Wasted Years

by Mizerable

Ch. 8: Hunted

* * *

"What!?" Ino shrieked. He knew this wasn't going to sit well with her but it's not like he had much of a choice. They may have said "request", but he knew damn well enough to hear "order."

"It won't be so bad," Shikamaru answered, "I've been a jounin for over a year now. It's a pain in the ass but you know I can't turn it down. Jiraiya-sama himself asked me to do this."

"Yeah, but…an Anbu squad?" Ino sounded skeptical and horribly nervous about it. Why was he doing this? It would only increase the chances that he might…Doing this, he might…

"Why you?" She finally managed to ask, only to receive a shrug in response before he leaned back on his bed. Truth be told, Shikamaru was convinced there was something more to it than he was told. Even being ranked as an elite ninja, he was still left in the dark about a lot of things. Damn bureaucracies...They had been increasing the amount of Anbu over the past two years and it was starting to get everybody nervous. Something big was going down.

"Hinata joined a little while ago, too," he added.

"I heard," Ino replied softly. Soft-spoken, timid Hinata…No one ever expected that she'd become one of the top young assassins in the village. But then again, a lot had changed over these long three years. She ran into Shino by chance and was able to get a little bit of information about what his former team was up to. Kiba had become softer and less brash in a lot of ways, mostly just tired from everything. As for Hinata, her silence was no longer the nervous fidgety variety and more cold and steely. From the description, it sounded almost comparable to how Sasuke used to be…

Just what happened to everyone?

"Does Chouji know yet?" Ino asked, trying to take all of this in.

"No…You're the only person I've told. Not exactly supposed to let tons of people know," he replied and she looked a bit overwhelmed. So that brought out a new question from her. "Why me?"

Why, indeed…

On the battlefield, Shikamaru was often called "brilliant" or "gifted." But as far as real life went, he was a goddamn coward with a complete defeatist attitude. After all this time, he was still unable to convince himself he could ever win her over. Even though Naruto had managed to sway Sakura, Shikamaru gave up before the battle started. She was a new jounin and they were just reunited on the same team only a couple short months ago. But he was already leaving again on so many levels. Once he left on whatever insane Anbu mission they scrounged up, he wouldn't be seeing Ino again for a long, long time.

"When do you leave?"

"Dunno. Two, three days maybe?" Her face was starting to crumble and that was never a good sign. Ino was usually the type to get mad when she was upset about things. She only cried when things got really bad. This couldn't possibly be one of those times. Right?

He was really leaving. Oh god…He was really leaving her behind. This might be the last time she would see him for a while. Even though he never gave a sign that he was interested in her, surely some part of him must care about her if she was the first person he told. She knew she was pretty bossy and stubborn but he had to like her at least a little bit, right? And Ino Yamanaka was never one to give up!

"Ne…Shikamaru?"

"Hn?" It looked like something else was making Ino nervous now. Great…

"I've never asked…what you think of me." Ino could tell her cheeks were burning crimson. She was being completely stupid, asking him something like this when he was probably anxious over his newly acquired Anbu status.

That got him to sit up. She did not just ask him that, did she? How the hell was he supposed to answer that!? She was looking at him with expectant eyes, which were making him strangely nervous. "You know…We won't see each other for a while." Ino nodded absently and, for some reason, she seemed closer now. He couldn't tell which one of them was leaning further towards the other. She didn't have her hair pulled back today and it was spilling into her face now. If he was going to have this conversation with her, he wanted to see her. His hand reached out to brush the strands away and tucked them behind her ear. He didn't expect to let his fingers linger there. He was in too deep now.

Time seemed to tick by a little slower with the electricity of anticipation firing in their veins. Tilting his head slightly, Shikamaru let his lips skim over hers. And she hadn't smacked him yet so she must be feeling generous. He sat back and noticed her shoulders were heaving. All right, she was pissed after all. Well she asked so he wasn't going to lie. What a complete pain in the ass this all was…

"You…complete ass!" she cried and finally raised her eyes to him, eyes that were filling with tears. All this time…All this time, he cared about her. Loved her, probably. And he hadn't done a damn thing about it. Now he was leaving for who knew how long with the fucking Anbu squad and now was when he decided to kiss her? Why not two years ago? Why not four? What did she do wrong? She hung all over him constantly. She was always flirting with him. Wore clothes that grew tighter and more revealing everyday just for him. All that to get him to pay attention to her and now he was walking away.

