Chapter Twenty-One: Consequences of Unfaithful Friends

Hannah

We ended up going back to the inn that night with nothing to show. There was absolutely no sign of the other Akatsuki members – which I find hard to believe because it's hard to hide the presence of Zetsu or Kisame and, well, Hidan and Dessie are sort of memorable. As we were reporting our findings to Itachi, he suspected that the rest of the Akatsuki might not have come to this world with us. After much discussion and some assassination attempts, we decided to call it a day, go to bed, and try again in the morning – just in case.

The inn was full and there wasn't enough space in that one room that Itachi rented. However, Tsunade was so thankful that Itachi "got rid of the monster" (we hide Tobi in the closet whenever Tsunade comes by) that she offered to share her own room with Kate and me. And, might I add, Tsunade has the best damn room in the whole inn.

"This is way better than they guys' room," said Kate.

"There's only one bed though…" said Tsunade. "Which means you'll need to sleep on the floor. I have futons for you."

"Thanks," said Kate with a smile. She and Tsunade moved to the closet to pull out the futons, which were rolled up. I sat in a small wooden chair in the corner and watched them work. They were doing fine without me.

"So how are you enjoying your stay in Ahonok?" asked Tsunade.

"Good…" said Kate slowly. "But, you know, we ran across a crowd in the street. They were stoning some poor woman…"

"What'd she do?" asked Tsunade.

"Well… I'm not entirely sure…"

"They said she was a criminal," I said. "They seemed like they had a good reason to stone her. But no – Kate had to jump in and be the hero."

"But stoning is wrong!" wailed Kate.

"You should have asked for money," I said, shrugging.

Tsunade blinked. "You have a twisted image of right and wrong, don't you?"

"When you spend enough time with the Akatsuki, right and wrong stop mattering." I hopped out of the chair and helped Kate put my futon on the ground, while Tsunade went to get sheets from the closet.

"I still see right and wrong," said Kate.

I smirked, thinking of a certain chicken whose name shall not be mentioned. "Most of the time."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"What's what supposed to mean?"

Tsunade tossed the sheets to me and I started putting them on my bed while Kate found a spot for her own futon.

"Anyways," said Kate, deciding to ignore my comment. "Tsunade – are public stonings common in Seanova?"

For a moment, Tsunade hesitated. Then, it seemed as if she had given up. She nodded uselessly. "Seanova has suffered… Seanova has no distinct power to rule over it. Corruption is everywhere. The Ikustaka, pirates, religious sects… All these factions seek power and it creates conflict everywhere. Our world suffers because of it."

"Oh…" said Kate slowly, while I remained silent.

A small smile crossed Tsunade's face. "This world is rotten." And then she switched out the light.

We slid under our sheets and closed our eyes, though, I am sure, none of us were sleeping. I lay there and stared at the crack of light under the doorway. I didn't know what was going on outside the door, but there were footsteps on the outside and a shadow would fall over the crack and then disappear as quickly as it had come. I don't know how much time passed as I lay there, but the clock kept on ticking and the night wore on. I might have fallen asleep and I might not have – I don't really know. What I do know was that at some point in the pitch black night someone snuck into our room and grabbed Kate.

Yeah. I know what you're thinking – who the hell would grab Kate of all people? I don't really know either. But one moment there was silence and the next Kate was screaming and kicking.

I sat up and whipped around to see what was going on. Behind me stood two people dressed in black. They wore tight fitting black clothes with masks fastened over their faces to conceal their identities. They were both women – one was tall and bony with her arms wrapped around Kate, keeping Kate captive, while the other was shorter and curvier.

"What do you want?" I asked.

They didn't speak.

I reached for the frying pan that was always at my side and then remember that I had lost it. I had never felt so useless.

"Let her go!" cried Tsunade. "She's done nothing wrong!"

The black-clad figures were backing away – towards the window. They were going to leave! And take Kate with them.

I didn't think. I just reacted. It took me two steps to cross the room. I grabbed the wooden chair in the corner and swung it around – aiming for the head of the woman holding onto Kate. Her companion, however, leapt in front of the woman and the chair smashed into her face. The mask shattered and the girl collapsed to the ground unconscious.

I gasped.

The face… Oh hell… The face was so familiar. That long purple-black hair and those innocent features… Oh hell – it was Hinata.

I tore my eyes away from the bloody gash on her forehead and turned to stare at the other woman. However she had disappeared and, along with her was Kate.

"Shit."

The light flickered on. Tsunade was still sitting in bed. Her eyes were wide and she was staring at me and the unconscious girl lying at my feet in horror.

