A Slender Chain
A continuation of Mercy For the Merciless
Hidan was grinning widely, it had taken him nearly a year to track down and kill the slaver from Kumo. The sacrifice had been sweet and Jashin's wrath had descended upon the man for defiling His favorite servant. The bastard never even had a chance. He had decided that his next target was that shadow using brat and his little girlfriend!
However, the God had something else in store for Hidan. It was to Jashin's way of thinking that Hidan had committed a sin, impossible situation be damned and Hidan needed a lengthy punishment.
He stalked Konoha's borders and found himself in a fight against her, the shadow user and the girl who had set him free.
"But I buried you!" Shikamaru said going white as a ghost. Hidan smirked at him.
"You can thank your little girlfriend for your death today shithead!" Hidan sneered.
"What? What are you talking about?" Shikamaru asked.
Hidan gestured towards a pale Ino. "That stupid little tramp over there faked my explosion and sold me to a slaver! Isn't that right princess?"
"Ino! Is this true?" Shikamaru asked.
"Shikamaru. I'm so sorry, I didn't think he'd ever escape-please! Ino begged.
Hidan was behind Ino in a flash and he took his scythe and cut upwards through her body, splicing her almost in half before Hinata who had just arrived with her team shouted,
"Stop!"
Hidan found his muscles reacting against his will and he stopped Ino's grisly mutilation. He cursed angrily when he remembered that once he had been passed over to his owner that they would have complete control over him till the day they died! Because the curse mark could only be held by one person at a time.
Hinata hadn't realized that the curse mark was still in play until she saw that poisonous blue chakra reacting to her chakra signature, surging around him and halting his muscles and brain activity. It was not unlike the Hyuuga's curse mark she realized. She bowed her head, refusing to look the stunned Shikamaru in the eye.
Two hours later, Hidan had been forced to follow in her footsteps like an obedient dog all the way up to the Hokage tower. She explained everything and told The Hokage that she would take any punishment that she deserved.
Tsunade the fierce old lioness that she was, was hesitant about putting Hinata in death row for her crime. She would be torn apart in less then a few minutes. She was also deeply disappointed in the girl. Hinata really was too soft-hearted for her own good. However she was beginning to see an opportunity to hit two birds with one stone. If he could be commanded, she reasoned to herself, he could be the death blow to Akatsuki, if she put Hinata in charge of him, then she could help Hinata at the same time and punish her for her crime against Konoha. Trouble was, Hinata hadn't changed much, she had a little more confidence in her abilities but she was still shy and had a problem standing up for herself. Tsunade wondered briefly if she could handle this type of enormous responsibility.
"Hinata. I can't believe that you'd do this! This is not the type of behavior I would expect from you of all people!" Her harsh voice alone was enough to make the girl wilt.
Hinata bowed her head.
"Command him to wait outside!" She snapped, gesturing towards Hidan who had quickly gotten on her nerves with his brash insults and loud voice. She was disturbed that he reminded her of Naruto…in a gut-wrenching sort of way.
"Hidan-" She began.
"What? You're going to take a brow-beating from this old bitch? Show a little backbone and tell her to go fuck off!" Hidan said, pushing her forward.
Hinata winced at his choice of words and she showed some backbone. Just not in the way Hidan expected.
"Hidan, please go outside and w-wait for m-me and don't cause any trouble."
Tsunade smiled inwardly. She had a feeling that Hinata would do just fine.
Hidan felt his body moving towards the door and sitting down quietly with a mulish expression on his face. He was going to kill her as soon as he had the chance! He could hear the angry mutterings just behind the solid oak doors as Hinata was being heartily berated.
When she emerged, both were made to wait under ANBU guard as Tsunade called a council meeting.
Tsunade was glad that Danzou had died last year, he would have complicated things. There were also new village elders who had taken the places of Koharu and Homura after they had passed away
Lord Hiashi was not pleased. "She's done what?" He asked.
"Why call council when you know what her punishment is going to be?" Asked the Head of the Aburame clan calmly.
"Because I think that this event is going to turn the tides of battle against Akatsuki." Tsunade proclaimed.
"Explain." Prompted the Head of the Akimichi clan.
"We all know that Akatsuki has taken on powerful new members and are back to full strength."
"What does that have to do with the Akatsuki captive?" Asked the Civilian Representative.