Well that answered that. She was in no way interested, yet had the nerve to embarrass him by asking such a question. To be honest, he was nearing terror with his feelings over joining the Anbu when things were as bad as they were in the village. He knew he wouldn't be one of the lucky ones and was probably going to die out there far from home and alone. Why the hell did Ino do this to him now?

"I don't know why the hell you just asked me if you weren't gonna be happy about the answer. I've got enough on my mind so if you just wanna humiliate me, then just get out!"

He wasn't one to ever really raise his voice and he was pretty sure this was the first time he ever snapped at Ino like this. He wasn't a guy who argued a lot since it wasn't worth his breath. But his pride was hurting and it was painful to let her see him like this. He helped her stay strong, especially over these past three dismal years. He couldn't show his weaknesses now. Not to her. Not to himself. Weakness in the Anbu was a death sentence.

Ino was visibly shaking now and couldn't get a hold of herself. She was selfishly thinking about herself and now just hurt his feelings terribly. She wondered just how deeply his feelings for her ran, though. Even as she was gathering her things to leave, that's all she could think of. That, and if she ran away right now, she probably would never see him again. Pausing at his door with her hand hovering over the knob, she let her bag drop to the floor and turned to face him again. She needed to do this before he left.

"Promise me."

Shikamaru had been sitting with his head in his hands stewing over everything. He just assumed she left until her voice echoed through the room. Immediately his eyes snapped up to look at her.

"Promise you'll come back to me."

Ino…

He knew whatever mission he was being sent on would be more dangerous than anything he ever encountered in his life. The chance he might die was extraordinarily high. But…

How could he ever say no to her?

"I'll come home."

For you.

* * *

"What a complete waste of time," Yanagi grumbled. She felt vaguely compelled to sit on the table, but didn't feel very interested in wiping away the teeth scattered across the surface. She remained standing.

"If you're conscious enough to listen, you're conscious enough to talk. What are the Akatsuki planning?"

Hmm, she'd forgotten he was even here. Little Uchiha was leaning against the wall, behind the person in question slouched in the chair. She was almost startled the kid spoke, since he usually left all the work for her. Must be growing impatient. After receiving a gurgled curse as an answer, the suspect got a fine kick to the back of his skull as a reward. Yup, the kid was agitated today.

"Fuck it. He ain't talking," Sasuke growled before his kunai split the guy's throat wide and he stormed out. After working this no name Akatsuki informant for almost three straight days, they hadn't gotten anywhere. Looks like they were putting these bastards under a silence jutsu. Even if they wanted to tell you something the minute you caught 'em, they'd never say a damn thing. Perfect…

"You don't usually lose your cool like that," Yanagi pointed out once she met up with him outside. The light stung her eyes a tad and she never had much appreciation for the snow just outside Stone Country but those things were far from her mind. Something was off with her boy.

"You usually get answers," came the clipped remark. He deserved a hard fist to the jaw for that but she didn't feel like wasting the energy. It wouldn't have gotten her any answers from him. His trembling hands worked to light another cigarette but Yanagi knew it wasn't the cold affecting him. "You're gettin' too involved," she stated, "After all this time, why're the emotions comin' back into the game?" He shrugged and that was the end of that discussion. Maybe the boy was getting a bit intuitive. The Akatsuki were growing fearful of how close the opposition was getting to the core. Strong jutsu on throw-away informants? They must be hiding something big. Things were about to get completely fucked up and the kid must be nervous now. After all, he might cross paths with his brother again.

"C'mon, kid. Let's get you unwound a bit. You won't focus good like this."

Sasuke gave a vague nod and the two walked in the general direction of the local village.

* * *

"I noticed your addition to the Anbu," Kakashi stated flatly. Jiraiya looked up from whatever he was working on. Whether it was important Konoha business or the manuscript for his latest novel was yet to be determined. He did, however, look mildly surprised by his visitor's appearance. Kakashi wasn't one to come around often these days.

"It's not a problem for you, is it?" There was no malice in the question. Kakashi was a man to be trusted and his advice on situations was most often useful. The man shook his head in response. "No…They're qualified enough."

"You're not bitter that I didn't choose Naruto?"

