Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

'Wait 'til you're announced
We've not yet lost all our graces
The hounds will stay in chains'

- Lorde, Team


Chapter 9. The shoe

Hinata didn't know how long she lied on the floor. She felt so horrible, her conscience was slipping. The floor was cold, and it felt nice to her burning flesh. Even if the floor was refreshing to her throbbing self, it didn't make up for the hardness of the floor. It bruised her body more, and she had to shift position every half hour. The result was restless sleep, and made her feel more sleepy every time she woke up.

It went on for some time; the girl lost track of how many times she had woken up and moved around. Was it day? Was it night? There was no way of telling or knowing, as the whole room was bathing in darkness. There wasn't even a crack anywhere in her room. Her eyes had adjusted to the dark, and she barely saw the walls, the roof and the floor. The door wasn't sticking out, and the three lines she could see was the only sign of the outside she received.

It smelled old, rotten and puke inside there. Her own puke had stiffened her cloths, and she felt dirtier then ever. Her hair was fatty and flat, her bandage stained yellow from her sweat, and the uniform... it had seen far better days and would do better in a trash can.

The worst about all of it, was the itching feeling. It kept going on and on, and she couldn't scratch herself do to her bandaged hands. It was making sleep more tempting, but at the same time, she couldn't. It was hard when she wanted to tear of her own skin.

"Hinata," a deep voice sang in her head, and she groaned. How long had it been? She didn't know. Judging by her still living form, it couldn't have been more than two days. It felt longer. When was the last time she had feed? Not too long ago, or maybe it was long ago?

She headbutted the wall, moaning as the pain brought her back to reality. She still felt so sore and weak, but she managed to slowly move back and forth. It made her storming feelings calm a little down, but she was still nauseous, and had to stop after a little while.

"Hinata?" it whispered again, and she moved her gaze; as if it was standing in front of her. She almost smiled. No matter how many times she turned, or where, it would always be there. It wasn't on the outside. No, this demon was in her inside.

"Hinata, are you ignoring me? I know you can hear me," it muttered and she could almost see the pouting look on it's borrowed face. Good, maybe it would be bored and leave her alone. She wanted nothing to do with it; not after what she had learned. If it wasn't for this thing inside her, she wouldn't be in this place. Sniffing, she half-hugged herself. It would have helped, if it wasn't for the pinching pain in her fingers. Cursed.

"You know, I can help the pain go away if you would just say the word," it taunted.

"I-I-I-I'm n-n-n-ever l-l-l-letting y-you g-get a h-h-hold o-of m-m-m-my b-b-b-body a-a-again," she stuttered and bowed her head. She wasn't used to opposing anyone or anything, and it kind of felt alien and weird. Still, a small amount of confidence grew in her stomach. What could it do? Nothing, she was trapped inside here. The only one it could do something to, was her, and frankly, Hinata didn't mind that at all. Anything to escape this prison. The thought was appealing. Maybe she should let it in charge?

"There is nobody I can hurt here," it said, and she felt it hold back an evil giggle.

"L-l-lies," she muttered and turned her head again. It was so heavy, it strained her just to move, to breath. If she was an animal, they would have already shot her; put her out of her agonizing misery. Was it cruel to leave a human alive like this? It could be. Depended on the person; if it wanted to live or not. Hinata didn't want to live. She wanted to die. There was no place in this world for her.

"Stop putting yourself down. It's making me sick to just watch," the voice said with a snarl. It was upsetting her when she was sad? Hinata chuckled slightly. Serves it right.

"M-me f-feeling d-down m-makes y-you s-sick? A-after a-all t-those p-people y-you k-killed?" she managed to say it almost without a stutter. It would have been perfect hadn't it just been a whisper. "Y-you're h-horrible."

