Chap. No. Seh-veh-nn
-- I'm sorry for the late update! I just moved recently and had so much spare time. Now that school started and I gained a life I have like no time to write! --
A/N: They have block schedules. Monday: all classes. Tues&Thurs: evens. Wed&Fri: odds.
Disclaimer: Naruto isn't mine ;)
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After her not-so-pleasant encounter with Pein, Hinata made her way slowly to her second period. The older boy's words were haunting the poor freshman with every step. The way he'd said "For the initiation" had really creeped her out. What was an 'initiation' anyway?
Without her noticing her body mechanically carried the Hyuuga girl to her classroom. From there she trudged up the isle to where Gaara was already seated.
"What's wrong?" asked the redhead, a hint of sympathy.
Hinata sighed, taking her seat. For displaying little-to-no emotions, Gaara was extremely perceptible. She quietly asked, "W-well, what's a, um, in-initiation?"
Gaara looked puzzled, then said flatly, "It's when you get admitted to something. Like a club or job or something like that. Why?" He pulled out his notebook, strange doodles covering the front page.
"W-well, I'm b-being initiated in-into a, um, w-well, club t-today," she nervously half-lied.
Gaara rolled his eyes. "Hina-chan, you're a horrible liar. Don't even try. You're joining the Akatsuki aren't you?" His gaze was cold as he spoke the gang's name.
Hinata gulped, letting out a squeaky, "Y-yes."
"Alright, class, who knows what acronyms are?" questioned Iruka-sensei loudly, moving to the board at the front of the class.
The room settled into the lesson, until the bell rang.
As, Hinata gathered her notebook and backpack, Gaara resumed their topic,
"Be careful," he warned concerned, "the Akatsuki are dangerous."
The Hyuuga blinked, surprised by that. Dangerous? She could say that the Akatsuki were rough and ill-tempered, but Hinata hadn't thought of them as 'dangerous'. Her thoughts drifted back to the fight earlier and Pein, then her own head contrasted it with thoughts of how nice everyone was to her.
They couldn't be that bad at least, she thought to herself. Maybe they're simply misunderstood because they fight a lot?
After convincing herself of her new friend's innocence, she said,
"I'll b-be okay."
Gaara nodded, excepting that his best friend firmly believed that. If Hinata was going to trust them, the redhead could only hope that the rumors weren't true. If the rumors turned out to be true though, he would kill them. It was that simple.
The Hyuuga smiled meekly in his direction, trying to reassure the both of them.
Gaara smiled back, holding onto the lovely thought of murdering each one of the Akatsuki bastards who were after his Hinata. He was not about to tell her that though.
The redhead had to go to a meeting with the guidance counselor about switching out of his woodshop class, so Hinata was left on her own. The indigo-haired girl did the first thing that came to mind, hide in the bathroom.
The girl's bathroom was her sanctum in previous years. Guys can't find you in them and who wants to hang around the bathroom?
Safe inside the pale green tiled walls, Hinata stood in front of the mirror. Adjusting her hair slightly she occupied herself with redoing her lip gloss and straightening out her shorts. Once she was done with that she readjusted her indigo locks once more. The Hyuuga couldn't just stand there idly, there were at least five other girls moving through the small room at a time.
Giving up with that, she washed her hands and exited the room. She paced herself, making her way towards her fourth period class on the ground floor. By the time she arrived the bell rang. That gave her a satisfied smile as she strolled to the back of the class and took her seat.
A few more people arrived, one or two at a time. Sasuke and Kiba arrived to class just as the late bell went off. They hurried over to Hinata and joined her.
"'Sup, Hinata-chan!" greeted Kiba, eagerly leaning on her desk with his elbow. "That was pretty amazing the way you told off those guys that were fighting!"
Modestly, the Hyuuga blushed, replying, "I was j-just trying t-to make them st-stop."
"What happened?" asked Sasuke, interestedly. It wasn't the first he'd heard of it. Everyone was talking about the morning fight. Akatsuki were at it again people were saying, but they also spoke of a purple-haired girl getting in the middle of it.
Kiba relayed the previous events of the morning. He'd arrived at about the second half of the fight and saw Hinata in action. The Inuzuka made her sound like a superhero who'd swooped in and saved the day.
"And then she threw away Asuma-sensei's cigarette!" he howled, the story coming to a close. Hinata giggled, blushing at his tale. Sasuke chuckled, finding it very hard to imagine Hinata doing those things.
"We having fun back there?" came Anko's voice from behind them.
The three chatting students whirled around to the front of the class. Everyone had been listening to Kiba tell the story of the fight including the purple-haired sensei. The group hadn't even noticed.
