Listening for Crows

The whole thing was Tsunade's fault. More or less.

Or, at least, that's what Hinata liked to tell herself. After all, if Tsunade hadn't come up with the idea of having an all kunoichi team from Konoha that would act as her eyes and ears, and specialize in what only kunoichi can do, then Hinata wouldn't be in this mess. It was much easier to blame someone else, someone with power, than to acknowledge the truth.

Because the truth was if Hinata had been more in control of her emotions, and acted less like a love-sick child, then she wouldn't be in the mess. True, it was easy to blame Tsunade. But blaming someone else didn't change anything; didn't fix the situation. So she could lie and wish and pretend the day away, but what it all boiled down to was this.

The whole thing, really and truly, was Hinata's fault.

XXX

Tsunade's idea had been to construct a three part, all female team that would work under and answer solely to her. A good idea, all things considered, since Konoha's hands were more than full, what with dealing with Sasuke and Orochimau, the Akatsuki and trying to find allies for the up-coming war. And it only made sense that she would choose the three best kunoichi to make up the team. After all, for a secret, elite threesome that would serve as the Hokage's eyes and ears, nothing but the best would work.

So naturally Tsunade would choose Sakura, with her superhuman strength and her vast knowledge of the medical realm. And Ino too was a good choice, with her clan's secret jutsu and her sharp, keen eyes.

But for the life of her, Hinata could not fathom why she had been chosen for the team. True, she had improved greatly since her failure against Neji in the Chuunin exams, and her youngest sister Hanabi was no longer her superior, but Hinata still did not feel she was good enough to be placed on Tsunade's cherry-picked specials team.

The Hokage had mentioned things along the lines of Hinata's skill with throwing needles (she had been taking lessons from Tenten. There was just something Hinata liked about the overly large sewing tools. If you knew how to use them, then you could kill a man with just one senbon) and her precise use of the Byakugan (everything Hinata knew she knew from
Neji and Hanabi's combined efforts to teach her) when she, that is to say Tsunade, had told the young Hyuuga that she was being placed on a special team.

At first, Hinata hadn't believed the Hokage. She hadn't dared to. If anyone deserved to be on a team that would operateoutside of the normal Konoha team rules, it was Neji. But Neji was a boy, and unsuited for some of the things Hinata and her fellows teammates would have to do. When Tsunade had first told Hinata that she had been picked for something special, the Hyuuga female laughed. She thought it was all a joke.

When it became apparent that Tsunade was not joking, Hinata began to cry. Tears of joy; she was so proud to have been chosen, even if she didn't feel she deserved it. Then she had said yes, without pausing to think or consider. This was what she wanted. To be acknowledged as someone special. Someone who had worth.

Hinata wasn't the scared, shy girl she had been three years ago.

At first, the missions were easy enough. Seducing men, or scaring them, whichever worked best to get the information Tsunade desired. There was some fighting, but mostly just acting like a whore. An armed whore, but no one had to know that.

Hinata felt awkward baring her chest and lifting her skirt for a man she didn't know. Ino had no problem with acting the part; Hinata thought that was because the blond had so much confidence in who she was. Ino was so confident in herself, she had no room to be embarrassed. Sakura, although less willing than Ino, could still put up with sliding into a man's bed on Tsunade's orders.

Because Hinata couldn't do that, she was put on what the girls called "shadow duty", which basically meant she waited in the shadows to see if the men needed a kunai to the gut. Everyone agreed she was best suited to this role; you didn't see or hear Hinata's needles until the blood was rolling down your arm.

So life went on. They all became close friends, but, of course, in a situation like this, they had to. Sakura, Ino, Hinata. They weren't just working together because they were a team. Now they were working together because of trust.

Tsunade only needed them every once in a while, so little changed for Hinata. She was still a part of team Kurenia, and she was still a Hyuuga. Hanabi was still her little sister, and Neji was still her cousin. She was still in love with Naruto. To the unobservant, Hinata's life hadn't changed at all.

