A/N: First of all, sorry for the very very very late update for those who follow this story. I kind of got busy with other stuff and I found this chapter difficult to write, which wasn't very motivating. It's not my best work, but at least I can continue now. Enjoy!

WARNING: there will be violence in this chapter. Don't like, don't read.

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DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN NARUTO OR ANY OF its CHARACTERS!

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Chapter 3: Deprivation

A painful heat crept down from her head and clawed itself in her neck, making it impossible to lift her head without feeling like something was trying to squash her muscles. Hinata moaned from pain, she felt exhausted and wailed. The fever she had for a couple of days now, persisted and she could feel the energy leaving her body with every move she made.

She watched bright sunlight shine through the curtains and realized it was morning. She had no clue of what day it was or even what month. She had no idea where she was or where some of the other girls had been taken. Sometime during her rising fever, she had stopped caring, she was simply too exhausted.

Without emotion Hinata realized she had a moment of clarity and that those moments came with increasing intervals that should've worried her. She coughed a little and it burned her lungs and throat to do so. That was a new pain…

With a dullness that had been created by a constant struggle against her nightmares, she realized that today she entered the last stage of the illness: her lungs would slowly stop working.

Hinata had seen enough of the other people from Konoha get torn out of this world by this vicious illness to know this was the beginning of the end for her. As soon as one of the patients started to have trouble breathing, it was only a matter of time. She had been one of the last girls to catch this disease and had picked up enough pieces of conversation between the doctors and their guardians, to know there was no antidote.

She heard someone whisper incoherently besides her and slowly moved her head a couple of inches to look at the girl next to her. A girl, not many years older than Hinata, lied on the bed next to her. Her dark brown hair was spread across the pillow and there was a frown on her pale face. Hinata tried to remember her name, she didn't know the girl very well, but she knew that the girl had arrived in Hirusha in a different carriage then Hinata's group and therefore had no silver bracelet. Everybody had a silver bracelet in Hinata's group.

Then, Hinata suddenly remembered;

Tenten.

The girl's name was Tenten. And she looked surprisingly better than before.

Hinata slowly moved her head back as the few stripes of light started to hurt her eyes. Everything hurt her eyes these days. Vaguely she wondered why Tenten hadn't past away yet, she clearly remembered the girl started coughing during her own first signs of illness, what must have been a week ago from now.

Hinata felt her eyes close. Restlessness overcame her as she went back to her fever induced delirium state of mind, where distorted memories rolled into one big nightmare.

Slowly the image of the city centre of Konoha builds itself around her. It was a recurring nightmare about her last hours in Konoha and the horrible end her home city and fellow citizen had met.

She felt again how her two previous guards, now with misshaped demon-like faces, drag her through the streets to the city square where the smell of smoke and blood fills her nose. Torches create dark shadows on the dark ground, but clearly illuminate a dozen or so stakes and body's scattered around everywhere. At first it's unclear as what the dark forms are surrounding the stakes, but then a dreadful feeling arises in the pit of Hinata's stomach. She tries to swallow, but her throat is too dry and her guards drag her ruthlessly to the other end of the square.

Hinata is now forced to see that almost the entire square is filled with the foreign ninja's. She feels her heart drop when she recognizes the symbol of the Devil. Her guards are quickening their pace and sometimes her feet are dragged over the ground, but either they don't notice or don't care. She starts to feel a paralyzing panic take over. With every passing second it starts to sink in that this whole situation is completely wrong and that it'll never be okay again. That nothing can go back as things were…

Hinata cries out as she gets shoved into a hard body, but before she can fall two big hands force her painfully up. It takes a while before she finds the courage to look up and she realizes that her guards are telling her new guard something about her.

Before she knows what's happening the big guard jerks her hand up and takes a couple of steps to the back. Because of his heavy dialect it takes some seconds before she can translate his loud question to her two former guards. She prepares to struggle as the translation hits her, but breathes relieved when she hears her guards answers that she already has been searched. Hinata didn't think she could live through something like that again.

