I wasn't lying when I said I was busy…but I got inspired by a madahina Guest reviewer who is so damn funny. And yes, I was kinda going for that Historical Chinese Dynasty vibe thing
Anyway, enjoy…
Disclaimer – Naruto does not belong to me.
Hinata swallowed her meal with difficulty as the occupants of the dining hall stared at her in envy. It was strangely full for this time of night and Hinata could not help but be miffed that her plans were put in disarray with the presence of the two guards before her.
It was the third consecutive night this week that Madara had sent her a basket full of fruit – tonight being strawberries, and though she appreciated the extra food, she was concerned about the motives behind it. The Emperor was not one to frivolously send gifts if he didn't expect something in return.
She was tempted to send them back but she doubt Madara would take kindly to that. She now had too many people dependent on her to act so thoughtlessly. Besides, the fresh nutritious fruits were very much appreciated by the prisoners.
Tsunade was a shell of her former self but Hinata could see her complexion and health improving, however slightly, with the additional sustenance. It was still not enough but at least morale amongst the captives were picking up.
Gaara had refused to talk, seemingly regressing back to his former withdrawn and lonely self. Hinata did not know if it was due to the torture sessions or the loss of his family, but she tried to give him and everyone hope by mentioning how Naruto had never been found. It would be cruel if that was untrue, but she had faith that if anyone could survive Madara's wrath, it would be Naruto. She knew it was unfair to put so much burden on her love, but she had to give them something to live for.
Gaara had neither shifted nor acknowledged her statement but Hinata could see a flash of something in his blank eyes. It was fleeting, but it was enough.
She had come away more determined than ever to build up their strength and strategize a plan. Unfortunately, all ideas had come to a dead end when she saw how many walls had surrounded the Palace and the Protective barrier that surrounded it. Getting them out of the prison fortress was hard enough but the Palace walls was virtually impossible.
Hinata stared at the retreating guards as the girls continued to eyeball her spitefully. If they disliked her before, they despised her now.
She took one of the red fist-sized strawberries into her mouth and bit down on its sweet, juicy flesh. She would allow herself one of these treats in case it got back to the Emperor, the rest however, were for her friends. If Madara intended these solely for her consumption then he was sorely mistaken.
Hinata could not be bought with gifts.
X-X
Yoshe and Michiko daintly drank their Chrysanthemum infused tea as they watched Kimiko arrange her flowers. They had been invited to her floor for some high tea but the sisters knew Kimiko too well for it to be an innocent 'get together'. She did not get where she was purely by playing nice – Lady Kimiko with her long blond hair and azure eyes was as devious as she was beautiful.
"How is your little angel?" Yoshe asked, knowing full well that the chubby little brat was as fit as a fiddle.
"He's growing up so quickly. Madara-sama was just here the other day to check up on him."
"How nice." Michiko smiled through grounded teeth.
Kimiko wanted to laugh at the bitterness in Michiko's voice. She normally enjoyed provoking the sisters but she had other plans today. "Did you hear about the servant girl that caught his Majesty's attention?" Kimiko uttered innocently as she trimmed the thorns from her roses. "Apparently she is quite lovely."
"A servant?" Yoshe sputtered indignantly. "That's preposterous! The Emperor would never!" Michiko and herself were highborn ladies, to have a servant supplant them was inconceivable!
"My sources are very reliable." Kimiko sighed as she placed the roses in her crystal vase. "She has been receiving gifts from Madara-sama every night this week."
Michiko stared wide-eyed at her sister. How long had it been since his Majesty had sent them something special? It was an insult to their status.
"What is her name?" Yoshe asked resentfully.
"Hyuuga. Hyuuga Hinata." Kimiko smiled charmingly as she joined them for tea.
X-X
Sasuke kicked the white pebble around as he waited for his team to appear at the Armoury.
Where the fuck were they? All they had to do was pack some belongings and meet him here…it wasn't hard. If only Madara had sent his team to retrieve Obito in the first place, they would not have wasted a week. It took missing hawks and dead Zetsus for Madara to finally, finally issue his team with this mission.
Sasuke was more than ready to leave this place and forget a maddening someone, who this stupid white pebble was now reminding him of. She doesn't have white eyes anyway, he thought as he picked up said annoying pebble and threw it as hard as he could.
"Ow,…the hell?" Karui yelled as she rounded the corner.
The. Fuck?
"What are you doing here?" Sasuke thundered as he eyed her clothing. Wasn't she supposed to be in rags or dressed in one of those brown Yukatas? Her kimono-thingy looked far too nice and colourful to be considered normal 'servant' attire.
"I live here." Karui sniffed as she folded her arms across her chest.
"Shouldn't you be working instead of prancing around?"
"What?" Karui scrunched her brows in confusion.
"The Hyuuga wears a different uniform, where is yours? I should have you punished." Sasuke threatened smugly. He hated the Cloud ninjas as much as they hated him, especially after that lunatic rapper whatshisname tricked him.
"Technically," Karui smiled as she watched Sasuke's smirk disappear. "I'm your sister-in-law, so I can prance around as much as I want."
"What?" Now it was Sasuke's turn to be confused. How was Karui a lady-in-waiting or whatever the hell she was and Hinata a maid? "But the Hyuuga…" Dammit, he was going to go bald before the year was over with all these surprises.
"Oh you didn't know?" Karui grinned obnoxiously. "My Hinata-chan turned down the Emperor." Karui whispered conspiratorially. "And she was his first choice!" Karui beamed proudly.
Sasuke was speechless.
Fuck going on that mission – he was useless right now.
"Oi Sasuke!" Suigetsu yelled as his team came bounding over.
Fuuuuuck..not now. He had just had the wind knocked out of him.
"Now where is she?" Karui pondered as she looked around the Armoury to find her friend. It was nearly lunch time and she wanted to catch up on some interesting rumours she heard.
"She's not here." Sasuke muttered dazedly. He would know…he had checked earlier.
X-X
Was it too rushed? I knocked this one out fairly quickly but maybe I should've spent more time on it. Sorry, just got too excited. LOL.
