The Girl Who Spun Through Time

Chapter 9

"You're more a fool than I suspected."

Hinata opened her eyes with a sigh.

She was still in the Susano'o, high above the ground. There was a series of mountains rushing by below, thick with rain and snow. Turning her head, Hinata could see the sun setting behind her. It hung a couple feet above the horizon, its burning light dulled by the harsh blue of the chakra construct.

"How long was I asleep?" she asked, looking back towards the Uchiha. Despite the change of location and the sun's position, Hinata never would have known any time had passed, if she had to rely on the Uchiha. He was in the exact same position she'd left him in; standing stock still in the air, staring forward, his arms imperiously crossed.

"Nearly an hour." That made sense. It had been night in Konoha but not in the Land of Iron: it was farther to the west, after all. Now, Madara was traveling east, away from the setting sun. The man looked at her with a sneer. "Falling asleep like that; perhaps you have a bit of a death wish. What if I'd decided to drop you?"

Hinata tried to keep her face expressionless; she didn't want to show fear, though the man did frighten her, even now. He knew it too, but knowing something and seeing it were entirely different.

"We both know you don't want me dead, Uchiha," she said. The man quirked an eyebrow at the moniker. "And even if you did, there would be hardly anything I could do about it."

"Hah." It wasn't a laugh, more of a grunt tinged with mirth, but it let Hinata know she hadn't misspoken. "You're polite, if little else."

Hinata didn't have an answer to give. How were you supposed to respond to something like that? 'Yes, I'm very polite, thank you for noticing?' That wouldn't be very polite itself. She decided to ignore it.

"Where are we going?" was what she settled on, after a second or so.

"Hm. You'll see soon enough," Madara grunted. "We're nearly there now."

His posture very clearly indicated he wouldn't be saying anything more, so Hinata didn't waste her time trying to pry anything out of him. Instead, she watched the sunset behind them. The orange glow it cast over the land was comforting, setting the brown of the mountains and the grey of the land in a warmer light. However, the land they soared above was barren, and no amount of sympathetic lighting could change that. Hinata had never seen something so… plain. The ground seemed to be nothing but muddy stone, wet dirt, and dark rivers; everything seemed as though it had recently been rained on, washing out any sort of individuality.

They were traveling extraordinarily fast. Madara hadn't been lying about his Susano'o being more efficient than moving on the ground; Hinata guessed that it could be four times faster than a shinobi could manage at full sprint, maybe more, but the distance from the earth and the lack of especially noticeable landmarks made any solid estimation doomed to failure.

She wondered what her father had done after she had been dragged from him, into the rift above the Hyuuga compound. That was another… world? Time? It was difficult to come up with a name that sounded appropriate for something so other. A different place, in every sense. She hadn't been his daughter, if she really thought about it. The Hinata she had saved had been his daughter.

The concept of saving herself made her blink. The idea of there being another her was still confusing.

The Hiashi she'd been pulled away from hadn't been her real father, but he'd treated her as his real daughter nonetheless. Her father wasn't stupid; he must have understood the difference as keenly as she did now. It could have been political. Gaining another Hyuuga her age would be a boon to the clan no matter what, and with her knowledge of the future, she was a potent resource even after telling the Hokage everything she knew.

Still: a part of Hinata hoped he had treated her the way he had without regard for her being an asset, even if the thought was unrealistic.

How would the other her live, she wondered, with an uncle? She'd never really known Hizashi, but the man had seemed like a good influence, from what little time she'd spent with him. Maybe she'd pick up some more courage at younger age. That would be nice.

It didn't really matter. It was almost certain she'd never see those people again.

Was she trapped here, though? Hinata closed her eyes, blocking out the monochrome land. Madara had the Rinnegan, bizarre as that was. It was possible he could do the same thing to her that Pain had, hurling her into that torturous in-between. But even if she ended up there once more, what could she do? She couldn't find her way home: she had no idea how.

So, it was possible she wasn't trapped in this world of the dead… but the only method of escape was just as dangerous.

