Author's Note: Welcome back! There is some fun teasing in this chapter, I hope you enjoy ~
H...how long had he been... l-lying... there... Hinata had the blanket gripped tight to her body. She felt so exposed... would he wake up if she got out of the bed? Her clothes were still sitting on the table... she also still needed to shower... she could just...
Hinata very quickly got out of the bed - holding the blanket tight to her body as she scampered to grab her clothes and then sprinted to the bathroom - locking the door behind her. Had he seen? Was he even awake? She activated her eyes, peering through the wall. He was already out of the bed, putting on his shirt and cloak. He'd totally been awake that whole time, hadn't he?
Hinata's face burned red. Why was he in the bed with her? Why hadn't he taken the floor? "Hurry it up. We're checking out in thirty minutes." She watched through the walls as he left the room and headed next door to Kisame's room. She deactivated her eyes and quickly tended to her morning bathroom needs.
She was extremely happy to have time to shower and clean up. She was a bit rushed, but it was alright. She redressed and headed out of her room the same time Kisame and Itachi left the other. "Do you have all your things?" Itachi asked calmly. They were not returning here. She nodded rapidly. "Let's go. We're spending the day recouping." Itachi needed more rest before their next big venture, and they could not do it here now that Kisame had completed the mission.
As they exited the inn, the small town was quite different than it was before. The streets were busy - people almost seemed to be in a panic... people were getting sick on the sides of the road... The pair kept calm as they headed straight down the road leading out of the village. Hinata looked... horrified. What... what had he done? "Oh..." Kisame said, stopping and turning to the girl. "You should probably take this. I notice your hair is wet." He offered her a small vial of purplish liquid.
Her hand was shaking as she took it. He'd... he'd poisoned the water? She hastily drank the vial. How... how could he poison a whole town? There were children here!? She felt sick to her stomach. The trio left the town without another word. Hinata was still trying to wrap her head around their actions, but she was enjoying the slow walking pace.
Upon finding a river, Itachi opted to walk up the river banks, rather than crossing and continuing on. After a few hours they arrived at a calm pool, being fed by a small series of rocky waterfalls. The Uchiha moved to sit against a tree, pulling his hat down. "If you're going to say something, just say it. You've been pouting this whole walk." He spoke calmly and evenly.
Pouting? She was not pouting! "W... why?" She asked softly. Kisame scoffed. "Look, that's Akatsuki business, kid. You're not that -" but the shark-like man was cut off.
"They're not going to know we did it. They will assume it was the Sand Village, and they'll report as such to the Hidden Waterfalls Village..." He spoke so calmly... the young girl's gaze was a bit curious as she processed his words... and then it dawned on her... "But... that... that'll start a war..." She whispered. The Waterfalls would be crushed...
Kisame rolled his eyes as he took off his cloak and moved to start setting up camp. She looked from Kisame to Itachi, and back again. They had to do something! They had to go tell- and then it dawned on her she was an accomplice... she'd just poisoned a whole village... her hands started to shake. This... this wasn't like the missions she was assigned in the Leaf Village... "Calm down, come sit." He kept his hat pulled down as he spoke, his face not visible.
She nervously moved over to him and sat down next to him. "What we do is no different than what the villages like the Leaf and Sand do every day. You just don't hear about it because of your ranking. It's politics." He spoke with... certainty... as if he knew exactly what he was talking about... as if he'd been forced to do... terrible things by the Leaf before... "We'd like to do away with this system... but no revolution ever happened without blood shed..." She... looked a bit unsure. She looked down at her lap, her hands fiddling with one another.
There was a long silence between them. The only sound was the occasional 'clunk' of wood smacking together as Kisame continued to make camp. He was trying to keep the look of amusement off his face. He wasn't... technically... wrong, but he was doing a damn fine job of sugar coating their intentions. "Itachi..." She started speaking softly. There was a long pause. "Yes?" He replied, encouraging the girl to go on.
"I... I don't like the way things are done in the villages either..." She sounded quite sad about it, but she'd seen so much... favoritism and suffering... After a few moments of silence, Hinata got to her feet. "Thank you, I think I understand a bit better now." She said softly. He gave a gentle nod, his hat moving with the motion. She left him to rest while she went to help Kisame gather wood and make a simple shelter since they had plenty of daylight left.
