(A/N: I'm introducing a new Akatsuki this chapter! Yay! School has been killing me lately. I've had very little free time lately, so I typed most of this chapter today. It only took four hours. (: Tons of stuff I should be doing, but this is more interesting than my other jobs. I'll probably regret it when I realize how much work I have tomorrow, but hey! You guys are more important. Anyway. I went horseback riding today! Weeeee! So much fun. That put me in a good mood, so I hope this chapter turns out okay.
BTW I'm changing my mind about making this super long. I could sit and come up with plot twist after plot twist for this, but I have far too much work to do to be able to keep up. I soooooo wish I could do everything I wanted to with this story, but I just don't have the time to type anymore. Maybe after I get less busy and learn to balance track, school, leading a troop of girlscouts, homework, and church I'll start a side story of some of the stuff I want to happen in this story but can't fit without making everyone wait months on end for me to update. I'm getting the story moving a little bit with the romance! I'm sure some of you are very excited about that. Hope y'all enjoy!
I don't own Naruto.)
Mysterious Captivation: Chapter 5
Several days after Deidara left Konoha, he met up with his partner. That man threw the door wide open, almost pulling it off its hinges. The black haired man smiled, though no one could see, and entered the building, an angry blonde following on his heels.
The blonde seemed ready to explode, and was, in fact, about cause the man in front of him to do so, when he heard a small gasp resound through the halls.
His anger melted upon the sight of the newest Akatsuki trainee and her temporary overseer. She looked far less haggard that he had been used to, he guiltily noticed as he thought of his lack of physical care for her.
As for the raven haired Uchiha following her, Deidara smirked upon finding a soft, yet nearly undetectable smile. Deidara realized that no one could stay in her presence for very long without softening slightly, if not more.
"Well, now! A welcome party? You shouldn't have, yeah!" He grinned as he smacked Tobi on the back of the head in an effort to get him to calm down.
"We didn't." Itachi bluntly asserted.
"B-But we are v-very glad t-to see y-you back u-unharmed, D-Deidara-san, and y-you as w-well, T-Tobi-sama." Her stutter was back, Deidara was disappointed to find out. He wondered what had happened to her while he was away.
"Tobi is happy to be back! Hina-chan is so nice! Hina-chan is a good girl!" Tobi exclaimed with a smile clearly apparent in his voice.
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Hinata quitely giggled behind her hand. Deidara's partner was strange, but he was funny, and somewhat similar to Naruto with his upbeat, hyperactive fashion. The smile melted from her face at the thought.
"I-Itachi-san, I'm r-ready to g-go back now. I'll c-collect my p-possessions and b-be o-out of your w-way in n-no time." She soberly stated.
Itachi nodded his head and led the way. "Deidara isn't welcome near my room." His voice stopped the blonde in his tracks.
"A-Ano, Itachi-san, d-do you th-think you c-could make a-an exception f-for right now? I-I want to t-talk to my f-friend whom I-I haven't s-seen in a w-week. I-I would d-do the s-same for y-you if y-you had been g-gone for s-such a l-long period of t-time." Hinata stuttered her way through the request.
Any response Itachi could have made was immediately cut off by Deidara's indignant shout. "What do you mean, you'd 'visit him too'!? I would never allow it, un!"
After a week of longing to be away from the oppressive aura of Itachi, Deidara's enthusiasm was like a breath of fresh air. Though it was a very loud one.
"You're just going to have to accept that she made other friends and found a new caretaker after you so rudely abandoned her, Deidara." Itachi spat oil into the fire.
"When was the last time you said no to leader-sama?" Deidara watched as Itachi's impassive eyes narrowed a fraction of an inch. "Exactly as I thought, mm. I'm sure Hinata understands why I had to leave, right?"
Hinata nodded hesitantly as her eyes drifted between the two men whom she had spent her time with during the past few weeks. Itachi had cared for her as Deidara had, though in his own way. It was nice to know that she had befriended him – as much as is possible to befriend an Akatsuki.
She followed behind the Uchiha man and wondered at how her life would change again. She had more than one person to count on her side, now: the mortal enemy of her other protector. Maybe Leader-sama had done that on purpose. What better way than to make her two allies the enemy of the other.
