Hinata! You've got a visitor!"
Hyuuga Hinata lifted her head too quickly and felt a distinct, painful crack. In fact, her entire spine had been cracking lately. She rubbed her neck and blushed, remembering how she had bawled to Ino about her body not being able to withstand the pains of pregnancy. Along with her strange cravings, her eyes hurt constantly, her feet hurt, her muscles ached, her bladder was driving her insane, and she couldn't stop seeing red. The tiniest things would set her off on someone for no reason whatsoever, and it was starting to scare her co-workers. The little group was going to see Alice in Wonderland at the end of the week, and she had been made to promise she wouldn't yell at the screen about the terrible effects like she did with New Moon, or the girls in the audience who cried at the sappy romance of it all.
A little embarrassing. The seventeen-year-old mother-to-be maneuvered herself to the frontline of the small truckstop Subway. Down the aisle, at the head of the line of customers, a pitiful looking middle-aged man with a receding hairline and giant bat ears atop his head waited to be served.
A small, sad, tired smile twitched her mouth. It was shallow of the rest of the girls, but she had been dubbed the 'Freak Artist' because of her lack of judgment on those affected by the miasma from that unknown realm. She really didn't understand the details, exactly, but the basics Neji told her were this: Small wormholes had been appearing once or twice here and there every few years, small tears in the space separating realms, and a vile cloud had spilled forth, tainting those who breathed it if not killing them outright. Religious fanatics had a field day with the phenomena. Mass suicides, human sacrificial offerings to appease God and stop the Apocalypse… It was insane.
Some went insane, screaming about the monsters in the closet actually becoming reality. Some went on monster killing sprees. Most just blew it off as genetic mutations that had nothing to do with them.
The 'worst' discovery was that the mutated genes could be hereditary: In many countries, those altered by the miasma were forbidden to breed or were just plain stoned to death.
In this chaotic world, she thought solemnly as she gave the man a sunny smile and served him, How far away are we from a global genocide?
She wondered what her co-workers would think of her if they knew she was one of these freaks they feared so much. Most felt right at home being friends with her. What would they think if they knew she could see all of their internal workings and prick their spleens with her eyesight, slowly bleeding them to death without them ever knowing?
Her smile strained as she wished the man a good day. Simple. She would lose her job. Or rather, she would just never come back. It was not something she was brave enough to face head on. The rejection, the ugly stares, the 'accidental' bumps in the ribs that could cause her to fall and lose her precious child. No. It would never be worth it. Too many terrible outcomes whizzed through her mind.
Ino bounced up to her with her eyes boring into the man's back as he left. Hinata nudged the blonde's shoulder gently. "See, that wasn't so bad.. He was more afraid of you than you were of him.."
"Not likely," Ino muttered, then turned a wide sparkly grin on Hinata. "Hinata! Have you talked to him yet?"
"Who?" Hinata questioned cluelessly, averting her eyes and untying her apron. Time to go home.
Ino waved and pointed wildly out the front windows, where Hinata's ride was pulling up. The blinding yellow of the new Camaro stunned her for an instant, the way it always did. The bright color fit the driver perfectly. Speaking of which…
"HERE HE COMES!" Ino whispered furiously, immediately fussing with her ponytail.
Hinata just shook her head at the girl. Really, Deidara was beautiful in his own way, but he'd not managed to stun her like the other girls he came across. Her first opinion of him was how childishly adorable he was, and how she wished her baby was born with his personality. She practiced her motherhood skills on him more than was needed when guys tried hitting on him.
Ironic, considering he was suppose to be her body-guard.
"Hinata, Hinata, Hinata," the blonde droned, flipping his bangs away from his face. No point, considering they just fell right back into place.
Hinata scrutinized him as she clocked out. He wasn't overly tall, being only a few inches higher than herself, but he did have the slender sinewy muscles girls seemed to coo over. Right now, he was showing those off with a sleeveless black top that shimmered like silk, skintight of course, with tight leather pants and half-laced Doc Marten's to top it off. A chain was wrapped around his waist in lieu of a belt, the slack hanging down to slap his knee when he walked. It didn't look possible, but Hinata knew he had a gun on him somewhere, though how he managed to hide it anywhere was beyond her.