"Can you get the guys?" I asked. "We have a bit of an emergency on our hands."

She nodded mutely and, without another word, she slipped out of bed and raced across the room – throwing the door open and flooring the room with light. I blinked – adjusting myself to the darkness – and then I turned my attention to Hinata.

"Sorry…" I said. I walked over to Kate's bed and began pulling the sheets off. I ripped them into the long strips and used to strips as ropes to tie the unconscious Hinata to the end of the bed. Hopefully the wood would be strong enough to restrain her. When I was sure I had tied Hinata tightly enough, I sat on the ground in front of her and waited. It took only another minute for the rest of the Akatsuki to show up.

"Is she gone?" asked Sasori (he sounded positively pleased).

"Yes."

"What's Hinata doing here, uhn?" asked Deidara.

"You know her?" asked Tsunade incredulously. "What did she do with Kate? What's going on here?"

"We know her… Sort of… I think…" I said slowly. "We did. But then we don't. It's complicated."

Itachi snorted (I didn't know he could snort). "When is it not complicated?"

"Good point."

Tsunade remained still, staring at the bound Hinata nervously. "What are you going to do with her?"

"We can't do anything to her until she wakes up," said Itachi with a shrug.

"Well…" I said slowly. "Technically you can… I mean… It's awful, but there are things…"

Itachi stared at me blankly, uncomprehending.

Deidara patted me on the shoulder and shook his head. "Itachi will never understand those things. He is above such petty things, uhn."

I rolled my eyes. "Of course he is. My mistake."

Tobi crouched next to the unconscious Hinata and prodded her in this ribs carefully. She twitched, but did not wake. He poked her a couple more times for good measure; then he got to his feet and said, "Tobi thinks Hinata is still sleeping."

"Yes, Tobi," I said wearily. "We all know that."

C-Itachi squinted at Hinata nervously. "Who is she? And why is she covered in blood!"

"I hit her over the head with a chair," I said bluntly.

C-Itachi cringed. "Why?"

"She was trying to run off with Kate – what did you think I was going to do? Tap her on the shoulder and ask her nicely to put my friend down?"

"Yeah… but there's so much blood…"

"Not really," said Sasori. "It's just a head wound."

Tsunade looked close to tears and C-Itachi moved across the room to pat her comfortingly on the shoulder with a trembling hand. The rest of us, however, turned to survey Hinata with grim expressions.

"You have to wonder…" said Deidara slowly.

"Wonder what?"

Before Deidara could reply, Hinata's eyes fluttered open and an agonized groaned escaped her lips. Then, suddenly, realization struck her. She straightened up and glanced about wildly. She tried to pull away from the ropes that bound her to the end of the bed, but apparently I had done a good job with my knots.

"Who the fuck are you?" asked Hinata. "Let me go, you fucking whores!"

I sighed. "Oh the wonders of an alternate reality – what did they do to you, Hinata?"

Hinata tensed. "How do you know my name, bitch?"

"Doesn't matter – where's your friend taking Kate?"

"Shut the hell up! I'll never tell an ugly bitch like you!"

"Fuck, whore, bitch, hell – you and Dessie would be best friends, uhn," said Deidara.

"Who's Dessie?" snapped Hinata. "Tell me!"

"You're not in a position to be making demands," said Itachi thoughtfully.

"Shush," I said. "It's amusing to see how long it takes her to figure that out."

"You're quite evil," said Deidara approvingly.

"It's one of my finer qualities."

"I'd hate to see the rest of them, uhn."

Itachi sighed and decided to ignore Deidara and me. He instead turned his attentions to Hinata. He stood over her, his red eyes flashing dangerously. I had no clue what sort of things she was sees in his jutsu, but whatever it was, it terrified her. Her face changed from one of determined bitterness to absolute misery. But the time Itachi stepped away, Hinata was gasping for breath and tears were streaming down her face.

"You… what are you?" whispered Hinata. "A demon?"

Tobi knelt before Hinata and smiled, his left eyes crinkling with delight. "Nuh-uh. Hinata-chan needs to play nice. Itachi is just a nice senpai who wants to find Kate-chan."

I stepped forward and kicked Tobi in the side. "Move. It's my turn to deal with Hinata."

She glared at me, her white eyes flashing with newfound rage.

I sat down on the floor in front of her, my legs crossed. "Hi. My name's Hannah."

"Get away. I'm not telling you anything."

