STUPID SITE. it still wont let me upload, but i realized that i had a document already uploaded with a garbage draft, so i just copy and pasted it into this. So, i dont actually know when the next chappie will be uploaded, seeing as FF might still be down when i'm done. then, were really screwed, cuz i've no more documents on here.
Please be gentle, this is a HUGE amount of work, and a lot of time i should have spent doing my math homework, lol, So i didn't edit very well, if at all. Once my story is finished i will edit properly, as well as add the bits and pieces in the storyline that may be missing. In this one I know for sure that the Neji/Hinata interactions are VERY strained, and in need of some serious work. No need to worry, I am aware. Please let me know of any other major detail I may be stupidly looking over. I appreciate the help.
READ. REVIEW.
-inky.
Running, running, running, running… It was a little strange, how each and every single one of his nightmares had had something to do with running away from something or someone. Sometimes it was Itachi, but that was rare… Itachi had had no intent to kill him when he was younger, and yet usually his nightmares were there, in the middle of the darkness of the old Uchiha compound.
But more often than not it was Orochimaru, coming after him for leaving his clan, for leaving him to find yet another body.
It was sickening really, to know that he had been in real danger of becoming that monster, of succumbing to it just for the sake of killing his brother.
He wasn't over it, hell he was never going to be over it, there were times when in the middle of the day, in the middle of a crowd, with the sun in his face and the sound of the birds twittering he felt his skin suddenly crawl with disgust…
The memories of the nights spent under the so called 'care' of his thoroughly screwed up sensei coming to mind.
Those were the nightmares… of running away, of tripping, falling flat on his face like he so often did and not a reason to get himself back up.
There was no reason, really, the idea of killing Itachi had long since faded in strength though, in some ways he still felt like that was the reason why he still breathed.
The hollow feeling only faded slightly when Naruto was around, giving him that goofy slightly caring grin that he had grown accustomed to, though he'd never admit it. There was something vaguely nerve wrecking about admitting that he cared about the dumb blonde, and the loud mouth med nin that were his main team… it was even worse to consider ever admitting that without them he would have been long gone, beyond any sort of help.
But that wasn't really why he was alive now… It almost made him want to rub his eyes in disbelief. What the hell would he have been doing if she hadn't come around… if Hinata hadn't more or less been dropped in his lap by some twisted, smirky, ironic fate?
The blank emptiness of not knowing was what answered that question and it was sickening to know… that he wasn't sure if he would have still be alive then, if she hadn't come around.
His main thought had been to find his brother, despite having rules that said he could not leave the village… not for a long time.
He would run, again… not to Orochimaru that time though, no he would run elsewhere, he would run to whatever place Itachi was using as a hide out. Though his older brother would never call it a hide out.
Itachi probably felt he had no reason to hide, there were few enough that would dare to come after him, and those that would he would meet head on and then run from if he had to. He didn't have as strong a sense of pride as Naruto or his younger and weaker brother.
But he would have run… he would have run the way he was running now, pushing his body to speed up, to go faster, each step that landed across the rooftops of the village so fast that he didn't have time to register each footfall.
Cherry blossom were all over, in the air, the sound of laughter, of chatter from the streets below continued, the sound of the stadium near the center of the village like a humming core, the heart of the town, where everything was.
Where she was.
His eyes had long turned red, the sharingan rotating slowly as he blinked, evaluating each jump without thinking, landing each one gracefully, pushing on, the muscles beneath his skin rippling with movement. To the few that caught sight of him running he was nothing but a shadow, a flicker of movement out of the corner of their eye.
He had to find him, had to destroy him, as fast as possible. It wasn't about his mother and father and family anymore, it had a lot to do with it, but no, it wasn't what was making his heart beat so quickly and the adrenaline ignite in his veins.
No, he knew now that Itachi had seen her room, smelled her scent, touched her clothing. He knew, that he would find her, figure out what she was to him, probably right under his nose he would take her and toy with her, cut her to little pieces and she would fight and struggle… but Itachi was a monster.
The thought of what would happen to her if he let him live was making him dizzy. He didn't realize at all that in a few steps, from one side of the village to the other he had become something other than an avenger…
Now, he was a guardian.
Sakura didn't understand exactly what had happened… what had happened that was weighing her down so heavily. There was an utter acute pain in her chest since the night before when she had seen the true and the most powerful version of Hinata that she had ever been unfortunate enough to encounter.
There was something vaguely depressing about it… and it was only until that morning that she had come to terms with the sudden realization that as Hinata began to bloom, slowly but surely she was showing the traits that no one, not even her family had believed she had.
It was power, graceful, gentle, unwavering dangerous power. It was the kind of sensation that you felt when you saw a panther move, the rippling movement of liquid steel beneath their gleaming fur.
The Hyuuga's eyes had narrowed, her whole body had shifted it's stance, she had seemed taller, more graceful, her shoulder's straightened as she walked deliberately over to Ino, barging into her personal space as though it belonged to her. Ino's blue eyes had been captivated, shocked, startled, frightened by the deadly aura that seemed to be pouring out of the shy, pale kunoichi.
And with good reason. No one had lied before when they told Hinata that she was a skilled fighter, that she was a more than capable fighter. Now, with the power of confidence and aggression within her there was no telling what she might be able to do…
And that left her two best friends, once the two powerful kunoichi of the original Rookie Nine, in the dust.
It was a little unfair how the tables had been twisted, and the one that had seemed too shy to ever truly reach her potential had suddenly flourished, blooming into a flower much more impressive than the sakura blossoms and lilies that seemed to always represent herself and Ino.
