A/N: FALLEN NOBLES!!! (late update excuses below)
"Are they awake?"
"No."
"How much of a dose did you give them? I told you only fifteen milligrams!"
"Ops, ehm…you got them clothes right?"
"Yeah, just hope that our spare clothes fit. Wait, don't change the subject!"
"Dobe."
Hinata heard voices as she stirred awake. She opened her pale eyes to see a damp, metal ceiling with dripping pipes. It arched slightly, as if she was in a giant tube.
She was lying down in a cloth hammock hanging from the edges of the small room. She looked up and saw 3 others hanging in random spots in the room. Her younger sister was sleeping on the one adjacent to her own. Her small, seventeen year-old chest would rise and fall in intervals, signaling that she was still breathing.
Hinata let out a sigh. At least she knew Hanabi was safe. Well, 'safe' wasn't the term to use. More like 'at least if I die, she dies with me' kind of safe. The Hyuuga sisters were lost. The small room didn't seem familiar at all. It was a total contrast to large, pale yellow room she had in the manor. It was grimy and dark—fairly neat, but the rusty scrap metal walls couldn't be helped.
Suddenly, she heard heavy footsteps approach her. She grabbed the light cotton blanket that was bunched up at her lap and threw it over her head, attempting to hide herself. It was useless though, for a bright looking blonde grabbed the blanket and pulled it over.
"Sorry about that, but you need to be awake for this." He said and offered her his hand to get up.
Hinata was mesmerized. This kid—loud, blonde, and cheerful—was her kidnapper? He looked to be about her age of 20 and had cerulean blue eyes. His hair spiked in every direction and was an obnoxiously bright yellow, which contrasted with his all black attire of cargo pants, boots and t-shirt. A military dog tag hung from a silver chain and jingled every time he rocked back on his heels.
"Dobe, stop staring at the charge." Another boy followed inside the small room, and whacked the blond on the back of his head. He dressed similarly to the blonde in the black cargo pants and boots. His shirt was a clean white and he had a black leather biker jacket on top. His hair spiked only at the back and ebony bangs fell on either side of his face. A dog tag also hung from his neck on a silver chain.
"I wasn't staring!" The blonde boy defended, trying to put up an aggressive front.
"Well, whatever you two! Just shut up and get out!" A pink haired girl appeared at the doorway, crowding the room even more. Hinata thought she was as good looking as the two boys in front of her. She had short bubblegum pink hair and emerald green eyes. She wore a body hugging black tank top and skin-tight leggings tucked under the opening of her flat boots. She had elbow guards in black and the same dog tag on a chain, accompanied by a circular pendant.
"But Sakura-chan…" The blonde pleaded.
"Hinata-san needs to get dressed. Plus, I have to wake up Hanabi because somebody gave her an overdose!" She was obviously referring to the blonde, who was whipping his hands around defensively.
"But—"
"Shut it Naruto!" She stated with poison dripping in every word. She pulled out gloves from her back pocket and slipped them on, all with a scowl on her face. "Get. Out. Now. Naruto."
The blue-eyed boy hastily left, dragging the other male by the jacket. Once they were out, the pinkette by the name of 'Sakura' turned towards the older Hyuuga with a smile.
"I'm sorry about my brothers. Sometimes they're harder to handle than others." She said sweetly, before bending down to open a chest. She pulled out a loose grey T-shirt and a pair of khaki long shorts and threw it in Hinata's direction. "Put these on. They might not be much. It's all we could spare. Besides, you must be really uncomfortable in….that. I know I would've been."
Hinata glanced down to see what she was talking about. She remembered now—they were taken in the middle of a celebration, the birthday of a distant cousin whose name she could not remember, meaning she was still in her formal clothing. She was still in a light blue halter dress that flowed down to mid-calf. A large ribbon tied itself around her and was placed at her back.
She didn't see anything wrong with the picture, but when Sakura turned around to wake Hanabi up, she unzipped the side of her dress quietly. Before she could reach for the shirt given to her, footsteps came and the door was flung open.
"Yo Sak, Lee dislocated his arm during training and crap…" A brown haired boy appeared at the doorway. His hair was messy and ruffled, and his canines were pointier than usual. He wore a grey mesh shirt over some grey cargo pants and combat boots. Red triangles were painted under his eyes and the signature dog tag hung from his neck.
Hinata suddenly brought her arms protectively to her chest and turned around, a slight blush on her face. While Hanabi started to stir awake, Sakura shot a glare at the male. "Kiba, get the hell out of here!" She demanded, not before flinging a syringe at him, scratching his face. The brunette quickly left the room, just as Sakura jumped towards the door and screamed: "You'd better pray that the charge doesn't have AIDS!"
Hinata managed to slip on her shirt and the shorts quickly before she turned around to see Hanabi fully awake and sitting up. She didn't even have to turn around though—her ranting was enough. Sakura merely stood there trying to calm her down.
"Hanabi-san, we mean no wrong! We just"—the pinkette grabbed the younger Hyuuga by the shoulders and shook them violently—"We just want to talk."
