Over the next few days, Tenten's odd behavior continued.
It's not that the brunette had been standoffish before, but it was like something clicked in her and she suddenly wanted to know everything about me. Not only that, but she did such a bad job acting naturally when I finally asked her what her deal was. There's obviously something going on and she's not doing a good job hiding it.
Regardless of her reasons, I couldn't see the harm in being genuine with her, at least for the most part. I can't tell her about my relation to Masumi or Dr. Uchiha, but I can answer other questions about myself.
Sakura started slowly becoming less stoic as the days passed and she seemed to start accepting the fact that her sister was dead. It seemed hard for her to talk to anyone at all, even Ino.
Her bruised face started healing, but the psychological damage from being beaten so brutally by a male seemed to affect her deeply. She couldn't make eye contact with anyone and even noticeably shrank away when any guys came too close. I worried about how she's handling her mental training since she's partnered with a male, Sasuke. The quieter twin rarely drew attention to himself so it was easy to forget about him. He never even looks at her so I wonder how their training sessions go.
Speaking of Sasuke, he and his brother Sai share a last name with Madara. This fact initially had me very skeptical of them, but Ino'd also noticed and asked them about it. Sai explained that they're very distant cousins who've never met before so it's like they're not family at all. The doctor hadn't even greeted them individually to acknowledge the fact.
On the topic of other partnerships in Group B, I worried for Matsuri a bit. Her partner was Gaara. The same Gaara that beat Sakura up without arguing and hadn't even tried to apologize to her for it. If his actions in person are anything to judge by, surely their training is extremely stressful for her. Even so, the short brunette didn't make a single complaint and silently went along with us all like she usually does.
"Focus, Hinata!" I was drawn out of my thoughts by Orochimaru's serpentine voice.
We'd started learning how to use various weapons in our physical training. I'm not very good with any of it, but can manage with a handgun. Tenten, however, excelled with it all. She was proficient with knives, tonfa, swords, guns, and anything else we were asked to try. She'd obviously been telling the truth when she admitted to being a weapon instructor in her normal life.
I sparred with Neji more seriously, if only to appease the doctor watching us. The wooden poles we were fighting with smacked against each other as we exchanged attempts.
The tall young man remained as stoic as ever, his jaw clenched as he focused on our spar. For the first time, I really looked at his face and for a fraction of a moment something about him seemed familiar. He took advantage of my being distracted to gain the upperhand and soon I was thrown down onto the mats in defeat.
Matsuri approached and offered me a hand in silence. Normally we'd all be practicing, but since Karin was in our group and is no longer here, we have to take turns.
Once I was back on my feet, I wiped some sweat from my brow and glanced over at Neji, who was drinking out of his water bottle unsuspectingly.
What was that just now? He reminded me of someone, but I can't put my finger on who it was. Orochimaru's whistle blew through the room, pulling my attention away as he signaled for us to switch to a different weapon and continue training.
Later, at dinner, I tried to stop myself from glancing over at him and failed. He was sitting beside Tenten, who was talking excitedly to him about something as though she couldn't see the irritated look on his features.
When we were sparring, his appearance made me feel like I've known him forever despite the fact that he's never spoken a single word to me. A tanned hand waved in front of my dazed out eyes.
"Earth to Hinata!"
Neji looked over and caught me staring so I shot my eyes away quickly.
Naruto chuckled, "There you are! Ino and I were wondering what school you went to." My face warmed when his blue eyes met mine and I awkwardly looked away as I answered honestly.
Ever since I broke down and cried in front of him during M.A.T., I haven't been able to speak to him like before. It was incredibly wrong of me to lose control like that, especially when I'm not sure if Madara can see what goes on during these sessions. Not only that, but I've never been the type of person to complain to others so being comforted like that was definitely a foreign concept.
"Oh wow, so you must be really rich!"
Ino elbowed Kiba roughly in the ribs, but the boy gave her a shrug, "What? I heard that just the tuition costs more than my family's house!"
I tried to avert my attention back to eating, but Sakura surprised us all by speaking for the first time in a while, "So you're a local, then. Have you ever met Dr. Uchiha or Masumi before?" Shock had my limbs freezing up. Up until this point, I've simply avoided the subject to help convince myself that I wasn't lying to these kind people, but now I have no choice.
