Common Delinquents
Chapter 35
"You should've stayed at the hospital."
"They told me I could be discharged early, you know."
"You should've stayed overnight," He repeats.
"Naruto." The pinkette stops in her tracks, her eyes flashing, "I'm fine. Okay? Hinata's the one you should be worrying about."
"I am!" The blond bites out, "But you need to-"
The Haruno places a hand on the distressed blonde, her eyes lowering. "Look, I'm fine." She shows him her arms, "Couple of bruises, no big deal." She angles her face towards him and pokes her cheek, "Got a cut, doesn't hurt much." She then pokes at her torso, "No broken or fractured ribs here."
"So?"
"So? So, you idiot, I'm fine." Sakura sneers at him, "Stop worrying about me, we have other things to deal with!"
Sasuke twitches from behind the arguing teenagers. The only thing he wants to be doing right now is sleeping, or maybe, visiting Hinata. It makes him annoyed when the thought enters his head because he was just at the hospital not thirty minutes ago. It's sad that a simple arm wound would knock her unconscious but he can't actually blame her. "Tch."
Sakura and Naruto eye him curiously. Naruto still has that semi-amazed look on his face like he can't believe that the Uchiha is capable of affection. His show of concern for Hinata has Naruto wondering if she's magic or something...Sasuke being affectionate just...doesn't happen.
They walk in silence for a few minutes, their feet crunching on the gravelly road of their HQ, heading for a unit hidden in the back. Sasuke releases a breath and feels excitement bubble in his core. Hopefully, they can get some answers out of Kakuzu. His excitement is short lived, as he remembers how good Ino had been at extracting information from people. Too bad she's not here.
His fingers tighten around the gun tucked into the waistband of his pants and he continues walking, catching snippets of Naruto and Sakura's conversation.
"-didn't get a chance to see her in the hospital."
"Besides the arm wound, she took a little damage to the face. She had tons of bruises and a few cuts. Looked like Tobi did a number on her," Naruto replies lowly, sneaking looks at Sasuke out of the corner of his eye.
"Not really." Sakura says, her tone is a tad amused. "She was dumb and tried to fight Tobi without using her gun, but held her own pretty well. She had Tobi bleeding all over the place...it was crazy!" Haruno shakes her head again, "You don't want to be on her bad side."
"She still should've just shot him in the first place." Sasuke mutters, "Stupid..."
Sakura blinks at him, annoyed, "Yeah, well she was -"
"Tch." Sasuke cuts her off. Sakura defending Hinata is weird on so many levels, and it's not like Sasuke even cares to hear it. Hinata was dumb for engaging the Akatsuki member into a fight instead of just shooting him. And that's the end of the story. Who care about her morals about gun-violence and what-not? She might as well give them up now, she's killed a man. The Uchiha sighs and pinches the bridge between his nose. "C'mon let's just get this over with. It's two a.m. and my head is killing me."
-:- -:- -:-
"Have you...uh, have you seen her lately?"
Deidara inclines his head towards the other blonde sitting on the roof with him, looking hazily at the sky. The night skies in Konoha sometimes appear to be red, not a vibrant color, but a dark one due to all the pollution in the air. On a clear night the skies are navy blue; you might even see a star or two...but tonight, the sky is red. The sky is angry.
"Why?"
Blue clashes against blue, the smaller girl appears to be hurt. "You know why. I care about her-them. And I-I have this bad feeling in my stomach..."
Deidara doesn't answer. He looks down at the smaller houses below them. The warehouse isn't that tall, he can only see a couple streets over from this view. Ino's question bothers him, and besides, why does she need to know? He just rolls his bottle of vodka towards her, "Here. Drink this, un."
Ino pushes it away from her, bringing her knees to her chest. "Can you please...just answer my question?"
Deidara flickers his eyes towards her, they burn with annoyance. He shakes his head and takes the bottle of vodka back into his hands. "Do you not remember the mission Leader gave me, un? The one that happened because of you?"
Ino flinches so hard he's scared she'll fall off the roof. Her eyes flutter away from his face, turning hard and uncertain. Deidara can just see a bit of moisture gathering around in her them.
"-But, to answer your question, I have. On accident, un. I wasn't expecting her to show up." Deidara's lips turn up a bit, remembering how she'd scolded him for ruining their studio. A moment later, his frown his back, "I left before we could really talk about anything, though."
