My time between missions finally corresponded with Itachi and Kisame so I rushed to the hideout they were at, getting there late at night. It was close to the land of waves and as soon as I entered the hideout I rushed to Itachi's room. It's been too long since I've last had the chance to heal him and when I saw him lying on his bed, pale and a hand over his eyes I knew he was in pain. His chakra levels were even lower than last time, the disease has evolved to taking up his chakra, combine that with the low chakra levels he naturally has and how much chakra his Sharingan uses he is getting closer and closer to not being able to fight for more than once a day. I've been spending any and all of my free time trying to research a cure but with my limited supplies and knowledge, I'm still pretty unsure of what I can do other than slow down his demise.
"'Tachi!" I jumped onto his bed and he huffed at my weight on top of him. Even sick, he's stronger than most people ever and can handle my weight. "I missed you!"
"Hello Hinata-hime, I am pleased to see you too." Itachi spoke softly and put a hand on the top of my head.
"Ready." I slid off my cloak and threw it in the corner and unzipped Itachi's as well. His skin was not feverish this time though so I wasn't super worried about letting him go on another mission in a few days.
"Aa."
"Always so monosyllabic." I rolled my eyes and bit his shoulder, which he swatted me off easily.
"Hn." He smiled lightly and I huffed before getting off the bed and kneeling beside him. I put one hand on his eyes and the other on the center of his chest, feeling the rise and fall of his always steady breathing. I started the mystic palm and let my chakra flow into Itachi's body, covering all his organs and going with his chakra flow, focusing it onto healing the cuts and fatigue he had from the last mission. When his external injuries were gone, I put more energy into relieving the strain on his eyes and chakra coils. The tenseness in his body relaxed with the soothing feeling and I found myself into the rhythm of healing him and trying to assess more of what was wrong with his body.
"I'm really excited to train with Kisame-sempai tomorrow."
"He is too, although I doubt you will have the same feeling tomorrow. You said the same thing before training with me."
"Ok but Shuriken suck and I fully believe I will never succeed in them but now I get to hopefully complete my jutsu!"
"Shuriken are only difficult because you do not hold your stances properly." An amused look crossed his features and his body let out the smallest of airy laughter.
"Bite me." I moved my hand from his eye to lacing out fingers together and holding his hand in mine as I healed him more, the faint green glow of the room and his soft breathing as he we talked made me tired and I went to sleep, resting my head on the edge of his bed. Itachi carefully moved over and hoisted me into the bed so i wasn't stiff in the morning, ah the ever chivalrous rogue.
At the early morning hour of 5, Kisame kicked the door open and pointed the bandaged up Samehada extremely close to my face. I jumped up in a panic and just barely managed to dodge hitting myself onto the giant chakra sucking sword.
"Ah what the fuck Kisame-sempai!" I wiped my hand down my face and forced my eyes fully open.
"Get up kid, you have one minute to be ready. For me to beat the mastery of water into you, I'm going to need all day." The shark let out a toothy, slightly menacing grin and I for a second thought I was going to die today. Itachi, for someone who is always completely on alert is the heaviest sleeper when he has the opportunity and after being drained the way he was, its no surprise he's sleeping through this mess.
"Ok Sharky, I get that you're a chakra monster dude but I'm not. I can't just use jutsu's all day." He didn't respond to my statement, just keeping that grin on his blue face as he strapped Samehada to his back. He wasn't wearing his cloak and somehow without it on he looked even bigger. His rippling muscles were emphasized by the super tight black shirt and adding that to his height that surpassed mine by a good 8 inches, he was a beast. He is literally the cooler version of Shark Boy.
"30 seconds." I threw my hair up messily and slid on my shoes before following the giant man who didn't even look tired in the slightest.
Kisame led you to a lake, a very large saltwater lake that would lead into a Mangrove forest. It was pretty cold with the brisk morning chill and with the sun barely lighting the horizon, t and fog that would probably dissipate into dew by mid morning.
"Okay kid, are you ready to truly learn the properties of water?"
"I'm pretty positive I know that already."
"Sure you do. From what I've seen of your incomplete jutsu, your control is better than mine but you are epically failing because of one reason, you don't understand water and all that there is to it." Kisame dropped Samehada onto the surface of the water before taking a seat on top of it, balancing effortless on the moving surface. He looked completely at peace, like he was in his element. "Sit on the surface of the water and let your hands rest in it. Then tell me what you feel." I sat on the surface of the water, and let the cool liquid rush over my palms. I breathed out and focused only on the water, how it felt what it was doing, the feelings of it touching my skin. It was calming, home-like. It reminded me of training at home and with Zabuza as he drilled control into me.
"The water is cold against my palms, I can feel the slow direction the current is moving. It is soothing yet powerful." A foot placed itself on my head and I was quite literally kicked under the water. I broke the surface and spluttered out a cough, letting the water out from my mouth."What the hell!" He was grinning once again with Samehada resting over his shoulder.
"Wrong. Actually, you are kind of right but you're still wrong. However, I'm not surprised with a little shit like Zabuza teaching you, he never was the all that smart." He chuckled, exposing his sharp teeth in slight annoyance for Zabuza. "You can't just feel the calmness water brings, you have to feel each ripple the water makes when disturbed, the differences in the current and temperature at different levels the power water holds, the vastness, the unpredictability, and not only that you need to feel the brutality of water. There is a reason why it is connected to our life force, you need to experience all the power behind an attack, feel what your opponent would feel when being hit by a giant wave. Only then can you fully control water." I blinked in surprise at the deepness of his understanding, I always assumed he was just a loyal teammate who liked brutal fighting and showy jutsu but he's actually pretty intelligent. I guess I should expect that from one of the most feared swordsman ever to exist.
