I write better in the summer because the heat makes me miserable.
Enjoy!
.
.
.
.
Black and Purple Don't Mix #26
This was bad—Kabuto knew that all too well.
There was no way he could escape while Tsunade, ANBU, and the bulk of three exceptional tracking clans were here; especially not when he had two people he couldn't—wouldn't—leave behind.
Kabuto peered back into the tree. Shana and Jibo were staring at him with wide eyes, not knowing what they were supposed to do. Kabuto faced forward again and looked into the cave. Orochimaru might be able to get away, but Kabuto wasn't foolish enough to think the man would save them.
So, he was stuck.
"Tokuma," Tsunade addressed. "Can you see Orochimaru or Hinata inside?"
Tokuma, in charge of the Hyuuga group, was a fairly young looking man with spiky shoulder-length brown hair and two long bangs hanging down either side of his face. He, along with the bulk of the other Hyuuga members, had been staring into the cave with his Byakugan, a progressive frown etching across his face.
"My lady," Tokuma said as he tore his eyes away from the cave, "there appears to be multiple genjutsus throughout the hideout. Once I see through one, I'm directed to another. There is a chance I'll be able to see through the source, but there's no telling how long that will take." He scowled. "But I doubt we have that kind of time."
Tsunade bit her thumb, thinking. She looked to the Inuzuka group. "Tsume, what about you?"
Tsume grinned, swiping her nose with her thumb. "That girl's scent is well-known within my clan. Let us go now, and we'll find her in no time."
Tsunade nodded, her attention drawn to the Aburames. "Shibi, your insects aren't influenced by genjutsu, right? Do you think you can find Orochimaru?"
Shibi adjusted his glasses. "His chakra is not something we have encountered, but if he is the strongest here, we will find him."
Tsunade thought rapidly, speaking as she made crucial decisions. "Half the Inuzuka clan and half the Aburame clan, go find Hinata. Tsume, you lead the way. The other half, follow me and Shibi to find Orochimaru. Hyuugas, I'm not going to throw you into a maze, so spread out and restrain anyone who tries to escape."
"And what of us?" an ANBU member asked.
"Keep a close eye on Kabuto." Her eyes flicked up to the tree. "And those boys. I'll need a word with the dark-haired one."
The groups disappeared into the cave, and before Kabuto had time to react Hyuugas launched into the trees and apprehended Shana and Jibo. Faster still, ANBU members were tying Kabuto up forcefully, shoving him into the ground and pressing hard on his limbs as they did so.
"Kabuto Yakushi," one of the ANBU said, "you are hereby being taken into custody and are now a prisoner of Konoha. You are under no obligation to speak to us, but you are prohibited from trying to escape."
"Any attempts at escaping," spoke the ANBU from earlier, "will be met with severe action."
"At worst, you'll kill me, right?" Kabuto said dryly, forcing himself to look up from his position on the ground.
They didn't answer him. From behind him, Kabuto heard ANBU members telling Shana and Jibo much the same thing, only without the decency to use their names, not like Kabuto expected them to know.
Kabuto surveyed his surroundings as best he could. His arms were bound behind his back, and two ANBU members were standing on either side of him. Shana and Jibo had been dragged into his line of sight, and they also had their hands bound with three ANBU members near them. Half the Hyuuga group were still trying their luck with the cave, while the other half disappeared into the forest.
Kabuto couldn't help but groan. Even if he himself managed to escape, he would have Hyuugas to deal with.
He sighed, his shoulders drooping. If he waited for Tsunade and her group to return, there was a small chance he could create some kind of commotion as they transport them to Konoha.
But that was a very small chance.
More people increased the difficulty, and his last encounter with Tsunade might prompt her to immobilize him. So, if he waited until they were in Konoha, he might be able to escape there for the small window of opportunity when they unbind him...if they unbind him. Even then, that would be the worst option; he already established that more people meant a harder time.
There had to be something he could do now...
He had to do something now.
