(A/N: So. SCHOOL IS FINALLY OUT FOR SPRING BREAK! Yall have no idea how excited I am for this. We haven't had a school day off since January. IT ABSOLUTELY KILLED ME! But now we have a whole week off. And I am going to spend it doing as little as possible for school. I'm going to hang with my friends down in a historic town in my state, play lazertag with my church youth group, read, and work on this as much as possible so I can keep on top of my updates (like I haven't been doing) and make the chapters longer. I feel awful for shorting you guys on the chapter lengths (they've been getting progressively shorter) so I want to get back on top of things like I was at the beginning. So. Enjoy this chapter that is barely on time (Sorry!)

Disclaimer: I STILL don't own Naruto. DX Don't remind me!)

Mysterious Captivation: Chapter 8

His fingers clenched as the words left Hinata's mouth. Raven hair fluttered as he brushed away from the heavy, mideval-style door that did nothing to mute the soft words that his too-keen ears picked up. His crimson eyes flashed in anger as he realized that all his planning from the past weeks had gone to waste.

He had made sure to go out of his way to be kind to her. He had offered to help her with breakfast, cleaning, and even her training.

Once, he had thought he had gotten through. It had been a couple of days after she had accepted his offer for training, and he had seen her pitiful attempt at a successful genjutsu.

It had been successful, though, so he had praised her quick pick-up of the difficult jutsu. There had been many times when he relied upon that genjutsu in the past, so he felt it was a perfect choice for her first project.

What he hadn't expected was that she was already semi-capable with genjutsu.

Flashback

"You know some genjutsu already?" He questioned, allowing a hint of curiosity into his voice for her benefit.

"H-Hai," she responded hesitantly, "m-my sensei is a g-genjutsu specialist. Sh-She felt it was b-best for us t-to master m-most of the g-genjutsu basics b-before allowing us t-to pass our chunnin exams." Upon finishing her sentence, she paused and looked down to her worn sandals. Remembering the kind woman, more of a family to her than she had ever known of her own clan, made her miss Konoha with a deeply rooted longing.

Seeing the pain in her posture, Itachi took mercy on her and moved on, not comforting, but carefully avoiding. The look in her eyes when she realized what he was doing made the Uchiha greatful that he had gone out of his way to do so for her.

She smiled at him and looked like she was about to speak for a moment before shaking her head slightly and closing her mouth once more.

"What is it?" He inquired, looking around the room to make her more comfortable. He knew she didn't like attention centered on her. He had observed that much from her habits since she had entered into Akatsuki as a trainee.

In the back of his mind, he catalogued the room habitually. The door, dungeon styled, was closed and locked from the inside. He would hate for the Hyuuga heiress to lose concentration should they be interrupted.

The walls were large concrete stacked blocks piled high for an indoor training facility. The floor, hard-packed dirt that could be easily replaced, was barren. Near the ceiling, a 'spectator section' was located for other members to critique the work done by their peers. Or call names and insults. The latter was what mostly happened, unless their leader was present. Humming electric lights lined the ceiling, specially structured metal bars blocking them from most jutsus, weapons, and humanly capable strength.

Other than that, the room was completely bare.

"I-I just w-wanted to th-thank you v-very much f-for offering t-to train me, I-Itachi-sama." The Hyuuga finally spluttered with a dark blush across her face.

He moved close to her and leaned down, his lips brushing her forehead. Then, in much the same way he once did to his brother, he poked her in the forehead and told her, "Maybe again some time," before unlocking the door and disappearing in one motion.

End Flashback

Now, though, knowing that she liked Deidara more, he felt the need to release his frustrations.

Moving down the hallway, he knocked on the door of the one person who could do something about it.

Leader-sama.

That man answered the door with a gruff "What?" Shortly following this, his eyes narrowed and he let the door swing open enough for him to see the eldest Uchiha brother.

Behind him, all that was visible was a chest of drawers with a mirror set atop the stand, both resting against the wall. The double bed was not detectable, but Itachi knew that it was compressed on both sides by night stands.

Itachi's ever observant eyes had once detected a second ring on their leader's finger. One, the Akatsuki ring, was located on his left thumb; the other, a simple golden band, wrapped around his left ring finger.

Having kept his observation to himself, he had surmised what the second ring was for. Casually, he made it a point to watch Konan's left hand for another ring also. He had discovered that she possessed the same band, though hers had a small diamond.

He had inquired about it the next time he saw the ring on Pein's finger and was nearly killed for it. "That is none of your business," the leader had claimed.

Itachi's eyes had narrowed and he spat, "You and Konan are married, aren't you?"

