A/N: Behold, the second chapter! Thank you for your reviews and alerts, they mean the world to me. c:

Whenever Kiba visited the Hyuuga household, he couldn't help but notice the serene atmosphere that encompassed the entire compound. It emanated from the residents, whether they were sparring or just meditating, and the birds and trees made their own contributions with their calm and quiet movements. Even the buildings themselves had a somber mood to them – following the same dark, earthy color scheme as their surroundings. The shinobi always felt uncomfortable here; he felt as though everyone was watching him, daring him to go ahead and break the calm as he would normally do anywhere else. Today, however, was a completely different story. Because when he heard the guard's response to his question, he was filled with such great disbelief that he couldn't help but destroy the serenity of the day.

"SHE NEVER CAME HOME?"

Akamaru growled in emphasis of his owner's exclamation, digging his claws into the ground. The guard suppressed the urge to roll his eyes and nodded, unwilling to repeat his statement. "We assumed she was still training."

"What about when she didn't come later?" Naruto asked, having fully forgotten about his earlier desperate craving for food.

"I assumed she stayed over at a friend's house because it got too late to go home."

Both shinobi snorted at this comment, and Kiba spoke up. "She was with me, you idiot! She went straight home! Hinata isn't the kind of person to go and make such a random decision without telling anyone, is she?"

"You're right."

All three heads turned in the direction of the speaker, who was walking towards him from the inside of the compound carrying with him an unmistakable air of self-confidence, his long black hair flowing freely behind him.

"Neji!" Naruto greeted his comrade cheerfully. Kiba granted the Hyuuga a slight nod, and he did the same before turning his attention to the sentry in front of them.

"Hinata would have come home straight away, no matter what time it was," he said, fixing the man with a cold stare. "Or she would have at least told me in advance if she had plans to go somewhere. How could you have been so idiotic as to not inform us of her absence until now?"

"I…Everyone was asleep, I didn't think it would be wise to disturb -!"

Neji held up a hand, effectively silencing the man. He didn't have time for excuses. "I'm going to go look for her. If I'm not back in ten minutes with any news, alert the rest of the clan about her disappearance."

He strode off in the direction of the center of the village, and Naruto and Kiba, who had idly stood by while he spoke, decided to follow him in the hopes of learning more information. They followed the same path that led to the training grounds, their sneakers crunching over the dead leaves and twigs that coated the path. The sounds of their advance echoed throughout the trees, disturbing the birds and the animals lurking in the bushes. Two rabbits sprang out of nowhere and leapt across the path, launching themselves into the shadows of the trees in a mad dash for safety from the humans. Akamaru wanted to chase after them, but his owner laid a restricting hand on his head, preventing the dog from running off.

"Where could she be?" Kiba muttered to himself, sniffing the air in the hopes of catching her scent. They had now turned onto a different path that would soon lead them deeper into the village. He could smell faint traces of her scent back where they had just been walking, a remainder from the night before, most likely. But something was off. "Hang on you guys, I need to check something." They watched him curiously as he walked back and forth along the path, his head tilted upwards and his chest rising as he inhaled deeply. The more he continued down towards Konoha, the more confused he began to look.

Backtracking, he started towards the other path towards the training grounds, puzzling his friends. Neji sighed irritably and turned to start walking off on his own when Kiba's voice halted him. "You're not going to find her there." He froze, but he didn't turn around, choosing instead to incline his head towards the shinobi as a sign that he was listening. "Use your Byakugan. Her scent is nowhere near that path; she couldn't have gone that way. But that's the strange thing – from here it just kind of disappears."

As Naruto strode over to inspect the area his friend was gesturing towards, the Hyuuga went about activating his bloodline ability and scanning the area. As his field of vision spread out further and further, through the streets of Konoha and the buildings in the vicinity he was met was the sight of a handful of familiar faces. However, none of them resembled the one he was hoping to find. Completely focused, he failed to hear the jinchuriki voice a question.