And it had to get all three of them out of here.
Tsunade and her backup didn't know the layout of this forest or the hideout, so if he could somehow get them all free, they could run into the hideout and use one of the escape hallways to lose them... But any movement he made would draw attention.
There had to be a way...
His eyes fell on Shana and Jibo again.
Jibo was rightfully scared and shook as he scanned the new faces again and again. Shana looked nonplussed. Because he couldn't see their faces, he was trying to analyze the situation solely based on their heat signatures.
So...
Shana scanned the area, wondering why no one was saying anything. He looked to Jibo for a moment. "Are you scared?" he whispered.
"You're not?" Jibo whispered back, terribly shaken.
"I...don't know. We haven't done anything wrong."
"You're kidding, right? They told us we were under arrest."
"Well, I mean, we didn't do anything wrong on purpose. If we tell them about everything that's happened, I'm sure they'll understand. These people can probably save Hinata before anything happens to her. They may even do something about Orochimaru."
Jibo huffed repeatedly, hysterics making his voice high. "You think anybody can do something about him?"
Shana hesitated, only to really think. "I don't see why these people would show up if they couldn't."
Jibo shook his head, eyes refusing to become less wide. "Maybe these people don't know about him... Or Sasuke..."
Shana sighed inwardly. Too much Sasuke. "Do any of these people look strong?"
"Well..." Jibo looked around, immediately recognizing who the pale eyed people must be, and his stomach dropped. "I rather not say where I remember some of these people from, but some of them brought a bunch of dogs, and others were wearing coats and sunglasses."
"I guess...that sounds tough. How's Mr. Kabuto?"
"No idea." Jibo looked over at the man. "They pinned him to the ground. He's been staring at- No... He's looking at us... I think something's wrong."
"What?" Shana looked at Kabuto as well. "Like what?"
"I'm sorry, boys."
Jibo and Shana fell deathly silent. Some of the people around them spared them all a glance but otherwise acted as though they weren't there.
Shana looked between Jibo and Kabuto. "What... Why did he...?"
"This is the end for us." Kabuto said, his tone failing to be light. "There's no way I can get us out of here."
"But..." Shana smiled weakly despite the hollow pounding of his heart. "Mr. Kabuto, that's okay."
"No, Shana, there's a lot about me you don't know. Once they take us back to Konoha, they'll lock me up."
"Wha..." Shana looked around at the extra bodies that continued to pay them no mind. "No... Then we'll just go with you."
Jibo looked at him. "Excuse me?"
"Shana," Kabuto said, "it'll be alright. They'll see that you boys had nothing to do with this, and they'll send you both home. I'm sure your villages know we had something to do with your disappearances. As for me..." He chuckled. "I'll probably be executed."
Jibo quirked a brow. What the heck was Kabuto doing? Why was he telling them this? Why did he just admit to kidnapping them in front of all these people—people who were skilled at acting like they weren't listening. Why was he...intentionally trying to make them worry? Was their situation that bad? Was he apologizing because there wouldn't be a chance later?
Was this...the end?
Jibo could feel his heart racing. He was about to panic, but then something else didn't make sense. As far as Kabuto knew, the two of them should be eager to go home, but he said it as though it would be a bad thing...
Like he knew...
Like he knew-
Jibo peeked at Shana.
Shana was staring wide-eyed at his lap, the trace of tears on his cheeks. Jibo opened his mouth to speak...
...but then black consumed Shana's eyes.
Jibo paled. "Fuck."
"JIBO!"
The boy flung himself backwards at the sound of Kabuto's voice, propelling himself behind the trunk of a tree. He heard people yelling—shock, pain-
those people
—anger—
Shana.
Thin needles shot by him and into the ground and surrounding wildlife. Before the needles could stop, there was the distinct sound of metal clashing, followed by grappling or some type of struggle.
Then there was nothing.