From where she stands the guard is only a big dark shadow with the torches emphasizing his contour. With big eyes she looks at her hand which looks small and alien like in his big calloused one. He reaches for something and starts squeezing her hand together hard.

"Auu…!" Hinata cries out again and can only watch as the guard wriggles a bracelet on her hand. He then lets something Hinata recognize as chakra flow from his hands and the bracelet closes around her wrist with minimal space between her skin. Next he grabs her by her neck and hair and ties both her hands above her head to a horizontal pole where other girls are tied up in the same position.

Hinata lets out a haggard breath and it feels as if she can breathe again for the first time in a very long time. She dares only to take a glance at the other girls, who look the same as she must do; confused, dirty, very scared and with a bracelet. She looks up to study it closer and sees it's a silver like bracelet with the inscription the kanji of love.

Then she hears a scream that makes her sick to the stomach, it's a raw sound of utter pain and desperation. When she found the source, Hinata wished she hadn't looked. A person was being staked right at this moment... Two men forced him to sit on the sharp end and slowly pull his body down until he's pierced to his mandible. The man twitches and moans pathetically, like an animal.

Hinata feels all energy leave her body as she slowly collapses in utter horror. The images and screams dance around her, taunting her. Before she knows what's happening, she and the other girls are loaded in a cart like cattle and she leaves the city gates. The gates of her beloved Konoha, which she only walked through freely half a day earlier. She tries screaming, but no sound comes out. She falls on her knees and tries to reach out, as if holding on to the gates in any way could help her or assure her that she will see them again.

It isn't until much later, when one of the girls starts screaming and hysterically points at the red horizon, that Hinata passes out. The red light and the overwhelming smell of fire, is the final straw that breaks her. Hinata now knows she'll never be able to go back home again.

Hinata twists and turns in her hospital bed, with only the image of her friends and her house being burned on her mind.

... ...

Kankuro paced towards the stone building, his heart pounding with dread. He had arrived the day before in Hirusha and the situation had been worse than expected. The moment it had been ordered to separate certain girls, Kankuro knew this was a command of some personal importance to Lord Gaara. Although he had some thoughts of his own about why his Lord had ordered him to do that, he wasn't entirely sure why and therefore wasn't sure how important it actually was.

Well, Kankuro grimly thought while walking past the guards, he would find out in less than a minute. He would probably be punished just the same, since no matter how great the importance, orders were orders and this one had been poorly followed. In his defence, this had been beyond his reach.

He didn't stop to let his eyes get used to the darkness inside, but swiftly walked to the door where he knew his Lord waited for him. No sense in beating around the bush, he thought, he was a soldier of the Devil's Army and would take any obstacle with his head up.

In less than three seconds the door was opened by a servant and he hurried himself inside. Kankuro instantly met with a dark silhouette standing at the window across the room. The setting sun set Gaara's red hair on fire, making it seems as if his Lord had a halo of fire.

He fell on his knees, "My Lord".

His voice was low and controlled, but sounded loud in the silent room. Gaara however, kept looking out the window, completely ignoring Kankuro's presence. After several minutes Gaara quietly turned around facing his still bowing brother. He walked towards him with the confidence of a man who knows his place in the world and those of the people around him. Kankuro felt his stomach squeeze in nervous anticipation and suppressed the feeling. The last thing he needed was to give his Lord a weakness that could be exploited.

Gaara stood a few feet from Kankuro, giving him a cold glare. Even though his Lord was dressed like a noble, moved like one and talked like one, there was still something animalistic in his glowing eyes that were the complete opposite of the superior civilized attitude most nobles pretended to have. Kankuro knew all too well how much of a sadistic savage his younger brother could be. Even though those days were mostly in the past, when Gaara was aggravated too much...

Gaara's cold, soft voice pulled him out of his thoughts. "Are my orders that hard to follow, Kankuro?"

It was silent for a couple of seconds, but Kankuro knew better than to answer.

"Two, Kankuro..." Gaara's smooth voice continued, "Two of the sixteen are still alive..."