"What?" he asked, turning off his Byakugan. He focused on the blonde, who was hunched over a particular spot on the ground, brushing away the leaves to get a better look.

"There's blood here," Naruto repeated. If he hadn't had their full attention before, he certainly did now. The two others leaned in closer, letting out gasps of horror and outrage as their eyes confirmed what they had just heard. Staining the grass and the dirt patches in between was an all too familiar dried red substance.

Kiba felt the urge to punch himself in the face as he put two and two together. This is her blood…HER BLOOD! I told her to go home…but I didn't take her. I just let her go alone. What if I hadn't said anything, or what if I had walked her home? How could I have let this happen? Shaking his troubled thoughts out of his head, he busied himself with sniffing around the surrounding foliage. Her scent stuck out like a beacon, but it was mixed with some unfamiliar smells as well.

"There's one…no, two other scents here." he said. "They don't belong to anyone we know. But this…this is definitely Hinata's blood."

"Bastards!" Naruto hissed, his voice dripping with rage. "They must have attacked Hinata! Who the hell would go and do something like that to her out of all people? Where the hell are they, Kiba? Can you track them?"

The shinobi couldn't reply. In fact, he could barely hear a thing. His mind was completely blocked by the one thought that kept on bouncing around the inside of his skull, slamming into the walls and torturing him to no end.

It's my fault.

Deidara let out a gleeful laugh as the tiny clay spiders he had just released scuttled over to his partner's bed. They crawled up and down over the bed sheets before settling down in the center of the mattress, a white cloud standing out greatly on the bright orange material. Falling silent, he could make out the sound of approaching footsteps from the other side of the bedroom's door. Perfect timing, he thought eagerly as the handle began to turn.

"Three…two…one!" Right as the door opened, he formed the tiger/ran hand seal with his right hand and watched his creations burst into small balls of flame, completely incinerating the entire bed and leaving behind nothing but a pile of ash on the scorched floor.

He watched the masked man slowly approach the remains of the bed, wishing for the hundredth time that he could see the man's face as to gauge his reaction. The one hole in the pumpkin-colored mask barely revealed a thing. However, the single tear that fell from beneath the man's mask was enough to send the blonde into a fit of mischievous snickers. His laughter grew in volume as his partner knelt beside the spot where his mattress had once been, as if mourning. "Deidara-senpai…that was so beautiful!" Tobi sobbed.

"Of course it was!" the artist grinned, relishing the moment. Truthfully, he had been planning to just destroy something outside, but this was much better. And, just like always, the resulting blast left him with the satisfaction he always felt upon witnessing an explosion.

Tobi began to sweep up the remnants of his bed and Deidara rested his head against the wall behind him, uncrossing his legs and allowing them to dangle over the edge of the mattress. He turned his gaze to the window, through which he could see the mansion's healthy-looking garden. This location was a nice change from their previous temporary hideout, which they had had to abandon once the Konoha-nin discovered it. From there it had been difficult to decide where to go, until Hidan suggested they cross over into the Land of Hot Water and go back to his home village of Yugakure. He had told them about a rich land owner who lived in a large mansion on the outskirts of the village – a home much too big for a single man and his few servants – and had then gone on to propose that they go and relieve him of his home. The trip across the Land of Fire hadn't been easy as they were still being pursued by the authorities, and in the end it took them a couple of days of continuous travel to get to the village, the prospect of staying in such a luxurious residence spurring them forward. The owner hadn't been willing to give them the mansion, and unknowingly signed his and his workers' death warrants in the process of refusing the group's offer of money. Getting rid of them was a simple task for the missing-nin, and a great pleasure for Zetsu as he had the pleasure of 'cleaning up' their remains.

