Hinoka was running through a forest before she stopped, a grin on her face as she looked up.
About 20 people surrounded her, all wearing ROOT masks.
"So he finally found me, that was quick, I guess I have been sloppy this past week," Hinoka said, her black eyes were slowly turning blue with a pattern that resembled a rose. "Well then, shall we begin?"
Five of the root ninjas lunged towards Hinoka as she just grinned, dogging one of their swords before blocking another sword with her kunai.
She jumped up, weaving hand signs as she said, "Fire style fireball justsu."
An immense fireball flew in their direction as one of them ran forward, weaving hand signs.
An even larger waterball countered the fireball, filling the whole area with steam, obstructing their view.
All the ROOT ninjas started running through the steam. Hinoka glanced left and right as she saw figures running through the steam before freezing, "four people," she mumbled.
Before she could react, blood trickled down the side of her mouth as a sword pierced through her chest.
She looked back, the look of shock on her face turning to a grin as she said, "So close yet so far," before bursting into blue rose petals.
The ROOT ninjas immediately broke the genjutsu.
Hinoka sat on one of the three branches, the steam starting to disappear as she said, "I've always loved roses, they're so pretty yet have thorns, though sunflowers are a close second, mostly because of my younger sister's name."
Hinoka suddenly coughed up blood as she finally noticed a faint black mist.
"Poison," she mumbled, an amused smile on her face, before falling off the tree branch. She hit the floor with a loud thud.
The ROOT members stared at Hinoka for a while, letting the poison user walk towards her, the poison taking effect.
Just as one of them was about to restrain Hinoka, she suddenly grabbed their leg, pulling them down before kicking another person in the face.
She lunged towards the poison user, still holding her breath as she thought, 'You're the most dangerous person at the moment. If I take another breath, there's a high possibility it'll be contaminated with poison.'
One of the ROOT ninjas suddenly kicked her in the stomach, making her take a breath as the poison justu user weaved hand signs mumbling, "Poison jutsu, poison cloud."
Just as Hinoka took a breath, she inhaled the cloud of poison, falling to her knees as she coughed up more blood.
"This isn't fun anymore," she mumbled, a grin on her face as she stumbled to her feet.
One of the ROOT ninjas approached her. As she smiled, saying, "Let's end this!"
She lunged towards them with a kunai, but just as she was inches from them, she appeared behind them.
Hinoka froze mid-air, not moving, but not of her own volition, as tiny, nearly invisible metal strings held her back.
The more she tried to move, the deeper it cut into her skin.
Her vision grew foggy as the poison slowly killed her.
The ROOT ninja she had just tried to kill turned around as they said, "Return to Konoha with us willingly or by force, it's your choice."
"I chose the third option to continue traveling alone."
"If you do not return, Lord Danzo will not hesitate to kill those you care about one by one till you return, Hinoka Hyuga."
"You want me to become like you? One of his servants?" Hinoka asked with a cocky smile.
"You would be protecting your village."
Hinoka scoffed, rolling her eyes before saying, "Sorry, but you'll have to tell Danzo that I'll have to pass on the offer."
"So you'll return to torturing innocent people?"
"Don't act as though you care about them, you're a ROOT ninja, you feel nothing."
They were about to knock Hinoka out when a paper bomb exploded next to the tree Hinoka was previously sitting on.
She grinned as the one controlling the strings jumped out of the way, allowing Hinoka to escape.
She grabbed a kunai, infusing it with chakra, just as the ROOT ninja grabbed his kunai to attack her.
She broke his kunai, slashing his throat and killing him.
Her breath grew heavy as the kunai she was holding shattered because of the chakra she was infusing.
"One down, 19 to go," Hinoka said with a grin, grabbing a kunai.
Instantly, everywhere was covered in an unnatural fog. Hinoka fell to her knees, coughing out blood as a ROOT ninja pulled their sword out of her chest.
Hinoka fell to the ground as she bled to death, her left eye changing pattern.
Hinoka grinned as she grabbed a kunai, saying, "One down, 19 to go."
Instantly, everywhere was covered in an unnatural fog. Hinoka turned around immediately and blocked a sword with her kunai.
The ROOT ninja jumped back as Hinoka thought, 'So it takes dying for you to finally activate again.'
A few minutes passed as Hinoka was drenched in blood, standing in the unnatural fog. 7 ROOT ninjas, including the poison user, were dead.
Suddenly, Hinoka's head, hands, and legs were severed from her body by tiny metal strings, her blood splattering everywhere.
The ROOT ninja froze as Hinoka's body faded, turning to blue rose petals. Just as she was about to break the genjutsu, a kunai touched their throat.
"You know, turning to rose petals when my genjutsu is revealed was actually inspired by Itachi Uchiha. It always annoyed me when he did it to me with birds, but I always found it so cool, I had to do it." Hinoka said from behind them before slashing their throat.
One of the ninjas standing on a branch weaved hand signs as they connected their shadow to Hinoka's.
Hinoka was unable to move as another ninja lunged towards her, about to kill her, as Hinoka thought, "He's from the same clan as Shikamaru, I won't be able to break it in time."
Just as the person was about to kill her, Hinoka moved out of the way, dogging the attack as she glanced towards the Nara ninja.
They were bound in place by ice chains. Hinoka chuckled as she said, "It's been a while, Haku."
Haku paused before running towards one of the ninjas. By the time they were done, six more ROOT ninjas were dead, while 7 of them were restrained.
Hinoka smiled before saying, "So about killing the people I care about, if you harm my sisters-"
"Your sisters should not be who you're worried about." One of them, the fog jutsu user, replied.
"If you mean my father, go ahead, he was terrible at his role anyway, plus that wouldn't be a smart move, Naruto, Neji, and Sasuke can handle themselves against you. Sakura has Naruto to protect her. Ino will be fine, probably. Don't even think about Shinkamaru-"
"You shouldn't be so worried about your friends in the leaf village."
"Huh?"
"They should be arriving right now to kill the masked bounty hunter, the lion, Sayuri Nakamura. Continue to resist, and more people you care about will die."
"Sayuri Nakamura? Who's that?"
"Hinoka, that's your sensei, the old lady," Hakur replied.
Hinoka froze before suddenly slitting all their throats in an instant.
Haku paused, staring at their corpse for a moment before following Hinoka, who was already sprinting to the old lady's house, thinking, 'She can handle herself, so why… do I have a bad feeling about this?'