Wow, a quick a positive reception! I'm rather touched. Now unfortunately I can't promise that every chapter will be as long as that one; that was a pretty lengthy one for me.
But enough rambling, let's just continue with the story shall we?
Disclaimer: Once again, still don't own anything.
000
"There has got to be an easier way to get food,"
"Come on, we're S-ranked criminals… Is stealing food really THAT difficult for you, hm?"
"That's not the point… Still, I must admit Konoha always has quite the selection,"
In the dark night, two figures slowly leapt through the trees of the Hidden Leaf Forest. They each wore everyday street clothing that looked old together and ragged, as well as large hats that concealed their faces very well.
"I still don't get why we always have to wear these clothes, hm," One of the figures commented.
"You know exactly why. If anyone were to ever spot us, we'd simply look like common thieves,"
"Yeah I know, but… When have we been caught? Personally I find the robes much more comfortable, hm. Besides, they're much more artistic than these rags,"
"Heh… I guess you've got a point there. Of course, if YOU think they're artistic, why haven't you tried blowing them up?"
"Well as much as I hate to admit it, sometimes your stance on art is right, hm,"
The other let out a slight chuckle.
"Finally come to your senses, eh, Deidara?"
"More like I'm going insane… I must be spending too much time around you Sasori, hm,"
Deidara and Sasori continued their trek through the forest arguing about their artistic views for a little while until something caught their attention.
"Someone's close… Let's stop for a moment," Sasori said. The pair stopped on a rather thickly leaved tree, both sensing a presence nearby.
"Let me take a look…" Deidara took his hat off for a moment to reveal long, blonde hair underneath. One of his eyes was covered by said hair, which he promptly moved to reveal a sort of eye-scope.
He zoomed in with the scope as the presence drew closer. Within moments a figure quickly passed by below them as Deidara pressed something on the scope.
The pair was silent for a few seconds after the figure passed.
"Well?"
"It was a girl… From Konoha in fact, hm. Couldn't have been older than 18,"
"Odd… Why would she be out so late?"
"No idea. Didn't get a good shot of her face… But she's heading in the direction we are,"
"Think she knows about the hideout?"
"Doubtful… But just in case, we should follow, hm,"
"Why not just kill her?"
"Sasori!" Deidara looked at his partner.
"What? We're S-ranked criminals… It's not like you haven't done your share of killing,"
"Yeah but… She looked so young, hm,"
Sasori scoffed.
"So what? Not like we haven't killed an innocent person here or there. Besides, I could use another puppet…"
Deidara shuddered a bit.
"Well… Let's just follow and see what she's up to, alright?"
"Fine… But if I begin to suspect she knows about our hideout…" There was a clack of gears from within Sasori's clothes, and his hand suddenly turned into a sort of gun with several needles.
"…Alright, fair enough, hm,"
Without another word, the pair began to silently trail the young woman through the night.
000
Hinata had no idea how long she had been running for, and she didn't care. She would run all night if she had to; anything to get away.
As if that whole day hadn't been bad enough, that final moment with her father pushed her even more over the edge (If that makes sense…). Any slight chance of a second thought was now gone, and the further she got away from the village, the better.
The entire time, all the events of the day replayed themselves in her head, fueling her drive even more. Particularly the moment with Naruto…
"…Naruto…"
Hinata silently said his name, though in a much different tone than normal. Instead of the gentle and dreamy way, it was now much more mournful, like a coyote's howl in the middle of the night. Despite seeming to have disregarded everything about the village, her heart still ached; she couldn't even remember how long she had been in love with Naruto, and he just tossed it all aside with one simple sentence.
Something about you is just off for me…
Hinata physically winced slightly as the sentence replayed itself in her head.
Off… In other words, different. Weird. He probably thought I was creepy or something. And who could blame him? You stalk and act so damn awkward around a guy that long and think he's actually going to CARE about you like that?
"Or maybe it's because I'm so weak…" She muttered to herself.
Go then. Run Away. Be a coward. Be weak.
The words stung more than an entire hive of bees.
You are not my daughter.
Hinata stopped moving for a moment; the memories were now flowing back up and she could already feel the tears forming. She had to stop.