The whole situation had weighed heavily on her mind the whole night as she lay in bed, staring up at the roof and pondering why Naruto seemed vaguely distracted, even as he flirted with her slightly, unaware of the barely visible blush that always tinged her cheeks when he did so.
Somehow, telling him seemed out of the question. She couldn't even figure out how she'd go about it. Somehow "Hey, Naruto-kun, you know, I'm suddenly in love with you…yeah, I know, even though I gave the impression I would never be…" seemed like horrible way to go about it.
And now, as his panicked voice came through her earpiece, wondering about Hinata, who she now understood had run off after Sasuke, she felt like she would burst into tears.
It wasn't fair… It just wasn't fair.
Ino ran beside her, their footfalls making a drumming rhythm on the ground as they sprinted, her worried frown clearly marked between her brows.
"What's he saying?" the blonde called, clearing her throat. The hangover wasn't too bad, she had endured worse conditions, but she was regretting it quite a bit. Facing Akatsuki half sober felt like committing suicide.
Sakura drew in a breath, controlling her emotions before replying.
"Hinata was there." She finally managed, without any wavering of her voice. "She's gone after Sasuke now too."
Ino grunted, her frown deepening slightly as she jumped onto a nearby rooftop, followed by the pink haired med nin.
"She was at the stadium?" she asked, glancing back.
Sakura rubbed her eyes, ridding herself of the irritated tears that were leaking out despite her proud refusal to show any sort of emotion. It was not the moment.
"Hai. But knowing how fast she can move now… She should be there before we are." That time she had been unable to catch the bitter envy that was weighing on her voice and Ino glanced back at her, startled out of her hangover thoughts.
But she didn't ask the questions weighing heavily on her mind. No… now was certainly not the time. They were both jealous, and perhaps rightfully so.
But it wasn't the time, no matter how they looked at it. It wasn't the time to even think about it.
They could all be facing death.
Yeah, somehow that seemed a little more important. But only slightly.
"Neji-niisan?" her voice was quiet, almost whisper thin. That was what her cousin had said once. He'd said that her voice was whisper thin, like the underside of an owl's wing. Soft, tangible almost in it's gentleness.
There had been something in his voice when he said it that had made her start to color slightly. That's when she had realized that perhaps his desire to protect her had become more than just sheer duty. No, there was something else, it was like he had laid claim to her. He was her unofficial older brother and somehow it was his right to know her business, to judge her and her actions as he saw fit.
Somehow, she had hardened against that, known from the start that without meaning to she would fight it. Enough of the Hyuuga clan already thought it was their right to command her, she didn't need him doing it too.
"What is it, Hinata-hime?" he enquired, a bit impatiently, as he was reading something, the Hyuuga library lit brightly by the sunlight pouring in from one of the windows. Unlike most libraries, this one was pristine. Each and every book had been dusted, placed in it's proper place, labeled, the tables were clear, each chair in it's right place, the rug aired every few days.
It didn't feel like a library. Somehow Hinata always felt that libraries would hold more treasures if they weren't disturbed as often as the Hyuuga's was.
"Ano… I…I was thinking.." she began, shifting her weight in front of him, wondering how she would come around and say it out loud, to her stoic powerful cousin without sounding too much like a miniature child that knew nothing.
His eyes finally lifted from the book, though he didn't move his head. It was an impatient move again.
"Nani?"
"Oh- ano, I was thinking… that…I-I was wondering…" she frowned at her fingers as she bumped them together in front of herself nervously, fiddling stupidly with her cuffs.
"…d-do you think…i-if S-shino-kun and Kiba-kun help me train… that I-I will be strong enough-"
"You'll never be strong to do anything with an attitude like that." The words were out before he could catch them, and after he had said them there was no way he was taking them back. For one thing they were the truth… harshly said, but the truth.
Hinata's cheeks flamed as she stared at the ground.
Guilt tripped all over Neji's face for a moment, and he sighed, lowering his eyes back to the page. "...You need not stutter..." It pained him to know she was so nervous, even around him. She had no reason to be, her beauty, her wit, her smile, her gentle heart... they all deserved more praise than anyone gave her. Still, his lips didn't part to say any of that.
"Gomen." She murmured softly, knowing she had disturbed him with the stupid question. Of course she wouldn't be strong enough, no matter how hard she trained. She was useless, her body always overtaken by utter terror when a new threat came around. As a shinobi she was supposed to be able to destroy the terror with the swift knife that was duty, to her village, to her clan, to herself.
But she never could. That duty seemed so frail…
She had left, beating herself up mentally, using every word that had ever hindered her before to tear herself to shreds, watching the bits of her like paper scattered in the wind, marring the sight of sakura blossoms dancing in the wind against the bright blue sky.
Strong? She didn't know if the thing existed, not within her…
Never within her.
That wasn't the case.
She had never felt this before. It was a new sensation, the way a child brings something to their lips to feel it, to sense it, and get to know it carefully, accurately memorizing the feeling.
Lips felt so much more than any part of the body, which was why a child was always kissing things, bringing them to their mouths to sample, like literally tasting life.
She could almost do that with the feeling. The taste in her mouth was metallic, as if she had gone and bit down on her own tongue without even realizing it. Each step she took was faster than the last, her breathing coming in a slow controlled rhythm.
Her Byakugan was reaching on ahead, far ahead, watching the points of the others rushing towards the forest, a little ahead of her, but the distance was becoming less with each step.
Adrenaline was pumping through her so fast she didn't think she would be able to feel a blow if it came, and there was something else swimming in her veins.
Fury, an anger she hadn't known she could even feel, it was there, clawing at her insides, making her fists clench as she ran, blood dripping as her nails dug painfully into her palms.
How dare Itachi come… how dare he think himself so much more than his brother, than this village?
