AN: Not sure where to begin with this but I'm sorry for dropping off the edge of the universe, ego death has been hitting me pretty hard. I've written quite a lot on this story but It never feels like enough. Though I have been somewhat semi-active with this fic, I actually haven't updated it for what is probably months now, or at least it feels like it. I'm so sorry for disappearing on you like that, you honestly deserve better.

Anyways, I hope someone is still reading this haha, either way, I refuse to give up on this story. I have too many crazy ideas for it to fade away as yet another unfinished project. This chapter may be a tad bit short and maybe even a bit boring, but I enjoyed writing it. And so, I hope you will enjoy reading it as well!

Songs for those who remember the flood: Ophelia by The Lumineers, Fear of the Water by SYML, Atlantis by Seafret

Remember to be kind to your meat vessel, would you talk to your friends the way to talk to yourself?

I love you, Xoxoxoo

Chapter 8

A second home.

Sleep could still be felt in her bones, her mind groggy with tiredness. She had crawled her way out of bed like a risen ghoul would crawl out of a coffin. Blinking slowly, she dragged her feet to the shower and rinsed off her body. Despite it all, her early rising was needed. Not many clan members were up and about at this hour, which would make her breakfast swift and easy.

And it was. With a satisfied belly and a mind that was only a tad bit more awake, she left the Hyuga compounds to prowl the fairly empty streets of Konoha. It was still dark outside, which made her blend in with her black attire. Although her pale skin and white eyes stood out in the shadows, for those casting a glance. Of which there weren't many, for the clock had just hit 6 am.

Soon enough more people would line the streets, but she was planning on taking her leave before that. She was heading in the direction of one of Sasori's workshops, the only one that she had access to. He had modified the sealing jutsus on its entrance to recognize and allow passage to her specific chakra signature. Though it would only do so when she was the only signature in the vicinity, and when she performed the correct jutsu.

The trip lasted for barely 20 minutes, going straight from Konoha, north-west in the direction of that familiar cave. She had long since activated the azure glow around her hands, illuminating her way through the snowy trees. Her byakugan scoured her surroundings, not too keen on the prospect of running into something, or someone.

Which she did not. She arrived at her destination without complications, to her great relief.

The cave was more of a creek in the mountain, an askew scar. Upon entering it, she noticed glossy icetaps hanging down from the mouth of its entrance.

Though they looked pretty sturdy and not likely to fall, their deadly-looking pointed tips reminded her of the obsidian spikes perched onto of the gates to Crystalline manor. She shivered in discomfort, just the thought of that place filled her with unease.

To her credit, the icetaps didn't move an inch as she passed under them. Hinata's hands increased their glow as she went deeper and deeper into the cave, making the ice-glazed walls dance in a blue sheen.

Eventually, she came upon the end of the semi-narrow pathway. She deactivated her byakugan and promptly began the unlocking ceremony. Her azure hands moved swiftly as they performed the hand signs. Hand signs she had memorized with more enthusiasm than any of the jutsus the Academy had drilled into her. Eventually she bit her thumb until it bled and slammed both her hands onto the wall.

The blue glow from her hands spilled unto the uneven stone wall and she could literally feel it move beneath her hands. A tremble, a quake, and then several small stones trickled down from above. It felt as if there was a great machinery behind the wall, making gears turn as the sturdy surface beneath her hands began to shift.

It wasn't that far-fetched she supposed.

The cave wall caved in on itself, peeling away like flaking paint and morphing into clay. She took her hands away and took a small step back, observing the metamorphosis. The grey-like, clay-like substance swirled around into a spiral before splitting apart, making way for an entrance to form.

Which it did, unearthing a steep pathway with the familiar stone stairs, leading down into the mountain. Hinata wasted no time as she descended the stairs, feeling and hearing the entrance shutting itself off behind her.

Her neon blue hands increased their glow, lighting up her path. In the end, she arrived at the final step and was met with a compact darkness. Of course, her hands illuminated whatever they could, but with a flick of her wrists, she promptly deactivated the chakra.

