These next couple of chapters will clear things up that you might have been confused about in chapter three (:
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto
Rated M for Language (Yes Hidan is back)
Chapter 12: "The Sun Sets"
It was getting dark with small amounts of sunlight pouring in from the canopy like trees into the available space to give the path ahead of them little clearing. Hidan noticed the chipper girl that was trailing behind him was acting quite strange.
"Oi dipshit what's wrong?"
He awaited the playful giggle or the whole hearted polite reply from the girl but neither came, the only sound was the light shuffling of their feet.
Looking behind him he took in the stoic expression on the girl's fair face. Her eyes were focused ahead but it seemed that only her subconscious was allowing her feet to move. If this was the first time he had encountered the girl he would have assumed that this girl was coldhearted and emotionless. Her pink lips were in a straight line and overall face would have made for the perfect poker face. Her cheeks were flushed and bright blue eyes that he pictured as alert and crinkled slightly when she smiled were now drooped halfway, he wouldn't be surprised if she fell asleep right then and there.
"I'm talking to you!" he said as he moved his body to turn fully towards the girl and stood like a stone-wall in front of her but it didn't seem to faze her.
The slight thud was heard on the otherwise quiet area as Sunnora's body made contact with the zealot's chest. Hidan's attempt to wake her from her thoughts seemed to work because the blue eyes widened surprisingly and her consciousness was awoken from whatever she was previously thinking. It took the young girl a couple of seconds to figure out what was going on around her. She was sure she hadn't noticed anything in her path or she would have stopped but now thinking back on it she had been startled just how deep in the forest they had gotten, the last thing she could clearly recall was when they walked to the entrance of the wooden area as she had protested but Hidan had ordered this path for it was a shortcut. She wouldn't have minded the shortcut very much but she hated how the tall trees hid the already dwindling sunlight, the path she wanted to take was out in the open so more sunlight was visible. After getting over the shock of the whole situation she focused on the object she had bumped into, Sunnora blinked a few times to adjust her vision. Taking in the pale defined chest, the tattered black and red cloth, and the immaculate silver pendent she briskly stepped back a couple steps but a tad too quickly that she lost her balance and without thinking she brought her arm out to cling to the nearest thing, which for her was the fabric of the man in front of her. Finally looking up she noted the silver hair slicked back with a few bangs out of place, the light purple eyes narrowed slightly as he noticed just how tight the clutch around his robe was. A scowl adorned the male's face that was more than enough to send the goddess back about two steps setting about three feet between them.
"I'm so sorry Hidan-sama! I didn't mean to bump into you"
She bowed her head slightly to emphasize her point, her ebony hair cascaded around her shoulders and face that hid her expression. Hidan stared at her, she sounded the same as she always did but it was the lack of her smile that made him think twice about her wellbeing.
"Look at me" Hidan said as he kept his gaze on the raven haired girl. She obeyed and raised her head looking into the strong gaze.
"Is something wrong Hidan-sama?"
Hidan knew he was being preposterous, sure he knew the girl was valuable, more valuable now than ever now that Kakuzu wasn't with him anymore because with his immortality and her weird healing jutsu he was practically invincible but that didn't mean that he had to care this much about her; she was fine, maybe just tired?
Outwardly nodding his head at his thoughts he turned away from the girl and started walking. The girl's soft voice broke his concentration.
"What's wrong Hidan-sama? I want to help you in any way I can"
Hidan sneered and crossed his arms over his chest as he continued walking.
"Does it look like something is wrong? Just keep walking, it's getting dark and I won't look for you if you get lost"
"Oh, it's just that when I asked you if something was wrong you nodded your head so I thought-"
A frown returning to the immortal's face he raised his voice at the girl behind him. "I wasn't nodding at you, you stupid girl, I was nodding at myself".
He inwardly scowled as he realized just how stupid she made him sound. Silence overtook them as they continued to walk in peace for about ten minutes. Hidan never particularly liked it being this calm and usually talked even when he was with Kakuzu, the most antisocial bastard Hidan ever knew, but he always managed to converse with him even if most of the conversation was one sided. It was weird talking to the girl behind him though, she was the total opposite of Kakuzu, and he felt like he didn't know her at all. 'I don't even know her fucking name!'
Frustrated with his thoughts that weren't getting him anywhere he turned to look at the blue eyed girl once more. 'She sure is a puzzle, I still don't understand why she is wearing that pendant, or where she's from, she irritates me so much!'
What irritated him to another level was her facial expression. She was back at square one with that expressionless visage.