Did he think there was no one that could stand up to him? He was so powerful, was he?
Well he hadn't met her, he hadn't known about her. She knew it would hurt, that he would probably batter her to bits, but just to see the shock in his hateful face, which she had never laid eyes on before, just to see the surprise that a kunoichi, a pale soft looking kunoichi could damage him, if only a little…
She would take a beating for that, she would take it and smile, and with it she would snatch the necklace. Sasuke's necklace.
And Sasuke would be okay, everything would be okay.
She would 'make' it be okay.
The forest was coming fast, her lungs were burning even though she was breathing correctly, but there was nothing to be done about that. It was her own fault for not training harder.
She made a silent promise to herself then that when this was over, she would train, she would train so consistently, so deliberately that no one would be able to ever think her weak again, not even her own mocking mind.
Never again did she want to feel the terror that had torn through her the moment Akatsuki was in her home, in Sasuke's home, she wouldn't hide, she wouldn't wait for the threat to pass, pray that someone else would come.
No more.
Find him, find Sasuke…
She would prove to him that she was strong enough to be by his side, even in battle…
And that was the only part that was scorching painfully in her mind. He had not trusted her to be strong enough, and she didn't blame him. She had not proved herself, not to him.
She would, she would do it.
"Hinata!"
The cry drew her out of her thoughts and she turned to see Ino and Sakura, panting heavily, standing just outside of the forest boundary.
The giant trees cast a long shadow over the grassy field in which they stood, catching their breath from the run.
Hinata stopped running, breathing in slowly, deliberately, not panting the way they were at all.
"Where are the others?" she heard her own voice and didn't recognize it, it was lower, thin like a string of chakra thin enough to slice through flesh.
Sakura felt the hair on the back of her neck stand on end at the tone, staring with bright green eyes at the new Hinata. Her cheeks were flushed from the run, but she was standing straight, her hands lingering near the kunai pouch strapped to her waist, her chest rising and falling in a steady calming rhythm as she caught her breath, with a lot more grace than herself or Ino.
"…inside." She murmured, glancing over at the darkness that made up the forest. "They found Sasuke and Akatsuki's trail a few minutes ago, this is where all three entered."
Ino was looking at Hinata with hesitance, unsure if she could meet the Hyuuga's eyes. But Hinata was paying both of them little attention, her lavender eyes instead focused accurately on the shadows, her byakugan marking itself around her eyes rapidly as she pushed chakra forth to reach into the darkness.
She could see several of the glowing green specs that were the Rookie Nine… and then ahead of them three others.
They were perhaps ten minutes hard run away…
"There are going to be traps." She murmured, turning to look over at the two girls. "And we don't know the number of enemies."
Sakura straightened finally, letting out a last exasperated breath. "Hai."
"I know there are two, so far, but there may be more." She frowned then. "I'll watch for traps." She murmured, starting into the forest. "Try to keep up and watch for attacks from behind."
Ino and Sakura started, surprised by the order, but otherwise in agreement…She had the byakugan, they could not complain.
Silently the trio of kunoichi faced the darkness for a moment, staring at the shadows, impatience gnawing irritably at Hinata's chest.
"Let's go." Ino huffed, and together they shot into the darkness, flickers of movement as they ran right into something they didn't quite understand.
His footsteps were there, but they were so obvious it was making him nervous. Nothing about Itachi was ever obvious unless he wanted it to be, unless he was hiding something else he didn't want to make too obvious.
No, it wasn't that. Sasuke knew what it was. He was leading him on. He knew he was coming and was waiting, so he slowed down as he ran until he came to a stop, staring at the trail in the forest that most people wouldn't have been able to see, but his sharp Sharingan picked up without much difficulty.
Itachi was planning something…
Nervous day dreams of what might be ahead swam through his mind. He imagined his bother, leaning languidly against one of the trees, waiting patiently for him to finally enter the clearing he had chosen for the meeting, carelessly, absently, like everything else he did.
He would look up, his eyes bored, lazy, like everything else about his state of mind, careless. He didn't care, he didn't care much about anything.
And he would then do what…?
Kill him on the spot? No… probably not. What did he want? Why was he there, bugging the shit out of him by appearing, by bringing back memories and hate that he had tried to ignore and almost managed to forget completely at the arrival of Hinata…
It was almost hilarious to think that the reason he got close to her in the first place had been to gain the power of the Byakugan, to understand what it was and perhaps use it against his own brother. But now that wasn't the case, the very thing he had tried to capture had ensnared him instead and he had forgotten the reason why she was there, he was just so glad she was.
There had to be something he wanted. But… he had never really known Itachi to personally 'want' something. He had always been so bored with himself, with life.
Why would he be back? Just to mock him? Maybe that was the truth, maybe he was just so damn bored that his little brother had stopped searching for him that he had come back to nag him to try again.
Come on, little brother, come on, amuse me a little.
Sasuke cursed him mentally then, his whole body vibrating with the aggravation, the utter unbelievable hate, the taste in his mouth was metallic and he knew he had hit that heightened level, that moment where he was beyond control, where his body would react to movement without even thinking about it, he would attack, he would destroy, every single training routine would be flashing through his mind's eye at a million images per second, and his mind would choose the perfect one for whatever situation arose without his consent.
He wasn't afraid, so then why was he hesitating…
Clenching his jaw and his hands, and almost every single muscle in his body he tensed, staring off into the darkness ahead where he knew his brother hid.
Silently he took off to the right.
He'd come at him, but not from the way he expected, he wouldn't trail him, the way he had for so many years, in every single way.
No, not anymore, he would come at him, but not from behind.
You know what, Itachi… I'm not so little anymore.
