Notes: Yay angst and horror! There is no explination about this work so if you must complain, then send my an e-mail. OR better yet, just tell it straight to my muse, Hades and Raphael. Thank you.
Warning: If this is not your cup of tea, and you want something lighter, go visit Summer Chaos. But thanks for reading, anyway.
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Chapter 2: Abhorrence
Hinata mutely noted, with some disgust, that she was becoming nothing more then a trial and encumbrance to Itachi. She needed to stop. They had been sprinting for over a course of five days. She didn't want to admit it, but she was worn out. They hadn't had any stops since her little tumble into the mud two days ago and a few breaks for food or a drop of water.
The dirt was still caked on, clinging to every inch of her skin and making her whole body feel dry and cracked. Never in her life had she felt so...defiled. Ugly, even.
She cringed when she heard the branches snap threateningly in the cold wind. It was the middle of summer, now, but soon it would be autumn. It would be getting colder...much colder.
Hinata realized that she might have to fend for herself, all alone in this wilderness. She would have to be independent. There was the option of returning to Konoha, but she knew she would be better off here then there, facing the wrath of her bipolar father.
How lonely this journey was turning out to be!
Itachi was silent, unless insulting her, and he was quick and dark as a shadow. It was hard to keep up with him, even in the daylight.
So many questions ran through her mind.
'Where are you, Itachi-sensei?'
'What happened?'
'Where are we going?'
'Are you mad at me...do you hate me, now?'
Hinata, once regaining her breath, took off again. Her legs burned from the agony of running so hard, and her lungs felt like they would burst. It wasn't fair.
"Why?" she whispered to herself.
The sun danced among the trees, the cold wind had disappeared, giving her a false sense of safety. She was never safe. So why had she gone with him? He had been so nice! So forgiving...so...
'Loving?' her mind answered.
The emotion that had controlled her body for a short time had receded into the back of her mind, but it crept out again. It burned her blood and made her grit her teeth with the anger of defeat.
She whimpered as she abruptly felt searing pain rush up her leg in a sharp spasm. Her eyes burned with unshed tears.
Hot tears of pain and anger.
How had things come to this? He was supposed to protect her! Not leave her to die in some god forsaken forest!
But wait...
Was he testing her?
Hinata's mind began to tumble over new found questions. Was he really doing this to test her?
To help her?
Or was this to kill her?
It felt like it.
Itachi...Itachi...Itachi...
'What happened to you...?' Hinata thought, fear rising into her mind.
What would she become?
Itachi watched her from the top of the trees, feeling the burden of outright disappointment. She wasn't keeping up. She was being a worthless hindrance. She was slowing him down. If the Konoha ANBU caught up with them...she was on her own.
'You're letting me down, Hinata.' he thought to himself.
He watched as Hinata took off again, and saw her visibly shudder with pain. He sighed.
'You can't keep up. Why the hell did I put a bond between us. Why did I mark you?' he clenched his teeth as he leaped from branch to branch, easily keeping a steady speed with his new play toy.
'Because you loved her.' his mind answered simply.
Itachi never faltered in his step, but he stiffened. Seeing her again...yes he had been happy. She was still his bit of light, but he was a lot colder now. Why did he need light? It was safer to hide in the dark. He liked the dark. He was a murderer.
'A demon.'
"She's so quiet." he muttered.
He thought back to when she flung mud at him. He noted it was a weak attempt, but he had also seen something flash in his eyes.
That emotion... Was it a possibility? Of what? Anger? Hatred...
"Yes..." he hissed to himself.
He would continue to test her. After all, he was excited. She was proving to be a very interesting pupil.
He suddenly remembered that Hinata needed to catch up with him. He doubled his speed and left her behind until she could see him again.
Catch me if you can.
Kisame Hoshigaki leaned against an oak in a rather lazy manner. He was re-wrapping the bandages on the Samehada, for it had just eaten fresh chakra. It was also a good way to take out his pent up frustration of being left behind in the forest while his mysterious partner went to fetch his 'person'.