She wondered what Deidara's mission had been. Maybe he would tell her something about it when she returned to staying with him. Hopefully, nothing much had changed between them.
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Itachi had watched the hope light in her eyes, shortly followed by a small gasp, when she had first lit her eyes on the returning blonde. He had felt an unfamiliar sinking feeling in his chest, but quickly pushed it away and had attributed it to the return of the idiot blonde and his partner, who was even worse.
He had scowled as he watched the blonde's face light up in return after previously wearing an angry frown. The male's greetings, apart from Tobi, were rather unnecessarily rude, tinging on hateful.
When he had forbidden Deidara from following them to his room, Hinata's response had sent his heart pitter-pattering again. She had said she would do the same for him that she was doing for Deidara. What was wrong with her? She was attempting to humanize them.
He thought he had managed to crush his emotions for all but his younger brother the night he had killed their clan. What has this girl done to return them? He wondered, silently glancing to the girl by his side.
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Deidara watched Itachi glance at the Hyuuga girl as they walked away. "I'll wait for you in the lounge, Hinata-san," he called after them.
She turned to look at him before nodding an acknowledgement and turning to ask Itachi a quesiton. "W-Will you w-walk me d-down there, j-just in case th-there are other A-Akatsukis in the h-hall?" She, being bold for herself, asked.
Itachi nodded his head in affirmation before turning and smirking at Deidara. The blonde glowered as he watched the two turn the corner on their way to their – soon to be his – room.
The ex-Iwa nin smiled, though, when he realized his good fortune. He was the one who would care for her now that he had returned. Itachi had cared for her only for a few days, but Deidara would have until she proved herself loyal to them to watch over her.
He wondered absently how Leader-sama would make her prove her loyalty, and when. He hoped to be there to support her when it happened.
He could no longer deny his longing to be by the Hyuuga girl's side. Sighing, he strode down the hall to the lounge to work on his mission report. No amount of seperation would allow him to regain his heart, but he could feel himself slipping each moment he spent with her. He didn't want to allow himself, but he had no choice in the matter. The blonde only hoped that he would be able to hide his feelings better, now.
His interest could put her life on the line, so he would find a way to successfully put those thoughts of her out of his mind as often as possible. He didn't want to admit to himself how often those thoughts chased through his mind while he had been away, but now that he had returned, he realized how much he wished he had made different choices, ones that would have kept him in his village.
There was no way he could change now. He was a ruthless criminal to her, one who took away her freedom and her hopes for love and happiness. He wondered what she thought of him. Maybe some day, in the future, after she had stayed with them for a while, he could ask her.
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The wild haired boy looked up and exclaimed in success. His first thought was to wake the boy sitting next to him, but the shout had startled the sleeping person.
"What? Did you find something?" The once sleeping young man asked.
"I did! There's a discrepancy here, Neji-san." The wild looking boy nearly shouted.
Neji took the mission report from the boy beside him. Reading over it, he realized that the gennin team had been under a genjutsu to keep them away from something. The team hadn't realized it, but the genjutsu had been slowly leading them in a southerly manner.
When they had finally realized what was happening, they blamed their faulty compass. This was exactly what they had been searching for! "Good work, Kiba-san. We need to alert Tsunade-sama immediately. Then maybe she'll let us investigate."
"You don't think she'll send someone else, do you?" Kiba looked down at the paper that was being passed back to him.
This gave Neji pause for a moment. "Let's wait until the rest of the rookie nine are sent out on missions, except maybe Shino-san, since your cell doesn't have a third member. That way, she'll have to send us."
Kiba looked worriedly at the other boy. "But what if that doesn't happen this week? What if it takes too long?"
His chocolate haired companion frowned. "They wouldn't kill her. The Akatsuki would offer a ransom for her before they did that. I'm more worried about what Kumo is planning against us. I don't want to start a war with the Akatsuki, but we can't hold off much longer. Hinata-sama is in danger, and Tsunade can't stop me from going if I get permission from Hiashi-ojii-san."
"And then what about me? Tsunade-sama is just magically going to let me go because you're going?"
"Look. We have to do everything we can to save her. If that means one of us gets left behind in the process, then so be it."
