AN: Hey everyone. Today is my birthday so I'm going to share the love and post a new chapter. Sorry for the long wait but we had to plan like fifteen parties and finals are coming up soon.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto
Chapter 18:
Hinata leapt from branch to branch behind Sasuke. She had grown accustomed to his company, not to say she enjoyed it at all. He was cold and quiet, just like Gaara. But Gaara was at least forgiving and modest while the youngest Uchiha had such a big ego Hinata was surprised he didn't suffocate in it. For example one time while he was trying to teach her how to spar she had almost beat him, until he flipped her over and almost broke her jaw in anger of losing. From that day foreword they had never spared again.
She continued her training with Sasuke, her target now being a practice dummy, and was glad to see that she was getting better and better everyday. Even her stamina seemed to increase by leaps and bounds. Not only was Sasuke being true to his word and bringing her back to Suna but her eye had healed and her Byakugan had even improved since then.
Sasuke had made them stop for camp later that night. As he was stoking the fire he glanced over at the pale girl sitting across from him, smiling to her self and playing with what seemed to be a butterfly. He frowned to himself. His hand reached for his kunai pouch as a white bird landed near Hinata.
"Hinata when I tell you to, I want you to run understood." Sasuke said, shocking Hinata into almost dropping the butterfly.
"W-why, Sasuke-san?" Hinata asked, standing.
"Just do what I say," Sasuke snapped.
Hinata nodded and sat back down trying to avoid all suspicions.
"Ready?" Sasuke asked.
Hinata flicked her eyes up to meet his as an answer.
"GO!" Sasuke shouted, hurling a kunai at the small white bird.
Hinata had already jumped to her feet, and looked back momentarily only to see a small white bird open it's mouth to give out a silent squawk of pain. Her legs stopped moving as she looked at the bird sadly. She couldn't understand why Sasuke would kill such an innocent bird, or at least that's what she thought until she saw the bird start to spark as if it was a robot malfunctioning. It wasn't a bird at all, and now that Hinata knew that she had to find a way to outrun the explosion sure to follow one of Deidara's infamous bombs.
Gaara was sitting in his office, reading and re-reading his paperwork, with three plates of cold food next to the papers. Not a single piece of food had passed through his lips since the Anbu came form Konoha. Naturally it made him anxious. Everyone refused to tell him anything about Hinata's condition but he knew what Anbu meant, death. He didn't think that she was dead, quite the opposite; he thought no KNEW she was still alive. If the Akatsuki would go through so much trouble to capture her they wouldn't just kill her.
He had wanted to look for her again the second he was well enough but his siblings made him make a promise. If the Anbu weren't back in a week he could send all of Suna to look for Hinata and they wouldn't say a word. It had been two days and Gaara was so impatient that he thought he couldn't even wait for the week to be up. There was no telling how long the Akatsuki would keep Hinata alive, and surely as soon as her purpose was served she would be killed. He placed his head in his hands and was about to have a conversation with himself, something he would never let anybody hear, lest they thought he was even more of a freak. He opened his mouth and prepared to speak when his office door slammed open.
"What the hell…" Gaara trailed off as he saw a group of Jounin enter with a bloody body of a Konoha Anbu.
"Sir we found him walking the desert and brought him straight to you," one Jounin stated.
"And why isn't he in the hospital?" Gaara asked coldly.
"There is no possible way he will survive," another Jounin said. "We thought it would be better for you to get the information he found out instead of letting him rot in the hospital."
Gaara stood and approached the group; he stopped in front of them with his arms crossed. The Konoha Anbu jumped towards him and curled their fingers around his collar, smearing his pale throat with the dying mans blood.
"Everyone…dead," he began in a raspy voice. "Ambush at the border…"
"Who did this?" Gaara asked calmly as Shukaku turned restlessly at the sight of blood.
"Red…clouds," Was all the man said before coughing blood onto the floor of Gaara's office and collapsing.
Gaara's eyes darted towards the Jounin and they all nodded before disappearing. Gaara walked over to the corner of his office and fastened on his gourd before opening the door and exiting. Leaving the corpse of the Anbu on the floor, blood pooling around his skull and a torn piece of black cloth with a red cloud lying a few centimeters from his fingertips.
Hinata began to sprint away through the forest as the explosion almost deafened her. She knew she couldn't out run the explosion and should find some shelter to block most of the impact but she found she couldn't stop running. Some primal instinct was driving her on; the instinct to survive blocked everything else out of her. What Hinata didn't notice was not only was her mentality changing but so was her appearance. Her dark indigo hair turned a fiery orange and stuck up in long spikes, two red cat ears appeared on her head and three whiskers sprouted from her cheeks. Before she knew what else was going on she was running like a wild animal. She glanced back and the reality of the situation her like a ton of bricks, the explosion would catch up to her in less then a minute. Without a second thought she threw herself on the ground and covered her head with her arms as the blistering heat overcame her.