"Gomenasai," mumbled Kiba, slightly embarrassed.
Bright red, Hinata added her own apology. While Sasuke shrugged, leaning back in his chair.
Anko laughed, humorously, she hadn't minded the recap. It seemed like half the school was buzzing about it. It was remarkable how new traveled so fast in this school. The students were all gossip whores.
The class started up quickly and a half hour flew by. The sensei asked a question on the text they were reading and as Hinata deliberated, her pale orbs wandered about the classroom. When they passed over the doorway, the indigo girl froze.
Out in the hall, Tobi was grinning as he waved at her. She felt a smile creep onto her visage and she gave him a small wave in return. She wondered what he was doing out there.
She gasped when Deidara appeared in view and whacked Tobi on the head. Sasori was next to fall into her line of sight, he glanced into the classroom the Hyuuga found herself seated in. There was a noticeable bruise forming over his right eye, as well as others. Upon spotting her, he motioned with a wave for her to join them in the hall.
Hinata shook her head.
Now Hidan appeared, where were they all coming from!?
"Hime!" he mouthed, waving her outside the door. He also had visible damage from the fight earlier, a good sized blue-yellow splotch on his jaw and a cut on his left cheek.
The good student she was shook her head again.
This irritated the silver-haired junior, pulling out a silver object from his pocket. He disappeared for a brief moment, the others followed. Hinata kept her eyes locked on the doorway, wondering what that was all about.
The P.A. system came to life over head with a static-like screech. A familiar voice said,
"Will, Hinata Hyuuga come to the main office with her things? I repeated: Hinata Hyuuga to the main office with her things."
Hinata turned bright red. Why couldn't they just send her a call slip?
"Get going, Hyuuga," dismissed Anko-sensei, getting back to her original question.
Kiba grinned at her as the Hyuuga stood.
"Later," said Sasuke, inwardly jealous that she got to leave class early. History was not going to be his favorite subject, the teacher was a nutcase and the lessons were always boring as hell.
The indigo-haired girl smiled and hurried into the hallway, finding the others still loitering. Hidan looked smug as Kisame came jogging up the hall.
Hinata frowned, she'd been tricked. The voice on the PA system was Kisame's. They'd got her out of class. Hinata was about to turn around and tell her sensei it was a mistake when Tobi took her hand and whispered,
"Whee! Hinata-chan's playing with us today!"
The others quietly ushered the indigo-haired girl down the hall, making sure she stayed silent. If she spoke the plan would be ruined and all of them would be caught ditching class. Outside of the main building, they filed out into the parking lot.
"Wh-what's going o-on?" asked Hinata, nervously glancing around. Students weren't allowed to leave the campus during school hours. In fact students weren't supposed to ditch class at all.
Am I becoming a delinquent!? Wondered the Hyuuga, beginning to panic. Her father would surely disapprove of these actions . . .
"Operation Initiation!" shouted Tobi excitedly, still tugging the Hyuuga along behind him.
"Wh-what's that?" squeaked Hinata, turning to Sasori worriedly. He did nothing to console her though.
Grinning, Hidan proudly stated, "Phase one: Kidnap the hime. Complete."
They stopped by a red mustang, opening the back door, Deidara smirked, adding, "Second Phase: escort the captive to our hideout. In progress."
The frightened girl gulped, stepping into the car. Sasori took her backpack and threw it into the trunk. Hinata scooted into the middle seat, seeing as how Tobi was clambering in after her. Kisame came around the other side and said,
"Sorry, 'bout this, but there aren't enough seats, Hinata-chan."
Before she could ask why he'd apologized, Hinata was lifted into the blue-skinned boy's lap. The Hyuuga squealed, uncomfortable with the position. Hiding her face in her hands, the boy's laughed.
"Wanna sit on my lap instead?" asked Deidara from the front seat.
Hinata shook her head, that wouldn't help her at all. It wasn't that it was Kisame's knees she was situated on. It was that it was a boy's knees.
"I-I'm f-f-fine."
Sasori took the seat next to Tobi and Hidan took the driver's seat. The car was put in reverse and they were off.
"Yay! Field trip!" yelled Tobi, clapping his hands together.
Sasori was texting someone on his cell phone and turned to Hinata and asked,
"What's your cell number?"
The indigo-haired girl shook her head. "I-I don't h-have one."
"WHAT!?" shrieked Tobi, startling Hidan enough to make the car swerve into the opposite lane.
A mixture of car horns, Deidara shouting, and Hinata screaming, got Hidan to pull the vehicle back into the proper lane before they died in a head-on collision.
"Fuck, Tobi!" cursed Hidan, heart racing. "Be quiet damn it!"
