Chapter 13: Voting
Once team seven finally left, Konan approached the place where the unconscious bodies of the Akatsuki were crowded together. She first crouched next to Pain's body, whom she gently shook.
Before long, Pain opened his eyes with a pained expression. As if he had awakened from a long sleep, he felt submerged in temporary drowsiness. However, when Pain became aware of a pair of amber eyes watching him closely, he was jolted awake.
"Konan?!" Pain looked around suspiciously. "Where is Hinata? WE NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE, KONAN! That bitch is crazy!"
"Ahem." Hinata poked her face out from Konan's shoulder with an awkward smile.
"AAAH!" Pain's high-pitched scream was loud and annoying enough to wake the other Akatsuki from their slumber.
"Ugh." Deidara clutched his head with his hand, feeling a migraine coming on.
Unlike those around him, Sasori looked as cool as a cucumber, saying, "It seems we've been set free."
"I feel as if Hidan had lost all of my money on gambling," Kakuzu growled grumpily.
"Well, I FEEL like I haven't killed in months," Hidan complained, "and ran out of hair gel."
"So Hinata wasn't seriously planning to destroy the world?" Kisame said upon seeing Hinata again. From the meek air that surrounded her, it no longer seemed that she had any intention of murdering them.
"Hinata and Konan conspired together to kidnap us and later trick Madara Uchiha so that Hinata could kill him," Itachi summed up and decided to twist the facts a little so that they wouldn't find out that Tobi turned out to be the true king of the vampires. "Afterward, Naruto and his combo showed up and destroyed the Shinju using their main characters' powers."
"Konan did what? Wait, did you just say that Hinata killed Madara Uchiha?! THAT MADARA UCHIHA?!" Kisame asked in surprise. The Akatsuki turned their attention to Madara's corpse. Then Kisame noticed another body. "Hiashi Hyūga? Wow, Hinata. You're learning fast from Itachi."
Hinata didn't know whether to take that as a compliment or an insult, so she just nodded politely.
"Blondie's boyfriend is missing," Hidan commented out loud with an annoying smirk.
"Ha, ha. Very funny," Deidara replied, twisting his mouth in irritation when he remembered the usual 'Deidara-senpai! Deidara-senpai!' coming from that bothersome guy. "I haven't enjoyed this peace and quiet in ages!"
Then the artist placed both hands on the back of his neck and threw himself on the ground, closing his eyes and looking quite satisfied.
However, as if Deidara's words invoked him, Tobi appeared on the scene shortly thereafter and immediately went to his side, bothering him.
"Deidara-senpai! Deidara-senpai! Hinata-chan is very dangerous!" Tobi whimpered. Deidara sighed and gave him a resigned look that said, 'What's the matter now?'. Tobi pulled apart the cloth covering his throat, and the bite marks and hickeys were visible all over his neck. "Tobi's virginity is in danger!"
Several gazes landed on Hinata.
"I-I can explain!" she said, her face burning red at the way the members of Akatsuki were looking at her. It was more a look of disbelief than a look of reproach, but she felt the need to excuse herself anyway. Hinata bowed her head, ashamed. "I'm so sorry, Tobi. I won't do it ever again."
"... What? There is no need to be so drastic." Now Tobi was not crying at all. Deidara rolled his eyes.
Hinata knelt down, outstretching her arms towards him. "Come here."
Tobi immediately threw himself into her arms, cuddling against her chest like a baby but somehow still complaining. She stroked his hair gently, a warm smile across her face. "Good boy."
The Akatsuki members were equally speechless when they saw that scene. So Tobi was now her puppy?
Hinata got up and Tobi whimpered in protest as he was not being pampered anymore.
"Hinata is now a vampire," Konan explained as all the Akatsuki finished standing up, including Tobi. "She surely was trying to feed on Tobi but got a bit carried away since it was her first time."
"A vampire?" Pain repeated, his eyes narrowing at Hinata. "Her?"
