I do not own naruto. Yet again i have found myself hoarding chapters and forgetting to update. my bad guys.
Hinata sat in her house, staring at the ceiling above her bed. She didn't feel like moving...she just felt like laying there and wasting away, she could never be happy with anyone or anything. She turned her head to the side and listened... to nothing. Silence enshrouded the empty house, the echo of nothingness that plagued her home drove her over the edge. The silence was deafening. She rolled over and crammed her face into the pillow the sound of her blanket rustling echoed around in her silent room.
She was scared to speak, because then her own voice would echo back at her like a taunting reminder that she had nothing. A taunting reminder that she had no one and that no one truly wanted to be near her. She hadn't expected for her friends to automatically be like 'oh yeah! Woo! Let's go hang out again Hinata-chan!' but she hadn't expected this either. This silence, nothingness that plagued her, she hadn't expected it to come back so soon. She was all alone now...no one truly cared...Izumo had left her and said it was for the best, so better, stronger people could come into her life and make her happy. He was full of shit, in her opinion.
Her stomach growled and she sighed as it too, echoed in her empty room. She tossed her legs over the edge of her bed and slowly made her way to her door. Her fingers brushed over the cold metal of the knob and she sighed. She would like nothing more than to sit in her room all day and mope, but she had better things to do...her romance life had nothing to do with her goal, so she decided her main goal still needed to be killing that Haru woman.
She gently turned the knob and she had a sick feeling in her stomach. She walked out of her room and made her way down the stairs softly, so the deafening echo of her feet hitting the stairs wouldn't resound around her. She reached the bottom of her steps and saw someone at her table. She furrowed her brow as she saw the dark haired man turn towards her. She took a few steps back and her heart began to race. "Who are you?" she asked and he watched her with curiosity in his dark eyes. "My name...is Izuna... Izuna Uchiha." He said and she furrowed her brows. "I thought Sasuke was the last Uchiha." She said and he shrugged.
"You see, he probably was; but that matters not." Izuna said as he stood. Hinata watched him carefully, he was attractive; but he seemed to be one to be weary of. He strolled effortlessly over to her and cornered her in the corner by the steps. "You see, I have come here seeking your help. There is this woman... Haru...she is quite a problem and I heard you were searching for her." Izuna said and Hinata nodded. Izuna smiled, it seemed friendly enough as his fist propped him up against the wall. He tilted his head to the side and his other hand reached up and found its way under her chin.
"Would you assist in helping me rid myself of her?" he asked and she shivered involuntarily as his warm breath washed over her neck. "Maybe... I could help..." she said and tried to move away from him but a sharp pain found its way in her side and her eyes went wide as she looked up to him. "Are you alright? What's wrong?" he asked and Hinata's eyes rolled up and she hit the floor he'd had to make himself seem as if it hadn't been him. When she would wake up, he would play savior and attempt to make her his little pawn in this new game he was playing... It was called... Kill Tobirama Senju. "Poor little Hyuuga girl... so easily swayed. You think you're so tough... but the innocence that you still hold is going to be your downfall." He chuckled as he lifted her off the ground.
:-:-:-:-:
Hinata jolted up and searched her surroundings. Her eyes darted to Izuna who ran over and crouched next to her. "Are you alright?!" he asked, his voice was filled with concern as he attempted to hold her up. She furrowed her brows lightly, she knew if she trusted this man; it would most likely be the death of her. She also knew that he knew the location of Haru, the woman who slaughtered her family. She saw trees outside the nearest window and her brow furrowed as she sat up. "What happened?" she asked, tearing her eyes away from the window for a moment.
"Someone in your village tried to kill you, so I brought you out here for your own safety." He said and she didn't miss the slight tremor of his voice, he was lying; and now that she knew it... she knew he was not to be trusted. She nodded lightly. She would play along for now, she wasn't as dumb as he thought her to be, but he didn't know this so she would keep it under wraps for a while. She could tell by his eyes alone that he was an advanced reanimation. If you weren't skilled in observation, then you would have missed it.
His whites of his eyes had the slightest grayish tint to them and the veins around the very edges of his eyes were blackened, something that the advancement of the reanimation jutsu had caused. She hadn't noticed this at her home when he had been so close to her, but she knew there was something about him that made her feel off. She watched as he stood and shrugged. "I dunno, I just found this place." He said and she furrowed her brows more... he really didn't seem like the type to just 'stumble' upon things...
