Warning: This story contains heavy violence, character death, language, and will have lemons (sexual content). You have been warned. Also, I do not in any way own Naruto or any of its characters. Toorima however, is all mine.

This story is the sequel to one I have already written titled: Motherhood and More. You will need to read that one first to understand what happens in this story. Thank you and I hope you enjoy!

Tears of Acid

This chapter contains character death!!!

Chapter One

Toorima ran behind her adopted mother and best friend, Hyuuga Hinata. "This is ridiculous! What are you going to do?" She was angry, desperate, and panicking all at the same time. It has been a year, nine months, and twenty-six days since Hinatas' initiation into Akatsuki. In that almost two years Toorima had grown exponentially as a shinobi with the help of her two teammates, Chaos and Serenity that never left her side.

The child had mastered her kekkai genkai in no time at all and has thus gained the ability to communicate with her summoned leopards through telepathy. Chaos and Serenity had stayed by her side since their first summon, they were her soul mates in a way. Each of the three were created to protect and care for each other. Neither of them would ever betray her and likewise she would never betray them. Those two weren't the only leopards to help her in battle however, if needed Toorima could summon more to her aid. The highest she has been able to summon so far was only thirty-one, though the potential for more lies deep within her.

Toorima had also grown more attached to everyone in the akatsuki since she had first arrived. Kakuzu had become somewhat of an uncle and taught her everything there was to know about money, how to spend it wisely, and how to earn it quickly. Kisame was her best friend and her secret crush and in many ways her protector and worst influence. They had pulled so many pranks together and got into so much trouble, but Toorima would never trade those times for anything.

Hinata had also grown as a kunoichi, eventually reaching the level of a special jounin. The rank of an S-class criminal was almost within her grasp thanks to the vigorous training sessions that she put herself through. The ex-hyuuga had many missions during her stay with the akatsuki but most were simple recon missions. Pein seemed to like the idea that Konoha assumed that she was dead and didn't want to have her do anything that would reveal otherwise, that is until he saw a good opportunity to use that fact.

Everything in Toorimas' life was perfect. She had a family, an odd thrown together family, but she wouldn't have had it any other way. And she had parents. Hinata and Hidan were there for her like no others. It took Hidan a while to ease up to the idea, but after Toorima had accepted the Jashin religion he warmed up quick enough.

Just thinking Hidans' name made the hole in her heart ache. Two weeks ago everything that made her life wonderful came crashing down like a meteor. Hinata was teaching her chakra control one afternoon when Pein called an emergency meeting. These meetings were very rare and far between, so this one came as a surprise to all of them.

Toorima wasn't allowed to sit in on the meeting because she wasn't an official akatsuki member and because she was still only a seven year old little girl. That night her heart had shattered. She sat in the living room waiting for someone to leave the meeting room and tell her what was going on. As she waited she grew tired and was just about to fall asleep when Hinata had burst through the door and ran to her room wailing like a wounded animal, her hands covering her face in an attempt to stifle her sobs.

Never had Toorima seen her mother cry like that and it worried her. Hinata was lying on the floor of her room, where Hidan prayed every night and repeated the same thing over and over when Toorima had made it to her room. "Why? Jashin-sama, why?" It was then that Toorima knew something was terribly wrong, and that something had to do with Hidan. It took the child five hours to calm Hinata down enough for her to tell her what had happened.

Hidan had been blown to pieces and buried sixty feet underground by the Konoha ninja. The fact wouldn't register in Toorimas' mind for what seemed like hours. Slowly it sank in and she fell back against the wall sliding down till she slumped down on the floor. In her mind she could picture the last face he made. It was an annoyed smile because Toorima had tried to pull him back into the base so he wouldn't leave for his mission. He had promised that he would tell her more about Jashin that day and she was mad that he had forgotten about the mission he had later that day when he made the promise.

The picture abruptly shattered in her mind and all she could do was stare blankly into the face of her heartbroken mother who stared blankly back tear streaks stained her face but her tear ducts had emptied. Toorima herself was too shocked to cry. For some reason tears wouldn't come to her eyes and she found all she could do was stare with dead eyes in front of her. Her leopards could feel the pain in her heart and they whimpered by her side as their ears flattened to their heads.

That tragic event was a little over a week ago now. Hinata had changed drastically in the short time span. She almost never spoke and she stopped doing household chores. Toorima was left to pick up the slack around base. Little by little Hinata became cold, distant, and angry. You could see it in her eyes, the hurt that is. No one ever did anything to upset her anymore for fear of losing a limb.