Jibo peeked around the tree. There were bodies collapsed all around the ground with thin blue needles sticking out of them. Shana was unbound, his clothes torn and his hair long and brittle again. Shana walked over to two fallen men, pushing one off of the other, and revealed Kabuto.
"Are you alright?" Shana asked.
"I'm fine," Kabuto said. "Are you?"
"My neck hurts." Shana helped Kabuto out of his bindings. "Sorry about...doing this."
"No, Shana, I should be the one to apologize." Kabuto stood once he was free and shook out his wrists. "Jibo."
"Yeah?" the boy answered.
Kabuto spotted him and hurried over, busying himself with freeing him. "Did you get hurt?"
"I almost broke my neck getting back here, but I'm fine."
"Great." Kabuto stood once Jibo was free. "Let's hurry. I'm sure one of those Hyuugas saw what happened here, so we don't have much time."
Jibo stood. "Where are we going?"
"Back inside. Get your bags, quick. It'll be tricky, but we may be able to find a passage that can lead us to another spot."
"What about Hinata?" Shana asked. "And...what about these people?"
Kabuto sighed and knelt to Shana's level. "Shana, please understand I can only worry about you two right now. Everyone else... They'll be fine."
"But I didn't-"
"Shh!" Kabuto listened intently to the forest. He stood slowly and stuck out his arms, backing Shana and Jibo farther and farther away. "In the cave... Now!"
"Our things-"
"Forget 'em!" Kabuto grabbed their hands and rushed them inside.
The Hyuugas canvasing the forest had all rushed back when they saw the prisoners had launched an attack. It had all happened so fast, and the three were on the move as if they knew the Hyuugas were closing in.
"They're retreating!" Tokuma yelled. "Don't let them get too far in that cave! One or two people tend to those fallen!"
The Hyuugas rushed through the forest, soon approaching the entrance of the cave. Tokuma's Byakugan located something in the air, distracting him. The object was more than one hundred meters high.
Another distraction tore his eyes away from the sky. A body rushed past him, jumping into the trees.
Tokuma stared, shocked, before turning back to the group. "Who let him come along?!"
"No more." Hinata's blood-slicked hand grabbed at the man's. Her face was red and wet with tears and sweat. Her eyes were glazed, one swollen and blotched with grotesque blues and reds. Her head was unable to lift from the ground.
Orochimaru stared at her, fingers poised over her opened abdomen. "Why are you still conscious?" he asked, unamused.
"I can't... Don't wanna die, please... Please..."
"You don't want to die? But you must be in excruciating pain. I'd be doing you a favor. Besides," he sunk his hand inside her, "what use are these to you?"
Hinata went rigid, her body trembling, mouth open in a silent scream.
Orochimaru wasn't so foolish to think torturing her like this wouldn't damage her ovaries, which were his other goal. He was even sane enough to understand he could kill her if he kept going about this in such a messy way. Her eyes were the overall prize, but one set would never be enough. He could breed Hyuuga hybrids—some with Uchiha ties and some not—but that would never be able to happen if he kept this up.
He ought to keep her alive. He ought to use her for her natural child-bearing purposes rather than making artificial ones. Her ought to stitch her up right now and be logical about this situation.
Girls like Hinata were so rare, though.
She pissed him off.
She had dampened the killing intent in his most prized vessel and turned Sasuke's revenge into an obsession for her. Sasuke could have gotten rid of Itachi, who was a burden capable of thwarting all of Orochimaru's plans, but Sasuke was acting like a teenager; Orochimaru never thought that would be an issue.
No, he really didn't like when his experiments were delayed.
He withdrew his hand, shaking off the blood, looking for a more appropriate tool, when a hiss came from behind him.
"You got in," Orochimaru muttered, placing his hand behind him. A snake coiled up and around his arm. He brought the reptile to his face; it was similar in looks and size to a garden snake, but its head was flat and diamond-shaped and its skin was purely white.
His signal snake.
The creature hissed again, flicking out its tongue, before burrowing its way into the man's arm. Orochimaru groaned, closing his eyes, as flashes of images transferred to him.