"Will you help me get rid of Haru?" he asked once more and she nodded. "Of course... but Haru isn't my only problem at the moment." She said and he jerked towards her and smirked. "What might your other problem be? He asked and she shrugged. "Not sure as of yet, but I think I see dead people." Hinata said, attempting to tread the thin ice carefully to figure out exactly who he was. A name wasn't going to be enough to assess his skills as of yet.
"Ah, I see... But nowadays... seeing dead people is absolutely normal. I heard Tobirama is roaming around the leaf village. I heard the five nations had fought a war with an unsurmountable amount of those... Reanimations, as they were called." He said and Hinata nodded. "Tobirama is roaming about again... but it had to be just my luck that I had stumbled upon him first..." she sighed and Izuna's eyes widened and his smirk grew. "So you did find him first huh?" he asked and she nodded.
"Yeah... I found him... his grave site was sucking the chakra from my body. I don't dare go back there, who knows who will resurface if I do..." she sighed and he watched her carefully, just as she watched him carefully for any reaction against that certain name. Every time the name Tobirama left her mouth, there was a devious spark in her eyes and she became curious as to who he truly was. "Who are you really?" she asked before she could stop herself. He blinked and shrugged.
"I am who I said I was, my name is Izuna Uchiha." He said, not a flicker of deceit or anything alarming in his eyes what so ever, and so she nodded with a small false smile. "Alright, I was just worried you were lying to me. I don't really trust very many people, please forgive me." she said and he shook his head. "Not at all, forgive me, I must look deceitful." He said and Hinata smiled lightly. "Its not you, I just don't trust very many people is all." She said and inner Hinata was on a rampage. 'Don't trust a single thing! Not a single letter of a single fragment of a word! All he says are lies, everything about him is a lie. His name may be real, but he is faking you!' her mind screamed at her and she watched him with cautious eyes, but not cautious enough to alert him that she knew.
"So you know Tobirama?" she asked and he watched her carefully. "You could say that..." he said and she nodded. "You must not like him..." she said, trying to push him to tell her more. "I detest the fool." He said and she nodded. "It isn't hard to see why... he isn't the... nicest person..." she said softly and he nodded. "Nice could never begin to ever even try to describe him in the slightest." He said and she watched as he paced the room and ran a hand through his bangs. "You must really have something against him if you feel that way..." she said and he looked at her oddly.
He opened his mouth to speak, but then it shut just as quickly. "You said you wanted to find Haru, right?" he asked and she nodded. She wasn't done with her game of twenty questions, but the other questions would have to wait for now since he was getting to be evasive. "Yes, could you take me to her or..." she droned off and he watched her carefully. "I can take you to where she dwells, but that is as far as I go. I don't see why you want to go after her now... You don't seem to be in the best of shape..." he said and Hinata whirled on him.
"You want her gone, correct?" she asked and he nodded. "Then take me to her, you would be surprised with what I can do." She snapped and he frowned. "Sure, whatever then." He said and he opened the door and waved an arm to signal for her to walk out of the place first. She did so and he followed her out. He led her down a dark path that was enshrouded in vines and dense trees. She had never been anywhere near this place before, but it didn't worry her. The dead man behind her gave her chills, she really didn't like the fact that he was behind her.
Her thoughts drifted off and she wondered if anyone had noticed she was gone yet...she doubted it...no one really seemed to want to talk to her as of late. She sighed and rubbed her side, it still hurt from whatever had pricked her side before Izuna had taken her. His mere presence set her off, he was crafty and smart; that much she knew. He was nothing like Sasuke. He wasn't broody; he wasn't anti social from what she could see. He was vocal and seemed to have an extreme distaste for Tobirama.
His footsteps were silent behind her, his chakra was at an extremely advanced level, and his eyes watched her every move as if he expected for her to try something against him. He was obviously a very skilled shinobi. "Do you have a brother?" she asked suddenly and his eyes bore through her, she could feel his gaze on her. "I did." He said and she nodded. "I did too..." she said and he watched her. "He was my best friend... and he died for me in the war a few years ago. He jumped in front of me to protect me, when I had jumped in front of my friend to protect him..." She said and she waited for him to give a confirmation that he had heard.
"My brother would have done the same for me. He fought every battle he ever fought, to protect me. He had always treated me like I was the only thing that mattered, even before we lost our younger brothers, Ibiki and Daisuke... But... he hated that he wasn't there to protect them so his urge to protect me grew and he began training me so we would always be at the same level of strength. He wanted me to be strong so he would never have to worry about me...but he always did. There was nothing he could do that would have made him stop worrying." Izuna said and Hinata frowned as she listened to him.