Sasuke had seen Hinata turn back and look at the explosive clay bird. He almost jumped down to grab her when she began to run again. Sasuke jumped to the tree to his right and began to follow her at a safe distance that wouldn't be affected by the explosion. Hinata would be doomed and he knew it but he had no choice but to abandon her as the explosion finally reached its climax.
His stomach dropped as he sprinted towards the last spot he saw her after the flames subsided. However instead of seeing her burned body he found a small rock hard shell with markings on top. He walked over and gave it a soft tap with his foot and nothing happened. Reaching behind him he pulled out his Katana and smashed the hilt on the top of the dome. It cracked like he had hoped and then splintered down. Soon enough it crumbled to pieces, revealing a quivering Hinata.
The heat of the explosion made her close her eyes. Pain wracked her frame and it brought tears to her eyes, then suddenly it stopped. Her eyes remained closed in fear of what she would see once she opened them. Would it be the pearly white gates, or the fiery pits of hell? She felt herself being lifted into a sitting position, and she heard her name faintly. Slowly her lavender eyes opened only to be met by obsidian. She blinked a few times before recognizing the person and the voice.
"Hinata are you okay?" Sasuke asked, slightly distracted by dark black markings that were fading into her skin.
"Sasuke-san…" Hinata muttered weakly before Sasuke helped her to her feet.
They traveled in silence and finally reached a river. He sat her down on a rock before reaching into his kunai pouch and pulling out a roll of bandages.
"Hinata where are the worst burns?" Sasuke asked.
She whimpered and held up her arms. Sasuke walked towards her and rolled her sleeves up, only to see her burns already healing. As calm as he could he wrapped the bandages around Hinata's arms from wrist to elbow. While he was doing so he began to reflect. He had known about the Akatsuki trailing them, in fact he counted on it. However, what he didn't know was how close the Akatsuki would be. But because of today's events he needed to proceed with the plan and he needed to do it quick. It would have to be tonight.
Later that night Sasuke waited for Hinata to fall asleep before he got his plan ready. After an hour or so, when the moon was hanging high in the sky Sasuke took a bucket of water and doused the fire. Hinata awoke to the sound of the fire sizzling away. Her Hyuuga eyes quickly adjusted to the dark and she shivered as the remaining warmth suddenly fled from her body.
"Sasuke-san? What is it?" She asked rubbing her eyes wearily.
"Get up," he said gruffly yanking her to her feet.
"W-what's going on?" Hinata asked more anxiously now.
"We're being followed," he murmured as he leapt into the trees Hinata following close behind.
Hinata's heartbeat quickened and she swallowed hard, before following close behind Sasuke. Another tremor ran up her spine as a harsh wind blew in from the north. Hinata shut her eyes for a moment and suddenly caught the scent of sand close by. Her eyes snapped back open and a happy smile spread across her face as she picked up speed without knowing. Tears stung at her eyes as she even passed Sasuke, anxious to know that what she suspected was true. And sure enough she finally reached the edges of the trees and a desert wasteland stretched before her.
Sasuke watched Hinata breakdown as she reached the border to wind country. She jumped down and got onto her hands and knees as if to worship the dirt itself. He shook his head in disgust as he reached into his kunai pouch and pulled out a long rope. He sneaked up behind the sobbing girl and kneeled behind her. When Hinata found that her hands were no longer hiding her tears of joy she found a tight constriction around her chest. Looking down she noticed pale hands wrapping and tying a rope around her tightly.
"Sasuke-san?" Hinata asked curious and sniffling every now and then.
"Gomen but I don't think you'll be getting back to Suna," Sasuke said, before dragging her up and pushing her against a tree and taking another rope, securing her to the tree.
"Why are you doing this? What are you going to do with me?" Hinata asked her voice rising in pitch.
"I need you Hinata, more then you will ever know," Sasuke said smirking at her as she struggled against the ropes.
"For what? Why am I so important? " She asked weak and pale.
A noise came from some trees behind them and Sasuke's smile broadened. He reached behind his back and began sliding his Katana from its sheath before glancing back.
"I need you…for bait."
The full moon hung in the sky, illuminating all in the desert. Gaara vaguely noticed he could see his shadow, but that thought quickly came and went, while once again he was reminded of what he was doing in the harsh desert of wind country in the dead of night.
Flash Back:
"The Konoha Anbu are dead, all of them? Are you sure?" Temari asked pacing anxiously around the meeting room of the Kazekage tower.