The red haired leader delivered a swift punch to Itachi's previously unmarred cheek and backed away. "You will never speak of this again or I will see to your instantaneous demise."

Wisely, Itachi had kept his mouth shut about that relationship, but Deidara had no such power over him. "Leader-sama, I belive that the Hyuuga's presence with Deidara has grown steadily detrimental to the health of the Akatsuki as a whole."

Pein's ringed eyes became thoughtful. "How so?" His chin lifted in question, completely comfortable with being in charge of the conversation. No one would dare cross him.

"His relationship with her has been getting more serious. There is a chance that he could be falling in love with her. A relationship would distract him from his duties and possibly get one of the Akatsuki killed."

Mouth twisting and lips pressing together, Pein's eyes flashed as he made his reply. "What are you insinuating, Uchiha?"

Realizing the other meaning Pein had taken from his words, Itachi smirked to himself. Insecure about his relationship with Konan, I wonder? "Merely that some ninja do not have the focus for both a relationship and their job." Let him take that as he likes.

Glancing back over his shoulder then allowing his gaze to return forward, Pein met the eyes of his inferior. "Having something to fight for may give him more focus."

"Or it make him lose his focus when she dies or betrays him," Itachi stated darkly. "You can't seriously expect her to choose a group of mass-murders over her caring, simple life in the Hyuuga Clan?"

"If he can make her fall in love with him, then she would not leave." His voice was flat, as though he were merely stating facts instead of talking about one of the touchiest subjects in the world.

"And when she dies on the battlefield, what will happen to him then?" Knowing that he had gotten to the crux of the matter, the raven haired Uchiha smirked.

Momentarily silent, thinking up an intelligent response to stump the Uchiha, Pein did not hear Konan's silent footsteps as she approached him. She placed her hand on his shoulder and spoke, "At least he will have had someone. He's never had anyone to care for him before. To experience love even once is better than the lifetime of hatred Deidara has always known."

"Maybe so, but what will happen?" Itachi pressed, needing them to see that there was no way Deidara could protect her the way he could.

"Itachi, why are you so worried about Deidara all of a sudden? I thought you two hated each other," Konan questioned, her smile stretching into a smirk when he grew silent. Quietly, she spoke again. "That's what I thought. You want an equal chance at her heart. A mere week was not enough, was it?"

Somewhere in the back of his mind, Itachi realized that these S-class murdering missing nin were more of a family to him than the Uchiha had ever been. They seemed less human, yes, but they still cared for one another.

Even Deidara, Itachi hated to admit, was like a bratty little cousin. Konan and Pein, the only married couple, could easily pass as the parents. Kisame could have been his older brother. The others, even Zetsu, could have been cousins of his.

This family was what he had wanted as a young child. Maybe slightly less murderous, but still. His eyes widened involuntarily as he came upon that realization. Looking down at Konan's feet, he allowed his head to bob slightly.

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Konan sighed thoughtfully. "I knew it would come to this. At first, I tried to scare her away, make her want to leave, because I knew this would happen. There's no way a girl as kind as her could stay in this place for more than a week without having you boys drooling over her like puppies."

Looking at Pein apologetically, Konan made a decision. "I will move back to my old room and allow her to stay with me there for a week. That is all the time you will have. After that, we will give her the initiation exam and she will either become one of us or cast away from here. Should she pass, she will stay in whichever room she chooses."

Knowing that Pein was unhappy with her proposition, she chose to look at Itachi instead. She wondered what he thought of her plan.

Her wondering cut short, he answered. "Okay. Who will be training her for the next week?"

She smiled in a motherly manner that she hadn't known was possible for her. "Both of you will have an hour with her per day, along with whatever other time she wishes to spend with you."

"How will you break the news to Deidara?" Itachi smirked, knowing the blonde would be absolutely lost without Hinata to spend hours with him.

"I will tell him. You go on and find Hinata so you can take her to train, and then walk back here with her afterwards."

Itachi's small nod of appreciation was all she got before he turned and loped down the hall. She didn't expect any more than that. She was surprised that he had even admitted as much as he had. It only went to prove that if they could all get past their pride, they could be a close-knit family.

She had always thought of them as that. Ever since she and Pein had secretly married, she had been thinking of their organization as her own personal family. Sometimes, she went out of her way to make their lives easier, though no one knew it except her husband.

Turning to him, she spoke remorsefully. "It's the only way to solve it without someone dying, and you know it."

He nodded. "That doesn't mean I have to like it, though." He leaned down and kissed her forehead. "This is going to be a long week."

She murmured an agreement. "I have given Itachi enough time to get Hinata away from Deidara. I need to go find that blonde and get him to understand what I'm telling him before they're done. I'll come back by here after I tell him."

