The Road of Trials

Part Two

A continuation of The Road of Trials Part One


Hinata stared into the darkness, unable to sleep long after Hidan had finished his evening ritual. She wondered if he saw his God. Then she wondered if he would be offended if she asked him. Religion was a tricky subject, half the time he encouraged discussion, so long as he was the one doing the telling. Half of the time, even the simplest question sent him into a rage. Such was the mind of a zealot and in truth sometimes Hinata was sick of it. But being Hinata meant that she listened fully and politely.

The one good thing about being Hinata that her father valued was that she was able to listen to conversation without interrupting and adding her own opinions until it was over with, then figure out the best course of action for the best impartial solutions, she had a good, sound mind, he'd said, one of the few rare compliments she'd ever received and because of this invaluable ability, she knew that she would at least be afforded a prime spot in diplomatic positions.

Suddenly she began to feel that sense of the divine and her breath caught in her throat as she stood naked and for the extremely modest girl, completely unashamed. A rush of wind, cold and musty blew her long blue-black hair out of her face and she found herself staring up at the God of Death. How she knew that this was Jashin had nothing to do with the intimate knowledge afforded to human beings in the presence of Gods and everything to do with the striking resemblance to her roommate and Hinata was utterly terrified as the God regarded her, flexing his massive wings, appearing both young and old all in the same instant.

Jashin waited, wondering what this timid little mouse of a human would do as he opened himself up to her, regarding her with his ages old stare that had seen the deaths of stars and planets, civilizations and these odd sentient animals known as human beings. He saw a soul in her so pure that it startled him, no wonder he felt attracted to her, she was one of the rare few that went largely unsullied, even despite her "ethically dubious" job. He was also angry to notice a sharp jagged black line, cutting through the crystalline soul, courtesy of his most favored devotee.

Hinata's first instinct was to run, her terror overwhelmed her senses, then something changed, something intangible, yet fundamental shifted and she found a sense of warmth and comfort, something akin, yet different to the darkness of the womb, though she could not fully describe it. Something gentle, a surcease from all suffering. Hinata walked forward as if in a hypnotic state, the whispers in her mind telling her to embrace Death and allow all the worries and responsibilities of the world to slip away, enfolded in his powerful wings. A promise that Hidan wished for every day of his unnaturally extended life.

That was when the God smiled benevolently at her and vanished and Hinata sat straight up in her bed, a sense of loss and sadness and fear engulfed her and Hinata cried violently in the darkness.

Hidan began his morning ritual, Jashin came swiftly to him.

"HIDAN, I HAVE SOMETHING YOU NEED TO SEE."

Hidan merged with Jashin until they were looking at his sleeping distressed roommate with two sets of eyes. Jashin overshadowing so Hidan could see, but not a full possession so the priest could understand and remember.

Hinata's physical body melted away in a blaze of golden light to reveal her soul, her very essence. It was…beautiful! Like a pristine, crystal-clear pool in an old forest. At the edges, it was cloudy as though someone had kicked dust into it and one jagged, black ugly mark like a streak of toxic waste ran through it.

"THE CLOUDINESS AT THE EDGES INDICATES THE MENTAL AND EMOTIONAL POLLUTION CAUSED BY HER RIGID, DOMINEERING RELATIVES, THE BLACK MARK THERE WAS CAUSED BY YOU, IN ALL YOUR SADISTIC HATRED. I AM MOST DISPLEASED."

Hidan grimaced. He'd really screwed up this time.

"I AM GOING TO REVEAL THE REASON FOR YOUR HOLY MISSION HIDAN. WHEN HER TIME COMES YOU MUST DELIVER HER TO ME. DEPENDING ON THE CONDITION OF HER SOUL, YOU MAY COME HOME AND BE FREED OF MY BLESSING."

Hidan gasped. This was unexpected. To be called home was what every Jashinist lived for and what few ever accomplished and when he came out of his ritual, he realized he could never look at her the same way again and he was oddly quiet and well-behaved until lunch time.

They were eating lunch at the table, more then half the council there. This had made Hidan visibly tense. Hinata glanced at her father and wondered if he would support them in their plot to strengthen their bloodline. It depressed her so much that she slumped in her seat.

This did not go unnoticed by her father, who raised an eyebrow at her sudden change in mood.

"So Lord Hyuuga." Hisao began. "I believe you found a good match for your new heir?"

"Yes. Hanabi approves of him as well." And so she should. The Hyuuga could arrange marriages but they could not force them. The choice had to be mutual for the one getting married and the parents.

Hidan's nails scoured his flesh, his hatred becoming a tangible thing in the room.

"It will be an excellent asset for keeping the Hyuuga bloodline fresh and strong wouldn't you say?" He said.

Hiashi noticed the tenseness of at least half the members at the table and that man's fury. He assumed that they'd gotten into a nasty argument, though something about the tension was wrong, there was a tangible sense of fear and apprehension in the air and he began to get very suspicious. Though he kept an impassive face as Hisao droned on about bloodlines.

Hidan slammed one hand on the table and pointed at Hisao with a shaking finger, his face was contorted with rage and he snarled,

"Shut up! Just shut the fuck up you steaming pile of dog shit! You're all sick fucks!"

