Trials
Gaarazlilmiss
NOTICE!!-For all of you that have never seen the story "Ai?" please go back and find it because it is the first story, and this one will end up making no sense if you haven't read that one first!!
Disclaimer : I don't own Naruto, so be happy…or not… :P
Hello. I'm so sorry if my last chapter disappointed some of you, but you know, with priorities off of I can't always do as I expect to. Besides, I know you'd rather read this chapter than the other one. It was a TRANSITION chapter, to get us to this chapter. That one was to get the characters to say some final things on their minds before everything collapses in one big heap. I'm sorry if it gets a little angst-like, but that's the way it's got to be. Hope you enjoy this long chapter!
Hinata: This chapter makes me really sad…
Gaara:…I hate to say this, but it really is messed up.
Gaarazlilmiss: Hinata, sometimes we have to make sacrifices…
Hinata: ….
Kiba: I don't like this chapter one bit.
Naruto: Aww…poor Hinata-chan…
Neji: Sigh Ten Ten…Ahem! I mean, Hinata. Poor Hinata
Hinata, Gaara, Gaarazlilmiss, Kiba, and Naruto: Sigh
Gaarazlilmiss: Neji's in la la land…
Chapter 9: Ill Decision
Hinata's eyes scanned franticly for Kiba. He was nowhere to be seen, and that scared Hinata to no end. "W-Where is my teammate?" she asked.
"Oh him?" Oshimota asked. "He's a little busy right now. You should be worried about yourself. The predicament you're in is far worse than his. You hold his life in your hands. So tell me, have you decided to go through with it yet?" he asked, pressing the Kunai closer to her soft skin.
Hinata winced as she felt the blade began to saw away at it. "Tell me why…why do you want m-me of all the people to do this to your Kazekage? Why do you even want to do this!?" She yelled out.
Oshimota chuckled. "Naïve girl. Do you remember what he use to do, all those years ago. Not everyone can just forget what all he's done to us. He killed many of his own people, and that damned Kazekage didn't do much about it at all. You see, he took something VERY precious away from me, and I'm making him pay for that. But that is only one of the many reasons this has been decided. There are other people who wish for his ultimate destruction." Oshimota said.
Hinata could say nothing. She did remember how he use to be, and if he took something away from Oshimota, then he might have the right to be angry. She could not argue.
"See? Does it all make sense? Let me try to give you something to think about, and think about it quickly. The Hyuuga clan…They didn't consider you worth anything at all, did they? They threw you out, hated you, pitied you, and worst of all, disowned you half the time, did they not?" Oshimota said with a nasty smirk.
Hinata didn't move, her eyes widening. "H-how would you know!?" she managed to breath out.
Oshimota's grip on her tightened when he felt her squirm slightly. " Everyone does…especially when your name isn't' Hyuuga Hinata anymore." he chuckled. "But when Gaara mercilessly killed your family, he never gave you the chance to redeem yourself. Your own village thinks strangely of you because of him. In due time, if this continues, you might not even be HINATA of Konoha." he said.
"What do you mean?" she asked darkly.
"I mean that just because Gaara is now the Kazekage, and he might appear more stable, I know he's not." Oshimota said. "he still has moments when he looks crazed, and he even almost killed someone, ever think that if you do something bad enough, he'll come after you as well?" Oshimota asked. "He could possibly cause danger here, and that is why the sand nins also came along." he said.
"G-gaara would never do something inconsiderate like that!" Hianta yelled in protest.
"But he did when he killed your clan. You don't even feel the slightest slither of sadness about that though, do you?" he asked. "You could care less if he killed your clan, but what about the ones close to you? That Kiba character for instance. I know about their little disagreements and that they truly don't like each other because of you. Anyone who gets in the way of you and him, he could possibly hurt. Have you ever thought about that?" he asked.
Hinata had to admit that she hadn't. What if he did kill Kiba? Even though Hinata didn't like him as he would like her to, she was still his friend, and he was always there for her. She could never for give Gaara if he'd done that! Not only Kiba, but everyone else for that matter.
"Hmm? See my point. And also, is it really worth it, Hinata? You could kill one person, and you would forever have the ones you love nearby, whereas if you decided not to kill Gaara, then everyone else would suffer from your selfish decision. They'd die. I can give the commands to kill them now if you say no." he said. "After all, they have their hands full too." he finished.
