Ossa Videre
The day is young and bright.
Lanterns dance in the wind and balloons bob in the air while the entire village crowds the streets, cheering and shouting their joy at the procession making it's way down the street. Long live Konoha!, they yell, May the Leaf and the Cloud live in peace! It is not a sight any have expected to see in their lifetime. Almost since Konoha's conception, there has been a blood fued with Kumogakure. The story goes that, way back in the days of the Niidaime Hokage when Kumogakure was just forming, a squad of Cloud jonin were rescued by a single Leaf shinobi. The jonin, thankful for the salvation, eagerly reported this to their Raikage but his gratitude was absent. The Leaf shinobi who saved them had only been a chūnin, and this shamed their Kage deeply. Kumogakure was new but it would not be called second-rate, would not allow itself to be inferior to those from the Land of Fire. Together with his newly assembled council, he conspired to make the playing field equal. Konoha is not better than us, the councilmen said, Their only edge is their numerous clans with kekkei genkai. Come, let us rebuild those same clans here, and we will see who is truly superior. And for years they studied the Leaf, debating among them which would be the best clan to have for their own. The Senju's were strong, nigh invincible, and the Uchihas were that and more in numbers, but the Shodaime's wife had been of the Uzumakis - naught but a dying clan of incredibly durable redheads, and their Land of Whirlpools was falling. Word had it that Mito's children had perished and her only grandchild was on her way to Konoha. Not only that, but Mito was late in years and Konoha thought to have the great Kyūbi beast transferred into the young girl. If Kumogakure could have her, they'd have both a clan and a powerful weapon. Who would dare to call them weak with the strongest of the tailed beasts in their hands? None. And so it was decided and three of their best shinobi sent out to steal the girl, but the girl was much too clever like the fox demon she housed. Plucking out her fiery tresses, the girl outsmarted them when she couldn't overpower them; leaving a trail for her people to follow once her absence was noted. And this was most humiliating of all: her savior was none but a genin. A genin! Defeating the best of their shinobi! Twice now the Leaf had flaunted it's strength, and now it watched Kumogakure with careful eyes. The Land of Lightning would not be shamed again! Twenty years they took watching and waiting with hungry eyes, awaiting the day they would have another chance. The Uzumaki child grew and died, with it dying their chances of such a trump card, but over the years Konoha's clans had greatly strengthened and flourished. There was word of the clan Hyūga, vast in size and with a dōujutsu almost comparable to the Sharingan. Word that the clan marked their lesser members, and that Kumo would either have to choose a Main house member or an unmarked child. It was said that the daughter of the clan head was most young, pure of blood, and showed little of the talent of her clansmen, but Konoha had been vigilant since their last attempt. Their barriers were impenetrable. To gain access, they must be invited in. And so it went that Kumogakure hastily drew up a mock peace treaty and dispatched Satsu, their finest shinobi. And so he walked in the parade given in his honor, smiling congenially and waving to the masses who now considered him a friend. He was careful not to let his eyes linger on the young pale eyed girl who sat upon her father's shoulders.
Night settled itself across the land, its gentle quiet lulling those tired from their festivities and drunken on free spirits to their beds. The children also retired to their chambers, young bodies full of sweets only served on special occasions. In a show of trust, the Sandaime Hokage had not posted guards at Satsu's door and with no resistance at all, the Kumogakure ninja slipped off into the night to complete his mission. The Hyūga compound was easily found, tucked away in the corner of the village furthest away from the Uchihas, and Satsu crept silently among its perimeter, searching for the rooms belonging to the clan head. Certainly his daughter would be kept close to his own quarters, presumably as safe as a baby chick nestled under an eagle. Satsu would be the coyote who stole her right from under him. Identifying the grandest section of the compound, Satsu stealthily slipped inside, cursing the structure's despicable lack of windows for none were needed for those who could spy through walls. Chakra well masked, he looked for the doors with the lowest handles; evidence of a child's room. He did not search long. There, snuggled in sheets of cream and sleeping soundly lay the one called Hinata. She made not a sound as he gathered her in his arms, her eyelids not so much as fluttering in recognition of being handled. Quickly, taking care to hide himself when a servant passed by, Satsu smuggled the heiress out of the compound. He listened for sounds of pursuit as he ran the back streets and alleyways of Konoha, skillfully avoiding all contact with the late-night stragglers in the street. If he could make it to the edge of the village he'd be home free; the barrier kept threats outside, it did not keep its inhabitants inside.
