SweetStealer: ALRIGHT! I want to thank all of my reviewers especially the new ones! And MissShannell, it's ok about Dei. He's prolly a girl anyway.
Deidara: I HEARD THAT, YEAH.
Sweets: I don't own Naruto. Please don't kill me.
I love life.
Notes: Ok. The blood shed and killing will come soon enough. Orochimaru is in this with Kabuto and Kimimaru. Reminder: ALTERNATE-UNIVERSE PEOPLE!
Ahem. Thank you.
Don't forget to r.e.v.i.e.w.!
Chapter Five: Haunted
They took flight by the cover of the silver clouds as thunder rolled overhead. Lightning flashed as a warning in the distance, making Hinata shake. Goosebumps rose on her arms as a gust of cold north wind blasted her right in the body.
The clothing Itachi had given her was not the best. She was better off in her old clothes. She had been forced to used medical tape as undergarments because her old stuff was torn and bloody from weather abuse.
She was dressed in a black skort that went to the knee, a black mesh teeshirt covered her well and she had washed and worn her old white coat which had grown thin with wear over that.
Yet, she had acquired another item.
A black cloak was scattered with red clouds that looked like they held blood, not rain. A simple straw, farmer's hat was on her head and a purple polish was applied to her hands. The hat was tagless. She would earn it, in time, Itachi had told her when he handed it to her. For the first time, Hinata felt pride. The same type of pride she felt when she was presented with her hitai-ate.
Yet this was the uniform of an assassin, not a well behaved ninja.
This was the uniform of a killer.
The Akatsuki were on the prowl.
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"Please let me go with you!" Hinata cried desperately as she saw Itachi pack up and begin to leave.
"You are in no condition to move. You will only burden the mission and end up getting one or all of us killed." Itachi said, emotionlessly.
Hinata shot up from where she had been kneeling, and stumbled hurriedly over to where Itachi was walking away. Earlier that day, she had stepped on a broken branch and was not able to quite regain her balance. Her ankle was out of place and Sasori and Deidara had been forced to rescue her or let her fall to her death.
Deidara liked the latter idea.
But now she clutched wretchedly at his cloak, feeling distressed and useless. She knew he was going to leave her.
"Stay here with Deidara, Hinata." Sasori said, calmly, kneeling in front of her and stroking her hair.
"Don't touch me." Hinata hissed, turning her head sharply and taking out a kunai.
Sasori drew back abruptly, surprised at her response. Itachi watched her turn livid with anger at being left with the explosion master. He remained indifferent, though, while Kisame grinned. Deidara was also unhappy about the arrangement.
"Why should I stay with the brat, yeah?" he said, his polite voice having a razor sharp edge to it.
"We need the money. These look like rich travellers." Sasori muttered.
"She's under your protection, Deidara. If you kill her I will make you wish you had never been born." Itachi said coldly and with that, shot into the air with Kisame and Sasori following him closely. Hinata activated her Byakugan and watched them until they passed the two hundred meter mark and she had to withdraw.
Deidara unfastened his cloak and slid down the side of a tree. He examined the girl who was standing, still disappointed and fearful. The criminal smiled wickedly and was behind her in a flash.
Hinata gasped, and tried to strike at him. She gave up quite quickly when Deidara had pinned her against the hard, unforgiving bark of a tree.
"You know why Itachi-senpai left you?" Deidara taunted.
Hinata glared, unamused at being held hostage and dangling in the air, her back against the tree and the only thing holding her up was the hands of a person she disliked very much at the moment.
"It's because you're useless, yeah. He's just bringing you back so the Leader can experiment with you, yeah. So don't get any stupid ideas about being saved." Deidara smiled easily, giving a very superior feel to the conversation.
"So why are you stuck here with a-a useless person like me?" Hinata muttered, breathlessly.
"Don't be foolish, yeah. My art is flashy and causes too much chaos. This was a stealth assassination, yeah. There was no need for explosions this time, yeah." Deidara leaned against the tree, with his infuriating grin plastered to his face.
Hinata was slammed onto the dewy grass as Deidara let her drop a good two feet. She realized that he was tall. The man before her smirked.
"You know what we do on assassinations, yeah?" he whispered, darkly.
Hinata slowly raised her gaze.
"Sometimes we slit a throat, yeah. All that sticky, sweet blood comes out. It's a wonderful feeling, yeah. Sasori can rip a man's arms out of his sockets without ever touching him, himself. And Kisame will skin you alive until you're all tissue and bones, yeah..."
