AN - Another chapter of Bleeding! Thank you so much to HMAKhlys, RandiS, Splaaash-attack, cathyscloud9, 1awesomestar, sara, Marihimesama, Hawaii unnie, worcestershireunited, Shikara Gizzel, xXStilesKuchikiXx, flornoir, onlyluna, Kally and the guest that reviewed ❤️❤️ I hopefully clarified what the last paragraph in the last chapter meant this chapter, if not just let me know :)

Bleeding - Chapter Thirty Two

Hanabi's face pursed in concentration. Her eyes stayed on her feet as she ignored her teammates. Inuzuka Kasai rambled about the newest litter of pups while Aburame Rekishi nodded along at each brief moment of pause. The team had just been dismissed from their morning training.

Ambling through the narrow pathways that connected the various training grounds, they prattled about how they would spend the rest of their day.

"Hanabi-chan," Kasai blurted, leaping forward and throwing an arm around the tense heiress's shoulders. "Do you wanna come to the Inuzuka grounds and see the new puppies?"

"Hyūga don't get along with the Inuzuka," Hanabi mumbled, keeping her gaze on the ground.

"Huh?" Kasai's brows furrowed, "No, Okaasan said everyone's welcome."

Hanabi scoffed, twisting away from her teammate. "Yeah, I'm alright. I have to go home."

"Wait," Rekishi stopped, grabbing Hanabi and Kasai by the scruffs of their coats to force them to a halt.

Hanabi scowled, "What are you-?"

"Shh," Rekishi hushed as he sneaked off the well worn path. He peered over the naked shrubbery to catch a glance at the solo occupant of Training Ground Three.

"Woah," Kasai gasped, her green eyes going wide.

Rekishi's own eyes had widened behind his black rounded glasses. 'This is the level of a Jōnin?' His insects buzzed within him at the strong chakra permeating through the air. 'Is Yūgao-sensei this strong?'

Hanabi peered back at her lurking teammates. Rolling her eyes, she strode up behind them. The high pitched cry of chirping birds pierced her ears. Her pearl coloured irises reflected blue sparks of lightening.

The trio cringed as the lightening exploded outwards, shooting the silver haired Jōnin through the air. They jumped out of their hiding place, running towards him as his back rammed into a surrounding tree.

'Fuck,' Kakashi cursed to himself, glaring at the charred glove and skin of his right hand. The glare lifted to the Genin narrowing in on him, halting them mid-stride. His glare emptied as it drew to Hanabi.

Hanabi met his mismatched eyes, the rumours that had been circulating around the village running through her mind.

"Hatake-san, are you alright?" Rekishi voiced, his feet rooted in place.

Kakashi switched his attention to the stoic male, "Electrified."

Kasai's expression twisted in panic, her words hurrying out, "Should we go get a doctor?"

Kakashi sighed, forcing himself to a stand, "All good." He held his hands up in front of him, "See, just a few third degree burns." At the look of utter terror on the Inuzuka's face he added, "Kidding." They were only second degree.

"Is it true?" Hanabi intruded, the question slipping past her lips in a hurry.

Kakashi glanced at the heiress from the side of his eyes, "Yep. No third degree burns here."

Hanabi's lips pressed together, "I meant," she hesitated, "with what everyone's saying."

"Hanabi," Kasai spoke softly, inching towards her.

Hanabi persisted, refusing to hesitate when it came to learning about the truth of her older sister.

Kakashi looked on with sympathy. A large piece of himself wished he could Shunshin out of the area or dance around her questions with half truths. But he couldn't do that when it came to someone whom Hinata loved above everyone else. He plopped back down to rest against the base of the tree; he'd need to get his hand healed before he could continue his training anyways.

He pulled down his hitai-ate to cover his Sharingan, "What have you heard?"

Hanabi swallowed, her heart picking up in excitement at the prospect of someone finally telling her the truth regarding her sister. Everyone else brushed her off. Sprouting lies or saying they didn't know and couldn't say. Her hands began to shake as that excitement morphed into anxiety.

Kasai put a reassuring hand on Hanabi's shoulder, an action that caught Kakashi's eye.

Hanabi breathed a calming breath, "Was oneechan really… Was she really still in ANBU?"

Kakashi tipped his head down in a half nod.

"She was the Rabbit?" Hanabi clarified, stepping forward.

Kakashi tilted his head in admission, "She's gone by a few names in ANBU."

Kasai and Rekishi exchanged an awed glance.

Hanabi swallowed, taking another step towards the lounging Jōnin. Her face scrunched as her gaze pulled to the ground, "But everything they say about the Rabbit. The rumours, they're…"

"Remember your sister how you knew her to be," Kakashi spoke. "That's who she was."