Hanabi visibly calmed down, but still kept a hard glare on the pinkette.
"Alright, I guess someone has to explain this to you." Sakura sighed, before digging into another chest on the other side of the room and pulling out a white shirt and black shorts. "Put these on first, then meet me outside the door."
Sakura then slipped out of the room, shutting the door behind her. She planned to stay outside this time, in order to keep her perverted group mates away.
"Onee-chan, can we really trust these people?" Hanabi asked as she stared at the spot the pink haired girl had once been.
Hinata sighed and shook her head. "I'm not sure. But they haven't tried to hurt us yet." She said.
--
The two Hyuugas followed Sakura's booted steps with their own barefooted ones as she walked through the damp hallway. "Again, I apologize for the clothing. It was all we could spare. Most of us have barely 3 changes of clothing. Our money usually goes to the organization. Mine usually goes to the medical supplies." She said. "We get our money from selling out old possessions: clothing, jewelry, furniture and land. Land mostly. It's become very valuable after the raids conducted by your father."
"Father would never do that!" Hanabi snapped. "The rebellion did that! It's Hidden Leaf's—"
"Why would we do that?" Sakura backfired. "We're living fine on our own. We're just a bunch of kids, rowdy for sure, but we were NEVER capable of doing that! Hidden Leaf is a reform organization, trying to regain what Fire Country lost! While you Hyuugas became richer and richer, our families lost everything! We're living underground, LITERALLY!" Her breathing started to slow as she regained herself. "I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do that."
Hanabi continued to glare at her, but it somehow softened. Hinata thought that it was out of fear, because in all actuality, the woman was quite scary. But the fact that she placed the name Hyuuga as that of a villain made her cringe as well.
Sakura coughed slightly. "Hidden Leaf, or Konoha, is a reform organization that aims to rebuild Fire Country." She repeated. "The reason why we have you is because you two are the heirs to the throne. Now, we didn't capture you for money or power, just to knock some sense into you." Sakura explained as she led them to a small, adequate room with two table-and-bench sets, a refrigerator and a stove inside. Several people were already inside, including Sakura's brothers and the boy who walked in on Hinata dressing.
"Sakura-san, with all due respect, may I ask if you can help my arm?" A tall man with his hair in a strange bowl cut approached, clutching his right shoulder with his other hand.
"Of course Lee-san." Sakura said sweetly and motioned for him to sit down. She stretched his injured limb and pulled on it violently, causing the poor bug-eyed man to cry in pain. "Sorry Lee-san!" Sakura apologized profusely as the green clad Lee stood up.
"No, NO Sakura-san! It's fine! But one day, I shall win your heart, my youthful blossom!" Lee declared and Sakura just sweatdropped.
"It's nice to know, Lee-san." She said, watching him leave the kitchen. She then pointed to the nearest bench and told them to sit down. The pink-haired woman opened the refrigerator and pulled out two sandwiches in Ziploc bags.
Setting them in plates, she presented them in front of the other two girls who reverted their eyes to the brunette approaching Hinata.
"Hey," It was the boy from earlier.
"Kiba…" Sakura growled, sitting on the bench across from the white-eyed girls, clutching a mug of tea.
"L-listen, I'm sorry for that. I mean, walking into the room while you were…erhm, yeah…" He babbled, rubbing the back of his neck childishly. Once he regained composure, he ran a hand through his locks and then extended his hand to shake. "I'm Inuuzuka Kiba, by the way."
"Inuuzuka…?" Hinata thought deeply. "Why does that seem so…"
"Familiar? Well, my sister was Lady Inuuzuka, before she disappeared during a raid a few years ago. She was accused of part of Hidden Leaf, so they attacked our house and…"
"Oh." Hinata whispered. Sakura was right. "I'm—"
"You don't need to tell me. Everyone here knows who our charges are. Hyuuga Hinata, right?" She nodded as he continued. "Well, I hope you get to see the world from our point of view, ne?" He chuckled before moving to the other table where the blonde boy from earlier and a brown-haired girl were having an arm-wrestling match.
"I was going to apologize…" Hinata mumbled to herself.
The pink-haired medic giggled. "That was Kiba. He's our head tracker here along with Aburame Shino," Sakura pointed to a dark-haired man with sunglasses, who just impassively observed everything from the corner. "He and Kiba were best friends for ten years, ever since his parents went missing along with Kiba's sister. Dog-boy doesn't want to admit his sister's death. He still thinks she's in hiding, just like the rest of us; so don't give his any remorse. Before that, his parents were assassinated in front of him when he was six, and Hana took over the family."
The Hyuuga sisters merely nodded, absorbing all the information.
Sakura then motioned to a blonde woman, the sleeping male and a chubby guy munching on a bag of potato chips. "Yamanaka Ino, Nara Shikamaru and Akimichi Chouji—their fathers were major generals. The best, in fact. They never knew what happened to them. One day, they just suddenly disappeared, and they ended up living by themselves. They sold their land and joined Konoha to find out what happened to their fathers.