"What, you allowed me to do it," it said, and she felt cold fingers run down her spine. Had she really done that, allowed it to kill all those people? Hinata thought back to it. Could a kid be held responsible for such a huge, unknown act? She would have to say no. life hadn't really been introduced to the child; how could it know what was right and wrong? And that snake had made her do it, loured her into it. Just like pedophiles did with kids. Her stomach turned, and she would have emptied it, if it wasn't for the lack of content. There wasn't anything left to come up.

"Admit it, girl," it whispered, and it stung in her brain. "You wanted me to kill all those people. You wanted to kill all those people."

"Y-y-you're w-wrong!" she tried to make it sound louder, but her voice wouldn't work. It was harsh and hurt whenever she tried to use her vocals, so she didn't. You're wrong, she screamed in her head.

"Ouch, there, girly. Stop being such a dick about it, I heard you the first time. It was just a joke."

"S-s-sorry," she muttered and stared at her abused hands. If she could, she would press her index fingers together. It was something she did every time she felt shy, and this was one of them.

"Ah, don't go pantsy on be. You can be tougher than that." It felt strange, coming from the one guilty of her location. It was actually encouraging her. She felt a little better about herself, but it didn't last long. "Don't read too much into it. If I got a weak host, I will appear weak, and I don't want that. So get your fucking act together."

How wrong she had been. Hinata had thought it had cared for her there, just for a second. How foolish.

"Hey, hey! I thought we talked about this sentimental bullshit you're doing right now." It was the last drop. After her own abuse, and the rape, she felt under the weather, and the tailed beast did nothing to make her feel better; it was just making everything worse. How she wished it out of her head, and away. Far away.

"Shut up!" Hinata snapped. Her voice was loud enough to be over a whisper, but not high enough to be a yell. She could feel it build up rage and start lecturing her, but they didn't have a chance to start arguing.

"Hinata?" a voice said, and she looked around. There was nobody there. Talking to the thing is her head was one thing, but imagining voices? She had finally lost it. This place had gotten to her and she was becoming just as mad as it. She clutched her head. Another beast? Could it be another voice in her head? God, please, no! Hinata wasn't sure she could handle two of those. Maybe if she shut up, it would go away. She pushed herself up against the wall and stared whide eyed into the darkness. There was no movement, nothing. It was quiet and still.

"Hinata, is that you?" the voice called out again, and she recognized it this time.

"N-Naruto?" Her voice was a whimper.

"Hinata! Is that really you? Are you in the shoe too? Tell me I'm not loosing all of it!" His voice was desperate, and her heart bleed for him. How long had he been here? Not for that long, but so hasn't she, and Hinata was already starting to lose her mind.

"Y-yes! I-i-it's me!"

"Thank you," he cried. She could hear the tears in his voice, and her underlip started quivering. "Thank you for coming," he said and the rest was chocked out in a sob. "I thought I was all alone for such a long time. I lost count of everything. What day is it? How long have I been here? Are you real, Hinata?"

He asked so many questions, and she took her time answering them. Her voice wasn't all there, and she excused herself. It wasn't a problem; he just needed someone to be there. Because of the situation, Naruto did most of the talking. He went on and on about a game he had played, and couldn't wait to get outside to play it again. The mentioning of the outside brought up an unpleasant subject.

"Why are you in here, Hinata? You don't look like a mad person." She didn't know how to answer that. Tell him her inner demon had killed someone? Hinata couldn't. It sounded like something a mad person would do; blame their kills on the voices in the head. Great, just great. She thanked her tailed beast for the mess it had made, yet again.

"Hinata, are you there?" His voice was panicked. "Tell me I didn't imagine you here!"

"I-I-I'm h-here, N-N-Naruto," she stuttered. He exhaled loudly, and she bit her lip. Tell him, tell him not?

"Why are you here?" her mouth spoke before she could react, and she wanted to slap herself. She had spoke without a stutter, and it had sounded low. It wasn't her, it was her demon talking. Shut up, shut up! She screamed in her head, and practically heart it scramble around to avoid the words from crushing it. If you want to speak, speak up! It whined.