000
"The hell is she doing now…?" Sasori whispered. Deidara simply looked at the scene before them with a sorrowful look.
The girl they had been tracking was now sitting against a tree bawling her eyes out.
"Poor girl, something must have really gotten to her, hm… Hey Sasori, you see her eyes?"
"Oh yes… And the protector around her neck? Leaf symbol, white eyes… Definitely a Hyuga,"
"They're one of the richest and most powerful clans in Konoha, right? Why is she all the way out her…?"
"You wanted to follow her, didn't you? So why don't you shut up and keep watching.
As if on cue, the young girl began to talk to herself.
"W-w-why am I… S-so weak…?" She blubbered. "I-I-I'm supposed to be a-a-a-an h-heiress…! W-w-why did everything happen l-l-like it did?"
The pair's eyes widened.
"Heiress, eh…? Interesting,"
"Y-Y-You really d-don't deserve to be a H-H-Hyuga… Father was right,"
"Well, lucky us… Hm,"
"She must've been exiled from her clan… But why run away from your village?"
"Maybe there's more… Huh?" Deidara turned his head.
"Well well, everyone's up and about tonight…" Sasori muttered.
The duo could sense 3 presences heading straight for the Hyuga girl.
"They're heading right for her… What do we do?"
"What do you mean? We sit here and watch. Maybe they've come to take her back,"
Deidara said nothing. He didn't know why, but he really felt sorry for this girl. She seemed innocent enough…
Regardless, he kept quiet as the three figures approached.
000
Hinata wiped her tears on her sleeves.
Listen to yourself… Crying and wailing about what just happened for the world to hear. Nobody else is around!
"Aw, what's the matter little lady?"
Hinata gasped, almost immediately standing up. 3 rather gruff looking men were standing before her. Hinata cursed herself for not paying attention and seeing them coming. And she has the Byakugan…
"N-nothing, just… Had a bad day," Hinata quietly said. She turned to go, but one of the trio was suddenly in her path, grinning.
"What's a pretty little thing like you doing out so late?" He asked with a menacing tone. Hinata backed away, now deeply afraid.
"You look lonely…" Another was behind her. "It's pretty dangerous out here, you know… Never know who you'll bump into,"
Hinata gulped. She was going to have to fight… These men clearly wanted something.
"A leaf ninja too… How lovely," One of the men licked his lips. "She looks so delicate…"
"Stay back…"
One grabbed her arm.
"Come on… Let's have a little fun,"
"I said STAY BACK," Hinata suddenly activated her Byakugan as she struck her holder with a rather powerful blow. He was sent barreling to the ground.
"Ooh… Feisty one," He cackled as he rose. "Alright boys… We got a fighter,"
The three surrounded her in a triangular formation, not realizing she could see all three of them at once.
"Can't fight what you can't see!" One cried as the three men charged her at once.
It was a futile attempt; Hinata gracefully dodged the three as they all charged in, deal swift yet powerful blows to their chakra points. It was like a dance; none of them could seem to hit her, even when they all attack at once from different angles.
"The hell is with this gir-augh!" One took a particularly hard blow to the stomach and doubled over.
Hinata was quite pleased; despite her recent failures, these men seemed to be very poor at combat…
000
"Hm… She's not bad," Sasori admitted. Deidara said nothing; he was mesmerized by the display before him.
000
"Alright so you wanna play that way, huh?" One quickly made some hand signs.
Oh no…
"Wind Style: Wind Sickle Jutsu!"
Suddenly, a heavy gust picked up; Hinata tried to dodge but the attack was much too. She cried out as the air seemed to cut into her skin; her clothes tore in several areas as her face and hands received several small cuts.
Damn…
Before she could react, one of the others had grabbed her arm and dealt a very harsh blow straight to her face.
"How's THIS!" He roared as he then kneed her in the gut, causing her to double over and fall to her knees. Blood dripped from her nose.
"Little bitch…" The assailant struck her across the face again. This time however, Hinata reacted; almost immediately she struck with a quick jab aimed at his midsection…
Only for her hand to be caught.
"Nice try!" He laughed as he squeezed down on her fragile hand. She screamed in pain, still recovering from the stomach and face blows as well.