"The king of vampires was very interested in her." Although Konan's face was expressionless, there was a hint of amusement in her eyes when she met Tobi's gaze. Tobi remained silent, but Hinata's face took on a darker shade of red. "so interested that he even turned her into a vampire to save her life."
"He turned a Hyūga into a vampire?" Sasori frowned. "Was that guy brainless?"
"No, he is not. He is also a very good kisser," Hinata replied suddenly with a strange, dreamy smile on her face and, for some reason, using the present tense when speaking. "He's so passionate!"
When Hinata said those words, Deidara unconsciously looked at Tobi, expecting some kind of dramatic reaction from him since he seemed to like her a lot. However, Tobi was unusually quiet, simply observing Hinata in complete silence while rubbing the back of his neck.
Deidara raised an eyebrow. Was it his imagination or did Tobi seem... embarrassed?
Hidan smirked. "If you want it so badly, Hinata, we can—"
"Don't even fucking think about it."
Tobi's hoarse voice interrupted his words on the spot. He had the Mangekyō Sharingan activated, and his killing intent was so intense that even Pain felt like taking a step back, goosebumps raising on his arms.
Itachi sighed. Obito definitely needed to learn to control his Tsundere mood swings.
There was an awkward silence and Pain cleared his throat. "Since this matter is settled, I propose we leave it as it is and just go."
Surprisingly, the other Akatsuki agreed with him. They all felt exhausted.
"I'm very sorry for my previous hostility toward you." Hinata bowed heartily to them.
Hidan dismissed the gesture with a carefree wave of his hand, and the rest seemed to think the same because they did not even bother to look at her when she apologized.
The Akatsuki prepared to leave, but Hinata stopped them in their tracks. "Wait!" she exclaimed.
They watched her out of the corner of their eyes wondering what the hell was coming next. An alien invasion? But at that moment Hinata blushed, looked down and played with the index fingers of her hands.
"I-I'm actually a fan of yours, I'm so glad I finally got to meet you guys in person!"
The Akatsuki members gave her an exasperated look.
"Don't fuck around—!" Hidan started roaring, but his outburst was interrupted by Deidara.
"Right. I saw you had a collection of our albums, hm," the artist commented, remembering that it was one of the few things Hinata kept in her almost empty room.
Konan smiled slightly. "Hinata-san, what do you plan to do from now on? Will you become the leader of the Hyūga Clan?"
In a somewhat embarrassed tone, Hinata looked up at her and said, "I have violated the Hyūga Clan's taboo on eating the Shinju fruit. I even killed the previous leader, my Father, so it is highly unlikely that the Hyūga will accept me as their new leader. I had planned to have my sister take over from me."
Konan tilted her head to one side with a pensive gesture. "Then what do you plan to do from now on?"
"Maybe I should become a bus driver for real," Hinata pondered out loud.
"Do something else for a living," Pain quickly said. The other Akatsuki just nodded their heads eagerly.
Konan stroked her chin thoughtfully. "In that case, wouldn't you like to be a member of Akatsuki?"
Pain stared at Konan as if she had sprouted a second head.
"Are you crazy, Konan?" Pain said, alarmed.
"Why not?" Konan asked.
"First of all, we're a boys band," Pain emphasized, but then he noticed Konan's eyes dangerously narrowing at him, so he was quick to correct his words. "I mean, I don't think Hinata is suitable for Akatsuki. We don't accept bastards from famous Clans."
"Oh yeah? Then what about Itachi?"
"That's different, Konan! He is Itachi Uchiha."
"And she is Hinata Hyūga, what's so different?"
"Konan, Itachi has connections with the guy who created the manga."
"So what? I'm pretty sure his connections have always benefited only him, not us."
"Okay, that may be true, but… eh..." Pain didn't have another reason. A former heiress of the most dangerous clan of vampire hunters in the world shouldn't join them. He thought that was common sense!
Tobi started swinging his arms back and forth. "Tobi thinks it's a good idea! Please reconsider, Pain-senpai."
Pain sighed. "I knew you would say that. Listen, Tobi, you are the one who should have the least say in this decision!"
