(A/N: Alrighty. Not much to say here, but check out my ending author's note. I'm sorry I'm two weeks late with this chapter, but writer's block killed my inspiration.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.)
Mysterious Captivation: Chapter 28
Shikamaru led her down to the ground floor of the Hokage Tower, then opened a dungeon-like door. Behind the door lay a set of stone stairs that looked to be directly carved out of the ground, probably with an earth-based jutsu.
"Down to the jail cells, Hyuuga-san." Shikamaru guided her through the doorway in front of him, shutting the door after both had passed through. It closed with a resounding thud.
Like my time of being happy with the Akatsuki, Hinata thought darkly as the echo sounded through the stairwell. Despite the thought, she walked with her head held high, perfectly poised.
She would have to keep her cool if she was ever going to play it off that she wasn't going to flee. She'd have to stay infallibly calm and collected because an emotional ninja was an unpredictable one, and she didn't want to be locked up in a cell that was completely cut off from all other people.
Stepping carefully down the final step of the short staircase and onto the landing of the prison cells, she was led to the one directly to her left. There was a heavy metal lock on the door leading into the barred cell.
Her Nara guide walked her into the cell, then drew a thin, rope-like bracelet out of a pocket on his flack jacket. "I'll need to put this on your wrist," he said, unclasping the circle and reaching toward her.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
He noticed the steel in her eyes and the tension in her body after the words left his mouth. She swept her hands behind her back, and he realized that he'd better explain what the bracelet would do to her. "This will drain most of your chakra, leaving you with enough to survive, but far too little to use any of your jutsu. It'll also leave you feeling weak for a few days until your body can adjust to losing its source of power. This is the requirement for allowing you to stay in the regular maximum security cells, as opposed to immediately giving you over to Ibiki-san."
He watched as his words processed in her mind. He knew she was analyzing them, looking for a possible loop-hole so that she wouldn't have to use the chakra draining cuff.
The Nara knew she had resigned herself when her shoulders slumped slightly and her eyes emptied of all emotion. She withdrew her hand from behind her, placing it before him palm down.
The minute the cuff was locked around her wrist, her eyes squeezed shut and she began to pitch forward. Shikamaru caught the unconscious kunoichi, wondering at the immediate drain the bracelet had put on her chakra.
Gently, he lifted her body and placed her on the bed inside her cell. He turned away, locking the door behind him, then made his way back up the stairs to report to Tsunade.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
As she became aware, Hinata took stock of her surroundings without opening her eyes. Her first perception was that she was lying on a thin mattress, and that she was cold. Lifting an arm, which was heavier than it should have been, she felt her forehead.
With the movement, her eyes opened and were drawn to the small window located at the top of her high-ceilinged cell. Through it, she could see only sky, and she knew it was meant more to help her keep time than to give her a view.
If she could keep time, then she could see how much of her life was wasting away. It was a torture technique all of its own, and she knew they had given her this cell to try to make her change her mind about giving them information.
If she could watch the passing of time, she would feel the boredom and loneliness that wouldn't be as definite if she couldn't define the amount of time that passed.
With that thought, she closed her eyes and wished for sleep once more. Feeling the weight on her eye lids, she let a small smile grace her lips before she drifted off to sleep once again.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Deidara stalked about the Akatsuki hideout, making plans and getting permission for them. "I'm going to Konoha to rescue Hinata-chan, whether I have permission or not, yeah." He stated, making sure that Pein knew he was serious. "She's important to the morale of the Akatsuki, plus she's our medic ninja. She's got an important role to play in our organization, hm!"
Pein scowled. "You will do what I allow you to do. You're lucky that Konan cares for the girl, or I wouldn't even consider letting you break into Konoha and steal her away for a second time, Deidara. Make your plan, then come talk to me."
"Leader-sama, I've already made one, hm. We're going to have Uchiha Sasuke create a distraction while Kisame and I sneak into the Tower to rescue Hinata-chan. If we have any trouble, Kisame will take care of it while I escape with her, yeah."
Konan entered the room, having been searching for her husband, and joined the conversation. She placed a hand on Pein's shoulder to halt his words. "Do you think you will succeed? Or rather, will you stop until you succeed?"
Deidara's resolve was obvious when he next spoke, meeting the eyes of both of his superiors. "I won't stop until she's by my side here in the hideout, or the both of us are dead."
