Mortal Instruments, a naruto fanfic

This fic was initially a drabble inspired by a discussion about what Hinata might do if she was ever pushed to her limit and is partially based on the setting of the excellent fic "Team 8," up at (You don't need to read that fic to understand this one, but it's certainly a wonderful read.) I've greatly rewritten/expanded it since then, and now even harbor future ambitions about expanding this into a multi-part series that will diverge wildly from that starting point…

As always, comments, questions and constructive crit are always welcome! The more criticism/commentary I received, the more motivated I get to actually work on my writing! And that can only be better for everyone in the long run, right? ;)

Title: Mortal Instruments

Rating: Hard R

Pairings: Naruto X Hinata, Kabuto X Hinata

Summary: He had touched her first five years ago-- but now, nothing is the same. Naruto X Hinata; Kabuto X Hinata. Dark AU.

The first time Yakushi Kabuto had ever touched Hyuuga Hinata, she had been all of 12 years old and dying on a concrete stadium floor, surrounded by a crowd oblivious to her misery. The month before had seen her almost beaten to death by her own flesh and blood in the preliminary rounds of the Chunnin exam; the day of the actual exam found her almost collapsed over in shock, her heart hammering so furiously and erratically that he could sense it several yards away from her. For the first, but not last time, Kabuto had wondered for the first (but not last) time if fate had some sort of grudge against the pretty Hyuuga girl, some sort of strange urge to wring every last drop of pathos out of her.

She was, Kabuto had thought as he traced the outline of her pained profile as she turned towards her frantic team mate, more entertaining to watch than any tragic opera heroine he had ever seen as of yet. And when that same team mate had struggled to bring her nearly into Kabuto's lap for emergency healing-- well, he couldn't help himself, really. Orochimaru wasn't the only one in Sound who was attracted to unorthodox agony.

And, Kabuto had thought as he slowly massaged the delicate veins around her heart into a semblence of order, Orochimaru wasn't the only one who had an interest in taking a genin under his wing either. Quiet, unassuming little Hinata-chan had already suprised many, herself included, in the sheer tenacity and courage she had displayed in her last battle. Despite the fragile clay she had been formed from, her blood line limit and lack of a curse seal gave her the potential for great power. If only some one could have the time to tap into that power and bring it out of her...

But even as Kabuto had lain his capable hands upon her to heal her, he had thought that there was nothing that could ever come of this, or her. It didn't matter how hard Hinata had fought to keep her eyes open to gaze at him,, or how furiously her heart had worked to move to a beat set by his fingers, or how stubbornly she had moved her insensible lips to thank him. It didn't matter how soft the skin underneath his fingers were, or how tempting her obvious crush on Naruto was.

It simply didn't matter how hard she fought all that was arrayed against her if there were no results forthcoming. And Kabuto could hardly abandon his mission from the Sound to take on a student of his own just now-- especially not a student that came from a village he was about to help destroy.

Better to simply take pleasure in the moment and forget someone so inconsequential, so fated to absolutely nothing interesting. Better not even to think of what could have be done with her if only he had the time...

But if he closes his eyes and moves his mind past all the tedious atrocities of his past, he can still recall the dampness of her sweat soaked body and the scent of noble blood sweltering within her veins. And when it comes time to open his eyes again, he knows that part of him has held onto her in a way that defied forgetting.

Five years quickly fell by the wayside; facing that very same girl now, Kabuto realized that no matter how old he grew, or how immeasurably tired, life still held the occasional surprise. Somehow, life had both broken and reformed Hyuuga Hinata and changed that girl who had once bleed so touchingly at her cousin's feet into something even more tempting than before.

She stood before him now, no longer only 12 years old and no longer looking as though the only thing she expected of life was a series of humiliating defeats. She stood before him, still and silent, with a look in her eyes that Kabuto had seen before in war veterans or rape victims-- as if reality lay in a mind that was endlessly replaying traumas. She stood before him, her cheeks and lips smeared with blood that might have belonged to her lover, the Kyuubi vessel-- or possibly to the unfortunate kinsman that had killed him in the first place.

With his head wrenched almost clean off his shoulders, no one would ever call said kinsman the Hyuuga genius now. And surely even the kindest could no longer consider the kunoichi who killed him to be an innocent anymore.

Kabuto knew, even as she stood there as silent as a stone siren, that she must have lost her mind just a little with the death of her lover. That she must have become slightly unhinged as her cousin had slew the man she had loved for most of her life in front of her. That her insanity-- and the finally fatal way she had been always underestimated by her clan-- had somehow allowed her to kill what many of Konoha recognized as the genius of clan Huuga. That she must have somehow discovered that Kabuto had saved her life half a decade ago. And that she finally must have concluded that there was no one else to turn to for whatever she wanted except someone as monstrous as himself.

He knew that shy little Hinata-chan had somehow been corroded by time into something almost unrecognizably strange... and something deep inside him almost shuddered in expectation. He had a feeling that he knew exactly what she would want, having previously dealt with Uchiha Sasuke.

Kabuto's lips turn up involuntarily at the thought of Sasuke-- Sasuke, who had given so much over to his master, Orochimaru, is search of a vengeance even he had to know would not really change anything.

And as his eyes lazily traveled up and down the shivering frame of his new protege, Kabuto knew he would be able to persuade Hinata to do just the same quite soon.