But that wasn't true. It was easy to see the little changes, if you knew where to look. Hinata was more confident; she looked you in the eye when she spoke, and her stutter was all but gone. She started taking more care of her hair; not to the point of where she was vain about it, but now, at least, Hinata acknowledged her hair as a womanly attribute. And she stopped hiding in her baggy clothes; for the first time in her life, Hinata walked down the streets of Konoha in a tight-fitting shirt, without feeling as though she had to hide in a body-swallowing sweatshirt.

Everything was good. Everything was fine. Until team Kunoichi (as they liked to call themselves) were given the mission to use Uchiha Itachi as a source of information on the Akatsuki.

And then everything changed.

XXX

"Sit." Tsunade said, pointing to the three chairs that sat in front of her desk, rubbing her temples with one hand. She had a headache, that, for once, was not from drinking too much sake the night before. She just had a headache for running Konoha.

Hinata, Sakura and Ino sat, looking at each other out of the corner of their eyes. Rarely did Tsunade actually summon them; usually when team Kunoichi was given an assignment, it was through Shizune, or a piece of paper. If they were seeing the Hokage in person, something must be changing.

"I'm sure you all have heard of Uchiha Itachi." Tsunade began bluntly. "He murdered the entire Uchiha clan, minus Sasuke, is a member of Akatsuki, and has tried to capture Naruto several times. As a former ANBU Captain, he also knows many things about Konoha that an enemy of our village should not know. Because of all this, he poses as a serious threat to us. We have tried, many times, to get rid of him. However, as I'm sure you three know, Uchiha Itachi is very difficult to dispose of, for more than one reason." Tsunade looked down at the desk, and sighed. Her headache was getting worse.

"But, Tsunade-sensei," Ino began, looking at Hinata and Sakura for support. She was the unofficial leader of the team, and the two other kunoichi were happy to let her handle that responsibility. "Why are you telling us this? What do you want us to do?" Ino, it seemed, shared Tsunade's blunt nature. "Itachi is a strong shinobi than all three of us, not to mention his partner Kisame, who could probably kill team Kunoichi with both hands tied behind his back. What, exactly, do you think three kunoichi can do that countless higher-level shinobi already haven't?" Ino's word felt heavy in the still air.

There was a long pause, and Sakura shifted uncomfortably in her seat. It was no secret that she despised Uchiha Itachi for having destroyed the Uchiha clan, and setting Sasuke on the path that ended ultimately in darkness. Hinata knew that revenge has longed burned in her heart. Surely the Hokage must know this as well. Why, then, would she sent them on such a mission. As Ino said, none of them were strong enough for this.

"I hear that the Uchiha's partner has a weakness for pretty women." Tsunade said finally, and all three girls blinked in surprise. That was not what they had been expecting to hear. "She's afraid to say Itachi's name." Hinata realized. "We all are."

Tsunade looked down at her hands, then up at the three girls, then back down at her hands. "Use what I am telling you to your advantage. I trust you girls, and believe that you can do this." Tsunade's voice trembled, but she cleared her throat. "I know what I'm asking you to do is rather unusual, but you are female warriors, and this is not the first, nor will it be the last seduction mission you are assigned."

Seduction mission. That made this sound so final. Before, acting as a prostitute had seemed like a game, something silly and easy that they could laugh about later. It was different when they were going to have to be acting as prostitutes for two S-rank missing-nin.

"But Tsunade-sensei-" Sakura began.

Tsunade cut her off. "No. There are no buts. You knew what you were getting into when you agreed to be a part of this team. I know what I'm asking you to do is going to be hard, and that you may not be entirely comfortable with this, but this is your duty to Konoha. Now, can you do this?"

Within the folds of her sleeve, Hinata fingered one of her senbons, feeling the razor-sharp edges gently brush her fingers. Could she do this? Probably. Did she want to do this? No. But the Hokage was right. This was her duty to Konoha. "Hai Tsunade-sama. If this is what you need me to do, then I can do that." Hinata thanked whatever Gods there were that her voice had been steady, and her stutter had not chosen that moment to return.

Beside her, Ino and Sakura seemed to be coming to similar conclusions. Sakura, of course, would do this for Sasuke. If she could break his brother when he could not, maybe then Sasuke would view her as an equal. Maybe she could help him.