Hanabi's eyes reddened. She nodded sharply, swallowing the growing lump in her throat. "She was the best," she rubbed the back of her hand across her teary eyes with a sniffle.

Kakashi's lips wobbled upwards, "She was."

Rekishi dipped his head deeper into the high neck of his trench coat, clearing his suddenly dry throat.

Hanabi forced herself past her overwhelming emotions. A list of questions flittered through her mind. "Were you and her… I overheard a few of my clan members…They were just speculating but…I just-"

"I loved your sister very much," Kakashi admitted, interrupting Hanabi's nervous and achingly familiar rambling. He bent and stretched his burnt fingers, grounding himself to the moment through the pain. He couldn't confirm he was the Wolf, but he could share that much.

Hanabi's teeth dug into her bottom lip as she nodded, "Okay." Her chest rose and fell with her breath, "Hinata-nee had been," she swallowed, "happier than I'd seen her in a long time. She was my oneechan again." She steeled her nerves, lifting her chin to meet his tired stare, "If that was because of you… Thank you."

Kakashi's eye closed for a moment, his fingers pressing into the ground to refrain from fisting his hands. He stood, "Well, if that's all."

"Wait," Hanabi ran forward, blocking Kakashi's path. She glanced at her teammates before her stare refocused, "No one will tell me. How did she…?"

Kakashi tensed, staring down at the determined fourteen year old.

Hanabi's voice lowered with her eyes, "I don't understand why. Everything happened so fast. They buried an empty casket. How can they just—What if she's still…"

Kakashi plopped his uninjured hand on the top of Hanabi's head, "I'm sorry, Hanabi." He was sure the girl had to be tired of hearing those words by now, but no other words of comfort came to his mind.

"No, it doesn't feel right," Hanabi pushed, her eyes watering. She shook her head, "This doesn't feel right. She could still be…"

"Sasuke saw her final moments. He showed them to me," Kakashi explained with a hallow voice. His eye hazed over, speaking more to himself than to the young girl, "She, she wouldn't have survived that."

He snapped into the present, blurring the image in his mind. "They took her body. She had deactivated the Caged Bird Seal. They probably wanted her Byakugan."

Hanabi's lips pressed together as she fought back the sob forming in her throat as he ripped away that last sliver of hope.

"I'm sorry," Kakashi tone softened in understanding.

"No," Hanabi hit his hand off of her head, "This doesn't feel right. You can't just-" She began inching backwards.

"Hanabi," Kakashi reached out. His arm fell to his side as Hanabi bolted out of the training grounds. He sighed, wondering if he had just made things worse than they needed to be for the young girl.

Hanabi's hands fisted as she ran, hurrying to put as much distance between herself and Kakashi's words. She pressed her lips together as she blinked her eyes rapidly, trying to remove the mist clouding her sight. With a sniffle, her hand darted up to wipe her running nose that had tinted pink in the cold December air.

The tears that she had fought off returned to wet her lashes and streak her cheeks. She wanted to see her oneechan. Talk to her. Ask her why she lied. Yell at her for doing this. For leaving her alone again.

Hanabi scowled as she pulled in a sharp breath with a shaking chest. 'You're just like them. Lying to me. Leaving me.' She ground her teeth together as she wiped her nose again. 'I should've known. I'm so stupid. So fucking stupid.'

Increasing her speed, she kept her head down as she rushed through the gates of the Hyūga Estate. She felt her clan members' eyes on her. Throwing their pity as if it would change anything. She slammed the sliding shoji door behind her as she entered the main house. Her feet stomped along the polished wood as she marched through the hallway towards her bedroom.

"Hanabi," her grandmother's voice curled with distaste, eyeing her with a highly held nose.

Hanabi's Byakugan activated without her command as she turned her head to face the elder with bared teeth. "What?!" she snapped.

The other clan members passing through the hall paused in reserved surprise.

The Hyūga elder's white eyes narrowed, "This behaviour is unbecoming of a lady let alone an heiress."

The veins of chakra connecting Hanabi's Byakugan pulsed as she pushed more chakra to her eyes. "This is all your fault," she bit, stepping towards her grandmother. "All of you," her glare shifted between the stagnant Main House members. "You all abandoned her. Did nothing as she was kicked out of the clan when she was nothing but kind to all of you. Helping your worthless asses in anyway that she could to try and prove herself."

A few members looked away with shame at the honest words. The others continued to watch on with rigid backs, unsure how this outburst would play out.