"Hardly," Kakashi drawled out, "Even though he managed to scrape up a jounin ranking…If there's one thing Naruto hates more than anything, it's taking the life of another human being. The Anbu would be the last place he belongs." Jiraiya nodded in agreement. Naruto had grown up to be a decent kid and it was nice to not have a ninja be so casual about killing. Most of the village was still stunned about how calm Shy Hinata was about everything when it came to death.

"I'd like to know why there is the sudden increase in assassin squads," Kakashi demanded without sounding particularly interested. It also sounded like he wasn't leaving without an answer. Jiraiya sighed. He knew this day would come sooner or later. Nothing got by Kakashi, except maybe this one thing. "I'm sure you're aware of the Aohi," Jiraiya began.

"Yeah. They're the pack of mercenaries hired to find out the true purpose of the Akatsuki and kill all members they meet. Also known as the expendable soldiers that'll do the dirty work for all the hidden villages. It's rather likely get they'll get killed for this cause without anyone giving a damn."

She had just returned from a mission only to be sent out again a couple of days later. But that was of little consequence to her. The less time she spent in Konoha, the less she was reminded. Unlike most times when she came back, she actually saw Naruto this time. She was nowhere near him and wasn't about to go speak to him. She was just watching him. With Sakura. Their lips met briefly but that was enough for Hinata.

She knew they had been together for a couple years now but she managed to avoid them most of the time. It was certainly the very first time she saw them kiss, though. She immediately sought Kiba out and, strangely enough, it was for his own sake. He cared about her very deeply and after being in a relationship for these long three years, it was natural that he wanted all of her by now. She was usually unresponsive or shy about such things, no matter how hardened everything else made her. But what was she holding out for now? She cared about Kiba. And since she knew her mission would take her away from home for a long period of time, why not give him that part of her?

Trying to be enthused about it seemed to make him immensely happy. The tired expression that usually made a home across his features drained away and that pleased Hinata a great deal. She never, ever wanted to hurt Kiba. She wanted more than anything in the world to make herself fall in love with him. With Kiba tugging her clothes away and raw passion pulsing through her veins, she certainly hadn't meant to whimper Naruto's name.

When he sat back with the stunned expression on his face, it was slowly replaced by recognition as the truth dawned upon him. She desperately wished for her mask then. The injured look on Kiba's face as he looked into her ugly eyes reminded her of how much she hated being looked at. The relationship came to an end but neither had the words to say it.

"Naruto-kun" said it for them.

Now she was far away from home with absolutely nothing left there to return to. Her family may have hated her, Naruto may have ignored her, but losing her best friend was her own fault. But she had more important things to worry about now. She was on a mission now and the mission was what mattered. Distractions equaled death. Hinata, after all, would forever run from the truth that she made herself such an elite ninja just so Naruto would notice her. It was the only time she ever wanted to be noticed.

One of her teammates seemed a little uneasy as they raced through the snow-covered forest. She then remembered a new person was added to her squad, the boy from her Academy days named Shikamaru. It had been a while since she last saw him, as well. She remembered him more prone to being laid back about everything, but he was pretty wound up tonight. Well, they would supposedly find their first set of targets in the nearest village and the best place to start looking for these people was the pub. Perhaps that atmosphere would help him relax a bit.

The first part of their task went off without a hitch. The targets were easily taken down behind the tavern nice and cleanly, leaving the squad presentable enough to walk right in for some drinks. Also known as scouting. Seeing an Anbu team without their masks on wasn't that much of a shock. The world had ninja. The world had Anbu. The Anbu would have a few drinks and that was that. No cause for alarm. It seemed now that the first step was taken care of, Shikamaru was comfortable with his place now. So everything was fine for now.

Hinata wasn't one for drinking. They would need at least one person completely on duty anyway just to make sure there were no complications. Anbu could drink. No one ever said they would always be left alone. Shikamaru seemed to enjoy brooding over his drink more than actually downing it, making it safe to say he would also be sober enough to stay alert with her. More or less. Scanning the place, nothing seemed too out of order. Most of the people seemed to be village natives with some traveling shinobi thrown into the mix. But no one was making trouble, or at least nothing that was out of the ordinary so far as pubs went.