Ino hums, nodding her head a little. So, Hinata is okay. That's good. She nods a little more, for now, at least. Ino turns to her cousin, her eyes filling with worry, "What are you going to do about the mission?"
"I'll figure something out, un." Deidara grimaces and pops open the bottle of liquor. It burns down his throat and warms his stomach and he can't feel angry anymore. He looks back to the ground again, at the cars passing under street lights and the people loitering in the shadows. Only idiots hang around the Akatsuki headquarters this late at night, Deidara feels annoyance crawl over him once again.
"Ino."
A voice from the roof's door makes both blonde's backs stiffen. Deidara looks back at Itachi, standing there like he's the fucking Hokage of Konoha. He rolls his eyes and then his shoulders, and turns away from the imposing man. Uchihas will always be annoying.
"Drinking another night away, Deidara?" Itachi's voice is low in his throat, seeping into Deidara's head. The guy is creepy-there's definitely some dark magic going on with him. "Ino, come with me."
Deidara moves his bang as he watches her get to her feet. Her fingers tremble as she straightens out her own wreath of blonde piled atop her head. The light in her eyes quickly fades. Deidara grabs her wrist before she can take another step towards the deranged Uchiha.
"What do you need with my cousin, un?"
"She has more information on The Leaf that we need." Itachi states simply, watching as Ino pulls her arm out of her cousin's probably-drunken grip. "She's been more useful than you have as of late."
"Whatever." Deidara says back. As if he cares anymore. As if he cares what stupid stunt the Akatsuki decide to pull off next. His life already sucks anyway. He downs the last bit of vodka and drops the bottle off the roof. It shakers into a million pieces and scares the stray thugs down the street.
A stream of surprised curses come up from below and Deidara flips them off with a smirk.
"Hn." Itachi turns away, his eyes glinting, "How's that mission coming along?"
Deidara wishes he had another bottle, "Swimmingly, un."
Swimmingly? Yeah, He's in the water all right, and he's drowning in it.
-:- -:- -:-
"Finally." Kiba growls at Sasuke as he approaches the unit with Naruto and Sakura in tow. "I've been freezing my balls off waiting for you guys."
"Yeah yeah yeah." Naruto waves his hands, "If you had any."
Sasuke sighs through his nose as the two begin to argue behind him. It's like this day can never be over and no one is taking it seriously. He knows Sakura is hitting them both when two loud 'Thwacks!' assault his ears and is followed by sweet silence.
"Kiba you can leave. Go check on Hinata or something." Sasuke unlocks the door before glancing at the half asleep bun-haired girl on the ground-obviously not doing her job. "You can leave too, Tenten."
"Yay." Tenten says halfheartedly. She moves away from the four of them and towards a unit. "I'm going to bed."
"Shikamaru's inside," Kiba says, still there for some reason. "Shino booked a while ago. I think he was worried about his bugs or something." The brunette shrugs and bends down to scratch Akamaru on his head.
"Hn." Sasuke enters the room, a frown on his face. He slips the gun out of his pocket and takes the safety off. There's no doubting it; someone is going to die tonight. The room is bright when he enters; the overhead florescent lights cast superficial light across the room making everything seem surreal. Shikamaru sits in the corner, sleeping. Sasuke rubs his forehead, annoyed. There's a rival gang member sitting not two feet away from the guy and all he can do is sleep? So much for competent members.
Sasuke turns his head to gaze at the other man, Kakuzu. He somehow manages to slouch while being tied against a wooden chair, his expression bored. Sasuke only hopes that he's shaking in fear on the inside.
Kiba, Naruto, and Sakura crowd in behind him. Kiba takes it upon himself to wake the slumbering genius.
"Kakuzu." Sasuke greets him coldly, tossing his gun from hand to hand.
"Uchiha brat." Kakuzu greets back without missing a beat. "I see your gang has managed to do something right." He says, referring to his captive position. He smirks, "It's about damn time."
"Did he do any talking, Shika?" Sakura asks, taking a seat next to the drowsy Nara.
"Nah. Shikamaru just shakes his head and plants his head into the palm of his hand. "I tried for an hour but the guy's not giving anything up." He yawns, "It's not worth trying to torture it out of him either."
