(A/N: Oh wow. I am so sorry! Please forgive me! I've made you wait three weeks for such a short chapter. I've been very busy lately, and work just piled up on me, but I honestly have no excuse for such a short, late chapter. Again, I'm really sorry. Just an extremely conflicting schedule with too much planned for one weekend without my notice… as usual…
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.)
Mysterious Captivation: Chapter 17
She awoke groggily. Unsure of the time, she rolled toward the window in her room, though she kept her eyes closed. She knew if she had something that she had to do, someone would have woken her already.
She could hear Deidara's soft, restive breaths at her side. Her eyes burned, and her face was rather stiff. At first, Hinata couldn't figure out why.
She opened her eyes, initially panicking. Why can't I see anything? Breifly, she thought to awaken Deidara, but her memories of the past few days caught up to her before she could reach out to him.
Her breath caught in her throat and a choked sob turned into a thin cough. Her eyes, already exhausted from the times she had cried earlier, did not fill with tears.
Once again, she rolled over, now facing Deidara. Watching his soft, even breathing pattern, she matched it to her own. She let her still-weary eyes close, despite the burning it caused. As her breathing slowed and her eyes cooled, her mind's racing thoughts began to calm.
Once more, she was asleep.
She was kneeling in a sticky puddle of fresh blood. It was all over her hands and knees, but it wasn't the blood of her first victim. Though that man's blood would exist forever in the cavernous depths of her conscience, she knew for a fact that this wasn't his. The room was dark, but the blood shone a sickly, crimson red.
She stood, heard the slimy, metallic substance slip down her arms and drip off her clothes. "What is going on?" she whispered, allowing herself a tone of confusion. "Whose blood is this?" she nearly shrieked.
A voice, near her ear, responded in with a whispery breath of air. "It is mine,"
Clearly masculine, Hinata at first mistaked it for Aburame Shino's. She hadn't seen him in many months, though, and she had renounced Konoha, so that made no sense.
The Hyuuga heiress's next thought was that it was Uchiha Sasuke. That man had been gone even longer, but she had just spent many days of the past months in the presence of his brother, Itachi…
That was when it hit her. It was Itachi's voice.
"Itachi-kun," she whispered back.
"No, Itachi-san," he told her, emphasizing the different suffix. "You never really meant that suffix that you used while I was dying," his tone was not harsh, nor was it welcoming. He was not condemning, merely telling.
"Yes I did," she demured, arguing her point. "I loved you!"
She heard movement behind her, but was too frightened to turn around. She didn't want to lose him, and if he wanted to be seen, he would have approached her from her front or would tell her to turn.
She could only assume that he was shaking his head the moment he began to speak. "You did not. Somewhere within you, you wanted me to live. You thought that you would give me a reason to live by telling me you loved me. You knew nothing could heal me, but you still told me. I died in a panic because of you!" His words had turned accusatory, shredding pieces of her heart as each word bit into her. "I hung on to life for as long as I could. I wanted to live for you, and I panicked when I thought of leaving you alone, loving a dead man. How could you?"
Tears streaked down her pale cheeks, dripping into the already salty blood below. Her eyes were clogged by darkness, her nose by bloody scents, her touch by slimy liquid, her taste by metallic crimson. All she could hear was the steady pounding of the heart behind her, the heart that no longer beat.
It haunted her ears, the only sensory organs that she could use. The steady drumbeat was becoming irregular, blood was rising around her ankles. Her own breathing was quickening. Thinking fast, realizing deep within herself that, while he would always be an integral part of her being, what he had said was true.
"Itachi-san, please," she began to beg, clasping her hands against her chest with a squish. "I admit that I don't love you like I made it out that I did! I-" she broke off, a sob once again catching in her chest and making her cough until her air supply was failing. She felt a hand on her shoulder, felt the blood dripping from it down her jacket. Suddenly, she could breathe again. "I do love you, but I am not in love with you," she apologized with her tone.
"I know. In my death I was terrified to leave you alone, but I know that now. I will always love you, so hold my memory dear in your heart, but do not live in pain forever," he stated. "You were unable to save me, but maybe I didn't truly want to be saved."