"You wouldn't say that if it were me going."
Neji scowled at being caught out. "Fine. Let's just go now, and see what Tsunade-sama has to say. There's no sense sitting here arguing without cause when we can get definite answers."
Both nodded an affirmative and left the records room to speak with the Hokage.
"I don't know who let you into the records room, but if I ever find out, that person is fired!" Tsunade thundered as she listened to the beginning of their explaination.
"But don't you want to save the heiress to the most powerful, influential clan in your village?" Neji pleaded.
"Of course I do, Neji-kun, but right now, I have a potential war with Kumo to deal with. For all we know, the Akatsuki have already killed her and are waiting for the rescue party to kill also. If they haven't already killed her, then we have no reason to assume that they will kill her." She placated.
"But they could be torturing her!" Kiba interjected.
"How is my sending two chunnin to search for the Akatsuki hideout while I'm in the middle of contacting Kumo to declare a war going to help end Hinata's torture?" Tsunade reasoned.
"We would be one step closer to eliminating the Akatsuki! That's how." Kiba implored with a viscious expression and a slash of his clawed fingernails. "Knowing their location would allow us opportunity to observe their movements and find out whether Hinata is still alive."
Upon seeing the stubborn looks of both ninjas faces, Tsunade sighed and gave in. "Fine. Go and find the hideout. But do not proceed into battle. If I find out that either one of you have died, I will bring you back from the grave and kill you again." Tsunade morbidly ordered.
A look of relief passed across the faces of both young men as they were handed a newly written mission scroll and given a time limit of two weeks to find and observe it.
Tsunade sighed as she watched the two leave, hoping that she would see them again.
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Itachi handed Hinata a small bag in which she could place her two spare sets of clothes, her brush, and the journal that he had given to her after Pein had injured her neck during the night. The Uchiha had told her that she should write her thoughts down in it so that she could look back some day in the future when she had been accepted as a full member and wonder how she hadn't consented to her new life.
She had protested, thinking that there was no way she would write her private thoughts in a journal that anyone could read. Itachi had only responded with a knowing smile and told her it was a chakra sensitive book.
A smile had stretched across her face as she realized that only she could open it, if that were the case. Her thanks had been humble and sincere, making a small smile appear on the man's normally expressionless face, though Hinata had not looked up to notice it.
She packed all of the items that now belonged to her into her small bag and walked to the locked door. She waited as the eldest Uchiha unlocked the door and proceeded to follow her through it. Itachi allowed a companionable silence to fall about them as they took their last walk alone together for a long while.
He winced as the thought hit him with a pang. Wondering where it came from, Itachi kept his eyes facing forward and pushed all thought from his mind.
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Hinata smiled up at the eldest Uchiha as they reached the lounge, a place she hadn't realized she liked until having not visited it for a week.
She watched as Deidara's head rose from the paper on which he was writing, more than likely alerted by the tinkle of her bell. She offered him a shy smile, which was returned with a grin. He bent back to work, as though knowing that she would join him shortly on the couch.
She turned and bowed lightly to Itachi in thanks for the escort. He laid a hand on her arm, to which she flinched ever-so-slightly.
The Hyuuga heiress listened as he sighed. She could almost hear the thoughts she knew were running through his mind. We shared a bed for a week, and you still flinch at my touch or possibly I helped save your life from our angry leader, and you still fear that I will kill you. She wondered when she would ever feel comfortable enough to let someone of the Akatsuki touch her without flinching.
Mustering all her courage, she put forth a sentence without a stutter. "Thank you, Itachi-sama, for everything." Holding her breath, she quickly leaned forward and wrapped her arms around his torso before scurrying to sit beside Deidara with the ringing of her bell.
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Itachi stood and stared at the Hyuuga heiress for a few moments before spinning on his heel and walking back to his room to think. Why did her arms have the effect of making his heart beat quicken and his face heat? Was it his lack of physical touch over the years, or something more?
He decided to sit and sort out his feelings. Before he saw the girl next, he would have an answer.
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She watched as Deidara glanced to the side as she sat. "Hey there, yeah," he greeted. "Did you get everything? I don't want to see him again for a while, un."