"So it sounds like you're just going to hit me with jutsu after jutsu until I get a full understanding of how strong water really is." The grin on his features was completely terrifying, slightly bloodthirsty, and it was malicious but not in an evil way, more like the way Shisui would wear one when he fucked with something and I wouldn't know what until afterward.
"Yes, it's only when something is ready to kill you that you can fully appreciate it."
"Well… fuck it." I mustered up a grin and shrugged. "YOLO." (A/n this is the mindset I have for a lot of things…hence why I've broken so many things and almost died from a concussion but like i'm not a ninja so there's that)
"One more thing, you'll be attempting to dodge Samehada at the same time. He's pretty hungry so if he hits you, you'll most likely be drained of your chakra and die so be ready. I mean what's the fun of just attacking you if you don't fight back." That cheshire cat grin never lift his sharp features as he swiped Samehada at me. I flipped backwards and took that as his version of saying go. He kept up his consistent forward moving attacks while I was forced to dodge.
I dodged a low swipe from Samehada but while I was in the air Kisame hit me with the Water Release: Scattering Bullet Technique. It hurt like a bitch in a way I didn't know possible. When hit with a fist, or something solid there is only so much impact force, you know exactly the point it will hit and that's that but with water, its fluid so instead of just hitting one spot, it disperses over your whole body on impact so it's more like someone is just slapping you with a giant fist, that can cover and hit every part of your body.
I laid on top of the water stunned for a second before it started swirling and a fucking huge shark made of water. It's jaws were opened wide as it came barreling down at me I pushed myself out of the way, skidding on the surface of the water before I got kicked in the back, slamming right into a water wall. This went on for hours, literal hours where I had to straight up dodge for my life, I wanted so badly to just shove a dragon up his blue ass but alas I wanted to prefect my jutsu more than fight back so I didn't. I was hit with jutsu after jutsu, all non fatal but all painful as hell. I was sweating and by the end was struggling to move but Kisame was just grinning and barely looked phased at the amount of chakra he used. At midday or so, Kisame trapped me in the water prison and let me not be able to breathe until I was seeing black spots around my vision and was ready to pass out. He let me out of the trap and I fell to my knees gasping for air, dripping wet, and heaving from the awful feeling of almost drowning. Samehada was poised right above my neck and I could feel the slight chakra drain as it ate, purring happily.
"You know I could kill you like this, Samehada can feed on your chakra and I can feed my blood lust and shred you." I turned my head up to look him in the eyes and gave a weak smile, pushing my sopping hair from my face.
"I know, but I trust you not to." He looked taken aback for a second before snarling at me, barring his extremely sharp and cerated teeth as a threat.
"You naive kid, I'm from the Blood Mist, I killed my own teammates what makes you think I won't kill you too." Smaehada stopped eating my chakra but it was pressed close to my neck, one movement and I was gone.
"If you wanted to kill me you would have done it by now. If 'Tachi trusts you with his life, I trust you with mine. I think you, just like everyone else has a good reason for why they went rogue, you're not a senseless killer." His dark eyes narrowed on me and he looked conflicted.
"Stand up little Orokamono (it means fool) you have some time to rest before we get back to work."
"Kisame-sempai, you can breathe underwater right?"
"No, I just look like a shark." His words were dripping with sarcasm. I turned towards where he was sitting against a tree and grinned excitedly. This would be the point were I'd add Might Gai's genjutsu and freaking sparkle.
"Man, that is like the coolest thing EVER! You are basically the highest form of evolution. Not only do you have the most chakra for any non-jinchuriki, you have perfectly functional lungs and gills. No other living creature in the history of like ever has been able to breathe equally as good on land and in water but you can do both. That is the best evolutionary trait possible, plus you look way more badass as a shark than you would if you were what I guess would be considered 'normal'." Kisame's surprise turned quickly into amusement and pride the more I gushed about the excitement of how he is a zoologists dream. His laugh is surprisingly happy and contagious.
"You really are the weirdest kid I've ever spoken to." His hand was on my head and he ruffled my damp hair. His entire hand could grip my head like a basketball.
"So can I touch Samehada?" I reached a hand out ready to pet the sharkskin sword, hopefully if Kisame is in control he wouldn't want to stab me.
"If you want to lose a finger, he'd be happy to let you touch him." I retracted my hand and the sword opened his mouth and nipped at where my fingers just were.
"Yeah I like my fingers so…" He rolled his eyes and stood up, running his fingers through his dark hair and taking in a deep breath.
"Let's go little Orokamono, time to complete that jutsu." I trained on completing the jutsu, which actually was extremely close to being perfect after Kisame's training. When I was creating my jutsu, it was so much easier for me to visualize the attack and the strenght I wanted behind it now that I had a good idea of the feeling of being hit by different water styles. Turns out beating the skill into me is a successful form of training. There was one thing missing from the jutsu but I wasn't sure what it is, either way it is the most powerful water jutsu in my arsenal and possibly one of the strongest one's ever. It's definitely an S-rank technique. I worked until I dropped and my legs felt like jelly, which amused the shark to none other. He slung me over his broad shoulder and carried me back to the hideout. Itachi saw me being carried and the slightest of smiles flickered onto his features. He wasn't at all surprised by the bruises and cuts coating my body or the way my hair was a complete god-awful mess that was going to take me forever to brush out.