"What if we pay you?" Naruto turns to Kakuzu, knowing that the man loves his money.
"Tch." Kakuzu just shakes his head, "Do you assholes think I'm stupid? I'm not leaving this place alive."
"At least he knows it." Sasuke mutters. He finally stops tossing the gun and aims it at the Akatsuki member. "Any last words?"
"Yeah." Kakuzu tilts his head back, "Did I manage to kill Deidara's bitch?"
Sasuke twitches and fire races through his veins. His fingers tug the trigger before he can even process what he's doing. It only takes a second and a twitch of a muscle, and he's killed someone. When he looks up, there's a bullet clean through the rival gang member's head. His eyes are wide open and there's a smirk on his face.
"Um," Sakura turns away from the Akatsuki member with a frown of disgust, "Who's...Deidara's bitch?"
"Tch." Sasuke throws the gun to his feet, suddenly more pissed off than earlier. So, more people in the Akatsuki know about Hinata...and Deidara? How could that be? Is that blonde asshole gloating or something? "No clue."
"Right." Shikamaru mutters, telling Sasuke that he knows that Sasuke is lying. "Well. Who's going to deal with the body?"
Naruto speaks up and plants his finger on his nose, "Nose goes!"
Kiba is second to speak up and puts his finger on his nose too, yelling "Nose goes!" Second.
"Are we seriously doing this next to a dead body?" Shikamaru slowly brings himself to his feet and shakes his head. "I want no part in this-"
"Nose goes!" Sakura plants her finger on her nose.
"Are you serious-"
"Nose goes." Sasuke mutters, touching his nose too. "Guess you're 'it' Nara. Make sure you lock up when you're done."
"You've got to be fucking kidding me-"
"Well...the nose knows. What the nose says...goes." Naruto says cheerfully, he slings his arm around an annoyed Sakura and walks out the room.
"Tch." Sasuke follows him out, "What a weird way of coping with murder. You're too damned cheerful."
"Eh, let him do what he wants, Uchiha." Kiba yawns, "At least he's not scary like you."
Whatever. Sasuke shoves his hands into his pocket. He'd rather be scary than be a fucking ray of sunshine.
-:- -:- -:-
Too bright. It's too bright in here, Hinata thinks. The Hyuga blinks against the line of bright fluorescent lights attached to the ceilings. She rubs her eyes and turns to look for an exit, only to find four walls with no windows and no doors.
She's trapped.
The indigo haired girl takes a deep breath and turns around again, as if another door might magically appear. Instead, she turns to see a masked figure. Her heart jumps into her throat as the figure approaches her slowly and then stops altogether, palms raised in surrender.
Hinata squints in confusion as her and the stranger stand across from each other, not moving. Hinata's arms rise without her telling them and she begins to panic. Metal glints in the corner of her eye and then she realizes; she's the one holding the gun.
Hinata tries to pry her hands away but her arms won't move no matter how hard she tries. Tears gather at the corners of her eyes-why won't it work? Why can't she control her own body?
The masked figure shakes his head back and forth, backing against the wall. Hinata feels her muscles tense, her fingers stretch and then wrap around the trigger. She closes her eyes and then—
Bang!
Her heart drops in her stomach and the feeling in her arms returns. The gun hits the floor with a loud 'clang.' Hinata turns her eyes to the masked figure and the immediately wishes she hadn't. The white walls are corrupted by red; the figure rests in a puddle of blood, a hole through his mask.
Hinata feels like she's going to be sick. She makes to move and finds that something is making it hard for her to walk-is that blood?
Her heart stops. There is blood everywhere. It's filling the room in gallons, dark red and warm. Before she knows it it's up to her knees, she opens her mouth to scream and—
.
.
"Jesus."
Hinata wakes up in cold sweat, there's a hand heavy on her shoulder; shaking her. She sits up and instantly regrets it as all the blood rushes to her head. "Ugh." Plus there's aching in her arm, she raises her other and to touch it and wishes she hadn't. She falls back, confused, and wishes that beeping sound would just stop.
"Jesus." Sasuke repeats, frowning down at the girl. "You're a mess." He takes his hand off her shoulder and flicks her in the face a couple of times before returning to his chair at her bedside.
Her response is only a groan; she turns on her side to face him, making sure her injured arm isn't in the way. "Y-you look tired." She reaches out her hands to trace the dark shadows under his eyes.
