The lights were off, and the room was almost pitch black, but Naruto was able to look down at Hinata and notice a slight look of agitation on her face. She looked completely caught off guard and bare to him. His chest tightened just the slightest at seeing the fire in her eyes again that he often saw when they were younger. The look of someone that wasn't a quitter.
'Please come back Hinata.'
That thought quickly vanished from his mind when Hinata pounced on him like a leopard and it was like her nails literally turned into sharp daggers. She was clawing at his face and neck and looked to be completely enraged, baring her teeth at him and making animalistic sounds.
"Who do youthinkyou are Uzumaki?"
Really though. Who did he think he was? Barging in. Knocking her across her room and onto her bed. Following her around for weeks. Telling her she was a quitter and how much he hated the her she was today. Who did he think he was? Just overall MESSING with her.
She wasn't that Hinata anymore. He wasn't going to push her around like everyone did. He wasn't going to call her weird anymore. She wasn't a toy for them to play with and PITY anymore.
Naruto finally got a good grip on her hands when they got painfully close to his eyes. With much effort he managed to push her against the wall on the other side of her room and pin her in that spot. This did not go unrewarded as he was gifted him with a nice headbutt on the bridge of his nose.
"DAMMIT! YOU MOTHER FUCKER-"
He gritted his teeth from cursing anymore and kept his grip on her. Not wanting to bring alarm their way.
Still, he couldn't help the reddish-orange charka starting to ooze out from pure frustration and anger of the girl in front of him. She scratched up his face, which he could already feel swelling and oozing, and he didn't know if his nose was broken or not. The strength and force of the nine tails was enough to force Hinata's head back into the wall leaving an indent.
After that he was followed by silence from Hinata. She continued to stare at him with fire in her eyes and he was sure the moment he let her go again while in this state she was going to try to take his neck off.
He took the time to look around her room and saw how organized she was. He wasn't surprised. Given her family background and overall the type of person Hinata has always been.
He also didn't miss the items surrounding her bed that looked as if she was going on an extended mission. Slowly the gears started to turn in his head and the connection that tonight was going to be the night for her clicked in.
His grip on her tightened and he looked at her with utter disdain. "You really are a fucking tool. You know that. A mindless tool."
He pushed her further in the wall when he felt her flex her hands, probably upset with his insult. He was surprised to see her eyes glass over again to a platonic look, "I'm a quitter. What do you expect from a quitter Uzumaki?"
She said this in a condescending way and that just made him more upset. Did she really care about nothing. Was she really that shallow of a person now?
"I know what you're going to doHinata."
She said nothing in return.
"Do you notcarethat you are actually okay with killing people that raised you? That LOVE you!"
Still no response.
"You're sick…and that leader Danzo of yours is utter shit."
Out of everything his last response caught her attention and she looked at him with a cold stare, "Naruto…that is enough."
Oh but my dear, he was just getting started.
"So that is what gets a rise out of you? Not your father or cousin that loves you. Not your sister that you claim to do all of this bull shit for. Not your old teammates and sensei that worried sick about you when you vanished. Not your friends…just some OLD piece of literal SHIT man that is just as delusional as you. He's an ugly monster and he's making you into one too."
It would seem that was when Hinata's world she made for herself came crashing down. She would have tried to attack him again, kick or do something but she was pinned to the wall. With a little help from the demon nestled inside the blonde.
Maybe that is what really made her upset. Life always throwing opponents in her way that was too much for her. Why did life have to be so…unfair? Why did she always have to be weak, have to be the one stuck? Listening to Naruto and his insults just made her even more upset.
She had to save herself and the only person that could help her at the time was Danzo.
HE SAVED HER, nobody else even TRIED and Naruto would NOT disrespect him!
"He's a monster Naruto?! Really?"
She looked at him directly in his eyes with her own large, alerted, psychotic eyes before looking at the semi reddish orange cloak that surrounded him. His eyes widened a little and he faltered just a bit. He got the hint. He got what she was hinting at. "Well say it then Hinata."
She remained quiet and just kept looking into his eyes. He could see the turmoil clouding in her by just looking at her.
"No. Don't get quiet now. Fucking say it. You've done and said almost everything else to me but call me a demon. Just say it and get it out the way."
'Go ahead and be like everyone else. Be no different.'
She wanted to say the meanest and harshest things to him. Just vile and disgusting words that she prayed would make him see red and finally leave her be. However, even she had her limits. She could never say such words to Naruto. Knowing him like she did. Knowing his childhood and what he's been through. She could never.
"Unfortunately you are…smarter than what you let on Uzumaki. You are reckless and you care about people too much that it becomes deadly. This fixation you have on your former teammate is going to get a lot of people hurt. I hate him and I hate you. I hate how SELFISH you two are. You are a lot of things Naruto…but you are no demon. I will not ever stoop to that level no matter how unnerved I am. If I die or face punishment it will be on my terms for once and I will not go down undignified."