Hinata shook her head. "Y-You really shouldn't f-fight like that. You're b-both very k-kind people at h-heart."
A voice behind her made her jump. "We don't have hearts," the masculine voice proclaimed. "That's why we joined Akatsuki."
Hinata squeaked at the correction, almost afraid to turn around. She listened as Deidara scolded whomever it was. "You shouldn't sneak up behind the trainee and scare her like that, yeah. She might not want to be part of our ranks anymore, and then where would that leave us, Zetsu, mm?"
Zetsu? The name rang a bell. Hinata thought for a short moment, before remembering which picture in the Bingo book he belonged to.
His was the most frightening, even when compared with Kisame. Zetsu was black on the right side of his body, and white on his left. His eyes were yellow and without irises. A seeming venus fly trap surrounded his entire upper body, and his hair was the same green as the carnivorous plant. Brought together at his chest area, the fly trap descended into his fastened Akatsuki cloak.
He was a fiersome sight in the Bingo book. She couldn't imagine how he really looked. Though she didn't want to, she turned around to come face-to-face with the frightening man.
Her judgement of his picture was correct, though he wasn't as frightening as she imagined him to be in her mind. She greeted him with a stutter. "Ano, I-I am H-Hyuuga H-Hinata, a-and I'm t-to b-be the n-new r-recruit."
"Zetsu, and don't forget it, please." The man replied. It was as though each color represented a different entity, which it very well could. Maybe he was schizophrenic. His voice broke through her thoughts. "As I said, we don't have hearts. None of us are very kind here."
"I-I beg y-your pardon, but I-I have f-found that D-Deidara-san and I-Itachi-sama a-are very k-kind to m-me." She disagreed.
"Ah. I see Deidara didn't tell you what his mission was, then. He bombed the Hyuuga Compound." White Zetsu sounded sorrowful at the news, while his black half took pleasure in telling her of the deed.
Hinata's pupil-less eyes widened as she turned to Deidara for confirmation. When she saw his discomfiture and the slight nod of his head, her eyes filled with tears. "I want to go back to our room." She whispered.
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Deidara acquiesced in an equally soft voice as he glared at the plant-encased man behind his charge. "Let's go, yeah." His heart squeezed in his chest as he watched a tear roll down her cheek.
He led the way back to his room and opened the door for her. Her first move was to enter, place her bag on the side table, and crawl under the covers of her bed. At first she merely bundled under the covers, but then seemed to change her mind. She crawled back to fresh air and opened her bag.
Taking out a book, she asked for a pen in a trembling voice. Puzzled, he handed one to her and watched as she settled back. She seemed to take comfort from merely holding the book.
Curiosity overcame him. "What is that, yeah?" He asked.
"M-My j-j-journal." She answered shortly, with a waver in her voice.
"Where did you get that, mm?"
"F-From Itachi-sama. H-He was v-very kind t-to me in y-your a-absence." Her voice seemed to say that she didn't want to talk, but was too polite to tell him that. He decided to allow her time without questions.
"No one was killed, yeah," he said after a few moments of oppressive silence. She made no move to acknowledge that he had spoken. He tried again. "I made sure that I didn't hurt anyone to whom you were close. Especially not your cousin or father. They're frantically searching for you, you know. I'm gonna have an awful time explaining this one to Leader-sama."
He watched as she showed no reaction to his news. "Look. I didn't want to accept the mission in the first place. Remember what I told the Uchiha? No one says no to Leader-sama."
"Stop acting like Itachi-sama is trash!" She quietly exclaimed, avoiding the subject.
"I watched your friends to bring you an update on how they're doing." He said, imploring her to listen to him.
Her eyes widened as some of the sadness left her eyes. "Tell me." Her eyes were wide with anticipation, but still overshadowed by doubt of her captor.
(A/N: I'm sorry, that's where I have to end it. I have to get some sleep cause I have a looooong day ahead of me tomorrow. Slight cliff hanger here, I'll do my best to get this updated in time again. Catch ya later! Hope you enjoyed this chapter, even though it is slightly shorter than I wanted it to be!
Ah, and when Zetsu is talking, normal type is his white side, and the bold is his black side.)