Getting an idea together to test his initial hypothesis he abruptly stopped and stepped aside from the path and sure enough the girl walked right past him without breaking contact with her forward viewpoint. Hidan scowled as the girl continued walking straight ahead; never once noticing that he had stopped and was now about six feet behind her.
"Oi dipshit! What the fuck do you think you're doing?"
Sunnora suddenly stopped in mid step and abruptly turned around.
She didn't speak; she was still trying to figure out how she hadn't noticed how Hidan had gotten behind her when she was supposed to be the one following him.
"How did you get behind me Hidan-sama?"'Is she fucking serious? She must really be out of it…'
"You walked right past me idiot"
Taken aback by his answer she looked dumb folded. 'I would have noticed if he had stopped right?'
"Okay something is wrong, what is it?" Hidan crossed his arms over his chest and awaited her response which came after fifteen seconds of pondering on her part.
"I don't know what you mean Hidan-sama, I'm feeling fine" 'please don't worry about me'
"Come here" he said motioning with his eyes.
Noticing the twitch in her knee as she stepped forward he rushed to her side without thinking, getting there just in time to catch the collapsing girl in his arms before she hit the hard floor.
"I'm sorry" she mumbled in a whisper, her eyes were closed and lips parted as if she was struggling to breath. Her body was shaking lightly and sweat covered her forehead that trailed its way down her neck. Placing one of his hands over her forehead he mentally cursed his luck, 'she's really sick, she's burning up'
"Why didn't you tell me you were feeling sick?" picking her up in his arms he walked to a clearing.
"I-I didn't want to worry you or trouble you in any way because of me", she attempted to open her eyes but managed to only open them halfway.
Hidan pondered, 'even if she had told me she was feeling sick would it have made a difference?'
They were in the middle of the forest with a four hour walk ahead of them if they moved fast enough south and a three hour walk if they turned back north. Placing her down gently with her back aligned to a tree trunk he ripped half his sleeve off the cloak and looked down at the half unconscious girl.
Crouching next to her he wiped off some of the sweat that had gathered around her temples and let his hand trail to her face once more letting it linger there for a few more seconds. She really was getting worse. "Hey-I'll be right back, I know this area quite well, there's a stream west of here, if I use my full speed I can get there and back in about twenty five minutes" he was surprised how soft his voice sounded, if he didn't know better he would have thought it was someone else talking.
It frightened him to a degree just how much he cared. He didn't quite know why he was so worried; she was just here for his convenience, nothing more. Nothing more than some material thing he slightly relied on but could always be replaced if something went wrong. She looked so weak and delicate in this state that it bothered him leaving her alone but he couldn't carry her with him, it would slow his down severely. Making up his mind that he was this worried about her because it did put him at an inconvenience he withdrew his hand.
He was about to stand when her hand reached out for his arm, clinging onto it quite feebly. He looked at her and took in the sickly colorless state of her face, if he was a passerby he would have assumed she was dying. An uneasy feeling made its way to his stomach when the idea of her dead came into his mind.
"Please don't leave me-"
She looked scared and helpless, and he was having a very hard time telling her no, a task that came very easily to him; yet it pained him greatly at this moment.
Standing at his full height her arm fell to her side as if the bones in that arm had decided to disintegrate.
"I can't take you with me, just stay here, I promise I'll return as fast as I can, I need to get you that water".
One last look over his shoulder he noted the girl shake her head approvingly and slip her eyes close. He didn't know why seeing her with her eyes closed pained him but he was wasting time and the sun had set completely. Luck seemed to never be on his side as he looked for the almost nonexistent moon.
'Finding that damn stream will be harder now that I can't fucking see a foot in front of me'.
Dashing off from limb to limb to the west he disappeared in seconds.
Sunnora blinked one last time before falling to complete unconsciousness.
He wanted to scream, it had been about half an hour since he had left her behind in that forest, and he couldn't find the stupid stream.
'It had to be around this area! Damn it…if only I had some light I could find this fucking place!' He was more irritated than he ordinarily would have been because he kept thinking of possible scenarios, he had slipped up on many minor things when he had decided to leave her that he was now cursing himself.
'I didn't give her a fucking weapon, what if she gets attacked by an animal…fuck! Not that she could even if she had one but it would at least startle the animal right?'
Looking around he pounded his head against the tree.
'What the fuck! I don't even know where the hell I am, not only will I not find the stream but now I'm lost and will have to return to her empty handed…if I can find my way back that is…' looking around him again he didn't even know which direction to take, 'Damn it, no wonder Kakuzu always insisted on leading, he made it seem so easy'.
Review Please! Next chapter will be up very soon