"You could've killed us!" roared Deidara, furiously twisting around in his seat. "Learn to shut your mouth!"
"Tobi's sorry," the boy whispered, cowering towards Hinata, as the silver-haired boy glowered at him from the rearview mirror.
"I-I-I-It's o-o-okay T-T-Tobi-ch-chan," stuttered Hinata, still rattled from the near death experience.
That was twice in two days she'd almost been killed by a car. . . or maybe indirectly killed by Tobi. Since it was the dark-haired freshman who had instigated the almost-death by car events in both occasions. Either way, she was still alive for the moment.
That's what made the Hyuuga realize that when she'd screamed her hands flew against Kisame's chest to brace herself. Fully conscious of the physical connection again, she blushed furiously. As she tried to move her hand away she found something she hadn't expected.
"Whoa," she silently gasped, turning to Kisame, wide-eyed. The palm of her hand rubbed against his chest through the thin fabric of his shirt again. "Wow, wow, wow!" With two hands she ran her fingers over the man's abdominal. The guy she was sitting on had a defined six pack and rock hard abs. She'd never felt a man's chest before and it was something the proper Hyuuga liked.
Kisame stifled a laugh at her reaction.
Upon hearing it, Hinata pulled her mitts away from him, her shoulders hitting the back of the passenger seat.
"Oh! I-I d-d-didn't m-m-mean t-to it-- it w-was an ac-accident!" she stammered, hurriedly. Hinata couldn't believe what she'd done, since when was she the type to take advantage of a poor guy? She had no perception that Kisame didn't see it that way in the least.
"It's fine," the blue man told her, chuckling. He put his hands up behind his head, leaning against the seat behind him. Kisame was openly proud of the fact he had a nice body. This was the first time it had been appreciated by a female. Most girls are too afraid to talk to the shark like boy, let alone feel him up.
There was an awkward silence on Hinata's part, until Hidan announced that they'd arrived. Her indigo-head turned to peer out the window, finding they were in a neighborhood in the ghetto. The mustang rolled into a nearby driveway. The two story house had a broken window on the second floor and the mint green paintjob was chipping away and turning brown.
The Hyuuga was regaining the horrible bundle of nerves in the pit of her being. The broken-down house was extremely intimidating through her alabaster eyes. As they strode up to the plain wooden door, the others looked very at ease if not excited.
Deidara knocked on the door in a special pattern and the door swung open. Itachi was standing in the hallway, looking bothered by having to be there. The Uchiha motioned the group inside, the others complied, but Hinata was undecided. The indigo-haired girl was wondering if she could turn back and say it was all a mistake.
"It'll be okay Hinata-san," assured Itachi sympathetically. "Everyone here went through the initiation upon joining."
The timid girl bit down on her bottom lip, stepping cautiously inside the house. The floorboards creaked beneath her weight as Itachi escorted her into the would-be-livingroom. The lights were out and the only way she could see anything was from a hole in the wall where it appeared someone had punched straight through it. There were five couches pushed to the edges of the tiny room, creating a sort of circle. The others had already taken their seats.
Everyone sat two per couch. Pein at the back of the room was accompanied by Konan. The next couch over to the right held Sasori and Deidara. Then continuing around the circle sat: Zetsu and Tobi, Kakuzu and Hidan, and Kisame was soon joined by Itachi.
The lone Hyuuga stood outside the circle, hands clasped together in front of her, trembling slightly. She'd never felt more unnerved in her life.
"Hinata Hyuuga, step forward," commanded Pein from the darkest edge of the room. His voice was scarier than before.
Hinata did as she was told, moving into the center of the circle. All eyes were on her quivering figure. The Hyuuga hoped they couldn't see that she was shaking in this dark room.
"Do you wish to join Akatsuki?" questioned Pein solemnly.
Hinata paused. Did she? Did she want to go through all of this just for a title? No, it was much more than that. She wanted the sense of family that Konan spoke of, she wanted friendship with all these wonderful people, and she wanted to be in the Akatsuki.
"H-hai," she answered, nodding her head. Her voice was quaking as much as her body.
Hinata wasn't sure, but it looked like Pein smirked at her before saying,
"Are you willing to prove it?"
There it was. The catch.
Pein was dangling the thing she wanted most in front of the girl and he was going to make the Hyuuga work for it. Sure Madara had already told him to grant her entrance, that didn't mean he had to make it easy.
"H-hai," replied Hinata warily. She was going to take on any challenge Pein threw at her. It was the only way to prove to herself that she wasn't just a shy little girl.
"Good," said Pein, his voice growing darker. "Now, let me explain a few things to you.