"Tch." Sasuke inclines his head and Hinata drops her arm. "You look worse."
"Thanks."
"You're welcome." He sighs and leans back in the uncomfortable hospital chair, the plastic of the seat makes annoying sounds as he moves over it. "What were you dreaming about?"
"What time is it?" Hinata changes the subject, closing her eyes.
"Seven a.m. What was your dream about?" Sasuke continues without missing a beat.
"Just—nothing really." She puts her arm in front of her face. "There was this guy in a mask in this room and I shot him." She moves her arm, her eyes staring straight at Sasuke. "That...really happened didn't it?"
Sasuke just nods, turning his eyes towards the window. "Yeah. It did."
"Is he...is he dead?"
When Sasuke doesn't say anything, she knows the answer is yes. Her heart feels heavy in her chest. Sure, she'd shot one other person before...but he hadn't died. She knows that she's killed someone's son, someone's friend, maybe even someone's lover. It's just one more life taken away from this world…This time by her own hands.
The Hyuga feels like crying and her chest feels tight so she turns to lie on her back. She looks at the ceiling, watching the light from outside the windows slowly crawl over the walls as the sun rises.
"What are you thinking?" Sasuke plants his elbows into the mattress and puts his head on his hands.
Hinata turns to face him, surprised to see that his face is so close. His eyes bore into hers and one dark eyebrow is raised in question. "I'm thinking that...you should bring me some food."
"Hinata..." Sasuke warns, annoyed now. "Seriously."
"What?" She whines, "I'm hungry and...i-isn't it way past visitation hours?"
Sasuke blinks at her, "Trying to get rid of me?"
"Maybe." She manages to sit up and crosses her legs under her. "I feel...sad."
Sasuke raises his eyebrows, "That's it?"
She only frowns at him, "Well? What do you want me to feel?" She huffs a little, "I think I'm a bad person because I-I don't feel terribly bad about Tobi." She turns away, "I mean! I mean, I feel really bad but I...I feel like I should feel worse about it, you know?"
"Not really," Sasuke comments dryly. Sometimes he doesn't understand anything Hinata is trying to say. It's like she lives on a different planet. "But there's no point in feeling bad because you don't feel bad. You finally understand that there are some things you just have to do to stay alive."
She sniffs, "It could've been me,"
Sasuke rolls his eyes, "It could've been you a thousand other times too. But it wasn't. Because each time, you fought for your life." He leans back in his chair, "Imagine how many times I could've died."
"I'd rather not." She reaches for a cup of water on the table, eyeing the Uchiha, "How long have you been here?"
"Few hours. Since maybe three."
"You must be tired."
"I tried to take a nap but this chair is uncomfortable. So I watched infomercials and kid shows for a couple hours until you started freaking out in your sleep."
"Hm," Hinata moves over and pats the hospital bed, "Come sit."
Sasuke does what she asks without much complaining. There are a few grumbles here and there and he leans against the raised part of the bed.
"Stop frowning at me," She mutters, "Why were you up so late?"
"I just had to deal with that other Akatsuki member. He's not a problem anymore." His fingers come to touch her arm, "Does it hurt anymore?"
"Sort of," Hinata releases a yawn, tired again. She leans against his chest, scooting over to make more room. She still manages to blush at his closeness. "You should sleep. You've been up for hours."
"Hn." Sasuke plants his chin on top of her head, closing his eyes. "And if the nurse walks in and sees me here...?"
"T-They'll get over it." Hinata mutters.
"Fine by me." Sasuke moves his head again in order to move her own. He tilts hers towards him and presses his lips to her. The kiss is soft and slow, like Sasuke is trying to tell her that he's happy that she's okay.
When they break away Hinata rests against Sasuke's chest again and one of his arms comes to encircle her waist.
He closes his eyes and falls asleep faster than he ever has before.
Yeah, he's glad that she's okay.
An. Hello!
Ok I seriously hope you guys know what the 'Nose Goes' game is cause if you don't part of this probably didn't make any sense.
Anyway I have a lot of excuses or why this is late so I'm not going to get into that. My next update should hopefully be on time.
If it isn't, please feel free to send me angry messages about it on tumblr. (Link on my profile)
Anyway, review!