Not Alone
Chapter Eight
The young man gazed out at the sunrise, his arms crossed and a grim look on his face. The bright, fire-like colors in the sky reminded him of the flame of hate that had consumed him for the last week. His clan was killed, all except for two people: himself and Hinata.
Neji brushed back the strand of hair that blew into his eyes and squinted into the distance. It wasn't as if he was all that depressed over the clan's demise; at least it wasn't just the branch family and not the main family that had been murdered. He had known death, so it wasn't sadness that overran his emotions.
Who dare take away the heir to the clan?
Neji hated to admit it, but he was rather protective of Hinata. Sure, he said that she was weak and that she wasn't worthy of being the heir to the clan, but they were still related and he felt that he had to protect her, just as his father had told him.
It sure was a pain sifting through the rotting corpses of the Hyuuga to find any survivors, but Neji managed to get through it and even give the clan a proper burial the night before. Of course, the murderer had skipped over two people, but that was enough to get revenge. Hell, if only he had survived, that would've been fine. But still…he had a duty that he had to honor.
Neji uncrossed his arms and stared down the road ahead of him that led away from Konoha. If he had to search the ends of the earth to find Hinata, he would do so. The heir to Hyuuga had to live, and that was that.
Neji lifted his headband and traced his fingers lightly over the mark on his forehead, the mark that bound him to serve the main family until the day he died.
"Hinata-sama, I'm coming."
Hinata dragged her feet behind the two men, her body aching from lack of sleep and food. When was it since she had last had a decent meal or an undisturbed night's sleep? A few days? A week? It had seemed so long since she had led a normal life, though the incident happened a bit more than a week before. What happened to having a nice bath, a cup of tea, and heading straight to bed?
Hinata grimaced and stared right at Itachi's back. He was what happened. God, if she could get his hands around his nasty neck…
"Hinata-sama is rather tired and cranky," Itachi said, breaking the silence that hung over the three. "Perhaps we should rest."
"Tch, why do we care if she gets tired?" Kisame snorted.
"I want a healthy heir whose mother won't die from exhaustion," Itachi replied simply.
"Yeah, yeah. You just want an easy fuck, that's all."
Hinata frowned. "I'm right behind you, you know," she mumbled.
Kisame whipped around and grinned at her, his pointed teeth glinting in the midday sun. "Perhaps you're right, Itachi-san. The bitch is giving us some attitude."
Hinata clenched his fists and restrained herself from punching the ugly shark-man (what was he anyway?) in his ugly face. "I'm fine," she said between clenched teeth. "I don't need rest. I'm not weak."
"Of course you're not, Hinata-san," Itachi said with a slight sneer in his voice.
Kisame scoffed. "That's amusing. Women are weaklings whose only job is to serve men."
Hinata shook her head and looked to her left, where there were long fields of grain and wheat blowing in the breeze. How could Sasuke be related to this bastard? Okay, so they did look similar, but on the inside they were total opposites. In a nutshell, one had a heart of a human being with actual emotions and the other a heart of a murderer.
"Where are you taking me, anyway?" Hinata grumbled.
"Back to our headquarters," Itachi answered, still not looking at her.
Hinata sighed. "You could've just raped me back in Konoha and get over with it."
"You obviously didn't understand me, Hinata-sama." Itachi finally turned his head and stared straight into her eyes. "You're staying with me forever."
"The rest of Akatsuki aren't going to be too happy with this, Itachi-san," Kisame said warningly.
"I'm going to make them accept it." Itachi slowly looked away from Hinata.
Hinata felt her heart plummet. 'There are more of them?' Her shoulders dropped. "So how much longer do we have to go?"
"A while, woman, so shut up," Kisame snapped, gripping his monster sword.
Hinata gulped, nodded, and made a silent vow to remain quiet the rest of the trip.
The rest of the way to the Akatsuki headquarters was rather uneventful, the most exciting event being a stepping on of a dead raccoon by Hinata, who squealed and complained about how she could possibly have gotten rabies. Of course, the other two weren't at all amused by this and one of them even threatened to chop off her "goddamn annoying head".
The sun was beginning to hide under the horizon and the sky was glowing with deep reds and oranges as Itachi and Kisame led Hinata through a lush, thriving forest. Hinata's throat was parched and her stomach occasionally rumbled with hunger. God, these guys really were not at all polite! Usually men were supposed to make sure the women were as comfortable as possible, not starve them to death and force them to walk for miles on end.
Finally, Itachi halted and held out his arm, which Hinata ran right into with a loud groan. Kisame slammed his sword into the ground and sighed.
"Well, here we are, you nasty bitch."
Hinata lifted her tired head and let out a small gasp. They were standing in front of what looked like a feudal palace, worn down and weathered with age. Tall, red shrine gates and cherry blossom trees in full bloom led up to the stone steps in front of the sliding doors. Statues of dragons glared down from two stone pillars on either side of the entrance, their sneers forever frozen by the artists' chisel.