The leader sighed deeply, laying his head on her shoulder. "I'll miss you," he whispered for her ears alone.

"And I, you, Koibito." She spoke softly before pulling away from his warmth. Casting a single glance behind her as she lost their last intimacy until Hinata had passed or failed her initiation, she continued down the hall.

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The blonde stood from his clay as a knock sounded on his door. Opening it, he found their blue-haired origami kunoichi with a hand raised to knock one more time.

"Deidara, there's something you and I need to talk about. Come, walk with me." She motioned down the hallway and moved back from the threshold.

Warily, he stepped into the corridor and followed as she began to speak. "I have decided to allow Hinata to stay with me in my room for the week. That way, she will be allowed a girl's company and not be distracted in the last days of her training. Her induction test is approaching soon, and she needs to be prepared if she is going to win her way into Akatsuki." Her pointed glance told him that she knew he loved the Hyuuga girl.

"Why?" He simply questioned, looking around as Konan led him through a heavy cherry wood door and into the bright sunlight of a garden.

"Because Zetsu has seen her friends nearby. Recently, we instructed him to do what he wished to them if they came into our territory. However, a few days ago, we told him not to harm them, but to tell us if they were getting close. He told us they would be here by the end of next week with several of her friends."

"I don't understand. She's not supposed to fight all of them by herself, is she?" The blonde explosives expert angrily inquired, looking at the peaceful garden. He'd never been through that door before, knowing that it was off limits to all Akatsuki members other than Leader-sama and Konan.

Flowers bloomed in the sunny patches of marked off ground. Short, stone barrier-fences kept the flowers from spreading further than they were wanted. Ivy climed the two trellises that framed the door. A bush grew in the center of the garden, surrounded by two benches. Each bench was in the shape of a semi-circle, meeting to form a complete circle around the plant. On the bush, bright red roses flourished their crimson petals. An ancient oak tree grew in the far corner of the garden, making Deidara wonder how long the garden had been in existence.

"Iie; instead, she is going to convince them to leave. Pein and I have decided that she is nowhere near strong enough to enter Akatsuki. We have known that since the day after you brought her here. She has potential, though. If that had been unlocked many years ago, she would have the strength enter, but she didn't tap into her power soon enough. That harms her ability to function in the high ranking missions that we take."

"So we're going to let her in anyway?" His confusion was apparent in his voice as he tried to work through what Konan was telling him.

She led him to one of the benches and motioned for him to sit with her. "Yes. She means very much to two of our top members, so she is going to be allowed entrance. Instead of being a fighter, though, she will train in medical ninjutsu."

Understanding dawned on the blonde then. "She's going to be the first medical Akatsuki nin."

Konan nodded. "She will learn to master the basics from Itachi, and from there, we will bring her books on the healing arts."

"Have you told her this yet?" Deidara smiled, knowing Hinata would be glad to know that she would be useful without having to kill.

"Not yet. I wanted to tell you first, and make sure you knew that she was staying with me as of now. That way, when she asks, I can tell her you agreed. She'll know you don't think I'll hurt her, at least." Konan's mouth stretched in a rueful half-smile.

Deidara winced slightly, remembering the girls' first meeting. "How are you going to convince her that you're not going to harm her?" He wondered aloud.

"The same way she convinced me that she deserves kindness. I'll show it to her." Konan blinked slowly, turning to observe the flowers. He wondered if she had planted them, or if they had been here when the Akatsuki took over the building.

A thought suddenly struck him. "What about sleeping arrangements? She'll never get to sleep," he worriedly stated.

"What do you mean?"

"The Hyuuga doesn't feel comfortable sleeping by herself in the hideout. She's been sleeping on the opposite side of my bed for the past two weeks, and she did so with Itachi, also. It started when Leader-sama nearly choked her to death. Since then, she hasn't been comfortable sleeping alone."

Konan's eyes widened, betraying her look of anger at her spouse. "I'll speak with her. We're both girls, so she should at least feel more comfortable in a room with just her and myself. It'll be like a sleepover." A girlish look entered the bluenette's eyes, something Deidara had never seen before. It was like she was accomplishing a childhood goal that she'd never been given the chance to fulfill.

"Okay. As long as you're sure. Her allotted training time is almost up. Should we go find her?" The bomb expert inquired.

"No. You go back to your room and come find us in an hour or two. I don't want you around when I tell her she has to stay with me. She'll automatically look to you for approval, and she'll know you don't want this either."

"So how is this going to work? Will I still get to see her?" He asked, fervent with the need to know.