The pair made a pretty nifty campground. Including places to sit around the firepit, and a nice, comfortable lean to put their bedrolls under. Hinata decided to go fishing in the nearby water - while Kisame went looking for 'real meat' as he put it. Together, the pair also gathered quite the spread for dinner.
He had several rabbits, and a few pheasants. Small game seemed to be all that was in the area... Hinata had gotten several types of fish, and much to her surprise a fresh water eel, which she was delighted to have Kisame teach her how to slice up properly. She paid attention. Taking in each step with detail. She had minimal cooking experience, but she was more than willing to learn.
It was only when dinner was done that Itachi started to stir. He took off his hat and cloak before standing up and joining them around the fire pit. He ate silently, watching the pair chatter idly. She seemed more... open with him for some strange reason. Itachi thought for sure Kisame would frighten her regardless... it was interesting. However... she was friends with the nine tails... maybe she just liked the thrill of potential danger... he suddenly felt like he was putting too much thought into it. "I'll take first watch tonight." Itachi said, interrupting their conversation. Kisame nodded, he was grateful. He hadn't slept much the previous evening.
"D... don't... don't you need rest?" She spoke quietly. Curiouser and curiouser... she wasn't stammering a moment ago. Soft spoken yes, but she had no trouble finding her words... "I'll be fine." He said. "Clean up and get to bed." Itachi stood up and... walked away into the woods. He was going to check the surrounding area before settling down.
Hinata packed away the extra food, storing it in their bags before snuffing out the fire. Kisame settled down for the night, and Hinata - enjoying the full moon, made her way to the water. The young woman took her shoes off and rolled up her pants before sticking her feet in the water. It was cool and refreshing.
She laid back, watching the stars for what felt like some time. She wanted to make sure Kisame was asleep first. She moved to stand up. Stripping off her shirt and pants, before moving to get in the water. It was chilly, but it was what her body needed. She was still... nervous about having 'bathed' in poison earlier. She shivered at the thought. She was lucky it hadn't started to take effect...
Hinata swam around a bit, before moving over to the waterfall. Her wet raven hair shimmered in the moonlight as she neared the spray of the waterfall. The water was rougher here, it tossed waves against her pale skin... she focused a bit of chakra to her feet as she grounded herself on the slippery pebbles. This was nice... peaceful. She moved closer to it, using the spray as a 'shower'.
The young girl rolled her neck, leaning her head side to side as the cool water splattered against her. She closed her eyes, just... enjoying the moment. She probably wouldn't have been so open if she'd checked the area prior to undressing. While Kisame was safely tucked away in bed... Itachi could see everything from where he was perched in the trees.
He hadn't... meant to stop and watch... but he was doing a round when he'd seen her with her feet in the water... and then after that point... well... she held herself with such a dignified grace... but even with that... she lacked... the haughtiness that so commonly followed with bloodlines.
Hm... he continued to watch as she swam around after her 'shower'... and then she did something he found quite odd. She waded water for a moment and then sunk beneath the surface... he watched her curiously. What was she doing? Time ticked by... and she didn't resurface... was she drowning? Had someone or something pulled her under? Almost a full 3 minutes passed and she burst through the surface of the water, gasping for air.
She closed her eyes, panting softly as she waded water in the moonlight. After another few long moments, she swam towards the bank.
She stepped out of the water after a bit and rang her hair out... and then she started to take off her remaining clothing - presumably to let it dry... Itachi wouldn't know, that was when he excused himself. It was one thing to watch a woman in the equivalent of a bikini, it was another to watch her completely undress.
Hinata hung her bra and panties on a nearby branch, she dried herself off a bit before putting back on her clothing. She took her garments with her as she headed back towards camp. She laid them on the rocks next to the smoldering embers of the fire, hoping the heat would help dry them before the morning. Hinata moved to crawl into her bedroll, she knew she only had an hour or so before she probably had to take watch...
But no one ever woke her. Not till the morning. "Come on. You sleep like a rock." Kisame nudged Hinata's arm with his foot. Her pale eyes fluttered open as she looked around... camp was already almost packed up... even the firepit was gon-... where was her underwear...