He wanted to be mad at her, enraged with her poor choices that she's made. The legit shit show that she became a part of. At the end of the day he just couldn't reach that rage level with her.
Hinata was a ninja that was following orders. These orders were for her downfall though, it was a trap. Couldn't she see that?
"Can't you see that Danzo is tricking you. He gave you this insane mission that will put a death hit out on you without him being tied to it!"
The corners of her lip twitched like she found this slightly amusing, "You don't know that for certain. What if the Hyuga's are corrupt?"
Naruto's mouth gapped open in utter shock, was she fucking stupid? She couldn't be this stupid and brainwashed. "Do you really believe that?"
"I have to. Could you imagine if I was wrong? What a horrible life I've been living if I was wrong about everything."
Naruto looked at her confused for a moment before realization hit in for him. She had become Danzo's right hand man the moment he took her in. She became his top spy. His go to person for assassination. For how many missions? How many deaths? According to Kakashi-sensei it had to have been a lot, enough for her to finally reach a burn out stage within four years. They were 17 years old and she looked so lifeless. So pale.
She looked like she died a long time ago.
Still, this was her own doing. This was her fault that it got this bad. If she wasn't so DESPARATE for a way out. If she'd just try harder to find another way this wouldn't be happening to her. No instead she gave up, like Hinata always did and let an evil man consume her whole.
His job was simply to find her and bring her to granny. Nothing more, nothing less.
It wasn't part of his plan or mission to really talk to her. To tell her off multiple times and insult her. It wasn't part of his mission to have her pinned against the wall and send her deadly death glares. It definitely wasn't part of the plan to grab her cheeks so roughly and pull her into an intense kiss.
No this was not part of any missions plan.
Contrary to how she acted, Hinata herself felt soft. In the past if he were to ever imagine what her lips felt like, he would guess they felt smooth as silk. Her lips were soft, oh so very soft that he could melt into her. He could just melt into her smooth, soft skin and relaxing lavender vanilla smell. He would have if he didn't remember something.
"I hate you Hyuga Hinata. I never met a more weak-minded person like you. I can't stand it."
He pulled away from her lips just barely to mumble those snide words to her. She yanked her head from him and gave him a dissatisfied deep frown. Did he just really put his vile lips on her?
When their eyes made eye contact again she saw his eyes flash in the dark between red and cobalt-blue and he was practically snarling at her. "I'm glad we finally understand one another Uzumaki." Hinata caught herself breathing a little deeper than usual and noticed the same for Naruto.
It had to be the adrenaline for one another's dislike for each other.
It was 10 at night and team seven along with a very mute Hyuga were standing in the Hokage's office. Naruto and Hinata having seen better days. Tsunade stared between the two for a while. Naruto looked as if he was attacked by a large wild cat, like a leopard or something, with a bloody purple nose. Hinata had bruises on her cheeks and along her arms until they darkened worse on her wrist.
What in the hell?
Her eyes than landed on Kakashi, who held his arms up in a 'don't look at me' manner.
"Naruto wanted to go in alone first to see if she'd just listen to reason. We figured she might have tried to flee so me, Sakura and Sai stayed outside in different parameters to wait and see if she tried to escape. Luckily mission was a success and it didn't get out of hand…for the rest of us."
Kakashi finished the last part lamely and gave Tsunade an awkward look knowing she wasn't pleased with how Naruto and Hinata looked. He could have sworn he heard Tsunade mumble 'idiots'.
Tsunade started to rub her tired face and sore neck before looking at Hinata, "So are we still doing this 'Wire/Hinata' thing or can we go back to the basics."
"Whatever you would like Hokage-sama."
Tsunade barely heard Hinata mumble and gave Hinata a look over again, "You look like shit. You have bags under your eyes, and you haven't even made it to adulthood yet. Your eyes are bloodshot from over using them. Your face is starting to cave in and you are probably in need for a well-deserved checkup because you look severely dehydrated. Damn girl…what the hell is wrong with you? How could you let this happen to yourself?"
Naruto wanted to hop on the comment and state that he said the same fucking thing, but instead he kept a satisfied smirk on his face. Something he was sure Hinata knew he had plastered on his face and he hoped it just crawled under her skin.
Hinata didn't reply to Tsunade because really what was she supposed to say? 'Sorry, I look like this because I was moments away from annihilating my family. I'm sure you knew about this because you sent the muscle group team seven to come and stop me'.
"I don't understand you Hinata. I really don't. You show no fear of pain and suffering, yet you joined Danzo to avoid pain and suffering from being sealed within the Hyuga clan. Do you not think you are not suffering with Danzo?"