My mouth opened as I tried to find the correct response, but was interrupted when the entire room started shaking as though experiencing an earthquake. As a group, all of us participants quickly held onto the tables so nothing would fall or break and soon the shaking came to a cease.
The room became dead silent as the faint sound of sirens could be heard, most likely coming from the middle of town. My eyes darted over to the stairs, half-expecting the door to fly open and someone to come down and explain the situation to us, but it didn't happen.
The sirens continued for so long that we eventually finished our meals and gravitated to the bunks. The usually casual air was serious. No one dared speak as we waited for something, anything, to happen.
Kabuto disappeared upstairs once our meal was finished and didn't come back, so he was acting as though all this was normal. The sirens grew closer and closer until it felt like they were right beside the house we were underneath, where they remained sounding for over an hour before finally ceasing. The room filled with murmurs as all the participants headed to their beds with uncertainty.
I stared up at the ceiling with wide eyes. Was that an earthquake? An explosion? Whatever it was, it'd occured nearby. My mind ran a mile a minute and before I realized it, I'd fallen asleep.
I was awoken later by someone clamping a hand over my mouth. A scream got choked up in my throat when I locked eyes with Madara. He gave me a warning look before pulling me off the bed by my wrist, out of the room, and behind the M.A.T. door so no one could hear us.
I yanked my arm away from him once the door was latched, fighting the urge to cringe at his appearance. He crossed his arms and looked down at me with a frown. Had I done something wrong again? My eyes widened and started to tear up. Did he, perhaps, see Naruto and my's training session and was here to torture me further because of it?
"There was an attack today."
I relaxed ever so slightly, but was still curious. He was talking about the issue earlier.
"The Haruno family became enraged when they learned of their daughter's death. The police told them exactly what I did: that the young woman signed a contract that relinquishes The Program of liability, but they aren't satisfied."
"So what was that shaking?" I responded before I could control myself.
His eyes narrowed, but he ignored my speaking out of turn, "The Haruno's have rallied many of the parents of the participants here to try and force us to release them. Many of them have military connections so what you heard earlier was a bomb going off to destroy the gate."
I stared up at him in disbelief. A bomb went off? Here? All of it seemed unbelievable, but then so does most of what I've been forced to go through these past weeks.
"They were apprehended by local law enforcement, of course, but that's not what I came down here to speak with you about."
I waited for him to continue and he did. "Your sister is starting to question Masumi and I about your whereabouts. You will go upstairs tomorrow and convince her that you've been away taking summer college classes."
Blood was rising to my face as I got angry, but I held my tongue when I remembered the torture this man put me through just days ago. His lips turned up into a smirk, "I'll take you up there now and you'll make yourself presentable so when she wakes up in the morning she won't question anything."
He suddenly stepped closer, putting a large hand against the wall above me as he glared down at me, "You'll do well to convince her or I will punish you, do you understand?"
My breath got caught in my throat so all I could do was nod in terror. Like a lightswitch flipping, he returned to his polite facade and opened the door for me to walk ahead of him. I slowly did so, glancing at the doorway to the bunks before gingerly climbing the stairs.
I'll be gone at least most of the day tomorrow, pretending to be visiting home from college, so what will the others think? Will they assume I've been taken away by Madara to be tortured once more? That isn't too far from the truth, honestly. Seeing my little sister and having to lie to her about something so dangerous sure feels like a different type of torture.
When we stepped out of the basement and into the kitchen, Masumi was waiting for us. I was sat in one of the dining chairs and she wordlessly trimmed my hair so it wouldn't look so disheveled.
All this was being done for her sake, of course. Madara couldn't care less about what Hanabi thinks. I bet he'd be just as happy to throw her down there with me, but he has to keep Masumi happy or she'll cut off the funds she's been using to support the whole operation. Madara caught me glaring at the woman at first and threatened to help me adjust my attitude, so I wordlessly averted my eyes to the ground and sat as still as possible.
Once I was finished, he pulled me upstairs by my wrist before shoving me into the bathroom and closing the door behind us. My hands shook in fear when he turned to face me, but luckily he didn't try anything and simply wanted to threaten me once more. "I mean it, Hinata. If you even step a toe out of line tomorrow, I'll make you regret it."
The older man held my gaze firmly for a few moments, as though to prove his sincerity, before leaving me alone in the room to fix up the mess that's been made of my appearance by The Program.