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
The next time Hinata awoke, her father was sitting in an uncomfortable looking chair directly outside her cell. She sat up and moved to face him as he addressed her.
"Hello, Hinata."
"Hello, Hiashi-san. Can I help you?" She made sure to keep her face and voice emotionless, shuttering her eyes so that the man who raised her couldn't see what she was feeling.
"I spread the word that you had been captured. No one knows who leaked the information, though." He seemed hesitant to reveal this, but she refused to allow that to affect her.
"Why do you care?"
"If the village knows you're here, they can't torture you for information without risking insulting our clan." Her father, though she denied the relationship, explained as though what he said should have been obvious.
"Your clan. I'm no longer a part of the Hyuuga. I gave up my familial connections when I abandoned the village." She responded in the same tone that he had used with her.
The Hyuuga clan leader scowled at what was probably the reminder that his sweet little girl was a traitor to his way of life and their village. It made Hinata feel slightly sick to her stomach to cause her father such pain, but she had to leave all of that behind if she ever wanted to truly be an Akatsuki. "Even still. You cannot be tortured, thanks to the leak in information. You should be thankful to the village and tell the Hokage what she needs to know."
"That will never happen!" Hinata spat, furious at even the thought of it. "How dare you suggest that? I will never betray the only people who have treated me like I have the potential to be something."
She watched as her father's eyes widened, then filled with hurt. It was quickly replaced with indifference, almost quick enough for her to believe that her eyes were playing tricks on her.
But she knew they weren't. "You can leave now because there is nothing you can do to make me change my mind." She moved to lie back on her bed, still feeling weak due to her lack of chakra.
She heard her father sigh, then listened as his clothes rustled and the chair legs scraped on the ground. His footsteps echoed up the stairs, and then he was gone with the thud of the door.
Her heavy eyes closed again, and she fell into a dreamless slumber once more, the conversation having tired her out.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"Leader-sama, it's been a week since she's been captured, hm. Kisame and I are going to meet with the Uchiha to tell him of our plan and make sure he'll be a part of it. We're leaving now, yeah." Deidara stated, standing in the hall with Kisame, just inside the front door of the lair.
Pein and Konan, standing close to one another, nodded their heads. "Go, then," Pein said, gesturing to the door.
"Be safe," Konan added as their backs turned and the door opened.
Kisame and Deidara raised their hands in answer, then shut the door behind them.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sasuke was furious. Konoha had messed with his plans again! "I'll help you, but I'll demand to have her answer all my questions as soon as we meet back up."
"Fair enough, un," Deidara said, already greatly disliking the younger Uchiha even more than the deceased older one.
The team of three went over the plan one final time, then began their journey to Konoha.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
The door of Tsunade's office burst open, and the first words out of Naruto's mouth were "Sasuke's standing at the front gates!"
Tsunade stood from her desk, casting her chair into the wall behind her, and followed Naruto to the location where Sasuke had last been spotted. They conversed along the way. "How long ago was he spotted, and did he state his purpose?"
"About ten minutes ago. He wants to know which ANBU killed his brother. Obviously he wasn't one of the civilians that I told about Hinata-chan." Naruto stated, his face a mask of seriousness. There was no trace of the laughing young man she had seen earlier that day. This Naruto meant business.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Deidara used a henge to walk through the village, carefully monitoring the chakra levels of the ninja around him. He made his way into the Hokage Tower without being caught, then melted into the shadows of the building.
Each time someone passed by, he withdrew to the shadows and suppressed his chakra until they were long gone. The commotion that Sasuke created at the gates has most of the ninja down there, to protect the village. Deidara smirked, knowing that there was little chance that Hinata would have a guard when it was so unlikely that Sasuke would pair up with his brother's organization.
He quickly glanced around, then slipped silently down the steps to the dungeon, where Sasuke had told him Hinata would be held. Instead of allowing the door to thud against its frame, he gently guided it closed so only a click was made.
Deidara ghosted down the stairs, quietly tracing the steps that Hinata had taken merely a week earlier. When he reached the bottom of the steps, he froze. There was already someone sitting with Hinata, as though they were waiting for him to show up.
Deep brown hair and pearlescent eyes, almost identical to Hinata's, turned to glance carelessly in his direction. "Should I play knocked-out?" He asked, turning back to Hinata.
"Why? What did you see?" Hinata asked, craning her head to try to see past the doorway of her cell.