Some drunken fool was arguing with another about an apparently fake hand at cards. Another was helping a friend forget some girl over a potent brew. Maybe that's what Hinata should be doing. Enough people did it when a relationship crumbled that it couldn't be completely ruled out as a remedy. If all it took to ease the pain over hurting Kiba and to help forget Naruto were liquor, then she would gladly bathe in it. She could count on Shikamaru to stay sober, most likely. Reaching for the bottle, her hand stopped dead upon sensing a horrible chakra. A horribly familiar one, at that.

She wouldn't need her Byakugan to show her where it was coming from in this place. Her eyes immediately were drawn to a darker, smokier portion of the room where a couple had secluded themselves to a corner. Hinata knew she was excellent at blending in and began to approach with extreme caution, her fingertips toying with the shuriken in her holster. At first, it was hard to see both figures at the booth. There was a woman, rather young but not particular in any way, straddling a seated figure's lap all while holding the smile of intoxication. It was probably just a dead drunk whore the obscured man picked up for the night. She possessed far too skinny of a frame to hold the kind of energy Hinata was picking up, anyway. Poor thing looked half-starved.

"Aww, c'mon Uchiha!" she whined, "I ain't doin' a damn thing with you if you're gonna get all splotchy."

Uchiha!?

"You're obnoxious when you're drunk," he muttered and reached for the bourbon on the table. Black tattoo-like markings were burning across his flesh and after savoring his shot, he grit his teeth and pushed the curse away. The girl was now pleased with the results and leaned in to twine her tongue with his.

Sasuke…That's Sasuke!

Uncertainty was gripping her, not knowing if she should approach him alone or if she should get the others. On the one hand, if he was alive all this time and never returned home, that made him a missing-nin and she would have to kill him. But being who he was, he was likely a great deal stronger than her and could kill her. But if she alerted the others, he may catch on and escape.

An assassin of some sort chose this time to launch an attack. Several kunai whizzing through the air sent the patrons scattering but the young woman with Sasuke easily caught them and casually tossed them aside without even turning her head. Hinata realized now she had underestimated her enemy. Now it was time for the Byakugan. Scanning the woman's body, she could find no special chakra. The girl didn't seem to be trained in a particular element. It was a safe bet that she likely practiced some sort of taijutsu more than anything else.

Reaching for her mask, the young woman now spotted her. More importantly, Sasuke spotted her. The recognition echoed through his eyes and something he whispered to the woman sent both racing towards the rear exit. Hinata didn't have time to alert her team. They were too busy with who they would later learn was an Akatsuki assassin. She was a worthy Anbu and would have to handle this one on her own.

She was able to follow their trail well enough through the snowy woods. It didn't seem like they were going out of their way to hide nor were they setting a trap of some kind, according to her eyes. She was torn between fighting with Sasuke with her gentle fist style, which he would likely mimic with his Sharingan or using the sword slung across her back. Somehow she felt there had to be something wrong with assassinating a hero that died three years ago. But death was death and she was an assassin so death was all she had to offer.

Her blade glided through the air and met unexpectedly with a similar one. She hadn't noticed the woman was even carrying such a weapon. How careless…

"That trick at the bar was cute," Yanagi mused, unable to tone down her smirk, "The sneak attack there yours, too?"

"Coincidental," Hinata answered briskly before pushing off. Both women stared across at the other, awaiting the next move. Hinata doubted Sasuke explained to this woman who she actually was.

"I've no business with you," Hinata announced, "I'm only interested in the missing-nin Sasuke Uchiha."

"Finally caught up with him, huh?" Yanagi stood down gave him a glance, "I guess this'd be your problem."

This was just unbelievable. How the hell did he manage to run into a Leaf Anbu all the way out here? And Hinata, no less! He could tell she had become immensely stronger since he last saw her. He really had no interest in fighting her, to be honest. He had no quarrels with Konoha. He had nothing with Konoha.

"There's no point in fight you," Sasuke announced, "It would do you well to just forget about this, Hinata."

He said her name. He remembered her name. Surely he remembered everything about home but he still chose to just walk away?

"Finding you alive means you have abandoned your duty as a Leaf ninja and chose the path of a missing-nin. I have no choice but to kill you." Even though she was the one saying those words, the taste of them burned her tongue and soured her stomach.

"If you fight me, you will die."

