Crimson Seal - 7
Deja vu. The window just became a wall. Run!
The birds chirped away, hopping from branch to branch as she walked on the path below unable to focus on their songs after another botched mission.
"I-I didn't mean to-"
"Didn't mean to, you little brat? You nearly crushed my foot!"
"It slipped," she muttered, backing up several steps when a pair of eyes narrowed even further at her.
"Again, you mean. It slipped, again." The furious figure turned swiftly towards her teammates who had been left to gawk at him the moment he exploded at her. "Who's idea was it to put this idiot in an otherwise capable group? Get her out of here and off my property! She's going to ruin the whole project and I'm not paying more for her mistakes!"
"There's no need to-"
Kiba was swiftly cut off as Kurenai walked from around the building. "That's fine," she said, facing the man. Her gaze moved afterward. "Hinata, why don't you go back to the village? We can finish up here." Even though her voice was soft she felt a fresh wave of disapproval pour over her.
She stared at her squad leader for a second, feeling her eyes begin to grow hot she looked down quickly. "I'm s-sorry-"
"Get out!" The yell made her jump, with her shoulders hunched she sprinted around the man and past her squad into the surrounding trees, to the path that would lead her back to the village.
At least her eyes were no longer warm, she had managed to not cry after being reprimanded like that. If the man were trying to get a trophy for acting like her father he would have gotten a gold. Mainly for having done that in front of her squad. It was one thing her father still hadn't done and that was only because she refused them access into the compound past the front doors. The last thing she wanted was for them to see her being so weak.
How would they ever trust her to be at their backs if they had seen her with her father? Even her grandfather would glare at her, though it had become a lot more common as the years passed on and he did it regardless if she did good in her training or not. Whatever it was about her that had made him upset stumped her. It was almost as if he hated her just for existing.
But that was ridiculous. It had to be. Didn't it?
Her feet stopped underneath her, legs no longer able to move. They shook beneath her, leaving her teetering back and forth, just on the verge of collapsing.
That was it though, wasn't it? He hated her because she was born first, because she had been the original heiress and she didn't add up to the Hyuuga way. She was the first. So she should have been faster, stronger, smarter than her younger sister. She should have been better at everything compared to Hanabi and she wasn't. Unlike her father that had topped Hiazshi in all areas even though he was only born seconds before his brother. She didn't fit in to her grandfather's outlook on life.
That you were either born with the skill or you weren't. She hadn't been born with it. The effort she put in was immense compared to her cousin Neji, who was considered a genius within the clan. Another person her grandfather hated, because he had so much skill and wasn't of the Main Branch. He probably wished Neji had been of the Main Branch so he could be the heir considering he easily surpassed Hanabi as well who was going through extensive training not only for her ninja skills but to be a proper heiress of the clan.
To be just like grandfather and father. Another person to look down on her with disgust as they pounded their views into her small corruptible mind. She couldn't think of anything worse.
To have the person that once looked up to her stare down with a scowl on their face whenever they addressed her. As if she were a lesser being just because she couldn't hold her position as heiress.
She needed to sit down before she fell over.
Hinata reached out quickly to brace herself against a tree as her legs threatened to give away as her mind still spun. Perhaps everything would be better if she had just been born second instead of first. Then maybe her grandfather would smile at her like she had seen others do with there own grandchildren. She didn't think he had ever smiled at her, but she had caught a him doing so before, directed at Hanabi that is. Always Hanabi. Only Hanabi. She wished she could remember a time when that wasn't the case but she was coming up with a blank.
The only thing she was certain of was that her family hated her. That in the future even Hanabi would hate her.
As her hand slid down the rough bark she could smell the iron in the air and she swayed from the overwhelming stench. Her foot braced her before she could fall and she blinked, raising her hand from the tree to turn over and look at the open palm.
"What..."
There was no blood. Not even a scratch. So where was the smell coming from?