"He has had a curse seal placed on him when he was sold into that elusive shinobi slave ring. One that makes him do whatever his "master" wants. That way the slavers ensure the safety of the buyers and keeps the slaves from running away. We could easily make him tell us everything he knows about Akatsuki, make him fight for us, he's our ticket to victory."
There was murmuring as the council deliberated this astonishing and fortunate piece of news.
"And just who is his master?" Asked the Head of the Nara finally after he had carefully turned over every piece of information in his mind.
Tsunade braced herself. Getting them to accept that he could be commanded to do anything they needed him to do would be easy, getting them to accept who his master was would be extremely difficult.
"Hinata Hyuuga."
As she expected there was an instant uproar.
"What? The girl's too soft and weak-minded. Even if she has control, there's no way she can control him!" Shouted one person,
"This is outrageous!" Shouted another.
"This is mostly her fault anyways! Hers and the Yamanaka girl!"
"Which is exactly why she will be in charge of the Akatsuki prisoner." Explained Tsunade. "Setting him free instead of taking him prisoner is her crime and she must pay for it no matter how benevolent she may have thought her actions were."
"What's to stop her from setting him free again?" Asked the Civilian Representative.
"She is willing to accept whatever punishment she deserves and this is what she will be forced to do." Tsunade argued.
"Lady Hokage this is an act of madness!" Cried out the Head of the Akimichi and the arguments began again.
All through the shouting, The Nara had sat silently by thinking about everything he had just heard. Like the others, he believed that it was troublesome that of all the people to have control of him, it had to be Hinata Hyuuga. He liked Hinata, it was difficult not too. She was sweet and quiet and selfless to a fault but he honestly didn't think that she could handle someone like Hidan day in and day out. Still he could see why the Hokage wanted her to do it and he personally would rather not see her executed. It would be like a lifelong act of community service. He thought, lips lifting in amusement.
"I propose a trial period as well as house arrest." The Nara said, stopping everyone in their tracks.
Lord Hiashi did not look pleased with the Nara's suggestion.
"With the rest of the Hyuuga clan there to oversee this trial period and to make sure that the prisoner does not escape or be set free, we will be able to test Hinata Hyuuga's ability to control the prisoner. If she is unfit for this responsibility, ownership will immediately be passed onto a more capable shinobi and Hinata Hyuuga will be imprisoned for her crime until her execution date."
There was murmuring as the council carefully considered, the idea did hold merit. Fortunately for the Hyuuga Heiress, she was well liked by most of them and privately few wished to see her executed though they would do it anyways.
"Hypothetically, if we were to allow a trial period how long would this observation time last?" Asked Elder Chihiro, who was Koharu's daughter.
"Several months?" Suggested the Head of the Fujin clan
"With the threat of Akatsuki we don't have that much time." Said Tsunade.
"Agreed." Said the Head of the Inuzuka clan.
"But we have to give her a decent amount of time." The Nara said.
"They could show up on our doorstep any day, especially if wind of him being here gets out." Said the Leader of the ANBU. "If they have any idea about what that curse seal is capable of they'll know that he's sharing Akatsuki secrets and the village will be under attack! She should be executed immediately and given over to someone else, keeping him locked up and out of sight so that news won't spread."
"I agree." Said Elder Tsuberu. "Word travels fast. This should be S-Rank information, keeping it hush-hush is the best course of action until the time is right,"
"What about one week?" Suggested the Head of the Aburame clan.
Everyone fell silent for a few brief moments.
"That seems like an adequate amount of time." Said The Akimichi head thoughtfully.
"They both should be in house arrest for an even longer period though." Said the Head of the Aburame clan.
There was nearly mutual consent all around at that suggestion. The only one who showed displeasure at the idea was Hiashi Hyuuga.
"If Hinata succeeds and we end up winning this battle, what in the hell are we going to do with him?" Asked the Head of the Inuzuka.
"Throw his ass in prison!" Demanded the Head of the Hama clan.
"He's too dangerous! We'd have no control over him then! The curse seal can only be passed onto one person at a time. One prison guard can't stay with him at every moment." Argued the ANBU Leader.
"Then throw her ass in there with him too!" Retorted the Hama clan's Head.
"Well where's the sense in that if she's already paying her debt to Konoha?" Asked the Head of the Akimichi.
