"Seishirou, go to bed."

"But--"

"Right now."

Hinata made sure the boy went all the way upstairs before letting Hidan in. Her mind was nothing but a blur. What was all of this about? Hidan, showing up out of nowhere, one-armed and missing Kakuzu. Not to mention the fact that he had probably just doubled Seishirou's vocabulary…

Hidan fell into the nearest chair, propping his feet up on the kitchen table. He dumped a bloody sack on the table, too, running a hand through his hair. Hinata couldn't say anything; she just sat down nervously opposite him. Neji was already asleep. Was this bad enough to wake him?

"So," the immortal said presently, jerking her out of her thoughts. "You're in Kiri now, huh? Took a damn long time to track you down, just so you know. Good job."

"R-Right, thank you," she replied automatically, without any thought.

Hidan sighed, and then dragged his feet off of the table, leaving a muddy smear. He then leaned forward on one elbow, brows drawn together. It was probably the most serious she'd ever seen him. Hinata took a quick mental inventory. Hidan was here. He was alive--but he couldn't die, so that was to be expected. His arm was off, but presumably he still had it, and the way the blood was still wet, he probably lost it recently. Which meant that he had to have lost Kakuzu before that. His uniform was in tatters and was only recognizable because she knew it had to have been the Akatsuki one. His hair had grown out a bit, too, and hung limply around his shoulders. Obviously he'd been on his own for some time, then.

"I lost Kakuzu. Some bitch ambushed us near the coast, and that was two full fucking weeks ago. I haven't seen either of the artist fags for years now, but I know you have. Where are they?"

"I haven't seen Deidara-kun or Sasori for nine years, Hidan."

It was almost comical how the blood drained from his face. Almost. Hinata could only swallow the lump in her throat, and try to figure out why Hidan would have come to her. For help in tracking down Kakuzu? Or taking out this lady who had ambushed them? Or…was it Bijuu-related?

"…the fuck am I supposed to do, then…" He buried his head in the crook of his arm, groaning.

"Hidan, what's going on?" She was mildly proud of the fact that her voice didn't shake. The next sentence, however, did. "Tell me what's going on."

"The Bijuu," he mumbled into his arm and the table.

Hinata's breath caught, and she pressed a hand to her heart to make sure it was still beating.

Hidan continued, though. "After we got separated, the Nibi came after me. I got away with only losing an arm. I came here--I thought you would…know where Deidara was. But you don't. You fucking don't. You have no damn idea what's going on out there, do you?!" He jumped to his feet, slamming his hand down on the table. His fuchsia eyes glinted in the light of the kitchen. "They are stalking us. Hunting us! Like fucking cattle or deer or I don't know! It's a game to them. They want our bodies, like the stupid fucking Jinchuuriki and they're too strong.

"We don't stand a chance. Half the organization's already dead. Stone, cold, dead, Jashin-sama have mercy on their souls. They're taking us out at their leisure. We--We found Zetsu dead, a year ago. He was dead. Half of his fucking face was missing. Half his head--his white side--they tried to seal one of them into him and the half they couldn't control took matters into his own hands. And that's only one fucking demon gone. There are eight more. How the hell are we supposed to do anything if we don't even know where the others are?!"

"Please…be quiet. You're going to wake the children."

"Fuck the children! Don't you know what this means, you ignorant little bitch? There are a maximum of four members of the Jashin-damned Akatsuki left, and those demons know that! They are going to come for anyone who had any connection to Amegakure, let alone the Akatsuki! They have to know about you by now! And once they see that little brat, they'll take him, too, probably the other Hyuuga bastard, and they'll destroy the whole fucking village to get to you!" Hidan roared, and then slumped back down into his chair. He seemed spent. He absently picked up the pendant hanging from his neck, fingering it. "We're so fucked."

"Hidan…I know. I've known most of that all along," Hinata said quietly, her hair hiding her face from his view. "Deidara-kun and Sasori told us that nine years ago. That's why we came to Kirigakure--for protection. Almost all of the rest of the shinobi in the world are now in this village, and if it's only a single demon that attacks, I'm fairly certain we can defeat it. Even the Kyuubi."

"I figured as much…" He sighed, and didn't say anything for a moment. His eyes roamed the house, looking everywhere but at her. Finally, he said, "So you really can't contact the fag?"

"No. I mean, I could try, but I highly doubt it."

"Well then, we are royally fucked. But at least we can see if your little village can stand up to a demon." Hinata didn't like where this was going. Hidan just grinned, and added, "'Cause I'm pretty sure the Nibi followed me here."

-.-.-

The Mizukage looked up as the door banged open. He'd just been ready to leave, too… A harried-looking chuunin burst into the room, followed by the Hyuuga woman and a man he'd never seen before. "Mizukage-sama…!!"

