Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto or Buso Renkin.
A/N: This is a light AU story. Hinata is a Hyuga, but not in the same sense. All will be explained as the story progress. Enjoy.
1st Night - Hinata
She blinked twice to see if she was dreaming. But the pale hand with the strong supple fingers was still there, held out stretched in front of her. Carefully, slowly, the little girl reached out and touched the hand lightly with the pads of her fingers. The skin felt smooth and a bit cool to the low temperature the room was kept in. But she could feel its strength and slowly, cautiously, she linked their fingers together.
He closed hi hand over hers, his thumb stroking her palm.
She looked up, her sickly, lavender eyes staring into his cool gray ones through the glare of his glasses. He was tall, his slim-muscled body cloaked in black. His white hair looped differently in spikes, with a spiral strand hanging down the right side of his face.
She lifted her other hand to play with it and he let her, bending lower so she can reach more.
"What is your name?" he asked softly.
Her lips were cracked and her voice came out as a croak. But he heard her clearly. "Simone."
He looked a bit taken back, but his expression became impassive again. "Is that what they called you?"
She nodded in reply.
His thumb continued to stroke her hand calmly as he thought quietly. It made her a bit confused about what his attentions were and she struggled to sit up.
The man helped the little girl, putting her in an upright position, making sure she was comfortable.
"That is not your name," he told her.
"Huh?" She stared at him, not quite believing what he was saying. All her life, she was living in this place, where the walls were white, the light turned horribly high that it burns her eyes, and where escape was impossible. But there wasn't much to escape from.
Not knowing her past, not knowing her parents, her life had consisted of two things : pain and darkness. If she focused on the darkness, she could almost forget the pain and so her life has been lived in a haze.
But now, this man, this in front of her was telling her something. Something that would redefine her whole existence. It was almost too hard not to believe.
He leaned down and wrapped her in his black coat. he lifted her, holding close to his chest, her hand still holding tightly to his hair. Her grip only grew tighter as he began to take her out of the blank space that once had been her cell.
"Wh-what…is m-my… name?" she asked, curling in his arm.
"Hinata," he replied, walking through the halls in the exit's direction. "Your name is Hinata Simone."
"At the facility, we found evidence of alchemy experimentation along with the remains of a shattered kakugane. Casualties consist of the twenty staff members including the eight scientists reported; none from our field. In the entirety of the building, only one subject was found. The files in the lab has identified her as Hinata Simone, undetermined age and unknown origins," Shosei Sakaguchi reported to his superiors.
"Were there anything in the reports that can tell why they had this girl and for what purposes?" one of the superiors asked.
"No. Whoever wrote these reports never mentioned why they had the girl in the first place. I believe this is another case of a kidnapped orphan being used for experimentation."
They muttered among themselves, their low voices meaning that Shosei was not to hear. At last, one of them spoke to him in a formal tone.
"Sakaguchi Shosei, we shall leave the child in your care. If the experiments done on her involved a kakugane, it must be related to the Philosopher's Stone. Report any findings."
"Understood."
"Dismissed."
Shosei bowed and made his leave.
The girl had been relocated to a ward near his own quarters. It was a modest room, with a large bed in one corner and a separate room for the bathroom. What was so special about this room was the view it had of the Asian sea, the vast of blue that seemed to stretch on forever.
This is where Shosei found the little girl, staring out at the ocean with a longing expression. She was such a small child, thin but healthy enough. Long black hair that shone blue in the right lighting, nearly trimmed and reached down to the small of her back. Her skin was extremely pale from not being in the outside world for a long time, so much that even the smallest amount of sunlight gives her slight sunburns.
And yet, here she was, in the sun, taking as much as she could like a drug. Her eyes were narrowed from the glare, but she stared there doggedly in its rays.
Hinata turned to face him when he came in, her lavender tinted white eyes startling him with their uniqueness. It made him stare for a bit, enough time for her to leave the window and give him a bow.
"G-good m-morning, sir," she stuttered.
"Good morning, Hinata." Shosei smiled at her. He came closer, coming to kneel before her. "How are you? Are they treating you well?"
Hinata enthusiastically, her blue locks bobbing up and down as she moved her head. "Ye-yes! Everyone h-has been k-kind t-to me. I-I've never sl-slept in a-a b-bed so n-nice b-before," she answered him truthfully. Though he kneeled, she still had to lift her chin up to see him.
