Chapter Twelve
*****
Toorima sat in her bed trying her hardest not to cry. Hanabi had shown her today that she was not the only one in pain, but she was the only one that could show it openly. This had made her feel like a pathetic crybaby and she promised that she would use her sorrow as strength.
But now she couldn't sleep. Her crying used to exhaust her into sleep but now that she didn't have that sleep evaded her. For the first time since she began living with Kurenai-sensei she decided to try and sneak out and go train.
She opened the window and was just about to jump out when a voice behind her startled her. "Just don't stay out to long." Kurenai whispered before shutting her bedroom door softly. Sneaking out = utter fail. Toorima hung her head as she jumped from the window landing on her feat two stories down.
Since she had started training in school and what not it became apparent that she had very cat like reflexes, postures, and tendencies. A classmate had pointed out the way she yawned the other day. Her mouth would open very wide and her tongue would stick out a little. She thought nothing of it. When she would visit villages during her father's travels she liked to play with the stray cats which could explain her behaviors.
One thing the Iruka had found interesting was how she always seemed to land on her feat. They were practicing jumps during the first week and it seems almost every student fell on their rear at least once, except for her.
Walking down the street and looking up at the sky Toorima started to play with a lock of her long midnight hair and hum to herself. She wasn't sure where she was going and just kept walking. There was a small playground up the street that was still slightly illuminated by a few street lamps and she decided to go there for now. The swing creaked as she sat upon it and gave a light push from the ground to get it started a little.
She thought of a million things at once. Her thoughts were utterly chaotic and it was giving her a headache. She wanted to save Hinata, but she was too weak. Also, her mother's kekkai genkai was bothering her and no matter how much she researched it she just couldn't find what it was. And then you had Kiba, he would look for Hinata and always come back empty handed which frustrated her. Not at Kiba, but at the fact that even he couldn't find her which made her think her chances were even lower.
Not able to think anymore and keep her emotions in check she decided to walk some more. Toorima kicked her legs hard to make the swing go as high as she could and when it couldn't go any higher she back flipped off and landed on her feet slightly crouched. That was so much fun she decided to do it again. Before long she was completely immersed in her play flipping off the swing only to get on and try another more difficult flip, landing on her feet every time.
~*~*~
Hidan stopped Kakuzu by putting his hand on his chest. Kakuzu looked down at the hand then up at Hidan and glared. Hidan sighed at the glare, "That little bitch's chakra, I can feel it close by." Kakuzus' eyes turned back to their normal calm glance as the hand was removed from his chest.
The Jashinist leapt into the nearest tree and was able to see over the wall surrounding Konohagakure. They were just about to infiltrate the village when the girls' chakra flared. The greedy ninja followed his partner into the tree and followed his glance.
In the small village play ground was a girl on a swing. He was caught off guard when the girl did a double back flip off the swing and landed on her feet. He was astounded; she was like…six or seven years old and already able to perform such a stunt without injuring herself. The swing didn't get too high, but it was still a good twenty-five to thirty feet at the height she was reaching.
Her features also caught him off guard. She had very long true black hair to her lower back, he wondered how long she had been growing it out, and her eyes, they were the deepest shade of blue he had ever seen on a human being. He shook these thoughts from his mind reminding him of the mission at hand.
"So fucker, how are we gonna do this again?" Hidan asked looking at Kakuzu sheepishly. "I really am going to kill you." His partner spat upset that the moron immortal had already forgot the plan. "We have to let her know we are taking her to see Hinata first, which should keep her from struggling or calling for help. It should be hard to get in if we mask our chakra and use a henge. We will pretend to be the girls' uncles here to visit." He continued in a voice layered in annoyance.
"Right, got it. Let's fucking do this then." Hidan said jumping from his tree and removing his cloak. He cut an enormous gash into the tree he had just leapt from in order to hide his cloak, scythe, and weapons pouch into the crevice. Kakuzu did the same and they both preformed a simple henge.
Silver hair turned to black and shortened considerably. He fattened out and shrunk a good half a foot shorter. His dark purple eyes faded to a light green. Kakuzu, the greedy ninja also made himself fatter but he stayed the same height. Having to remove his mask he made all the stitches along his body appear to be tattoos and his hair turned from black to brown. He couldn't do anything about his eyes so he pulled out a pair of sunglasses and placed them on.