"How the hell is she going to continue paying for her crime once Akatsuki's defeated?" Snapped the Head of the Fujin clan. "She's committed a serious act of treachery!"
"Because if she succeeds, she'll be forced to continue having control of him until the day she dies." Explained the Head of the Nara.
"In case you've forgotten, he can't die." Growled the ANBU leader.
"But he can be permanently incapacitated." Said the Aburame.
"Why not just do that after Akatsuki's been defeated?" Suggested Elder Tsuberu.
"Because Hinata would be let off pretty easy." Tsunade said.
"I'd say you're letting her off pretty easily now Lady Hokage." Grumbled the Head of the Hama clan.
Tsunade's eyes flashed angrily at the blatant disrespect in Yuuyake Hama's tone.
"Enough of this!" Snapped Elder Tsuberu who eyed the clock wearily. "It is time for the council to vote. All those against Hinata Hyuuga's trial period and house arrest?"
A little less then half of the hands went up.
"All those in favor of Hinata Hyuuga's trial period and house arrest?" Elder Tsuberu said.
Roughly half the hands went up
Tsunade was relieved. It had been a near thing.
"It has been decided." Said Elder Chihiro, nodding to the scribe. "Bring the traitor in."
Hinata Hyuuga was brought in, sleepy-eyed and frightened, flinching as she waited for her punishment. Though she wasn't sure why it had taken so long, or why the Hokage had called council.
"Hinata Hyuuga." Said the Hokage. "You have committed a serious act of treachery against Konohagakure! You know that the punishment for this crime is imprisonment until the day of execution. However…"
Hinata looked up.
"In its wisdom, the council has decided to be merciful and momentarily suspend your punishment, where you will be given exactly one week from today to show that you can control the S-Rank Akatsuki criminal Hidan. You will both be on house arrest for an indeterminate amount of time and one member of the Hyuuga clan will be bringing us the report at the end of the week. If you are successful you will extract information concerning the Akatsuki Organization and will command him to fight against them until they have been destroyed and you will continue to pay your debt to Konoha by keeping him under your control for the rest of your life. If you are unsuccessful at controlling the S-Rank Akatsuki criminal after one week from today, then he will be given to a more capable shinobi and you will be imprisoned on Death Row until your execution date." Her words were harsh and full of finality.
Hinata had not expected this. She understood that the council's decision had been based on necessity rather then mercy. But she was grateful none-the-less for the small reprieve.
"I understand and I will not give the council cause for regret for its wisdom and mercy." She said.
"For your sake Ms. Hyuuga I hope not." Said the Head of the Fujin clan testily.
Hinata, Hidan and the ANBU guards walked away as the council members began filing out.
"Lord Hyuuga I want a word with you." Said Tsunade.
Hiashi turned around. "Yes Lady Hokage?"
"I understand that you are deeply disappointed in your heir." She began.
That was a vast understatement. He thought.
"And while the hierarchy of your clan is your responsibility, I had better not see the cursed seal on that girl otherwise I will assume that you are interfering."
"Understood Lady Hokage." He said.
"Tomorrow I will also be choosing the person who will observe Hinata's interactions with the Akatsuki member"
Hiashi's face was impassive, though he was thoroughly displeased at having yet another thing taken out of his hands, but orders were orders and he was not, unlike his daughter, a traitor to Konoha. He gave a curt nod to show that he understood and left.
Hidan eyed the large, yet overly feminine room he was going to be sharing with her in disgust.
"I refuse to sleep on the floor. I'm not your fucken pet you know! So you might as well gimme the bed."
Hinata took a deep breath, reminding herself of her nindo.
"I had n-no intention of making you sleep on the floor, we're going to g-get a sp-spare cot for you."
That saying, she walked out of the room and Hidan was forced to help her get a cot and gather some sheets. When she had finished making his bed, she took off her sandals, shut off the lights and stared at the ceiling. Silence reigned in the room before Hidan finally said.
"What am I sposed to do about my sacrifices?" He demanded.
"Sacrifices?" Said Hinata, who had been jolted awake by the sound of his voice.
"To Jashin-sama! I have a monthly quota you know?" He said angrily. Though to be honest, he'd more then fulfilled his quota to appease his God in the last year. Probably enough to satisfy the quota for the next two years. Though he sure as hell wasn't going to tell her that!