Hinata's eyes stung with tears she refused to let fall. She loved Gaara so dearly, and that was because he was one of the only ones who understood her, but then there were the friends that had stayed by her long enough, almost all her life, who she considered more of a family than the clan could ever be. They all cared for her, and stuck by her even when Gaara came into the picture. They tried to give her advice, they cared for her, they let her have her freedom, and how could she let him destroy them? It just wouldn't be right! Gaara had done many things to the village in his younger years when he didn't understand the world around him. He was the main part of the attack in that time. He killed lots of people without regret, he'd almost permanently damaged Rock Lee. Even though she had mixed ideas about the whole scenario, he also destroyed her clan, and Hinata had to admit that she did never get to show them what she was truly made of. He'd injured Kiba on more than one occasion, and he was still slightly unstable, even with the demon gone from his body. The more Hinata thought about it, the more she thought that she was the monster for allowing all of this to occur. She didn't want to kill him though. What should she do?
"I will let you know one thing Hinata. If you do say yes, and in the end, you have lied to me, you, your friends, and Gaara will pay with your lives." he said as something to move her decision along. "And did you know that your precious Gaara has been with other women, not just you? He didn't wait for you." said Oshimota with an evil smirk on his face.
Hinata's eyes shot open as tears that she'd been holding fell shamelessly from her eyes. "N-no…You are lying!" she said jerking forward not remembering the kunai and cutting herself.
"Oh no…far from it. Think about it. Would the Kazekage, a man of high power that could have anything he wanted turn that chance down?" he asked. "Just think about his situation, and yours. You live two or three days away from a man who can't even break away from his job most of the time, and he is there with all sorts of women who could care less about you and how you'd feel, and get him to do those things. Surely you didn't wait on him, Hinata?" asked the man.
She almost didn't. Almost, being the key word. It was Kiba's restraint that stopped them. But Hinata knew that after that she didn't want to ever try that again with him. It just didn't seem right. And he didn't say woman, he said women. That is what made Hinata's heart heavy.
"Well…?" Oshimota asked Lazily.
"…" Hinata said nothing for a moment. Weighing the situation, she knew what she had to do. But she felt like dieing because of it. Actually, in her situation, that might be a good idea…maybe, just maybe there was a way out of it, but upon hearing what Oshimota just said, even though he was the enemy, it was highly likely he'd done what he said, and Hinata wasn't thinking about ways out for him anymore. He didn't care about her if that was how it was. But didn't he have his reasons? They did think they'd never see each other again, but Hinata was the hopeful one. She felt like such an idiot, but even still, she said, "I-I'll do it."
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Naruto, Gaara, and Sakura were traveling through their designated area, and so far, they'd detected nothing. Frustration and worry could easily be detected in Gaara's eyes although his face remained an emotionless void.
Sakura was leading the way, and was doing a pretty good job at it, and Naruto was following behind Gaara.
"Gaara, you okay? I've noticed you've tensed up…" said Naruto as he scratched his head.
Gaara looked back briefly before turning around. "I'm fine." he said.
Sakura looked around at their surroundings. Things just didn't' seem right. Something kept telling her that this same area was replaying, and replaying, and replaying….like they weren't moving an inch. "Naruto, have you noticed anything weird since we've been moving?" asked Sakura.
Naruto looked around franticly. "No, have you?" he asked.
"Well yeah. Do you remember when we were doing the Chuunin exams?" she asked stopping, the two men stopping along with her.
"Yes." said Naruto.
"When Kabuto had joined you, me and Sasuke to help us out?" she finished her thought.
"Uh-huh." he said.
"And we found out that we were in some sort of strange Genjutsu?" she said.
"Yeah! No w that you mention it, I do remember that, and it does seem like we're getting nowhere fast." he said.
"I knew it. Release!" Sakura said forming the proper hand sign as she dispelled the genjutsu around them.
A short chuckle. "Really, they aren't so bad for mere leaf village brats…" said a sand nin as he came out.
"Ditto." said another, and three more moved out.
"You actually thought we would fall for something like that again? Now that we're jounin?" she asked.
"It worked for quite a time." said the ninja.
Gaara's face wrinkled into a nasty frown. "What is the meaning of this?" he asked.
"Gaara-sama…" the man put sarcastic emphasis on sama, "We've got special commands to hold you here until further word. That means these little pests too…" said the apparent leader ninja.
"You have no authority to do that." Gaara said.
"On the contrary." said the ninja. "The council leader has almost as much or maybe even more authority than you when it comes to matters such as this. When we decided to overthrow the Kazekage, and the council is the one who decides whether or not you can even be Kazekage, he can also decided whether to remove you." he said.
A light placed them in another genjutsu. "Try to release this one if you want to. You'll end up with a surprise." said the ninja with a smirk.
Sakura frowned at him. She thought he was bluffing. Just as she was about to, Gaara stopped her. 'Don't." he said.
Sniggering was heard from everywhere and it didn't stop, driving the small team insane.
