Interlude: Hyuuga Hinata

The day of Team Seven's return from the ill-fated mission

She was tired, wounded, low on chakra -blood in the rain, blood in her hair- under normal circumstances she should have stayed in the hospital whilst her jounin-sensei reported to their superiors. Her team could give a full report later, once Tetsuo was in better condition and Naruto was more... stable.

These were not normal circumstances.

Instead, the moment she was bandaged and Kakashi was out of the door, she was out the window and heading for the hyuuga estate. She would not, could not, let her first mission of note be remembered as an ignominious failure which nearly got her prodigy team-mate killed. First impressions were important, and hers triply so. She could not afford to be thought of as some useless hostage -tight bindings, hands going numb- who had to rely on other people to save her and who couldn't even see an ambush coming when that was the one thing her clan was known best for.

Deep breaths.

She was strong, she was sure, and she could salvage this. She would simply have to make sure people remembered the mission for a wholly different reason. Not everyone would know, but the people who mattered would find out. The important people. And that was enough.

Her father met her at the gates, his quiet stroll seeming to place him at exactly the right place and time by complete coincidence. By comparison Hizashi flickered into place and seemed almost... agitated. He was always the more emotive brother, he was allowed to be. Behind her the silent Hyuuga guard she had known was nearby since she arrived in the hospital flickered into place, bowing shallowly before being dismissed with a curt hand movement.

"Hinata, my daughter, you have come home." Hiashi stated serenely, with a strange undercurrent she had not heard before. "Come inside, that we may talk of your mission."

Her impatience burned within her as they move back to the shielded main room, sealwork coming alight in scrolling, flickering patterns as they passed the threshold. Settling into a steady glow as the doors were slid shut and the circuits completed. Hiashi sat at the head of the room, Hinata before him while Hizashi sat to the side as his status dictated.

"Father, there is a thing I must do."

ooo

It was later in the day. There had been questions and answers, arguments had been made and measured in her father's silent gaze.

Hizashi had been on her side the moment he understand her reasoning, just as she had known he would be. Her father's twin made points that were in tune with how her father thought about things, and agreement was reached. Then came movement to the Hokage's office, arguing, and quiet words spoken in anger that was only partially fake. Promises and subtle threats had been made - often in the same breath. Her father took to the part of the concerned and angry parent well, and Hinata wanted to believe that it was because he truly cared about her like the role he played did, but could not show it most of the time. The ruler of the village agreed, making it clear that it was only because he had already decided to do this thing, and they merely asked him to change the manner of it.

Then they moved again, and though she had been tired before, now she was dead on her feet. She thought it ironic, considering the circumstances. She stared at the unconscious man before her -white masks, rough cloth- and considered one last time what she was about to do. He seemed so pitiful, old and withered. One arm missing, chest bandaged. Breath wheezing in and out, and spots of blood seeping through the bandages. She knew what he had done, though. After this, she would not be remembered as some mewling hostage, nor a helpless, trapped victim. They would remember that her prodigy team mate had almost died, but distantly. Ninja almost died all the time, it was regrettable but of little great note in the long run. At least compared to what she was about to do. It would even help with negotiations in the future, to have such a thing in the backs of their minds, that they would remember what she was. What all ninja were, beneath it all.

She stood tall in the cold room. She was strong, she was sure - she was stalling. Her lips turned down slightly, as she remembered something Hizashi had told her oh so long ago. When she'd only recently revealed her ambition to him.

"Your name is in the mouths of others, Hinata."

She drove her hand through Shimura Danzo's skull, spattering his brains upon the stony floor.

"Be sure it has teeth."