"You and Itachi will each be allowed to train her for an hour a day, and whatever other time she wants to spend with you will be up to her. I have given up my schedule for the week to care for her. The only other choice would be to kill her, and I wouldn't like to do that. Not after getting to know her through you boys."

Deidara looked at the mother-figure of the Akatsuki, wondering when she had become so fond of Hinata, but grateful all the same. Standing, he offered his hand to help her up. He then placed his hand on her shoulder in a gesture of sincere thanks and left for his room.

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Hinata had just finished training with Itachi when a strange look entered his eyes. "I'm not going to take you back to Deidara's room this time. I have orders to bring you to Konan today." He said, the odd look still present in his eyes.

"B-But Konan d-doesn't l-like me. Sh-She's-" Hinata paused, debating whether or not she wanted to admit it, then giving in, "v-very fr-frightening."

Itachi smiled softly, a rare look on his face. "I think you'll find that she is nothing like you know her to be."

Hinata studied him for a moment, deciding that he probably didn't think Konan would hurt her if he was smiling, then nodded and spoke timidly. "O-Okay."

He led her from the dungeon-like room and down the hall to where Konan's old room was located.

Standing outside, still as a statue, Konan stood watching for them. Upon seeing them, she pushed off from the wall and offered the shy Hyuuga a miniscule smile. "Hello, Hinata-san," she greeted.

Hinata responded likewise.

"I apologize for the first impression I must have left on you. I was having an off day, and I wasn't feeling too generous to a trainee Akatsuki recruit."

Wondering at the change in the origami specialist, Hinata thanked her for the apology almost silently.

"Feel free to ask me anything, especially if you need something. I promise I won't harm you while you are under my care. Actually, I have some wonderful news for you once we gain some privacy."

Apparently taking the hint, Itachi said farewell and left Hinata and Konan alone in the hall.

Motioning to the suddenly mute midnight haired female, Konan swept the door open and followed the younger woman inside. "I thought you might like to know what your position would be should you gain entrance to Akatsuki."

Hinata's eyes lit slightly upon hearing that she would be useful to the band of some of the most powerful people in the world. "H-How could I-I possibly b-be of a-any help t-to you?" She asked in wonder.

"We would like you to train as a medic nin. The basics, you would learn from Itachi. Anything more, we would bring you books from which you would learn. In Akatsuki, we don't have a medic, so sometimes healing from our missions takes far too long for our liking. We need a reliable medic within our ranks."

An inscrutable look passed over Hinata's face. "Wh-What if I-I don't pr-prove to be r-reliable?"

A look of slight greif passed across her new captor's face. "You will either be granted the highest form of memory block we can create, or you will die. It would be your choice. If you chose the memory blocking, however, we would have to send Zetsu to spy on you for several days each month, to make sure you didn't remember anything. I don't think he'd appreciate that much, but I told Pein that this plan was the only one I would allow.

"You truly could be a wonderful addition. I would hate to see your talents go to waste in Konoha," she finished quietly.

For the first time since Kurenai-sensei, Hinata felt gratitude toward a female who was not related to her. Smiling slightly, she spoke. "Th-Thank you v-very much, K-Konan-sama. I-I appreciate wh-what you're d-doing to help me. Though I-I do h-have one qu-question; what w-will my loyalty t-test b-be if I-I'm n-not meant t-to be a k-killer?"

"Your friends have already shown up once to attempt to save you, but they turned around and left without making contact because they could find no way to get to you. They are returning by the end of this next week, and it will be your job to send them away. You will be written down in the Bingo Book as a missing nin and betrayer to your village, and hopefully, escape without it becoming a fight."

"A-And if i-it b-becomes a f-fight?" She worriedly wondered.

"Then you had better know your opponents well enough to win against them. They must leave Akatsuki territory without getting past you for you to pass."

Hinata's eyes wandered for a moment, taking in the room from her place at the door while trying to decide what choice she would make.

The walls were solid in color, a light purple that did not seem to match the personality of the owner. The beds, doubles with black comforters that looked to be of the same material as the ones from her home, were against the wall in front of her on opposite ends of the room. Each had its own night stand with a small electric lamp on top.

To her right, a vanity sat against the wall, mirroring the one on her left. The right wall held what seemed to be the door to the bathroom.

A large, rectangular rug with the soft pattern of a garden in full bloom was spread out in the very center of the room, reaching to the bottom corner of each bed's foot.

A chest of drawers was built into the side of each vanity, large enough to hold the needed clothes of a person, but not so big that they were in the way.

Bringing herself back to the problem at hand, Do I really want to join the Akatsuki? Konoha had so much to offer her, but so did Akatsuki.