"I still don't understand why you prefer to work in this fast food slum," he muttered loudly, crossing his arms and cocking one hip to the side. Hinata smacked his arm. His icy blue gaze swept the length of the room before his nose wrinkled. She blushed at the cuteness and reached up to fix his loosening ponytail. He stayed obediently still as she patted his hair down, then turned a tiny hint of a smile on her.
"There. Now you don't look.. Quite so beatnik," she teased gently, removing her visor and waving to Ino, who was busy blotting the drool from her mouth with a napkin.
Deidara heaved a dramatic sigh and shook his head. "I had to be stuck with the one girl in the universe who doesn't swoon at my sexiness. Do you even think I'm sexy, yeah?"
Hinata tilted her head slightly. "You're… You're sexy…" She sounded so uncertain, Deidara stumbled back in mock hurt.
"Ouch, that was totally convincing, yeah." He grinned and offered his arm. She took it gladly and leaned against his solid strength. She waved at the other blonde, who was much too busy picking herself up to notice.
Deidara held the door open for her like always, waiting for her to slide in and get comfortable before shutting the door. Hinata inhaled the tangy citrus scent of the car and relaxed. Her hands fell gently to the swell of her stomach, a delighted giggle bubbling up when the life inside kicked. Deidara slid into the driver's seat and glanced at her, eyeing the stomach warily.
"D-do you want to feel..?"
"No," he stated quickly, looking away to start the engine and swing out of the parking lot. Tires squealed and slid, but Hinata was too preoccupied to remind Deidara about laws. Boy, was the baby full of it today. Another kick, this time in the general area of her bladder. She winced. She was starting to hate bathrooms.
"What's for supper?" Deidara broke the silence first.
Hinata rubbed her stomach thoughtfully, staring at the bump as if asking. Deidara stole a quick glance and smirked. If ever there was a good teen mother, it'd be Hinata. She was infatuated with the little parasite from the very beginning.
The blonde shook his head and checked his reflection in the rearview. He'd never understand this girl. Her family had abandoned her because of this kid, now the Uchiha were having second thoughts about her. She almost had to leave her hometown and her high school, her friends and her little sister. The Uchiha and Hyuuga weren't the only powerful ones out there tainted by the poisonous gas. If word got out about the spawn of two of the most elite bloods, Orochimaru and his fucked up experiments would be the least of their worries. And yet here she was, cooing and fondling the little leech like nothing was wrong with her life. She was perfectly content just to have him, her part-time jobs, and her school. And, of course, the baby. And the father of that baby who wasn't allowed to see her anymore. But did.
He shook his head. Maybe she wasn't too bad off. From what he'd heard her family sucked ass anyway.
"T-taco Bell," she said finally, gazing up at him through her lashes.
"Sounds good to me."
"Do you seriously think you'll eat six tacos, yeah? And a gordita supreme?"
"I think WE will, yes."
"I think you need a treadmill. Get a head start, y'know, cause I think you're gonna need it, yeah."
A solid thwack was heard as keys jangled outside the front door of the apartment. The bulk taking up the small red loveseat directly adjacent to it shifted slightly. He was a sadist. He couldn't help making a surprise entrance. The bulk grunted and stretched his arm into the air to work out the kinks. 7:30 at night. He'd been waiting three hours.
There was a hush outside. Things stilled. The slick sound of a key sliding in and twisting in the latch echoed quietly. He leaned forward, elbows resting on his knees and a sharp-toothed grin stretching his face. Gills ruffled anxiously.
The door slammed open, banging off the wall behind it. A red dot appeared directly in the center of his blue forehead. The blonde sillouhette in the doorway stood rigid, gun unwavering as he took precise aim.
Kisame threw his head back and roared with laughter. The gun lowered slightly as another head peeked around the doorway. Deidara reached over and flipped the overhead light on, face red with anger.