Her hand went to graze the wall at her side and subsequently found a lever. This lever would only turn on the lights in the hallway but it used to be able to activate all the lamps in the bunker. However, she and Sasori had made some adjustments on that particular system, since it drained too much energy. Though she had basically just followed orders, using her byakugan to scour the walls for pipelines they should avoid.

Her teacher was very keen on using as little resources as possible… Really of all kinds, now that she thought of it. Heck, he was even adamant about turning the lights off in every single room he was leaving, even if he had to come back to that room later.

This hideout had changed overtime, in major ways since she'd first seen it, back when she'd been around 12 or so. Hinata gave a reminiscent smile as she observed the rectangular, oblong space before her. The ceiling used to have oil lanterns hanging down from it, but now yellow and orange led-lights lined the stone surface, making shadows dance across the walls like flames would.

The two walls closest to her had long bookshelves on them, lined with scrolls, carefully organized in an alphabetical order. Sasori's puppets. Under the bookshelves were wooden, oblong tables with cabinets under them. Tables that sat fastened to the walls like the shelves were. The cabinets were marked as well, filled with tools, batteries, spare puppet parts (obviously not anything organic).

Though as she walked, the shelves that were otherwise lined with scrolls, housed now more organic material. Glass bottles with strange liquids, minerals, powders, stones, herbs and even species of snails. As well as containers filled with paint, along with bottles equipped with brushes of all sizes.

Sasori, being the artist he was, liked to decorate his puppets, though not as much as she herself would have done. Hana had lots of swirling patterns, in different colors as well. Sasori on the other hand, was more of craftsman than a painter, yet she had seen him sketch before. And it wasn't anything a newbie could draw up, he was admittedly very skilled. Though he mostly sketched different designs of puppets and whatnot.

Hinata allowed her mind to wander some more, arriving at the wide, rectangular (albeit turned on its side) table at the end of the room. Two chairs, one at the shorter side of it and another next to her, at the longer side. Her mentor usually sat on that one, as could be seen from the opened scrolls, the tools, pens, weapons and spare puppet parts littered all over the place.

He was usually very neat and organized but never when it came to this table for some reason, especially when she compared her spot to his. Though he tinkered with more stuff than she did.

Strapped to the wall behind the table, were weapons of all kinds, almost taking up the entire space. All in perfect order according to size. Two large swords at the top, stretched out on their sides, then it went down to knives of all manners, until kunais and shurikens lined the rest of the wall, ending at her midriff.

At the wall behind her own chair, senbons could be seen fastened unto a metallic surface using small magnets. Of course they would have their own special place.

Hinata stepped over to the shiny instruments, thin and pointy. She grabbed three of them and strode over to an opening in the wall at the other side of the table, grabbing a screwdriver on the way. Her hand parted the drapery that shielded the entrance, red stones unveiling the apothecary she knew so well.

She flicked the switch at the wall and illuminated the room in a striking emerald glow.

This was her favorite room, because this is where he stored his potions and poisons. Not only that, but the overall style of the place was just eye-catching. The floor was in a checkerboard pattern, green and black. The walls were in shiny obsidian, lit up by green led lights, hugging the corners of the ceiling. At the wall to her left, a curved opening could be seen, leading down to a spiraling staircase which ultimately lead to a lab.

And to her right, were even more assortments. A black counter, equipped with hand sanitizers and even a sink. Underneath it were shelves lined with books on alchemy. Above the counter, were even more shelves equipped with herbs, plastic bags with powders in them, seeds and drugs of all kinds and of course, more scrolls. At the far right end of the counter, there was even a mini fridge with snacks for her.

The style of this room could at best be described as archaic, very anachronistic and antique. Which was why she liked it so much. It was charming. Sasori had told her that he found the apothecary like this, as well as all the other rooms in the hideout. He suggested that it had once been an abandoned bunker, but Hinata couldn't for the life of her understand why a bunker would have an apothecary and a lab...

It had probably been base of operation of some kind.

A black desk was set in the middle of the spacious room and behind it, carved into the wall, were wide cavities that curved into gentle slopes at the top, housing shelves with all matter of contents. Bottles, flasks and jars, tightly sealed with corks and wires. There were a total of four of these carved out bookshelves, though they housed anything but books.

