Chapter one: The Screw up

"She was so shy and innocent…" Kurenai tried to keep her sobs and whimpers to herself. The crowd gathered around. Perhaps most of the villagers of Konoha were present to witness the ritual burier of another fellow ninja that had died. After giving up, Kurenai allowed her tears to fall freely from her crimson eyes, as she held her one year old boy in her arms. The woman who once was Hinata's teacher might have been consumed by depression, but lucky she has her young baby boy in her life. The death of Hinata left Konoha surprisingly wounded. Everyone who held up an indifferent, cold façade let it fall for this one day.

Everyone except the Hyuuga clan that is…

"Poor girl, she was supposed to become the leader of the Hyuuga clan…" A stranger whispered to himself. He stood among the crowd; he had dark hair and purple wide eyes said. He was tall, clad in a dark cloak, with an ANBU mask in his hands. His eyes scanned everyone's expression. He felt slightly suspicious about the Hinata incident. He decided to let time settle everyone, before he investigates this matter.

The funeral of Hinata Hyuuga was held during the afternoon, ironically when the shine shone brightly. Hiashi Hyuuga said that her funeral should be held at such time because she was like a ray of sun and hope in his life. Many who were outsiders did not think much of this. But those within the Hyuuga clan knew that Hiashi was merely putting up the front of a good father.

The lady Hokage was the one who took care of the ceremony. She held back her tears because she felt that she must be strong for the rest of the village.

"Hinata Hyuuga may your soul rest in peace…" Tsunade said. Several people walked forward to drop a white lily flower on her coffin, before she was buried.

Naruto, Sakura and Sai stood by each other's side. Naruto's tears fell down even when he had promised to himself he would not allow Sakura see him cry. Sakura stood next to him and held him close in an embrace. Sai's eyes trailed to the ground, and occasionally glanced up to watch how everyone's sadness was affecting his heart. He was raised to be this way, to rid him self of all feelings and emotions, but this funeral was awaking his human feelings.

Kiba walked away from the funeral, followed by Shino. They didn't want to be there any longer to witness their first and true friend be buried. They both headed towards the training ground where they would always laugh and tease, and even train with Hinata. It was in the solitude of the deserted training grounds where Kiba turned to Shino and broke down in tears. He was so frustrated, sad, angry and emotionally unstable. Kiba began to kick and punch the trees, while Shino stood there silent. Shino reached to grab his black glasses and took them off, letting the tears fall from his amber eyes.

"Why her Shino?! Why!?!?!" Kiba's emotion was uncontrolled. Shino stood quiet, and sat down leaning against another tree, one that Kiba wasn't abusing. Shino looked up as the sky darkened.

"Hinata…" Shino whispered in mid confusion and sadness. He closed his eyes and tried to keep control, so his bugs wouldn't go haywire.

:+:

It has been one week since Hinata's death. Neji was sat on the benches, and in front of him, he witnessed a garden filled with many kinds of exotic flowers, and different healing herbs filling the scenery with life. His eyes looked lost, as he was in a daze. Hanabi had been standing against the walls, watching Neji from afar.

He probably won't recuperate soon, she thought.

Then again, she wasn't going to recuperate soon either. But now since Hanabi was the only daughter left, that automatically made her the new heiress to of the Hyuuga clan. This meant she would have to continue about her life as though nothing happened and pretend Hinata hadn't meant a thing to her.

Neji continued to stare at the garden, as though it was the most depressing scenery he ever witnessed. In his mind, he was replaying the peaceful moments he shared with Hinata. It was here, in this garden, that she invited him to drink tea with her. Hinata would speak to him softly, while his replies were monotonous. It was hard to think that it was in this very same garden that he randomly leaned forward and embraced her. It was his way of showing he cared for her, without needing words to say so. He was troubled by guilt. He felt responsible for not protecting her. Hinata had become so strong; he didn't think she even needed any more of their protection. Now that he thinks back on it, he was confused and didn't really know how she actually died. No one had bothered to ask for the details. It was just a commonly known fact that she had been kidnapped by the last remaining Uchiha, then killed and tortured merciless by his hands.

But the question is…why…? Why Sasuke?

:+:

When Naruto heard that they found strands of Sasuke's hair on Hinata's clothes, Naruto doubted that this made Sasuke responsible for her death. But as they went by, slowly he admitted that Sasuke was perhaps forever lost in darkness. If Sasuke was able to kill a fellow Konoha ninja, then it means that this was a message from Sasuke, telling Konoha he didn't care anymore. He was confused as to why of all people, it had to be Hinata. Hinata was the kindest person he ever met, among other things. She was sweet, smart, shy, polite, graceful, beautiful and quiet…He could go on and on. Naruto wondered what will be Lady Tsunade's move. Will she assemble a team to go look for Sasuke and eliminate him? Will he be allowed to participate in this? He was filled with anger, he wanted revenge.

