I seen some darker places
And I decided to turn around
But they were following me, following me
Until I turned back to face them
- Capable by REMMI
It is dark and Hinata Hyuga is scared senseless.
Breathe. Some deep hidden instinct instructs her. Breathe.
She knew she could properly, now that they had removed the foul-smelling gag from her mouth. The blindfold and ropes remained. But who were 'they' anyway? What did they want? Would they hurt her?
At the thought of violence - a different kind than what she was used to - her stomach lurched and she again felt like an invisible hand was closing around her throat. Her heart thumped erratically against her chest and Hinata bit down on her lip to keep from crying out loud.
A single tear slipped down from the blindfold.
She had been thrown in the spacious back of some vehicle. The air around her smelled musty and faintly of gasoline. A van, maybe? Hinata could feel the wheels swerve as it took a sharp turn. The van went on and on. Where were they taking her?
Panic again began to set upon her as she struggled against her bonds in vain. They were bound too tight and a spike of pain went through her arms whenever she moved. With a half-sob, she gave up.
Please, God. Save me.
How long had it been? Fifteen minutes? Or longer? What if it had been hours?
Right now, Hinata worried about her father the most. He must be so angry at her for suddenly disappearing without saying anything. Especially on such an important day. Her birthday.
What if he hit Brother Neji?
"Hello...?" she called out, voice hoarse. A little louder now, "Get me out of here!" The vehicle kept on going.
If only she could SEE. Hinata prided herself on her keen eyesight the most. She was sure she could figure out something if only she could be able to see around her.
She pushed herself off from the corner she had huddled in and with a huff, began crawling forward on her knees slowly. There must be a lock or a window or something that she could open and escape through. There had to be.
Help me, God.
Hinata had only moved a few inches forward when she felt a sudden lurch and her breath stilled.
The van had stopped.
"Seriously, I don't know what's wrong with you today."
Karin didn't pause her pacing of the room for a second. "Nothing's wrong with me, fish face."
"Oh, something's definitely up. You on your period or someth-" Suigesu ducked behind the back of the couch as a book whizzed past his head. It hit a vase on top of the mantelpiece with a crash. He winced. "Hopefully Sasuke won't get mad about-" He only had a fraction of a second to duck the second object thrown in the direction of his nose. "Hey! Can you stop acting like a bitch for just a fucking second?"
To his surprise, Karin had resumed her endless rotation around the room. It was scary how quickly she could switch from an aggressive psycho to a maddening fidgeting woman.
Females.
A little more cautiously now, Suigetsu prodded further. "It's Sasuke, isn't it? What'd the bastard do this time?"
"More like what he didn't do."
"Huh?" Suigestu popped a potato chip into his mouth.
Karin whirled around to face him, her unruly red hair swinging dramatically. "It's been TWO days and he hasn't talked to me once. He's been holed up in his room for more than that and that Orochimaru creep only smiles in that weird way of his when I ask what he's up to. I don't like it, I don't like the fact that Sasuke feels like he can just go on and disappear like this when I've been by his side all this time and pretend like I mean nothing at all and why does he even keep that guy around him anyway? I don't trust that pasty-faced snake for one second-"
"Respect, Karin." Jugo had entered the room without a sound as usual. "Do not speak of Orochimaru in that way."
"Hah," Suigestu replied, thankful for the interruption. "Karin and respect?"
Karin ignored him, an impressive feat, and redirected her glare to the tall orange-haired man. "You! Why won't you let me see Sasuke?"
"He didn't want any interruptions of any kind," Jugo said, his attention captured by the pigeon on his shoulder. It had seemed to appear out of thin air. "I was merely following orders."
"You sure he's doing it on his own accord? And not because of Orochimaru?"
Suigetsu threw his head back and laughed. "Are you serious?"
"I can't forget that man's past, okay?" Karin crossed her arms. "He is evil. I don't see how Sasuke trusts him."
"If Sasuke trusts him, I trust him." Jugo said simply, stroking the cooing bird.
"Never mind. I knew it was hopeless talking to you knuckleheads." Her worry hadn't lessened in the least.
Everything was going well. Things were finally beginning to set in place, all the pawns in Sasuke's favour. Yet he seemed even more consumed by the flames of revenge, even more than before they had arrived in Konoha.
It wasn't supposed to be like that.
"Don't worry, Karin. I trust Sasuke's judgement most of all."
I wish I could too, Jugo.
Suigestu shifted in his seat. He didn't like how the pigeon was eyeing his potato chips.
"-take back what is mine."
As the recording finished, a strange kind of silence fell upon the small group of its listeners.
"Shit," breathed out Kiba Inuzuka, finally breaking the somber atmosphere that had descended upon them.
"Couldn't have said it better myself." Rock Lee nodded from his perch on the armrest of the couch, in which Kiba, Shino Aburame and Choji Akimichi were crammed together. Shikamaru Nara reached forward and unplugged the sound recording device from the speaker.
They were all gathered in their unofficial meeting place - Sai's tattoo parlour. The owner of said parlour was leaning against the closed entrance door and had not said a word the entire time, only observing them all with his typical blank expression. It was past working hours for most people, but Sai only got most of his customers in the dead of night.