"How was training Hinata-hime?" I glared at him and went limp in Kisame's hold before he dropped me unceremoniously to the ground. Kisame took the seat next to his partner and was going to take a bite of Itachi's dango but when he was glared at with the Sharingan, he decided against it…before stealing one right when Itachi turned back to me and then moving to stand on the opposite side of the couch.
"It's still better than the hell you put me through." He looked up and down my messy and bruised form, his deep eyes glistening with amusement and disbelief.
"It certainly looks like it." Itachi had this way of being sarcastic without most people being able to figure it out, I wasn't one of those people and I lazily raised my middle finger towards him before crawling across the flood and getting on the couch and rested my head in Itachi's lap. He just placed a hand on my head and continued eating with the other.
"Kisame-san, you look pleased. What happened?"
"Nothing other than the little Orokamono acknowledges that I'm the epitome of amazing and that sharks are better than humans." Itachi looked between the two of us with a slightly raised brow which just got him two matching grins and no real answers.
"Hn." We were sitting in a peaceful atmosphere, I had my feet on Sharky's cool skin and my head was happily in the Uchiha's lap. Kisame was doing something with Samehada and chatting with me while Itachi was reading a book, anytime he'd furrow his brows I'd send a bit of the little chakra I had gained back into him to relieve the strain the best I could. You know that little feeling of being peaceful and then it just ends, yeah that's exactly what happened when Tobi popped up out of nowhere and threw all his weight onto me.
"Ugh, fuck, Tobi-kun get off. Your heavy." Instead of getting off, he just adjusted to be lying flat on top of me, distributing his weight better. He pressed his mask close to my face and stared at me for a second before gasping.
"Oh no, Tobi thinks Hinata-chan looks terrible, what happened?!" Kisame let out a mirthful snicker but I could see how his whole body was completely tense. Other than Itachi, Kisame was the only other member to know who Tobi 'really' is but I'm guessing he was warned of what would happen if he divulged his identity.
"Kisame tried to kill me!" Tobi placed his hands on the side of his face and let out the most disbelieving sound and turned to Kisame, putting himself in between us.
"Tobi will protect Hinata-chan from scary Kisame-san!"
"Thanks To-" Samehada shot out and sent the masked man to the ground. Kisame's jaw was set tightly but he still played oblivious.
"Go annoy somebody else Tobi-kun." The slight emphasis on Tobi's alias didn't go unnoticed by any of us and Itachi's fingers twitched as I felt the slightest increase in a potent killing intent before it dropped off once more. It was a warning and I had to continue to play oblivious to everything going on around me.
"Wahh Kisame-san is scary!" I put my hand on Tobi's dark hair and pet him like a puppy.
"Don't worry about him, sharks don't like to eat super sweet food and by the amount of sugar you inhale, you'll be fine." The lollypop's entire body seemed to deflate as he leaned into my touch. I wonder if all emotionally stunted children like human contact, by the reactions Gaara, Naruto, Shisui, Tobi, and Sasuke (though he denies it all he wants, he is the most touchy person and plays it off as I wanted it) I'm pretty sure its true. Actually I think I fit into that category, maybe it's my issue with abandonment that makes it so I struggle with being alone but who knows, Kakashi would be the only exemption of this, but when is he ever really part of the norm.
"Itachi-kun we're leaving at 6 tomorrow." Kisame stood up from his spot, obviously in displeasure at having to lie, if one thing is true Kisame is loyal to a fault and lying is a big no-no in his book so him being forced to is most likely difficult and going against his core beliefs.
"Hn."
"We're going to have a real fight next time Little Orokamono." I guess that name is going to stick, I mean I guess its better than him calling me kid all the time.
"Damn straight Sharky, I'm so going to kick your ass for the beat down I took today." He bared his teeth at Tobi and walked away to do whatever he does alone.
"You're late, I don't like to be kept waiting and you made us wait for over an hour. I should kill you brats for that." Sasori's gruff voice spoke out from inside of Hiruko, the glare directed to you since you were considered the 'leader' of the team, mainly because you were on a team with Tobi and Suigetsu, any other team and you'd not be the leader.
"Ahh Deidara-sempai Save Tobi from Sasori-san, Tobi is a good boy, Tobi doesn't want to die yet!" The masked Uchiha jumped behind the blonde and held onto him cowering in fear which got a scoff and Deidara shoving Tobi away, threatening to blow him up.
"Calm down puppet man, we ran into an old lady on the way here and she needed help so being the wonderful team we are, helped her carry her groceries home. I would never purposely keep the great Sasori no Akasuna waiting on our little old team." Tobi made no move to acknowledge what I said, he is too good at what he does. I teased slightly being honest slightly just trying to rile the person who seems to dislike my presence the most. Something about my story still doesn't sit well with the genius puppeteer and I'm positive he's still trying to figure me out.
"You insufferable little brat."
"If you really want to blame somebody blame him." I pointed to Suigetsu who stopped drinking and went wide eyed at the accusation, I grinned. Sasori snapped towards him threateningly waving the scorpion tail. "He's the one who has low stamina and has to take breaks all the time." Suigetsu took a step back, if one person stressed him out it was Sasori, only somebody equally as fucked up as Orochimaru would be able to survive being the snake's partner, and Sasori must be strong if he even made Orochimaru wary of attacking.
"Hey what the hell is that for huh! You're the one who agreed to the breaks and stopping at the bath house just because you were so wanting to see me shirtless." Suigetsu grinned impishly at me, sending a wink my direction.
