adamant of being loyal to a scumbag like Danzo. So she didn't tell me. I was told by Itachi." She looked back down at the shocked faces of everyone except Kakashi.
"Hinata met with him the other night to gather 'tips' I guess. Sounds messed up I know. In return Hinata gave some of her intel. Typical spy shit. Anyways, it would seem that an order to have both Uchiha's killed have been put out in the ROOT organization as well. For some reason Hinata has no interest in killing Itachi, or even trying to. Her main focus is Sasuke. I am assuming because she was initially assigned to assassinate Sasuke and she didn't want to leave it undone."
Kakashi rested a hand under his chin as he seemed to be in thought for a moment, "This is the conclusion for every spy if you really think about it. They always end up obtaining too much information that their leader has to have them taken out. Or they end up burnt out for over doing it on themselves. I would imagine being a spy in ROOT is time consuming and she was constantly in that 'spy' mode. Four years as a spy must have felt like an eternity for her, especially under the pressure of being Danzo's most trusted one. It would seem that she is burnt outandgained too much intel. Also Lady Tsunade, if you think about it her father knows she's in ROOT. If Danzo had her killed Hiashi would surely come after him with all forces on his side. Taking out the Hyuga clan takes out the cookie trail that leads to Danzo."
Tsunade hummed to herself and shook her head, "Hmm yeah. That surely would make sure that he had no one coming after him that could PROVE that he was involved in some shit. I'm not sure if Danzo took in consideration that Hyuga Neji is not even in the village. Maybe he figured if there was anyone Hinata would let live and avenge their clan it would be Neji. She wouldn't fight Neji. Either way he knows this would make her a Class S criminal, she would be in the BINGO books. Bounties would be put on her head. We would have to execute her…if she doesn't take her own life first that is."
Naruto still seemed to be in a daze. Refusing to believe the information they just received. Was this why she was so…depressing more so than usual lately and looked so burnt out? Was this why he was able to track her down easily?
Did she want him to know how to get to her in case she actually did murder her clan? He would bet his bottom dollar that was EXACTLY what she had did with him. She wanted him to know where she resided so he could go directly to her after the massacre and either take her in custody or take her life himself. She tricked him again. She did it AGAIN.
Why was she such a QUITTER.
He hated her. He hated this Hinata.
"Do you think Hinata has the abilities to take out her whole clan?" Sakura believed Hinata was strong, but to be able to take out the WHOLE Hyuga clan. One of the strongest, historical clans in the village, that was hard to believe. Plus what about her little sister Hanabi, she did all of this for HANABI.
"If she could take out Hiashi first. Along with the main house family members, that mind you she once was. Meaning she is curse seal free…then taking out the branch family wouldn't be hard in the slightest. If you know what I mean, and honestly I am pretty confident that where she is at this point mentally, killing her father wouldn't be complicated for her to do. Let's keep in mind Hinata makes up for her strength with her stealth. She moves best in the dark and in the background. The whole time Naruto and Sasuke along with two of my top Jonin had no clue that she was in the wood line ready to kill Sasuke at any given moment. So I'm saying do not take her lightly."
Naruto balled his fist at hearing Tsunade speak. She wasn't wrong. Hinata was so sneaky and careless of herself now. She would stoop low and do whatever that Danzo creep told her to do. Even if it was taking the life of her own father. Oh God…what if she DIDN'T spare Hanabi? Then why the fuck join ROOT to begin with, she had to have some type of fucking standards!
Why was she obeying this man?! Was she that screwed up in the head and broken?
Tsunade cleared her throat to get everyone back on track, "Which goes to why you guys are here. Ya see I need someone to track her down and bring her to me. She isn't under arrest or anything, but enough is enough with her being careless and accepting this manipulation from Danzo. Plus with her in my custody she has a less chance of being wacked off by Danzo. I need her found and brought in before she does something she'd later regret."
The mission sounded easier said than done.
Kakashi gave off a slightly skeptical look, "Not saying it cannot be done, but finding someone that has the experience and skill set that Hinata has gained and the fact that she probably has mastered by now how to use her Byakugan in intervals over a 24-hour time frame meaning she almost always has it activated makes it pretty difficult. We'd have to figure her out a little more and that would take some time. Time we seem to not have. We don't even know where she sleeps."
Naruto cut in on Kakashi, "I know where she sleeps."
The 'what the fuck' face Kakashi and Sakura sent him was totally justified. Being the first to regain himself Kakashi cleared his throat, "Okayyy."
Naruto waved his arms around in a panic for some reason, like he assumed they thought the worse of him. "It's not like that! I just felt like it would only be fair to know a little bit about her like how she knows practically EVERYTHING about us. Ya know?!"
Kakashi still kept giving Naruto a skeptical glance, "So…you started umm, following her around?"
"IT'S NOT LIKE THAT!"
"Well just explain it a little more in a lower tone." Kakashi rubbed his sore eardrum from the loud outburst. What was wrong with Naruto. All he had to say was that he wanted to know where the girl lived for 'just in case' purposes. It was professional and no one would have thought anything of it. Now with the way he was acting, it was obvious it was more to it.
He was beginning to think that Naruto liked not liking Hinata.
This was toxic to say the least.
"I just you know, followed her around until I found out where her sleeping quarters were. So I know the location of where she lives. She also lives secluded and alone by the way."
Sai gave Naruto an appreciative stiff smile, "Thanks for the information Naruto. While I'm sure this would have been nice to know a while ago, I guess the term 'better late than never' applies here."
Naruto gave Sai a pointed look, "Hey shut it! I just like… found out. Like two nights ago!"
