Hello everyone; time for some more writing; enjoy and here is the next chapter of Akatsuki Hinata; sorry for keeping you waiting./
The gentle creaking of the ship did little to help the young purple haired ninja try to fall asleep; it had all happened so fast and Hinata had whiplash, she touched her forehead and let out a quiet sigh, buried under the creaking and sounds of the crashing waves outside her window; she got up and hugged her knees tight, letting the darkness hide her doubt and shame as she replayed the night's events in her head, a tear slowly started to form as a realization came to her.
"I…I just turned my back on my village, they'll never…" she frowned at the thought of never being able to return home, she fell back on her bed and looked up at the knots on the ceiling, mumbling quietly to herself "What have I done? This isn't me..." she tossed and turned, some red coming to her cheeks as she took the pillow from underneath her and hugged it tight, hoping it would provide some comfort "I just…" she closed her eyes, letting images of her orange haired crush and his smile fill her mind "N-Naruto…" the young ninja drifted off when his name escaped her thoughts, falling asleep shortly afterward.
Deidara, Sasori, and Tobi were all in Deidara's cabin, he sat on the edge of the bed with a smug smile, he laughed at how easy this was, it only took some words and the shy Hinata broke like he suspected, he pulled his hair down out of its small ponytail in the back and let his hair fall before looking at Sasori and speaking.
"Told you Sasori, all it took was one last push, I knew it, the girl is so fragile in body and mind.."
Sasori looked at Deidara with boredom as he leaned against the wall with his arms crossed; they were all back in their cloaks and their casual clothes were in a heap on the floor, Sasori looked over at Deidara noticed his overconfidence, it was one of his weaknesses but he decided to ignore him for the time being, he thought about Hinata and thought about how unsure she was, he closed his eyes and ignored the fact that Deidara was trying to get his attention, when a small shoe was heaved at his head he finally turned to Deidara with indifference.
"What do you want?"
Deidara hated being ignored and glared at Sasori but the puppet master paid little attention to Deidara and his fit; it didn't matter to Deidara right now, everything was going to plan and he was going to finish the mission at hand; he looked out at the water and growled under his breath, he was bored and hated this ship and hated it even more that he couldn't blow something up but his orders were written so he was confined and it agitated him that he had to work like this; the blonde haired man glanced over at Tobi who was sprawled out on the floor sleeping, he was tempted to step on him just for something to do and to vent but he was even too lazy for that right now, in frustration he got up off the bed and walked out the door slamming it behind him loudly, he couldn't wait to dock so he could have some real fun, he relished the thought.
Naruto sneezed loudly out into the night sky and sighed, huddling under a warm blanket in the row boat, he silently cursed under his breath at the horrible conditions; seeing that the others were not nearly as uncomfortable as he was, he groaned, not wanting to be the first to complain; he noted where they were and groaned under his breath, knowing they were still a fair distance away from the Sand Village, it would take a couple more hours at least, he tossed and turned, his moans of discontent getting louder until he felt a swift kick to his back, he then heard Sakura motion him to shut up, causing him to exchange a dirty look and turn away from her .
Naruto started to think of Hinata and the times she was there, watching him and edging him on, it caused him to smile some, she was pretty nice but quiet, he had never thought about her much before now except at the exams when she fought Neji and lost, she was just as alone as he was; it took her leaving for him to actually see her; irony maybe? No, fate? The ninja shook his head and pouted as he tried to find the right word; she was a lot like him and could understand him and now he was going to give her the attention she wanted from him, it may have took her leaving but he finally had a chance to think; he liked Hinata but to what extent he wondered, was it like how he liked Sakura? He wondered, when it came to love his pink haired team mate was correct, he was a dunce, but at least now he knew what he felt and he was going to tell her no matter what, he finally stopped thinking so much and counted his blessings it was summer and it wasn't too cold out in the water and dozed off.
The boat finally hit the docs as the sun that afternoon; during the rest of the boat ride, Hinata tried to avoid the akatsuki by stowing away in her cabin but she knew she could not do this forever; she looked out the porthole and noticed that some people were in a hurry to get off; a sandy oasis stood before the passengers, for some buggies awaited them to take them to the Sand Village, some were desert combers, looking for life out in the challenging terrain but for Hinata and her new found friends, they were heading somewhere else, they stayed on the boat as it was leaving shortly after arriving; Hinata leaned against the railing and watched as the passengers passed her, she felt a presence behind her but she was used to it now, she turned her head to face Deidara who placed a hand on her shoulder, a sly smile on his face.
"Well Hinata, ready to say goodbye to it all?.."
he looked at her, she was still uncertain but he could tell she was easily persuadable at this point and would not let her change her mind so easily; the purple haired ninja looked down in guilt as she nodded slowly to answer his question, tapping her fingers as she often did when she was shy or upset "Y-yea…" she looked out at the people to avoid having to look at him, she couldn't face her friends or herself right now. Hinata looked out at the rolling sand and decided she needed off the ship for a while, she turned to Deidara and bowed her head before taking a step off the ship, it wasn't scheduled to leave for another fourty minutes. Hinata took a breath of relief as she went down the boat ramp, that boat was starting to become cramped, she leaned against it with her head down, she wasn't sure, she wanted to finally get stronger which she realized she couldn't do well on her own she was constantly overlooked.
"Why, why did I have to be born so…helpless.."