"Both of you, shut up. I don't care whose fault it is, on this mission we move on my time. No breaks or I will poison you with something worse than death." Savor promised, the mouth of his puppet clicking threateningly as his tail lowered to point
"Aye Aye Captain Sasori." Suigetsu and I chorused, exchanging smirks at the perfect unison and then turning back to the annoyed puppeteer.
"Sasori-Danna that was pretty scary hmm. However, Hinata-chan doesn't seem scared enough, maybe you should smack the girl around a bit yeah."
"Dei you asshole. Just for that, Tobi-kun is your roommate for the night, I'm keeping Sasori to myself, he has to help me with something anyways."
"You wouldn't un, I thought we were friends." The smirk dropped right off his face and he stared at me with betrayal and disbelief. I was grinning like a little shit and I know it.
"So did I but apparently not." I feigned a heartbreak but it was so unconvincing, the smile just wouldn't leave my face especially when Tobi started dancing in circles and singing happily.
"I only let Sasori-Danna smack around the best of my friends." The blonde tried to appease me but his fingers were twitching and ready to send a bomb right at me.
"Lies, Tobi-kun is yours and yours alone tonight."
"YAY! Tobi gets to sleep with Deidara-sempai, Tobi bets Deidara-sempai is soft to cuddle with like a girl because Deidara-sempai has long, shiny hair like a girl."
"I'll kill you, you stupid singing bastard." Tobi ran behind Suigetsu, who just watched with amusement. "Come on Sasori-Danna, you aren't going to stick me with that fool right un?"
"All options put me with senseless idiots but Hinata-san is correct. We have business to take care of tonight and I am not postponing it any longer." All of us clad in out Akatsuki cloaks made the journey to out inn, the small little town right on the outskirts of Suna. The sandy and desolate area that expanded for miles across the land of wind made me long for talking to Gaara, getting to see how much he has grown and how the village has to love and respect him by now.
"The deal is I help you and you give me information. What do you want?" Sasori was out of his Hiruko shell-no point since I already know what he looks like-and I listened to the smooth yet bored tone of the redhead as he spoke so demandingly.
"I need you to analyze this blood sample and tell me what you find." The human-puppet went to sit on his futon and studied the blood, his chakra running through the sample and looking close and detailed with his enhanced vision. After 20 minutes or so he moved to be back in front of me, handing me the vile back.
"It seems almost as if the blood cells are attacking one another, it is similar to a poison where it masks itself something beneficial to the body then destroys the body inside out. The cells are diseased, some of them being real and others being a disease and causing the persons body to fight with itself."
"How do you create an antidote for a poison like that?"
"You don't."
"So this disease…it's incurable?" His chocolatey eyes met with mine and they were glossy, completely uncaring.
"Most likely yes, and at the stage this blood seems to be at, the person is already close to dying." My hand tightened its grip around the vial and I felt dizzy. That was not the news I wanted to hear.
"I don't believe that. I refuse to believe that. That's why you're here. You are going to help me find a way to cure this or slow the effects down at least long enough to find a cure and in return I will tell you everything you want to know." I can't-I won't let Itachi die. I will do whatever it takes and Sasori knows more about the blood and how things affect it than anyone else I know. If anyone can help me it would be him.
"You are naive and foolish." Sasori pulled out a scroll and books of blood and plants came as well as some of his handwritten journals came out. "Whose blood is this."
"Itachi's." Sasori let out the lowest hum of surprise, a smirk on his pale features.
"I would have never expected the Uchiha of all people to die from something so menial."
"He's not going to die." My voice cracked slightly.
"Ah yes, you and I are going to save him." Sasori's tone never changes but I could tell he was completely sarcastic about thinking we could save Itachi. We studied through the books together, I was reading one on plants that slow blood flow trying to find one that could potentially slow the blood flow without actually being poisonous or harmful.
—
(3d person POV)
To Sasori, Hinata was interesting. She was infuriating and he believed she was delusional, but she was interesting. He could never understand why she was so hell bent on saving his and the rest of the Akatsuki's lives. They were supposed to die, they were all criminals of the highest caliber and yet this idiotic girl wants to 'give them better lives than what they started with.' It would have made more sense to him if she was blindingly optimistic and foolish but after spending time with her, she was the opposite.
Her humor was slightly dark, when she battled Orochimaru she was as ruthless as the rest of them, but she still seemed so pure hearted. It was a puzzle, one he didn't expect to enthrall him so much. Sasori wanted to solve Hinata, find out what made the girl tick, find out the deeper reason she was so willing to save all of them. he also wanted to live, not just because he was supposed to die at the hands of a girl with pink hair in the future, but because he wanted to see how Hinata would change the future she told him of. he still believed the idea that her future knowledge was a kekkei genkai but there was no other option that he could think of, she was too honest and too knowledgeable about everything for her to just be joking around.
His brown eyes looked over to the Hyuga, studying her. She was concentrating deeply on reading, her body was tense and the light airy nature she carried was gone and replaced with the more solemn face he had only seen a few times. She was so intent on saving a dying man, he could see it in the fiery passion burning in her lavender eyes as she read each word carefully.
The damn brat was on his nerves for occupying his thoughts and wanting to know her, he didn't like the unknown. Sasori knew what seemed to be worthless details, he needed to know more. He knew how she would study so intently that her tongue would poke out her mouth or how she had the tendency to babble nonsense when nervous but he didn't know truly why she wanted to help the criminals or why she seemed to care so deeply for everyone but herself. Yet another thing he never understood, she seemed to put everyone else's lives above her own but hid that borderline suicidal fact so well if someone wasn't paying attention they'd miss it. What kind of idiot cared more about everyone else more than themselves.