"Hai," one Jounin said. "We found broken pieces of their masks and other body…parts." He finished quietly.
"Oh man we are in so much trouble!" Kankurou groaned.
Gaara stayed silent through the whole disjointed conversation. One thing remained in his mind, Temari's promise.
"Did anybody contact Hokage-sama?" Temari asked.
Both of her brothers shook their heads and looked down, ashamed. She sighed and grabbed a piece of paper before scrawling a message across it with her awful handwriting. She shoved the paper into the Jounin's face before turning to face her brothers again.
"Deliver that to Hokage-sama, I want it there TONIGHT! Understand?" Temari snapped at the Jounin.
"Hai," he said before disappearing in a poof of smoke.
The silence hung in the air for a few minutes. The tension was thicker then anything any of them had ever felt and it made them want to say something but the right words wouldn't come. Finally someone spoke, it was Gaara.
"I'm going," he said, the two words hanging in the air undisturbed like a death sentence.
"Demo, they won't let you," Kankurou said quietly.
"At least not without the councils permission," Temari said.
"If we make a meeting right now you can probably be off in a day or two…" Kankurou added before being cut off as Gaara slammed a fist against the table.
"No more waiting, I'm going now," he growled, heading for the door.
"Gaara if you go and they notice you'll be in big trouble," Temari said worried for her younger brothers future. "If you want to find her let me or Kankurou go, that way you can stay the Kazekage and prove yourself to these cretins!"
"No," his voice boomed although it was far from shouting. "One of you will cover for me while I'm gone, the council will not have to know."
"But Gaara…." Temari began only to be cut off by Kankurou.
"You have until tomorrow morning," Kankurou said. "I know the councils a bunch of old farts but they're pretty smart, so I can't guarantee any more time."
Gaara nodded as he opened the door, the sand in his gourd swirling excitedly. Temari stared at them both in disbelief.
"Gaara you cant be serious!" Temari said, but Gaara ignored her as he used his third eye to check the corridors. "Kankurou you cant be approving of this! I mean I know your reckless but this is a little much don't you think!?"
While Temari continued to argue with Kankurou about his role as the older brother, Gaara slipped out the door only stopping to give Kankurou one more grateful nod that he returned with a small smile Temari hadn't noticed. And without another word he was off past the gates of Suna and into the harsh desert.
End Flash Back
(A/n: this is with Temari and Kankurou, present time.)
"Temari, it's okay. He's gone," Kankurou said, cutting his sister off mid-rant.
Temari gave Kankurou a weak glare before walking toward the door. She turned back to her younger brother one last time.
"If you're going to pretend to be Gaara you're going to need some of my eyeliner and some hair dye." Temari said, appraisingly.
"Arigotou, Temari" Kankurou said, walking towards his sister.
"Well now that he's willing to risk life and limb for her, how long do you think it will take for him to realize he's in love with her?" Temari asked curiously opening the door for both of them.
"Well you know how boys are Temari, so I'd give it about an eternity," Kankurou sighed, and held his head in his hands as he left the conference room and headed toward the office.
Temari giggled, and closed the door behind her as she began to devise a plan to get the Kazekage and Hyuuga heiress together.
"B-bait?" Hinata asked, more scared then ever.
"That's right, bait for the Akatsuki. Especially for a specific one." Sasuke said the last part with scorn.
"You mean your b-brother right?" Hinata asked.
Sasuke whirled around and raised his hand as if to smack the poor unsuspecting heiress but instead let it fall to his side.
"He is no brother of mine, he is vermin without a name," Sasuke spat.
Hinata cringed from the sheer hatred in the young mans voice. However she quickly got over it and instead her fear turned to anger.
"But you promised to bring my back to Suna! You promised!" Hinata cried.
"I lied." Sasuke said simply. "People lie little Hinata, and unless you understand how to tell lying from honesty you will never survive in this world."
"I can't believe that, I WONT believe that," Hinata commented her voice getting louder. "You are a good person Sasuke, and I believe that you were really going to take me to Suna."
"You're mistaken," Sasuke snorted. "In fact I was supposed to dispose of my brother the first time you got yourself kidnapped, in fact I would have been able to if it wasn't for the baka Kabuto!"
Hinata looked at him shocked and hurt, so the whole time he was training her, and being civil to her was all just an act? Just so he could dispose of his brothers. That's when she remembered that the last thing she saw when she blacked out was a shimmer.
"Kabuto's glasses" Hinata murmured.
"That's right, he was the one who found you first, he saved you," Sasuke said. "If I was there first, I wouldn't be stuck with someone as useless as you and my revenge would have been complete. I heard Itachi was drugged. He would have been easy pickings."