It had not been her idea to loose them, though a part in her mind that she hadn't realized was there sneered at the thought.
Somewhere inside she had planned it out. She had planned to loose them, to go on ahead. They would hinder her movement, they would hold her back, she needed to move quickly, speed on ahead.
She could see the others and how they had spread themselves out in three man cells where they could, she could see each and every chakra spot in the darkness of the trees.
But she could see Sasuke also, moving on ahead, to the right though, at an angle. He was going to try to cut them off. Itachi and his team mate were moving just slow enough for that.
And Hinata was moving fast enough to catch up.
The adrenaline had not stopped pumping, it was as though years of having it lie dormant had suddenly been unleashed and every experience where it had not reacted and come flowing was meshing together to set her loose, her body was like a new thing to her, reacting to every thought and whim.
She didn't know the forest, but with her Byakugan she could spot hidden potholes and rising roots easily, moving around them without slowing even slightly, her pace increasing instead as her impatience grew. She was angry, she wanted to destroy something, she wanted to rip something to shreds.
It was almost irrational, but she didn't bother to examine it. It felt good, so she left it, probing it with tidbits of reasons to be angry, how Itachi had been so bored as he spoke at Sasuke's house… so calm, so languidly irritating.
She saw Akatsuki stop running, waiting, it seemed for what would inevitably come- and that was when she noticed it, with something like a sharp snapping feeling of panic.
There wasn't just two spots of chakra up ahead anymore. There were five.
Assuming Sasuke was the fifth, moving in from the right… then the other two were…
Oh God.
He would never be able to stand up to four members of Akatsuki… never, no one could, it was like trying to fight off more than one Hokage.
A simple, irrational suicide attempt, that was what it was, only he didn't know it. Sasuke didn't know it.
And her speed increased, she pushed harder, feeling her body hit the second storage of energy she had never even tried to access.
She would use up every single bit she had, but she would get there in time. She would get there…
"Stop!" Neji's voice was so startled that Tenten and Lee literally balked, their muscles screaming in protest from the sudden brake. Flinching Tenten spun around to face her team mate, rubbing her thighs were the worst pain was spreading.
"What is it? Neji-kun? What is it?"
"Chakra…" he began, staring off ahead of her, far ahead she knew.
"There are more."
She and Lee froze, staring at him in surprise. "More?" she whispered, agonizing fear twisting itself around her throat.
"How many more?"
"Two. I can see the Uchiha's chakra. He's heading directly at them."
Lee's eyes widened. "Uchiha-san cannot-"
"We have to hurry!" Tenten gasped, turning to start sprinting again. Neji reached up to his ear, tapping the mic there with one hand.
"Naruto." He stated thinly, hearing the blonde reply quickly, his voice serious and steady.
"There's more than one team. Sasuke is heading directly at them." He muttered, listening to the tense silence on the other end.
The others were listening as well, Sakura's voice was the first to break through. "More!? How many more?!"
"Two teams of two." Neji replied.
Shikamaru's voice let out a curse of frustration. His calculations for a battle plan were obviously being screwed over by the doubled number and massive variables of possible powers.
"I'm already on my way, I'm in the forest." Naruto stated suddenly, making Neji almost stop, but he managed not to, Tenten and Lee were watching carefully, frowning with worry.
"What about the stadium and the examination?" Neji snapped suddenly, frustrated with the idiocy of the two captains, coming out on a wild goose chase.
Naruto let out a scoff that was disturbingly like Sasuke.
"I'm captain here." Was the irritable reply. "Have any of you seen Hinata?'
There was silence for a moment, then Sakura's voice came through, slow and deliberate.
"She was with us, but she's gone on ahead… she was moving too fast for either of us to keep up."
Neji felt his stomach drop as he scanned the forest again with his Byakugan, searching for that solo flicker of chakra.
And he found it, disturbingly close to the four massive powers ahead. The fifth, which he figured was Sasuke was further off than she was, because he had taken a detour, moving to cut them off ahead, unaware of them stopping when they met their comrades.
"Shit!" his voice suddenly broke through the mic, making everyone jump.
"What the hell is going on?" Naruto cried finally, loosing all patience. Tenten and Lee were staring around, nervously watching for any attackers.
"Hinata- she's heading directly towards them… alone." His voice was shaking with frustration, with fear and anger at himself, at Sasuke, at everything.
"Everyone, move." Naruto stated suddenly through the mic, so cold and hard that they could hear each single vibration of anger and panic in his voice at once. "Move, and get there to back her up, goddamnit… Where the hell is Sasuke?"
"Cutting them of from the front- but she'll reach them before he does-" Neji froze, watching the figure that was his little cousin, small, fragile little cousin suddenly stop as she faced the four figures.
She can see them! She knew! She knew! Hinata why didn't you fucking STOP. Goddamnit all…Fuck…
"She's reached them!" His voice was panicked that time, none of the Hyuuga calmness. This was panic, pure pathetic panic.
His little cousin was going to die.
She wasn't panting, she was breathing, that's what she told herself, but when she finally came to stop, when she could see their chakra so clearly that it no longer marred their faces and their bodies she knew she wasn't just breathing, she was almost coughing.
She had never run like that in her life, and it had cost her dearly, her entire body was on hyper drive, it wanted to continue moving, wanted to rush at them, without breaking a beat, wanted to fling her whole vibrating energy at them in one solid burst.
But she knew better, she knew things were never that easy, and slowly her mind slowed along with her heart beat as she approached the clearing.
There was something like satisfaction when she entered the small area clear of trees and stared back at the four cloaked figures, because she saw some of their eyes widen just slightly in surprise.