And then, I did it. I did what I'm so good at. I leaned forward until our faces were only inches apart and, under my breath, I murmured the most vile, loathsome threat I could think of. And, when I was done, I leaned back and observed Hinata with a warm smile splashed across my face.

"You're and evil bitch," she hissed.

"I quite agree," I said cheerfully. "Though, my evilness can hardly rival Leader. If you think I'm scary, you obviously haven't Leader yet."

She shuddered.

"So," I said. "Where's Kate?"

Hinata glared.

"I make good on my threats."

"She's been taken by an all-female organization called the Daughters of Darkness."

I beamed and patted Hinata on the head. "There's a good girl. So what can you tell me about the Daughters of Darkness?"

"That's such a lame name," said Deidara. "Why do we have to have an author who sucks so much when it comes to creativity, uhn?"

"Shut up," I snapped. "Quit breaking the fourth wall." Then, I turned my attention back to Hinata. "Tell me about the Daughters of Darkness."

"They were formed to fight against the evils of Seanova," said Hinata.

"That's what they say!"

I blinked and turned my attentions to Tsunade. Tsunade was standing in the corner, her arms wrapped around her body as if she was giving herself a comforting hug. She was still shaking, but her blue eyes were filled with hatred as she gazed at Hinata.

"The Daughters of Darkness might have originally formed to fight evil, but now it's just another power hungry organization that seeks for control over Seanova! You massacre the men of villages!"

"Men are evil!" screamed Hinata. "They beat women and rape us and exploit us!"

Tsunade drew herself to her full height. "The Daughters of Darkness killed my father."

"And this world destroyed my family!"

"Oh," said Deidara, leaning over to whisper in my ear. "Cat fight, uhn."

"Shut up," I said, pushing his head away. "Hinata. What do the Daughters of Darkness want with Kate?"

Hinata hesitated. "There was a prophecy… That a girl with short blond hair would come… She would be kind and generous… and she would have unfaithful friends. So when Ama was being stoned in the square for involvement in the Daughters of Darkness and Kate came to save her, Ama knew… that Kate had to be the one."

"What is Kate supposed to do?" I asked. "In the prophecy?"

"She's going to save Seanova from the Demon of Blood."

"Why?" exclaimed Deidara. "Why does our author have to have such crappy name!"

"Fine," I said, rolling my eyes. "Let's just call it the Demon of Hemoglobin."

"That's even worse, uhn."

"The Demon of Vital Fluids?"

"Okay, forget it."

I turned my attentions to Hianta. "So let me get this straight… Kate – our Kate – is going to save your world from this Demon of Vital Fluids?"

"The Demon of Blood," said Hinata. "Yes."

I'm not sure who laughed first – it might have been Tobi – but suddenly all of us were cracking up with fits of mirth. Deidara leant against the wall and banged his fist against the wood. Tobi was rolling about on the floor giggling maniacally, while I threw my head back and let out unrestrained guffaw. Even Itachi managed a small smirk.

"What's so fucking funny?" demanded Hinata.

"This is Kate we're talking about," I said. "Kate can't even save herself."

Tobi nodded. "Kate-chan is so useless…"

"She can't be that bad," said C-Itachi.

"She is," said Itachi firmly. "I don't even know why we keep her around."

"Because Kisame would kill us if we got rid of her," said Deidara. "Though, to be honest, I don't feel like saving her, uhn."

"Yeah," I said, nodding in agreement. "Saving Kate would be too much effort."

"We need to save her!" cried C-Itachi.

Tsunade nodded. "Who knows what those Bitches of Darkness are doing to her?"

"Am I the only one who finds it funny that the boy-obsessed Kate ends up being kidnapped by an all-girl organization?" I asked.

"Sucks to be her, uhn."

"And you wonder why you're called unfaithful friends!" cried Hinata in outrage.

"We don't wonder," I said shrugging. "I think it'd be more productive to let the Daughters of Darkness look after Kate and see how long it takes them to realize how useless she is and return her." I glanced around the room and sighed. "Where's Kakuzu when you need to make a bet with him?"

A/N: UPDATE! UPDATE! UPDATE! I find it kind of amusing at how serious the first half of this chapter is (building up background and plot) and then the second half is all lols. Actually, as I read this chapter, I've come to realize what the overall plot is. YAY! Now I need to go work on finishing my outline so I can tell you how long this story is going to be. Yay!

Anyways, please review. Otherwise you will be attacked by the Demon of Hemoglobin - and, according to the stories, it leaves no survivors!

No survivors? Then where do the stories come from, I wonder?

...CHEESE!