"KISAME, YOU DICK! I almost shot your dumb ass, yeah!"
"You would've missed," Kisame answered without missing a beat, standing to his full almost seven foot height.
Deidara's face turned redder. "Tch. Not likely. What the hell are you doing here, anyway?"
Deidara glanced down at the head behind him and cocked a blonde brow. "What?"
Hinata was staring at him with a sly, triumphant look. "I-I knew you hid it in your hair."
His one visible eye twitched. The barrel of the gun was suddenly right in her face. "I should shoot you for not taking anything seriously, yeah."
She closed her eyes and delicately lowered the gun with two small fingers. "Who would give your life meaning then, Deidara…?"
Deidara just tsked again and took the food bags from her, Kisame watched the exchange curiously. From his experiences with the blonde brat, he was a total priss who never got along with anyone. He could make a wedding depressing just by being there by his emo self. He was almost as bad as Sasuke in that sense.
"Kisame-san?"
The soft voice brought his attention below. He had to tilt his head completely down just as Hinata had to crane her neck to look him in the eyes. She studied his features passively, while he waited expectantly. Her gaze dropped from his strange eyes to his gills while Deidara stood off to the side, obviously unhappy with her being within six feet from the monster.
"A…Aw…"
Deidara sweat dropped and Kisame looked totally dumbfounded. Hinata laughed behind her hand, cheeks pink. "They're so cute. S-sorry, I didn't mean to be rude. Itachi-nii said you would be coming, Kisame-san. I-I set up the guest room for you."
Her hand lowered to rest on her stomach. "I-I don't know.. If it'll be b-big enough.. But the ceiling is higher in here, if you'd prefer the hide-a-bed.."
"That's MY bed," Deidara muttered.
Kisame smirked down at her, giving his best sneer. This girl. She had no idea, welcoming him so warmly into her home. Hinata took the sneer as an intimidation tactic to test her. She simply smiled and excused herself to change out of her uniform. Deidara watched her closely and waited for the bedroom door to close. Then turned his cool, calm gaze on the shark.
"Cute?" Kisame stared.
Deidara shrugged, open palmed so his tongues could loll out for fresh air. "She finds the weirdest shit cute. Like these things.
"What're you really here for? There's no need for a second guard. No plausible reason for the Uchiha to send another. Even if that were the case, they wouldn't send you. You're like their seek and destroy missile, yeah, the trump card." His eyes hardened. "What the fuck did they tell you to do?"
"My job," Kisame answered simply.
Deidara lowered his head. "Your job…"
"Ah! Oh no!"
Both male heads snapped to the hallway. Neither had even heard her return. She had stripped of her uniform and gone straight for the pajamas. A simple two-piece set, black with silver stars around the hems of the button-down shirt with matching pants baggy enough to almost totally hide her feet. Her hair was loose down her back, feet bare to reveal dark purple-painted toes like Deidara's. How cute.
Her hand was over her mouth. Kisame's thick muscles tightened, ready to pounce if she had it figured out.
"Kisame-san, we already picked up our food…"
Yellow eyes blinked. Uh, what?
"He's a tough guy, he'll be fine, yeah." Deidara walked toward her, wrapping an arm around her neck and dragging her backward to the small kitchen area. "Let him starve off some of those gross muscles."
Kisame leered at the two, then lazed over to the front door and shut it. Closing them off from the outside world. He couldn't supress a ripple of vicious excitement and grinned. She was obviously skilled, to have snuck up on his sensitive ears, and chock full of surprises.. This might be more fun than anticipated.
I know, wtf, Zetsubel?
Well, this was the first chapter two I was gonna go with, then on a whim went with the second version. But I just couldn't let this one go. I like Deidara too much.
Hopefully I can get my Lord Zetsu in there somewhere without killing him off. And I hate making Ino such a bitch, cuz I actually really like her, but. She'll probably mature as the story progresses.
If you have questions about any inconsistencies, please let me know. I'll try and fix 'em up. For now, enjoy the new second chapter. xD