There had been another her in this place. That one hadn't been saved, at least according to Danzo Shimura. If Hinata were unlucky, she could end up like her.

Morbid, and confusing. That seemed to sum up the last–

The mild chill of the Susano'o vanished, and Hinata opened her eyes in surprise. Suddenly, she was falling.

Falling.

Hinata's eyes went wide, her mouth opening. Her hair streamed out behind her, like the long dark tail of a kite as she careened through the sky. She was alone, high above the earth, exposed to the cold of the elements and shooting forward like a star and she was–

Falling.

The word wasn't strong enough. She was hurtling through the sky at the same speed the Susano'o had been, moving faster forward than she ever could hope to actually fall towards the earth. Where had Madara gone? Had the Uchiha just vanished? Had the clone dispelled?

He must have grown bored of her. Now she was falling.

Hinata's mind went into overdrive. She could survive this fall, probably, especially if she landed in one of the rivers. Theoretically, her terminal velocity was low enough that she would be able to survive the impact, so long as she were prepared for it. Her arms and legs spread out, widening her profile as she furiously tried to calculate the distance. She was moving forward so quickly; she would have to slow herself down substantially to get back to a safe speed, and it was unlikely she'd have the time–

There was something in front of her, she realized, as she stopped staring at the looming earth long enough to observe her surrounding. She wasn't alone in the sky.

It wasn't Madara. She still had no idea where the man had gone.

It was impossible. A massive shadow hanging in the sky: multiple spheres of earth, some crowned with flashing spikes. Hinata stared at it, uncomprehending. She was falling and flying towards a huge ring of marble-like stones, each punctured with metal as the ground grew closer and closer and her breathing faster and faster.

Hinata did, on instinct, what any Hyuuga did when they saw something they couldn't understand. The veins around her eyes bulged out, and her eyes grew wider yet.

It was a city. A city set upon on a series huge floating orbs, chains of massive roots stretched taut between them.

A city in the sky.

A pretty big one, too.

Hinata's mind grew more and more detached from the situation. It was practically a survival reflex. Distantly, she thought it would probably help her. She was falling towards a flying city. It was held aloft by a circle of enormous floating spheres of compressed stone (as her Byakugan made extraordinarily clear), each daisy-chained together by roots more massive than any building in the Elemental Nations. Why were the spheres floating? Why was there a city on it? Where had the roots come from? Was this where Madara had been taking her?

None of those questions mattered. She was heading right for the side of the nearest orb. All that mattered right now was landing safely. It was a sheer wall of rock: the curvature of the sphere was such that the area she would impact was essentially flat.

How fast was she going? She'd slowed down, cutting a significant amount of speed thanks to her spread arms, but it was still too fast. Five-hundred meters per second? It seemed close to that. She'd reach the orb in about seven seconds.

Hinata spun herself about, keeping herself spread as she shot towards the sphere. Still losing some speed; still not enough.

Five seconds. What else was there to do? She pumped more and more chakra to her legs, feeling it suffuse her entire body in a warm buzz of high-energy anticipation. The air around Hinata's body started to glow a faint blue as she hurled forward; she imagined that she looked like a lithe blue bullet.

Three seconds. Hinata deactivated her Byakugan, focusing on the point of impact. The sphere filled her entire field of vision. If only she had learned the Kaiten. It would have been invaluable.

This was probably going to hurt.

One second.

Hinata hit the orb like a meteor, smashing feet-first into the stone and tumbling. The impact was tremendous, rattling her teeth and sending her brain spinning; her right leg cracked, something splintering inside of it, and she gasped in pain. She reached out with her chakra, feeling the stone on her skin, desperately anchoring herself to it as she rolled down the orb, trying to defuse even the slightest bit of the impact. Feet, knees, right shoulder, upper back, lower back, all her limbs; each tingled with clinging chakra in turn as they stuck her to the stone.

Hinata came to a sudden stop, breathing rapidly. She stared at an upside-down world, her body stuck to the stone behind her, her limbs splayed out like a cross. Everything hurt, a deep aching sensation stabbing at the base of her skull.