Everyone wanted revenge. Everyone felt hurt. And most of all, many just wanted to forget.

Okay perhaps not everyone. Hiashi went on about life as though nothing had occurred.

:+:

Soft lavender eyes opened and became aware of how…numb she felt. She sat up and looked at her surrounding. Her white Kimono was covered in dirt. She examined her Kimono, and looked closely to see that it wasn't dirt. It was actually dried blood.

Again, taking note of her surrounding, the young woman stood up, and noticed her shoes were missing. Not that it matter, at this point nothing really matter.

The dirty ground was filled with snakes and worms. The lifeless mountains were made up of dead trees. The huge ocean which was supposed to be filled with salty water had been replaced with pure lava.

Hinata's lavender eyes had lost the soft look in them. Now her eyes were replaced with nothing but a void. She didn't feel alone, scared, hurt nor sad. She just felt numb…

Without minding her surrounding, she started to take a few steps, trying to ignore the snakes biting her, and the worms trying to decompose her body. She stepped on the snakes harshly, and kicked away any worms as she made her way to the edge of the cliff.

Hinata paused on the edge and stared down at the lava beneath. For a reason unknown to her, she was aware of every single thing that was surrounding her. So it didn't surprise her when in the back of her, another presence appeared. Followed by another, and another and then another. Finally, Hinata turned around and watched the people that were waking up, take note of their surrounding, and then screaming with uncontrollable fear.

"AHHHHH! GOD HELP ME! SAVE ME!!" The woman that had yelled in fear had a kunai stuck through her forehead, with blood still dripped down. The snakes and worms oddly responded to this, and you could see her form being devour in a slow, torturous manner. Hinata continued to watch as another scream followed. Then another sound of someone being devoured was heard.

And finally, the fearful scene created chaos, and everyone were being tortured for over reacting. These people here, she figured, were dead, just like her. Hinata looked down with slight interest, and wondered why she wasn't being tortured like this. Then the reason dawn at her, it was probably because she accepted this fate. Before she died, she had already scream, cried, yelled and felt just about everything. Love, lost and grieve. The person who killed her, she didn't hate him. She admitted she was just too weak. But in reality, the man that had capture him was just too strong.

How can you not hate the person who killed you? The whole reason she was dead, was because of her clan.

Hinata felt as though time didn't exist in this place. She vaguely wondered if she was really in hell. Not long after she got here, she had already got used to the horrible things she had seen. Someone tried to run away from the snake and fell in the lava, only to die instantly. But if they were already dead, do they come here to die again? Was this what hell was really about? Never ending deaths? Hinata felt even more curious than ever.

Just when Hinata was beginning to feel bored, a figure cloaked in black appeared behind her. Her head averted slightly, and she saw two grey eyes looking at her from under the hood that was hiding this figure.

"Hinata Hyuuga, tortured, slaughtered and murdered purposely, on the orders of none other than her own father…" The voice belonged to a male. His cold and indifference tone didn't really frighten her. She never expected any kindness from this place. She probably had done something wrong during her life time to end up in hell.

"Who are you?" Even after death, somehow it was in her nature to speak softly. Even if her voice was soft, her tone was one of a person didn't really care.

"Sasori" His reply came after a long pause.

"Do you know why I am here?"

"My knowledge is limited" He replied and stared at her every movement.

"Then what is it that you DO know?" Hinata kept pushing for information; her new curious nature was taking over.

"I now know there was never anything artistic about living." He replied. Hinata picked up on his bitter tone, and for some reason remained quiet. There are so many questions swelling up inside her mind. Hinata fully averted herself, to face Sasori. In the background, she could see people continuously dying.

"Aren't I supposed to be suffering as well?" Hinata asked quietly. She shifted her eyes and stared at this mysteriously man.

"Yes you're supposed to be. That is why I'm here." Hinata blinked, and after a short pause in breath intake, she nodded. "I'm not here to kill you though." Sasori added, after assuming that Hinata misunderstood.

"Then what did you mean?" Hinata asked. She never moved away, or gave any sign of discomfort when she saw Sasori moving closer. Sasori's next action did surprise her though. She found herself falling, while looking up at the cold grey eyes, of the man who told her he wasn't going to kill her. Sasori roughly pushed her off the cliff, and so Hinata was currently falling in the lava.

She had felt pain before. A pain only she knows of. It was finally after her heart had stop beating, when this pain ended. She didn't have time to close her eyes. Coming back to this insane reality, she reflected upon her missing emotions. She didn't fear falling in the lava. She closed her eyes and embraced herself for what was sure to come. Hinata was ready to welcome more pain. But this time she wasn't going to scream or cry. This time, she felt so numb.