That's right! She'd forgotten that he was a Jashinist.
Her next answer surprised him.
"Fourteen."
"What?" He asked.
"Y-y-y-you have to sacrifice at least fourteen people every month to appease Jashin. However, you'll j-just have to make do with your o-own b-b-body until we start getting sent out on missions."
Hidan gaped. "How do you know that?"
Hinata had once read a forbidden book about Jashin when she was twelve and she had been absolutely terrified of both the God and his followers. Though she wasn't going to say that to Hidan.
"I once read a book about Jashin when I was twelve." She said.
"What was the book called?" He asked.
"The Lord of Death by the High Priest Shirotenshi."
Hidan was even more astounded! He had first read the book when he was eleven years old and here was little-miss-goody-two-shoes announcing that she had read the same fucking thing!
He pondered this new knowledge as he began to drift to sleep. Well it wouldn't be hard for him to control little-miss-goody-two-shoes so he didn't have to worry about making his monthly quotas.
Junigatsu Hyuuga had been summoned to the Hokage's tower early the next morning. She waited patiently until Shizune opened the door and beckoned her into the room.
"ANBU Kirin. Remove your mask. "
She removed her mask.
"Junigatsu Hyuuga, I have a mission for you. Your cousin Hinata Hyuuga is being punished for an act of treachery against Konoha." Lady Hokage said.
Junigatsu didn't bother to hide her shock. This was certainly news to her and absolutely unbelievable! Hearing that Hinata had committed an act of treason was about as believable as seeing water being set on fire!
The Hokage quickly explained the situation and for some strange reason, Junigatsu relaxed when she realized the situation wasn't as bad as it sounded. If that made any sense.
"You will be momentarily relieved of your ANBU duties for one week to observe the interactions between Hinata and Hidan. I would also prefer you not to reveal that you're the person observing them to anyone." The Hokage said. "As far as they're concerned, you are on a two week vacation."
Junigatsu nodded. "Yes Lady Hokage."
She understood why she was being recruited for this mission. The Hokage wanted a fair and unbiased report, something most of her relatives, who despised the young heiress, would not do.
Hidan was lost in that sweet beautiful world where it was just him and his God. As he was pulled deeper into his ritual, he began to feel Jashin-sama's power closing in on him like blackness surrounding a star.
"HIDAN. YOU HAVE SINNED AGAINST ME IN YOUR CARNAL KNOWLEDGE."
Hidan winced, there was no point in hiding anything from Jashin. There had been times when he had actually enjoyed the new and pleasurable sensations that sex could bring when he had been in training with that damn slaver. That alone could have him ousted from the Sacred Order of Jashinists!
"I HAVE BEEN APPEASED BY YOUR SACRIFICES, BUT NOT PLEASED ENOUGH. YOU ARE GOING TO ENDURE A LENGTHY PUNISHMENT UNTIL I SAY OTHERWISE."
"Yes Jashin-sama." Said Hidan, as meekly as he could ever be, while he waited for his God's judgment.
"YOUR PUNISHMENT WILL BE ENDURED WITH HER."
Hidan seemed confused and Jashin was again reminded that he had to be very straightforward with his most prized, devout, but…thickheaded priest.
A face appeared in front of Hidan and he realized that his punishment was supposed to be served with little-miss-fucking-goody-two-shoes herself!
"Yes Jashin-sama." He said humbly.
Hinata woke up to see that her roommate was lying on the floor, with a pike in his chest, a kunai in his throat and weapons in various other places and that he was as naked as a newborn. This gave her a moment to study him, so she activated her Byakugan and stared deep into his body, watching in fascination as a supply of blood, cells and chakra replenished itself continuously, being deposited in pockets until it was needed, then flowing to the correct area to repeatedly heal his body. Looking deeper still she also found strange chords and bonds that rippled golden and solid and attached themselves to him. Hinata wasn't sure how she knew, but she knew that it would take a truly unearthly force to rip that soul from the body and when it did the pain would be excruciating.
And perhaps the most astonishing thing of all was that he seemed very handsome in this state. With that shock of white hair against black skin, a chiseled handsome face which was as expressive as Naruto's and his body…before she could continue with that train of thought she blushed brightly and banished the treacherous thoughts from her mind. Just in time to see a pair of amethyst eyes snap open and look directly at her.