Hinata bit her lip and sighed as she thought about her village, she couldn't think of many people who would miss the young ninja's absence and if they did, they would only want to keep her quiet so she would not expose any Konoha secrets; that thought only upset her, she wanted Naruto to notice her like he did Sakura; at least these people, the ones that looked down on her from their advantage point on the boat, needed her, and wanted to help her and that was all she needed to finally compose a final choice in her mind, she stood up right and started to walk back on the ship when she heard something; a voice she really wished she didn't hear, her body trembled as she looked out at the voice that called on her, she saw a rowboat with three familiar ninja on board, she stood there in front of the rail, completely frozen and her hands in tight fists.
Naruto was the first to awaken the moment the sun had risen, he woke his team up and ushered them to get moving; within a few minutes they were back to their mission; they team put all of their effort into getting to the island today; Naruto and Sasuke both were ready to get off this boat, and then burn it, they both hated it.
Sakura looked at the horizon as she helped move the boat along, she couldn't help but think of Hinata, she frowned when she realized how hurt she must have been, it didn't take a genius to figure out Hinata liked Naruto and yet, Naruto didn't notice, she rolled her eyes inwardly blaming Naruto for their troubles, around thirty minutes past when Sakura spotted the outline of a ship and beach, she couldn't be happier that they were finally there "Guys, we made it, there it is, the beach!" she smiled as she pointed ahead, finding some extra stamina in her to row faster; the three finally could see the ship and island clearly after thirty more minutes of rowing.
Naruto could see that not everyone had gone off the boat, he quickly looked at the passangers above deck to see if Hinata was among them and sadly she was not, he moaned lightly in frustration, praying they didn't already miss her, it was then he spotted a purple haired girl on the side about to leave, he rowed faster "Guys, I see her, she's right there!" he looked back and noticed her ready to leave, he yelled out her name "Hinataaaa!" he waved, using one hand to wave; that act got him a swift whack to the back of the head from his team mate and he started rowing again; they finally made it to the dock and quickly abandoned it; they were on the other side of the harbor, they ran across the busy harbor until they reached the ship, he spotted Hinata and rushed up to her, a goofy grin on his face.
"Hinata, I'm so glad I found you"
Hinata kept her back turned to him, she tried her best to compose herself, she turned around, a nervous smile on her face "H-Hello Naruto…I was just..leaving..for a while" she found it was hard to finish the sentence, she looked down in guilt, not wanting to explain what happened to them, not having the courage or guts.
Naruto gave a big grin; happy to have finally found her an glad she was okay, she looked back at his team and nodded before looking back at Hinata and ran his hand through his blonde spiky hair; his smile fell into a frown as he spoke.
"Hinata, you have some people worried, why did you just run off like that?" he looked at Hinata's back and could tell she was shaking, like she was upset or something, he knew he was no genius at gathering clues but the orange suited ninja could tell his friend was upset "Hinata, what's wrong?.." he perked up, suddenly remembering something very important, he took a step forward, nervous "Hinata, there's something I want to talk to you about.." as he was about to finish, Hinata turned around, her head still down, tapping her fingers "W..why did you come after me?" She lifted her head to get a look at the three ninja who now looked at her in shock, she looked at them with sad eyes "I..don't understand.." she clutched the bottom of her jacket tightly, trying to muster any courage she could. Naruto frowned, seeing the sadness on her face made him sad as well but he pouted a stubborn look he got down to a tea "What do you mean Hiinata? we came to get you, you just ran off without telling anyone, just come home Hinata, everyone misses you!" he smiled at her, sticking his hand out, waiting for Hinata to take it. Hinata blushed as she looked at his smile and saw his hand, she slowly went to reach for it, a small part of her mind nagging at her to pull away, the young girl's cheeks were as red as a rose as she slowly reached out to take his hand; believing his story.
Hinata heard a sound that made her flinch and draw her hand back, she backed away, frowning, thinking about what he said, she shivered froma cold chill then went down her spine, almost as if her new found "friends" were staring daggers in her back even though they were nowhere to be seen, she sighed and slowly walked away, looking at Naruto sadly.
"I…can't right now, you say the village misses me but..I can't believe that" she hugged her arm with the other, looking away at the ocean "Naruto, please understand…" she blushed lightly, not knowing the words to say but forcing some out anyway "I just want to be strong like all of you and not be a burden, the village has made it clear what they think of me.." she shook her head and looked at him with a small smile "Your words at the exams, meant a lot to me even though you didn't notice at the time; just wait Naruto, I will come back strong and make everyone proud of me!" she backed away even more, trembling slightly before heading back on the ship that was now preparing to leave.
Naruto stared at Hinata in shock as she started to get back on the ship that was leaving the sand village, he let his hand drop by his side and gritted his teeth; he raced after her, flailing his arms as he watched her go up the ramp.
"Hinata wait, I want to say something! Don't go, there's a lot I want to say first please just let me say that I.." his words were drowned out the sound of the boat; the last thing he saw was Hinata looking back with tears in her eyes.
Deidara put a hand on Hinata's shoulder which gave her a chill, giving her another sly smile as they all watched the sand pier fade slowly in the distance, giving way to ocean; the young purple haired ninja's legs started to give out and she held the railing; she looked down feeling guilty, hoping she was making the right choice.
The end, hope you liked this new chapter!