Again met with silence.
"Hmm…I'm beginning to think I should have you locked up. Maybe I did read you wrong and you're not some poor, lost, misunderstood soul. Maybe you joined Danzo because you wanted to. Maybe you just hate your clan for casting you away like a wet paper bag and you finally wanted to wreak revenge on them. Tell me, did you or Danzo wait for Neji to leave the village on a mission? Did you wait because you believed he'd be the only person in the home to stop you?"
Hinata mumbled something and Tsunade frowned at the barely audible voice, "Say it again and louder. You're caught, but you're still a ninja. Have some pride."
Hinata wanted to laugh at that. What pride exactly did she have left?
"I…planned it out. I waited for Neji to leave the village."
"So you spied, broke into my office and located my mission schedule…which is CLASSIFIED information."
Hinata's head was hung low and she gritted her teeth as she spoke, "YES."
"So tell me right now why I shouldn't have you thrown in a dark prison cell with the rest of the scum of the earth."
Hinata started to shake her head to herself and if her head was raised Tsunade would see the defeated smile on her face, "I have no reason. You should imprison me Hokage-sama. You should convict me for treason and have me killed. I am scum."
The smirk on Naruto's face slid right off. What the hell was Hinata doing? Why was she being so…pathetic? Just seeing her act like this was enough to make his blood boil.
The room went silent and Tsunade continued to look at Hinata in frustration. Sakura walked up to Hinata and laid a hand gently on her shoulder, "Hinata. Please. Stop doing this to yourself."
Her kind gesture was shrugged off. Hinata shrugged her off and kept her head lowered, clearly in shame. "Stop. Stop talking to me like I'm SICK or something. Stop talking to me like I didn't know what I was doing. Just…stop."
Hinata slowly lifted her head and looked at Sakura with tired, bloodshot, empty eyes. This was the route she wanted to take. Hinata gave Sakura a light rare smile. It was actually genuine and left Sakura lost at words.
She took a deep breath and looked at Tsunade, "I snuck in your office Hokage-sama. I went through your files to look specifically for Neji's mission roaster. I waited for Neji to leave the village and tonight I was going to fulfill my mission that...I personally made for myself. I am a criminal in the perspective of the leaf village. I understand this."
Tsunade's bottom lip poked out and she shrugged her shoulders giving Hinata an impressed look, "Well, well. Congratulations on growing a pair Hinata. I was getting sick of you mumbling. Now. Tell me why you broke a law and why it was so important for you to get Neji out of the village."
Again Hinata took a deep breath as her face morphed back to its steel look, "To make sure Neji was not in my way. He is an opponent that would be able to hinder my mission."
Tsunade chuckled at this and pointed at Hinata like she was being naughty. "Oh Hinata. Always willing to be the bad guy. Now I see the real you. You're only flaw here is I know Danzo is more ruthless than he and you let on. I know you are more smart than ruthless. You honestly want me to believe that Danzo was okay with Hyuga Neji surviving? Someone as advanced as Neji? Also you forget the obvious Hinata."
Hinata bit the inside of her lip and turned her head from the amused Hokage, "Are you not a main branch member Hinata? Whether you'd acknowledge this or not. You are. Killing Neji would not be a problem for you. Am I correct?"
Some color finally made its way to Hinata's face and Tsunade could tell it was from frustration. Sakura turned to look at Hinata in shock, "What? You broke in so you…could save Neji?"
Tsunade continued to chuckle at this as she pulled a scroll out from her sleeve. She opened the scroll and threw it towards Hinata's feet to read.
"You and Neji hold a deep bond and a long line of love and hate history. I do not see you activating the seal on him ever in your life. I'm also guessing you were hoping when Neji found out about the massacre he'd hate you again and it would be so much hate he'd kill you as revenge. Cute ending for a movie or something. Such a cowards way out though Hinata. By the way…do me a favor and read that mission scroll. It's Neji's mission that he's on now with his team."
Hinata looked down at the scroll hesitantly, "Hyuga Neji was placed on an escorting mission."
Tsunade's eyes narrowed as she looked at Hinata with a sinister grin, "Who is he escorting?"
Hinata was silent for a moment refusing to speak in a rare rebellious manner. Tsunade cleared her throat in a manner to let Hinata know she didn't have much of a choice at this point. Hinata looked up from the scroll and was met with a 'gotcha' face from Tsunade.
"He is escorting Hyuga Hanabi out the village. She has lessons to take pertaining to Hyuga clan affairs."
Tsunade laughed at this. "He had a list of missions Hinata! Yet you picked this particular mission on this particular day. Yes, you are one smart lady." Tsunade then turned her head to Shizune, "Tell Anbu I might need them for a transportation to lockup."