Unrecognizable the two akatsuki members brazenly approached the front gate. They weren't stopped at all; in fact, it looked as if the guards were nodding off. Hidan smirked at Kakuzus' questioning expression. "Jashin-sama is looking out for his follower. I will have to give him an extra special sacrifice for this though." He mumbled not looking forward to the next ritual which would need to be soon. They were always a pain in the neck, but they were necessary to ensure his immortality.
The greedy ninja shook his head at his partner. It didn't matter to him how it was happening if it made their mission easier. Unwilling to test his newest theory wither he refused to dispel the henge. They walked in silence through the village to the park they had seen the girl in.
She was still there, still flipping off the swing like it was the most exciting thing she had ever done. The two approached her cautiously. She hadn't acknowledged them yet, she was too distracted. Kakuzu stepped in front of the swing just as she was about to leap off of it again. She put her feet down skidding to a stop and glared at the man who stopped her fun that she considered a form of training.
"Would you like to see Hinata again?" Hidan asked coming over to stand next to his comrade. Toorima was staring at him in shock, at a loss for words. All she could manage was a nod. "Follow us, do not resist." Kakuzu said a strong warning in his voice. The girl stepped forward and put her head down, signaling she would submit. She would do anything to see Hinata again.
They left the village just as they came, unnoticed. It was too easy and Hidan felt that same eerie feeling fall around him as the village was finally starting to fade in the distance. They were making good time considering the extra baggage that tried her hardest to keep up. If nothing had gone wrong with his mission then what was with this feeling…no, it couldn't be. "Jashin fucking damn it!" Hidan yelled as he started to run at top speed in the direction of the akatsuki base dispelling the henge as he did so.
Kakuzu stared after Hidan in surprise and frustration. What was he going to do now? He looked down at the little girl that was trailing a few feet behind who had a surprised look on her face as well. He gave a heavy sigh and released his own henge. They had made it back to the tree with their supplies a short time after only to find that Hidan had already been there and left.
Frustration had escalated to pure furry. He knew this would happen if that Hyuuga stayed around. He would have to have a nice chat with Leader-sama about this. He constantly checked behind him to make sure that the girl was still following. He noticed that little by little she fell behind.
It wasn't till an hour out of the village that the child spoke. Her voice was quiet and had a feline kind of tone, almost sounding like a soft hiss. "I'm tired mister." He looked back and groaned inwardly. It was an ungodly hour of the night, she was just playing at a park, and she was a child. It was only natural that she would be tired, but this created a dilemma. He didn't want to stop till they were at least out of fire country, but he didn't want to carry her either.
He went over all his options very carefully. Without being able to find a valid reason as to why he didn't want to carry her he finally gave up and got down on one knee with his hands at his sides indicating for her to get on his back. Toorima understood and walked over to the man. She was too young, innocent, and naive to think of anything wrong about the situation. Above all she was too tired to care at this point. She climbed on his back and wrapped her tiny arms around his neck. Her legs weren't long enough to wrap all the way around his waist so they just dangled in front of him.
Kakuzu was completely uncomfortable with the situation but was unwilling to stop and pay for an inn. When the girl climbed onto his back he took notice of how warm and small her body really was. She couldn't weight more than sixty pounds, an absolutely tiny little thing. As her hands encircled his neck he shuttered slightly. Human contact was one thing that Kakuzu avoided. Normally people were too afraid of his appearance to approach him in the first place and women were out of the question.
The girl fell asleep almost immediately, her cheek pressing into his shoulder blade since she couldn't reach his actual shoulder. He rose from the ground and continued walking. She was lighter than he thought. It was almost as if he was only carrying an extra pack.
Finally out of the fire country Kakuzu relaxed just a little. The girl breathed slowly in her sleep. The air she exhaled against his cloak made small ripples along the fabric. Hidan had been right about one thing. This child had an intriguing amount of chakra. It was more than he had when he was a child of her age. He didn't have this much until he reached chunin rank.
Leader-sama would be pleased with their booty and more likely to grant a special request.