You're an idiot, just like the rest of them back there…

She vanished with the speed her training gave her. She was a great assassin, with blinding speed and great strength. She could defeat him. She could kill him. She could kill the man that was once a boy who would quietly stare out the window during class. As her sword skid over the snow, she pondered if he had been staring through the glass all those years ago and saw this very moment. His fist met with her stomach and she flopped across the ground before rolling to a stop and immediately rose to a crouching position. Attempting to blink away the black spots, she realized she wasn't hallucinating. His body was covered in the markings of the curse seal and now her sword was comfortably in his hand.

This would be nothing though. She was in the Anbu for a reason. She was a great fighter and would defeat her enemy. Everyone had already accepted his death back home. Killing him now would save everyone the trouble of revisiting those painful wounds again. She needed to kill him.

The chakra was pooling in her feet as she prepared to kick off and begin round two with him. Her foot barely took its first step before she was hoisted off the ground by the throat. Sharingan eyes watched her with cold calculation and she knew it was over. This was her death. "I'm sorry," he murmured before jamming the blade through her belly, "But I can't die here. Nor can I let you leave here alive."

Hinata's voice had always been soft but it could offer nothing when her mouth opened this time, save for a few crimson beads. Her toes made little rivets in the snow she could barely reach all while her life spilled from her speared form. Her body finally crumpled to the stained ground, after being slid off the blade with the help of a good shove by his foot to her chest. This was it. Her eyes that could see everything were growing bleary and it hurt to keep them open any longer. But if she was going to depart, she would have her answers on the way out.

"Why di-did you…betray the Leaf…?"

Betray? Hardly. He had reasons to leave there and everyone was aware of that all too well back in that place. He would kill the man that took so many Konoha citizens as well as keep himself out of there, for he was the dangerous one with this seal. It was better this way. Why the hell did Hinata have to find him?

"We all…believed in you…" It was getting harder to breath now but she could feel his Sharingan eyes observing her coolly. He suddenly seemed to remember the weapon in his hand and raised the tip above her throat. He'd obviously tired of her questions. Hinata waited for her hasty death that never came. She managed to force her eyes into focus and saw the woman gripping Sasuke's wrist, holding him back from delivering the final blow with only one hand.

"Are you really gonna kill this girl?" Yanagi was immensely grave. He could tell that much, even with the curse seal pulsing with agitation every second he let Hinata live.

"If she survives, she'll alert the Anbu and I'll have the whole fucking village hunting me down."

"So let them hunt." Yanagi was far from fazed by his angered stare, curse seal or not. "This girl's just doin' her job and she obviously can't fight no more. You kill her now and you become no better than Itachi."

The cold realization settled in and he stared hard at Hinata, deep in thought. Timid Hinata, who would stutter an apology if you bumped into her. The quiet girl from his class that was always too polite and kind for her own damn good. Why the hell she was mixed up with the Anbu, he wouldn't even begin to guess. He once said that he would sell his soul to the devil to defeat his brother. The curse seal owned his soul so what else did he have to lose? What would he lose by killing an innocent?

Life would be difficult if he didn't kill her. It was hard enough to survive and he didn't want to trouble Yanagi any more than she already was. He killed plenty of people up until now. All were associated with the Akatsuki; all people that had committed or were planning mass atrocities against countless citizens. Hinata was a loyal, dutiful shinobi fearing for her home and her people. It would be utterly meaningless for her to die, aside from furthering his own goals. Taking this life would put him on the road with Itachi and would lead him straight to hell. With a clenched jaw, he willed away the seal and let the blade drop into the snow.

Sasuke and Yanagi would disappear into the darkness, leaving Hinata upon her bed of ice shrouded in scarlet.

* * *

It was never meant for his ears. Kakashi wasn't sure he himself wanted to hear the news. But Hinata's description made it the undeniable truth. The hole in her stomach that had her lain out in a hospital bed only solidified the information even further. But absolutely none of that information was intended for Naruto to hear.

The whole room seemed to shake when Jiraiya's door slammed shut. The taut wire that was Naruto's temper was threatening to snap at any given moment but the only release the boy could find was slamming his palms against the desk to make sure he had the old man's attention.

"I have a demand."

Not a request. Not a favor he would like. A demand. Jiraiya had a feeling that, like his teacher, Naruto was not about to take no for an answer so he nodded to let the boy continue.

"Let me join the Hunter-nin."

To be continued…