"Oh dear," he muttered, a grin stretching. "That's really close, isn't it?"
He got to his feet and gathered the vial with the Hinata's blood. Looking down at the bleeding, sweating girl, he contemplated on what to do with her. He couldn't take her with him because her blood would be too fresh of a trail for his pursuers, and he didn't have time to sew her up. So, she'd just be a liability...
But...
If he killed her now, he risked not being able to have this opportunity again. Her blood was sufficient...but her death, at this particular moment, would fan the multiple flames closing in on him. If those flames band together, he may not get away, but if she was found injured...maybe things would slow in his favor.
Forming hand seals, he stepped over the girl, placing his hand on the wall. It opened, revealing a steel passage way.
"Wait," Hinata breathed.
Orochimaru looked back at her, one eyebrow arched.
"H...Help..."
"Desperate, aren't we?" He chuckled. "Just relax for a bit. I'll be seeing you soon enough."
He walked away, the wall closing behind him.
"Why the hell does this place keep falling apart?!"
Tsume Inuzuka was infuriated by another roadblock in their way. The Inuzuka's caught scent of Hinata and were alarmed by the amount of blood associated with her. Rushing to her was their top priority but a blockade of rocks and rubble defiantly stood at every other route they took. Explosions shook the entire hideout, which she now realized were causing the walls to crumble.
They ran down another hall when, upon turning the corner, the other half of the group nearly collided into them.
"What the-?! Shibi!" Tsume barked, overlooking Tsunade. "What hell is going on here?"
"We have tracked the strongest chakra source," Shibi said, "but every means of getting there are blocked."
Tsume laughed dryly. "Tell me about it. At this rate, we're gonna get trapped in here. Not to mention we've got whiff of Hinata's blood, a lot of it."
"Which way?" Tsunade asked.
Tsume pointed at the wall directly in front of them. "That way, but there's no telling what's through there."
"That's also where the large chakra concentration is," Shibi added. "Perha-"
Tsunade slammed her fists through the wall, creating a gaping hole that revealed two more branching paths. The group stared in awe and mild horror. All Inuzukas had refrained from breaking down walls in fear of traps, but Tsunade did it without hesitation.
Tsunade looked back at Tsume. "Which way?"
Dust and debris clouded his already blurred vision. Sasuke huffed, sweating, barely on his feet. He moved forward, using the wall as a guide, shaking his head and blinking sweat out of his eyes. He was agitating his fatigue, and he wasn't able to think straight. Or maybe he refused to. His mind had one goal in sight, and he had to reach it—
HER
—before—something—happened.
He staggered to another wall, placing his palms against it, and sent it bursting into pieces.
He didn't know why he was taking the Frost kid seriously, especially to this degree. For all he knew, the kid was baiting his anger in some fit of passive aggressiveness, but stopping wasn't an option.
Sasuke stumbled forward, bracing himself against a wall, and wasn't quite sure when it was reduced to rubble. He stared at the fuzzy darkness in front of him, allowing his mind to churn slowly.
Slowly...
If Hinata was here, then she was a fucking idiot because she had no business following him. She could hardly deal with him, so what made her think she could handle anybody he was associated with?
Why would she follow him?
Did she need something? Had she finally snapped and tried to locate the hideout to turn him in? Hell! Did she just want to see him for the sake of seeing him?! Was she finally getting as crazy as he was?!
There was no reason for her to be here!
Crumbling. Panting. Stumbling.
But if Orochimaru was the one who took her...
Stumble. Crumble.
What would he need from her? What good was Hinata to him?
Crumble
He didn't need her.
Stumble
He couldn't touch her.
Crumble
No one touches her!
CRUMBLE
Sasuke clutched his chest, almost gasping for air. The medicine had disabled him greatly, and this abuse of chakra had any strength he did have at a severe low.