"What is it?" he asked, mildly perplexed. What was so urgent that it needed to keep him in the office for even longer? It was already past eleven…

"Hyuuga-san here has information--concerning--"

"Information concerning the Bijuu's movements. Particularly the Nibi," she took over in a business-like tone. "It is coming here--"

"Stop. You, calm down." The chuunin hung his head, a bit embarrassed at getting so worked up. "And you, what makes you say that? We have survived for well over a decade without any demon interference, so why now…?" And who is this stranger? he also wanted to ask, but he had a feeling that it'd either be rude to ask or he'd know in due time.

"Because he led it here." She jerked a thumb toward the stranger, the venom quite audible in her voice. "Complications arose, and he did do the smartest thing by coming here, but--"

"I'm sorry, I'm not following. Not that I'm doubting your story--" though in all honesty, he was doubting it "--but who is he to warrant the attention of the Bijuu? Moreover, why would one actually follow him anywhere? Usually the demons kill, and don't waste the energy hunting down survivors."

"Because I'm fucking Akatsuki, asswipe!" the man snarled.

That would certainly explain a lot.

Hinata--the Mizukage recognized her now, she was Neji's wife--calmly (though coldly) explained the situation at hand. Neither she nor Hidan, the Akatsuki-nin, knew exactly when the Nibi would arrive, or even if it would. It was entirely possible that the demon lost his trail, or lost interest in the pursuit. But it was highly likely that Kiri would face it's first demon, nonetheless. An Akatsuki member would certainly attract that kind of attention.

The leader listened carefully, fingers steepled. He wasn't pleased. But he did agree, albeit hesitantly and after hearing the Akatsuki-nin's reasons, that it would have been the smartest thing to do to try to get rid of the demon easily. "But why would he come to you? You've lived here for quite some time, and you aren't Akatsuki, are you…?" He said this with more than a hint of warning. The entire world wasn't too pleased with the Akatsuki and what they had brought upon said world, to say the very least.

Hinata shook her head, putting her fingers against her forehead. "No. I'm…My best friend was--is--an Akatsuki member. He thought I would be able to contact him easily. Which I can't. At all…"

"Why not?"

"He's stayed away from the village, precisely because he figured the demons would follow. He didn't want their attention focused here--to protect myself and my family."

Either that was some intense loyalty or there was something else to it. The Mizukage briefly debated whether or not pressing for more information, but he decided to have faith in the woman. She had been living here for awhile, and surely she wouldn't wish it destroyed. If it was crucial information, she would tell him.

"We…had Akatsuki connections," she admitted after a brief pause. The leader's eyebrows rose; he hadn't expected her to actually admit to something like this. Especially since she was actually admitting it; it meant she really had more than a best friend in the organization. "If the Bijuu knew I was here, they would undoubtedly come after me, possibly the rest of my family as well, like they're hunting the remaining Akatsuki members."

So she definitely knew more than she let on. He sighed. He was getting too old for this… "I think you better tell me everything you know about the Bijuu right now."

-.-.-

The village was put on high alert. Civilians (at least, those that wished) and children were evacuated to a nearby deserted island that had been fortified with underground bunkers and several dozen seals and wards in case of such an emergency. Next to all missions were cancelled. All shinobi abroad were called back to the village. People were searched coming into the village, on the off chance that it was one of the demons, already having possessed a human body.

Hinata had tearfully said goodbye to both her children. Genin were only allowed to stay in the village if they had been ninja for over a year; luckily Seishirou didn't qualify. She would be worried sick about him if he had stayed. Of course, he was furious over that, but she just hugged him and kissed him and sent him away with the few jounin and older shinobi spared to protect the evacuees.

Two days after the first alert, there was still no sight of the Nibi. Of course, this didn't mean anything, save the fact that the entire village was tense. Hinata hated this feeling. It was just like the last war, when they were waiting for Konoha and Suna to attack. Or even the Konoha war… She just wasn't made for war. But even so, she reinstated herself as an active kunoichi. She was needed, she told herself.

Dawn on the third day, and Hinata was packing. Neji didn't want her to go, but the Mizukage agreed it would be a good idea. Hidan was indifferent; he was merely waiting for whether or not he'd get slaughtered or possessed. She had already sent several of her (or Deidara's, rather) clay birds out to try to find him, all of them with the same letter attached to their legs. But after three days with no reply, they couldn't wait. She had to at least make one trip, see if she could track them down herself. Neji objected; he wanted to go as well, if she was going; the Mizukage hadn't let him because he was needed at the village, in case of attack.

"Be careful," he told her.

"I always am."

"Except when you aren't."

"There's that." Hinata smiled warmly up at him, trying to ignore the feeling she had in the pit of her stomach. Neji just kissed her goodbye, and then she left.