Cold shivers ran down his back, Kankuro had the uneasy feeling his Lord was more angry than he was letting on. He heard Gaara bend down slightly to him.

"Care to explain, mydear brother?" Gaara all but spat that last word. Kankuro steadied his voice before answering; it was never a good sign when his Lord acknowledged their family relation. Kankuro knew Gaara couldn't care less about that.

"My Lord, I executed your orders exactly as you commanded. There has been a default during the implementation and I will personally look into where and with whom that fault lies." Kankuro unwillingly straightened his back slightly, "as your subordinate and the managerial of this task, I'll take full responsibility for the outcome."

Kankuro heard a soft rustling sound from the back of the room, travelling form two sides of the room towards him. His blood froze in his veins, he would recognize that sound anywhere, but he didn't dare to look sideways.

"Do you have any idea what I might have lost?!" Gaara hissed at him.

Kankuro kept his lips pressed together.

"I sincerely hope for your health that what I want is still here Kankuro," Gaara softly spoke in a threatening low voice.

Gaara straightened abruptly, pulled a cord and ordered his chamber servant: "Let them in."

From the corner of his eye Kankuro saw his Lord signalling him and he rose to his feet. The door opened to give room to two women flanked by two Imperial Guards. The women were both dressed in the same simple, grey tunic and cautiously shuffled into the room, keeping a submissive demeanour. They had dark circles under their eyes which contrasted sharply with their white faces and their skin seemed too loose around their bones, indicating a sudden weight loss. The fear of the two women became noticeably obvious when they kneeled on the floor and their hands, which were flat against each other above their heads, couldn't stop shaking.

Kankuro's eye caught the reflected light of the bracelet from a girl with her brown hair in two buns on top of her head. The engraved kanji 'love' glistened in the setting sunlight, the meaning almost mocking her current situation. Detached he took note of her supple body, which was still shivering on the ground, before he turned to his brother with little hope. For outsiders it may seem as if His Lord's face was as cold and impassive as always, but Kankuro noticed the dark shimmer in his green eyes and the slight stiffening of his stance. Now it was blatantly obvious what it was that Gaara had been searching for and Kankuro dreaded to think how this would end for him.

With firm steps Gaara reached the blonde woman and roughly forced her head up by pulling her hair. The woman shrieked and stared at him wide eyed. Her hands had reached up to where his fist was entwined with her hair, but stayed in the air, as if she was too afraid to touch Gaara, even when he was hurting her.

Kankuro couldn't see Gaara's eyes, but it must have been a frightening look, since the eyes of the woman screamed panic as tears started to slip away. Kankuro could smell her distress; it was pathetic how quick humans could be paralyzed by their fear, only able to look at it, like a deer caught in the light.

For a second Kankuro was sure the woman would be slaughtered, he heard the rustling sound again and had even caught a glimpse of moving sand in the corner of his eye. Gaara would lose his temper and Kankuro would be next in line, leaving nothing but a bloody mess of bones, muscle and intestines to clean for the servants.

However, his Lord seemed to regain his self-restraint just at the last moment as he threw the woman on the ground and turned his back to everyone in the room. Kankuro heard him slowly release his breath, "Put them with the others for sale."

An uncomfortable silence followed and one of the guards cleared his throat. "The others have already been sent either to Suna or sold My Lord."

Gaara's form radiated maliciousness, "Then sent them to Suna as well!" His voice lowered a bit. "And sent Yūra in…"

"Yes My Lord," the guards bowed in unison, grasped the two women and retreated. Kankuro watched as the blonde woman was practically dragged over the floor, but made brief eye contact with the brunette before she looked away frightened and pale faced.

He turned to his Lord and debated if he should take a chance or not risk of having Gaara's anger unleashed on him. Gaara had however, shown a great deal of restraint as it was, more than Kankuro would've thought was possible considering the circumstances. It seems Gaara's uncontrollable, cruel years really had been coming to an considered it and decided to take a chance. Cautiously he asked. "Yūra, My Lord?"