One was labeled "Advanced Poisons", with the flasks neatly put together alphabetically. Another cavity was labeled "Potions", and another was labeled "Medicine and Antidotes". The last one, at the far end to the right, had the title of "Less Advanced Poisons" which contained the only substances she was allowed to use and tinker with.

And Hinata was fine with that, because the "less advanced poisons" were still no joke. And besides, she knew it was for her own safety.

So she strode over to the assortments of poisons, her finger tracing the flasks. She briefly glanced at the mini fridge but ultimately decided against it. She was planning on staying here for a little while, but not long enough to get hungry. Eventually she found something she recognized. A bottle with a vermilion liquid inside, labeled: "Rielic."

A particularly horrid poison if she remembered correctly. She turned the bottle around to inspect the paper of information, plastered onto the glass.

"Effects: Instantaneous outbreaks of boils, burns and severe rashes all over subject's body, this will force the subject to scratch its skin compulsively so, after 2 minutes, the subject will start coughing up blood, after another 2 minutes, the subject will be utterly delirious before dying in agony."

Hinata gave a disgusted sneer, a wave of indignation coming over her. This was all Sasori's doing, his invention, his handwriting, his experiments. A big part of her was still in shock from everything she had read about him in the Bingo book. A part of her mind, remained confused, wrapped up in emotions she dared not name, for acknowledging them would only make them stronger.

And she was not that strong, not that brave. Not quite yet. If ever. Honestly, she didn't even want to deal with that side of him.

Hinata put away the bottle and picked up another one at random, eager to have something to distract her razing mind with.

This one was called: "(A)MUSE". The name was… very curious to say the least. That typo had to mean something, would the effects of this poison be amusing?

The implications of that thought turned very dark in an instant, making her hesitate in whether or not she should actually turn it around.

Even the bottle itself looked strange. It was shaped like a small hourglass, filled to the brim with a dark blue substance. Hinata turned it upside down to read the small label that sat there, seemingly without a clear reason for doing it, yet that's when she noticed something else.

Instead of being labeled a "Poison", the word "Potion" could clearly be seen.

Had he misplaced this? Hm, how very… odd of him. Out of character almost, a slip up like this, even though it was something minor, was not in his nature. In fact, it was so incredibly rare and even outlandish, that she could not help but to think that it had to be deliberate.

Hinata shrugged her shoulders, inwardly chiding herself for being suspicious about something so ridiculous. She must be over-analyzing things as usual… Yet, now her interest peaked to even more levels and she read on the paper behind the bottle.

"Effects: To be injected either through senbon or needle, in the back of the subject's neck for maximum effect. This is a chemical compound that will surge up into the subject's brain. It will circumvent and steer certain electrical signals and make the subject say out loud every single thought they have and even describe visuals of interest. Most subjects will succumb to nervous laughter or hysterical sobbing as they realize they have no control whatsoever over their body and mind. The effects will last for at most 5 minutes, depending on the amount injected. For obvious reasons, this is a highly effective truth serum."

A low gasp was emitted from her, her white eyes, rereading the lines in astonishment. She didn't even know that such a thing could be accomplished. One thing was for certain, her teacher never failed in surprising her.

She was going to inject her senbons with this. But… in order to do that, she needed to go downstairs and get the equipment. Hinata threw an uneasy look in the direction of the arched entrance in the wall. Its curved stone wall had its own white led light attached to it from where it spiraled out of her view.

She did not want to go down there, to the lab. A makeshift, rather simple laboratory, that also looked like a morgue of some sort. It gave her the creeps, her skin crawled in dread from just thinking about it. She had only been there maybe once or twice but it was enough…

Needless to say, after reading the part about how he made his puppets, she could imagine why the laboratory looked the way it did. The young Hyuga swallowed thickly, placing the blue bottle on the desk in the middle of the apothecary.

She needed those syringes…

Her lips formed a straight line, her eyes determined. The black haired kunoichi slowly started walking towards the spiral staircase. Looking down from around the corner, she determined that it was too steep to make out any details on the other end.