She figured she would head for the mainland first, and scan the coast, to see if she'd get lucky. After that…she didn't quite know. It was a desperate plan, but it was the only one they had besides waiting. Moreover, she might be able to see if the Nibi was en route to Kiri.

-.-.-

"This is boring," Nekomata said blandly, sighing. The excess of chakra in the already dry air created by the exhale caused several of the nearest trees to wither. Behind her, she left a trail of scorched earth, the heat from her body sapping the dirt of all of its moisture. Since coming so close to capturing her human, she hadn't seen him again. It was depressing. Not that she wanted that human--oh no. She wanted a female body again. She had lucked out last time with that Yugito girl, but this time, she wasn't taking any chances. Though an immortal body would be pleasant…

The Nibi waved her tails behind her angrily. She continued making her way languidly towards Kirigakure, following the trail that Akatsuki member left. He certainly hadn't been trying to hide it, that was for sure…probably too worried about losing an arm to worry about anything else. Humans were silly like that, she supposed.

At least she was finally getting closer to the village. It was about time someone put the city in its place. How had it escaped this long without someone taking care of it? …Probably just laziness on their part. Oh well. That would soon be rectified.

A shadow passed overhead, but she just dismissed it as a bird. They had birds around here, didn't they? She hadn't ever been this far south, truth be told…

And then, Nekomata promptly reached the coast.

"…" The fiery feline could only blink. "…Aarrgh! There's nothing but water here!"

-.-.-

"When I see her again, I'm giving her a lesson in coding," Sasori said irritably. "I mean, what the hell--"

"Oh, shut up," Deidara replied, rolling his eyes. "It's urgent, yeah, like it says. She probably didn't have a whole lot of time to spare. She didn't want to waste time getting a proper code or waste our times for the decoding, yeah. Duh, danna."

"If it's that important, all the more reason to code it properly!" he argued, huffing. "And it's wasting our time anyway, with this stupid side trip…"

"Come on. I thought it was kind of a cute code." He grinned, waving the tiny piece of paper in the air. "Plus it's kind of an open secret, the fairytale. This way, those that needed to know could read this if need be. Pretty smart if you ask me, yeah."

"No one asked you, and yet you gave your opinion nonetheless," Sasori deadpanned. "But there's not even enough to go on. Like you just said--it was an open secret. Anyone could have written it."

"Nah. I know Bya-chan's handwriting."

"Which can be copied easily with the Sharingan or several jutsus."

"There's only one Sharingan user left alive, and he sure as hell doesn't know anything about that fairytale, yeah." Deidara really doubted that this letter had come from Sasuke, anyway. "Plus, it was attached to a clay bird."

"Here's a hypothetical situation for you, Deidara. Say someone somehow knows about that fairytale of yours. Then it stands to reason they know Hinata, too, correct?"

Deidara nodded warily, unsure of where this was going.

Sasori continued, "Then if they know her, it would only take a simple jutsu and one look at her handwriting--easily obtained--to forge that paper."

"But--"

"And it also stands to reason that if they know her, and of the fairytale, they would know your connection to her. Then it's a simple mental hop to figuring out that she would either know your jutsus or have a few samples. And what do shinobi excel at?"

"Being assholes?" he guessed.

He hit him on the head, scowling. "Thieving. Killing. Someone could have broken into her house, killed her, forged that letter, and used one of her many birds to send it."

"But they wouldn't know the sign--"

"Like I said, Deidara, they would at the very least know of your connection. Most likely this same hypothetical person would have at least seen you once and you use the same seal with every version of those flying pieces of mud, so it wouldn't be hard to replicate. And if that fails--guess."

"And it could detonate, yeah," Deidara snapped. "It's a lot easier to blow them up than to give them life, Sasori-danna."

"There were plenty of sculptures there." Sasori waved him off. "All it'd take is trial and error."

"Except she's in Kirigakure, yeah. I think someone would notice a few explosions there."

"But, keeping with that same hypothetical situation," the Suna-nin persisted, undeterred, "If it was a Bijuu? Possessed her body, used her handwriting, and slaughtered half the village beforehand. I doubt someone would object to a few explosions then."

"Except you said so yourself," Deidara pointed out in a low voice, frowning. "You said 'when we see her again, I'm giving her a lesson in coding', yeah. You know it's her as well as I do."

"That's beside the point."

"You're an idiot, danna." The blonde couldn't help but grin, and reached over to ruffle his partner's already messy hair. Mostly because Sasori hated when he did that. "Can't you ever take anything at face value?"

"No. It's unhealthy and impractical."

-.-.-

Next Chapter: Two weeks into the lockdown, the kids have had it! Sei stages a break-out, just as the Nibi figures out a way to cross the ocean. Kirigakure goes up in flames...