"In order to prove yourself you must commit yourself to Akatsuki. My orders, as leader, are absolute and you will follow them. Failure of compliance means betrayal on your part and you will be punished.
"We are like family, yes, but we are also a gang. Each member has a part to play in operations and that includes yourself. Konoha is our town, we are expected to run it from the shadows. We keep the peace and beat down any rival gangs that threaten our order.
"Are you prepared to take on this responsibility?"
Hinata nodded and whispered, "Hai."
"Now, in order to prove yourself you must complete a series of tasks," explained Pein, smirking slightly. "From now until Saturday you shall be in a trail period. If you are useful, I will allow you to join. If you fail to meet my standards then you are exiled. None of the members present shall be allowed to speak with you and you will be shunned."
Shunned? The Hyuuga peered around the room at her friends for the first time since standing there. Their faces were grave, Pein wasn't lying. The leader had complete rule over the Akatsuki, they couldn't disobey if he said Hinata was off limits.
"Are you willing to accept these terms?"
The indigo-haired girl bit her lip, nodding once more. "Hai."
After the meeting, Itachi offered to drive Hinata back home. When she told him that her father was there he suggested that she come home with him until school was out. The Hyuuga agreed to it, seeing as how she couldn't go back to her classes. She'd ditched them! She felt like a rebel. It was fun and frightening at the same time.
The drive was quiet, neither saying much of anything. It wasn't awkward like before, with Itachi it was peaceful.
Once inside the Uchiha's house he got the quiet girl some tea. Hoping to make her visit pleasant. The Hyuuga had been to Itachi's house twice before, not going further than the kitchen with either stay. She assumed this would be no different.
As the indigo-haired girl sipped her tea, Itachi said to her,
"I'm truly sorry about this whole initiation thing."
"I-Itachi-sempai?" she quietly asked. When Hinata knew that she had his attention she asked, "Did y-you get in-initiated t-too?"
"Yes," answered the Uchiha with a sigh. "As did the others, like I told you. Though you should know that everyone in this gang isn't as kind as you may see them."
The Hyuuga's brow furrowed as she questioned, "What d-do you m-mean?"
His dark eyes met hers and he said very seriously,
"I'm sure you've heard the rumors," she nodded, "well they're true. Akatsuki is dangerous and we are dangerous for a reason. You've seen only a taste of their true personalities. Are you sure that this is what you want?"
"I-Itachi-sempai, I th-think, I'll b-be okay," replied Hinata, uncertain yet trusting. "I-it's m-my decision." She smiled brightly at him from across the table.
The Uchiha sighed and then smiled. He wanted to protect that innocent smile Hinata had. If something happened to her, he'd blame himself for it. For allowing her to join such a gang as Akatsuki. She had no idea what she was really getting herself into. Akatsuki was no joke, they were the real deal, Hinata would realize soon enough.
The Hyuuga involuntarily released a yawn. She'd been so excited yesterday that she didn't get much sleep and it was catching up with her.
"You want to take a nap?" offered Itachi, already on his feet.
The dark-haired man showed his guest upstairs and into one of the bedrooms. Hinata wasn't really paying attention to where she was, being exhausted. She collapsed onto the mattress and Itachi tucked her in and shut the door as he left. Hinata let her body melt into the comfy bed beneath her and she easily drifted into a peaceful sleep.
When a shout from the hall awoke the Hyuuga she found Sasuke entering the room.
The Uchiha paused at the doorway, hand still clutching the doorknob, and his ebony eyes locked on the girl in his bed.
"Hinata-san?"
Said girl immediately jumped up and out of her classmate's bed. Scrambling to her feet the Hyuuga apologized,
"G-gomen-na-nasai! I-I-I d-didn't kn-know that it w-was y-your bed! I-Itachi-s-sempai l-let me t-take a n-nap and-- School's a-already out!?"
"Yeah, about ten minutes ago," answered the confused Uchiha.
Hinata blanched, she'd forgotten about Hanabi. How could I forget my own sister!? Hinata mentally screamed at herself. She hurriedly snatched up her shoes from Sasuke's floor and began putting them on.
"I-I have t-to go p-pick up m-my little s-sister!" the frazzled girl explained, tying a bow with her shoelaces on her first foot. "Sh-she's pr-probably won-wondering where I a-am."
"Onee-chan!" came Hanabi's voice from the hallway. "Itachi-san already picked me up." The middleschooler appeared in the doorway. Hanabi didn't have her backpack, nor shoes and socks on. That meant she'd been there for a while. "When I got here you were still sleeping so Itachi-san gave me some cookies. Can we stay here for a while?" Hinata's sister looked at her with hopeful eyes.