Hinata stared at him in disgust, shocking the young Uchiha who had never seen such a look on her face.
"You're a coward," Hinata said outright and without hesitation.
"What did you say weakling!?" Sasuke shouted, grabbing Hinata by the throat.
"I said you are a COWARD!" Hinata screamed.
Sasuke let go of Hinata's throat and he fell to his knees before grasping his raven locks and pulling on them. Hinata got worried and tried to apologize for what she said.
"Gomen, I'm sorry Sasuke-san," Hinata said. "I was just a little angry, you're not a…"
"I am a coward," he whispered.
"Demo Sasuke I didn't mean it," Hinata whimpered.
"But you're right," he continued. "I am a coward."
Hinata was silent; she didn't know what to say to that. She had never been very close to Sasuke but she figured that she should at least try to cheer him up.
"Demo I doubt you're a coward…" Hinata tried before being cut off by Sasuke.
"You're to kind," Sasuke said giving her a rare wistful smile. "You were right, I was going to fight Itachi while he was drugged. That way he couldn't fight back."
"That doesn't mean you're a coward," Hinata said, searching for the right words. "it just means you want to make the man that made you suffer, go through the same pain you did, just in a different way."
"No, I was afraid," Sasuke, admitted. "I'm afraid I'm to weak to kill him."
Hinata had nothing to say to that. She had felt that way many times, never to the point of actually killing someone but she had felt insignificant and weak.
"Sasuke-san, I've felt that way to," Hinata said, the words just flew from her mouth. "At times I want to use my unfair advantage to, but I'm better then that, and so are you. So train Sasuke, push yourself to your limit and then you'll beat your brother."
Sasuke looked up at Hinata as if she was an angel. He stood and smiled before heading behind the tree and started to untie the ropes.
"Arigotou Sasuke-san," Hinata said smiling.
But they're happy moment didn't last long as loud laughter filled the clearing. Sasuke immediately stopped untying the ropes and held his Katana at the ready.
"Wow how sweet un," Deidara said standing in front of them. "Sasuke and Hinata tied to a tree d-y-i-n-g."
Hinata gulped and Sasuke growled at the blonde. Another rustling noise came from their left and the red headed puppet master appeared followed by the shark man.
"Stop teasing Deidara and just get on with it." Kisame whined.
"Well, I want to know why Sasu-chan saved our princess, un" Deidara commented.
"I know why," another brisk voice hissed from the darkened corners of the trees.
Sasuke visibly paled and his eyes turned the deep blood red of the Sharringan. Hinata looked over at Sasuke.
"Itachi," he hissed.
Said Uchiha jumped in front of the two teens and glared with his own Sharringan.
"Sasuke, step aside," Itachi said calmly.
"I will defeat you," Sasuke snapped.
"Oh please, I'm not here for you. We only want the Hyuuga." Itachi sighed.
Sasuke looked like he had been slapped in the face. But the astonishment left his face almost immediately and was replaced with rage. He swung his Katana towards the tree and the next thing Hinata knew she was freed from the ropes.
"Run Hinata," Sasuke said, holding his Katana up to keep her shielded. "I'll distract them long enough for you to get away.
"Demo Sasuke-san, what about you?" Hinata asked, almost on the verge of tears.
"Just run!" He cried before charging at Itachi.
Hinata did as she was told and continued to run, soon reaching the desert she forced chakra into her feet in order to keep running. However Deidara and Kisame were in hot pursuit.
"Awww come on Hinata-chan, we're only after what's inside you un!" Deidara yelled.
That's when Hinata was reminded of the horrible beast growing inside of her. She felt the true fact of the monster she had become hit her and she began to run faster. Tears fell from her eyes and she reached into her Kunai holster and without thinking she stabbed herself. Warm blood dripped from her abdomen and down her legs, but she didn't care.
"Deidara, did she just stab herself?" Kisame asked skidding to a stop.
"I think she did un," Deidara said looking confused while staring after the still fleeing girl.
"Does this mean we abort the mission?" Kisame asked.
"I guess so un," and with that both Akatsuki members left the Hyuuga heiress to bleed to death, alone in the desert.
The silver sand seemed to stretch endlessly as Gaara continued to search. From a distance he saw another person wondering in the desert stumbling. He picked up his pace recognizing the scent of blood on the wind. Finally he reached the person and he felt his heart stop.
"Gaara-sama?" Hinata murmured her hands pressed firmly against the bleeding wound.
The Hyuuga heiress swung dizzily before her knees gave out. Gaara rushed to her and caught her before her face and the sand got up close and personal. He shifted her a bit before he sped off to Suna, still anxious of what was going to happen next.
A/N: HAPPY B-DAY TO ME! I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Please read and review guys! It would mean the world!