Ino would do this because she had to; like Hinata, Ino knew this was her duty. Of course, Ino was also going to do this because she was afraid for Sakura and Hinata. If she disagreed, Hinata and Sakura would still be sent. But they would be without her, their leader, the sluttiest of them. She had to go, if for no other reason than to keep her teammates safe.

"Yes Tsunade-sensei." The blond and the pinkette spoke together, and Hinata felt oddly alone.

Tsunade didn't smile. If anything, she looked more tired than she had before they agreed. "You will leave tonight. Waste no time. Our spies have reported that the Uchiha and his partner have been seem in Hishobi. Get there no later than tomorrow morning. Understood?"

"Understood Tsunade-sensei!" All three girls spoke together. They were a team, after all.

XXX

They traveled in silence, and in darkness. In the forest, the only light came from the waxing moon and few visible stars. The darkness didn't bother them; they were ninja. The dark was their friend. No, it was silence that bothered them. More than anything, Hinata wanted to speak with her two teammates. Did they feel the same way she did. Were they nervous? Scared? Excited? Hinata couldn't say for sure, but whenever she thought of what was going to happen once they found the the Uchiha and the shark-man, her stomach tighten uncomfortably.

But no one spoke. None of them were willing to break the silence. And so they continued on towards their goal, mouths dry and stomach clenched.

XXX

Hinata's first impression of Hishobi was that it was small. In the pre-dawn lighting, it was hard to see, but she was guessing there were no more than five hundred permanent villagers. Not exactly where she would have expected two S-rank missing-nin to spend the day (or week), but then again, the Uchiha and his partner would want to keep a low profile. The two men were some of the most wanted criminals in the world after all.

Team Kunoichi had landed just outside of Hishobi, and changed from their battle outfits to something less... noticeable. After all, Sakura black and pink outfit might be a tip off to who she is (that is what she wore when she killed Sasori), and Ino's low-cut, high-rising shirt would definitely raise some eyebrows. Hinata changed to blend in. She was on shadow duty again, and would therefore need to be as inconspicuous as possible.

It wasn't hard to find the brothel, and it wasn't hard for Hinata to show the owner a fist full of senbons, asking for a room to use as their own for a night or two while they posed as prostitutes. No, that wasn't the hard part at all. The hard part was waiting.

The three girls whittled the day away in their room, Sakura by re-reading one of those damned medic books that she always took with her (Hinata suspected that she sometimes did so to make Ino jealous), Ino spend the day alternating between arranging flowers that Hinata brought her, and by brushing her hair (or applying make-up, or something alone those lines) and Hinata passed the day by helping the two other girls. They had the hardest job after all. But Sakura and Ino didn't always need the Hyuuga, so thankfully, she did have some time to herself.

When Hinata wasn't buying food from one of the vendors in the street, or going to gather armfuls of flowers, she was practicing her aim. "You could never practice enough." That was one of Neji's favorite sayings.

And slowly, painfully, the day passed. The brothel began to wake up, but much to Hinata's surprise, none of the other woman bothered Sakura or Ino. "Maybe this sort of thing happens all the time, and they are used to kunoichi posing at whores." She thought, and then shuddered. That thought was too horrible to dwell on.

"We should probably head downstairs." Sakura said, face pale, and Ino nodded, looking determined. Hinata hated this. They were leaving too much to chance. IF the two men were even still in town. IF for whatever reason the shark-man really did want to go to the brothel. IF his partner did come along, instead of going off on his own. If, if, if.

The girls have their orders though. And they are going to find the Uchiha and the shark-man if it kills them. But hopefully it won't.

Ino and Sakura send themselves one last fleeting glance in the mirror before heading downstairs. Hinata slips out the window, hundreds of needles hidden within the long sleeves of her shirt.

She tours the city from atop the roofs, pearly white eyes scanning the ground for a flash of blue, or pale, pale skin. No such luck. Hinata hopes that Ino and Sakura are having more luck. Then she thinks about what that means. And shudders.

But maybe the Gods are with team Kunoichi tonight, because just as she is about to give up hope, Hinata sees two men walking down the dirty street towards the whore house; one man is tall, tall, tall, with blue skin and an evil smirk, the other is pale, pale, pale with black hair and a blank expression. Hinata's heart misses a beat, and then begins to thud painfully against her ribcage.