"I-if it's al-r-right with Itachi-s-sempai and S-Sasuke-san," agreed the elder sister, looking to Sasuke.
"Itachi-san already said yes!" informed Hanabi loudly. Glaring at the undecided Uchiha in the room.
Sasuke shrugged. "I don't care."
With that Hanabi tore out of sight and back down stairs to where Itachi was most likely. Hinata suddenly felt very silly with one shoe on. She quickly put her other converse on and looked up at Sasuke. He was setting his backpack down by his closest.
Their gaze met and there was an awkward silence.
"Um," began Sasuke, shifting uncomfortably. Hinata was the first girl to be in his room. "So, how'd you get here?"
"Itachi-sempai d-drove me," replied Hinata, taking a seat on Sasuke's bed. It felt too weird to remain standing. "I w-wasn't f-feeling w-well."
"Oh," said the Uchiha. After a moment of deliberation, Sasuke walked over and took a seat on his bed with the indigo-haired girl. "Why'd you get called out of class?"
The Hyuuga instantly went into a panic. Was it alright to tell people that she was in the Akatsuki now? Or at least that she might be? Would she get in trouble?
"Th-that! Th-that w-w-was, um, w-well, you see, i-it was--"
"Something to do with my brother's gang, the Akatsuki?" the raven-haired boy finished. He was frowning.
Hinata swallowed hard before answering, "Mhm. I-I'm b-being initiated."
"Why would you want to join a gang like that?" questioned Sasuke, disproval apparent. He detested them and the young Uchiha was going to make this clear.
"Th-they're n-nice."
"Tch. Yeah right," objected the raven-haired boy nastily. "You don't even know them! All of those guys are bad news, even Itachi-niisan."
"Th-that's n-not true!" she defended fiercely.
"They drink, do drugs, get in fights, and half of them have killed somebody!" yelled the Uchiha angrily.
In a rage, Hinata was on her feet and glaring at Sasuke. Channeling her anger she shouted,
"How dare you! Badmouthing them and your brother! You're a-a-a, well, a jerk!"
The Hyuuga left the raven-haired boy wordless. She rushed downstairs and out the door. Hinata didn't stop to think about her backpack or Hanabi, she just wanted to walk. Halfway down the next street the furious Hyuuga cooled down and realized she didn't have a clue where she was.
Almost on cue, a blue sports car flew passed the indigo-haired female, stopped, and reversed. Halting beside the Hyuuga, Madara grinned and greeted the girl with a,
"Hey, you're Tobi and Obito's friend, right?"
"H-hai. I-I'm Hinata H-Hyuuga. Hello," she responded politely.
The man in the car glanced around the deserted street and then back to the high school girl in front of him.
"You want a ride?"
The Hyuuga had to consider this. Her father would be furious if something happened to her in a stranger's car. Though she had already broken the rules many times that day and she did need a ride. Plus he was Tobi's uncle so he couldn't be bad. She had no idea that her reasoning was completely off.
"Arigato," Hinata thanked him, accepting his offer. The Hyuuga went around and got in the passenger side.
How lucky was it that he'd found her? The little Hyuuga heiress all on her own with no body guards to get in Madara's way. It was ideal and Hinata Hyuuga was none the wiser.
xXxXxXx
KisaHina! I actually like this pairing more than I first thought. Kisame is pimpin' and deserves appreciation! And if Hinata was too OOC in that moment, sorry! I was just thinking of what I'd do in the given situation! xD
:And:
I'm sorry to the everyone who didn't like Madara being evil! =(
--I actually kind of like him being the bad guy… Since that's his character through and through. I'll go light on the evilness.
Reviewers:
I loved all the awesome Hinata pairings! I want to do most if not all of them. Cos' seriously Hinata looks good with anyone.
Adelaide 'Adell' Peirce --I'll have some KabuHina too =) your suggestion gave me the perfect scenario! Thanks.
Pandamari -- Sorry about the OOCness. It's hard to keep them in character when the plot line is different and stuff… (check out the extra/update chapter about suffixes)
And I totally agree with you, Princess Who Didn't Have Crown , Pein makes a smexy bad boy ;)
Emmeline Creazil --Trust me. Naruto is going to see the awesomeness that is Hinata. I just want her to be a bit more stable.
Himeko63 --Imma try and fit in every pairing. This might turn out to be a hella long story though. Lol. Thank you for all the nice words too! :)
Someday-Known --I like HidanHina too! I think it's absolutely adorable.
Thank you to all the readers, reviewers, and just plain awesome people out there! Keep reading and reviewing, please :)
Oh, and I need side pairings! Hina can't be the only one gettin' all the love!