"Watch your tongue, girl," her grandmother warned. "You are not above punishment."

"Then punish me!" Hanabi screamed as more tears fell from her eyes. She walked forward as her chakra flowed through her system. "You did this," her voice lowered, "if she were a Hyūga, if she were the heiress, she would still be here."

Her grandmother didn't rise to the threat of her prowling granddaughter despite the growing unease in her stomach. Things had been falling apart lately. She strained to hold tight everything she and her husband had worked so hard for. "Hinata was unfit for the position. She had her opportunity to show her strength and failed."

Hanabi stiffened. "Do not say her name," she growled.

Her anger faltered as the day that wrote her elder sister's fate within the clan flashed through her mind.

A spar between the sisters had been set up for once Hanabi turned seven. With Hanabi's proficiency in the Hyūga techniques she had neared her sisters level of skill despite their age difference.

Hanabi remembered the anger she felt towards her sister then. She could feel Hinata's hesitation with each strike. Refusing to hit her and fight for her rightful place as heiress. In that hesitation Hanabi made a finishing blow, earning her the title of heiress—not yet on paper, but in the eyes of everyone in the clan.

"She threw that spar and all of us knew it," Hanabi reminded.

"The Hyūga would crumble under a leader with so little resolve. Showing hesitation towards an enemy is a weakness no shinobi can have." Her grandmother's lips pressed into a flat line, "You stand there as if you have not benefited every day from our decision. Be grateful and remember your place."

"You made a mistake," Hanabi's icy voice prickled the skin of everyone in the vicinity. "My oneechan would've been nothing but kind to you no matter what you said, no matter what you did to her. She is the one that would've been grateful. Me? Once I become clan head, I'm going to show you your place."

The elder's hand rose. Its path towards the heiress's cheek stopped as fingers dug into her crinkled wrist. She eyed Hiashi, "Your daughter's disrespect in unacceptable. I demand she be punished."

Hiashi's empty eyes bore holes through his mother, "Leave." He dropped her hand.

"Hiashi-"

"Leave," Hiashi's voice broke from its usual indifference. "All of you," he ordered the clansmen, not sparing them a glance.

Murmurs of acceptance filled the hall before the group filtered out.

The female elder stood in place with narrowed eyes. "We will discuss this later," she snipped before continuing along to where she had been heading.

The father and daughter stood in silence.

Hanabi cast her eyes to the ground. Her wind tangled hair covered her face as her shoulder's slumped. She had barely seen her father since the news of her elder sister broke throughout the village. He'd kept himself busy, locked in his office. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

Her eyes widened as her father fell to his knees in front of her.

He pressed his forehead into her stomach, wrapping his hands around her wrists, "I'm the one who should apologize. This is not on the elders or the other clansmen, this is on me. I should have protected both of you. I'm so sorry, Hanabi."

Hanabi's Byakugan slid off, the anger scrunching her face wavering as fresh tears filled her eyes. She futilely wiped them away as more took their place. "You made her leave," she accused with a wet voice.

Hiashi swallowed the growing lump in his throat as the pressure behind his eyes continued to grow. "I'm sorry."

"I never got to see her. She was gone for months at a time and I never got to see her and now she's gone and I'll never get to see her," Hanabi's voice cracked as her tears began to fall freely. Her teeth bit into her lower lip, trying to prevent another wrenching sob.

Hiashi stood, pulling Hanabi into his chest. He wrapped his stiff arms around her in a motion that felt foreign after all these years.

Hanabi flung her arms around her father as she buried her face into his kimono, staining the expensive material with her tears. Her chest shook and nose sniffled with each sharp inhale.

Hiashi placed a calloused hand on the back of her head, holding her to his chest. His eyes closed, wondering how he had allowed his family to get to this moment.

Hinata's closed eyelids squeezed tighter, her face scrunching at her aching body and pounding head. A groan twisted to a hiss as she moved her right arm only to have a stab of pain shoot across her wrist. She turned her head, relishing in the cold as her burning cheek pressed into the floor.

Her crusted eyes opened to blurry surroundings. Blobs of grey sharpened. Her tired gaze drew over crumbled rocks before lowering to her swollen wrist. The pale skin splotched with purple and yellow bruises.

She shifted her attention around the hall, 'I'm alone.'

Trying to push herself upwards, her uninjured arm give out. Her chest quivered as she sighed a frustrated breath that tickled her throat. She leaned to the side as a cough retched through her dry throat.

As her breathing steadied, closed her eyes and attempted to calm her churning stomach, 'I used too much charka again.'