She kept falling, and falling, and falling almost like she was never going to reach the lava. She opened her eyes and found herself even more curious than she had been before. She was falling, but beneath her was the ocean, and above her was Sasori staring down from the cliff. That cliff…it was no longer rotten or filled with snakes and worms. And the mountains were now looking as green as ever. Hinata finally fell in the cold-freezing water, and she became overwhelmed at the fact that her body was actually feeling something.

Her body kept sinking, and sinking to the ocean floor; she couldn't even swim or float as though she had heavy shackles chained on each of her arms and ankles.

Hinata never struggled against the force that was pulling her down. She was drowning. Hinata stopped breathing, and she kept her eyes slightly focus on what was underneath. At first, it seemed like she was drowning in darkness. However, as she went further down, the ocean began to get less dark, and eventually she could almost see the morning light, at the end of the ocean floor.

Her body, on its on accord, rotated. Instead of her feet being the first to reach the bottom, she was now swimming head first. Just when she reached the bottom of the ocean, her head was the first to touch the rocks and sands that was beneath her. She couldn't hold in her breathe and let it go. A large amount of water started to fill her lungs and Hinata didn't know what to do. Just then, when she thought she was going to die again, a hand grabbed her by the hair, and she found her head pulled to the surface of the ocean water.

Hinata had been mistaken; the bottom of the ocean floor had actually become the surface. This place is so confusing.

She was coughing out water, and shivering uncontrollably. Her light lavender eyes that had been rid of emotions a few moments ago, now actually reflected a bit of life in them. Just moments ago, Sasori leaned from the canoe he was sitting on, and pulled Hinata's head out of the water, by the hair, so she may reach the surface. After seeing that she finally made it out alive, he let loose the hold he had on her midnight blue hair, letting her soft strand of hair slipped through his finger.

She looked up at Sasori from the cold shivering water, and stared at the hand he offered her. She accepted it, and he immediately pulled her on board of the small canoe. Sasori grabbed the canoe paddles and began to paddle away to this small island that was visible from the distance.

"Where are you taking me?" Hinata asked, after she had found courage to voice her curious thoughts.

"Out of this ocean." He replied calmly. Although that was indeed obvious, Hinata merely rolled her eyes at him.

"Sasori, may I ask how you died?" Sasori paused the paddling to reach with his hand and lower his black hood. He let his hood fall, and his red messy hair was revealed. The man, known as Sasori, noticed that Hinata was surprised by his appearance. It seems his bangs reached and poked his dark red eyes sometimes. Dark red…for some reason, she had swore his eyes were grey earlier.

"You look like someone I seen before…" She trailed off. Sasori vaguely wondered if she was talking about Gaara. Still, he remained quiet and got back to paddling while deep in thought.

Earlier, before he was assigned this task, he was told something that made him curious. The shapeless figure hidden in the dark told him that someone violated the code of life, by taking away a life before its time was due. His task was basically to guide the wondering soul back to life. A soul that gets lost in hell, before its time was due, only brings huge problems. Sasori was even more curious as to why he was chosen for this. He, among two other demons, is to perform this task. Sasori was not told who the other two Demons were though…

Sasori and Hinata finally made it to the ocean shores. He got off the boat, and with Hinata still on board, he pulled the canoe to the sand. He extended his hand for the second time again, towards Hinata, to help her out of the boat. Hinata accepted the hand, and allowed herself be supported by Sasori. Moments later, she followed him wordlessly as the two headed towards a large house that was built on a cliff not so far from the ocean.

Hinata trailed off behind Sasori, she was walking barefoot towards the cliff. On her way there, something hadn't allowed Hinata to remember where exactly she had seen Sasori before. After a few moments, as she stared at the back of his head, she realized this man before her was the same that belong to the organization of Akatsuki. At this realization, she stopped on her tracks. Sasori turned around and raised an eyebrow at her. He must admit her intense gaze is bothering her. He looked down at her feet, and glanced down at his own. Sasori probably thought she was tired of walking barefoot.

Hinata stepped back automatically, as she watched Sasori step close to her. She remembers how things ended last time. After she had allowed him to step too close, he had pushed her off a cliff…

Sasori rolled his eyes at her obvious mistrust and discomfort. He proceeded to step forward and after a small struggle on her part, he managed to pick her up bridal style, and carried her up the long cliff.

"Let go! Put me down you murderer!" Hinata's outburst brought a new feeling, gleaming from his eyes. Sasori actually looked amused!

"You're slowing me down" Hinata gave up on her effortless struggle and allowed Sasori to carry her up. She pouted all the way there.