Obito frowned behind his mask. What's this bitch saying? I am the real leader of this group!
Hinata seemed to notice that he was getting angry, so she gently rested her hand on his arm, and the mere feel of her touching him managed to calm him down in an instant.
Deidara watched that unnoticed gesture curiously. So far he hadn't taken it seriously, but Hinata and Tobi? In his opinion, they both had completely different personalities. She'd even made out with another guy, but she already had Tobi so tamed.
Perhaps having a girlfriend like Hinata would help Tobi finally grow up? As he thought about the benefits, Deidara nodded to himself. "I agree with Konan, Pain. Who cares who Hinata was in the past? She is a vampire now."
Pain raised an eyebrow. He never expected Deidara to intervene in Hinata's favor.
"What about you, Danna?" Deidara asked Sasori. "Say that you agree, and I will say just once that your mediocre art is better than mine."
"That's a fact, brat." Sasori rolled his eyes. "I don't really care if she becomes a member or not. I was planning to use her dead body for one of my puppets anyway. What a waste… But I can't kill her," Then Sasori seemed to reach a conclusion. "Whatever. I agree."
"I wouldn't mind if she became a member," Kakuzu commented next.
Pain was even more surprised by Kakuzu's intervention.
"... She is rich, after all." And then it all made sense.
"Tch. Taking her in? Are you fucking kidding me?" Hidan spat. "She doesn't act like a villain at all!"
"I can beat you up again if you want," commented Hinata calmly.
Tobi let out a chuckle and Hidan's face was filled with rage. "This bitch…!"
Kisame seemed amused. "So what if she's not 'villainous' enough. Have you seen us kill puppies, Hidan? No, right? Just people. If you think about it, we're not so bad ourselves."
Itachi found Kisame's reasoning very questionable, but he wasn't one to talk since he had never killed a puppy either, so he merely nodded. "I also vote to let Hinata into the group."
"Listen," Konan took note of the other members' intervention to press on. "Hinata has what it takes to become a member of Akatsuki. Even if you give her your most difficult trial, I'm sure she'll pass it easily."
"I don't think the most difficult trial I have will work for her." Pain narrowed his gaze. "Considering her unusual attraction to the guy."
"Wait, you mean…?" Deidara looked horrified.
"Yes. I'm referring to that. My hardest trial is putting up with Tobi for a whole day."
At those words, Itachi himself seemed to turn pale.
"Tobi's fine with it!" Tobi chirped. "It'll be like a date."
"It's not a date, Tobi." Pain facepalmed in frustration. "It's my way of testing Hinata's resilience."
"A date with Tobi?" A blush colored Hinata's cheeks.
"I already told you guys that it isn't a date!" Pain replied irritably. "If you're willing to accept it, I'll give you two days to get ready, Hinata." Then he turned his head to the others. "Now let's get out of here. My pride has been trampled on enough."
The corners of Hinata's mouth turned downward. "You have to go, Tobi?"
"Feel free to take him with you if you want," Kakuzu said, and the others (except for Pain and Itachi) nodded their heads eagerly.
"No. We need Tobi for the concert," said Pain in an authoritative tone. Besides, things tend to get even more out of control than usual when Tobi is not around, for some strange reason.
Tobi stood in front of her and although it was the same childlike voice, there was a softness in his voice that they had never heard from him before. "How can I let such a cute girl be lonely? If you don't want me to go, Hinata-chan, I can just send a clone!" And then Tobi laughed, but he didn't seem to be kidding.
"I know it's just two days, but we've been apart for so long…" Hinata bit her lip. She didn't want to monopolize Obito's time. "Never mind. Take care, okay? T-tobi! W-wh—"
Hinata squealed as Tobi suddenly grabbed her by the waist, lifted her up, and spun her around in the air.
"Aww," Tobi said, putting her down on the floor and squeezing her tight. "Why do you have to be so adorable?!"
Hinata turned red, obviously embarrassed by his affectionate words and actions. "T-tobi! Others are watching us."