Yūra was a higher ranking officer who, among others, served as a trusted member of the advisory council of Gaara. He had earned this trust on the battlefield as well by his work by supporting Gaara conquering and maintaining the Land of the Earth. When Gaara was gone, it was Lord Nori who was in charge in Hirusha and Yūra was stationed one position below him. Hirusha was a city of tactical importance in the Land of Earth, and therefore an important position to hold. When Kankuro had personally delivered the women from Konoha, he had trusted Lord Nori would make sure Gaara's commands would have been carried out. This made Kankuro wonder what Yūra had to do with this all.

Gaara glanced at him, venom pooling in his eyes. "What were your exact orders for Lord Nori when you were here last time?"

"I told him we had come as far as Konoha to our own surprise and that I had the spoils from Konoha with me, among others some women who would become your personal slaves. They were to stay in Hirusha until further notice and they had to be well cared for." He inhaled weighting his words carefully, "I gave him an indication of when we would return to Hirusha and that I would immediately head back to you My Lord, since there were sightings of Uchiha forces further up north which demanded our immediate attention."

Kankuro watched his brother's back warily, Yūra obviously was in trouble. It had been Lord Nori's responsibility and duty to carry out the orders to keep the women save after Kankuro had delivered them. Kankuro was relieved Gaara didn't blame him for the consequences but rather focused on Yūra. Not that he didn't like Yūra, but if somebody was going to be skinned alive, preferable Yūra than himself.

However, something was wrong here, but Kankuro was unsure about what it was. The few things he had been informed about, was that one by one, all of the women had fallen ill with the disease called Ignis Ardentis. This was an illness almost everyone in the Land of Wind got when they were young children and subsequently was immune for it.

Ignis Ardentis was indeed more serious for human adults and could be fatal, but the death rates had been significantly higher with the slaves from Konoha. Kankuro's first thought had been that it was due to the different immune system the humans from Konoha had. Even though his own kind was a lot more resilient, their human soldiers and some of their half breeds were vaccinated depending on the country they were invading.

"And you said nothing more about it?"

Kankuro shook his head. "No My Lord, I kept it short and didn't put any more emphasis on the female slaves than necessary."

Gaara contemplated his response, "how did Lord Nori react on that particular part of his orders?"

Kankuro shrugged, he started to feel exceedingly uncomfortable. "He asked if there was a particular reason for the order and if there were special circumstances he should reckon with. I answered there weren't and that seemed to be about it."

Seen the malice radiating of His Lord, Kankuro was inclined to adjust his opinion that it was just bad luck the slaves had caught the illness. Obviously Gaara suspected Yūra of something and Kankuro wondered what His Lord knew that he didn't. He didn't like being kept in the dark; it could be very dangerous not to be aware of what was going on in your surroundings.

Before Gaara could ask any more questions they heard a knock on the door and Yūra came in.

The man fell on one knee, "My Lord."

Kankuro looked at the man; Yūra wore the standard officer's uniform of the Land of the Wind. Yūra's black hair covered the right part of his face and the left part that was visible didn't give away anything.

"Captain Yūra…" Gaara's voice practically purred and would have been comforting hadn't there been an undertone that made the hairs on Kankuro's arms rise. "How nice of you to join us."

Yūra's posture stiffened slightly and Kankuro could hear the man's heart rate pick up the pace a little. Yūra's face however, remained as blank as before.

"I read your part of the status rapport on Kurishina. Please, feel free to elucidate on any part."

Yūra responded respectfully, "My Lord, all I have to say is in the rapport."

"Really? How minutely of you Yūra, as expected." Gaara looked him death in the eyes. "Give it to me in speech."

It was quiet for a couple of seconds as Yūra slowly blinked. "Any particular part you would like me to start, My Lord?"

If Kankuro hadn't had the practice in maintaining a blank face as he had, his jaw would have dropped. Did Yūra have a death wish challenging Gaara like that?