He stumbled forward, past the rubble and through the dust in the air, and walked into a strikingly white room. A metal table was in the middle, and there was an assortment of tools to his right. The smell of dry earth was tainted by a dank scent that was incredibly strong.
"N-no... N-n-no..."
Sasuke's eyes were drawn to the ground, where he saw legs. He walked forward and stared down at Hinata, bleeding, cut open, sweating. Underneath her eyes were dark splotches; one eye was impossibly swollen. She looked up at him, wheezing.
"Help... Pl-please..."
His hearing was gone, body numb, emotions void. He didn't know who or what he was looking at. Everything was rushing by him, the world spinning and shaking, and he didn't know how to stop it.
"Sasuke, please!"
He snapped out of it. Hinata was crying, weakly moving her head from side to side, hands shaking over her abdomen, forcing her body to not move too much.
"Get it out!"
Looking down at her gaping stomach, he saw a small chunk of the wall had landed inside of her. He cursed, falling to her side, and flung the rock behind him. He took off his shirt, tore it, and wrapped it tightly around her despite her cries of pain. Words were lost to him as he picked her up and turned out the room.
He had no idea what to do.
Hinata was bleeding—in his arms—dying—in his arms—and he had no idea what to do.
She gasped, hitting her hand on his chest. "Stop running." She shook her head, trying to control her heaves. "Please st-stop moving."
"You're hurt."
"Moving hu-urts..."
"If I stop, you'll die."
"Sasuke!"
The Uchiha stopped, his heart pounding in his chest. His entire body throbbed and felt close to shutting down. Helplessness was not something he remembered feeling in a long time, but this was the worst case.
She was the only one.
Any ties he had to sanity, humanity, anything, all relied on her. He had forced everything on her, and he could do nothing to ensure he didn't lose it all.
He was losing it all...
He was losing her.
Hinata panted, trembled, nails digging into his chest. It was surreal. It couldn't be happening. There had to be something he could do.
"I'm sorry," she gasped, and he had no earthly idea why. Her eyes were streaming with tears, and he didn't know if they had been there when he found her. "V-Very...s-s-s-sorry."
He looked at her intently, anger coming over him when he realized what she was doing, and he had an overwhelming urge to drop her and kill her himself...
She was going to let those be her last words?
She was going to leave him with that? She's sorry? For what?!
His body burned, painfully so, a sensation he had not felt in ages. All at once, his grip tightened, a wall came crashing down, and he was soaring down a hall.
Tsunade punched through another wall, the force getting stronger and stronger with each hit. A cloud of dirt, dust, and debris filled the air.
"Hey!" Tsume yelled, her attention turned back the way they came.
"What's the matter?" Tsunade asked over her shoulder.
"Hinata's scent just flew over us!"
Tsunade hesitated, a question halted in her throat, and redirected her words. "You and your team go!"
Tsume's team raced off, racing to find whatever it was that was putting a lot of distance between them. Tsunade turned back around, gathering her chakra, but paused when she noticed the next few walls were already down. The group quickly advanced through them and encountered a room with debris and operating tools scattered about. Tsunade and Shibi entered, the entire group not able to fit.
"This place reeks of him," Tsunade muttered, her eyes lingering on the table of medical tools.
"There's blood here." Shibi said. He knelt near a pile of the rubble and upturned rocks.
Tsunade walked over, eyeing for herself. "Looks fresh..."
"It's hers," Shibi said. He looked over at the table of supplies, where some of his insects were crawling. He got up, walked over to it, and shifted through the utensils. "There's blood on this scalpel... And traces in this syringe."
"Are you sure it's hers?"
"I am." He turned to her. "Tsume said the presence that flew over us was Hinata, but she must have been carried. Could that have been Orochimaru?"
"No. Not even close. That's why I'm sure they can retrieve Hinata quickly and deal with the person who has her."
Tsunade tried to make sense of all the facts she had. It was obvious the attacks on Konoha had merely been distractions to infiltrate the Hyuuga clan, but...
She thought she knew Orochimaru.
