Wow
Wow. Chapter 25. I'm astounded at myself. I'M SOSOSOSOSOSOSOSOSO SORRY TO EVERYONE WHO KEEPS READING THIS STORY! I'M SUCH A HORRIBLE UPDATER!! Sigh… I know. I deserve death…
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! Sara loves her Haine and her Badou and her Naoto. YAY!
Disclaimer: I just wish…
Dedication: Bwaha. To Ronnie-sama, as ever, because IT CAME!! …Anyways… Oh, and to Torrey. I miss you.
"Talking"
'Thinking'
((My half-assed ANs…))
Emphasis on certain words or song lyrics. You're all smart, you'll figure it out.
--
Sakura's head was filled with the ice-cold sense of reason that always came when she was getting ready for something. And walking through the deserted halls was giving her time to get her slight revulsion out of the way.
Actually, the revulsion wasn't that slight.
She tossed her hair back, and pulled a couple of bobby pins out and shoved them into the rat's nest she called hair. She grimaced at the tugging, but didn't make a sound.
There was something about the silence.
Something that spoke of torture, and broken dreams, and human experiments that would never cause anything but pain.
It was the sort of silence that should never be broken.
Sasuke was walking a step behind Sakura, and he wanted to reach out and touch her hand, just to let her know he was there, but from the set line of her mouth, and the tilt to her chin, he knew he'd better not. ((Ohhh, role reversal, much?))
"Sasuke, I think I should probably let you in on a little something."
"Hn?"
"There's more to this then just Anko. Orochimaru's going to die, but I'll tell you this. You're not going to like how it's gonna happen."
"Why?"
"Because I'm going to make sure he never has the chance to hurt someone again. I'm not going to tell you how it's going to end, but I'm going to hit him where the sun don't shine, first."
"So?"
"So don't hate me when you realize how many different methods of torture I know."
And then something stopped Sakura's soft voice. Her eyes widened, and her mouth went into a full-out snarl.
There was an old-blood coloured handprint on the wall. And it was tiny, as if it was a child's. She walked straight up to it, and gently pressed her palm against it, a hard look on her face.
She clenched her fist, bringing a small part of the rust-coloured handprint with her.
"See, Sasuke? This is why, right here. Children. If I know Hinata, she's gotten all of them out of here, but I can't be sure. We don't have time to save them, but I'm going to make that bastard bleed. I'm going to make him scream for every ounce of pain he's ever caused anyone."
Sasuke nodded, emotionless eyes locked on hers. He was just as disgusted by this as she was.
And he understood her need for revenge, and the bloodlust that came with it. He'd felt it himself.
As they walked, Sakura trailed a finger along the wall, tracing a wary finger over the grimy surface. Tears collected in the pits of her eyes, and she clenched her jaw, and she hissed, if only slightly.
He didn't even say her name, but he slipped his hand into her, and gripped it as tightly as he could. She didn't look at him, but she gripped back, and he knew they would be fine.
A door loomed in front of them, out of the gloom. Sakura pulled her hand out of his, cracked her knuckles, and pulled out a pair of daggers the length of his arm. Sasuke gulped at the look on her face.
She opened her mouth in a silent hiss, and drop kicked the door open.
--
Hinata gently pulled the sleeping girls a little closer to herself. Hanabi was curled up at her side, her head on Hinata's lap, having fallen over from exhaustion a long time ago. The other two girls were just as close, although Moegi was staring up at Hinata awe and relief on her face.
Aki was breathing evenly, although she wasn't asleep yet, Hinata's pant leg gripped in her tiny fist.
Hinata gravely looked the dark-haired girl over, keeping Hanabi close all the while. There was no way in hell she was letting her little sister leave her now.
Hinata realized something. Aki looked like Sakura. She had the same fine cheek bones, and the same high forehead. And she had the same eyes. A colour close to Sakura's sea-foam green, but it was a guess. The room was dark, either way.
But her hair, black as ink, was all wrong.
Actually, Hinata thought, Aki looked a quite a bit like a mixture of Sakura and Sasuke, as if she were their daughter.
The little colour in Hinata's face drained away.
She carefully surveyed each of the children.
Yuhi, with his golden hair and deep blue eyes, could have been a carbon copy of Naruto. Moegi looked like a miniature Temari with Shikamaru's eyes, and spiky-ish hair. Obito could have been either Sasuke or Shino, although he looked a bit more like Shino, with his hair the way it was. Konohamaru could have been Suigetsu, too, only with differently-coloured hair. Hanabi was her, and Udon would have been Kakashi.