"Dammit there is nothing in this book either!" Hinata growled out, practically panicking at this point. Her stress levels were maxing out, everything seemed to be crashing down on her at once and the puppet master just watched as she stressed herself out more and more after each word.
"Calm down brat, you're annoying. Just breathe and read, glaring at the book isn't going to make it any better."
Even with all of her annoyances, Sasori was at least glad Hinata was interesting to look at. He was a man that liked to see beautiful things, he believed beauty should be eternal and it pleased him to see something beautiful. In the physical standpoint Hinata was beautiful, many women were but Hinata was more interesting to look at, all of her expressions were of different beauty and Sasori enjoyed looking at her, thinking of how wonderful of a puppet she would make, he could capture her in her most beautiful position and make it look that way forever. Then he wouldn't have to hear the idiotic and downright crazy things that she would spur out of her crude mouth often times.
But if Sasori were to make her a puppet, he knew he would die if not by Itachi then by his fake artist of a partner. The blonde was clearly fond of the bluenette, they were friends as odd as Sasori found their relationship, it functioned well and they got along together. They considered each other friends and that was obvious to even somebody who was not that knowledgeable on how true relationships were supposed to work. He would guess that he and Deidara would also be friends if it came down to it, he can't stand the blonde but he would also kill anyone who dared to try and kill his partner.
Sasori saw something he noted in one of his books on how he creates his puppets, the technique may be fatal, but if done right, it also might be the thing to save the Uchiha's life. And if it fails, Sasori will have a puppet that makes the rest of his pale in comparison. An Uchiha with the highest level of Sharingan would surely make him not just the best puppet master, but perhaps the strongest ninja ever to fight. Hmm, each outcome is interesting.
"Hinata-san."
"Yes?" he slid the passage over for her to read and her eyes brightened after each word. She looked up to him, practically shaking with excitement. "This is genius, this might actually work."
"You would need somebody with the exact same blood type and you'd have to be precise with the time and speed of flow, even the slightest mistake and he's dead." He expected her to become slightly dejected at his words but she just smiled, it was so bright it felt blinding.
"I won't mess up. Not at all." Sasori was tackled into a hug, something he hadn't genuinely felt in many years. He could feel the warmth of her skin against his body, the way she was so soft yet strong, the tightness of her hold on him as she hugged him with pure gratefulness. yet another thing, Hinata was too naive on the ways of men, she didn't like to be alone and found herself in situations like this with men, if it were anybody else, she would be easily taken advantage of…if anybody was dumb enough to pick a fight with her. However, he felt something coil inside of him, his heart he could feel the canister beating more strongly than ever, it was just like when his parents hugged him as a child. He could faintly remember their warmth against him. "Thank you Sasori! Thank you so much."
She looked up at him with those large pale eyes, filled with such depth, he didn't look away. Instead, he shoved her off of him.
"Stop being clingy brat. Go to sleep now, you need it for tomorrow. I'm not waiting for you just because your tired."
"Oh yeah, what exactly are we doing in Suna?"
"Junchuriki scouting, the little brat is supposedly the Kazekage. We have to scope out his schedule to find the best time for the blonde idiot to attack."
"Well…fuck." Sasori raised an eyebrow but didn't care to ask the girl why her reaction was so dismal. The girl got up quickly and shrugged her cloak on over her clothing. "I uh really have to go to the bathroom." She looked sheepish as she rushed out of the room.
"Yes, well I didn't need to know that. Leave."
Hinata activated her Byakugan to make sure nobody was close enough to see what she was doing, especially a certain masked Uchiha. She bit into her thumb harshly tearing the skin deep enough to draw blood before slamming it onto the ground. There was a puff of smoke then a small black female lion that barely reached Hinata's knee caps appeared, she blended into the night and her body was muscled perfect for quick movements.
"Hello Hinata-hime, I am Sari-chan. What can I do for you tonight?" She spoke proper and soft and Hinata gave the lion a smile and a small treat.
"Hello Sari, I really need you to deliver a message for me. Please find the Kazekage and deliver this to him at all costs. It is a matter of life and death, please do not get caught, if you are going to be by anybody but Gaara disappear." Hinata carefully slipped a letter into the collar of Sari's pink collar.
"I will not let you down on my first official mission!" The lioness bowed and then rushed off quickly, her dark coat blending into the night. Hinata slumped to the ground for a minute before picking herself back up and heading back to her shared room with the puppet. If anybody looked close enough, they could see the slight tremble in her palms and the nervous way she bit into the soft skin of her bottom lip.
Gaara was winding down after the long day of paperwork by sitting atop the roof of his Kage tower and looking out over the village he protected. There were ninja taking their rounds and other than the whistle of the winds, it was silent…peaceful. That was until his sand became agitated and a shield was put up, blocking something that let out a soft 'oof.' the sand dropped and Gaara was at the ready to attack when he came face to face with a small lion.
"What are you doing here little creature?"
"Are you the one Hinata-hime calls Panda-kun?" His guard dropped almost completely at the name of the female he had heard nothing from in the last few years.
"Yes. Is she alright?" He was worried but by the unperturbed look of the small lion, his fears seemed for naught.
"Ahh yess no need to worry. I am here as a messenger for Hinata-hime." Sari showed Gaara the letter in her collar and he took it, looking at the familiar messy signature of Hinata. He held the letter a bit tighter, this was definitely from her.
"Thank you…"
"Sari-chan."
"Thank you Sari-chan." The lioness gave him a lick on his palm before being summoned back to her realm. The ginger Kazekage opened the letter and his teal eyes read over each letter carefully.