The spray of scalding water hit Hidan as he cleansed the blood from his body. He felt that like miss goody-two-shoes, he was being let off relatively easy, though he couldn't quite fathom why being stuck with her was supposed to be a punishment, he had also decided it was better not to ask. Jashin was already displeased with him and it would take a long ass time to get back into his good graces without stupid and unnecessary questions.
Hinata wasn't the only one who dreaded coming down to breakfast. Lord Hiashi wasn't exactly eager to come down and eat with the family either.
Hinata sighed, they were unpleasant enough when she had been branded a useless failure, and they were going to be unbearable now that she was a traitor. Stony glares met her and her charge as they walked down the stairs.
Hidan, having lived with the likes of high and mighty bastards like Leader and Itachi Uchiha was used to this behavior and decided to see what would happen if he grabbed a hold of the stick up their asses and set it on fire.
Protocol was expected of her, even in her disgraced state so she bowed to her father and the other members of her family. Her younger sister eyed her with slight disgust and eyed Hidan with a mix of curiosity and fascination. Her younger sister had never been branded with the Hyuuga's cursed seal as it had recently become custom for the Head of the Main household to have more then one child in reserve just in case. Hinata knew that Hanabi would be taking over the reigns soon and was glad. Her sister would make a much better leader then she would anyways.
"Is there a reason you aren't wearing a shirt at the table Hidan?" Lord Hiashi asked him.
Hidan gave a small smirk.
"Why? You can't keep your eyes off me?"
Not even Hiashi could hold back a blush of embarrassment and anger at the crude insinuation.
Hinata lowered her head and began to eat quickly.
"Maybe Hinata can explain why he's not wearing a shirt." Snickered Hanabi.
Now it was Hinata's turn to blush. But she answered in a far steadier voice then she expected.
"It is a part of his religion not to wear a shirt."
Noticing the fanatical gleam in his eye the members of the main household thought it best not to comment. Well most of them thought it best. Hanabi, who had an antagonistic streak prodded.
"Why is that Hinata?"
Ever tactful Hinata stopped to think for a moment. Answer for him and he would blow up. Allow him to answer and they all would blow up in each other's faces, either way, she realized, she could not prevent a negative outcome. Fortunately she was momentarily spared of making the decision when her cousin, Junigatsu Hyuuga trudged wearily through the door.
"Junigatsu-san." Lord Hyuuga said by way of greeting.
"Lord Hyuuga." She said. Her eyes roving around she feigned surprise to see the S-Rank criminal sitting at the breakfast table. Well, it wasn't completely feigned. She certainly wasn't expecting to see Konoha's newest prisoner at her table. The foul-mouthed, antagonistic man would certainly provide, for perhaps the first time, an amusing meal at the family table and from the looks of things he was already getting under their skin.
She put away her gear and came downstairs to eat. She didn't have to listen hard to hear the argument going on downstairs.
"I do not appreciate that kind of language in my household!" Lord Hiashi was shouting in cold fury.
"I don't really give a shit what you think!" Hidan snapped gleefully.
"Hidan please-" Hinata began.
"You will wear shirts at my table!" Lord Hiashi growled.
"Father I don't think-" Hinata tried again.
"Be quiet Hinata! This is all your fault anyways." Countered Hanabi smugly.
"Y-yes I know Hanabi."
"She's right it is all your damn fault." Hidan said, every bit as smugly as Hanabi had.
"Well-" She began.
"Shut up Hinata!" Both men roared.
Hinata had her hand over her face and bit her lip. She knew breakfast wouldn't go well today, but she had not expected it to turn into this kind of chaos.
Junigatsu sighed, her cousin was rapidly losing control of the situation. She was trying to speak but couldn't be heard because the shouting (which was an almost non-existent thing in the Hyuuga household) was escalating. Finally with a determined look on her face Hinata leaned in to say something in Hidan's ear. He shut up grudgingly. She picked up her plate and faced her flustered and uncomfortable family.
"I apologize for the strife I have caused at the table this morning. Please excuse us."
She bowed to them and beckoned for Hidan to do follow her, sighing she picked up his plate of food as the man got up and the two of them made their way out of the dining room.
Junigatsu raised an eyebrow. This would be a most interesting mission.