Hinata vaguely remembered the mass of flesh back when she had first met the terrifying shark demon. She didn't want to hear this.
"But Itachi is the worst of all, yeah...he makes it so you can't even die in reality. He has to slaughter you inside your mind. The Mangekyo Sharingan is a psychological tool that is feared. You want to know how many he's killed with-"
"Stop!" Hinata shrieked, putting her hands over her ears.
Deidara laughed.
"See what you've gotten into, my dear?" he ridiculed quietly, advancing on her.
"Stop it! Stop it! Stop it!" she screamed, her voice echoing in the woods.
"This was your choice..." Deidara said, severely, enjoying her torment.
Hinata doubled over and began to cry. Itachi wasn't supposed to have turned out like this...Where was he? Where was her savior now? A man of torment. A punisher. A murderer.
You can never go back.
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This was her last chance to turn and make a mad dash for home. Her mind screamed and wailed for her to move away from the entrance of the cave. Her feet, however, were rooted to the ground. Her eyes observed the dark opening where she couldn't see beyond three feet. There was no light, save the sunlight that danced on the rock.
"If you go in there...you can never return to Konoha." Itachi murmured, staring into the cave.
Hinata nodded, dumbly. She fumbled with the knot around her hitai-ate and finally cut it out of frustration. She unwound it slowly, forever imprinting the memory in her mind.
She clutched the hitai-ate and held the cold metal against her chest, wearily. This decision would change her life. When she was younger, the only hard decisions she thought she had to make was whether to get chocolate ice cream, or strawberry. Did she want to get married right away, or be single for a while?
And of course...did she want to be the Hyuuga heiresss and throw her life to papers and branding the Branch members like animals? Or did she want to refuse the title and see the world?
Apparently, she had chosen the second one when she had snuck out the window and taken off with Itachi. She had chosen what her life would become, the second she stepped onto that roof and met with him. There was no one to blame, but herself.
I guess this is how I'm going to see the world.
What was this feeling?
This feeling of dread and hope?
Is this Itachi-sensei felt when he saw this?
Then it hit her.
They do not feel. They had let go of humanity long before. 'Feeling' meant nothing to them.
Is this what I have to do?
Hinata realized she had to let go of everything she held dear in order to excel here. This wasn't all fun and games, as Itachi had said before.
The girl took a step forward.
What am I doing?
Another shaky, uncertain step.
Someone stop me.
Kisame and Deidara brushed past them impatiently and walked into the darkness with deliberate, even steps. They two assassins looked over their shoulders and leered at her. Their eyes were sharp and taunting.
"Are you coming in?" Kisame hissed.
They turned.
"Or will you back out?" Deidara whispered over his shoulder.
The young girl stiffened and chills raced up her spine. Nausea overcame her as she continued to watch their retreating backs. She listened faintly until she could hear them no more.
I don't want to go in there...
"Will you leave your title behind? Or do you want to remain in the cage all of your life?" Sasori asked, indifferently, walking towards the cave that seemed to swallow him up.
This is suicide.
She took two steps this time, more even, more sure. Her eyes were glazed over. Itachi continued to walk behind her. She heard voices. Whispers urging her on. Whispers urging her back. They hissed in her ears, haunting her footfalls.
"Go on." Itachi said, in what was his first gentle tone.
Hinata looked at him over her shoulder. He wasn't looking at her, but looking at the cave. He looked down at her.
"No matter what awaits you inside..." he began to walk past her.
Hinata rushed to keep up with him, his strides bigger then hers.
"...I will stay by you. Angel."
Ah. His pet name for her. It hadn't been used in...it hadn't been used ever. Not since he had left all his humanity behind in the heart of a young girl. A girl he had cared for so much.
And the darkness slithered over her pale body. She looked back into the sunlight where she once stood a few moments before. Her white eyes surveying the world she knew she was leaving forever.
Hinata Hyuuga was dead forever.
In her place was a shadow, a ghost, who would never look upon daylight the same way ever again.
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Sweets: Ok, ok, ok. I know it's kind of a repetative chapter, but I was trying to like...idk...show her feelings of going into the Akatsuki lair.
Itachi: You suck at it, btw.
Sweets: IM SORRY!!!!!!!!!! But on the up side, I GOT 25 REVIEWS! Thanksyous!!!!!
Deidara: REVIEW YEAH!