For some reason, she would rather not dwell on, she grabbed a kunai from her belt and activated her byakugan. No one was near and she made a point to deliberately avoid looking at the big freezer at the corner of the room. She didn't want to know what was in there.

Deactivating her bloodline limit, she gave a sigh and began descending the lit up stairs, flicking another switch at the end of them.

White led lights illuminated the big room before her. It looked like something straight out of a hospital, or an asylum of some sort. Her eyes automatically went over to the wall at her left, taking in the metallic surfaces. Boxes of steel barely sticking out of the wall, each one equipped with a sturdy handle. All three of them sealed shut. Thankfully.

But it did nothing to ease her worry.

The room was clad in pale blue tiles, everything from the floor to the walls and ceiling. A metallic table was sat in the center of it. Boxes of empty vials, flat bottom flasks, reagent bottles, beakers and a number of other instruments she couldn't quite identify.

All of them neatly organized of course.

At the side of the table, sharp instruments hung on hooks, some of them bigger than others. Mainly saws. She gulped.

Sure this is the place where alchemy happened, but it was also the place where dreams came to die.

She looked away from the nightmarish objects. At the other end of the table, there was a fridge, a white, big cabin and that large, dreaded freezer. The freezer was locked though… which made her eyebrow tick at the absurdity. Was he seriously thinking that she would steal body parts from him?

Yeah right... any day now.

Sarcasm was good to keep her mind in order but it did nothing to stop the surge of nausea rushing through her and she closed her eyes, leaning on the cold wall. After some seconds of just breathing, Hinata composed herself and looked towards the counters stationed at the wall next to her.

Two plastic boxes with syringes in one of them and needles in the other, were just sitting there. She wanted to facepalm, how hadn't she noticed that before? Shaking her head, she quickly walked up to them. After grabbing what she needed, she spun around, ready to leave the lab as quickly as humanly possible.

In her hurry, she almost overturned a test tube rack, filled with colorful substances. Swiftly, she caught the rack, making the tubes clash against each other. Luckily for her, they remained intact.

That's enough adventure for today, she decided and promptly scurried up the stairs.

# # #

Hinata spent the remaining 20 minutes or so, at the other end of the bunker. She was keen on getting as far away from the lab as possible and so, she ventured across the hallway, passing by the table that her teacher rarely cleaned, into another entrance leading her to an alcove. Going down another set of stairs, she ended up in a small hallway with only two sets of doors.

The one on her right would lead her to a library/lounge and the one of her left went straight to a training facility. She pushed open the door to her right and swung it shut with her foot.

This was a room she had done most (if not all) of the decorative work on. Frankly, Sasori did not care about this room at all, he cared about the books but even so, he was rarely here. And so, this had become more of her place.

It was not entirely small but not extremely big either. Stone floor, stone walls, round red carpet, a wide, big bookcase plastered on the wall to her right.

In the middle of the room, placed on top of the carpet, there was a large black sittpuff. Soft and fluffy, littered with red pillows, it was quadrangular in shape and as big as a bed. Gosh, she loved that thing and usually took naps in it. But this time, she was not here to sleep.

Her eyes were drawn towards the wall at the other end of the room. Over there, there was a brown sofa and two armchairs, along with a small table in the middle of them. But that was not what she was looking at.

Above and behind them, on the wall, there were two long, black shelves. The one highest up housed her scrolls and peg dolls. Of course all of them were filled with senbons of all kinds, along with kunais and shurikens. Her mind briefly flashed back to the first peg doll he had given her. That doll must still be somewhere under the floorboards in her room...

The shelf below that one housed her scented candles, all of them in different colors, many more than what she had at home. In fact, this room was more packed with stuff than her bedroom was back at the estate. In more ways than one, this hideout had become something of a second home to her.

Hinata quietly admired her candles, absentmindedly so. Maybe she should light some of them up when she was done "programming" her senbons.

She looked down at the shiny instruments in her hand, these senbons weren't exactly hers but she had been too lazy to go down here just to get some of her own. Besides, these ones were longer and could house a bigger sponge, thus having more room for the substances.