"Fight if you want to Kazekage-sama, you won't win. You'll just be wasting precious chakra. This genjutsu was developed by me, Tohoro Masubara, specially to keep you trapped here until I take it down. You kill me, you'll never escape." he said.
Gaara glared at him deeper, sand raging around him in his anger. "What reason do you have to want to do this to me?" he asked. What was going on, and why was this old man trying to kill him?
Tohoro looked at him with pure hatred. "Do you remember a certain kid named Tayuuma?" he asked. "That was one of my best friends, and you killed her!" he yelled.
Gaara looked at him confused. "Tayuuma?" he asked.
"Exactly as we expected, you don't remember a thing about her, do you?" he asked.
"…" Gaara said nothing. He figured this was one of those people he killed when he was younger. "That is a thing of the past, if it did happen." he said. "You've spent your life plotting revenge on me for somebody?" he asked looking at him with no kind of expression or emotion on his face.
"It was worth it. Good friends in this lifestyle are hard to come by. You wrecked Oshimota's heart and took everything away from him when you did that!" he said.
Gaara chuckled darkly. "Well then, let me ask you this." he said. "Do you expect me to bring her back to life? I've done everything I can to redeem myself because I know what I did then wasn't right, and all you do is hold a grudge and go off plotting schemes with the old man to get revenge on me for something that happened long ago? What kind of ninja is that?" he asked.
"DON'T LECTURE ME!! You don't even understand. You don't care! What kind of kazekage is that!?" Tohoro threw his words back at him rushing at him with a kunai.
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Ten Ten and Neji raced through their area, scanning for Oshimota. It was seeming to be of no avail.
"Neji, do you think we'll find him?" Ten Ten asked looking at Neji curiously.
"More than likely, we won't. There is a 1/3 chance that we will find him and 2/3 of a chance we won't." he said. "If we find him, you know what to do, Ten Ten." said Neji.
Ten Ten nodded. The plan they'd come up with was to alert the others by activating a flare bomb. When the others saw that, they'd know to come. Although it might cause the citizens to panic, they should already know what was happening.
"That won't help you." said a voice. They sounded so young.
Ten Ten and Neji immediately stopped. "Who's there, come on out." he said bitterly.
A female ninja hopped out. Her long blond hair cascaded down her back, and her topaz eyes shimmered with fire. She held two large demon wind shurikens in her hands. "You people make me sick. Protecting that pathetic Kazekage of ours, and that wretched girl whose fallen for him." she said.
The girl appeared to be at least their age, maybe even a little younger.
Neji had never looked so confused in his entire life. "What are you talking about?" he asked.
"Don't you know? The whole reason that we decided to participate in the elder council leaders plans was because we want revenge on the Kazekage for what he did to our friend, and Oshimota's sister, Tayuuma." she explained.
Ten Ten just looked at her.
"I've been ordered to keep you two away, so welcome to my memories." said the girl as she activated a genjutsu pulling Neji and Ten Ten into the terrible memories she had of the kazekage and Tayuuma. It showed the happy times they'd shared, the sad times, the time when her short life came to a screeching halt, the time that all her friends and Oshimota mourned for their beloved one. It was terrifying. "Did you see what I saw?" she said. "THAT is why I want his life to end. Someone whose done that, even if they try to atone, shouldn't have a second chance." she said. "He didn't give our friend a second chance. I don't care if the ninja code says I can't show my emotions. That girl was like a sister to me, and if I have to do this just to get revenge, I will!" she said.
Even though Neji didn't like Gaara with one fiber of his being, he couldn't help but feel that what she said was unfair, in a way. He could, however, easily understand the facts she'd brought about.
"Move out of our way. We've got somewhere to be." said Ten Ten said harshly.
"See. You don't even understand. You don't even care, just like that cold murderer!!" the girl said. "As Tayuuma's friend Miyoko, I will avenge her, even if I have to do this first!" she said attacking.
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Kiba was trapped in some sort of genjutsu, and he never realized when the person had done it. First he was searching around with Hinata, and now he was in some sort of pitch black place. The only light he saw was what was underneath his feet, and that had to be where the source of the genjutsu was coming from.
Since when are Sand Ninja so expertise at Genjutsu?
He questioned himself.
Knowing that somewhere Hinata was in danger, he jumped off the clear area, revealing a forest floor.
Try if you will, you won't get out. As long as I am concentrated on you, you will not escape this genjutsu…
Some voice said.
Kiba gritted his teeth. "Damn it! Show yourself right now!" he said.
The person chuckled.
And what reason do I have to do that? Your little girlfriend is safe, don't worry. She made the right choice.
They said again.
