SweetStealer: I'm shocked and amazed the the response to this fic. I love you guys!!!
"If the whole universe has no meaning, we should never have found out that it has no meaning: just as, if there were no light in the universe and therefore no creatures with eyes, we should never know it was dark. Dark would be without meaning."
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Chapter 10: Backfired
"Kill him."
Zetsu advanced, his eyes shining at the possibility of a fresh meal. Tobi approached from the back, cracking his knuckles while laughing behind his mysterious mask. Hidan was finishing up a prayer, his hands already cut from the small blood sacrifice he had made on the spot. Kakuzu, ever calculative, was removing his lion mask from his back. Sasori and Deidara surrounded the target, their blood hot with anticipation of a new kill. Sasori shifted his eyes towards Hinata but refocused him when Deidara kicked his foot.
Who was the target you ask? It was the Sannin known as Orochimaru. His gleaming old-ivory eyes were laughing at them all, including the Leader who stood erect before them, venom seeping from his voice.
"Orochimaru, you have crossed the line this time." Leader said with deadly calm in his voice.
"But she was just so available." the serpent laughed, malevolently.
"In addition, you have deceived this organization. You are now a liability, along with everyone else you are attached to. Kabuto and Kimimaru must go as well."
"All this because of a weakling?" Orochimaru sighed, standing still.
"You were instructed not to poison her, yet you felt the need to ensnare her." Sasori said, quietly, his body encased in the puppet Himiko? .
To him, this was Orochimaru, his former partner. He had always been quieter and more cunning then Deidara. It had been a surprise to him when the Sannin wanted to break the bonds of partnership. It had surprised him even more when the Leader agreed, sticking him with an unstable blonde who was as explosive as his personality.
"But you should have seen her...withering on the ground like...a snake." Orochimaru's eyes flashed as Zetsu summoned his vine-like tendrils.
Hinata, shaking, collapsed in a heap next to the Leader, who put a dark, shadowed hand on her shoulder. She shuddered under his touch, but his eyes never strayed to her. The red orbs remained on the great beast before them.
Itachi was furious. No, he was beyond furious. He was enraged.
She.
Was.
His.
How dare he touch Hinata. Both of the former Konoha ninja were exchanging glares of hatred and mockery. The snake wriggled and squirmed, but laughing insanely the whole time.
"Was the whore yours, Itachi-san? She served her purpose quite well."
With a snarl, Itachi had him pinned against the wall, a scene worthy of the term de-ja-vu. Kimimaru and Kabuto winced and backed into the shadows.
Yes...Orochimaru's plan his been discovered.
-Flashback 24 hours ago-
"Are you sure?" the Leader asked, his hoarse voice hissed through the darkness.
"Hai. Hinata shows no signs of the curse seal but...she is not recovering." Itachi said in a monotone voice.
There was a silence in the meeting hall. Orochimaru could all but suppress a smirk in his dark, shadowed corner. Next to him was the rarely seen apprentice of his: Kimimaru. The young boy looked at the pale form of Hinata with interest.
She was his mission?
This weak girl?
Itachi was loosely holding the scroll that Hinata had exchanged her body for in his hand. His obsidian eyes worked their ways around the room, pausing on the mocking Sannin and his indifferent apprentice.
Hinata blinked, and looked around the room with a glazed expression in her empty lily eyes. She finally began to recognize the figures in the dimmed room. The circle was always the same.
Itachi had bowed and retreated to his spot next to her. He glanced down at her, put his cold hand on her face and caressed it. Hinata, startled, began to shoot up but Itachi let his hand slide away and he sighed. Kisame, who was on Itachi's left, blinked and shot a confused look at her.
Suddenly, she couldn't suppress a cough and to her frustration and horror, blood came dripping out of her mouth. This was not the first time it had happened. She earned looks from everyone. Sasori blinked and then narrowed his eyes in Orochimaru's direction.
He reached over to squeeze her hand but Hinata, afraid, drew her hand away. Deidara sighed and poked her with two fingers in the back and she became paralyzed.
"Dammit." Hinata cursed him under her breath.
"If she doesn't recover by tomorrow, kill her." the Leader said simply.
"Hai." Itachi said, tiredly, his black eyes returning to his frozen charge.
"We'll meet again in that time. Dismissed."
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Hinata watched, fascinated. Kimimaru was as cunning as he was graceful. His bones, milky and strong, gleamed with a pale beauty that she knew she could never achieve with her eyes. Though he was the apprentice of Orochimaru, his skill was tempting and impressive.
She was still feverish, but she knew that if she didn't do something soon, she would die disappointing Itachi. Kimimaru was so...beautiful. Even his face had a delicate, rare beauty. She was so enthralled. He was barely older then her, but so skilled!
The boy spied her, lurking shyly in the shadows, and turned to face her. His curiosity was also overpowering his will.