She then proceeded to clear her throat and look back at Hinata. "Now we can do it my way, or your way Hinata. You just so happen to be useful to me. You are a top tier spy for Danzo. Meaning you know quite a bit about him and if you have that dumb thing on your tongue like Sai then you can still retrieve physical information for me against Danzo. Be my spy against Danzo. OR we can do it your way and you can get thrown into a prison cell for breaking into my office looking through classified documents."
The muted reply was what was expected, "Let me remind you Hinata that you owe Danzo absolutely NOTHING. What happened when you were younger was not anything you could control. We all understand, you were stuck. You were scared. This man is not your lord and savior. He is a manipulator and brainwasher. Understand that whether you've completed this bat shit crazy mission order or not. He was going to have you killed one way or the other. Do you hear me?He is going to have you KILLED.You know too much and Uchiha Itachi is back in the village and I am sure he knows you had something to do with it. So with all that said what will it be."
It took less than two seconds for Hinata to reply, "I am a criminal Hokage-sama. I deserve to be punished. Lord Danzo has done nothing wrong. He has never steered me in the wrong direction, I do not believe he will start now."
Tsunade watched as the two Anbu came through her door, she threw her arms up in a 'oh well' manner before shrugging her shoulders. "I see you want to do it your way than. Goodbye for now Hinata. I am guessing I will be seeing you at your hearing because you're crazy if you think Danzo will get you out."
Naruto and Sakura watched in shock as Hinata was taken away and while Sakura continued to look in saddened disbelief Naruto's face turned to anger. He whispered heatedly in Hinata's direction, "Why are you being so STUPID Hinata!? Just cut it out already!"
He received the same muted reply.
"You're being a total moron for thinking that Danzo cares about you!"
Hinata dug her heels in the wooden flooring for a moment and gave Naruto a blank, ghostly look. A small smile slowly gracing her face, "I guess that makes both of us morons right Uzumaki? Me for Lord Danzo and you for that bottom of the barrel Uchiha." She started walking again with Anbu and didn't give Naruto another look back.
She ignored him as he hollered her name in anger. Who was he to judge her anyways?
When Hinata was completely out of the building Tsunade carried her focus on an enraged Naruto. His whole face was red with anger. She couldn't believe one person could cause Naruto to get so uptight. He looked ready to burst.
"Well if you're mad about that you'll be even more upset when I tell you that she'll be out by morning. There is no way in hell Danzo is going to let a gem like Hinata sit in a prison cell. Not with a head full of all the information she knows. He knows I could get a Yamanaka in her cell by opening business hours. Danzo will pull some strings way before then. He'll get her in his custody. Probably fuck with her head some more. Worse punishment she'll get for breaking into my office would probably be extra duty. Unfortunately Danzo seems to be a fan favorite when it comes to the councilmen and their 'old school' head ways."
She watched as Naruto's eyes widened and then he buried his hands in his face to muffle his frustrated screams.
"I mean I'm frustrated too kid. The girl knows A LOT. Far too much. Her little body and soul shouldn't keep such information to herself. Its gonna drive her mad. Another downside is that like any other Hyuga, Hinata is a walking lie detector. She could catch a lie from anyone very easily. She's calling my bluff is all. I think it'll be a cold day in hell before she'd cross Danzo."
"She has to know Danzo is only using her and is aiming to have her killed soon." Kakashi said this as he leaned against the wall and pondered to himself. This strong dedication to Danzo that Hinata had was borderline unhealthy.
"Is she suicidal? Is that why she doesn't care if Danzo has her killed off or not" Sakura looked at Tsunade for clarification to see if she was right or wrong.
Tsunade gave a thoughtful look and looked up at the ceiling in thought, "Hmm. Not suicidal. If I had to guess she's in denial. Think about it-"
Tsunade stopped talking and the room went silent when they heard Naruto start to mumble. He lifted his head from his hands and looked off to the side away from Kakashi, Sakura and Sai's eyes. "If she ever comes to terms that this Danzo bastard is as evil and horrible as everyone is saying he is than that means she is just as bad. She'd be a monster, just like him. No way a coward like her is willing to see herself that way."
"Naruto!"
Naruto's eyes snapped towards Sakura, "What Sakura?! Are you really still feeling sorry for her? She was about to try and KILL her clan. The people that raised her. Loved her. I…I can't. I can't let this situation right here slide."
Sakura looked at Naruto with clenched fist and burning emerald eyes, "She's brainwashed. She's not in the right state of mind."
"You heard it from granny herself…she's in DENIAL. She's in denial because she doesn't want to own up to the horrible crap she's done!"
Finally at her peak of holding everything in for Naruto's sake, his cherry blossom teammate finally let go.
"And you're in denial for thinking Sasuke is any different than Hinata!"