The voice, once strong, had begunt to fade. The irregular heartbeat was slowing, becoming lethargic and faint. The blood continued to rise around her. Her shins, covered by the just-below-the-knee fabric of her pants, were soaked. The bandages that she had wrapped around herself were turning crimson.
Soon, she would drown. She had to get out, but where was she? Her eyes darted uselessly about, Byakugan activating, then deactivating when she realized her limit did her less good than her regular eyesight.
A sudden shake sent the blood splashing. She was swept under the current for a moment, nearly gasping in a lungfull of it.
Her eyes flew open as her body awoke.
Deidara was sitting by her side, worry written in his eyes, with his fingertips on her shoulder. He had shaken her awake, she realized belatedly. It was only a dream. Or, rather, a nightmare.
"Deidara-san," she spoke, then stopped. She wasn't able to get another word past the lump in her throat, so she threw herself into his arms. The young woman wrapped her arms around his neck and wept into his shoulder.
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Hesitantly, he reciprocated the abrupt action. Her small frame shook with silent sobs, and her hair flowed in tangles down her back. They sat that way for several moments, but she did not seem to be near to calming.
What can I do right now? He paused in stroking her back, remembering something that he had once seen his foster father do for his foster mother when she was sad.
He patted Hinata's shoulder for a moment, then gently withdrew from her pain-filled embrace. Striding across the room, he glanced through the side drawers on either side of her mirror.
"Ah," he said, lifting up the newly acquired object and returning to the bed. He sat directly behind her, then told her to sit up with her back straight.
For a moment, she looked confused, but she obeyed anyway.
He lifted an ornately carved silver hairbrush to her hair. Beginning at the top, then allowing the soft-bristled brush to stroke soothingly downward, he listened as the young woman's breathing became easier and her breaths became deeper. The rhythmic stroking was soothing, he remembered his foster mother saying.
He swept her hair with the brush until it was silky-smooth, then stood. "Are you feeling any better?" He quietly inquired, kneeling by her side and looking into her downcast eyes.
Her eyes moved to glance into his, then away. "Hai, Deidara-san," she whispered, "I'm feeling much calmer."
A small smile crossed his features. "I'm glad, yeah," he strode from her side to place the brush back in its drawer. Catching Hinata's eyes on him through the mirror, he could easily see the red marks of tears marring her pearly eyes.
"I was never in love with Itachi-san," she said, the voice devoid of emotion sounded from her mouth, but Deidara didn't process the words until a few moments after she allowed silence to descend once more.
Instead of rejoicing, however, he walked back to her side. "I'm glad that you won't have to suffer the pain of a lost love, mm." He glanced over her pale body, seeing the newly formed bruises from the fight against the Konoha ninja.
He desperately prayed that she wouldn't push herself too hard to recover so that he would stop worrying about her, but somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew she would. "I want you to stop right there. Don't say anthing more about Itachi unless you want to talk through what happened, mm. You may be rested, but you are definitely not done grieving," he told her, making sure that he gave her no room for argument.
"What are we going to do about partners? With whom will I be partnered now that everything has settled down?" She entreated for knowledge that he did not possess.
"I have an idea, hm! Let's go find Leader-sama and see if we can't figure that out," he whispered conspiratorially, jumping up from the bed and nearly causing the ex-Hyuuga heiress to fall over on her side. He was hoping to distract her for at least a little while.
She pushed herself into a less precariously poised sitting position, then stood with the lackluster motions of a woman who'd just lost a family member. "Let's go, then," her voice was calm, but it had no feeling in it.
He frowned at the tone of her voice. "Listen, Hinata-san. Forget everything that he taught you about hiding your emotions when you're around only me. You don't need to hide from me, un. Just trust me," he implored, running his fingers through the hair at her side.
A streak of pain shot through her eyes, then disappeared. "I will, but right now we are about to leave my room, and I already look rough enough. Although, thank you very much for brushing my hair for me. It was soothing," a note of warmth entered her previously empty voice and a small spark lit in her eyes and smile.