Her eyes opened as the tips of her fingers brushed across a jagged edge of the crumbled. 'Someone will see it,' she reassured herself, holding onto that sliver of hope with everything she could.

Using the remaining amounts of her chakra, she had used one of her teleportation jutsu to transport a piece of the base to within her barrier in Konoha when she had broken through the floor. She assumed Kakashi was looking for her, but someone should be waiting to hear word from her. Whatever type of rock this base was made out of, her Byakugan couldn't see through it. It could help to narrow down wherever she was being held. At the very least it would let them know she was still okay; she didn't know how long the Akatsuki had kept her unconscious.

"Why are you just laying here, un?"

Hinata's breath caught in her throat, her heart skipping a beat. Her burning eyes glared at the blond crouching over her as she cursed herself for not noticing his presence sooner.

Deidara let out a low whistle as his blue eyes drew her up and down from behind his long side-bang, "Madara-sama's a real dick. I think it's in their blood, those Uchiha bastards."

Hinata continued to stare up at the Akatsuki member with a blank expression. Her heart pounded in her ears, awaiting the motive of the S-rank rogue that had decided to grace her with their presence.

"So why are you still laying here?"

Hinata blinked, 'Is he serious?' At his earnest gawk she realized, 'He is serious.' Her eyes closed in an attempt to centre herself.

"Shit are you dying?" Deidara's voice filled with sudden panic.

Her eyes snapped open, "I'm not dead," her words scratched against her raw throat.

"I know but are you-"

"I'm not dying," she clarified. This short conversation grated against her ears, pulling at her churning stomach

Deidara released a breath of relief, "That's good, un. I'm supposed to take you to your room. Can't have you dying on my watch. I don't wanna have to deal with a pissed off Uchiha."

As his hands moved forward, Hinata cringed away, "I will cut off whatever part of you touches me."

Deidara laughed, his hands sliding underneath the bend of her legs and across her back.

Hinata clenched her jaw, cradling her broken wrist into her chest. Through the hammering in her head she tried to memorize the path they took in the intricate network of identical hallways.

"Is that your go to threat? You said that to that Hyūga bastard too," Deidara racked his brain, "Hiraku was his name, right? We had a real good laugh about that, un," he sniggered. "Knew you'd fit in great."

Hinata let the information settle into her mind behind chilled eyes, 'How did they find out what was said in that meeting?'

"I'm glad I'm not gonna be the youngest of the group anymore. Those assholes never failed to bring it up," Deidara continued to fill the empty space with his rambling.

"I'm not joining."

He snorted, the sharp breath flinging up a loose piece of his bang, "That's what I said."

Hinata pressed her lips together.

"All I wanted to do is work on my art in peace and then Itachi-teme had to come along and stick his perfectly shaped nose into my business."

Hinata's brows pulled down a fraction, '…perfectly shaped?'

"You gotta show me how to do that jutsu, un," Deidara remembered, his eyes alighting at the prospect as he switched the subject once more. "That one that almost burnt Konan to crisp. That was so beautiful. What a way to go," he sighed. "She would've been lucky. I could tell right then you were someone who could appreciate my art."

Hinata's brows lowered further. "Aren't you comrades?" She couldn't help but ask.

"Huh?" Deidara glanced down at Hinata. "What's that got to do with anything?"

"Never mind," Hinata murmured, holding this conversation wasn't worth the increased throbbing in her head. She knew what she was dealing with when it came to the long-standing members of the Akatsuki: psychopaths that were each a little too passionate about their specific interests. Interests that were unfortunately not very wholesome.

"So are you going to teach it to me?" Deidara tried again. At Hinata's glare he added, "Don't decided right now, un. Decide once you meet the other guys. I promise you I'll be your favourite."

Hinata took a deep breath,"I will like you more if you please stop talking."

"Huh?"

"My head-"

"Oh! Damn, sorry. I forgot about that, un," he picked up his pace to hurry her to her room. "Real dick move on our part. Why don't you heal yourself?"

Hinata's cold eyes stared up at him.

Deidara's expression screwed up in confusion as he thought. He began nodding his head as realization dawned on him, "Right. No chakra. Alright, I'll shut up now."

Despite every inch of her body wanting her to slip into the peaceful realm of unconsciousness, she kept her dry eyes alert. Limp in the arms of an S-rank rogue was a situation she never predicted herself to be in. Danzo must have been rolling in his grave. At this point she wouldn't be surprised if he rose from the dead to dig one of these rocks into her neck himself.