This is what led to the current situation. Hinata and Toorima had visited the outskirts of the forest in which Hidan was trapped underground. It was the first time Toorima had been out of the base since she had been taken there by Kakuzu, who had also been killed by the Konoha shinobi that same fateful day.

Hinata knew that if she set foot on the Nara land the deer would alarm Shikamaru, so she was left to say her farewell at the edge of the forest. Her arms held a bouquet of Freesia flowers for him because they were a symbol of innocence and purity. She set them on the ground at her feet and hoped that wherever Hidan was, he understood what they meant. She had given him her whole being completely, innocence, purity, body, and soul.

Toorima had brought a single rose that was in full bloom, a symbol of love for her fallen father. With Chaos and Serenity sitting at full attention behind her she laid the rose next to Hinatas' flowers and cried in silence, letting the salt water fall from her chin unchecked. Her tears stained the ground where they fell but Hinata did not cry. She couldn't anymore every tear in her body had been shed leaving her a hollow widow. As they turned to leave things took another turn for the worst. Hinata had ordered Toorima to return to base. The worst of it came when Hinata removed the Jashin pendant Hidan had given her that night two years ago and placed it around Toorimas' neck. Then the young woman had taken off in a west direction in a flash of speed.

The young girl knew what Hinata was thinking up to a point. Hinata wouldn't have given her the pendant if she planned on coming back from wherever she was headed. "Mommy please! What are you going to do? Let's go back." Toorima called as she tried her hardest to keep up with the advanced shinobi.

"They took something from me. By order of the scriptures I must take something in return." Hinata had replied through her teeth without looking back. She already had her plan thought out and set into action. The first step in her plan was getting time off from missions to visit Hidans resting place. Hinata wasn't planning on bringing Toorima but she couldn't refuse when her child begged to be allowed to say a proper goodbye to her father.

Then it was down to business. Hinata had a target in mind. Who would it hurt Konoha and those involved in the death of her lover and Kakuzu the most to lose? The answer was simple. Sasuke Uchiha. If she could eliminate him then she could have even the smallest bit of peace, Jashin would see to it as promised in the scriptures. With her mind made up she had set her plan into action.

Little Toorima willed her legs to continue their straining run. "Please please, let's go home!" She yelled her pleas as she tried to reason with Hinata. The slightest tense in Hinatas' fists didn't go unnoticed by the girl. It seemed that her pleading was doing something, not much, but something. "I told you to go back to base." Hinata called back turning her head to look at her. She loved Toorima like a daughter and would hate to do anything that would hurt her, but she had to do this. No matter the consequence she couldn't go on living without seeking her revenge. It would eat away at her till death saved her from her despair.

Day was turning to evening, which turned to night. Toorima was exhausted but Hinata continued on strong. Slowly Toorima fell behind despite her efforts till finally she couldn't even see Hinata anymore. 'Don't worry. We can still smell her scent.' Chaos' masculine yet feline voice rang in her head. She nodded at her pet and slowed to a stop, her small body couldn't last any longer.

'At first light we track her, don't let me down you two.' Toorima said quietly in her mind and both her comrades nodded. Sleep evaded her that night. She was used to the wonderfully soft and warm bed in her room and not the hard, cold ground. Not only that, nightmares plagued her without mercy every time her eyes closed. She saw Hinatas' back growing further and further away in her head and she couldn't catch up till finally everything went red. Over and over the dream forced her out of sleep till finally she gave up and sat against a tree staring at the black sky, not a star in sight.

The sun was just coming up over the distant mountains. 'Master, are you ready?' Serenity's silky feline voice inquired softly in her consciousness. "Yes." Toorima answered simply and rose from the ground dusting herself off and running in the last direction she had seen Hinata headed. Chaos and Serenity made good on their promise and told her every time the trail strayed from the current path.

Her tiny heart beat like a hammer in her chest as her legs throbbed. She closed her mind down and didn't think about anything other than the path she was on and the sound of heavy paws bounding off the earth beside her. Chaos and Serenity shared her pain and did their best not to think of anything that would cause their master anymore hurt.

Time was against them as well as nature. It was well past midnight when Toorima had to stop again. She had just enough money with her to get something to eat in a nearby village. She fed her companions and found a small stream to drink from. She was so tired that even though she was uncomfortable on the ground she fell asleep quickly. The nightmares persisted and it killed her to know that every second she spent sleeping was another second that Hinata got farther away.