Sakura looked at him like he was weird, "You followed her at night?"
"She didn't even know I was following her!"
Sakura met his tone, "That makes it even worse!"
"Oh whatever Sakura! She literally admitted to following me around for months and I'm pretty sure night was included!"
"So that makes it justifiable?!"
Naruto and Sakura stared off at one another in frustration. Naruto crossed his arms and sent her a heated glare, "Why are you defending her? She has done nothing but lie to us and treat us like we're trash."
Sakura looked shocked by his words, she wanted to punch him through a wall so damn bad. However she would refrain from doing that in the presence of the Hokage. Still…how could he say such a thing? How could he feel this way about HINATA?!
"You moron. She's our friend that needs our help. Are you that focused on Sasuke that you can't see that she needs our help just as much! I don't know about you, but when Hinata vanished while you were gone it really did sadden a lot of us. We mourned for her you dick!"
Naruto looked offended actually. Sakura made it seem like he never cared for Hinata. Was she being SERIOUS right now?!
"I literally stalk Hinata. Pretty much every single DAY. Yes, I am admitting that! I literally stalk her to find out more about her and where she lives, and you tell me I'm focused on Sasuke?! You're telling me I don't care!? Are you CRAZY?"
He started to laugh at the claims, he felt confused himself why he was doing the things he was with Hinata. She honestly made him want to rage sometimes with how she acted like her life was worthless. How she acted like HE was worthless.
She has potential to be amazing and she just didn't want to be.
WHY?
"Maybe you're right Sakura. Maybe I have no sympathy for Hinata because she just QUIT on herself. She quit on herself, she doesn't care about herself and thus results in her not giving two fucks about you or me. She's told me out her mouth that she would kill all my precious people if it meant that I would leave her alone. That includes you Sakura. She said she'd kill you. She said your name and kill out her mouth."
It would seem that he finally left his teammate speechless for the moment. He was fine with that and he had nothing else to say on the subject of Hyuga Hinata. He would be speaking with her soon enough.
Hinata laid in her bed in her quarters with the lights turned off, just looking at the dark flat ceiling. She wasn't in any deep thought or anything because she felt like doing something like that would result in her not fulfilling her mission.
She felt like such a failure. It wasn't an unfamiliar feeling for her so she should be used to it. It still bothered her greatly though.
Her trying to please Lord Danzo backfired ten folds in her face. She thought getting Uchiha Itachi here was a great plan to lure Sasuke back to the village and kill him. She couldn't have been so wrong. Now Lord Danzo was furious with the idea of having Itachi in the village. He didn't exactly hear it from her mouth that she was the one to get this to happen, but she was sure he knew.
She just wanted to fulfill her obligations to him. Yet he was now giving her new orders to attack the Hyuga clan?
She spent all her time under Lord Danzo not questioning his orders. Ever.
He'd say jump and she'd ask how high. She never questions his orders and never voiced her opinion if something seemed horribly wrong. She was a diligent and good damn soldier for him. She prided herself in always completing whatever he asked her to do! She HAD to kill Sasuke. She HAD to complete all orders given to her from him.
The question 'Why' flashed in her mind for a second, but she quickly pushed the thought down.
No. She would never question him. Where would her life be if not for him coming in when he did?
She was weak back then. Her father couldn't baby her anymore and she was going to be sealed. She was saved by Danzo-sama and she was given a second chance to live again and she wasn't going to waste it. That's what she told herself a million times and she believed it.
This was living life. She chose this over the caged bird seal.
Living life was killing the family that raised you due to an order given by your divine. Neji would surely never forgive her and kill her. She'd let him. It was only fair. Right?
The question 'Why' crept up a lot for her when her mission to assassinate the Hyuga clan came in. Then Hinata would think about the repercussions.
Would Lord Danzo vouch for her? Surely her family had to be doing something wrong. So this was all justified.
Would she be on the run? Would she have to be a rogue ninja? She kind of already felt like one.
Is this like Uchiha Itachi's situation?
That thought ran through her mind a million and one times. Was she being a pawn like Itachi was? No. That couldn't be true. His family was indeed planning a coup. They were planning to rebel against the village.
Danzo wasn't wrong…he wasn't WRONG.
Hinata had to believe in him. She couldn't doubt him now. If she doubted him now that meant EVERYTHING for four years that he's told her to do, that he has drilled into her head would be a LIE. That would mean peoples blood on her hands-
No she really couldn't think of that. It would drive her to not want to be on this earth.
Hinata jumped a little when she suddenly noticed a familiar chakra signature. He was close so he had to have been there for a while and she was just too out of it to notice.
She was burning out.
Still she caught his presence in time.
She didn't want him to find out what her sleeping quarters looked like in the inside. Scrolls, maps, gear, it all looked like she was about to be on the run for a long period of time. Which if she decided to go through with her mission tonight she would be on the run until Danzo came to her aid.
She felt that Naruto made his way in the underground passageway and now was a time she wished that she didn't seclude herself from everyone else in ROOT by living alone. Her quarters was large enough to not cave in, but small enough that others could not stay with her.
Hinata made her way to her door to open it and intended to 'shoo' Uzumaki away like she would do when they interacted in the woods. However, this time as she opened her door Naruto bombarded inside practically knocking her so far she fell onto her bed.
Now she was reaching a level of being angry. Typically she was annoyed, but now, this was too much.
Naruto noticed Hinata's nostrils flare.
Oh, so Hinata could feel something? She was angry. That was okay though, because he had reached that level of anger with her a long time ago.