Gaara just kept staring at Yūra. "Lord Nori reported you had the direct supervision over the human slaves from Konoha. He even was so kind to point out, you specifically requested this assignment." Yūra stayed silent. "Any particular reason for that Yūra?"

Yūra's face looked slightly strained. "It…" He gasped, "It was tragic My Lord."

Gaara smirked deviously. "Tragic indeed. So many deaths, Yūra, and only two survivors."

Gaara didn't speak anymore after that, but kept his cold gaze firmly on Yūra. Yūra swallowed loudly, "I…" He swallowed again and suddenly Kankuro saw why Yūra had lost his composure so quick. There was a small string of sand detectable from the wall towards Yūra's back, which seemed to end between his kneeling knees. Knowing His Lord, he had Yūra in a tight grasp somewhere quite unpleasant.

"My Lord, surely you understand how there was nothing I could have done agai- against t-this illn…" Yūra tried to suppress a growl as the muscles of his face were drawn together of pain. He was able to remain on his knee and only shrunk together a bit.

Gaara's callous expression remained unchanged, if anything his eyes seemed to smoulder more as Yūra seemed to be in more and more pain.

"Nothing you could have done… Yūra?" Gaara raised his left hand slightly and turned it. Simultaneous with Gaara's movement Kankuro saw more sand wrap around Yūra's limbs and disappear in Yūra's clothing. He was pretty certain that Yūra wouldn't walk away from this encounter unharmed.

"How funny you should say that." Gaara's tone suggested it was anything but. Yūra started to sweat. "I've been informed that you did almost everything in your power to prevent medical help to reach the slaves."

Kankuro saw a tiny string of sand enter Yūra's nose.

"You did it so clever, so unperceived, Yūra. If I didn't had someone keeping an eye on you already, it probably would have gone unnoticed altogether."

Yūra's right hand had turned blue and started to spasm, all Yūra did, was making a gurgling sound. Kankuro watched the scene play out in submissive silence; he was used to see these kinds of things.

"You see Yūra, a little bird told me you and my dear uncle have been keeping in touch." This got a reaction from both Yūra and Kankuro. Yūra's eyes widened and it seemed he tried to get up. Instead a spasm went through his body and with a loud snap, his right hand got forced in an unnatural angle. A deep gurgle came from his throat. Soon enough he coughed up blood and for a second Kankuro thought he was going to choke on it.

Gaara however, had other plans. The sand removed itself from Yūra's body, leaving him with a strangely angled hand. The sand coming from his mouth took bits of body tissue with it. From experience Kankuro knew Yūra had lost his vocal cords. All Yūra did was fall over and cough up blood. Every now and then he moaned pathetically.

For the first time there was an expression noticeable on Gaara's face beside complete dispassion. Shadows of psychopathic delight and gratification graced his face. "Yūra..." Gaara's voice was soft, his tongue briefly flicked his lip as tasting the name, "...We are going to get to know each other very well this night." After he rang the bell, Gaara stepped closer to Yūra en looked down at him while he was struggling to get up. Two guards entered.

"Bring captain Yūra to the dungeon and prepare the Jinchūriki for use. I will keep him company before long." With an ease caused by practice, one of the guards pulled a red bag over Yūra's head while the other guard tied Yūra's hands ignoring the broken bones. Yūra twisted his upper body in a desperate attempt to get away, the protests he tried to make, came out as animalistic cries without his vocal cords. Gaara only watched with a psychotic smile on his face, anticipation shimmering in his eyes. He's looking forwards to the hours he'll spend bringing Yūra to a slow and heinous death.

The last echoes of Yūra's screams were still audible when the servants closed the doors and Gaara turned to Kankuro. They looked at each other for a couple of seconds before Gaara spoke.

"Lord Nori will be given the opportunity to present potential candidates for the just released position of captain. I want you to evaluate the candidates and choose a suitable one, preferable one that does not conspire with my uncle."

Kankuro nodded as acceptance of the order. Gaara walked to the back of the room to look at a map of the country of Earth. He studied the positions of the army's of the Land of Earth and the supposed positions of the Land of Fire for a while.