Morning came like a slap in the face. The sun was high in the sky, its bright rays reaching far across the land and into her pale face. Toorima mentally slapped herself repeatedly for oversleeping. It was to be expected after all the energy she had exerted, but still it made Toorima frustrated. According to Chaos it shouldn't be too much longer till they reached Hinata. He said her scent was getting stronger, much, much stronger. Toorima had no idea where they were or why the journey had already taken two days. She was only happy that she was catching up.

An explosion made Toorimas' head snap up out of her thoughts. About a mile ahead of where she was now dust floated into the sky like a mushroom cloud. Panic threatened to paralyze the small shinobi but she made herself continue running. 'Not good, that is where I can smell Hinatas' scent coming from.' Chaos mentally warned Toorima and she pushed faster. "We ARE going to make it." She said defiantly. Even though she could say the words out loud they didn't give her any hope. The words were more like the verbal embodiment of her desperation.

The dust cloud was clearing as Toorima neared the site of its origin. Once she could see what was going on her heart skipped a beat, if not more. She hadn't realized she stopped breathing until her head was spinning. She drew in a shaky breath and took another step forward before she fell to her knees. Toorima looked up at the sky with tears streaming down her cheeks and screamed an earsplitting, blood curdling scream, her spotted snow leopard ears flattening to her head in her agony, her tail fell limp and unmoving. As a reaction to their masters emotions both Chaos and Serenity let out the loudest most feral roar she had ever heard.

A pair of strange red eyes, sharingan eyes, turned to look at her before they turned back to their victim who was impaled on the end of a sword a current of lightning streaming into that same body. It was Hinata. She looked different, but Toorima knew right away it was her; the difference had to be the curse form Hinata had told her about some time ago.

Hinata turned to look at the tiny child she had cared for and loved with an apologetic look on her face. Blood dribbled from her mouth and oozed from the wound in her chest. The man wasn't unscratched either. He was bleeding from random areas but none of it looked very fatal. Toorima was going to try and change that in a sudden surge of anger and sorrow. That same feral growl that her friends had released erupted from her lungs and her eyes narrowed. The pupils of her beautiful blue eyes changed then, her true power unlocked as they changed to narrow slits. Her eyes were now those of the leopards that so faithfully followed her.

Chaos and Serenity stood strong at her sides as she slowly stood to her feet and wiped the remaining tears from her eyes. Hinata watched in horror as the girl readied herself to attack. "No! T-Toorima! Run! N-Now!" She screamed. The newest akatsuki member coughed up blood as the man pulled his sword from her chest and she fell forward to the ground defeated.

Toorima charged at the man but she didn't make it very far. Strong bluish arms had wrapped themselves around her waist. Before she could look up to see who had stopped her, the attacker disappeared. It was Kisame who had restrained her. He had a pained look on his face as the girl screamed at him and thrashed in his hold. "Let me go!" She screamed holding in more tears. Chaos and Serenity knew that what Kisame had done saved the life of their master and they tried to calm her down.

Soon her thrashing calmed and turned to face him and she cried in his embrace. When Kisame saw that Toorima was calm and that Sasuke was long gone he released her. She stumbled her way to Hinata and pushed her over gently so she lay on her back. There was dirt on her face and blood under her mouth. Hinata was still alive but her breathing was slow and labored, she was slipping fast. Her curse mark faded slowly to reveal the true Hinata, Toorimas' true mother, adopted or not.

"I'm s-sorry." Hinata whispered raising her hand shakily to Toorimas' cheek to wipe away her tears. The hand fell before it could make it there and her last breath slipped past her lips. Toorima burst into heart wrenching sobs and Kisame turned, unable to witness such a painful scene. He had murdered many people, watched as their friends, comrades, and families weeped, but he couldn't bare to watch this painful scene unfolding in front of him. Toorima wasn't sure how long she sat there crying. Her breath came in quick painful gasps and her eyes burned.

Unable to take it any longer Kisame had slowly made his way over to her and picked Hinata up carefully with one arm and reached down to grab Toorimas' hand with the other. Toorima took it and let him lead her onward. Toorima muttered one request. That Hinata would be laid to rest as close to Hidan as she could. And so the two made their way back to the last place Hinata and Toorima stood together.

I'm so happy that I finally got off my ass and posted the first chapter. This story is coming along slowly because my inspiration is having computer problems and I haven't been able to talk to her in over a month. So please be patient with me!!!

Thank you to everyone who has read my story and especially to those who were fans of Motherhood and More!!!

~Lady Toorima