Landing lightly in the yard of one of the run-down houses, Hinata darts closer to the two men, holding her breath. Even without her Byakugan, she can tell that both men possess an amazing amount of chakara. If push comes to shove, and the girls lose the element of surprise, then there is no hope. Team Kunoichi couldn't possibly hope to defeat just one of them, never mind both.

"-Need to lighten up a little Itachi." A low, cruel sounding growl. She knows that belongs to the shark-man, even though she can't see.

The Uchiha's response (if he had one) was lost in the mock-happy shrieks of the girls standing outside the brothel. Hinata can pick out Ino's exceptionally high shriek, and can just picture the blond beauty fluttering all over the shark-man. Ino is smart; she'll let Sakura handle the Uchiha.

Hinata can't watch, all she does is look up at the night sky, and cross her fingers. "Please, please, please choose them. Please, please, please." Hinata feels sick to her stomach for wishing such a thing, even though she knows that if Ino or Sakura was in her place, they would be wishing the same thing. That is the plan, after all.

The night wind runs fingers through her sleek, black hair, and Hinata shivers. And waits. Curls her fingers around a needle. Bits her lip. Resists the temptation to stick her head around the wall, and see if her teammates have managed to seduce the killers.

Waiting. And then she watches as pale pink rose petals drift past her hiding place. Ino's signal. Everything is working perfectly. Hinata's lets out a breath she didn't know she was holding. Against all odds, the men have chosen her friends. Hinata takes another deep breath, and then lets it out before kneeling down into a crouch, and jumping up to land lightly on the roof of some villager's house. The plan is to wait for a couple minutes. Element of surprise.

Thankfully, no one is looking up towards the sky, but if they were, Hinata might find herself in an awkward situation. Balanced perfectly on the roof, with her long hair and baggy sleeves blowing in the wind, senbon tips just visible through her clenched fingers. But no one looks up. So she is safe.

She runs through the plan again. Jump through the window, catch the Akatsuki members off balance, pin them to the wall with her needles, disarm them, block their chakara, blind the Uchiha, and begin questioning. It's the perfect plan. Really, nothing could go wrong.

Except Hinata knows something will. Still, she can't run and leave Ino and Sakura alone. So taking one last deep breath of the cool night air, she heads towards the open windows of the brothel, looking for the one with the arrangement of roses and lilies.

Standing directly underneath Ino and Sakura room, Hinata can hear the snippets of conversation. Something is wrong. The voices of her teammates are missing. A hand of ice curls around Hinata's heart and squeezes. She's scared. As Hinata curls one hand around the ledge of the windowstill, ready to hoist herself up, she hears a voice that makes her skin crawl. It's not rough and growling like the shark-man's was. This new voice is cold and smooth, completely without emotions.

Instantly, Hinata knows that voice belongs to Uchiha Itachi.

"-There more of you? Is there a third girl coming?"

Ino's voice comes next, and silently, Hinata breaths a sigh of relief, though her relief is short-lived. "No, I told you! It's just the two of us! Why would there be someone else?"

What she does next is stupid, Hinata knows that. But the thought that her teammates could be in danger makes all rational thinking impossible. Needles ready, she pulls herself up onto the window ledge, letting a collection of senbons fly. In the dim lighting, she smiles slightly as the needles hit the mark, and one of the shark-man's arms is pinned to the table. He lets loose a string curse, and looks her way. But Hinata has already moved; crouched on the ground, she knows she only has a second before she needs to make her next move.

Sakura and Ino are sitting awkwardly on the bed, wrists bound together. Their eyes are wide with fear. Kisame, the shark-man, is still trying to tug his arm free of Hinata's trap. But where is the second man? Where is the Uchiha?

"Hinata!" Sakura yells, and automatically, Hinata ducks, rolling to the side to look up at her enemy.

Big mistake.

Her first impression of Uchiha Itachi is a handsome face made cruel by a life of fighting, pale skin and dark hair. Then those dull black eyes flash blood red. Damn. His Sharingan.

Then Hinata's world goes red and black, and all she can hear is the cawing of crows.