"I-" he stopped himself and there was a long pause. She wasn't sure how she could hear him, but she knew Naruto was there. She wasn't imagining it, and thus she waited. It wasn't easy to talk about, she knew that much.

"I know this is going to sound crazy," he started, and she smiled. It was something she saw herself say every time someone wanted her story. "But there is a voice in my head. It says some mean things and is a real pain, and it takes over my body if something bad happens and I lose control. It's like a-"

"Demon," they said at the same time, and she sighed. So it wasn't just her. "Yeah," Naruto said, more eager than what she had ever heard him. "Yes, it's like a demon! How did you know?" the voice in her head roared with rejection of answering him. She pushed it away.

"I have the same thing." She didn't stutter. Hinata couldn't believe herself. It was her biggest secret, and it was the first thing she didn't stutter over. Oh, the irony.

"For real?" He beamed. "You hear him too?"

"N-no." Great, back to the stuttering. "M-m-mine i-i-is a-a-a g-girl, a-at l-least I-I t-think i-i-it i-i-is." She could feel Naruto wanted to ask more, but they were interrupted when the door to her room opened. The light was strong to her eyes, so she shielded them and her hand.

"Hinata!" a voice called out and she stared up into the eyes of Tenten and Lee. She felt herself start crying.

"Hinata! Everything all right?" Naruto called, and she nodded her head.

"Y-y-yes, N-N-Naruto."

"Hyuuga Hinata," Tsunade said and stepped forward. "I have no idea why you are in solitary, but you don't belong here." The questions in her eyes must have been obvious, because the blond sighed heavily. "You're getting out of here right now."

"Granny Tsunade!" Naruto screamed, and Hinata turned. At her side, on the wall, was a ventilation system. It must lead into the other side of the room, and that was why she could hear him. "Let me the hell out of here!"

"You verbally attacked one of my therapist and assaulted two of my guards!" She said while biting her lip and growling. A vein was visible at the side of her head, and Hinata shrank. The nurse was pissed at the boy.

"They had it coming," the kid answered, and the nurse slammed her fist into Hinata'd cell door, making her jump and denting in the metal in the process. "You're not coming out until I say you are! And as the way you are now, you're not getting out!" With that said, she stormed off, cloths whirling around her raging form.

"She's scary when she's angry," Lee commented.

"Tell me about it," Tenten sarcastic answered.

"Hinata?" Naruto said, all hint of rage gone. "Y-y-yeah?" she responded, staring at the source of sound. "Whatever anyone else tells you, don't believe them. You're not crazy." A faint blush spread across her cheeks, and she smiled softly.

"N-n-neither a-a-are y-y-you,"

"I know that, believe it," he said, and she giggled at his confidence. If only she had half as much of it, everything would be fine. Tenten and Lee helped her up by her arms. Tenten closed the door behind the girl, and they helped her stagger along.

"You look worse and worse every time I see you," Tenten said, and Lee sent her a warning glare. Blushing, the girl bowed her head low. She apologized for it, but they told her it wasn't a problem, they were just curious why, and how. Hinata couldn't bring herself to tell them. The shame was deep and she wanted to cry. She wanted to go back to the moment in her cell when Naruto had told her it was okey to cry, to scream, to let all the pain out. Going back there would have been so nice.

"Okey, I can take it from here," Tenten said, and Lee nodded his head. He patted her on the shoulder and told her to get well soon, and followed it up with several apologies when she whimpered in pain. It was the same shoulder he had touched earlier, the one that had been dislocated. It was still very sore, and what was meant as a gently gesture ended up in a painful pat. She forced a smile and told him it was alright.

They stumbled in the door, and Hinata told Tenten how sorry she was for being such a burden. The brunette giggled at her and told her it was her job to take care of her. It brought tears to her eyes. How could such a stranger, who wasn't related to her or didn't know her, be so much more kind then everyone else? Tenten was a true hero, in her eyes.