Dear Panda-kun,
Long time no talk! I've missed you. I've made a lot of new friends…but there is no time for that. One day we will catch up. You are in danger, the Akatsuki are planning on making their move on you soon. The only way for you to keep your village, you, and Shukaku safe is to flee. Go to the leaf village no later than tomorrow morning, DO NOT LET ANYONE KNOW WHERE YOU ARE GOING. Except Kankuro…but he has to stay completely silent about as well. Nobody not even your most trusted comrades can know. Naruto should be returning soon as well, but you need to stick together. Tell Kakashi I've sent you and he and Jiraiya will know what to do. Please Gaara I beg of you to do this, right now there is nothing more I can do without risking the lives of many more. Go to the leaf now, do not leave until you get a signal from me.
Love,
The highly paranoid and terrified slightly rogue Hinata
PS: do whatever to make sure this letter disappears…eat it for all I care but destroy this paper
Gaara chuckled at the familiarity of his friend, she was as odd as ever. However, the urgency in what she wrote spoke volumes, he knew this was no laughing matter and decided to follow her advice, not just for himself but for the sake of the village he would give his life to protect. He took one last glance at the handwriting, letting his fingers trace over the scrawl before crushing it into oblivion. Within an hour he was on his trek to the leaf village, his brother taking the role of Kazekage for the time being under the pretense of Gaara being extremely ill.
Whatever was going on was dangerous and if he was going to flee, he was glad it was going to be with Naruto. He would keep his friend safe as well.
Fuck.
So you know when you go on a recon-mission and everything is supposed to go all fine and dandy. You get in, find information, study the target, and get out…without being caught? Yeah well that definitely didn't happen. Sasori being from Suna supposedly knew every entrance and exit as well as the times when there is nobody guarding the gates so we took his advice and Deidara and I…who ended up being forced to separate from the rest of our team were surrounded by a good 30 to 40 Jonin and ANBU ninja, all pointing weapons right at us. At least that means Gaara took my threat seriously if security was amped up to this degree but dammit I don't want to die and I don't particularly want to kill all of these people and being with Deidara who has no problem blowing everyone up to kingdom come is just putting me at a lose-lose here.
"Put your hands in the air and explain what the hell you're doing in our village." Deidara smirked and raised his hands into the air, I raised mine as well and opened my mouth to speak and hopefully save us from an unfortunate situation.
"Ha ha so funny story w-" Deidara shoved his hand over my mouth. The mouth on his palm opened and parted my lips with its tongue, shoving its tongue inside of my mouth and then passing a little clay bomb into my mouth. Deidara looked at me, smiling full of mirth and I glared at him, trying to figure out what the hell he's doing.
"You know you shouldn't talk when your mouth is full hmm." And then his arm was tightly wrapped around my chest, pulling me against him as there was a kunai at my throat. "I wasn't planning on getting caught yeah. If you let me out of here, the girl doesn't die un. She's a good friend of the Kazekage and I'm sure he'd appreciate her to visit him alive." The weapons being pointed towards me all shifted to Deidara and they looked between the two of us. I put on my best look of fear, realizing how smart he was actually playing this. The kunai pressed tighter against my neck and drew a bit of blood, Deidara was enjoying this immensely.
"Release the girl." An ANBU barked out harshly.
"Hey-are you sure this isn't a ruse? She is dressed the same as the blonde." A female Jonin questioned worriedly, suspicion evident in her deep brown eyes.
"No I remember Temari-sama mentioning a Hygua being an ally." Another Jonin mentioned and a few spoke in agreement.
"Release the girl. NOW."
"You're lucky Leader-sama said I couldn't make a scene yet yeah? Next time all you bastards will become my art. Katsu." I felt the clay burst in my mouth and I opened it, surprised my head didn't blow up. Instead of sparks, a bunch of green smoke came pouring out of my mouth like I was a fog machine. The entire area was covered and without activating my Byakugan I couldn't see a thing. A familiar arm gripped mine and jumped away, pulling us onto the soft surface of a large owl to fly away on. There were shouts below us but we continued to fly away, heading to the rendezvous point.
"What the hell Deidara! We could have completed your actually not shitty plan without you doing that." I punched him in the shoulder. "Was it really necessary to shove that thing inside of my mouth, never in my life have I wanted to make out with somebody's hand. "
"No un, it wasn't." He smirked impishly and raised the hand, its tongue licking along its lips.
"Then why did your hand shove its tongue down my throat?"
"Because you'd react like this un. You're fun to rile up, yeah." He slung his arm over my shoulder, grinning cheekily. I huffed at his laughter. "You should have seen your face un. I've never seen somebody's expressions change faster in my life, it was pure art yeah." He laughed even harder as we started descending and I cracked a smile. It would have been funnier had it been anyone else.
"Shut up about it already."
"Only if you give my mouth something better to do hmm."
"Wha-" I spluttered indignantly and Deidara let out a deep laugh as he hopped off the bird
"Oh and I gotta say un, you taste much better than clay." He flipped his hair back and and stood beside his partner, the arrogant smrik never leaving his face. I followed suit landing between Tobi and Suigetsu, the former latching onto me excitedly.
"So what did you find out when we were separated, we got nothing."
"The mission is postponed indefinitely. The one-tailed brat is off at an unknown location for an unknown time period and it seems that nobody knows where or why." Sasori's eyes flickered to my form suspiciously but he said nothing else.
"That was almost a complete waste un." Deidara huffed, in agreement with Sasori's annoyance at the time that could have been spent doing literally anything else. I wasn't all that surprised at the worthless endeavor but it still was a waste of time, and energy worrying about the possible fight that almost ensued.