Outside of the window, the sky was as black as the suits they all were wearing after attending Danzo's funeral earlier in the day.
Shikamaru suspected that calling such a sudden meeting was causing Sai to lose potential customers, but it was inevitable. The parlour was the only place in the entire city where his heart was ease at the fact that no one from his clan or any other clan could spy on them.
"Well," he said. "This is it."
"The dude sounds absolutely wack. Can't believe Konoha is in his hands now." Choji replied.
Shino pushed his sunglasses up his nose, light glinting off them. "I am more interested why you're only showing this to us two days late, Shikamaru." They all turned towards him with accusing eyes.
If they wanted him to apologize or at the very least look guilty, they were going to be disappointed. Shikamaru sighed tiredly, running a hand behind his neck. "You know there's a good reason behind everything I do."
"Yeah, well, spit it out already!" Kiba leaned forward, his palms resting on his knees.
"That day, Dad wasn't feeling well so he sent me to the council meeting in his place. I didn't want to go at first, but then I heard this bit of news that caught my interest. Something about Danzo going missing."
"But wasn't it Danzo who called the meeting in the first place?" Rock Lee asked. "Teacher Gai had to attend too, if it wasn't for his untimely sparring injury. Caused by me." Suddenly his eyes filled with tears. "I'm sorry, Teacher Gai!"
Ignoring his exclamation, Shikamaru nodded. "Three days prior, actually. And then, when everyone was there, in walks this Uchiha guy with his lackeys, claiming he is now the leader of the city. Shows everyone Danzo's ring and the weapon he killed him with. There was still blood on it."
Choji fought back a shudder. "Sounds a bit theatrical to me."
"Yeah, well, you should have been there. There was something about him, I don't know what... something that told me that this was all premeditated."
"Are you trying to say Danzo knew he was going to be killed?" Kiba's eyebrows rose, wrinkling his forehead.
Shino thoughtfully tapped his chin. "If he did... then maybe he wanted this Sasuke Uchiha to take over after him."
A low, barely audible laugh interrupted their discussion. They turned their heads to look at Sai, who now had a wry smile on his face. "It seems," he said smoothly. "You all forget that the one who knew Danzo's nature the best out of all of us."
It was him, they all knew. Sai had worked under Danzo for years from a very young age, only it was outside Konoha. And then he had left for some reason to pursue his more artistic talents. Shikamaru and the others trusted Sai, for good reason, but there was a lot about him that was shrouded in mystery even now.
"Danzo would never have resorted to suicide, or asked anyone else to kill him. About this, I am sure." Sai said.
"Yeah, I thought about it and it seemed a pretty boring story if it was as simple as that," continued Shikamaru. "So after the meeting ended, I went through Dad's official records for any information on the Uchiha family. There's nothing, except for the Massacre. It's all been erased."
"By who?" Rock Lee frowned.
"Someone very high up gave that order, I'm sure. So I thought maybe they're just hidden somewhere. I sent my informants all around - even managed to sneak a look through Lady Tsunade's confidential files - and still nothing turned up. And then I remembered why that Uchiha guy had seemed so familiar. He had been in Konoha Elementary School with us."
"What?" Kiba's mouth fell open. Even Shino's typically stolid face looked surprised.
"Are you sure, Shika? I would remember if someone who sounds as frightening as that was in the same class as us." Chouji said.
Shikamaru grimaced. "He was only there for a year or so. Pale kid with raven black hair and eyes. Kind of arrogant looking. I only remember him because he used to bicker with that blond idiot Naruto all the time."
"Oh!" Rock Lee blinked. "I think I do recall a little now." Choji, Kiba and Shino looked at him suspiciously - "Dude, you weren't even in the same year as us!" Kiba snapped - while Sai only smiled amiably. He hadn't attended the same school as them.
"Anyway," Shikamaru said. "I knew his full name, and I knew he had attended Konoha Elementary, so I asked Iruka to look into the school records. And I found it," His voice had a triumphant touch to it as he said the name, "Fugaku Uchiha."
"Huh?" Choji blinked.
"His father. Commander of the Konoha Police at that time." Shikamaru looked around expectantly.
Kiba inhaled. "I don't get what you're trying to say-"
"I guess I'm the only loser who paid attention in History of Konoha in high school," sighed Shikamaru. "Guys, Fugaku Uchiha's son is the one responsible for the Massacre."
Rock Lee gasped dramatically. "That little kid killed his entire clan?"
Shikamaru's voice had a touch of frustration now. "No, Lee. His elder brother, Itachi Uchiha."
"So what you're saying is," Sai replied. "Sasuke is the only one who survived the Massacre caused by his own brother."
"Man, that's rough." Kiba leaned back on the couch with a huff.
Shikamaru's eyes narrowed as he looked down the sound recording device in his hand. He had picked it out of his father's inventory secretly. He had to return it soon before Shikaku Nara noticed. "That's the thing. According to the official records, there were no survivors."
They all stared at him.
"That guy up there right now," Shikamaru said grimly. "He isn't supposed to be alive."