As his roomate cleared the soot out of the room Deidara couldn't help thinking about his previous partner, who had been killed by the hands of the pink-haired kunoichi from Konoha and the old lady from Suna. Although none of them showed it, the members of the group had been enraged by the puppet master's death. Band of criminals or not, when you lose one of your own you're not going to let the murderers simply get away with it. That line of thinking was probably what inspired the Akatsuki to get revenge on the people of Konoha. An eye for an eye, after all. For the last two days they had been doing nothing but plotting and scheming, but other than the basic knowledge that they would abduct one of Konoha's shinobi, the blonde knew nothing. Hidan and Kakuzu had been chosen to go on the mission, so they were the only ones who knew who their target was, and how they planned to capture them.

Growing tired of the silence that had taken over the room when Tobi left, he decided to take a walk around the mansion, maybe explore some of the parts he hadn't gone to yet. There was still the attic and basement, and his comrade's bedrooms. A wicked smile crossed his face as he considered planting some clay spiders on each of their beds, but the thought of what they would do to him in retaliation was more than enough to deter him from this trick. After all, they didn't know how to appreciate the beauty of his art.

"Tobi told us what you did to his bed," a voice said. He looked behind him and saw Kisame coming towards him, his arms folded across his chest and a toothy grin on his face. "Which is pretty funny, but if you try doing that to me I'll cut off your arms."

"Been there, done that," Deidara replied. "Has there been any news from Hidan and Kakuzu?"

"Nothing yet, but I wouldn't worry too much about it," Kisame said. "Apparently their target is more than easy to acquire."

"Who is it?"

"I don't know."

The blonde rolled his eyes and continued his walk down the hallway, the blue-skinned man following after him. "…Are you lost?"

"I'm just bored," Kisame admitted. "It's been three days and I haven't had a single fight. Speaking of which, how about we go one on one?"

"Go fight Itachi or something. I'm not in the mood."

Kisame opened his mouth to reply when they heard the crunch of gravel from the other side of the manor and the whinnying of horses. Catching each other's eyes, they immediately went off in the direction of the double doors that marked the entrance of the mansion.

"They must be back. Any clue at all who they've brought with them?"

"None. Let's go find out."

Hinata could feel a vice-like grip on her shoulder as she was violently shaken back and forth. Her stomach churned with every moment and she could barely register what was going on around her, instead putting all of her efforts into keeping the contents of her stomach down.

"Get up, already!"

The strip of cloth that had been tied around her eyes disappeared, and she slowly lifted her eyelids to test her vision. However, the sunlight proved to be too much for her, and she immediately shut them closed once more. The hand on her shoulder forcefully pulled her upright, and although she wanted to move away the bonds around her wrists prevented her from fighting back. Oddly enough, she felt rather calm, even though she didn't have a clue what was going on. Her head was still rather fuzzy, and her memories from earlier were returning unnaturally slowly.

"Who the hell is this? She doesn't look like anyone useful."

"The Hyuuga heiress. Interesting choice."

The voices sparked a hint of curiosity in the girl, and she opened her eyes once more, this time allowing her pupils to get used to the bright light. She was sitting on what appeared to be a bed of straw covering the floor of a wooden cart. Looking behind her, she could see a small, frightened looking man on the driver's seat, holding the reigns of a bony horse. He didn't look like he wanted to be there, and when he caught her eye, the words he mouthed told her all she needed to know. I'm sorry.

Turning away from his gaze of pity, she instead set her sights on the eight people surrounding the cart. Most of these people, she had never seen before in her life. But even so, she knew who they were. The black cloaks with the unmistakable red clouds that they donned only served to confirm her previous suspicions. As she tried to remember whatever she had forgotten a sharp stabbing pain appeared in the back of her head, clearing the fog in her head and allowing her memories to painfully flood back to her. The reality of the situation she was in began sink in, and her heart began to hammer against her ribcage so hard she felt it might burst.

"You're legs aren't bound, so get the fuck off this thing already," the man holding her shoulder ordered.