"Man, I spent all that time in this shitty sand village and got nothing out of it. I'm going to tell Leader-sama to never send us on joint missions again." I raised an eyebrow at Suigetsu's annoyance and seeming cocky tone of talking to Pein. Even I'm not dumb enough to do that, his eyes met with mine and then he seemed to realize what he said but of course refused to go back on his word and look like a pansy.
"Oh are you now? I wonder how that's going to go." Tobi giggled.
"Tobi thinks Suigetsu-kun is going to die if he tries to talk to Leader-sama like that." Tobi bounced right up to Suigetsu and began to sniffle. "Please don't die Suigetsu-kun. Tobi doesn't want you do die, nobody else will give Tobi water when he's thirsty!"
"As if I'm going to die at the hands of Leader-sama. I'm only going to die when I've collected all 7 swords."
We reported to Pein on the failure of the mission and he was not pleased. Our little squad of five was disbanded and Tobi, Suigetsu, and I were sent off on a mission to find Fū who has Chomei inside of her so that when we capture the other beasts, we can take her in as well and seal her into the statue. Though she will be later because we have to seal the lesser beasts first so the statue can work its way up in chakra and not explode from too much of an influx at once or something.
Fū is supposed to be in Takigakure somewhere and while we all stopped at a small little teahouse to eat, I ran off to go to the bathroom. I winced as I bit into my hand, drawing blood and did the familiar signs for my summoning jutsu. The small, shining body of Sari appeared before me. She was bowing and smiling, I returned the gesture and kneeled down to her height.
"Hello Hinata-hime, how may I help you today?" I pulled out a bag of toffee and handed it to Sari, knowing she has a sweet tooth. She giggled in glee and licked my cheek happily.
"Thank you for your help with Gaara, I have a similar mission. I need you to head to Takigakure and find a woman named Fū. She has short green hair, orange eyes, and beautiful dark skin. Her chakra will be more massive and intense than anybody else there so you should be able to find her easily. Give her this message please."
"Of course Hinata-hime. I would be happy to help you!" I nuzzled her nose with mine and scratched behind her ear eliciting a purr from her.
"Please be safe and when you return home tell Muramasa-sama and the others I say hello. Goodbye Sari-chan." I tucked the small letter into the pouch on her collar and he ran off, moving faster than I could even if I tried, her black fur glittering against the sun. I straightened myself out and licked the blood from my finger so there was no evidence I summoned anything before heading back to my teammates.
"Hinata-chan you're finally back! Tobi was worried, what took Hinata-chan so long?"
"Sorry Tobi-kun, I just had some girl problems to deal with." Suigetsu choked on his yogurt and looked away while Tobi giggled teasingly and got closer to me.
"Oh Oh is Hinata-chan finally a woman? he he, Hinata-chan is bleeding…maybe that is why Hinata-chan is so emotional." He tapped the mouth of his mask like he had just figured out the biggest secret of all. I took a bite of Ikayaki and Suigetsu scooted back, understanding the rule of not talking about that with women, they were just lucky I was too deep into my worries about getting caught in my 'master plan'.
"It's just a joke Hinata-chan, don't get mad. Tobi is just a dumbass remember?" Suigetsu laughed amicably and smiled, getting me to smile in return, though it was probably a bit strained. I was so nervous, the actual comment didn't bother me, I was just panicking because getting caught now would mean absolute failure.
"Tobi-kun, I'm not mad at you, I'm just a bit worried about failing this mission. Leader-sama is already in a bad mood and failing this mission would surely mean some kind of punishment."
"Tobi thinks Hinata-chan should worry less. Tobi is a good boy and won't fail the mission, Hinata-chan can trust Tobi!"
"Yeah don't stress too much about it, it's such a waste of time. Tobi's an idiot but he hasn't failed a mission yet. And you have me, I'm amazing and so we can't fail." He wrapped and arm around my shoulder and held out a spoonful of the melon flavored yogurt he was eating. I gratefully took a bite and let the sweet flavor coat my tongue.
"Thanks guys."
(3d person POV)
Fū was resting at her home on the outskirts of the village…alone as always. She loved adventure and doing fun things, meeting fun people but all of that was hard for her. being the container for the 7 tails, she was despised by her entire village even though she was the only thing protecting them from the rampaging Chomei inside of her. Normally Fū would be out doing something exciting or training but the time spent with her village, being their weapon on display for them all to scoff and glower at was draining and she was tired, she was lonely so when there was scratching outside her window she didn't hesitate to open her window. A small black lion entered the room and Fū squealed, petting the creature immediately, a bright smile on her pretty features.
"Ohh 'ssu you're such a pretty little kitty! What brings you to my home 'ssu?" She spoke happily, petting the lioness softly not expecting a response so she jumped slightly when the soft, sweet voice of Sari spoke up.
"Hello miss, are you Fū?"
"Oh my KAMI! You can talk? Please let me keep you, you're so adorable 'ssu. Yep, I'm Fū!" The Jinchuriki spoke excitedly, eyes glittering with interest.
"My name is Sari-chan, I would love to play with you but I already have a master, I am sorry." Sari bowed apologetically but was given a kind smile in return.
"It's ok 'ssu, why are you here?" Sari turned so Fū could see the letter sticking out, the girl grabbed it and carefully opened it, scanning over the contents while Sari rested in her lap. Each word made her jaw drop wider and wider.
