Hellooo. Time for chapter 14. I hope you are enjoying this, because writing it was certainly a joy. Please review if you can. If you have already so far, thank you for the support! Now, enjoy- :)

Chapter 14- Hated

What am I doing? A huge flash, noise everywhere. I am so angry I can't move or speak. There's people screaming, crushed under rubble, death everywhere. What's going on? Why am I here? They'll all hate me now. I've destroyed everything… I will wait here, on the other side. Just until something calls me back. I don't care how long it takes.

Kana heard noises all around her, but it was too chaotic for her to pick out anything. She was on a blanket on the ground. She wanted to get up, but her body was far too heavy. Wave after wave of pure exhaustion swept over her and battled to force her into more slumber, but she urged herself awake. Soon, she became aware that her hands were chained. Actually, so were her feet. The cold metal sapped any warmth she felt from the torches.
One eye opened, and she saw that what surrounded her was a drooping khaki tent, held upright with wooden poles; the smouldering flames of two torches kept the inside in an earnest, dim glow, and in the corner of one eye she saw a medical kit and a spare pillow. In the other eye's peripheral, she saw five people: Kakashi, Sai, Hajime, Naruto Uzumaki and a girl with pink hair whom she had never seen. Their faces were observant or grave, but Hajime's was clouded with concern as well.

"So you're awake," Kakashi pointed out.

"Looks like it," Kana said. Her voice was knackered and hoarse.

"How are you feeling?"

"Divine."

"You'll be very confused right about now… Since we're the only people who will see you, we're going to explain, if you feel up to it."

"My mind's too numb to want to go shouting about how confused I really am. It feels like someone sucked all the life out of me."

"She's tired," Hajime protested. "Let her rest first."

Kakashi countered, "She's rested unconscious for more than ten days. That's a rest, if ever."

"Fine."

"Shouldn't we get rid of the chains?" Sai asked.

They unchained her, and the relief was immediate. She got it. They had been chakra drainers. They had wanted her to wake up, but not in full power, so the only option had been to gradually eat up her chakra with these devices. A dirty trick, but she had to concede it as a necessary measure.

"Woah, I've never seen someone look so tired," Naruto exclaimed. "Or like they're trying so hard."

Sakura was very kind. She helped Kana to sit up, and gave a her herby-tasting drink that made her feel more lively instantly.

"I did it, didn't it?" Kana mumbled.

Kakashi frowned. "What?"

"Destroyed the entire village. You don't need to say it, but I'll defend myself. It wasn't my fault, I swear. I'd never do something like that if I…"

"We know," he assured her. "Since then, a lot has happened."

"Lady Tsunade released her mitotic regeneration seal in order to protect everyone," Sakura explained, "So not many were harmed. All the people who were killed by Pain since he arrived have been revived, too…"

"What?! By who?"

Naruto chipped in, "Nagato. Those six Pains were just dead bodies being controlled by your Leader, Nagato. Stuff happened, and… well, Nagato died because he used all his chakra to revive those whom he'd killed here. Who knew he was a good guy after all?"

"That's crazy…" she whispered. "But who killed Pain?"

"Uh, that was me."

"You?" This kook? Seriously? But… With Kyuubi's power, she could somehow believe it. There was something about him that made her want to believe in him. "What's the state of affairs here then?"

Kakashi took over again, "Tsunade is in a coma. Her chakra was greatly drained and it left her body exhausted, so Danzou has taken over as interim Hokage, the sixth. What's more, since the village was destroyed, the entire population is mobilised to start the repair work and defend the village, should foreign lands seek to take advantage of our weakness." He took a breath. "I don't know what happened to you up there, Kana, but could you explain?"

"I'm not completely sure … I was recruited into the Akatsuki for reasons like this. Since I was a kid, I've had this crazy power, even I don't know much about it, but as I've gotten older, it's as if the seal that must have been placed on it, is weakening. Pain took advantage of that, and released my power." She wringed her hands and felt tears welling. "If it gets any worse, you'll have to chain me down all the time like this. I'm a living bomb, a chakra weapon. The Akatsuki want to use me to seal the tailed beasts faster…"

"You are not a bomb, Kana," Hajime said angrily. "How could you say that?"

"I hurt your entire family, I destroyed your home, I've imposed on you all, and I'm the key to the ruin of the world with the tailed beasts. Just kill me now. Listen to me, this can't be stopped."

"No, you listen to me. The village can be rebuilt. Whatever happened up in the sky, I know you didn't have a choice; I can't say that I'm not in pain. The pain of losing my home is more than I can handle. But none of that, none of that at all would ever cause me to want you to die."

"Hajime, stop it." I don't deserve it!

"No! Stop feeling sorry for yourself. You've got legs, to get up and walk with them, and hold your head high. There's lots of people here who won't forgive you, so you've got to face up to them if you want the Leaf to be your home."

The conversation ended here. Kakashi, Sakura, Naruto and a hesitant Sai left the tent while Hajime lied down, leaning on one elbow, facing Kana. She saw a large gash in its entirety on his cheek. It was a nasty wound, but cleverly treated. It distorted his face a little. She couldn't describe the feeling she had, now she knew Hajime was safe after all. Seeing yet another person covered in blood on the floor, unmoving, was intolerably painful.

The evening passed without event. Sai dropped in and stayed for a while, and the three of them together spent some time eating and talking about things that had nothing to do with anything, casual things, things that didn't jab any tender spots. The conversation did grow more serious sometimes, but only sometimes.
Hajime was the one who had the most to say; as Sai had spent his childhood in Root, and Kana had been brought up by Itachi for Akatsuki, Hajime had had the most ordinary of lives. But as a member of the branch family of Hyuugas, Kana found out that was hardly normal. Very unfortunate, in fact, but he didn't seem to mind.

Kana worried the whole time. Never in her life had she been so tired, so drained and depressed. In the aftermath of such a tragedy, she wondered how she had coped the last time around.
But sitting in a circle, with the stern, reassuring Hajime and Sai with his sincerity, she felt now what it was like to have real friends. When this realisation hit her, her heart was filled with warmth that would boost her up from the rising hatred she now had towards her problems.

It was friends that she would need, if she was going to endure this next chapter of her life.