"Come out." he ordered quietly.
She walked out, hesitantly. She drew the white sheet closer to her shivering body and was determined to keep eye contact.
"You are Itachi-san's apprentice, are you not?" he looked down on her.
"Yes." she whispered eyes averted to the ground.
Hinata raised her ivory orbs and looked at him straight in the eye. She was taken aback by the crystal blue color she was looking into. He stared at her critically, but smiled after a while.
"My name is Kimimaru."
"Hinata." she managed to whisper.
"What a pretty name. So sunny." he laughed.
She smiled. He was the first to comment on her name. He was also the first to laugh at her without mockery or hate or spite.
"You were a Hyuuga, right?" Kimimaru asked, withdrawing his bones.
She nodded, watching them melt back into his body. Kimimaru frowned, and knelt down in front of her.
"It's alright. I won't hurt you."
Her pearly eyes flashed and drew back, her face tinged red. He looked at her with surprise. She smiled back, her eyes still gleaming with a determined nature Kimimaru was amazed to see.
"Fight me."
"Excuse me?" he asked, getting up and raising an eyebrow.
She continued to smile, tiredly.
"Fight me." she repeated, tossing away the sheet to reveal she was only in a pair of black shorts and white teeshirt. Black ribbon raced up her right arm and a tightly wound black bandage was on her left leg. On top of that was a small weapon's pouch.
She looked like a child, with her hair pulled into a small ponytail, but Kimimaru only smiled and nodded.
"Fine."
He charged his bones flashing and a smile painting his face. Hinata, obviously deciding not to get hit, skipped backwards with every step Kimimaru took towards her.
His bones came flying by her, whizzing all around. She activated her Byakugan, and realized she couldn't use Juuken in this battle. She was no Hyuuga anymore.
They danced.
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Itachi watched from the shadows. Surprisingly, Hinata was holding up quite well. He watched as her eyes began to bleed from white to Sharingan red. He gave a start when Hinata stumbled and got grazed by one of Kimimaru's bones.
"Leave her be." Kisame ordered, as he saw his partner get up.
Itachi remained silent, watching Hinata struggle with the Sharingan. He sighed and turned, so he didn't have to see how much he needed to train her.
"KAITAN."
Abruptly, Itachi's cast his dark gaze over to where the battle was and let his eyes widen a fraction. Kisame was smirking.
'When did she learn...'
Hinata, who was smirking, looked quite pleased in herself. However, that smile only lasted a split second because she took a beating from Kimimaru who was annoyed.
Bones were flying and Hinata was falling. Kimimaru stood over her, panting.
"If you can hit me in ten moves, ten times...then I won't use my bones." Kimimaru smiled.
Hinata was panting and her eyes flashed.
Red returned to white.
"Why?" Hinata asked.
"You're pretty good." Kimimaru grinned and offered her a hand up.
She took it and they stood a little ways apart from each other. Hinata smiled happily and blinked.
"Alright."
She charged towards him. Her footsteps were silent and Kimimaru readied himself. Itachi and Kisame found themselves leaning foreward with anticipation as to how Hinata would do it.
Suddenly, Hinata, with a burst of rock and dirt, came up from under Kimimaru and hit him in the chin.
"Ichi."
The second Hinata who was charging, dodged the fingertips of bones easily. She loved the way her fist made contact with his jaw.
"Nii."
The Hinata who had come up from under the earth went down and made and swiped her leg around so that Kimimaru fell to the floor due to that his legs had buckled out from under him.
"San."
Kimimaru was up in a flash of white and he charged at her. Hinata watched as the clone that she had put underground disappeared. She did a clean backflip, turned on her palms and heard a crack as her heel connected with Kimimaru's temple.
"Shi"
Kimimaru grabbed her foot and Hinata felt herself dangling in the air. She twisted around and saw that Kimimaru's rib cage was beginning to protrude. She quickly arched her back so she was temporarily upright and hit him again in head.
"Go."
It all went quickly from there. Kimimaru had dropped her and she began to gather chakra into her hands. Her fist went into his cheek.
"Roku."
Then his collarbone.
"Shichi."
Then she kicked into his stomach and he doubled over. A small smile of satisfaction began to slip onto her features.
"Hachi."
Another sidekick to his stomach made Kimimaru gasp for air.
"Kyuu."
The boy made one final attempt to capture her by grabbing her hands firmly. Hinata closed her eyes, flipped upwards, taking him with her.
As they defied gravity, Hinata slipped her hands out of Kimimaru's grasp and curled her hand into a fist. The final blow came to Kimimaru's cheek where there was the sound of bone breaking.
"Juu."
Hinata, exhausted, fell onto the ground while Kimimaru tumbled down next to her. Ignoring the sharp, pinching pain in her arm, she closed her eyes. She was breathing heavily and she could faintly hear footsteps approaching her. Itachi, surprised but satisfied, bent down next to her and whispered,
"Well done."