He was well into the wilderness of Fire Country's forests before the child awoke, eyes wide as a newborn doe and a keening wail only the young are capabale of erupting from her tiny throat. Her hands flew to his chest with little physical impact, but Satsu felt the weak waves of chakra disrupting his heartbeat, trying to stop it completely. He took only a minute to grab her by the shoulders and slam her into the nearest treetrunk, threatening to break her hands if she didn't stop hitting him and abandon her for the wild animals eat if she didn't shut up. The four year old complied, whimpers still shaking her body and tears streaming down her cheeks as the stranger took her further and further away from all she knew. A full day passed before he stopped for rest, even then only lightly napping in the daylight and springing to life every time she tried to slip away. When the night came once more, he scooped her up and burrowed deeper into the forest. By the third day they'd finally breached the edge of Fire Country and crossed into unknown lands. There, in the neutral terriory between Fire Country and the Land of Lightning, Satsu relaxed somewhat. He put Hinata on her feet, allowing her to walk closely at his side with a stern warning that if she ran away, there were many other bad men hiding in these areas that wouldn't think twice to do things much worse than kidnap her. And so she followed her captor as they entered a small civillian town that boasted only one restaurant and had no inns to accomodate them. For the first time since he'd snatched her from her bed, Hinata had not the dry, unflavored rations from Satsu's small knapsack, but an actual meal to fill her stomach. For the first time since they left Konoha, Hinata was graced with the sight of people. With every person who passed them by on the street she wanted to scream Help! Please help me! He's stolen me from my family! but few took notice of her at all, and those that did looked like the kind of people Satsu had warned her about. Even the old lady who waited on them in the restaurant took one look at Satsu, at his headband, and served Hinata her food as if she were just his imaginary friend and not really there at all. It is only the ashen man with the serpentine eyes who looks not at Satsu but at her, and who looks like he sees her and not just a little girl sitting beside a shinobi. His lips stretch into a smile that she thinks isn't for her, that looks more like a smile for himself, and Hinata can't tell if it's predatory or simple amusement. Gnawing on a large fish bone, Satsu catches her line of sight and follows it to the man a few tables over. His eyebrows wrinkle in annoyance.
"Hey. Eyes off the prize. This one's not for sale."
The golden eyed man doesn't seem to hear him, his gaze unbroken and smile unchanging until in a fit irritation, Satsu jumps up, throws cash at the restaurant owner, and yanks Hinata behind her as he leaves. He never speaks directly to her, instead choosing to mutter to himself about 'finally going to be home' tomorrow after they make camp for the night. He leads her a good distance away from the village before he settles them in a lightly wooded area to sleep. Her belly full, Hinata dozes off quickly but awakens suddenly to strange sounds close by. There's a few seconds of loud clanking, like metal striking a sturdy clay pot, and then something like a cross between a groan and a yelp before all goes silent. Belatedly, Hinata realizes her kidnapper is not beside her and her fear climbs. Is there something in the darkness, come to feast on her flesh? Should she call out for her kidnapper to protect her? Should she take the opprotunity to flee, losing herself to the land and praying a kind soul will find her and return her home? She pauses, seconds too long, and the decision is made for her. A figure emerges from the dark, small and moving slowly as if not to frighten her off. When it reaches her, Hinata can see that it's just a boy, hardly any bigger than she. In the shadows of night his eyes are hidden, but the scant moonlight makes his pale hair practically glow. WIthout a word he reaches a hand toward her, waiting for her to take it. Perhaps it is because he is so young or perhaps it is because he does not force her, Hinata slides her hand into his with the blindest of trust.