"My older brother worried so much for me, that the bags under his eyes from lack of sleep became permanent due to stress. He had always looked a tiny bit older than he really was because he stressed his entire life." Izuna said and Hinata fiddled with her fingers. "I couldn't even begin to understand how that must have felt... I failed to protect my family and they were taken from me. My little sister... Hanabi... she told me to shine on...in her own hyperactive childish way. Told me shine on and live the life I was meant to live... but as most people do, they get caught up in the hate and despair that feels so comforting." She said and he nodded.
"I understand fully. At least your sister got to give you her last words. My brother didn't get to hear mine..." he whispered the last part under his breath but Hinata had caught it, despite him not noticing. "Hanabi didn't give me her last words... I found her body in her bedroom floor, eyeless and dried tears on her cheeks. Blood was everywhere. Same for my parents, but they crushed their eyes before Haru could get to them. Hanabi was young. She never had a chance against Haru. Hanabi's words came to me when she did. I told you I saw dead people." She said and he watched as she walked slowly forwards.
"I see..." he said then they came to a cave at the end of the trail. "This is as far as I go." He said and she turned to face him. "Izuna... What was your brother's name?" she asked and he turned away from her and began walking. "His name..." he began, but he never stopped walking. "Was Madara Uchiha." He said as he vanished from sight completely. "I see now... that's why you are so strong... and it also explains why you despise Tobirama." She whispered as she turned towards the dark cave and sighed.
"I'm coming for you Haru, this is going to be the end of you. I will NOT let you escape again... and you will never hurt the ones I care for... ever again... And Tobirama will not lose his life because of you." Hinata said as she snapped her fingers and flames burned at the tips of them, lighting the way into the darkness of the cave. She walked into the cave, the darkness consuming her and the light her flames gave off as she travelled further into the depths of the cave.
:-:-:-:-:
Naruto ran all over, he could no longer feel Hinata's chakra anywhere and it was driving him insane. Something just felt off and he couldn't quite pinpoint what it was...he ran to where she had been staying, ignoring his wife that ran behind him in a frantic panic. Sakura and Kiba ran behind him and Ino, trying to catch up to the blonde Hokage. Sasuke travelled atop the rooftops to keep up with his blonde friend and search for Hinata's chakra all the same.
They reached her house and in the middle of her dining room, stood Tobirama; a grimace present on his lips as his eyes darted to the group that had just arrived. He flicked the vile with the connected injector towards the blond Hokage who caught it in one hand. Tobirama then strolled out of her house. The group followed him, assaulting him with questions as he walked. "Do you know what happened to her?" Sakura asked and he nodded. "Really!?" Naruto exclaimed and he nodded again.
"Are you going to tell us?" Sasuke asked impatiently and Tobirama gave him a sharp look. "I will." He said as he shoved the door open and walked in, not caring that the door left a hole in his wall, nor did he care that they were following him up the steps to his room. "When?" Ino asked frantically and he looked at her and she silenced herself. "I said I will tell you." He said as he brushed back his hair with his fingers and placed his hitai-ate against his forehead to secure it.
The group looked agitated at his lack of explaining, but they watched him curiously. "I will give you some advice now... If I were you Naruto... keep the civilians from wandering the village. This could get nasty." He said and Naruto put his fist through Tobirama's wall. "Dammit Tobirama! What the hell could be so bad that you want me to lock the villagers away?" he snapped and Tobirama pulled his armor from his closet and Naruto's eyes went wide. "It's that bad?" he asked, his fist falling from the hole in the wall to fall limply to his side.
"Yes." Tobirama said simply and secured his armor and checked his katana then sheathed it and secured it to his lower back, much like how Sasuke carried his chokuto. "This is really happening..." Naruto whispered and Tobirama nodded. "I don't know how bad this will get... but... I have to warn you that it could get bad. Don't let anyone out of the village and into the woods. "If neither of us come back..." Tobirama began and Naruto glared at him. "Shut the hell up! You will both come back!" he yelled and Tobirama paused to look at him.
"You don't know who this guy is Naruto..." Tobirama said and his frown deepened. "Dammit Tobirama! Why must you have so little faith!?" he yelled and Tobirama studied the blonde carefully. He sighed and he closed his eyes as he looked to the floor. "This is Izuna Uchiha we are dealing with Naruto..." he said and they looked at him with furrowed brows. "What does he have? We defeated Madara!" Naruto ground out and Tobirama glared at him. "Hinata was taken by him, Izuna is Madara's younger brother, whom of which he trained to be just as strong as he was...But...it just so happens...I was the one who killed him. He took Hinata to get to me..." Tobirama said and Naruto's eyes went wide.