"…Who the hell is this?" the voice was familiar, that almost tangible roughness. That was Kisame, tall and blue and deadly looking, like a shark.
He held his sword on his shoulder, smirking slightly at her as she caught her breath, looking at each of them darkly. There was no time to feel fear, no time to consider running the way she had come.
Her eyes were focused mainly on the goal she had been chasing the moment she ran from the house.
Itachi.
He wasn't as tall as she had imagined… she figured, Sasuke might grow taller than him, possibly. His eyes were different too, he looked…dead.
Pale, sickly almost, he was so pale, with dark black pebble eyes that stared back at her impassively. There was no one home.
This was the man who had stated that he had no mother… Monster's didn't have mothers.
She couldn't agree more, at that moment, the desire to tear him to shreds was amazing, overwhelming in her chest.
The other two figures in black cloaks shifted, their hats blocked their eyes from view but she could hear the noise of their chuckling, amused.
"Your little brother was beaten by a small looking bitch, Itachi." Kisame smirked. "He's not very fast, now is he?"
Itachi's eyes didn't leave her, they were glued there, though there was no emotion behind it.
"Hn." He replied, and the sound was so ridiculously familiar and sickening coming from him that she wanted to rush forward and rip his throat out, never let him make that sound again. It wasn't his, it was never his it was Sasuke's.
The silence continued for a moment, and she realized her chest wasn't burning anymore, she could breathe normally again.
Swallowing smoothly she lowered herself down to the stance of the Hyuuga, washing away any emotion. There was no use talking. These people, if they could be called that, did not know who she was, and probably had never even known she existed.
"Oh, she wants to fight." Kisame laughed, stepping forward thoughtfully. None of the others made a move to stop him.
"Can I play with her, a little?" he asked, no one in particular, just wondering if it was a good idea or not, whether they thought she was worth it.
"She can hardly be worth the time." One of the silent ones behind Itachi muttered very softly, the sound of his voice crawling over her skin. "Just kill her."
Her mouth opened slightly, and she thought she would scream, or perhaps beg for them not to, but there was something inside her that had been unleashed. Perhaps it was that feline within her that she had refused to let loose, that had fought against a strong chain of self conduct and fear.
Maybe it had never been a cat in the first place…maybe it had been her.
The words that came out were in a voice she hardly recognized as her own, and from a mind that had no fear.
"…you make it sound, like it will be so easy." Her lavender eyes looked blandly back at them, no frown, no tension, no worry. She could not be read.
Itachi's lips quivered, it was almost amusement.
Kisame let out a laugh. "…I'll show you, just how easy it will be."
Without warning he shot forward.
The darkness was coming, it was an odd feeling, like being in the shadows of passing strangers while sitting facing the sun. He did that often when he was younger, watching the shadows pass by him, each one unaffecting him.
There was a time when he used to muse what would happen if any of those shadows ever decided to take interest in the lonely little child sitting nearby, staring down at the ground, onyx eyes fixed upon the moving lights and darkness that seemed to be dancing to a rhythm he could not understand.
He watched the same pattern pass by in front of him as he waited, staring down at the moss and the leafs that covered the forest ground, fixated the same way he had been fixated as a child, but this time he felt more ill than before. This illness however had little to do with being nervous, with being afraid…
Somehow that feeling had been drowned out, perhaps because of the many times before that he had felt that sensation. It would be shoved forcefully to the back of his mind, chained there and often he would struggle with it the way a master fights the dogs tugging against their leashes.
But it would always succumb, always. His hatred, his anger and his determination were enough to beat it into submission, driving the little inkling of fear, of terror even, to the back of his mind where it hid, cowering and watching the danger stream forth.
He hardly ever had time to think it through because things that frightened him or had the ability to frighten him more often than not happened before he had time to decide to be afraid or not.
It wasn't really a choice then, perhaps.
But now, as he waited, silently staring at the shadows and the flickering dance that the sun was showering on the ground, he had time to think, and he wasn't really fighting it back anyway. His fear had dissolved into nothingness, as if he didn't believe it himself that soon Itachi would suddenly appear, cold, impassive, careless.
His hands clenched, and he tuned his ears to listen to the steps, but he could only hear the muddied sounds that could be anything… anyone. Maybe they were even random children, training rather than going to watch the Chuunin examination. He remembered doing that as a child, running through the forest when the examination was going on and everyone else was there, watching the fighting like a pack of blood thirsty savages ready to see the 'entertainment' of the day. Two slightly older children beating the living shit out of each other.
His hands clenched harder and he felt the press of his anger in it, his thoughts only lightening slightly at the thought of Hinata, looking at him curiously the first day they had met. He had thought her dull then, thought that her expression was that of any other girl… somehow this one just wasn't infatuated with him.
It was a little strange, now he could see the thought process behind that expression. She hadn't known what to make of him. She had chosen not to make a choice just then, to watch and make up her mind later.
She was so much less judgmental than him.
Ying… Yang…
He frowned down at the ground, disturbed by her ability to distract him, even here as he waited patiently for his brother to come.
I might die…
His hands loosened, the anger feeling much like it was draining out of him.
I might never see her again.
The expression on her face as he left, the look of hurt, confusion… She had stayed, at his begging. It was his fault if he died… if he died and never got to apologize for…
…being too weak to let her come.
He looked up, in the general direction which he knew his brother would take to advance on him, focusing as he heard the first sounds of footfalls.
Gentle, soft, hardly there.
Yes…forth came the ever pressing nightmare, the monster in his dreams.
The fear began to tug against it's leash, and Sasuke leaned against the nearest tree, his arms crossed, staring into the darkness that would spit out his brother. Even darkness did not want him, even darkness spat him out in disgust, he was so filthy.