Her right leg was broken again. It wasn't as bad as the first time, but the sensation was unmistakable. Perhaps Madara hadn't done as good a job as she'd thought. More of her body was bruised than was not. Badly, too.

'Bastard.'

Hinata yanked her arms from the rock, curling upwards into a crunch and trying to establish contact between the palms of her hands and the stone above her. They bounced off once, her concentration shot by pain, and for a stomach-wrenching second she slipped downwards. Her vision spun, and Hinata gritted her teeth.

'Fucking bastard.'

The thought took her aback as her hands slapped down on the sphere, sticking fast. This was probably the angriest she'd been in a long time. Even Pain hadn't inspired such spite in her; that man had seemed to have purpose, at least. Madara had just let her go in the air, to smash into the side of this floating impossibility. For what? Petty amusement? Because he was tired of her?

If anything else had gone wrong with the landing, she would have died. The Hyuuga knew it in her gut.

Hinata decided that no matter what, if she saw the man she'd punch his throat in, the consequences be damned. She let her body slip down, setting herself against the rock in a more ordinary climbing pose. Her right leg hung limply, the knee brushing against the rough rock, but Hinata forced herself to ignore it.

Now, she had to climb this thing.

With the setting sun beating at her back, Hinata hauled herself up the sheer face of the sphere. It was slow going with one of her legs disabled, though she had established a rhythm despite the handicap. She would reach one hand upwards, establishing solid contact with the stone, and stick the palm of her hand and fingers to the surface. Then, secured by chakra, she would lever up her left leg, cocking it beneath her and sticking it as well. From there, it was simple enough to slightly loosen her grip with her hand and extend her leg, sliding her way up the rock without too much effort.

Sweat dripped from Hinata's nose, leaving wet traces where it touched the stone, and slipped under the hood of her jacket, as well as down her arms. Her right leg trembled, hanging loosely. Whenever it brushed against anything, be it the face of the sphere or her own leg, an unsuppressable flinch rattled up through Hinata's ribcage.

It might not have been much effort to go through her routine once or twice, but she'd done the same thing nearly a hundred times now, and the top only seemed marginally closer. If her leg hadn't been broken, walking up the orb would have been simple enough, but with only one foot, she couldn't guarantee a secure enough purchase.

And yet–

'I'm going to make it.'

Hinata pushed herself up another meter, her body flush to the stone. She refused to look down; knowing how high up she was didn't matter. She had to reach the top.

'That's all that matters.'

Was she lying to herself? Hinata didn't know. But for once, she couldn't bring herself to entertain failure. She reached up once more, her arm twitching, pumped full of lactic acid. There was only so much that chakra reinforcement could do.

Maybe she could carve out a real handhold with some of the kunai in her jacket and use it to rest. Or perhaps the top was closer than she believed. At any rate, giving up was out of the question.

"That looks painful."

A voice Hinata didn't recognize came from her left, and the Hyuuga froze. Her Byakugan was deactivated, conserving chakra; it hadn't been necessary for the climb, and she hadn't considered the possibility of any threats here of all places. She couldn't see anything but the seemingly endless expanse of stone.

"Khh." It wasn't a real response, just a frustrated grunt, but it gave Hinata the focus to turn her head towards the sound.

Hinata blinked.

There was a woman floating next to her, held aloft by widespread paper wings. She had her arms crossed; it reminded Hinata of Madara Uchiha. The winged woman had sharp features, along with a small piercing right above her chin, and her hair was a dull blue, but her eyes held a strange warmth: they were a harsh shade of amber, such that Hinata practically expected to find an insect frozen within them.

But the paper wings, unique hair, and peculiar eyes: none of these drew Hinata's attention for more than a moment. The woman's clothes drew the brunt of Hinata's gaze. She wore a body-length cloak with a high color, utterly black but for several images of red clouds traced in white. The uniform of the Akatsuki.