"I killed Izuna, which set Madara upon his path of hatred and despair. Then I took his place as second Hokage, which made him hate me even more... and in all reality... I was the reason for the war that took Hinata's cousin from her. I refuse to be the reason that she is lost as well. I will not let him kill her." Tobirama said as he walked out of the room. He stopped in his front door and glared at them sharply. "You will not follow me. I will handle Izuna and help Hinata. I will not let her down again... Izumo opened my eyes a bit when I talked to him... there are just some things you can't escape, even if you didn't know you were trying to." Tobirama said and in a flicker of golden light, he vanished.
Tobirama hit the ground outside of the cave where he felt Hinata's chakra signature. He swiftly jumped backwards as flames erupted from the cave in what appeared to be something similar to a dragon breathing fire in a tightly enclosed space. Another figure flew from the opening of the cave and he automatically recognized her as Haru, the Orochimaru experiment. She slammed into a tree, a grin plastered on her face. "Orochimaru left me, don't you see?" she sang as she pushed herself off the tree.
Out of the flames strolled a figure that the flames bent around. He figured out it was Hinata the moment he saw her. "I ran away from the pain... always breaking down inside, like I were incomplete. I thought I was going to die if I fought you... but... now I see this won't be the end of me, it will not be the end of Hinata Hyuuga." Hinata said and blood trickled over her lips as she strolled leisurely forwards. "You must be mistaken, Hyuuga, because even though I no longer have Orochimaru's power, I can still kill you! I am death! Don't you remember!?" she asked, a sinister smirk on her lips as a demented laugh erupted from her lips.
"No, Haru-chan... you are wrong in every way." Hinata said and the woman faltered. "Haru... chan?" she asked, confused. She stumbled forwards for a moment then grit her teeth and lunged. "No! you are lying to me! you don't know me! I killed your family! I destroyed your livelihood!" she screamed and she sent Hinata flying with a kick to the side. The curse mark began to spread over her skin and her features began to change into the horrid shinigami type beast.
Hinata pulled the blade from her back and lunged at the woman. Haru was obviously disturbed by whatever Hinata had been telling her. He didn't know the full story, but he figured it was as good a time as any to begin helping. He flew through hand signs and his water dragons came from everywhere and Haru was fighting with them as he ran over to Hinata. "Let me help you." He said and she smiled at him through blood stained lips. "You didn't have to ask." She said as she flew through hand signs to flood the area. He watched her wearily as she flooded the area, it appeared that the water jutsu didn't harm her very much.
"I figured I would ask though, you being you; you would have nagged me to death all over again for interfering." He said as he jumped to the side to avoid Haru's wing that threatened to knock him over. "She seems weaker than before, what happened?" he asked and Hinata looked at him. "Orochimaru no longer resides within her." She said and he nodded. "I see." He said and she smiled. "I'm glad to have you helping me." she said as she locked blades with Haru. The older woman glared at her and Hinata flipped to the side to avoid the claws that swiped at her.
Hinata back flipped to avoid one of Haru's fire jutsu and landed next to Tobirama. "How do you suppose we go about killing her?" Tobirama asked and he watched as Hinata's eyes became calculative and studied the woman that swooped at them again. Haru seemed frightened, as if she knew she were either going to lose, or be punished. It may be that she just knew she was weakened without Orochimaru, and was going to give it her all before she died.
Hinata grabbed Haru's fist when she swooped down to grab at her and Hinata threw herself up and over Haru to land a kick on her back and send her underwater, she was testing a theory now. Haru was sent under the water like she had dove in. she swam to the surface and climbed atop the water to stand. Her wings shook themselves dry and Hinata furrowed her brows. Haru rushed at her once more and Tobirama began hand signs as Hinata continuously jumped backwards to avoid the angered woman, but Hinata shook her head to stop him.
All alone, all Hinata could do in fighting Haru was push her back or dodge, but with Tobirama's help she could do much more. Hinata snapped her fingers and Tobirama looked towards her as she dodged the rapid hits that Haru threw at her. She motioned out with her hands what they were going to do and his eyes went wide. It was smart, way beyond quick wit and fast thinking. This was damn near perfect and he knew it would work, he saw absolutely no holes in her plan, which was a surprise. He could find a hole in everyone's plans...