"Why are you apologizing little miss goody two shoes?" Hidan snapped irritably. "Why don't you grow a fucking backbone like I told you too?"
Hinata took a deep breath as they sat in the tiny kitchen. "Because it is my fault that you are here."
"You regret setting me free already little-miss-goody-two-shoes?" He grumbled through a mouthful of food.
"No." She said.
"Don't lie. Cause you suck at it. Seriously."
She picked up her chopsticks. "Do you regret it?" She asked.
"Is that a fucken trick question?" He asked, taking juvenile satisfaction when she winced at his words. "Let's see! I could have been taking it up the asshole for the rest of my life if your pitiful ass hadn't come along. It was a really stupid thing setting me free. But I'm sure glad you were stupid enough too do it."
"And you're ungrateful." Thought Hinata angrily. Instead she began eating, hoping for at least a silent meal. But she was soon to find out that with Hidan, there was no such thing as peace and quiet.
"Hey! Hey what the fuck is up with your family? Do they all have sticks up their asses?" He prodded, trying to get her to explode with anger. Though Hidan was going to find out that Hinata was simply incapable of such a thing.
"Hidan…" She began, then shook her head.
"Spit it out goody-two-shoes!"
"Would you like to train with me today?" She asked him.
"What? I'm a fucking prisoner in your fucking house and you want to know if I want to train?" Hidan asked incredulously. "What is this? Hotel Hyuuga?" He scratched his head unable to understand her confusing behavior.
"I-well I just thought that maybe…umm…" She began and then trailed off, feeling more and more like the awkward Genin she used to be. "That…well since we're going to be fighting t-together that we should start learning each others-"
Hidan was getting impatient with her speech patterns and quickly cut her off.
"Yeah sure I guess." At least it would relieve some of his tension.
After breakfast, Hinata began recording all the information that the Akatsuki knew. Unfortunately for her, the information was outdated and would be of little help to Konoha and its allies. When they were finished with the long session, it was almost three o clock in the afternoon.
They were about to go into one of the main dojos when she was summoned by her father.
"Hinata Hyuuga. I am sure that you know why you are here." He asked coldly.
"Yes father." She said.
"You know that I cannot allow a traitor to become the clan's head." He said.
Fear of being branded-like Neji-like Hidan-suddenly caught a hold of her, though she knew in her heart of hearts that they had all been planning this for a long time. Beside her, Hidan was quiet.
In a shaky voice, she whispered. "I know father."
He stared long and hard at her for a moment. He was not surprised to see that she knew that this had been coming even before her betrayal.
"I am naming Hanabi as my heir and though custom dictates that you should be branded with the cursed seal, the council has forbidden my doing so in the belief that we would be interfering in your trial period."
Hinata nodded, knowing that there relief was shining from her eyes and she did not care who saw it.
It was not the first time Hiashi Hyuuga had seen Fate favoring his eldest daughter. Fate seemed to favor her more then all of his clan put together. She was weak. Incredibly weak. At first he had been mildly surprised that a stronger shinobi hadn't picked her off before now, until he realized that the Hand of Fate was shielding her from the worst of life. Her gentle spirit was not meant to live the macabre, brutal life of a shinobi. There had been many times when he had seriously considered sending her away to live a mostly normal civilian life. But he knew that the council would never allow an untrained Byakugan wielder to run around, ripe for the plucking of shinobi who sought to gain the secrets of a powerful bloodline for themselves. And yet, here it was, the Hand of Fate shielding her yet again from the worst that life could inflict. His attention turned towards the newfound bane of his existence. He…despised the missing nin that had been foisted upon him by the slightly desperate council. He didn't have to look hard at all to see the insanity shining from his eyes. The man was clearly deranged. A psychopath. Hiashi had seen enough of them to know. He had challenged his authority twice in front of his clan. Something that was unforgivable in the eyes of a Hyuuga. As if on cue the monstrosity spoke.
"Hey miss-goody-two-shoes! You gonna give up your throne so easily?" He jeered.
Hinata looked at him and replied. "It was n-never really my throne to begin with."
"Wow. You're an even bigger pussy then I thought." He remarked casually.
"You will show respect to your captor." He stated coldly, not so much for Hinata's sake, but because here, in front of the clan elders, he felt that he could not allow her to muddy the Hyuuga name further by allowing his scathing remarks.