A deep blush started to cross over her cheeks. Did... Did Kisame have them? Or worse? Did Itachi? Was she going to have to ask for them? Her heart suddenly started to race. Kisame's brow slowly lifted. "You good?" He asked. Hinata looked down to make sure her jacket was securely zipped up. She nodded furiously as she got out of her bedroll, packing it up. Her face never got any less red.
Once her things were packed up, Kisame offered her a piece of pheasant on a stick. "Here, we're eating on the go." He told her as she took it from him. She nodded firmly. The trio took off through the trees, keeping pace with each other.
She felt... very uncomfortable all of the sudden being so bare under her clothes... running... just trying to keep pace with them... it... felt... weird. The mesh of her shirt kept brushing her soft brown nipples... the friction was causing them to harden... which was just making the situation worse. The young girl bit down on her lip as she continued to keep up with the pair.
She felt her lower regions start to... react to the sensation in her nipples. Okay... this... she couldn't... keep this up... "I..." She started to speak and immediately closed her mouth. She didn't even know how to ask for a break... how did she tell them what was wrong...?
"Let's pick up the pace..." Itachi said softly, glancing over at Hinata for a moment before turning those crimson eyes back to the path in front of him. A sense of... complete panic pulled over her body. Her face was feverishly red... and the pair both quickened their pace... Hinata did her best to follow.
She let out a small whimper, her eyes clenched shut for just a moment... but it was just long enough for her to miss her footing on the branches. She tripped on the branch, and plummeted out of the tree. She barely had time to scream before a cloaked figure caught her. Itachi had... the slightest smirk on his face. "Having a little trouble, are we?" He spoke softly to her, his tone held the smallest bit of amusement... and... her face burned a brighter shade of red for a few moments before she was out like a light, limp in his arms. Oh... she was an entertaining one to tease...
"Let's take a break." Itachi called out to his partner, moving to sit the girl down. "A break? We just got started." Kisame gruffed, staring at the limp girl in his arms. Itachi just stared at him, and the shark-like man shrugged. Fine, he'd let them play their games. "Sure, a break. Whatever." He unloaded his sword off his back and sat down against a tree.
Itachi moved a bit away from the shark-like man, tucking the woman's small body out of his sight behind a tree. He reached into his cloak and pulled out her underthings, dropping them into her lap. She'd come-to in a moment. He moved a bit away from her and turned so he wasn't looking at her.
It was a few moments later, that the woman finally got her wits about her. "Hnn..." Seriously, this much fainting couldn't be healthy. "I... Itachi?" She said, looking around. "Wh..where are..."
"Finish getting dressed." Was all he said before walking away. She looked down at herself - thinking she was bare... but she was fully clothed... well... save for... those undergarments on her lap...
Her face burned red again. He had them. He'd taken her frickin' panties and her bra?! Wh-...what... and his comment... she thought back to it.
"Having a little trouble, are we?"
It was almost like he knew what it was going to do to her... her thighs tightened together a bit... why did... why did that make her feel so... warm? She quickly got redressed. Finding herself much more comfortable with all her clothing on properly. After collecting herself for a few moments, she returned to the pair of Akatsuki members. "Sorry..." she spoke softly. "I won't hold you up again."
Kisame just rolled his eyes. "Klutz." He muttered before taking off into the trees. She wondered where they were headed this time. What they were up to... was all of this really just political ploys? Was that really how the world worked? She... she couldn't help but wonder what awful things that Leaf had done... They traveled in silence for quite some time...
In fact, the next few days were quiet travel. Apparently the pair had to get to some... ceremony? Hinata didn't really understand, but they said they'd be gone for three days, and she'd have to stay in a near-by town by herself. She didn't mind the time to herself. She had a lot of reflecting to do. While... a bit gruff, both men had been quite kind to her in retrospect. Technically, they'd saved her life upon first meeting her...
They assured her they had no plan to poison the water supply, and she was free to visit hot springs and do whatever she wished... they also gave her quite the allowance to play with... she was... a bit shocked at their hospitality. They wanted to make sure she was comfortable while they were gone, and Itachi assured her they'd return to collect her when they were done.
The young woman was fine with this, and assured them she'd be alright, and the pair of Akatsuki ventured off while she stayed behind.