Dear Fū-san,
My name is Hinata Hyuga. I am an undercover member of the Akatsuki on a mission from the leaf village and my goal is to protect the Junchuriki like yourself from being captured to ensure your safety and the prevention of the end of the world. I understand our villages are not strong allies but my goal is not just for the sake of the village, I genuinely want to protect you and Chomei inside of you. Two of my closest friends are Jinchuriki, Gaara no Sabaku host of the one tails and Naruto Uzumaki host of the 9 tails. I am doing everything in my power to protect them and everyone else alike. I am on a mission to scout and capture you to be sealed and you will die if this is accomplished so I'm begging you to please trust me. Go to the leaf village, find either the Hokage, Kakashi Hatake, Shisui Uchiha, or Naruto Uzumaki and let them know I am the one who sent you. They will welcome you with open arms as well as be accepting and caring for who you are. I promise they will provide you protection and make sure that you are not killed. I will meet you at some point as well but for now I am trying to prevent anybody else from being sealed. Do not let anybody know where you are going and why, please listen to me. I hope you do so that you can survive. I wish you the best.
Hinata Hyuga
Fū was shocked, she did not ever expect to get a letter like this in her life, but she believed it especially since the girl used Chomei's name not just calling her a demon, that was a sign of trust if there was one. The words seemed to raw and honest for this Hinata girl to be lying and it wasn't as if she had strong ties to her village, they all hated her so if she would be able to find interesting people that would accept and care for her, it was a risk worth taking. She stalked out of the village that night and made the long journey to the leaf, finding Kakashi Hatake and being welcomed into the protection party, meeting the other two Jinchuriki as well. Fū decided she might like it with these new people and it made her giddily excited to meet Hinata, especially with all the high praise she received from Gaara and the funny stories told by Naruto.
—
(Hinata pov)
Finding out where Fū lived was exceptionally easy. The people of Takigakure held extreme contempt for the woman and they were very willing to give up the location of where she resided because they did not care for her safety. A few people even hopefully questioned if we were going to harm her or kill her, god people are such assholes.
We checked around all of her usual spots she spent time in but she wasn't there so we ended with going to a small house on the outskirts of the village, it was little and surrounded by pretty flowers and a little stream ran beside the estate. We busted the door down and looked around finding no sight of her, there wasn't even a trace of her massive chakra anywhere. Her clothes were packed up and it was obvious she wasn't there or going to be there for a while. I let out a deep sigh of relief and met back up with Tobi, whose fists were clenched and there was just the slightest intimidating pressure of bloodlust baring down on me as I stared at the wall he was looking at. In bold red letters there was a giant 'Hi Akatsuki.' The bloodlust baring down on the room retracted before it could be fully traced back to Tobi, but I knew…he was infuriated. I was interfering with his-well Zetsu's-plan and he had no idea who it was or how it was happening. Suigetsu entered the room and whistled with amusement and slight fear, he knew exactly what was happening as well.
"Tobi thinks somebody is playing a prank on the Akatsuki and Leader-sama is not going to be happy!" His high giddy voice was just slightly deeper and strained, if Tobi knew it was me, I'd be dead right now.
"We're fucked." I muttered.
"Yeah." Suigetsu breathed out in agreement.
"Whelp, lets go report our mission and see how the other people have fared."
—
Omake: Hinata gets her first period
For the last few days Hinata had felt off. Her stomach was constantly hurting, making it feel like there was a massive weight sitting inside of her body and crushing her muscles. She also was confused, it was like everything she was feeling was amplified by 10 and the littlest things set her off and made it so she wanted to cry or punch somebody in the face.
On her way to the hideout from returning from her mission, the only thing she wanted to do was have Itachi brush her hair as she curled up in a ball and was fed some of Hidan's dessert. Before she entered the hideout fully, she stopped as she felt her underwear get wet, it felt like she was peeing but like not really, she could feel something warm and wet dripping down her thighs and her face flushed red when she realized what was happening. Honestly she was so unprepared for this, she completely forgot that periods even happened because she was 15 and it had never crossed her mind but now, she felt like an idiot. And she was pissed about it, this is why she was fucking feeling so shitty, she finally understood the plight of women complaining about the pain, it was horrendous.
Kisame could smell blood when the barrier to the hideout was opened, he recognized the scent of Hinata's team so he went to check it out, Itachi following along incase Hinata was the one injured. The smell of blood was stronger when the trio walked into the room but Kisame could smell a difference between regular blood and what he was smelling now, this smelt strongly of hormones as well. One look at Hinata's blushing face and he figured out what was going on. They locked eyes and he grinned raising an eyebrow and shifting his eyes down then back up, making her pout and blush harder, her legs crossing over one another tightly.
"Itachi-kun, our little Orokamono is finally a woman." He chuckled as everyone took a second to figure out what was going on. Itachi's eyes were open in shock just for a second and he turned to Hinata.
"So the blood was…"
"Yep!" Kisame chirped, finding extreme amusement at the embarrassment of Hinata.
"Kisame-san, leave it alone. Hinata-hime, go shower. I will see if Konan-sama has anything you can use." Suigetsu opened his mouth to speak, the grin on his face was matching with Kisame's but before he could say anything, Hinata shot a glare towards him and he raised his hands and just headed to his room.
"So you're saying you fucking bleed once a month just because you're finally hitting puberty?" Hidan questioned, trying to figure out why she was washing clothes that were covered in blood waist down
"Yes." Hinata sighed, already done with the shit of womanhood and she didn't need Hidan messing with her for it as well, Kisame and Suigetsu were enough. The shark because he could smell it and would always know.
"Thats so fucking hot." He grinned, leaning into her and sniffing the metallic smell she was washing away.
"HIDAN!"