"That's good. I'm glad to hear that you're being so well taking care of." He patted her on the head, ruffling her hair. "Tell me, Hinata. Do you remember anything that those men in white did to you?"
She looked up in thought, her face scrutinizing in concentration. "W-well, they always at-talked about my en-endu-enduwaren?" she said, looking to him for confirmation.
"Endurance?" Shosei supplied.
"Uh huh! That's it." Hinata bobbed her head. "Th-they kept p-putting me in m-mazes and h-had me go in c-circles a lot. S-sometimes, I st-stayed for h-hours and s-sometimes for d-days. Once, th-they made me st-stay for a w-week."
How cruel. "Anything else?" he asked.
She thought about it some more. "W-well, every time th-they gave me something th-through the st-strings or wh-when they give m-me some candy, it h-hurts a lot and I-I black out and c-cant remember a-anything. It was a-always dark."
"I see."
"I-I'm sorry th-that I can d-do anything else," she apologized, looking down in shame.
"Don't worry about it, Hinata. You've done enough." He patted her head again and then stood. "Come. I want to show something."
Shosei took her hand and began to lead her from her room. He took her through an elaborate route, leading her towards the outside.
The courtyard was filled with many warriors, some training alone, some in battle with one another. None, turn their way as the two of them passed. Hinata watched, seeing them they fought each other with strange weapons, calling out varies names. But one saying was constant.
BUSO RENKIN!
"Um, sir?" She looked at the man.
"What is it, Hinata?"
"Wh-what's buso r-renkin?" Hinata asked.
"Buso Renkin. Well, the best I could explain is it is a weapon produced by alchemy. They come in varies forms and activates on the user's fighting spirit. While dormant, the weapon is called kakugane," Shosei explained.
"K-kakugane?" she repeated.
"Yes. A kakugane is a precious alloy created by alchemy long ago. It is what we use to fight monsters known as the homunculi."
The name struck a chord of her heart. Her small hand trembled in the man's large hand. She began to pant heavily and her entire body quivered with fear. Her large, lavender eyes began blank as she suddenly saw something in her mind's eye.
"Hinata?" Shosei looked down at the girl who had suddenly stopped and stared at him with the greatest fear he's ever seen in a child. It was like she was staring at the Devil himself, the way her entire expression looked. "Hinata! Hinata, look at me."
He grabbed her by the shoulders, shaking her a bit in an attempt to shake her out of her trance. He shook her again, staring straight to her eyes.
"Hinata," he demanded. "Look at me, child."
Hinata gasped, but blinked and her eyes became stable once more. "M-mama," she whispered. "I think, I think I saw Mama."
Shosei didn't reply, but waited for her to continue.
"Wh-when you said h-homunculi, I-I remembered something," she said. "Something th-that the men always said. Th-that Mama did something t-to me, t-to save m-me from the homunculi. B-but I don't kn-know any homunculi, do I?" The girl looked up at the man. "What is a homunculi?"
Shosei didn't respond for a long while. Then he softly replied, "A homunculus is a monster who eats humans. They, too, are a product of alchemy. And as our mistake, that is why we must destroy them."
The doors opened behind them, signifying that they had stopped in front of a room, separate from the main buildings and located in its own compound. Shosei stood and took her hand again, leading her inside the room.
It was a large gym, with racks of wooden weapons lining the walls. It was here he stood her in the middle of the gym, before walking away to the opposite side.
"I am going to attack you, Hinata. And when I do, I want you to attack me with all of your power." He turned around. "Get ready."
"Wh-what?" She watched as he held out a silver emblem with a black serial number on it, though it was in a different language than she knew.
"Buso Renkin!" he called. "Buster Baron!"
Hinata didn't know what was happening. All she knew what that something was coming towards her, something that she needed to get away from desperately.
Needed to get away.
Need.
To.
Get.
Away!
"NOOOOO!!!"
There was an explosion, one that threw the Buster Baron nearly a hundred feet, smashing through concrete and plaster of several buildings. When the rumbling stopped, one could hear a girl child crying hysterically with fear.
Shosei lifted himself from the rubble he was thrown nearly five feet away. He felt the pain of a few bruises and though himself lucky. The attack had been aimed directly at his Buso Renkin; he just felt the after effects. It was still powerful enough to cause him some damage, though.
