Eight
I flop in one of her chairs.
"Hinata... I don't understand" I tell her. She looks close to tears again.
"There are these men. Bad men" she whispers, her voice barely louder than a mouse. "They killed my brother."
"You're... brother... Neji?" I say. He looks up at me in surprise.
"You know about him?" She seems shocked. I remember I'm not supposed to know.
"One of your maids told me..." I admit, blushing.
"Which one?" she asks sharply, her face creased by a frown.
"The one with the red hair... who gave me the suit to wear." She looks at me puzzled.
"We don't have a maid with red hair." She tells me, frowning. I stare at her.
"She definitely had red hair..." I stammer "and... a maid's outfit... she led me to the hall"
"You came into the hall alone Naruto – all the servants were already in the hall... well apart from Chloe... She's been ill, I saw her earlier... and anyway she's blond like Ino!"
"What...?" I stammer. "Thinking about it... I don't remember seeing her after I went in the hall."
"I'll have to make a enquiry with father" her voice was panicked and scared as she wiped the tears and smudges from her face with her sleeve "to see if he's hired any new staff..."
"What if he hasn't...?" I ask.
"Then she could have been one of them..."
"Them?"
"The bad men... we call them... that is... their group... The Inquisition."
I remember how hearing that name for the first time just then sent shivers down my spine as I heard her sweet voice say it with such bitterness... such sadness... such... anger.
We walked... no practically ran to her father's study. She burst through the door without knocking and asked questions so fast, in such a panicked voice, that I was terrified. Question after question floated around in my head.
Who was the 'Inquisition'? What were they doing? Why are they so afraid of them? What am I supposed to do? How can I help? What should I do? I can't just stand here... should I say something... what if the maid's hair wasn't red after all... what if I just thought it was... no... I'm being silly... it was red... definitely red... no doubt... so... who was she? Why was she there? Was she armed? Was she after Hinata? Her father? Me? If me... why me? Because I'm supposed to... save the world?
Round and round and round... like a vicious circle.
Hinata's father denied hiring a new maid. He'd never seen her before. He thought she was a spy. One of 'them'. He wondered about her mission. Why she was there. Why...
I slapped my head with the palm of my hand. I was so stupid. I open my moth to speak. We'd not even told Hinata's father about... Sasuke. I pause. He shot her. What would her father do? Call the police? Get Sasuke arrested? Shoot Sasuke himself? I watched him hug his daughter. I couldn't tell him. I felt too guilty... it had been my fault she got injured... he'd probably kill me too... I closed my mouth tight.
"But she knew about Neji." I say. Her father starts in surprise. No-one talks about this Neji guy in this house apparently. It's taboo as I recall. Fear flickered across his face as all the blood in it drains out, leaving his features a shocked, ghostly white.
"She was one of them" he says hoarsely with a scowl. Then changes the subject off Hinata's mystery brother.
He urgently tells Hinata to stay with his grey haired butler Kakashi at all times. He tells me not to go home until daylight. I hadn't realised that night had crept up on me... He gives me a room and I sit on the bed – trying to shake the questions out of my head.
About midnight I get up. I wander down the corridor looking for the bathroom. I get hopelessly lost. Great. Typical me. Every door looks identical in the dark; I pad past them in my borrowed slippers and PJ's. I rub my arms, wishing I had my dressing gown from home.
Then, I recognise a door through the gloom.
Hinata's room.
I pause in front of her door. Kakashi is standing there and attempts to smile at me warily.
"Urm... the bathroom?" I whisper. Relived, he grins and points down the hall, three doors down. I scuttle off, thanking him.
I open the door, and flicked a light switch flooding the room with a bright, white light that took a while to get used to. I scratch at my back where my shoulder blades are, they feel kind of itchy. It's probably just these Pyjamas. The light gradually revealed a colossal, and very expensive, onyx spa bathtub, lined in stunning silver. The modern, unmarked walls were grand panels of a black-grey marble, surrounded by mirrors that made the huge room look even bigger. The sink, toilet and heated handrail draped in fluffy white towels matched and there was a glass door to the steam/shower room. I quickly used the facilities, and dried my hands on a towel, admiring the quality of the fabric. Suddenly I chill wracked by body, I shivered, hot and cold, I hugged my arms to me. It flooded mostly around my shoulder blades. Like... like all my blood was being pumped though my veins to them. It was a... bad... no, awful feeling... like a warning... like something was wrong. I shrugged the strange emotions off. I opened the door and walked outside.