Suddenly, there was a sharp pain near her heart and she spit blood out of her mouth. Itachi looked at her dark blood and his eyes narrowed. He motioned for Kisame to come over and he hissed,
"She's been poisoned."
They looked over at Kimimaru who was standing up, his eyes glazed over. A syringe was in his hand, filled with Hinata's blackened blood.
"G-gomen." he whispered and disappeared in a puff of smoke.
-End Flashback-
The Leader was most displeased at how this turned out. He knew he shouldn't have trusted Orochimaru, but on what basis could he trust any of the others? He cast his gaze over to Itachi who was fuming, Kisame who was unbinding the Samehada, Sasori who was already edging his puppets closer and closer to Orochimaru as he protected himself in the puppet, and to Deidara who was molding his clay.
"Kill him. Now." he ordered.
They charged, emotionlessly, ready to kill their former member.
"You don't want to be doing that. You see," Orochimaru laughed while dodging all of their attacks with ease. "I have something you need, Itachi."
Itachi, his face the very picture of indifference, never batted an eyelash when he answered,
"What?"
Time stopped when Orochimaru took out the Uchiha scroll that Deidara recognized as the bargaining tool that he had used to leur Hinata into trading her body for. He hadn't, however, kept his side of the bargain.
"It's the cure for the Mangeykyo Sharingan. It's getting painful to use, isn't it?" Orochimaru smiled widely, his teeth gleaming.
Itachi and the others stopped. Hinata, in a state of panic, tried to scream out but the Leader put a hand over her mouth.
"Your girl over there traded her body for this. She wanted to help you. It's so sweet it's sickening."
Itachi glared at Hinata who looked away.
"But how about this...I give you the scroll in exchange for the girl."
Sasori and Deidara looked quickly at Itachi who blinked. Kisame narrowed his eyes and tightened his grip on the Samehada.
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Itachi could only stare at Orochimaru. The serpent was laughing at him, holding the yellowing scroll as his wild card. Itachi knew he needed that scroll. His life, literally, depended on it. Already his eyesight was leaving him at a steady rate. Everything was blurring and shadowing. What could he do?
He could...he could sell out Hinata. The man glanced over to the girl who was looking at him, silently pleading with her milky eyes not to do the things he was thinking about. She knew. She knew he wanted to sell her and betray her. He cared for himself. This was the way it had always been.
Itachi's fading red gaze began to wander around the room, avoiding his teammates' eyes and glares. He looked at Hinata, and then at Orochimaru. The snake was smiling widely, as if he was waiting to welcome him into a whole different screwed up world. There was a gain for him if he agreed, but there was the loss of Hinata. What was she to him anyway?
There was one choice left.
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"No."
Itachi charged his eyes aglow with the Mangeykyo Sharingan and a kunai gripped in his hand. Hinata shut her eyes and gripped the Leader's cloak so tightly her knuckles turned white.
Orochimaru, his eyes gleaming, disappeared in a puff of smoke. Kimimaru and Kabuto vanished as well. Itachi turned to look at Hinata who was staring at him with now wide-open eyes. He dropped his kunai and walked over to her.
"Why would you do such a thing." Itachi said, his tone hard and unforgiving.
"G-gomen." Hinata cowered and began to stumble over her words.
"Why did you do that?!" he said, his voice beginning to escalate.
The others looked away. She was still too human. She still held onto the old Itachi, when they all knew he had long disappeared into the darkness.
"Itachi. I cured her." Sasori said his voice monotone.
"What?" the Uchiha muttered.
"I cured her myself. Kisame told me and I was lucky enough to have enough ingredients to make an antidote for it." he paused, not knowing how to go on."She has the Sharingan, but the poison is out of her body. Orochimaru was flawed when he thought there was no antidote."
"How did you know?" Itachi murmured, stepping back.
"Last meeting, she spit up black blood. Kisame just confirmed my suspicions. Orochimaru-sama was good in covering in tracks."
There was a silence. Deidara shouted,
"And what about Orochimaru-sama?!"
"Let him go...Orochimaru is strong, and he could kill all of you. He does not know the full plans and I doubt that he will spill a lot." the Leader sighed, and shot a warning glare to the agitated Akatsuki members.
There was more silence that only aggravated some of the members. Zetsu and Tobi vanished as well, to go brood in their separate corners. Hidan and Kakuzu, who were muttering, brushed past Hinata and the Leader, upset that there was no fight. Hidan let his gaze wander to Hinata who narrowed her eyes.
He smirked.
Deidara and Sasori risked glares at the Leader and Sasori came out of his puppet. The Leader rested at cold hand on Hinata's shoulder.
"I do, however, have a new mission for you."
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Thank you.