Hidan put an arm around Hinata as though they were old friends.
"Aww. Don't act like that Papa Hyuuga." He said mockingly, watching the man bristle. "Your darling Hina-chan and I are joined at the hips now."
He thrust his groin hard into Hinata's backside, reveling in their shocked gasps, his voice creaking and rising as mad laughter spilled from his lips. Really these people were just too easy to rattle!
Hinata blushed furiously and ducked her head as Hidan sipped on the energy of her mental anguish the way a hummingbird sipped nectar from a flower.
Lord Hiashi turned a shade of red that Hinata didn't even know he was capable of turning. In all her years, she had never seen him as furious as he was now.
The only thing that kept his rage in check was the fact that he knew his daughter. He knew she was not the kind to have an affair with the likes of an enemy, even her betrayal was typical of her compassionate behavior. So why did Fate continue to protect her? He wondered for the umpteenth time as he fixed the man with a hateful stare-the man who was holding her in an intimate lover's grip, designed to humiliate her. The one she could have broken out of easily, but didn't because she was in shock. He got a better grip on his anger and told them both heatedly that they were dismissed.
Hinata slipped away from him then and marched out the door in mute misery.
Hidan's mad laughter following in her wake. The elders all sent pitying glances her way and shook their heads disgustedly.
They stood in the dojo, Hinata taking on the Hyuuga fighting stance.
Hidan looked at her stance and laughed.
"What the hell is that?" He asked mockingly. "I could knock you over with a feather the way you're holding yourself."
A small frisson of anger worked its way into her system. She was fully aware at just how Hidan had made her look in front of the elders and worse-her father! Now they all thought that she was a…she banished the thought and instead asked.
"Are you r-r-ready?"
A psychotic smile bloomed slowly on his face and he rushed her, letting her know that he had no intention of holding back. A few well-placed kicks to her chest and stomach left her winded and he figured that she was easy prey. So he was surprised when one of her weak punches stopped the chakra flow. No matter, he could still fight. The two began a furious Taijutsu battle, though this time he kept a slightly more respectful distance between him and her flat palms or jabbing fingers. She got him again in his thigh and he felt actually felt his chakra pathways being blocked. It was a strange feeling and he wondered what would happen if she blocked all his points. Would it be enough for someone to actually kill him when his continuous supply of healing chakra stopped? He was suddenly intrigued and perhaps a little unnerved at the prospect.
She needed another dose of humiliation. So in one quick move, he sidestepped her blow and pinned her to the ground. The position was sexual, but for Hidan he was not aroused in the least. He had been reconditioning himself to shut off those kinds of feelings, though sometimes deep in the night, he still felt ghostly vestiges of blazing passion. Grinding his hips into her in a suggestive manner, he remembered how good it felt to kill one of the courtesans that had been in charge of his sexual training. It had been the one sacrifice he been able to make when he had been under the slaver's command.
The memories caused his hands to tighten around the slender column of her pale throat and he smiled down at her, seeing coppery red locks instead of raven hair, terrified blue eyes in place of pale pearls, pearls that were turning bloodshot as he choked the life out of her. He bit his lip hard enough to draw blood before biting hers in a brutal imitation of a kiss-he didn't even realize that he was entering his cursed state as he panted heavily, intent on killing the girl beneath him. Hidan, prized priest of Jashin, personification of Death on earth, more so then any shinobi who could barely pass themselves off as pale imitations of Death was going to deliver the girl straight into Jashin's open arms.
It was Jashin himself who spoke and stopped his priest from delivering the final blow.
"ENOUGH HIDAN!"
As subservient and meek as she'd ever seen, he inclined his head in a respectful bow and got off of her.
Hinata stood up, shaking violently and drawing in deep breaths. They had been doing fine a moment ago until he snapped for some reason. She began walking out the door, beckoning Hidan to follow her. She realized that there was no escape from him.
Junigatsu sighed. It was her first day on the job and Hinata was not doing well.
She ate dinner in the kitchen, barely listening to Hidan as he delivered one of his terrifying sermons, she was so lost in her own world that she didn't even notice the strange face peeking out from the wood-grains in the kitchen floor. After dinner she and Hidan trudged upstairs, relieved to escape this miserable day.