He doesn't carry her over his shoulder as Satsu did and he does not rush her to keep up with him. Hinata suspects that were she to let go of his hand, he would not yank it back, instead only look over his shoulder to assure she was following. He leads her through the night, all things looking the same in the darkness so that she does not know when she leaves the neutral lands in journeys into shinobi territory once more. It is late and she is sleepy and stumbles often but the boy says nothing to her, allowing her feet to correct themselves and slowing down so she can keep up. Only once does she question her decision to follow him: when they cross paths with a roaming bobcat the boy drops her hand, flying into attack, and Hinata retreats a distance and watches their shapes move with a thundering pulse. He pulls a weapon seemingly out of nowhere and in a few short moves, the creatured is felled. When he turns back towards her, his hands are empty and though visability is low, Hinata sees nothing hanging from his side. The boy doesn't even have a sheath on him. Had he fought off the bobcat with a stick? She doesn't ask but when his hand grasps hers again, warm and slick with blood, she wonders if it is wise to travel with someone more dangerous than a bobcat. That caution fades away, though, as she listens to how his breath heaves from the adrenaline of the fight and it occurs to Hinata that he has saved both of their lives. Her mind flashes back to Satsu's threat of leaving her for the wild animals to pick at, and suddenly she is immensely thankful for the boy's company instead of his.
They come to a stop after a while, in the middle of nowhere, and for a moment Hinata thinks he means for them to sleep out in the open. Then the boy stoops low and lifts a bit of land and Hinata can see a pit open and gaping, ready to swallow her up. In fear she looks to the boy but his face remains unchanged, like it's perfectly reasonable for her to jump inside. When she makes no move to do so he holds the cover open with one hand, wraps an arm around her, and jumps. Hinata is too scared to scream. He lands on his feet naturally, keeping her upright and letting her go when she regains her senses. It's a tunnel he's dropped them into, snatches of light from old candles mounted to the wall making her feel only slightly better than she did above ground. She is away from her family and she doesn't know where she is, but at least she can see where she's going, somewhat. The light is enough for her to see his face more clearly than the moonlight had permitted. His eyes are the light green of fresh algae and lids rimmed in red. Above them are two perfectly circular dots, also red. His hair is a shaggy mess of white, quite uneven, and a little below his collar bone she spies a strange black mark of three waved lines almost in a triangle. He walks forward and Hinata hurries to catch his hand. Who knows what lurks in mysterious underground tunnels? His walk is confident, his feet know the way and Hinata tries to pay attention to everything but there's not much of anything to pay attention to. They turn here, turn there, but it all looks the same in every direction. She thinks back to a story her mother once told her of a girl who fell in a hole and ended up in a different world and it makes her wonder if a strange queen will want to cut off her head. Her ears pick up sounds in the distance, muted by the walls. Voices raised in argument, the violent clink of metal clashing with metal, the steady thud of something heavy hitting a wall. She walks closer to the boy and tries to step as lightly as possible - nothing can will attack her if nobody notices she's here.
Finally, they go down a hall that differs from the others. It's wider and at it's end awaits a grand archway; a gateway into the unknown. Hinata has the urge to finally ask the boy Where are we going? when he looks back at her like her thoughts are loud enough to hear and keeps on walking. She imagines each of his steps is a word of encouragement. Don't worry, just follow me. It'll be okay. There's nothing to fear. She hopes her imagination is right. The arch empties them out into a large room filled with oddities Hinata lacks the vocabulary to describe. Most of it resembles...guts in jars and she fiercely averts her gaze. Again the quiet boy comes to a hault and this time Hinata knows they've reached their destination. There is a chair - no, what's the word for that special chair a daimyo sits on? A throne. There is a throne in the room and it is not vacant. On the throne sits the man who smiled at her in the restaurant, sooty hair loose around his face while his reptillian eyes appraise her. She wonders if, like her family's kekkei genkai, he has some way of seeing right through her. Of seeing down to her very bones. For the first time, she dares to raise her voice.
