A/N: Sorry for the lack of updates. The last two weeks have been hell for me. Midterms, people! Here you start getting a little taste of what led to the present circumstances.
Wonder/Wander
Chapter 3
Three Years Ago
She watched the death of the universe, and then was there to watch it be born.
She watched humans worshipping a tree. Watched Kaguya Otsustsuki taste the forbidden fruit and end wars. She watched Hagoromo kill a god.
She watched war after war and death after death. She could see it all, and throughout felt her binding tear at her flesh.
She didn't know she could scream so loud. And then, one day, it ended.
...
...
...
Hinata opened her eyes, and all was quiet on the battlefield.
Konohamaru watched the woman before him. She was still smiling at him as if nothing was wrong.
After a few seconds, his brain caught up to the situation. "Hyuga Hinata? The heir of the Hyuga clan?"
She nodded, "That's me!"
"I thought - everyone thought you were dead, or under the influence of the Infinite Tsukuyomi."
"And what? Are you disappointed I'm alive?" Despite the words, which would be bitter in anybody else's voice, she sounded genuinely curious.
"No! I'm just... surprised, I guess." What was he supposed to say? He didn't really know her, she was just on the long list of victims that he perused long ago.
She laughed, "I'm just kidding! It's fine if you'd rather I be dead, I've gotten that lots of time!"
She didn't look like she was kidding about that.
That was kind of sad. "Why are you in a cage?" He stepped closer to her. She certainly didn't seem like she warranted such precautions.
Her brow furrowed as she concentrated. "Um, I'm not really sure. I was just walking around one day and suddenly a bunch of shinobi showed up and demanded I go with them. I didn't want to, but it got tiring fighting them after the fiftieth one showed up."
Konohamaru started. Fifty? She fought fifty shinobi, without chakra? His eyes flicked to the bars separating them. Maybe they were needed a little.
"Heee~y," She smiled and from this angle he thought it looked a little... devious, "Can you come here for a second?"
"Closer?" He asked for clarification. It's not like he was very far away.
"Uh-huh! I wanna show you something!"
Bars, they were there for a reason, he reminded himself, but he couldn't think of any reason that could be. She looked nice enough and what little he had heard of her before made her out to be an angel.
Before he could stop himself, he was practically pressed up against the bars.
Hinata smiled. Then her hand flew forward and wrapped around the neck of his shirt. She pulled as hard as she could and his face collided against the bars. Stars floated before his eyes! The back of his neck burnt and he heard a loud snap! When she pushed him away he realized what she had done. Before he even reached the ground, alarm bells rang in his mind.
The key!
The cage opened with a loud creak. When he opened his eyes, she was already jumping out.
He shook the dizziness away and stood to give her chase.
She smiled and winked at him. Then she jumped...
It had been a long time since he had seen somebody take to the trees.
That required chakra, chakra called the God Tree, and that called down death. Maybe he was in shock or something. Three years was a long time, after all.
He turned when he heard something fall. There were the water bottles on the ground, all the water slipping out. Right next to Megumi.
She didn't look happy.
Her voice rang out through the deathly still forest.
"The flowers have bloomed."
Keep on moving. One foot in front of the other. Right. Left. Right. Left.
"Aren't they all beautiful?"
Right. Left. Right - ooh, squirrel!
Hinata came to an abrupt stop as she turned to stare at the fluffy-tailed creature. A grin spread over her face and she stalked towards it. To its credit, it did nothing but stare. She wasn't being sneaky in the least, choosing instead to walk towards it head on. When she was two feet away, its tail twitched and it sped off into the distance.
She whined and pouted, but didn't move an inch.
What was she doing anyway? Oh, right! She had to get back home!
"I'm on my way, O-nii-san!" She cheered then continued rocketing through the trees, singing all the while.
And in the distance, a howl was heard.
His sword was right there. Just a few feet away. But so was that girl. She was right next to it, in fact. And even though she had resolutely turned her back to him two hours or so ago and hadn't looked at him again since, he didn't think she was so pitiful a shinobi to not notice him reaching for it.
His guard tensed as a shrieking howl was carried on the wind towards them.
He smirked. Seems like Hinata had already gotten started. He knew that whoever was in charge of moving her would never even get this far. Although it had taken longer than he expected.
"No way," Matsuri murmured and her hands tightened into fists. Fists that would do next to nothing if one of those things actually got here.
He sighed. If he actually stayed, tied up as he was, he would die if she was the only thing standing between him and death. He was hoping not to have to exert himself, but he also knew Hinata didn't know where he was. She would probably go back to their hide-out.
And she'd be using chakra.
He had tried to tell her again and again not to use it, but it was like she simply didn't understand. She could understand basic orders, and she was smarter than he gave her credit for, but tell her not to use chakra and it was like taking to a brick wall!
There was no choice.
He lunged, and the girl was so focused on keeping an eye on the distance, she didn't notice him until he already had his sword in hand. A twist and a flip and his arms were free of their bindings. She hadn't even had time to turn when his sword went through her midsection.
A/N: Any Matsuri fans out there? Well, don't hate me please! We are finally starting to get to the action. Next chapter will be more fast-paced and, hopefully, so will the chapters that follow.
Hopefully, I can start updating once a week!
Relive the Pain: Many thanks! And yeah, crazy!Hinata is gonna be fun to write. But there will be a plot relevant reason as to why she's this way. This story is only loosely inspired by it, so you won't get confused if you haven't played it. It is already very different.
Sheep-san: That should be revealed next chapter, if all goes to plan.
Please review and tell me what you liked, thought could use improvement, or even to say hi!
~ Destiny's Sweet Melody