He would take him… if only for a moment, and feed him forcefully to the one thing that would accept him without question, the one thing that judged everyone the same.
Death.
For mother… for father…for the Uchiha Clan, who did not deserve to fall to your whims.
He closed his eyes, listening intently, frowning as he strained against the sound of the wind brushing past the trees and the whisper of little animals scurrying away from him.
Beyond it, beyond the layers of sound that his mind picked apart carefully he heard it.
Metal against metal, a hardly audible sound of pain.
They were so far away...
He was running before he could even register the information, before he could really make a choice, heading back, directly towards the battle, or whatever it was that was happening.
He couldn't wait for his brother. He would have to rush after him after all.
Hinata stared forth, she could see every tendon in his body moving, every chakra point bursting with power, the anger and amusement in his eyes as he shot forward, the way the long strips of cloth started to rip away from his blade as he swung it behind him, reveal it's razor-like quality, the artful brutality of it's making.
He was fast.
Her body reacted, snapping backwards, throwing her whole body weight to the side and back, her hands flying up, throwing herself into a series of flips. Her Byakugan fully activated kept her from becoming dizzy, but there wasn't enough time to even wonder how she had managed to dodge the nearly fatal blow.
Breathless she felt her body reacting, her brain firing off the need to move, to attack, counter, defend- anything!
With a hardly audible gasp she felt herself side step. He was fast, but she was faster, the movement was fluid, completely unintentional but logical all the same, and it felt like she wasn't fighting Kisame, one of the legendary S-rank criminals…
No she wasn't fighting someone who's name was listed in the Bingo Book.
No, certainly not… He was launching forward again, after her, each step was graceful, she could tell, and full of power, beneath all that cloth of black and red clouds there was power.
And that giant bandaged blade that he was swinging so eagerly...
Fear, crawling and deadly and suffocating began to slither up her throat, but she ignored it and watched as he passed by, digging his foot into the ground, coming to an abrupt halt, swinging around to throw a solid fist into her face. Her hands were up, metal arm guards taking the brutal impact, sending shivers of numbness up to her shoulders, but it was a like a wake up call, the sound of a bell tolling in her head. The sound of Sasuke's voice stating the soft yet powerful command that had begun to make her body react on command…
Hinata. Go.
The power was in her hands the moment the sound faded in her own head and she was rushing forward against the blow, making Kisame… Kisame the S-ranked criminal take a sharp breath, flinging himself backwards as a kunai sliced the air where he had been, ripping it to shreds.
She was noiseless, he wasn't. Each swing was emphasized by a giant grunt or brute groan of irritation as she stepped to the side, feeling the blade as it passed by, her eyes narrowed in concentration, watching his movement.
Hinata's hands didn't shake, they didn't fumble, she shot forward again and again, each twisting attack met by a counter, or a dodge, but that didn't matter, her heart was in her ears, she wasn't listening to his taunts and his jeering and his amused smirk as he moved, trying to stay as far off from her attacks as possible while throwing long swings of his own sword, watching with satisfied surprise as she dodged each and every one.
"Still… you're nothing but a game." He taunted, the single sentence managing to get through.
His sword swung, a giant metallic death coming towards her. Most would have dodged.
A cry of frustration escaped her lips, the sound of a panther's anger. The sword hit against her armguards, hard, the impact making her knees buckle beneath her, but she dug into the ground, tearing up it's moss as he pushed harder, a little impressed by the amount of force that she could tolerate.
The moss was being eaten up by her heels as she shoved them into the deep green, sliding as his swing finally slowed.
They both stopped moving, and Itachi, watching from the sidelines felt his lips twitch in a half smile of amusement.
Where did this little one crawl from?
Hinata was panting, despite breathing as she had been taught, she was panting heavily, her whole body moving up and down with each intake.
She couldn't feel her arms at all. Something had probably been broken… or perhaps there was just so much damned pain that her mind couldn't grasp the sensation, wouldn't allow her to acknowledge it.
A single drop sounded, the way it echoes in a silent cave. Drip.
Her eyes opened slowly to look down at the moss, the two stripes of mud where her heels had dug into the moss and a single red splatter amongst its forest of swirling green.
Kisame began to chuckle, the sound sliding through the air, wrapping it's hand around her throat and beginning to strangle the air from her.
"Ah, but she does bleed…"
"Just get it over with and kill her." One of the mysterious Akatsuki grunted.
But Hinata didn't hear, she stared down at the single drop, listening and feeling as another slid across her arm, down the spikes of Kisame's blade digging into her forearms and then dropped down, splashing on the moss again.
Her body began to tremble.
…It hurts…She realized, feeling the first wave of pain. The spikes from the sword were wedged into her forearms, past the arm guards bandages and chakra, wedged between flesh, making her blood spill.
Heat began to engulf her hands then, rushing down her wrists and forearms to her elbows, freezing her up, making her loose control.
Kisame let out another laugh as he watched her body shake forcefully, and then without warning he yanked his sword back, waving it over his head like a lasso, listening with contempt at the sound of Hinata's wretched cry. It shattered the stillness, ripping through the trees, making birds and rabbits rush away in fear, shocked by the sound.
Her legs buckled and she hit the ground, staring down at her arms, there were a dozen or so relatively small bleeding wounds, but it wasn't the length of them that worried her, it was the depth, though she couldn't be sure how bad the damage was.
She wasn't thinking logically anymore, the anger was there, bubbling under the surface, the little feline that symbolized her obvious rage pacing back and forth, not chained, just stunned.
Slowly she took a deep breath, watching the giant bloody sword swinging over Kisame's head. He smirked broadly, razor sharp teeth glinting in the shadowy dance of the light filtering through the canopy of trees.