"Where am I?"
The man doesn't answer, instead his smile gives way to pleased chuckles like he always knew she would end up here and ask him that very question. He waves a hand half-heartedly and the boy at her side turns to face her.
"You're home."
He says it matter-of-factly, like she should have known this for herself the same way that birds always know where their nest is.
But I already have a home. The words choke up in her throat. This boy has not rescued her to take her home. This boy has not fetched her to come play at his house. He has led her far and wide from even her captor and Hinata knows she is most surely lost. How will her father ever find her here? All she has now are the boy and the man on the throne. For tonight at least, they are right. Until she finds a way to contact her father, this will have to be home. She looks down, accepting momentary defeat, and the pale man signals to the boy.
"Find her a room."
The boy nods and grabs her hand gently. She follows without protest, tears sliding down her face again. The boy shows her to a door some minutes later, lets her in, and closes it behind her. The room is small, only fit for a child, and holds nothing but a sleeping mat and a stiff, scratchy cloth for a blanket. She lies down on the mat, thankful for this small luxury at least, and rests her head.
Hinata awakes in the morning to something sharp sinking into her arm and a teenaged boy with glasses kneeling at her side. She jerks away instantly but he settles with a hand on her shoulder, anchoring her to the floor.
"Don't move." , he says. "If you rip it out, I'll have to re-insert it."
There's a needle in the bend of her elbow and a tube attached to it, filling up with her blood. Beside his knees, she spots a small plastic baggie with what she suspects is a lock of her own hair in it. Beside that is a baggie with cotton balls in it. He smiles at her, and unlike the golden eyed man, something in his smile has echoes of long-forgotten warmth. Hinata sits still, watching in morbid fascination as her blood fills the small tube. The teenager's dark eyes leave hers once he's sure she won't move, and he returns his attention to the needle. With one hand he removes a cotton ball from the bag and presses it where the needle meets her skin, slowly retracting it from her vein. His bangs trace the tops of his glasses. Gray, she notes to herself, in case this is somehow important, This one's hair is gray.
"It's good you woke up. Here, chew this."
He holds a fresh cotton ball to her lips and Hinata goes crosseyed looking at it. Why would he want her to eat a cotton ball? But he presses it to her mouth a little firmer and Hinata relents. He watches her chew it for a few seconds, then holds his hand under her mouth as if waiting for her to spit it out. She does, and he puts this in yet another plastic baggie. The last thing he does is pull out a small light which he shines into her eyes. Hinata squints and turns away but his hand grasps her chin and turns her face back to him. He looks at one eye, then the other. Then, he is packing his small collection back into pouches on his body and standing to leave. She almost asks where he's going; maybe he'll take her with him. Maybe he can show her the way home. But the door opens before he can reach it and in walks the boy from the night before, in his hands a plate of food. The gray-haired man nods to the boy and leaves before Hinata can muster the courage to say anything. Instead, she directs her attention to the boy and the appetizing smell of the food.
"Who was that?"
She plucks a fig from the plate he sets beside her, knowing it must be for her. She rubs at the crook of her arms while she chews, the spot still tender, but minor when she thinks of the pain from when she accidentally stepped on a nail last year. Already, it has stopped bleeding.
"A doctor."
"Am I sick?"
"No."
It doesn't make sense to her. Who needs a doctor when they're not sick? Why did he take her blood and her hair?
"Who are you?" she ventures, speaking with a mouthful of bread that tastes like it was made from corn.
"Kimimaro."