Hinata didn't move; neither did the paper woman. They watched each other, aware of an invisible stalemate. The woman didn't betray any emotion, and Hinata, despite her position, did her best to mirror that.

"I know who you are, Hinata Hyuuga," the Akatsuki member eventually said, when it became clear Hinata wasn't going to speak. "Madara sent me; he said you may have needed assistance." The woman glanced at Hinata's obviously broken leg, and Hinata's eyes narrowed. "It seems he was not lying."

"You're Akatsuki," Hinata said without preamble, and the woman tilted her head.

"Hmm. So you do recognize the cloak."

Hinata leaned into the sphere, trying to rest. "How do you know him?"

"Madara?" the woman asked, and Hinata nodded, just a slight motion of her head. "We're… working together." Hinata took note of the pause. Hesitation to disclose information, or hesitation at the concept of working with Madara? Hinata couldn't read the woman, not yet. "We have similar goals."

The notion that Madara had kidnapped Naruto out of Konoha, an idea that Hinata had desperately been suppressing since the man had broken her leg for the first time, suddenly burned its way to the forefront of her mind. It was a cold anger, one that suffused her entire body and washed away the pain of her myriad bruises. The stubborn agony in her leg remained, a discordant pressure.

Two pieces she'd refuse to acknowledge suddenly came together. The Yondaime had told her Madara had kidnapped Gaara and Naruto the moment he had been resurrected, but the information had been blotted out by everything else on Hinata's mind. The only other group Hinata knew of that had any interest in the Jinchuriki was the Akatsuki, and now one of them was here, professing to a similar goal as Madara.

There was a connection between the Uchiha and the organization led by Pain, a connection born out of something more than necessity, and knowing that only hardened Hinata's heart.

"I don't need your help." She shifted, raising her arm and resuming her climb. The winged woman watched, unimpressed, as Hinata scaled another three meters of the sphere.

"Don't be a fool." The Akatsuki member effortlessly floated up after her, keeping pace. "You won't make it to the top at that rate."

Hinata resisted the urge to snap back. "What did Madara tell you?"

"That you were alive," the woman said. "I didn't need much else. These days, anyone who can claim that is worthy of my attention."

"Did he tell you how I got here?" Hinata asked. The spike of anger hadn't diminished, but there was some curiosity joining it. This woman was proof that Madara wasn't alone: something the Yondaime hadn't mentioned. The fact that she was Akatsuki made the whole thing both more intriguing and more dangerous.

The Akatsuki member shook her head. "No. Just that this is where I would find you."

Bits of paper flitted off of the woman's wings, swiftly darting towards Hinata. She bitterly watched them come and swung herself sideways off the stone. One hand and foot remained anchored, while her free hand came up, faintly glowing with excess chakra. She struck at the first piece of paper to come within reach of her, neatly slicing it in half. Both parts fluttered downwards, losing whatever strange animation they'd possessed.

"Hmm." The woman frowned. "If you insist."

She held her hand out, and paper streamed out of it, moving in on Hinata from every direction. The Hyuuga sliced at it with her fingers, but it was a futile effort. Within three seconds, enough had slipped between Hinata and the rock to push her off of the stone. There was a brief sensation of falling before more paper pressed in. It wrapped around her lower body, encasing it along with her arms, forcing them to her sides. No matter how Hinata pushed against it, she couldn't budge; the paper provided a preternaturally strong binding. Some wrapped around her broken leg as well, straightening it and acting as an impromptu cast.

Hinata winced at the sensation as the paper around her leg cinched, followed by the rest of the material encasing her body.

"If you had not resisted," the woman said, seeing the slight movement, "I wouldn't have had to do that."

Hinata refused to reply, and the woman's lip quirked.

"My name is Konan, Hinata Hyuuga." They both started to ascend, slowly at first and then faster and faster. They covered nearly a kilometer in about twenty seconds, Hinata studiously avoiding Konan's eyes the whole time. "Let me be the first to welcome you to Amegakure."

They crested the top of the orb, and Hinata finally saw the city in the sky in full.