Kisame laughed, recalling how he had killed his last victim.
Ah, that beautiful taste of chakra and blood.
Sweet, satisfying, free.
At the moment, the shark demon had no price to pay for all of his current bloodshed. Back home...the other massacres were another story. He was free from all bonds, yes, but his home hung over his head like an ax.
He sighed.
All of a sudden, Itachi appeared in front of him, cold and smug. Behind him was a girl, gasping for oxygen and much needed rest.
Pathetic and unexpected.
Kisame stopped in mid-wrap. He eyed the muddy purple haired girl, then Itachi and then his eyes traveled back to the girl.
"No." was his first answer to an unvoiced statement, but silently implied.
"Yes." Itachi said in a bored tone with a hint of defiance.
Kisame growled and Hinata shrank back, her eyes wandering everywhere but onto his face. The shark man smirked when he saw her eyes travel over to a bloody mass of blood, muscles, tissues, bones and organs.
His last victim.
Hinata bit her lip so hard it bled. She felt drop after drop of blood fall onto her hands. They were curled up between her chest and her breath came out in a ragged puffs.
All that blood.
Hinata found it impossible to tear her eyes away from the sanguine fluids. It frightened her...yet she found it odd.
It was her first encounter with a dead, bloody...thing. It couldn't even be called a body anymore. It was just a pile of torn muscles and cream colored bones.
Hinata found herself edging closer to it. The smell was unbearable. She could feel heat coming off of it. She was so disgusted.
She could see the blue cloth and silver glint of a hitai-ate.
So this person was a ninja...
Hinata was never so curious.
How strange and foreign this pile of mystery was...who was he? What did he do? Did he have...a family?
A loving family?
There's something I wanted...
Hinata stopped and stared at it, enthralled.
Something I needed to experience.
Step.
Someone to love me.
Step.
A family who would smile at me. With love.
Step.
That's all I wanted...That, and nothing else.
Itachi broke his glare from Kisame and followed his gaze to see Hinata standing before a gruesome pile of...what was once a body.
"You killed freshly? So far from civilization?" he asked, indifferent.
"You'd be surprised on what young people you can find out here. This one was barely her age." Kisame gave a hollow laugh and nodded in Hinata's direction.
Itachi saw Hinata stiffen and take a step back, horrified. Her brow furrowed in an unknown sadness and horror.
It was a child. This was once a child...like me.
Hinata began to cry silently.
They can kill children?
She let the tears spill out because if she didn't cry over this shredded body, who, in this wilderness, would?
She turned to face Itachi who stared back at her with empty red eyes. He saw her tears and something hit his very heart. He began to experience the pain she was feeling.
He cringed.
This was intense, even for him. Hinata's emotions flowed through every cell in his body and it was a lot to take in. She was feeling an unbearable sorrow, disappointment, exhaustion...anger.
The smallest hint of anger.
Itachi knew this was what she had to feed on if she was ever to become one of them.
Finally, he felt relief from the pain. Hinata collapsed in front of the child's destroyed body. Itachi turned to Kisame who looked at the girl with curious and suspicious eyes.
"Leave her be. She is no use to us." he muttered and shot up onto a tree branch.
Itachi walked over to her and stared down at her pale, muddy features. She was filthy in body, but not in her soul. He was clean, but his soul was not. How strangely ironic...
He glared at the shredded body of what was once a child as if had been the cause of all the trouble, and picked up Hinata. She groaned in his arms but did not regain consciousness. Itachi held her close and was well aware that Kisame was watching him with cold, uncaring eyes.
"Set her down, Uchiha. She is not wanted."
"She is. She will be of use to us." he murmured and turned to walk away.
Suddenly, while cradling Hinata with one arm, he lifted his other, and silently buried Kisame's last victim that had caused Hinata so much horror and curiosity.
A tempting, isolated grave.
The joys of blood and bone.
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Notes: It's a longer chapter, I think. I'll try to make them longer, so for now, remember patience is a virtue! evil grin Review or whatever.