Lord Hiashi was shocked at the venom in the man's tone. There was no trace of mockery or irritation in his voice, this was pure, undiluted hatred. Several members of the clan looked guilty and slightly fearful and Hiashi didn't fail to notice that those that did were all members of the council.

"Especially you! What kind of a man condones using his grandchildren as fucking experimental fodder to see if they're immortal or not!"

Hidan's words sunk in. The very idea of introducing the genes of the one person he hated more then anyone on earth into his grandchildren filled him with rage. A second and more disturbing image came unbidden and unwanted into his mind. His sweet, fragile daughter being mercilessly raped by this foul man, hearing her cries for help go unanswered, made him shake with overprotective parental fury and his stomach churn sickeningly and he realized that he still loved his eldest as fiercely as he loved his youngest.

She had been the apple of his eye as a child, a sweet, loving, little girl who looked so much like his beloved dead wife that it had hurt to look at her times, who gave selflessly and expected nothing in return and Hiashi Hyuuga would not allow her to suffer the abuses of the psychopath she had tethered herself to for the desires of the council.

When the haze of black had cleared from his eyes and his harsh breathing returned to normal, Hiashi found his voice. When he spoke, it was low and cold and made every Hyuuga flinch at the undisguised venom in it.

"When was this decided?" He asked.

"Nothing has been decided yet Lord Hyuuga. Hinata has refused to consent to it. " Said Hisao. "We thought that with your influence you could persuade her to-"

"I will never have that psychopath's genes tainting any of my blood ." He said. His voice soft and deadly.

Not even Hidan spoke a word, apparently satisfied that the little asshole wouldn't be getting his way.

"And the council decided to go behind my back?" He demanded.

There was a moment of tense silence that confirmed everything.

"Because you knew I would never go along with it. We will reconvene after lunch and discuss your blatant disobedience and pending punishment further. "

Hisao Hyuuga and his supporters may have been momentarily cowed, but come hell or high water they were going to continue with their experiment. They would just have to use a little creativity to get what they wanted.

When that disastrous lunch was over, Hidan who had been uncharacteristically quiet asked.

"Why the hell do you stay with them? Your own father cares more about you as potential breeding stock then as his own fucking daughter. That's pretty cold even for me. Seriously."

Hinata had seen everything in her father's eyes during his ominous silence and she wiped away the tears that had trickled down her face. Happy that he cared more then he let on and shook her head.

"No. My father cares about me. H-he may not b-b-b-be demonstrative, but he does care. It just takes a little longer f-f-for outsiders to s-see it. that's all"

Hidan snorted. "Then you're even blinder then I thought."

Tch. The old man probably thinks I'm gonna rape her or some shit. As if I'd ever do something like that! Rape goes against my religion! He thought angrily. And it was then that Hidan was hit by an image nearly identical to Hiashi Hyuuga's. Hinata getting captured by the Akatsuki and being raped for hours as a method of interrogation. Among the members that he knew, there weren't a lot of rapists in the Akatsuki but there were one or two for sure and he knew Itachi had used a simulation of rape to get the job done on captured spies that had infiltrated the organization. He couldn't say he was for sure about any of the new little fucking recruits, but imagining Hinata being tortured that way was enough to make him hot and sick and shaky inside.

"H-Hidan? Hidan are you alright?" Hinata prompted, noticing a very similar look on his face.

He swallowed thickly, feeling an overpowering urge to grab Hinata, force her to become a missing nin and travel to some foreign land where the Akatsuki had no power so she could live out her days in peace. Brutal rape, even if it was some Tsukiyomi bullshit would leave a blacker mark on her soul then he ever would. At least that's what he told himself. But no matter what lies or excuses Hidan tried to tell himself, he knew that he cared about Hinata for reasons other then offering her pristine soul to Jashin-sama and in a weird way, that troubled him almost as much as the possibility of rape.

Kakuzu was alive, though he'd been very sick and badly injured for a long time. When he first found out that Hidan had been blown to bits, he'd been elated. When Zetsu found him on the auction block of an underground shinobi sex slave market, he'd felt pity for the first time in a long time. When Zetsu had found out about the cursed seal on his partner, Kakuzu felt a streak of vindictive glee when Leader announced that they were going to retrieve the stubborn religious nin.

He wouldn't have to resort to violence, nope. All he had to do was say, "Shut up Hidan." and Hidan would shut up. Or "Don't waste your time in battle Hidan." And Hidan would finish up quickly.

In truth he felt sort of bad for Hidan's current master. From Zetsu's reports, she was the rarest of shinobi and the rarest of people. She was selfless and giving, kind-hearted and vulnerable in every way. Hidan must be making her life a living hell and Kakuzu would happily take the troublesome man off of her dainty little hands.

The week passed by quickly and the council convened to go over Junigatsu Hyuuga's report. There were raised eyes at the council's idea but no one said a word. After all, experimenting with bloodlines were not illegal in Konoha. Coercion was though, but it appeared that Lord Hyuuga had taken action already.

Long hours passed as the council discussed and argued the point and finally, they made their decision. It was time to call Hinata and Hidan in.