"We're not going back to your cell just yet," the words awakened a primal fear, and she stared wide eyed at the girl. She truly wanted to trust her, and have faith in this brunette, but so many horrible things had happened; it had her scared of humans and what they were capable of.

"Wow," the girl said and she rose her eyebrows at her. "Someone scared you really good. Don't worry, you're going to like what's coming next." When Hinata didn't give any sign of following her, but tried to run away, the girl sighed heavily.

"Jesus, it was going to be a surprise. I'm just going to let you have a shower,"

"S-s-shower?" Hinata said, eyes shining at the brunette. Tenten laughed and nodded her head. "Come on, we're entering the locker room now. I can't leave you alone, so I will be in the locker room when you take the shower." They moved as she talked, and entered the room the girl talked about. There was benches along the wall, and knobs over them.

"You take of your cloths here, and the showers are around the corner." She pointed while talking. "Can you walk on your own?" Hinata slightly nodded, and placed one of her hands against the wall. Tenten let her go, and she whimpered at the pain. It hurt in her hands for trying to hold her up, and her knees were still shaking. Tenten was there straight away to catch her, but Hinata shook her head. She had to do this; be victorious over this game the prison was playing with her. It was her first step toward the goal.

"I-I-I g-got t-this," she said and straightened up. God, her back and thigh hurt so badly. She clenched her jaw and started dressing. One look behind her revealed Tenten turned with her back. She was just a foot away, ready to catch her if anything happened. Hinata felt bad for questioning her earlier on. "I-I-I'm s-sorry f-for d-doubting y-you," she said, red in her cheeks.

"That's quite all right, Hinata. This place does horrible things to good people." Her voice was stern, and bitter. It told her this kind of thing had happened before, and something was weighting down on her shoulders. She's not looking, let's strangle her.

"No!" Hinata yelled and the tailed beast snickered in the back of her mind. Damn, it got to her.

"What?" Tenten asked, and Hinata blushed. "N-n-nothing. I-I-I j-just w-wont l-let t-this p-place g-get t-to m-me." she let the suit drop and looked at her underwear. It was so sweaty it was stained yellow.

"Good. It will try, and it might, but you stay strong. Don't let this place get into your head. I'm right here, and I will do my best to help you." Tears slipped down Hinatas eyes, and she smiled.

"T-thank y-you, T-Tenten."

"Every time, Hinata. Every time." She slipped out of her underwear, and stumbled toward the shower. She rounded the corner, and looked at the marble. For a prison, this place was beautiful. So clean and clear. She moved toward the knob, and turned it. Cold water came streaming down and fell on top of her head. She screamed out in surprise and her skin got goosebumps.

"What, what?" Tenten said, rushed in and slipped on the wet floor. Her feet hit the roof and the girl went back first into the pavement. Hinata turned around and covered herself, and saw the brunette curling up into a ball.

"God fucking hell that hurt!" The girl said, rubbing the sore spots on her body. Hinata couldn't help it. She felt bad for the girl, but the look on her face, and the weird movement of her body had her laughing. It hurt in her lungs, her throat and the muscles in her stomach, but she didn't care. She laughed, and seconds later, Tenten did so too.

"The floor is wet," she said, helping herself up and turning around to show the bluette. Hinata didn't feel shy around the older girl, and just looked at the wet spot on her cloths. "I'm going to have to change that, or I'll get sick." The thought of the guard leaving made Hinata scared. She started shaking and clattering her teeth.

"P-p-please d-don't l-leave," she said, moving forward and holding into the older girls hand. It felt weird. She was used to holding her little sisters hand. She was usually the one with the big hands and holding into the small one. Hanabi had done it for her older sister, but it had made her feel more like an older sister. This slightly bigger hand was helping her calm down. Tenten couldn't leave. The evil guard would be back if she did. Hinata had no real idea if that was the case, but it was her fear.