By each passing moment, her characteristic and personality was returning back to her. She was guided by Sasori into a room, and ordered her to bath and change clothes. Since when was the necessary? I mean come on she's in hell isn't she? Nevertheless, she followed his command wordlessly. Before Hinata grabbed the clothes that were left for her on the bathroom, she noticed this was the same kimono, and those were the same sandals she had, when she died. At least it looked the same to her. Without another thought, she got dressed in the white Kimono with the Purple Obi. She slipped her feet in the wooden purple sandals and walked outside. Comically, when she walked outside the bathroom, there were some arrows drawn on the floor, guiding her to where she needs to go.

Hinata followed the arrows and came to a stop. She was currently at the living room, and three man clad in black cloaks were waiting for her. They were giving her the chills, now that she thinks about it; they each look like the grim reaper.

"S-Sasori?" Dang, she hadn't stutter all the way until now. The shortest one of the three stepped forward and pulled down their hood. Indeed, it was Sasori. She glanced at the other two, silently asking to do the same and show themselves. The tallest man pulled off his hood, and had a goofy grin on his face. He was handsome nevertheless. He had blond hair and blue eyes. His blond hair was pulled in a pony tail.

"So this is the girl we're babysitting, un" The blond hair man spoke. He turned to the person who still had his hood up. Ah yes, she remembered seen a picture of him before. He was also part of the Akatsuki.

"Out of all the Demons in hell, I get stuck with you two. Two I've known in my former life." Sasori commented dryly. Finally the last person pulled his hood down, to reveal it was none other than-

"Itachi?" Hinata felt confused. The three men standing before her were part of the Akatsuki when they were alive. She sighed, and what did Deidara mean by babysitting? Itachi's dark eyes glared dangerously at Sasori's comment.

"I'm Deidara, un!" The blond introduced himself, but Hinata already knew.

"Can we just get to the point?" Sasori asked. He didn't really care about introductions.

"Hyuuga Hinata, you died before it was your time was up. Sasori and Deidara, including myself, are going to be your escort back to the living world." Itachi explained. Meanwhile Hinata just…blinked. Huh?

"You mean I'm going to return from the dead?" Sasori nodded as a reply for Hinata's question. "Why did I end up in hell?" Hinata asked.

"You died before your time, and Demons are the only ones entrusted with the task of making sure that won't happen on your second life chance." Sasori crossed his arms on his chest while he explained this. It vaguely reminded Hinata of how Gaara often used to do.

"If you go back to take revenge, then you're really really gonna end up in hell, un!" Deidara said, a grin was plastered on his face. Hinata looked down at her hands, and started to fidget.

"Before we begin the ritual, we must know if you really intend on taking revenge" Sasori looked uncomfortable as he said this. Hinata wondered if this question was going to be a final test, to see if she should be sent or not.

"I have not thought of revenge yet…" There she said it. It was true though, it was these three men in front of her that was awaking the feeling of anger towards the person who plotted her death.

"Yet…" Itachi chuckled. Hinata does not seem capable of revenge…

"Let's start, un!" The three men began to prepare the ritual to transfer Hinata back "home". Hinata stood in a corner of the room, to watch the three draw several symbols on the floor with some sort of chalk. Itachi motioned for Hinata to come, and so she walked forward towards them, and stood in the middle of the circle that with those unknown signs. Each clasped their hand and chanted words in a language that was unknown that was unknown to her. Itachi, Sasori and Deidara kept chanting until the circle around Hinata expanded in its radius until it surrounded the all four of them.

Sasori and Itachi noticed that a piece of chalk fell from Deidara's pocket. The two didn't pay any mind until it was too late to cancel the spell. The chalk felled on top of one of the demonic looking signs and added a symbol that looked like an apostrophe. As a result, the spell got somehow altered.

The circle began to glow as Sasori and Itachi glared at Deidara. Soon after the brilliant glow, Hinata's body fainted in the middle of the circle.

"Deidara, your carelessness just screwed us up." Sasori said.

"It's just a little dot, un!" Deidara replied in defense, he was referring to the apostrophe. Sasori glanced at Itachi and waited as Itachi examined the signs.

"Deidara altered the spell by adding the devil sign of eternity, which is equivalent to immortality…" Itachi trailed off. Deidara's goofy grin disappeared as soon as he heard this.

"…fuck." It was the only word Sasori could say at the moment. Even in his former life, Sasori had been paired up with Deidara to do missions. During those Akatsuki days, Sasori was able to clean up after Deidara and covered up for his dumb mistake.

But now, by adding immortality to the spell, Hinata and the rest of them will now be bound to earth until judgment day. The four of them would roam the earth with the curse of immortality. There is no way in hell Sasori could cover up another of Deidara's mistake…

"I guess our mission will take a long time, eh? A little vacation won't hurt, un." Deidara was trying to lighten up the mood, however his joke was not found funny at all. After a few moments later, the four of them were teleported to the living world.