000
"No… No, Sasori we gotta help her, hm!"
Sasori sighed.
"I suppose… She's probably a better person than them anyways…" He began to move his arm forward.
000
Hinata couldn't believe how easily these men had beaten her; clearly she underestimated them greatly.
The man who was holding her hand down dealt a forceful kick into her stomach. Hinata recoiled even more, clutching her stomach as she coughed up a small amount of blood. Tears leaked from her eyes as she was suddenly forced to the ground, belly-down.
"Alrighty then… I'll have first go boys, alright?" He laughed as Hinata felt the man get on top of her.
"You try to resist and you're dead," The man whispered into her ear. Hinata felt his hand reaching up her pant leg…
Suddenly, there was a small noise, and the man's weight on her seemed to lighten.
"W…What the…" Were the last words he said before he rolled off her and collapsed.
Hinata looked up to see the other two men had both collapsed as well. None of them moved.
Hinata, still shaking, rose to her feet, wincing from the intense pain she still was feeling in her stomach.
"H…H…Hello?" She choked out as she began to cough up a bit more blood.
There was no response. Hinata went to activate her Byakugan…
Suddenly, she felt a pinch in her leg. She looked down to see a small needle sticking out of it.
Then, she felt sleepy. Her body began to shake violently as her vision suddenly darkened.
"Wh…What…" She pulled the needle out, noticing it seemed to be coated in something.
"Po…Pois…. On...?"
Hinata fell to the ground as she quickly lost consciousness.
000
"Nice shooting Sasori, hm," Deidara complimented as the duo leapt from their tree.
"I suppose. Not like it was that difficult. Even you could've hit them from there,"
"Very funny," Deidara walked over to the unconscious girl, examining her.
"Bastards… Those are the kinds of criminals I can't stand, hm. At least we have a little class,"
"I'll have to agree on that one…" Sasori pulled a scroll from her clothes, and unraveled it. "But these three will make nice additions…" He made a hand sign, and suddenly the letter on the scrolls reached out and grabbed the bodies of the three men, pulling them into the scroll. In an instant they vanished.
"What about her… You didn't kill her, did you?"
"Relax, I only used a minor toxin on her. She'll come to in a few hours," Sasori assured his partner.
Deidara ripped a piece of his sleeve off, using it to wipe some of the blood from her face.
"She doesn't look too seriously hurt… A bruised eye and cut lip… Although her nose could be broken…"
"What about her stomach?"
"They didn't look strong enough to really do much damage, hm," Sasori walked over, staring at the girl. Deidara chuckled. "She's rather pretty… A real piece of art, eh…?" Sasori groaned.
"You always need to compare things to art… Although…" Sasori looked at the girl. "I guess I can agree about that as well. Not bad looking at all,"
"So what are you gonna do, hm? We can't just leave her lying here…"
"Well what did YOU propose? Don't tell me you want to take her with us?"
Deidara was silent.
"You can't be serious… We can't just bring her into the hideout,"
"Well where's she gonna go? You heard her! She's been exiled from her clan and is pretty banged up, hm," Sasori shut his eyes, sighing deeply.
"This is one of the dumbest ideas you've ever thought of… But I know you're not going to let us leave her hear unless I kill her,"
Deidara's visible eye widened.
"However… I suppose a Hyuga, the heiress to boot, could be potentially useful… We may not be an organization anymore, but it couldn't hurt," Sasori looked sternly at his partner. "However, I am NOT going to help you convince the others to let her in. If you can't get them to agree… We'll have no choice,"
Deidara's face darkened a bit.
"I realize that…" Sasori shrugged.
"As long as you understand, alright…" He paused. "What's with you and this girl…? You're usually not this kind, you know,"
"I honestly don't know…" Deidara gently picked the girl up bridal-style, careful not to touch her injuries. "Just something about her seems so pure and innocent… At least when I look at her. But I guess we'll see how she really is when get comes to,"
Without another word, the pair left the scene, leaving not a single trace of anything ever occurring there.
000
A bit of a shorter chapter I realize, but I think the chapter got its point across. What do you think? Like it? Hate it? Someone not in character enough for you? Suggestions? Let me know with your reviews! See you next time!