Itachi looked down at the awed girl and gave her a superior sort of smile. "Hinata-sama is pleased, no?"
Hinata continued to stare at the sight in front of her. "It's-it's beautiful," she whispered, almost hating herself for liking the "new home" her kidnappers brought her to.
Kisame picked up his sword and swung it over his shoulder. "Feh, you won't think that once you live here for a couple years."
He walked ahead of Itachi and Hinata and disappeared behind the sliding doors a moment later. Itachi gestured to Hinata and they followed Kisame into the headquarters of the Akatsuki.
Though Hinata had no emotional attachment to the man in front of her, she wanted to keep as close to him as possible as they walked down the dusty wooden hallways that were only lit by a few candles here and there. The hair on the back of her neck pricked up as she caught pairs of eyes from other rooms following her with every footstep she made. Though Itachi was a rather sadistic bastard with sick intentions, Hinata would've rather stuck by him then be by herself with the other members of the Akatsuki, who probably had even sicker intentions when women came into the picture. Kisame was nowhere to be seen.
Itachi stopped her at the beginning of yet another long and dark hallway. He slid open a nearby door and motioned for her to follow him inside. Hinata hesitantly stepped ahead of Itachi into the small bedroom, once again being surprised at the older-aged elegance. Tatami mats lined the floor of the room and softened the sound of their footsteps. The small, barred window in the corner of the room let in the faint light of the first stairs popping out in the sky. Hinata's heart dropped as her eyes crossed over the lone futon that sat right in the middle of the room. Surely they weren't going to do "it" tonight, right? She was expecting to wait a few days before she'd have to give up her chastity, but tonight? That was way too soon.
Her heart jumped as Itachi slammed the door shut behind them. Shivers ran up the girl's arms as he placed a hand on her lower back and shifted ever closer to her. Hinata crossed her arms over her chest and pulled just a few inches away. God, this guy sure was being forward.
"Don't worry, Hinata-sama," Itachi said silkily, placing his other hand on her hip. "The wait and the lust for you should be just as enjoyable as the actual experience."
He chuckled and took his hands away from her. Hinata's eyes widened and she whipped around, once again staring into the mesmerizing Sharingan eyes.
"W-Wait, we're not going to do it tonight?"
Itachi smiled and touched her cheek lightly. "No, not tonight."
He nodded, slid open the door once more, and left Hinata by herself. Hinata touched her own cheek lightly and was surprised to find that her face was rather hot. Was she blushing? No, that couldn't be!
Hinata shook her head and sighed. 'No, I can't fall for him. He ruined my life…and Sasuke-kun's life, too.'
She plopped herself down on the futon, curled her knees up to her chest, and stared out the barred window. The view was spectacular: the moon showed through the curtain of pink cherry blossoms and the wind caressed the window gently. It was the kind of view you wanted to share with that "special someone"….
Or maybe just the next best thing, his brother.
Hinata blinked, feeling her eyes start to water. She remembered a story her father once told her. It was the story of how cherry blossom trees came to be. The story itself was rather cliché and predictable, but when Hinata was a child, she was entranced by it.
Apparently, there once was a beautiful princess who fell in love with a peasant man. Of course, the two weren't allowed to marry due to their social statuses, but the girl's father did say that she could marry the peasant's brother, who was higher up in the social ladder than his younger sibling. The peasant man begged the princess not to marry his brother, but since he was a rather handsome fellow and he could provide well for the princess, the girl married the older brother and received blessings from the king.
The princess and the older brother moved to the grandest palace in all the land that included a beautiful garden, complete with huge koi ponds, many flower beds, and wide, winding walkways. There was only one thing wrong with the garden: there was a bare patch of grass on which plants were attempted to be grown, but nothing would come out of that soil. The couple tried everything they could to get something to grow on that bare patch of land that just didn't fit in with the rest of the scenery, but nothing worked. They finally gave up.
A year later, the couple received news that the peasant that had been so madly in love with the princess had taken his own life by drowning himself in a river. The older brother was overcome with grief and just a week later stabbed himself with the sword that his father-in-law had presented to him. The two brothers were dead and the beautiful princess was alone.
One day, the princess took a walk through the beautiful garden outside her home. She sat down on the bare patch of land where nothing grew and wept.
"I wish…I could see my husband and his brother once more," she said through her tears.
Suddenly, a strong wind blew threw the garden and a second later, the princess was sitting under two trees with pink blossoms on the branches. She wiped her tears and smiled at the two trees. She got her wish: she would be with her missed ones forever, and all of Japan would get to experience the beauty as well.
Hinata yawned and fell back on the futon, having the same wish as the princess: to see her loved ones again.
A/N: Ummm…yeah. That little story about the cherry blossoms isn't an official legend. I actually wrote it last year for a culture class, and my teacher really liked it and…yeah. I think it's kinda lame since I wrote that over a year ago, but oh well. It works.