"Your boyfriend has come by to pick you up," Neji responded, smiling slightly at the irony. There would be no returning from their 'date', he knew.
"Deidara-kun? Oh, thank goodness!" Hinata smiled dazzlingly, tears in her eyes, when she spotted his blond hair.
Relief flooded his tense face as he realized that Neji was going to let him take her away again. "I'll have to knock you out, yeah. That way, you won't be blamed," Deidara warned, not wanting to look a gift horse in the mouth, but knowing it was necessary.
"Even better than playing. You'd better take good care of my cousin, or I'll personally hunt you down and kill you," Neji threatened, scowling in the direction of the blond. "I'll never know what she sees in you, but you make her happy. That's the only reason I'm letting you out of here alive."
Deidara nodded, respecting the younger man. "Of course. I'll be sure I never incur that wrath, then, cause I'll treat her the way she deserves to be treated, hm," he said, reaching up to strike Neji's pressure point.
He caught the Hyuuga before he hit the ground, then arranged him so that it looked like he fell, but would still be slightly less stiff when he awoke.
The explosives artist quickly located the keys and freed Hinata from her cell. She ran into his arms, and they stood in the door way for a few moments.
Soon, though, their circumstances pressed upon them, and the blond lifted her into his arms and made his way back up the stairs and out the door, careful to stay unobserved.
He soon met up with Kisame, and the three inconspicuously made their way out of the village and into the surrounding countryside. As expected, Sasuke appeared in the clearing shortly after they did.
The allotted time was up, and they had succeeded!
Before Deidara could do more than set his Hinata on the ground, Sasuke was standing in front of them, demanding answers.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Arming Sasuke with all the knowledge she had of his brother, Hinata waited for a reaction, whether positive or negative.
She watched him bring a hand to his face, then lower it again after merely staring at it.
"All this time? Just to save the village. Konoha."
"Yes. He loved it with all his heart, but he loved you more. You should try to find it in your heart to forgive both him and the village for their wrongs," Hinata said from where she sat, directly across from him in a clearing a safe distance away from the village.
"I don't think I can." Sasuke growled, furiously picking at the grass on either side of his legs.
"Why don't you wander around the shinobi nations to learn about forgiveness and all that other crap civilians teach instead of returning to Konoha or your team immediately?" Kisame suggested from his place in one of the trees surrounding them, where he was keeping watch.
The Uchiha seemed to consider this suggestion for a moment, before he finally agreed. "Fine," he said as he disappeared in a swirl of leaves.
That was the last they saw of Uchiha Sasuke, but several years later, Hinata came across a rumor that Sasuke had returned to Konoha and publically asked for forgiveness for his wrong-doings.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Shortly after Sasuke disappeared from their presence, the trio made their way back to the Akatsuki hideout.
Hinata was enthusiastically greeted by both Konan and Tobi, while most of the others offered her reserved waves or hellos. Zetsu and Hidan merely glared, leaving the room after she had been presented as rescued.
Though she still had a lot to do to adjust, Deidara, Kisame, and Konan helped her transition into a fully-functioning member of the Akatsuki Clan.
In her own right, Hinata became a powerful asset to the Akatsuki, following teams of her criminals on all missions where the danger level was high.
After several years in Akatsuki, in a private ceremony, she and Deidara were wed with Konan and Pein as their witnesses.
The years that followed were some of the happiest ones of her life, even though they were stressful and somewhat frightening sometimes.
Such was the life of an S-ranked missing ninja in an organization full of monsters who took on human kindnesses during the most frightening days of her life.
(A/N: It's over! After twenty eight chapters and 254 pages on Microsoft Word, and more almost two years, Mysterious Captivation is finally complete. Thank you for all of you who had the patience to keep up with me during this whole story, and I really especially appreciate your patience in these last few months. I'm really sorry if the ending seems a bit rushed, but I just lost all inspiration for this story. :/ I finished it, and I got what I wanted out of it, but I had planned to have a lot more substance than just telling you all about what happened in the future. Ah well. I figured you'd appreciate a chapter, whether rushed and uninspired or not, to at least give you some closure in the story and let you know what happened. I may come back in a few months, after taking a nice, long break from this, and write more into the plot, but I doubt it'll change too much other than simply expanding on what I've already written. I hope you enjoyed the journey with me, and I'll see you when I post my next story!)