While Hinata had the Byakugan, she was not the most desirable Hyuuga he could have taken. Perhaps it had to be different this time. He couldn't take anyone from the Branch Family because their seal would have been activated, then he would never learn the secrets of the Byakugan. So, that only left the Main Family. He couldn't pick someone too physically strong because he would be at a disadvantage. So...maybe Hinata was just unfortunate to become his victim.
It still didn't make sense because the entirety of the Hyuuga clan was rendered unconscious during the attacks, not to mention no Hyuugas were taken the first time. Was that just a test? Why didn't he take more with him the second time? Unless this was all chance, there had to be something about Hinata specifically that caught Orochimaru's interest, but there was no logical explanation.
And the blood...
A scalpel and a needle weren't the tools to successfully take eyes, so was he trying to dissect her? Did he think the Hyuuga secrets lay in the body and not the eyes? And what did this mean of Sasuke Uchiha? If Orochimaru was focusing on another dōjutsu user, did that mean Sasuke was no longer needed?
Was he already dead?
Tsunade's eyes trailed to the wall where most of the rubble was piled—and where more of Shibi's insects were crawling. "What's that about?"
"Another chakra source. A strong one." Shibi walked toward the wall and placed his hand on it. "There's no rock behind here."
"Move aside." Tsunade gathered chakra, more than before, and smashed the wall in. Rock clashed against metal and skidded down a long, dark passage way.
So he was running away...
"How far?" she asked.
"If we hurry, we can catch up."
She wasn't moving.
He had to remind himself that movement wasn't the most important so long as she was breathing.
But he wasn't sure if she was breathing.
Sasuke looked down at Hinata. Her eyes were closed, one still swelled, but her face was void of color.
His mouth wouldn't open to say something to her, and he couldn't tell if she was breathing.
The twisted part of his mind that constantly begged him to torture the heiress in various ways never went away. He's suppressed the thoughts so much that he had dreams about doing so often, but he could find no satisfaction in this. He felt downright terrified because this wasn't a dream.
If he was dreaming, then he would like this.
He looked down at the trees below. Awareness that his curse mark had activated hadn't dawned on him until he forced his way out of the hideout, and his body was aching more than usual and far earlier than it should. His eyes began to search for something he wasn't sure of.
Maybe a sign.
Maybe a miracle he didn't deserve.
Maybe...something that would stop him from questioning himself.
He needed something to keep her from bleeding to death. He could feel her blood running down his stomach, so he had to do something.
And then there was something.
Orochimaru was not particularly pleased with the way things were turning out.
For one thing, the hideout kept shaking all around him, and he took special offense to those destroying the place. He hadn't caused much trouble for Konoha, so it was a bit much for them to come all this way just to bother him.
And then he realized this was because Jibo and Shana took it upon themselves to kidnap the heiress. He didn't know why they had done that, and until now, he didn't consider that they had been followed.
But they had.
And if they weren't taken into Konoha custody, Orochimaru was sure to deal with them.
As far as Sasuke was concerned, Orochimaru didn't like the burst of rebellion the teenager was exhibiting. Why was he breaking down the place?
It was futile to worry about now. Orochimaru's only regret was that he couldn't take his experiments or prized treasures with him.
But at least he had the Hyuuga's blood. Luckily he had some of his other documents and medicines stowed at various other hideouts. Still, this was one of his favorite hideouts.
He emerged at the end of the tunnel into a wide, open space with another tunnel directly across. Walking to the middle of the room, he sighed, then smiled.
"I don't like uninvited guests." He whipped around, narrowly avoiding being pummeled to the ground.
A small, fist-sized crater ran deep into the ground, chunks of rock exploding into the air. Orochimaru looked around, where members of Konoha's finest surrounded him. Smiling broader, he looked fondly at the blonde woman who had tried to kill him.
"Couldn't face me alone, Tsunade?"
She looked up at him, eyes smoldering with hate. "I'm in no mood."