It's a weird name. Everything is weird here. Her heart pangs with longing for home. She wonders if this is really his home; he looks nothing like the doctor or the man who smiles. They can't be his family. She wonders if he misses them; if he has one. He leaves with the empty plate when she finishes, and for a time she lies back down on the mat to cry. Can a person cry their eyes dry? She finds out the answer is yes and she stays curled up, sniffing occasionally and staring at the wall. It has been days since the man from Kumogakure snuck into her room. Why has no one come for her? She thinks to the delight on her father's face the day her baby sister was born. He hasn't smiled since, and has never smiled at her. Since she was three, he has spent every day training her to fight, and every day she has disappointed him. Maybe they aren't looking for me. Sleep claims her again, and she dreams of the comfort of sitting in her father's lap, the taste of her mother's cooking, and the sound of her baby sister's laughter.
When she wakes again, her room is still empty and it is still Not-Konoha. The room is dark as it was before, and if Hinata had been old enough to understand the concept of irony, she would have lamented how her room's lack of windows reminded her of home. Was it day or was it night? In an underground tunnel, she has no way of knowing. Unless she ventures aboveground.
She rises from her mat, hair sticking to the side of her face in a dishevelled manner, and stands on her feet. She becomes aware, belatedly, that a night of trampling through the forests barefoot have left her soles both dirty and sore. It is something her mother would surely chide her for, and the lack of a reprimanding voice is lonesome. She didn't much like the gray-haired teen, but any human contact is better than none and once again Hinata looks around at the emptiness of her room. There are no cracks or holes to slip through and it becomes clear that the only way out is through the door. With a deep breath, she opens it slowly. The halls are silent in a way that makes the hair on her neck raise, but Hinata peeps out and finds the coast clear. She takes off.
She doesn't know which direction she heads in, only that somewhere in this labrynth of stone and dirt is the trapdoor she came in through. If she can find it, then she can figure out a way to reach it. She runs as fast as she can, pausing at every intersection of halls and ducking down at every stray noise. After just a few minutes of running, she starts second-guessing herself. Was it a stupid idea to run? What if she made it outside, only to run into a whole pack of bobcats? What if there were wolves? What if she fell into a pack of quicksand and there was nobody around to help her out? She doubts, and yet she runs.
One turn too many leads her down a hallway that opens up into a room of odd machinery and tools and tables. Against the walls, there are giant tanks filled with liquid.
And bodies.
Hinata draws near one, fascination winning out over disgust, and comes cloes enough to tough the glass. The body inside the tank, and each of the other tanks, is young. None of them look anywhere near as old as her father and some of them are quite odd in appearence. She shifts from the first tank to another and then another, until at the last tank she finds a door. She stretches on her tiptoes and turns and under the force of her body weight, the door creeps open. The room it leads to is much, much bigger. Wall to wall there are massive cages and, wall to wall, children fill them. The dull hum of chatter rises to a cacophony of jeers and taunts as every eye turns her way. Her heart begins to pound when she sees some of them - even the ones one the far side of the room - straining at the bar, trying to get to her. The noise gets continuously louder and Hinata finds herself covering her ears with both hands until suddenly, the roar of the imprisoned children drops very low, and Hinata feels a hand loosely grip her upper arm. She turns to look right into passive green eyes.
Kimimaro turns her around to leave, and when the yelling and screaming starts up, he tosses one look over his shoulder and all goes quiet. He ushers her out, closing the door behind them, back through the room of tanks and into the hallways. She cowers at the silence between them.
"Am I in trouble?"
His gaze flicks to her briefly before returning to the path he leads them on.
"Do you know what a maze is? It's a place with walls where you can walk and walk and never find your way out of it."
Hinata doesn't know if that counts as a Yes or a No. Kimimaro continues.
"Some of the doors go to dangerous places. Orochimaru-sama has been kind enough to let you have a seperate room; please don't walk around by yourself."
They stop in front of an open door that she recognizes as Her Room and Hinata goes in without complaint, the door closing behind her. Midway through the night she wakes up and thinks she sees golden eyes staring at her but as she blinks, they disappear.
If they were ever there.