It seemed darker than before. Maybe it was just the bright lights in the bathroom contrasting to the darkness of the hallway... but it was like everything was steeped in shadow. I stumbled down the hall in the darkness, until I made out Hinata's door. I paused, meaning to thank Kakashi again.
That's when I got the first idea that something was wrong.
He wasn't there.
"Kakashi-san?" I murmur into the dark. "Kakashi?" my voice rises, I hear it – urgent and panicked. I get no reply. "Hinata?" I take a step forward. My shoe bumps against something hidden by shadow. I reach down tentatively. My fingertips brush something soft. Hair? A head? A body? Kakashi! I dragged him up. He's breathing... slowly. He's been knocked out. I lean him carefully against the wall. I put my hand on the door to Hinata's room. "Hinata."
I throw the door open.
She lies on her bed, illuminated by moonlight on her pale skin. Her long hair flows out around her head like an angel's halo. Her chest rises and falls gently as she breathes peacefully. A small smile lingers on her lips. The huge windows send moonlight streaming into her room... Onto her skin. The shadows lay, still and black against the floor. Everything is still. I relax. All looks ok here. Maybe Kakashi just... fell asleep...? Still... It was kind of weird and...
Wait! A shadow flickers. Something near to the floor moves. I freeze. A figure? A animal? A person? My breath catches in my throat. A shadow rises up from the ground. Someone dressed completely in black. My feet feel like lead – pressed into the floor – like they've been glued to the spot. I can't move. Completely frozen. The figure takes a silent step towards the bed where she lays. Then another. And another. My muscles burn with wanting to move. The person stops. It looks around. I know I'm hidden in shadow... but has the shadow seen me? No? ... They turn their attention to the sleeping girl.
I see a glimmer. Something silvery. Pointed.
A knife.
It rises above her heart, poised to plunge into her soft chest. My body screams out silently. Tears stream down my face. Why won't I move? My head screams in frustration. Move. Move. MOVE!
The ninja-like form brings the point down towards her, and it all happens at once. Suddenly, in the blink of an eye, I'm there, wrestling the knife off the body. My shoulder blades are burning, like they're on fire. I had somehow crossed the room in nanoseconds. Hinata wakes at the figure's high pitched scream, my yells. I call her name. She screams mine. The intruder and I fall to the floor. The outline takes wild punches at my vitals. Something near me breaks. I'm bleeding. My nose. I fling out a fist, catching them in the face. The shape falls still.
I grab their hands, and pin them to the floor.
Hinata's sitting up on the bed. Wide eyed and terrified. She is staring at her disguised person. I look around. We've broken one of those expensive vases. I look back at her in shock. Following her line of gaze, I slowly remove the black mask.
"Chloe?" Hinata cries and I find myself looking into the angry brown eyes of the red-haired maid I'd met earlier.
"This is Chloe?" I ask.
"Yes! Well... no... Chloe has blond hair... maybe she had a twin..." Hinata hopes.
"Or a wig" I say pulling a blond lump from her pocket. Hinata looks up at me for the first time.
"Thanks for... " She freezes, staring at me "Oh Naruto" she whispers softly. "Naruto, Naruto, Naruto..." I wonder if I'm still bleeding.
"What?" I ask. She just shakes her head and points to a mirror. I struggle to my feet with a sigh. I wonder how bad the damage is. My back aches. It feels... heavy? A clock strikes midnight. I stumble over to the mirror.
I stare at myself.
There in the moonlight was not me. It can't be me. But it is. I am dappled in moonlight, my face pale and scared... but... I can just make out two huge, white shapes. Feathers. They glisten in the silvery light. Rising gracefully from my shoulder blades are... wings. Skeletal, deathly white wings... I gape. They're... ghostly... going translucent... fading as quickly as they appeared. I turn to Hinata, shock registering on my face.
"Hinata" I mumble weakly "What...?" She stares at me. Her face white as chalk.
"I told you you were special Naruto. I told you."
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A.N: What do you think? Any good? Reviews would make my day pleaseies! :D