She sniffed at the air to have her head spin from the overpowering smell of it. That couldn't possibly be from a minor cut.
After taking a deep breath she turned off the trail, pushing into the undergrowth. The closer she got to the source the more her stomach twisted. This had to be the worst idea she had ever had. But what if the person that was injured needed help? They could be inches from death and if she turned away... she would feel worse than a simple upset stomach.
"H-" she coughed before she could get the word out, forcing the taste of iron from her mouth. It made her wonder if she had gotten a cut inside her mouth as she could taste the blood in the air. Even so she tried again, "Hello-"
Hinata stopped in her tracks as she rounded a tree. In just ten feet of space was a sea of blood on the forest floor, trickling out from slashed throats, deep cuts in the arms and legs of ninja sprawled face first into the dirt. When her lips parted to scream she found herself gagging, a hand pressed near her throat to try and stop the putrid air from getting into her lungs once again.
It wasn't working though. Her mind was spinning as her eyes darted across the ground for a headband that would tell her if they were from her village or not. She hoped they weren't. She didn't want to have to take such terrible news back to the village, but someone would need to be informed regardless if they were from the Hidden Leaf or not.
She raised a foot to take a step forward, grimacing as the blood squelched beneath her sandal, oozing up over the sides. As she was about to take another step forward she hesitated. The blood was still warm, it was still pouring out from the dead. Whoever had done this had done so recently. They could still be here. She shouldn't have come here, but... she had already started and the least she could do was identify their village.
Pressing her lips closed she stepped over to the nearest ninja, crouching down and ignoring the way the edges of her pants grew warm and wet. She extended a hand to the back of the head, curling her fingers around to the front until the the tips brushed against a familiar fabric. Hinata bit down into her lips as she slipped her fingers around it and tugged it up, her body trembling until she saw the insignia on the metal.
These ninja weren't from her village.
She stood back up with the soaked headband in hand, taking a large step-back so she could get out of here quicker than it had taken her to get to the body. As she raised another foot to continue her backwards walk the scent, taste of the blood vanished from the air.
A hand was laid across her mouth and nose, blocking it out. She could feel another slipping around her chest, her whole body being raised above the rippling surface of red. The moment she saw the blood fear pounded reborn through her body. How could she have been so stupid? She should have gone straight to the village, let them sort through this completely by themselves. Now the killers must have come back and she was going to join the other ninja soon, unless she could move.
Her body refused the commands though as she was weaved between the trees until she couldn't see the red pond. She could feel her eyes begin to burn and squeezed them shut, hoping it would be swift.. But that was unlikely after the state she had seen the other ninja in. She really was worthless. A real Hyuuga heiress would never allow herself to be caught off guard, to be killed so easily.
Warm breath ran over her ear and she shivered. This was it. This was-
"Don't scream."
Her eyes snapped open as she felt her heart nearly come to a stop. The hand slipped away from her nose and mouth, moving over her shoulder and down her arm to encircle around her wrist. That voice...
She turned slowly, glancing over her shoulder until she was met with red eyes, three tomoe lying still in the iris. "Ah," the sound that was a cross between a gasp and a soft yell slipped from her lips as she gazed at the orbs, unable to tear her gaze away. An echo of lightning flashed across it in her mind's eye. The darkness of the sky replacing the backdrop of trees all around her.
"Did I frighten you?"
Her eyes widened upon hearing that voice again. This had to be a mirage of sorts, but... "Y-you..." she murmured. Hinata reached up with one hand to rest the tips of her fingers on his cheek, confirming that he was here. He was older, his hair slightly longer, no longer shrouded in shadow. "You're the one that saved me from that Cloud Ninja."
For a second she thought she must be dreaming as he didn't speak immediately. His eyes were drawn to the place where her fingers rested and she could feel a shift of his jaw through the exchange. Those eyes turned back to look at her though and he did speak, "You remember that?"