"Okay. As soon as we're done, we'll come back in here and you can drop that mask, hm. I promise, I'll do everything I can to help you get past this without too much harm to your psyche and heart, yeah. If there's anything – anything at all – that I can do to help you, just say the word, un. I promise I'll do my best to fulfill all your requests," he reached for her arm, making contact with her arm only with the tips of his fingers as he guided her toward the door.
She gave him a watery half-smile as he reached for the door handle. "Why do you only ever touch me with your fingertips?"
He frowned, turning his eyes away from her. "It's nothing, just habit," he said, leaving it at that and opening the door. He gently pulled the midnight haired young woman beside him through the halls.
Arriving in the commons area, they found Kisame sitting in a plush, forest green upholstered chair that had been pushed up against the far wall. "Kisame-san, have you seen Leader-sama?" Deidara asserted his inquiry, knowing that he was only interrupting the Hoshigake's thoughts on his late partner.
"No, but Konan-san has locked herself in her room, so I suggest that you check there first," the shark-like man responded. His already gravelly voice sounded rougher than usual, grating against his ears, but the blonde knew that there was no one who had known Itachi who had not, in some way, been affected negatively by his death.
Leaving the room and the large man behind them, Deidara pressed onward. "Well, Hinata-san, it looks like Leader-sama might not even know what we're going to do next. First, he has to get Konan out of her room, yeah," the blonde stated, hoping to get at least a small chuckle out of the small woman by his side. He didn't.
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A short distance away, Hinata heard a small voice pleading with a woman to leave her room. "Please, at least let me see you!" the masculine voice spoke.
A fainter voice, more feminine in nature, responded, "No, I need to be alone for a little while, Pein,"
The crimson haired man merely responeded with a growl.
Taking a deep breath, Hinata put forth a few words. "Maybe I could help?" She spoke to the leader of the organization.
He took a deep breath, possibly readying to start yelling, before letting most of the air leave his lungs again. He was going to listen to her! "Go on," he allowed.
"We're both females who were very attached to Itachi-san," at his name, her voice faltered, and Deidara rested his fingertips against her shoulder comfortingly. "Women often mourn differently than men," she continued.
The leader nodded his head in consideration. "Alright. See if she will let you into the room. If she allows you entrance, do what you must to comfort her because she doesn't want to see me at the moment."
Hinata nodded, then knocked faintly at the door. The blue-haired woman behind the door spoke. "What is it?" she asked.
"May I please enter? I want to mourn with you," Hinata spoke, then watched as the door opened a crack. "Only me."
The older woman nodded, stood aside, and allowed the young Hyuuga woman to enter.
"Hinata-san, I didn't think you would still be awake this late. It's almost one in the morning," Konan stated as Hinata watched her close the door.
Said woman's eyebrows furrowed. "How can you tell? There is no natural light in here."
"I made sure Pein left me room for a sunny garden,"
Hinata nodded, knowing how true that could be. "The moment I got back, Deidara-san showed me to my room, told me to shower, then helped me get over the initial shock of losing Itachi-san," Hinata explained. "Then we slept. I'm not sure how long because I had no way to mark time, but I suppose it was at least ten hours since it's so late now,"
Now it was Konan's turn to nod in a knowing manner. "I can't believe he's gone."
"Neither can I. You really should let Leader-sama in here, though. He's worried, and it may not seem like it, but men can be comforting in their own rights," Hinata showed off a small, uncertain smile before letting it slip off her lips.
Glancing charily at the door, Konana seemed to debate with herself for a moment. Finally, she nodded to herself and turned to the younger woman. "Okay. I have nothing to lose, and comfort to gain, right?"
Her opposite smiled a small, encouraging smile before heading for the door to let Konan's husband into the room.
Her parnter assignment could wait a little while. Now was a time to leave the married couple to their reconcilliation.
(A/N: So, again, I apologize greatly for the short chapter. I feel really bad about it, but I knew if I waited to post, I would take forever to actually get it up. I thought that the dream scene turned out really well. Other than chapter 15, it's my favorite scene in the entire story. Kind of a 'beautifully morbid' thing. (: So anyway. I hope you enjoyed this installment of Mysterious Captivation, and can find it in your hearts to forgive me.)