"Alright, alright," she said after staring down at the puppy eyes. "Just let go of me and I'll take a shower too. I need one." Hinata let her go and blushed slightly. She usually didn't grab people or opposed them of doing what they wanted, but this time, she did. She couldn't explain it, other then the fear of being left alone. It was what drove her.

She returned back to the water, now warm, and soaked her bandaged hands. They were stiff, and she couldn't move them at all. The liquid stuck her hair to her body, and covered most of her skin. Tenten returned and turned on the shower beside her. The girl had her hair lose and started washing it. Beside the knob on the wall was a box. Tenten pushed the middle of it while holding her hands under. Some kind of white slimy thing landed in her hand, and she rubbed it in her brown hair. Hinata realized it was washing soap. New found excitement found her and she went to push the button. Her fingers started hurting, and she gritted her teeth. She kept pushing until she received what she was after in her other, outstretched hand. Her hand flew to her head, and she tried to blend it into her hair, but it wasn't working. She couldn't use her fingers, and it only ended with her patting her head.

"Let me do that," Tenten said and started massaging her scalp. A few bumps in her head made she pull away a few times; until Tenten could barely touch and move the soap around when the girl stopped pulling away. "You're badly bruised. Your head is filled with so many wounds and your face has a swelling, black-blue mark What happened?"

"I-I-I d-don't w-want t-to t-talk a-about i-it."

"Fine, but you should tell Tsunade-sama. If someone did something, she will fix it." Hinata nodded her head as Tenten rinsed her hair. "There, fresh and clean." She gripped two towels and wrapped the girl in it before taking one around herself. They went back to the locker room and Tenten opened a closet. She threw Hinata one of the inmates uniforms, one without strains, and dressed in a guards uniform herself.

"We store the uniforms in the same place, just in case," Tenten said. Hinata wanted to ask for underwear, but the brunette seamed to have thought about that as well as she drew out a pair to her. "I didn't know your size, but I hope they fit."

They did, and they dressed as quickly as Hinata managed. "It's normal to wash all the inmates at the same time, but you were knocked out earlier today, and we used hours to find you. The new intern was in charge of the nursery so Tsunade-sama could get some shutter eye. She didn't know where you had ended up, but lucky Lee saw you guys and fetched me. It took some time to get out of that nasty leach where you were, but we managed to find you," she turned toward her with a smile, and helped her move out of there.

"Tsunade-sama wasn't happy when she heard; I heard it was the new intern that had you sent to the shoe. Whatever Tsunade-sama has in store for that newbie, it won't be nice." Tenten lifted her cheek, and Hinata felt the older girl wanted something bad to happen.

"It's her fault something happened to you, isn't it? And that damn Orochimaru. That nasty old pig did something. They were in on this together, weren't they?" Her voice was demanding an answer, but she had none to give. She couldn't remember anything but those evil, yellow eyes. She didn't even have the name of the people that was there, and she didn't know the name Tenten had just said. Her head had been too far away.

"I-I-I d-don't k-know."

"Don't cover for them, they're not worth it!"

"I-I-I'm n-not! I-I j-just d-don't k-know."

Tenten took a moment to stare into her face. The girl she had become to love as a sister, and her heart bleed for. This place was too harsh for her; she didn't belong her. One look at her face told her the girl was telling the truth, but she took her time to truly look at her. The expression didn't change, and she motioned for her to keep going with a nod. She believed her; every word she said. There was no lies in Hinata. Somehow, the girl was more pure than the people inside here, and the people on the outside. Tenten was going to do everything in her power to make the girl keep the innocence.

They came into the dining hall, and she was placed in another seat then what she usually had. Tenten told her to stay put, and Hinata nodded, glancing down on the table. New people made her shy, despite how many more she met.

"Hi!" a girly voice called out, and Hinata looked beside her. She was glad she wasn't seated in the middle, and a blond stared back at her. Piercing blue eyes had her wrinkling her eyebrows.