She turned to her right and went over to the wooden desk that sat there. Sitting down in her chair, she went to work on her senbons, concentrating on the task at hand.

She had done this plenty of times before and knew the procedure like the back of her hand. Unscrewing the hatch of the senbon was as easy as breathing. And almost easier than that, was preparing the syringe.

Eventually, she opened the potion and a waft of a very strong aroma hit her nose. She made a grimace, it smelled of metal. She didn't want it to become enfeebled by the oxygen, so she quickly moved on.

Flasks like these had high-quality sponges, stationed in between the contents and the cork. As she unsealed the cork, she lightly tipped the bottle to the side, making the indigo substance sink into the sponge.

She proceeded to inject the needle into the drenched sponge, draining it off the potion and filling up the syringe to the brim. Without wasting time, she rewired the cork in the bottle again and put away the syringe. She needed to redo this with her other two senbons as well but leaving the bottle unsealed was out of the question, no matter how fast she was.

Time flew by quickly. When one knew what to do, preparing senbons was something easy, not prone to take more than 5 minutes. Hinata could program three senbons in 3 minutes, for she did it so often nowadays. Practice makes perfect.

Happy with her work, she put away her senbons in the holster fastened on her belt. Then she took the heavy thing off, putting it on the desk.

Walking over to the chest of drawers at the other end of the room, she wondered if she had adequate training gear here or if she needed to restock her wardrobe. She kept forgetting what kind of clothes she had here…

But upon opening the first drawer, she became pleasantly surprised. Surprised to find clothes she didn't quite recognize and pleasantly so because that meant that Sasori had bought her new ones.

This discovery spurred her on to go through all of her drawers. She always liked new clothes. He seemed to have bought a bunch of stuff, everything except underwear... well except for a black sports bra but that didn't count as underwear. An idiotic blush burned her cheeks and she shook her head. She couldn't even imagine him buying...that.

Briefly looking over at the clock above the bathroom door, she concluded that she had a good amount of time on her hands. She wasn't supposed to meet her team until 9:30 och the clock just hit 7:30. Hinata gave a placid smile. Looking up into the mirror above her chiffonier, she decided to not try all of the clothes on.

Just a few. Just enough to decide what she was going to wear. Looking down at the garments, she supposed she should be happy that not all of it was red. It was a lovely color, but it was getting old. She felt like something else today, something new.

And apparently, as she would come to find out, she gravitated towards green. Though, not before decided that Sasori had a very simple taste in women's clothing. He seemed to prioritize flexibility and effectiveness. Not that there was anything wrong with that, it was just a tad bit boring.

Hinata turned around in the mirror, observing the greenery she had donned. Camo pants, crocodile green mixed in with a darker seaweed tone. Perfect for hiding in the trees of Konoha. Too bad the season wasn't in yet.

Trying on the sports bra proved to be a bit of a pain but that's usually the case for someone of extra proportions like herself. Besides, weren't sports bras supposed to sit tight anyways? Hinata grimaced all the way through her valiant efforts of adjusting her "packages".

It paid off in the end… had her goal been one of the ultimate cleavage. She raised her dark brows in a mild adulation, taking in how the sports bra flattened her chest at least a little bit, enough for her to actually skip the bindings this time around.

Happy with the outcome, she turned around and decided to skip the boots, she could do this barefoot. Going back to her belt, she prayed that it would fit within the straps of her new pants, which it ultimately did. Clicking it into place, she decided that she was finally ready to train now.

Grabbing her phone from the pocket of her old trousers, she found it odd that Sasori hadn't messaged her yet. It was routine for him to check up on her when she entered his lair, since he was alerted every time she unsealed the cave wall.

Oh well, he was probably just out there doing his… crime and whatnot.

She left the lounge, her bare feet patting down towards the other door, leading towards the training facility.

Hinata had barely grasped the handle of the door when it promptly swung open, hitting her jaw. She stumbled back with a loud yelp, holding her throbbing chin in agony. Staring up in alarm, her white eyes met two pairs of maroon ones, looking like baked, orange clay in the yellow lights.