*~*~*
Hinata opened her eyes slowly as it was very bright and she had to let her eyes adjust. Many emotions hit her at once. Fear, confusion, shock, and more fear. The kunoichi wasn't outside, and she wasn't resting on a tree like she was when she had passed out. Instead she was restrained in the full meaning of the term. Her arms were bound to her sides which were bound tightly to an operating table, her legs were strapped down onto the cold hard surface, and even her head was being held down by a strap. Then another thought hit her. Why could she feel the cold surface she was laying on so clearly?
Her panic struck up like an orchestra at the climax of their melody as she screamed and struggled against her restraints. She had been captured by Kami knows who, though it wasn't hard to guess, and now she was on an operating table, almost completely naked, only in her panties and a thin sheet over her. Her old soiled bandages had been changed.
A door opened cutting off all other thoughts and she tried to look at the person who entered with no success. "Quiet down." Kabuto said as he came around into her view. He was wearing a creepy lab coat over his usual ninja garb and there was blood on it that Hinata prayed wasn't hers. "You have grown into a fine young woman." He said running his fingers down her arm in torment. "D-DON'T TOUCH M_ME! W-what are you g-going to do with m-me?" She yelled at him already resigning herself to the worst possible fate.
"I suppose as long as I don't kill you I can do as I please." He said pushing his glasses up his nose with his middle finger. "You have Sasuke-kun to thank for that. He demanded your life be spared but other than that he doesn't care what is to become of you care. Orochimaru agreed and now you get to be my beautiful lab animal." He smirked, it wasn't the smirk Hidan gave, it was darker.
A surge of anger and bravado passed down her spine simultaneously as she looked right at him and spit in his face. She wasn't going to just sit by and let him experiment on her. He chuckled again wiping the spit from his cheek. "Now now, you should try and avoid unnecessary pain." He said before back handing her hard against her right cheek a small trickle of blood came from her mouth, he had caused a small but deep cut to her tongue.
She was scared out of her wits, but she wasn't going to give in that easily despite her shaky limbs and racing heart. She thanked Hidan in her head again. The jutsu he inspired had another good use. In an attempt to free herself she pushed a layer of chakra from her body making it sharp, like a chakra blade and cut easily through the straps that restrained her. Kabuto stumbled back to avoid the attack.
She didn't get far, off the table and to the door, but it was locked and he was behind her laughing madly. She held back a sob as she tried to wrench open the door again. He was right behind her now breathing into her ear. "Do you think I would be so stupid a second time?" She could feel his clothes against her skin and she cringed, her almost nudity having been forgotten to that point.
Hinata felt her legs give out in defeat and crumbled to a heap on the floor slouching forward her shoulders suddenly very heavy. She was still so incredibly weak after everything she had been through the thought aggravated her. First she was kidnapped by the akatsuki, now by Orochimarus' gang. A dark fate loomed over her and she felt doomed to a life of torture. Unlike with her time at the akatsuki however, she doubted she would grow to like this place, at all.
Kabuto bent down and picked her up bridal style, carrying her back to the operating table. She struggled in his grasp. She never wanted to be touched by any other man than Hidan in such a manner, especially when so much of her skin was exposed. The Hyuuga was not going to give up. She had promised Hidan she would make it back. Her strength would have to recover a little more before she could try another escape attempt.
With Hinata strapped to the table again kabuto proceeded to insert a needle into her arm and placed an assortment of different machines around her, hooking all sorts of wires and patches over her skin. Beeps started to sound from the different machines and unnerved her slightly. The last thing she saw was a larger needle stab into the side of her neck and soon after she felt a weird swirling in her head, everything was starting to blend together and again, everything went black. This wasn't the blackness she was used to. When she fainted because of Naruto in the past, Hidan, or from a large amount of pain, it was just an ocean of nothingness dark and ever looming. Now she was plunged into a world of nightmares.
~*~*~
Hidan ran without stopping. Every second it took to get back to base seemed like a second full of a century's worth of pain. He felt so stupid, why would Jashin warn him about his own mission? He was immortal, Hinata wasn't.
His heart was beating out of his chest and his legs were aching. Rain started to patter against his face and he then realized how close he was. By the time he reached the door to base he was completely drenched to the bone. His silver hair wasn't slicked back anymore like it usually was, it fell around his face as water ran down it to the floor.
Performing the necessary hand seals to open the door he headed straight for Leader-samas' office. He ignored Tobi and his over excited greeting and he pushed Deidara out of his way on his way down the long hallway. Kisame was going to ask him what was wrong but the look on the immortals face warned him not to as they passed each other on the stairs.