"Deidara?" she said, turning her head slightly.

"No, silly," the feminine voice said and she placed one hand over her mouth and the other waved at her. "He's my younger brother. My name's Ino," she stretched out a hand, and Hinata slightly took it. They shook a few times before the girl let go and turned to the other.

"The emo on my left is Konan. She used to have a piercing in her lip, but they don't allow that here. It's the reason they removed my navel diamond." The girl beside the blond gave her a death glare, before nodding to Hinata. Her hair was short and dark blue. Her eyes were red and she had purple shadow on her lids.

"They don't allow makeup in prison, but they can't remove the tattoo," the girl had a rich voice and a small smile formed. She was beautiful, Hinata realized, and felt shy under her gaze.

"That's Kakuzu," Ino told her an pointed to the man across from Konan. He had sharp green eyes and didn't look at her at all. His dark, long hair reached the mid of his chest. "Common, grupy head, at least say hello!" Ino complained and the man rose one eyebrow.

"Would you pay me for it?"

"Pig!" Ino screeched and made a move to slap him. He easily caught her hand and pushed her away. "I meant in money, you skank."

"Don't start," Konan commented and the boy beside Kakuzu said at the same time. He had brown, shaggy hair and a sour look. His pupils were small and he had no iris. "Kankuro," he presented and held a hand out for her. Hinata took it and he stared at her bandages. They were still kind of wet, and he quickly pulled the hand back, whipping it off on his shirt. She apologized and he just shrugged it off. "Happens the best of us."

"I heard he paints his face with his victims blood," Ino whispered in her ear, and Hinata's eyes widened. "Stop scaring the new girl," the man said angrily and threw a piece of his bread on her face that he had just removed out of his mouth. The slimy substance fell on her cheek. "Ew! Gross, get it off, get it off!"

"Kankuro," a dark voice said, and Hinata's heart froze. She couldn't breath and her heart started pounding loudly. Her eyes were as wide as sausages, and she gripped the table so her knuckles became white.

"Hey, that reminds me," Ino's voice was far away, but she could hear her. Her head was stuck in the stiff position, and she couldn't blink. Her eyes were focused on only one thing. "What's your name? You never told us."

The person across the table favored the loud blond one look before staring back at the girl. His blood red hair was a mess, and the dark circles around his eyes were very visible. It looked like he hadn't sleep for a long time. His eyes were so green, dark like the fresh forest.

"Stop frightening her!" Ino hissed at the boy, but he didn't bother to give her any more attention. He's eyes were focusing on his prey.

"Her name is Hyuuga Hinata," Gaara said and flashed her a wicked, knowing smile. It told her he knew everything, and that scared her even more.


It's time for another update! Personally I felt this was kind of slow and boring, but what do you think? Leave a comment and tell me what you thought of this chapter, and remember to vote! Who is your favorite match with Hinata? Straight, bi, gay? Anything goes! (I haven't picked one yet, hehe.)

Sabie0521: Thank you for the review and theory! I love hearing what other thinks! I'm really glad you like some characters, though others are quite wicket.

WarFlower: Thank you for the review! We will see more of the Akatsuki, don't you worry about that, hehe. And thanks for leaving another review! Woaw! I get so pumped every time someone does, so thank you!

EmbraceDarkneSS: It's nice to see you again, thanks for reviewing this chapter! Something might happen to Orochimaru and Sakura for what they have done, but let's hope justice is served. I won't spoil.

Hinata-Hime-Starz: Thanks for the faithful review! It makes me so happy to see you return to my story and knowing I haven't chased you away, hehe. I'm glad it was a surprise!

CookieDemon212: Thanks for the kind words and taking your time to review my story! I'm looking forward to your return, even if it is just as a silent reader!

Huge thank you to WarFlower, Cryconis, silent cresecndo and violadumas07 for adding this story to your favorites. And another thanks to CookieDemon212, silent cresecndo and violadumas07 for following my story!