There, she had her clan leadership position, though she could be replaced by her more successful sister, and her friends to support her. Here, she had the possibility to be needed for her skills, not because she was first in birth order, and two people who might love her. Though I'm not sure about Itachi-sama.

There, she would not be considered a missing nin. Here, she would be in danger for the rest of her life. In Konoha, they had standards that were lived by, and she could be safe. In Akatsuki, she would live with mass murderers, possibly never safe again in her life.

In one home, she would have friends who judged her based on the past and the fact that she was the Hyuuga heiress. In the other, she would be trained as though she were any other person. In the latter place, no one would protect her just because she was a clan heiress. They would protect her –if they protected her– because they truly cared about her as a person.

One held her crush, who never once noticed her presence. The other also held her crush, who had acknowledged and kissed her.

One held a family who was not a family and did not care. The other held S-class missing ninja who were a family, cared about one another, and welcomed her as a newcomer.

Finally, she made a decision, hoping she wouldn't regret it. "I-I won't h-have to kill them, w-will I? If it d-does c-come to a f-fight." She wanted to make sure, however, before she agreed to the test.

If things went the way they were expected, she would never have to kill anyone after her test. Or even during her test. She would be groomed as a healer, not a killer. Should she ever come into contact with enemy ninja, she would not be expected to kill them, but to flee from them. No one could afford to lose their medical nin, no matter how novice.

The only reason she would be considered a betrayer would be that she was healing the enemy, not because she was killing her once-allies.

True to her thoughts, Konan told her that no killing would be necessary. "They will, however, be arriving by the end of the week. You have that long to decide whether you truly wish to be one of us or not."

Hinata opened her mouth to give an answer, but Konan held up a finger for her to keep her thoughts to herself. "Make no hasty decisions. Think about this for the week, because whatever you choose cannot be undone, no matter how much you regret it."

Hinata wisely nodded her head and paused, standing awkwardly in the doorway. "A-Ano, Konan-sama, which b-bed w-will I u-use?"

"The one on the left. I have always used the one to the right, so I believe it would be most comfortable for your body shape to sleep on the unused one."

Hinata nodded and moved toward 'her' bed. The bell around her ankle chimed, causing Konan to glance at her curiously. "What was that?"

"An a-anklet that D-Deidara gave t-to me during m-my f-first week h-here. H-He said it w-would make it e-easier for h-him to k-keep up w-with me if I-I had something on m-me th-that would m-make noise when I-I moved." She smiled at the piece of jewelry, wondering if she still needed it. Deidara had already told her that he fully trusted her not to run away.

Just the thought that a mass-murderer trusted her with his life made a blush dust itself across her face.

Konan smiled as though she knew the direction of the younger woman's thoughts. "Well, I'm glad he cared enough about you to let you keep that. He told me that he had kept that for years. It was a gift to him from his mother from all the way back to his great-grandmother, but he put it away so that he'd not have to remember her every time he saw it."

Eyes widening, Hinata looked worriedly into the other female's face. "I-I thought i-it was a worthless piece o-of jewlery th-that he stole fr-from a village and w-wanted to g-get rid of. Th-That's what h-he told m-me it w-was."

Konan looked confused for a moment. "He showed that bracelet to Pein and me the moment he joined Akatsuki and we asked him if there was anything to which he had an unneeded attachment." Her expression suddenly cleared, as though she had figured out why he told the Hyuuga what he did. "Pein performed a jutsu on him that day. He never told me what it did, or why, but he had done it to everyone except me. Now I see what it did. It took away any attachment that could harm the organization as a whole."

Suddenly, the anklet had much more meaning to Hinata than just a piece of jewelry given to her by someone she might come to love. It was a family heirloom, passed down to the female members of his family through generations.

Suddenly, she felt more loved than she could ever remember feeling before. He would still subconsciously have that memory, and be unwilling to part with it had he not cared about her. That realization gave her more solidity in her decision to stay.

She did not want to leave her newfound, caring family, so she would find a way to convince her friends to leave her there. She wouldn't give up until she did.

(A/N: Hehehehehe! I love story progression. I'll admit that this part was hard to get through because it took me forever to figure out how she could possibly help the Akatsuki when she's had so little beneficial strength training (that they've had almost their whole lives) without seeming unrealistic. Then it finally hit me: medic! So yeah. 'Sakura started that kinda late, and look how she turned out' is my reasoning. I hope it makes sense and is moving forward at a good pace (i.e. not too fast and not too slow to be realistic). I also hope that you enjoyed this chapter and will review to let me know what you like/I need to fix. Ja ne!)