Whoever this was, they obviously didn't know Kiba. Akamaru wasn't even in the genjutsu with him, and whoever it was, they had skills.
I could have done gatsuuga ((Sp?)) to escape…
Kiba thought.
Trying the only thing left, he drew a kunai, and gashed his arm. Nothing happened.
Didn't Kurenai sensei say that inflicting pain upon yourself awakens you from a genjutsu???
Kiba asked puzzled.
The man chuckled.
That won't help in this situation. You'd actually take me that lightly? You'll be let out soon…
It said amused.
"…Crap." Kiba said frustrated, and still trying to figure out ways to escape the ridiculously protected genjutsu.
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Oshimota smiled proudly at Hinata's decision. "Good. Now then, you'll do as I say, and follow me." he said.
Hinata glared at the man before her venomously. "Fine. But don't try anything funny…" Hinata said.
Hinata's heart was torn in two. What she felt was enough for a normal person to go into cardiac arrest, but Hinata had trained for this situations, and kept a cool exterior, while on the inside, she was melting into a puddle of nothing. This Oshimota character knew how to press the buttons on a victim.
"First off, you will travel to with me to Sunagakure. Afterwards, we will plan how you shall go about disposing of our failure of a Kazekage." he said.
Hinata made no attempt to reply.
Oshimota raised an amused brow at Hinata's stubbornness.
Release…
Oshimota thought.
Somewhere, Kiba was screaming bloody murder because he hit a tree branch wrong after coming out of his genjutsu.
"Leave this area, unseen by your teammates and the Kazekage, and pack your things. Meet me at the edge of the wilderness in 15 minutes." he said.
Hinata said nothing, but jumped off in a blur, leaving Oshimota where he stood.
"I have a feeling things won't go as smoothly." he said before fleeing off himself.
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!!!?HINATA!!! HOW COULD YOU!!!? Well, there are reasons, plenty why she has rights, but reasons why she shouldn't.. Look for the next chapter.
Quick Preview…
Hinata glared at Oshimota furiously. "You think I'm that dumb!? Y-you thought I'd actually do it!" she said forming hand signs as fast as she could.
"No, I didn't, and that is why I have prepared you for this. Don't you see? A good ninja always has a backup plan." he said bracing himself cockily for her attack.
Hinata's palms glowed a reddish-orange color as she charged at him. She knew her hands were burning, and her skin would be scalded at least, but the burning fiery sensation did nothing to her. She knew what she was fighting for.
As much as she hated it, Oshimota dodged with much ease, swaying around each strike.
Hinata was aiming for his shoulder, when she did an unexpected twist and palmed him right in his lower abdomen.
The wind was knocked out of Oshimota as he flew backwards, hitting a tree behind him, and falling to the ground with a blunt thud.
He touched his stomach, feeling the chunk of flesh missing.
He stood up shakily, but it seemed he was regenerating somehow.
Hinata looked at him puzzled.
Before she could blink, Hinata could feel the life of her being squeezed out.
"I was saving this technique for someone…" Oshimota said in a dark tone, "but seeing as you have to have some sense squeezed into you, I guess it won't hurt to use a bit of it now." he said.
Hinata screamed silently as the life of her was being crushed.
"You see, I don't think you understand the severity of this mission of ours. You think it's all a game, but you don't even realize, and don't care about anyone but yourself. Selfish brat." he said crushing her more. "I tried being discrete, but that didn't help. So now, I'll ask you once more," he dropped Hinata to the ground, "will you participate?" he asked.
Hinata gasped for air. Her skin was bruised blue and yellow, and her body was aching terribly. It hurt to breathe.
When he received no reply, he dashed over to her, grasping her by her neck and holding her to the air. "Need a little more convincing?" he asked, sand whipping around him like whips.
Hinata's eyes squinted as she was loosing air yet again. Once more, she was dropped to the ground, and she wheezed a little before shakily trying to stand. "I'll…g-get…revenge on…him…myself….but…not for…the likes…or you or….your wretched…elder council member…!" she wheezed out.
What do you think? See what else happens in the next chapter. I'm sorry if I'm updating slow. I try to make my chapters the best they can be, and so I don't like rushing them out. Although sometimes, they don't turn out quite like I expect them to, I still do my very best to put out presentable fanfics, not junk. Thank you for being patient reviewers.
Gaara: Hinata, you confuse me…
Hinata:I-I'm confusing myself…
Gaarazlilmiss: Ah, it's not that bad. Look at the bright side, at least she didn't hunt you down like the dog you really are Gaara for being such a man whore.
Gaara: I was not. That is a matter of opinion.
Gaarazlilmiss:…riiiiiiight…((Smirks))