She felt slightly sick to her stomach.
Orochimaru had been making himself copies of the originals. And it looked like he'd been using each of their DNA to get it right. He hadn't had to do anything to Hanabi, but the others… No wonder they were all so young, but so well co-ordinated.
It was frightening, and more then slightly appalling, on every level that counted. Another thought struck her, and she couldn't help but think it through.
If he'd been making these… copies (sick human experiments, is more like it) then that meant he'd been watching them all the time. Anko had learned everything she knew of stealing from him, including trap-making and setting.
So did that mean he'd been watching them the entire time? Did that mean he had enough of their DNA to make human beings?
Hinata felt sick to her stomach.
Naruto had obviously noticed, and had come over, and gently took Hinata's hand in his own.
His palm was warm and calloused, and Hinata started to cry.
Naruto, startled, kneed down next to her (careful to avoid the children) and stared her straight in the eyes. He just looked at her for a moment. Really looked at her, in a way that most people don't care to.
He looked at her faults, her triumphs, her eyes, her hair, her nose, her lips, her mouth. And he loved her anyway.
He spoke, worry evident in his voice. There were still tears in her eyes.
"What's wrong?"
"Oh, Naruto, am I a bad person for being happy right now?"
"Hinata, it's impossible for someone like you to be bad."
"No, listen. I've just realized something. Look around you, look at the children. Who do they look like? Please, really look at them."
'Really look at them the way you just looked at me.' Her unspoken sentiment rang through the air, and reached him, whether she liked it or not.
And so he did.
As his eyes widened, Hinata was satisfied that he'd come to the same conclusion she had. There was much more going on in these walls then anyone knew. Human experiments included.
"What did he do to them?"
"He took our DNA, Naruto. That's what he did. And he created these ones."
"Sick bastard."
"I have to agree."
It was quiet then, for a moment, while both of them just stared in horror at their surroundings, and looking down with pity and slight sadness at the children.
These children shouldn't exist, and yet, they did. They had no parents, no one to care for them. What were they going to do when this all ended?
Hinata's mouth twisted into a firm line from its previous broken-hearted sigh posture.
"I guess we'll keep them, then."
"What?"
"The children. We girls will keep them, I supposed. I mean, it's not like they've got anywhere else to go."
"You don't think we won't help? Hinata, I thought you knew me better then that."
She laughed softly, brokenly.
"Naruto, will you really want anything to do with me once this is over?"
"Kakashi's going to marry Anko, and I know Neji's planning on asking Tenten, so yes, we probably will have plenty to do with you guys."
"Naruto, I asked if you wanted anything to do with me. It's in a different sort of context, y'know?"
"I know."
Silence blanketed the room for a moment.
"So?"
"So what?"
"So are you going to answer?"
"Hinata, to answer that, I might hurt you."
"Just tell me."
Hinata's mouth was set in a grim line, so unlike the usual smile it sported.
"Hinata, I don't ever want to let you go. I want to keep you around for ever, but I know I can't, because you deserve so much better them me."
She grabbed his arm, and pulled him closer, closer, closer, 'til his nose was less then an inch away from hers.
"If you want me around so much, why didn't you tell me?"
"Because. You deserve better then a thief like me."
"I'm a thief, too."
"You definitely are, that."
And then she kissed him before he could say much more.
It was soft and sweet, and neither wanted it to end. But the children (Hanabi in particular), as they so obligingly do, started to squirm around the two. Hinata pulled away, and gently brushed her hand across her younger sister's forehead.
There was a look of terrible tenderness in her features, and Naruto's heart squeezed painfully in his chest. She was going to be a wonderful mother, one day. And that thought made his heart squeeze even harder.
Best not to think sad thoughts, not now, anyways.
Naruto padded silently over to Yuhi, and stared down at the boy for a second (only one or tow, though). And then he sat down next to him, and ruffled his hair.
The little boy mumbled something, and curled his knees up to his chest, and just a little closer to the warmth Naruto always gave off like happiness.
"Mhmm… Pa-…pa…"
Naruto was a little startled to hear the small boy murmur something like that, but as he sat there, with the kid at his side, he smiled.
It wasn't anything to get exited over, because Naruto smiled all the time.
But it was a little different. It held a little more of his soul then his usual smile.
And even from across the room, Hinata could see it.