"She was fun… short, but fun." He admitted. "Oh well."
Eyes widening sharply she felt the feline growl again, adrenaline shooting through her body like wildfire, dulling the pain in her arms in three seconds, gasping she began to shove herself to her feet, the sound of the sword cutting the air towards her making her flinch.
Before she could move she felt the solid impact of something against her, throwing her off balance to the ground.
Whoever it was rolled along with her until they came to a sudden stop and she stared up at Neji, sweat soaked and panting, searching her face rapidly as he pushed himself to his feet.
"Hinata!" he gasped, moving to grab her arm, but freezing at the sight of blood.
Tenten and Lee stood in front of them, facing Akatsuki with narrowed eyes. "Is she all right?" Tenten shouted back, without turning.
Kisame smirked, resting his sword against his shoulder thoughtfully, looking at them the way a predator acknowledges worms.
"I don't know- she's bleeding." Neji began, moving to crouch by the disowned Hyuuga. Hinata ignored him, shoving herself to her feet slowly, feeling sloppy, but she was still alive and the pain was already fading.
Ignoring Neji's protests she moved her fingers, watching as they responded deftly to her orders.
No nerves were severed. Thank God.
"I'm fine." She snapped, cutting off Neji's rant, which she had not been listening to. She had never heard him speak that much.
The boy looked back at her, frowning worriedly. Without another word the Hyuuga heiress began to unwrap the bandages, preparing to tighten them to stop the bleeding. Holding a kunai with bloody slippery hands was not on her to-do list.
"We'll hold them off- get back to the stadium-" Her cousin began, watching her movements nervously, he would never admit it but the panic was getting the better of him, making him want to go wretch into the bushes somewhere.
"No." Hinata whispered back, looking up to see Itachi murmuring something to the other Akatsuki.
"Listen to me." Neji snapped, grabbing her shoulder and forcing her to turn to look at his face. "I'm your elder- assigned as your guardian and I'm 'ordering' you to go back." His eyes were cold, but desperate, trying to veil the panic there with something.
Hinata looked back at him, her lips pressed into a thin line, thinking only of how Sasuke was out there, and would arrive at any moment.
"Let go of me." She whispered softly, ripping herself out of his grasp. "Sasuke is out there."
The Hyuuga's eyes widened, watching her expression soften for half a second as she said his name, as though it were something sweet on her tongue that her mind wanted to dote over.
Something washed over him, cold realization, perhaps… or fear, he didn't know.
The interruption arrived as Kiba, Shino and Shikamaru dropped into the scene, making Kisame start laughing.
"This is going to be fun."
Tenten bit her lip, glaring death at the deadly monster. "Scum.."
"Hinata!" Kiba gasped, and though he wanted to run over to her he didn't, he stood in a line along with the others, between Akatsuki and her.
"I'm fine." She replied, hardly audible but it was enough to keep him in place.
It was only a few moments later that Ino, Sakura and Naruto flickered into the scene, exactly as Itachi vanished.
Hinata's eyes widened, panic making her rip out of Neji's grip. "He left- we have to go after him!" she spun around to face her cousin and realized he was looking at her with a different expression… it was calculating.
"We can't." he snapped back, fighting the urge to slap her, get her to wake up.
Itachi was beyond Kisame… and it would take all of them to stop him. Itachi on the other hand would kill them all…
Breathless the Hyuuga heiress stared at him, her voice hitting a point of obvious panic.
"Demo- Sasuke-"
"He's on his own!" Neji snapped, trying to grab her again as she stepped away from him, shaking her head.
"Hinata!" Sakura shrieked as the Hyuuga flickered out of sight, spinning around to run into the darkness.
Kisame watched the movement with amusement, eyeing the panic in the rest of them. "Sometimes, you have to respect the death wish of others." One of the Akatsuki murmured slowly, walking towards the long line of shinobi before anyone of them had any ideas about leaving.
Naruto faced him decidedly, boiling with rage.
"She'll come back." He hissed, ignoring the sound of Tenten holding on to Neji before he ran off too.
"In pieces." The Akatsuki member smiled in a bored tone.
"Much like you all…"
Sakura and Ino flanked Naruto steadily, shaking with frustration and energy.
"She'll come back." Sakura stated sharply. "She will. Sasuke too."
None of them actually believed it, but it felt good to say.
She'll come back…Blood and sweat and grime covered her from head to toe, she didn't realize when she had been hit, the blade had not impacted with her body but it had snatched at her clothing, ripping it in places she didn't even know it had touched.
The dirt was on her knees and her arms and hands, but that was the least of her worries. Her thoughts were racing, a pile of endless commotion in her head, watching the disbelief in everyone's face as she spun around, as she ran.
But it didn't feel like she had run from them, it felt like they had left her, like they had stared at her and forced her to make a choice that didn't feel like a choice at all.
Us, or him.
They shouldn't have even asked. They shouldn't have forced her… it wasn't fair.. He had never forced her to make any such choices. He had always expected her to be with others, he had never hindered her, ever.
How dare they abandon him like he was a lost cause?
Please be okay… please be okay…Her run was quick, like before, pushing it as the adrenaline began to pump again, no longer slowed, though it had felt at that moment of impact with the sword against her arms that it had come to a sudden screeching stop that toppled her over into the brink of her old weakness.
Things had flashed by, her eyes hadn't been able to keep up.
But not now, not again, not alone, heading towards Sasuke… towards Itachi…
Nightmares don't have mothers.
He was going to give her that necklace.
The roots were reaching for her, fingers ready to make her trip, hit the ground hard, roll, feel the air being pushed right out of her lungs, destroying her sense of calm. But she didn't trip, she skipped over each danger, her byakugan unraveling it before it could snatch her and throw her down.