His most noticeable aspect was the large triple-bladed scythe he wore on his back, the black blades glinting in the sunlight. Breathing deeply in an attempt to calm herself down, she obeyed the order and slid off the wagon. Her legs must have been far weaker than she had first assumed, as her knees buckled under her and she fell face-first onto the ground. She heard a couple of snickers coming from her right, and no-one moved to help her up. She didn't notice the pain shooting across her forehead, however. It seemed as if her fear had finally taken control of her, numbing her senses until she couldn't feel a thing. The Akatsuki…What's going on? Why am I here?

She didn't register the sound of approaching footsteps until they were right beside her ears. "Here you go!" someone grunted as they grabbed the back of her jacket and used it as a lever to pull her up. She caught a glance of blue skin and immediately averted her gaze, afraid of catching the man's eyes. For a millisecond she wished she was still drugged – the total nonchalance she had felt earlier must have been a side effect, and now she was desperately craving it once more.

Let go of me don't touch me someone anyone why I am I here help me please help me what is happening here? The frenzied line of thoughts wound its way round her brain, blocking out the small voice that was begging her to be cool and collected, like a proper shinobi should.

"Look at her eyes, she's terrified!" someone exclaimed gleefully. The speaker was a young blonde man with long bangs covering his left eye. He moved in closer to get a better glimpse of her, and she could do nothing, still suspended in the air by blue-skinned man.

"Well, Deidara, since you've taken an interest in her, you can guard her while she's here," Kakuzu said. Hinata couldn't help but shudder at the sound of the man's voice – a reaction that did not go unnoticed.

"She doesn't like you, Kakuzu-san," the man in the orange mask pointed out.

"We know that, Tobi. I have to say, choosing her was smart."

"Be quiet, everyone."

It was an orange-haired man who spoke, with multiple piercings in his face. He…he's the leader, Hinata thought decidedly. The statement had come to her with such ease, but as he approached her she could feel what little confidence she had managed to hold onto begin to vanish. A bead of sweat trickled down her face and made its way down her cheek, and he clenched her teeth as the man began to talk once more, his cold voice penetrating the recesses of her mind.

"Deidara, as Kakuzu suggested, you shall be her guard," he said. "The rest of you – quit wasting time and come with me. We have work to do."

"Pein-sama, wait!" Deidara yelled, halting the group. "Why do I have to be the one guarding her? Why can't any of the others do it?"

"Are you questioning my orders?" Pein asked. He said the question with disinterest, but the menacing glare he fixed on his subordinate showed otherwise.

"…Never mind. C'mon, girly." Placing his hand behind her neck, he pushed her forward into the mansion.

She barely noticed the rude manner in which he moved her – she was still trying to make heads or tails of her situation. In such a frazzled state as the one she was in, however, she couldn't think of anything. Her mind was completely and utterly blank. So blank, in fact, that she didn't realise they had reached their destination until she heart the clangof steel behind her. Looking back, she saw bar upon bar of silvery-gray steel, moving all the way to the end of the room. The cell she was in was small and cramped – a small metal bedframe with no mattress took up half of the space on its own. There were no windows, but beside her was a wooden door that was just about her height. It was set deeply in the bluish stone that made up the walls and floors of the entire room. She wanted to open it, but once again she was reminded of the constraints that made her hands useless. The atmosphere of this place was so cold, so dead. It chilled her to the bone. But even so, it seemed like she was finally able to relax a bit. Here, almost in complete isolation, she felt much safer than she had out there, even if the same rules still applied. The man who had brought her in – Deidara, that was his name, wasn't it? – looked around with contempt and sighed, muttering something under his breath.

"I'll be back in a minute," the blonde said off-handedly. "If I were you, I wouldn't try anything. Not that you can!" He chuckled wickedly and leapt up the stone stairs that seemed to have materialized from the darkness.

As soon as he disappeared Hinata tried ripping off the ropes that held her still, but she didn't manage to achieve anything. Frustrated and scared, she fell to her knees and leaned her aching forehead on the cool bars. It was hopeless. One way or another, she was trapped, with no way out. Her vision became blurred, and the water that had pooled in her eyes began to slowly trickle out. I couldn't do anything to protect myself…Damn it!