She nodded her head slowly. "I remembered that night through my dreams."
"Your... You dreamed about me?"
Hinata barely suppressed the urge to giggle at his words. So uncertain... even though she didn't know him very well it seemed uncharacteristic. "Mhm... uh." Her mind had just processed what she had said before and she could feel her cheeks start to grow hot. Upon seeing him about to speak again she let out a squeak and ducked her head down.
How could she have said that? How could she have admitted that? Dreaming about a person she didn't even know. All that she had ever seen in those dreams was his eyes, the only clear thing she could remember. It was hardly anything to go by.
Though there was his voice as well, she had recognized it even though she hadn't heard it since she was three. But in those dreams he rarely spoke, if at all. Still... her cheeks were growing hotter by the second. As her gaze focused on the ground beneath her she just saw black and white outlined red clouds. That wasn't grass...
"Kya!" When she tried to scramble backward off the fabric, off his lap, she merely tugged herself backwards before nearly face planting into his chest with his arm still wrapped around her.
The only thing that stopped her were his fingers pressed right against her chin, pushing her head back up until her eyes met his once again. His gaze seemed to flicker over her, and then he was leaning down, his lips pressing against her skin right above the brow.
She didn't know it was possible for her skin to heat up even more. "Ah, um..."
"You're cute, Hinata." He pulled away from her shortly after saying the words, leaning back against a tree.
She wasn't certain about that considering she had to be as red as a tomato, but... "Th-thank you-u, umm."
He seemed to understand what she was asking for without asking for it, but it was another second before he answered her unspoken question. "Itachi."
Her mouth opened for a moment, then closed as she stared at him. As she started to actually look at the man in front of her. His sharingan activated, only possessed by him and his brother, Sasuke. The only other surviving member of the Uchiha. That signature black hair, his eyes likely a dark color. How had she not noticed it before? He had killed his entire clan.
She could feel her body tense as she glanced around to just find more trees, bushes, no path in sight. How far had he taken her from the pool of blood? Was he the one that had killed that squad? All by himself? "F-father said yo-you k-killed your c-clan," she muttered as she looked down to the arm that remained secure around her mid-section.
"How is your father?" Hinata looked up quickly, trying to keep the fear out of her eyes even though he must have just heard it in her voice. Did he have something against her father? Was he going to use her to get back at him for something? "Is he treating you well?"
"Huh?" She couldn't resist the small hop she had given at such a question. "M-me?" At the nod of his head she fought to get her tongue to work. "Fa-father spends m-most of his time w-with Hana-abi. The r-rest is gov-governing the clan." She really needed to get out of here, out of his grip before she resembled those shinobi back in the rippling waves of red.
"Hmm." He leaned further against the tree, gaze still on her, unmoving. She stayed perfectly still, wanting to disappear before he figured out how he wanted to gut her. His gaze dropped to her wrist, where his hand now resided, thumb moving slowly over the veins there. "Are you taking part in the upcoming Chunin Exams?"
"I-I don't know." It couldn't hurt to answer the question could it? If he was fishing for information about the exams then all she had to do was not answer those questions. This one though seemed harmless enough. "M-maybe."
He was silent once more and she could hear her heart beating directly into her ears, could feel it pulsing against his thumb. "Then... be safe, okay?"
She peered up at him through her lashes, unsure of what she had just heard pass through his lips. "O-okay." The moment the word had made it out of her mouth she could feel his grip on her loosen, his arm falling away from her body, his hand slipping down her wrist.
Hinata didn't move immediately, staying there for a second in case it was just a trick. He had to be faster than her, if it was a trick he could easily grab her again. After an extended second she was up and on her feet, forcing herself not to run as she walked away even as her mind screamed at her to move. The rest of her body just wouldn't comply to the request and she glanced over her shoulder to see him still sitting against that tree, his lips turning up into a smile after a moment.
She turned back around quickly to hide the smile that had just appeared on her own lips.