It was the point just ahead…. The one that had stopped moving that she wanted. Itachi knew he had being followed.
He was waiting.
How dare you… how dare you come here?Breathless she came to stop, just outside of the clearing ahead. The green neon of her sight showed her just where he was standing, arms hanging calmly by his sides, looking at her.
Hinata stared into the darkness, pumping chakra into her eyes, focusing on his face, the texture of his skin, the cold careless expression on his lips and eyes.
It was a shell, it looked like a shell, he felt nothing. It was an older version of Sasuke himself without a single emotion or thought. Even Sasuke's scars, the emotional whispers of pains that escaped his expression from time to time were more beautiful than the dead lifeless gaze that she looked into past the trees.
Swallowing softly she moved forward, back into the clearing, back into his line of sight. She could see other chakra points, flickering and subdued, she could even see what she supposed was Sasuke, racing towards them.
She had to be quick... in and out, before he got there...
Byakugan met Sharingan, and he smirked, the slightest sign of living.
"Ah." He stated softly, as if something had been revealed to him. "It is you again."
He was bored; already he was bored with her.
Hinata stared back at him, breathing in and out slowly, controlling her frustrated emotion. She didn't know what it was anymore, the mix of terror at the sight of the nightmarish expression and cold hatred at the idea that this being had shattered Sasuke's childhood and now dangled it before him as if to tease him into doing tricks.
"Do I have to kill you?" Itachi enquired slowly, the same monotone of voice, same dead eyes, though now they glittered blood red and the sharingan rotated within them.
Hinata wanted to say something. Anything. But she didn't, she looked back at him, jaw tight, hands shaking as she clenched them by her sides.
Slowly he stepped down to her level and began to walk forward. Her eyes flickered around quickly for traps, taking in the tree of gigantic proportions behind her and it's sweeping trunk and roots.
But there was nothing to suggest any danger. Except for the deadly living thing in front of her.
"You want something." He put in slowly, red eyes scanning her body. He didn't find her particularly appealing… there was something a little bland about her face, but that could easily be ignored. Her eyes spoke of emotion, sensation and anger.
He thought perhaps he saw hatred there, though it was hard to see amongst the lavender tinge.
"I want the necklace." She whispered suddenly, her voice so low and so paper thing it could cut through the stillness before it had even settled.
Itachi's eyes suddenly flickered with interest, the expression was so different and smooth, subtle in it's take over of his face that she hardly noticed it.
"The necklace." He smirked just slightly, hardly visible. His hand came up and her body shifted sharply into battle stance, her hands clenching her kunai.
But he smiled again and touched his neck where a string of leather could be seen against the dark black of the cloak. "Okaa-san's necklace?"
She didn't reply again, lips pressed into a thin line, waiting for his move.
"It's not yours." He replied, irritated by her lack of words. Most of his opponents chattered needlessly about their hate for him, their hate for life, their desire to see blood. She stared, watching and waiting.
It was infuriating.
"Give it to me." She whispered softly again.
He smiled. "I don't think so… after all, we have a visitor." He turned, giving her his back carelessly, showing her just how miserably miniature she was against him and his power. "…the owner of the necklace has finally arrived." He sounded finally interested in the situation as he looked into the darkness.
Hinata looked past him and saw the chakra point she had ignored, her attention focused completely on him, the monster in her midst.
With a flicker of movement the powerful form of the genius shinobi appeared on a tree branch above the clearing, crouched, staring with wide sharingan eyes past Itachi at the girl behind him, already bleeding, her mouth already pressing into that thin line that knew pain, her eyes narrowed into defensiveness.
He had seen that look on himself.
She was finding out just how evil life could be.
No! No…I told you not to come…His voice would have shaken if he hadn't known to keep their connection hidden, if hadn't made an effort.
I can't care. I can't care or he'll-"Little brother." Itachi murmured softly. "I was beginning to think this little one was the only one worthy or my limited attention." He smirked up at him, amused by the whole situation.
Run Hinata, run…"What are you doing here?" Sasuke hissed, eyes focused on him, crouching slowly.
Don't look at her… don't see her… she's not there…Oh God… run, please run…"Curious." Itachi murmured, ignoring his question, turning to look over his shoulder at Hinata, standing immobile behind him, staring at Sasuke with wide eyed disbelief.
What have I done? Hindered him with me here... made it more difficult... oh God, i've put him in danger...
"Are you not going to introduce us?"
Hinata snapped out of it, moving back, away from him, at Sasuke's presence the anger had vanished, turning into something else… utter fear.
She could see his chakra was rotating around his body in complex patterns, anger and fear and coldness mixing around him, and his eyes refused to look at her.
She had done something wrong. Something horribly, horribly wrong.
"I don't know her." He stated and she stumbled back slowly, trembling, trying to control herself, trying not to feel panic begin to gnaw at her insides.
He doesn't mean it… It's a trick.
"Really." Itachi whispered, turning around slowly. Hinata faced the sudden danger, feeling it acutely, hearing herself gasp, her anger draining at she realized her sudden situation.
…he's going to kill me…
Sasuke. Gomen.
Ne, ne! It's done... it's actually done... ((wants to sob with relief) that took way to freaking LONG.
i'm so sorry... ((feels miserable)) i left you all on a cliffhanger... AGAIN.
i happen to hate cliffhangers about as much as you all do, so i will apologize for my evil twin and her evil ways of coming around and randomly cliffhanging everything ((gasp))
Thank you so much for each review, please leave another one!
and was it too long? i thought maybe i should have cut it in two, but i decided not to at the last minute... meh.
READ. REVIEW.
-ink!