Suddenly Gaara broke the silence. "Uncle Yashamaru is getting bolder. I suspect he will be requesting my return to Suna any time now. Probably under the guise of learning the political and economical aspect of ruling or something transparent as that." Gaara snorted, which was out of character for him and put Kankuro slightly on edge.

Gaara moved some pieces back and forth. "Shukaku will be leading then..." He let his voice trail and then turned his head to look at Kankuro sharply. "I imagine you rather not stay to serve our sweet brother?"

Kankuro made sure to keep looking in Gaara's eyes. "I would prefer to go with you to Sunagakure My Lord." It was no secret that Kankuro and his sister did not get along with Shukaku. Since the both of them weren't full blooded immortals, Shukaku had seen no reason to treat them with any respect or decency what so ever. Kankuro carefully cleared his throat, making sure the next thing didn't come out as criticism. "Are you sure you will be called back to Sunagakure My Lord? That would be a grave risk for Lord Yashamaru to take, seen Lord Shukaku's preferred choice of battle tactics."

This was Kankuro's diplomatic way of saying that Shukaku was a complete psychopath with the impulse control of a bloodthirsty toddler.

"It would be the most logic step for Yashamaru to take if he wants to keep control over the country," Gaara responded, "Shukaku may act as a loose cannon by times, but he knows the art of war and will be easier to manipulate and control."

Kankuro thought this over. Gaara was quite popular with the soldiers, more popular than Yashamaru, which could become dangerous for Yashamaru. "Besides Kankuro," Gaara interrupted his thoughts, "it's only a matter of time before the Land of Earth is in our complete control. The most important battles have been fought and even Shukaku can wrap up the rest and prepare for the next show. Both the Uchiha's and we ourselves will need some time to prepare for a full confrontation between our countries. My uncle has realized this as well and is just making his next move."

Gaara almost hissed the last part and Kankuro suspected Gaara wasn't getting angry as much about getting recalled to Suna, as it was about losing this mystery woman to Yashamaru. Although, if he had to be objective, the woman probably was more lucky dying than ending up as Gaara's possession. That didn't change that her death was a big loss for Gaara.

Gaara clenched his hand and suddenly smacked the table hard out of frustration. The pawns representing legions shook and toppled over. "Curse my uncle!" Gaara snarled. "He will pay for this…"

... ...

Hinata twisted and turned in her bed. She felt herself slipping away, her own twisted thoughts and painful memories started to take over again. She closed her eyes and all she saw was fire. A sob escaped her as she realized what terrible nightmare this was and another when she realized that this probably was the last time she would be conscious enough to even understand that she was alive.

Suddenly she felt something stir inside her, at first she didn't realize what it was, but then she recognized it as fear. Fear, she was afraid to die.

Tears collected behind her eyelids. Fear and anger, she was angry as well. It washed over her, she became overtaken by it. It wasn't fair. Nothing was fair. This was the last time she was even a resemblance of the person she used to be.

A moan filled her throat with the painful thought this was the last time she saw sunlight.

In her mind the destructive fire started to surround her and licked the rotting body's spread around her. Hinata desperately tried to breathe, fighting this feverish death while knowing it was a lost fight.

The last time she saw this boring, white painted ceiling.

She heard people screaming between the deafening sounds of the fire.

The last time she would've had any chance to get up and walk back home to Konoha.

Nothing came out of her throat as she tried to scream in agony, but she didn't know it was because of the smoke or the pain.

The last time she could have seen Naruto-kun had he been there.

Shaking her head in desperation, she couldn't even feel the tears slide across her cheeks.

Naruto-kun, her only real friend in the whole world. She couldn't feel her lips move trying to pronounce his name a last time. Naruto-kun, who always knew how to make her laugh. She couldn't feel someone grabbing her hand, someone that wasn't burning. Naruto, who had softly kissed her in the meadow. She felt the small spike of feverish energy drain entirely out of her body and she had no choice then to give up her last small struggle.

Naruto…