Hidan through the door open making it bang loudly into the opposite wall. He met three pairs of eyes. One was angry, one was quizzical, and the other was indifferent. Konan, the indifferent frowned and moved to the back of the room, to stand in the shadows. There was more than indifference in her eyes that he could see just before she slipped into the darkness, concern and fear.
Zetsu was staring at him quizzically. That was what he was worried about, Zetsu was here, but Hinata wasn't. Not just absent from Peins' office, he couldn't feel her presence anywhere in the base. Hidan closed in on Zetsu and grabbed handfuls of the plant mans cloak before slamming him down on the desk. "Where the fuck is Hinata?!?" He said each word very slowly and full of malice.
Pein slammed his hands on his desk, "That's enough Hidan." He said angrily. The Jashinist ignored him completely. "Tell me where she is now! Or I swear to Jashin that I will fucking kill you very slowly and very fucking painfully. You won't even be able to be considered a fucking sacrifice before I'm done with you!" He yelled down into the bi-colored face.
Zetsu cleared his throat not in fear but to assure that Hidan would listen. "Orochimaru has her." Before he could continue Hidans' grip strengthened and his eyes shot into slits. "And why the fuck is she there?!?" He screamed. "We split up, by the time I had made it back she was already to injured to approach." "I wouldn't have been able to control myself, she smelled so appetizing, I would have eaten her." His white side mused. This made Hidan only angrier and he drew his hand back to punch the daylights out of the man under him.
"That is enough!" Pein shouted much louder and filled with utmost authority and Hidan lowered his hand. When Hidan calmed himself and released the other man he glared at the leader waiting for a better explanation. "Zetsu followed Kabuto, Orochimarus most faithful pet while Hinata entered the facility to investigate. Something made Kabuto turn and Zetsu followed. Hinata was able to outrun them both for some time till she was struck down. By this time as Zetsu explained she was bleeding to much for him to approach her safely. He could have helped her at the cost of her own life so you own him some gratitude." Pein said raising his eyebrows.
"We do know the Hyuuga is still alive and I was just thinking of the best for or recovery. She has valuable information that I want and she has proven herself to be a valuable asset to the organization. I was about to send Itachi and Kis…" Pein couldn't finish his sentence before Hidan stormed from the room. If anyone was going to rescue Hinata it would be him.
Out of the building Hidan took off in another dead run. He could feel his exhaustion starting to overpower him. He didn't want to stop, but he also knew he would be no use to Hinata in the condition he was in now. So regretfully he sat at the base of a large tree well out of the rain village. Greif hit him full force by this point. He glared up at the sky, "You wouldn't take her from me earlier Jashin-sama, so why now?" He said quietly getting louder as he continued. "Why now? Now that I love her?" His voice broke. He was furiously and his heart was torn apart at the same time. Women have always been mere tools of pleasure in the past. It was Hinata that had changed that, it was her that was special among all women in his eyes.
If she was bleeding enough for Zetsu to have to stay away her wounds had to be bad and the thought drained him of hope. Worse was she was now a prisoner of Orochimaru. He quickly tried to push those thoughts away not wanting to think of what they could be doing. Anger surged through him, giving him more strength and he stood.
His scythe was pulled down from his back and he let out a monstrous scream as he turned and sliced down the tree in his rage. He continued a stream of profanities as he cut down tree after tree. The last thing he yelled before falling to his knees was, "Don't take her from me."
Zetsu slowly inched his way out of the ground in front of Hidan. Running his hand through his hair to return it to his usual slick style he glared at the other akatsuki member. "What the fuck do you want? Saving Hinata comes before me kicking your fucking ass." He said getting off his knees and crossing his arms in front of his broad chest.
"I am not here to fight you." "You want help finding her right?" The human plant said once he was fully out of the earth. "Why the fuck would I want your help?" Hidan snapped back. "Simple. I know where she was taken." "I may not have been able to help, but I did follow them to their hideout." His white side said with pride. "We could have helped her." "No, cause then we would have eaten her." "Exactly, but the help would have come first." Zetsu couldn't finish arguing with himself before Hidan had his cloak in his grasp again. "Take me to her." His voice was so forceful that with no further hesitation Zetsu started off toward the east. Hidan followed.