He flew through hand signs and the dragons collided with Haru. Hinata jumped to land beside him and when Haru shook off the water they took off running side by side, zig-zagging across the surface of the water to confuse Haru. She tried to keep her eyes on both of them at once but it was near impossible as two of their clones jumped up from behind her and slashed downwards with their blades at her. She jumped out of the way of the two clones at the last minute, but jumped right into the path of two more, which sent her deep under the water with chakra enhanced kicks. When she resurfaced, clones grabbed her from every angle and held her still. Hinata and Tobirama ran at her and she nodded as they both flickered from sight and Haru screamed as they appeared behind her opposite of the side they had been on before.
Blood sprayed from Haru's chest and she sank beneath the depths of the water as the clones vanished. Hinata and Tobirama watched as the water level descended as well and Hinata went through a jutsu and he watched with curious eyes. As the water drained away, roots came up and cradled Haru's body. "Thank you... Hyuuga, for releasing me from... my... torture..." she whispered and Hinata nodded. "Forgive me, but I didn't release you because I felt sorry for you. I needed to restore the glory of my clan, and killing you was the only way I saw I could do so, and retrieve the eyes that were taken from my sister." Hinata said as she delicately pulled the eyes from Haru's sockets and placed them within a sealing scroll to keep them safe. Haru smiled weakly as the roots enclosed around her and pulled her beneath the ground.
More blood trickled from Hinata's lips from using the wood style, she knew if she continued using it; it was going to kill her, but she needed to do that one last thing. The ghosts of her family members appeared around her and Tobirama watched her interact with them. "Thank you, Hinata... and you as well, Tobirama-sama." Hiashi's ghost said and he nodded. "I have no quarrels with fighting alongside a kind hearted genius such as Hinata." He said and Hinata blushed lightly in embarrassment. "Thank you, so much..." her mother whispered and Hanabi grinned. "You aren't as bad a guy as I thought you were." Hanabi said and he chuckled lightly.
Hinata jolted into moving and she shoved him out of the way before he could even think about what had happened. He watched as if it were all in slow motion, as fast as he was, even he couldn't stop it in time. The spear hit her swiftly and pinned her to the tree with such force, the spear went all the way through her and the tree as well. His eyes went wide as she coughed a large amount of blood all over the ground. The screams of her family member's ghosts as they vanished in swirls of angered gusts of air, made his heart jerk. "Hinata-nii!" Hanabi had screeched along with her mother as she vanished. "Dammit, no!" her father had yelled out as he fisted his hands and vanished as well.
Tobirama stood from his place on the ground where she had shoved him down and he ran over to her and carefully cut through the spear to gently pull her from it. He grit her teeth as she smiled at him. "Hinata... Why?" he asked and she grinned widely at him. "You called m-me a g-genius... N-no one has e-ever called m-me such... I... I a-also...c-couldn't l-let you die... for me... b-because... I... I k-kinda like you...T-Tobirama." She said, and his eyes squeezed shut as she went limp against his shoulder.
"Dammit... Hinata... Damn it all..." he said, a slight tremor in his voice. The fact she had done this for him...hurt more than anything. "Simple words were nothing to give your life for me over, dammit! You had so much more to live for...You were still young..." he ground out and a sigh behind him caught his attention. He turned to see Izuna twirling yet another spear between his fingers nimbly. "Such a shame she died the exact same way her, brother... or well... cousin had. I'll have you know, I had plans on sparing her... but no... she went and saved you. I was aiming for you, you know. Only makes sense... since you were the one to kill me, after all. I believe it is only fair that I kill you..." Izuna said as the rain began to fall.
Tobirama placed Hinata gently against the tree and secured his armor onto her, with ever so gentle movements. "You treat her as if she is going to suddenly heal and rescue you again... adorable." Izuna snorted and he locked gazes with Izuna. "This is where this futile feud will end, Izuna." Tobirama said and the rain plastered his hair over his eyes. It hurt, knowing that the woman who had lived to be like him, was lying dead against a tree behind him. It hurt even worse that it seemed his single compliment was the only thing she needed to give her life for him. They had always fought, but that one compliment...he had called her a kind hearted genius, and she gave her life for him. He wasn't worthy of that.
He was going to make it up to her...he was going to kill Izuna once more and seal him away for good. Then he would take her home and give her a proper burial with her family. That was the least he could do for her now... His red eyes locked with Izuna's and his brow furrowed. "Seems like you cared..." Izuna said with a raised brow. "She died for me... because of a single compliment... the first I had ever given her... you tell me who cared more..." Tobirama said with a frown on his lips. "I let her down, more than ever... I never showed her that... there was a possibility for us to be friends... we were always fighting and I enjoyed bothering her...I never complimented her for anything, and the first time I do, she saves my life. I will repay my debt to her." Tobirama said and Izuna smirked. "The lets begin, shall we?" he asked.