"Don't mind them, Hinata-chan. They are used to being single," Tobi remarked.
A vein throbbed in Deidara's forehead.
"Well, he has a point," Itachi admitted.
"You expect a guy with literally blue skin and scales to have good luck in dating?" Kisame pointed out.
"You killed your last girlfriend," Itachi accused him.
"You too, Itachi-san," Kisame accused him back.
"She was not my girlfriend. She was one of my many fangirls," Itachi replied. "We are not the same."
"Women are trouble," Sasori mumbled. "And they get upset when you tell them about the art of making puppets out of corpses. They don't deserve me."
"Art is better than women, hm," Deidara said while nodding his head and crossing his arms.
"JASHIN-SAMA CONDEMNS DATING!" Hidan yelled firmly.
"Then stop using Tinder Plus. You are hurting our finances," Kakuzu complained.
"Who says that Tobi!" Pain winked at Konan, who looked over her shoulder to see who he was winking at.
Pain looked depressed after that.
Akatsuki, once again, prepared to leave. Konan said goodbye to Hinata. Then she turned around to follow them out of the shrine.
"Wait, guys! Don't leave Tobi behind!" Obito was still in his Tobi persona.
Hinata used her vision to check out the surroundings. Once again, they were alone. She took advantage of this to hug him from behind. She pressed her forehead against his back, preventing him from leaving.
"Promise me that, this time, you will always be by my side," Hinata murmured as she felt him stop in his tracks. "No more goodbyes."
Obito vaguely remembered that Deidara warned him about that particular promise with a lot of emphasis, but he didn't pay him much attention at the time.
"I promise, Hinata," he said.
After that promise, Hinata finally let him go.
"Could you take your mask off?" she asked.
Obito turned around and did as he was asked. Hinata grabbed his face, stood on her tiptoes and planted a fleeting kiss on his cheek. He flinched, surprised.
"I'm so excited about our date," Hinata whispered, pulling away from him with a sweet smile. His dark eyes softened as he looked at her.
"Me too." He answered and stepped back. "See you in two days, Hinata."
Obito adjusted his mask, turned, and disappeared using Kamui.
Hinata had a faint smile as she stared at the now empty spot.
My father. I need to bury my father.
She took a few steps in the direction of his corpse before falling to his knees.
A few seconds passed, and she felt her eyelids close. She narrowed her eyes and blinked. Her blurry gaze could barely make out the different colors in the enclosure. As she tried to focus her vision, her eyelids were closing again.
Someone was in front of her. In one swift move, the person reached down and scooped her up into his arms bridal style.
"I…" She didn't want to show weakness in front of him.
"Sleep," he told her. "I'll take care of the rest."
"How did you…?"
"You kiss my cheek whenever you feel sleepy."
To think he even remembers that, Hinata thought as she looked at him. It was true. As a child, she would kiss his cheek before drifting off to sleep… Drowsiness made her forget any embarrassment she could have felt.
A weak, happy smile blossomed on her face. Hinata snuggled into his chest with a blush on her cheeks.
"You are so good to me, Obito…" she whispered, half-awake and half-sleep.
Obito stopped in his tracks and then kept on walking.
"When I was a child, you used to rock me to sleep…"
Obito replied immediately, "I neve—"
"... and even sing me lullabies." Hinata laughed softly.
The tips of his ears turned red, and he let out a grunt, obviously embarrassed. "Sleep already."
Hinata smiled with her eyes closed. "What about my good night kiss? Hm?"
Obito's blush spread across his cheeks.
He replied after a while, pretending to be reluctant, "Okay… If that'll put you to sleep."
No response.
"... Hinata?"
His gaze fell on her countenance. At the rosiness on her cheeks, her long eyelashes… Her soft breathing as she dived into the world of dreams.
"I never gave you good night kisses anyway," Obito complained aloud for some reason. "You are such a liar."
No response again.
Obito sighed while looking at her, peacefully asleep in his arms. Then, unconsciously, his lips gave in to a small smile.