"The boy you saw earlier was Rock Lee. We don't know where the hell he came from, except for the fact he was adopted by Maito Gai, a martial arts specialist and a friend of Sasuke's teacher, Hatake Kakashi. He came to us saying that he wanted to defend his – quote – beloved Fire Country with the spirit of youth, or something. Then He developed some kind of crush on me.
"The girl with brown hair in buns is Tenten. She has been an orphan from the start and has been abused by Fire's soldiers in unmentionable ways." Sakura visibly shuddered. "Anyways, after that, she was found by Mitarashi Anko, a weapon designer. She used to supply our weapons, until she was arrested under the account of supplying our weapons. We don't know what happened after that, but at least she never told on us.
"Uchiha Sasuke. Yes, he is the Uchiha Sasuke, the massacre survivor. He found out that Itachi was ordered to kill the family, because they were already conspiring against your father. After his sixteenth birthday and seven long years with Kakashi, who by the way was caught during a Fire raid, he joined us."
When she glanced at the raven-haired boy, he smirked slightly and nodded at the pinkette. In turn, she propped her head on her fist and stuck her tongue out, causing the Uchiha to flinch.
"He fears me." Sakura played. "Anyways, the other loud blonde is Uzumaki Naruto. His father was Namikaze Minato, who died protecting the country from the Kyuubi no Kitsune Bandit attack, and his mother was Lady Uzumaki Kushina, who was killed in childbirth. After that, the toad Sannin, Jiraiya took him in. He has been my surrogate brother since I was four."
"And what about you?" Hanabi asked with a scoff.
"Pardon?"
Hinata answered for her sister. "What's your story Sakura-san?"
"Hag," Someone called from behind the three women, causing all their heads to turn to the source of the voice.
Standing there was a pale man, his skin the complete opposite of his hair. His t-shirt was cut in half and exposed his (well shaped) stomach. Black slacks and gloves were matched with it, plus his heavy artillery boots. Like pretty much everyone else in this organization, he had a dog tag hanging around his neck.
"Sai, you baka," Sakura snapped.
"The Sand Siblings is here." He stated bluntly, then turned to face the Hyuuga sisters. "Are these our charges?" He asked.
Sakura stood up. "Yeah. But since I can't leave them with you alone…" She looked past Sai's shoulder to call someone over from the other table. The blonde guy from earlier, who they found out a while ago, was Naruto, the brunette with her hair in two buns named Tenten and a blonde Sakura pointed out was named Ino all came over.
"Forehead, are you going to deal with that sand bitch?" Ino sang out. "Because if she hurts Shika—"
"Don't worry, their relationship's fine. I just have to talk with her and her brothers. Could you take care of the charges for me?" She asked sweetly, then walked away before anyone could decline, taking with her the two black haired boys and Nara Shikamaru.
Ino sighed. Up close, the Hyuugas got a better look at the two.
Ino's banana (see 'Sunburn' for references) blond hair was up in a high ponytail and cascaded down to her mid-back. She wore a black shirt and a khaki button-down one over it, tied at the bosom. Her pants were green cargo shorts and she wore the signature black combat boots and dog tag.
Tenten sat beside her and propped her heavy combat boots on the table and leaned back on the wall. She had a beige tank top on with camouflage pants. Again, a dog tag hung around her neck on a chain, swishing to the pace she plopped on the bench.
After a few awkward moments, Hanabi asked, "What's Sakura's story?"
Ino looked up from the juice glass she was swishing around out of boredom. "Pardon?"
"She told us what happened to you guys, but not her story." Hanabi explained. "What's hers?"
Ino and Tenten shared a knowing glance with each other and then directed it to Naruto. "Why me?" He asked, waving his arms around defensively.
"Fine, I'll tell it." Tenten offered, lowering her boots and leveling herself with everyone else on the table. Somehow, everyone else scattered in the room transpired to their table to listen.
Tenten inhaled deeply, looking annoyed with the other people in the room. The air was tense as she opened her mouth to speak.
"When Sakura was four, she was found in the middle of a battlefield, with no memories of what happened before that and lots of blood on her hands. Everyone else around her was dead. Senju Tsunade and her team happened to stumble across her. Tsunade later adopted her and taught her everything she knows. Her past is still a mystery though and the only links she has are the dog tag given at birth and the pendant someone gave her before that happened."
Hinata and Hanabi and the rest of the room were silent, absorbing everything just said. Then, the younger Hyuuga looked up and said, "Then she doesn't know that the pendant she's wearing is the Hyuuga Jade?"
A/N: EXCUSES!!!
A: School's a bitch.
B: MY LAPTOP CHARGER FIZZED AND CRACKLED. AND it has ALL MY NEW CHAPTERS!! GAH! ALL OF THEM WERE DONE!!! BUT NO THE CHARGER HAD TO EXPLODE!!! ~x((
So, this file was already in the document upload manager thing, and I needed a way to break the news to all you subscribers. So, yeah. - scratches head -
Anyways, I'm happy with this story. I've been working on it for a few months, so I hope there won't be any grammar errors or anything. :)) ILABSHOO. :D
~Bella