With a blank expression her thoughts darkened, 'How could I allow this to happen? Become a pawn to the Akatsuki again.' She swallowed, allowing her eyes to close for a mere moment. She couldn't see a way out of this. With the Caged Bird Seal reactivated she wouldn't last a minute in a fight against any of them.

Kabuto had mentioned he made changes to the original design. That fact alone killed her hope of being able to remove it. Her design to negate the original seal that the Hyūga had branded her with when she was thirteen took years to develop and Jiraiya—another expert in Fūinjutsu—to perform on her. Removing seals that connected to the life-force of the bearer was rare. It took incredible precision and accuracy; understanding the subtly of every nuance of the jutsu. A large part of her was surprised whatever change Kabuto made hadn't kill her. Though her body did currently feel as if she had died and then been yanked back into the world of the living.

'Perhaps I was too hasty killing Kabuto,' she considered. She would've enjoyed prying out the information she needed from his over inflated head.

Hinata yanked herself away from those twisted feelings, forcing them to the back of her mind. With a wobbling breath she refocused. Staring up at the proud chin of the twenty-four year old rogue, pieces of a blurry idea faded in and out. Her eyes returned straight.

'Focus, Hinata,' she chastised herself. She tried to convince herself that she had been in worse states but none came to mind. A dedicated duck could probably out fight her in the moment. A child who had yet to grasp the concept of object permanence could probably best her in a game of shogi.

"We're here," Deidara beamed, his enthusiasm crawling under Hinata's skin.

Hinata tensed as he jostled her body to push the door open with his sandalled foot.

A flat tatami bed pressed into the far corner of the room. A thin blanket and beaten pillow laid on top, the material stained with watermarks. A small black dresser with two drawers sat against the far wall. Another door connected to the tiny room. With the slight crack she could see a yellowed porcelain sink, leading her to believe it was a washroom.

"On your first mission you should probably get some stuff for your room. This used to be Kakazu's. Probably don't want to be using his pillow for too long," Deidara's mouth curled in a disgusted grimace.

Hinata wasn't too far off from joining him with that expression when he lowered her down onto the bed that used to be owned by a one hundred year old walking corpse.

"I'll go get Kabuto for you," Deidara said as he straightened. "He can heal you, un."

Hinata's mouth parted but she quickly shut. She watched the rogue leave and close the door behind him. Allowed her first moment of peace, she closed her eyes, letting the tension in her body melt into the mattress. Pressure built behind her eyes as she released a shaky breath.

Her eyes snapped open as she ground her teeth together in frustration, blinking quickly to clear the mist. 'ANBU don't cry,' she chastised herself with quickening breaths. Her glower broke, her world crumbling around her as she caught sight of the ring that sat heavy on her middle finger.

She didn't know what to do. Perhaps she really should have used what remained of her chakra to stop her heart instead of selfishly trying to help herself. She failed. For someone of her rank to allow themselves to sit in the hands of Konoha's enemies, it was a disgrace. Even Danzo had a contingency plan for these sorts of situations: a fūinjutsu tattooed across his chest to take his life and those around him.

She didn't know what to do.

She felt as if she was that same little twelve year old girl trapped under the Hyūga's fat thumb. Though this time, her main threat wasn't Hiraku, someone she learned how to out play by the time she turned fourteen, but a man who held decades of experience over her. A man who had stood toe to toe with the Shodai Hokage—a legend throughout the shinobi world.

The history books taught in their Academy buried the infamous Uchiha Madara, but she knew the truth.

Being the current Hokage's student allowed her access to certain restricted texts written by the Shodai and Nidaime themselves that introduced the true steps in the creation of Konoha. But it was the scrolls in Danzo's possession that flooded her mind with Konoha's darker secrets.

'What should I do?' Hinata stared at her new ring, lifting and lowering her finger. The silver reflected the scarce light in the room. What could she do? She laid there, Caged Bird Seal active, chakra drained, helpless to whatever ploy they had concocted.

Her eyes snapped to the door; its telltale creak caused her heart skip.

Her thoughts silenced as she recognized the source of chakra.

Time stopped as she met solid black eyes framed by dark sunken circles.

The door clicked shut.

"I mean you no harm."

Despite his word, as his deep voice poured over her, the hairs on her arms lifted.

Uchiha Itachi stood tall despite the obvious fatigue straining his lithe body. His eyes narrowed in on the caged rabbit, "It's good to see you again, Hinata-san."

AN - Ahh we finally see the infamous Uchiha Itachi again! Thanks so much for reading :) Let me know in a review what you thought and what you're hoping to see! Hope you have a happy weekend ❤️

PS. How to tell I'm canadian: I've used the word "sorry" way too often in the last few chapters lmao