He walked back to the girl, who continued to bawl; between her tears she mumbled apologizes. But despite the mess and clouds of dust, Hinata was unharmed and untouched. Her short, skinny legs were glowing, yet as he came closer it diminished.
"I'm s-sorwee," she cried, her small fists covering her face. "I-I-I di-didn't mean to! I-I w-wont d-do it-it again!"
She stopped, surprised at the feeling of warm arms wrapping themselves around her small body, pulling her into an unyielding chest. She stilled, feeling a hand stroke her small head soothingly.
"It's alright, Hinata. This is what you're suppose to do." Shosei pulled away to look into her large, strange eyes. "And what you will continue to do."
The girl just stared, confused and not quite understanding. "B-but," she whimpered. "I-I'll just h-hurt you again! I-I cant do that!"
"You can," Shosei said firmly. "And you will." He cupped the back of her leg and lifted it for her to see.
Over her left calf was a serial number similar to the one on the silver emblem that Shosei had. It was a single digit, unreadable for her and Hinata looked up to ask him what it was.
"Serial number six. Just like the number on the remains of the kakugane," the man muttered softly to himself. "Tell me again, Hinata. What type of tests did they put you in?"
"R-running in a m-maze," Hinata answered quickly, not liking the solemn expression her savoir wore.
"Were there anything in those mazes?"
She racked her memories, looking through the black outs and drugged hazes. She remembered having a feeling akin to fear, of running tirelessly through shifting mazes, her mother's blurred image in her mind.
I am going to eat you.
Hinata gasped and her body shook. Her eyes glazed over again and she stared aimlessly ahead. Shosei tightened his grip on her arms, frowning. "Hinata?"
Let me eat you.
Run away. Keep running. It's much more fun.
I'm going to catch you. I'm going to eat you, little girl.
"H-h-ho-homun-homun-" she stammered, her eyes, tearing with liquid.
He waited patiently, looking down at her sympathetically. She tried to finish, but her words became squeaks, beyond comprehending.
He hugged her tightly. "There were, weren't there?" he asked softly. "And they made you fight them all alone."
Hinata could only sob, grabbing onto his coat like a lifeline, desperately needing his warmth to escape the memories.
Shosei's glasses flashed in the sun as the other warriors approached in response to the explosion. Her didn't answer their questions, lifting the girl in his arms and carrying her away from the rumble and the curious and alarmed gazes.
"What have you concluded by this, Sakaguchi?"
The white haired man glanced at his superior standing in the shadows in acknowledgement, before returning his cool gaze down at the girl clutching him. She was so small, so tiny, yet inside her chest laid the kindest heart he's ever seen. Everything about her exploited gentleness, a softness not fit for one in her situation.
Shosei wasn't sure whether he should be amazed or appalled.
"I had a suspicion regarding the remains of the kakugane we found," he reported. "I ran a small test to confirm my suspicions."
"Were the results favorable?"
He closed his eyes and answered coolly, "Yes. I've determined why the rogue scientists broke the kakugane." A murmur from the girl he carried caused him to look, seeing that her sobs had eventually lured her to sleep. "I've also confirmed why they had this girl in their possession."
The man did not respond but Shosei can tell he was anxious to know by the way he shifted in the shadows.
Cradling her carefully, he lightly removed some hair from her face, caked perfectly to her cheeks by the dryness of her tears. She murmured again, moving in her sleep to come closer to his touch. The innocent act made him smile with bitterness, for he knew his next words will change her life for the worst.
"Whether the kakugane was broken before or after, I cannot conclude. However, this little girl was in their captivity for the sole fact that the kakugane had been implanted inside her body. Naturally or unnaturally is, too, unknown."
"I see." The pleasure and unnatural desire to investigate was evident in his voice. "I shall inform the rest of our brethren. In the meantime, I shall leave her in your care, Warrior Sakaguchi."
The man turned on his heel and left, his boots clacking in the halls as they retreated. Though he was out of range, Shosei still reply his confirmation of his orders. "Yes sir."
He turned in the opposite direction, to return the girl to her room. The only difference was that this time he held her close to his chest, hugging her fiercely. It appeared as though if he let his grip weaken, he would break.