Chapter 5
In the safety of her home, Hinata Hyuuga slept, blue-black hair draped over her satin pillow. The quiet, submissive ninja had fallen into a deep sleep after going on a risky mission. She was bruised, fatigued, and a little irritated that she hadn't eaten in hours. Nevertheless, her bed made her forget all those problems until the morning time when they'd resurface again.
Perhaps, of course, if two tumultuous shinobi, Thaddeus and Alice Collins, were to enter her guarded household, her dilemmas would appear earlier than expected. As always, when the pair crossed paths with the Hyuuga manor, they couldn't pass up the challenge of entering a house surrounded by watchmen.
Yes, Hinata would not be having a peaceful sleep at all tonight.
"Thaddeus look," Alice whispered, crouching down to scope out the dark, tremendous house in front of them. "I think we found a perfect place for Sciar to feed. Hopefully this one might have enough for the rest of my flock."
The puppet master eyed his partner. "Don't forget about the ringer. You know what it needs in order to keep the strength going." Alice rolled her eyes and agreed. Thaddeus would have his fill as well. The real problem they needed to focus on was the five Leaf shinobi circled around the premises, waiting for an intruder.
The Hyuuga clan was notably a very powerful part of the village; Hinata and her relatives were among one of the purest in the Hyuuga bloodline. Therefore, many deemed it necessary to have the manor under some form of protection.
"Don't worry; Doll will have the shinobi knocked out in a matter of seconds." Thaddeus claimed, flashing a grin before he flicked out his tongue.
But Thaddeus was not just jutting out his tongue for the heck of it. No, the puppet master was doing what he knew well, for after a moment of waiting, out of his mouth came a small, wooden puppet. It was only as big as his palm when it was done unfolding and expanding. In order to fit the giraffe like figure in his throat, the toy folded up like origami, ready for the flow of chakra to activate its small frame.
As Doll crawled down his tongue like a little spider, Thaddeus gave Alice a cocky wink.
The bird tamer snorted at her partner but still wanted to watch the skilled talents of Thaddeus unfold. She directed her sight on the Doll as it made its way from Thaddeus to the grass surrounding the Hyuuga manor. It was inconspicuous, so small it made no noise that was detectable to humans.
When it was about halfway to the house, the Doll stopped. Thaddeus flicked his wrist, sending chakra to the puppet in one short burst. With the newfound energy, the doll was directed into a new plan. Wood separated on its tiny little neck and body, leaving little gaps. Suddenly, small metal needles crept their way out of the spaces, glinting in the air.
Alice grinned at her partner, thrilled to see the needles at work. The sharp metal flew from its wooden shell as fast as light, searching, yearning for something to sink itself into. Finally the needles hit their targets; they sank deep into the flesh of the guards' legs. Sharp intakes of breath were heard, but didn't take long before the watch men hit the ground with a thud.
The Doll's needles weren't only for show, for as they danced in the air their poison was activated. Potent enough to cause men to go unconscious, but the poison wasn't enough to kill. After all, the shinobi didn't want their presence known by everyone; it becomes such a pain to the duo when they are being hunted while just trying to have a little fun. After making sure the men were unconscious by using Sciar to check them, the two made their move. They crept along the thick grass, savoring the smell in the air the frenzy of hunting gave them.
"You have the blood bag, Alice?" Thaddeus whispered as he stepped up to the mahogany door.
"Don't need it at all," she replied, a little bit her egotistical side showing. "I've got my secret weapon." She revealed her hand from the long fabric of her sleeves, a new bone protruding out of her. "I removed the marrow from it while you knocked out the guards. With this little tool, we'll be feasting as we please."
Thaddeus gave out a whistle of approval before raising a red eyebrow. "Is that thing sharp enough to pick a lock or am I going to have to whip out the Doll for another task?"
Alice rolled her eyes, expecting the puppet master's remark of craving more than what's shown. The bird tamer jutted out of her arm in a very swift motion, intently eyeing the lock on the wooden door. With cat-like movements, Alice plunged the morphed bone into the jagged metal, her hand almost moving at the speed of light.
Without another twist, the door sprung open, metal lock almost falling out of the board.
"Guess I must've loosened the screws too." Alice giggled, skipping her way into the household.
Adorned with the finest china and exotic animals woven by hand from straw, the duo could tell the Hyuuga would have a very pure, chaste taste. To them, it was like the sweetest nectar.
The Collins' made their way to Hinata's bedchamber slowly, investigating the lavish life she was harbored in. of course, the two have had a fair share of living a life where everything was extravagant; however, since the pair are drifting from village to village, so money whittles down (as if they needed it in the first place).
"Oooh Thaddie, look," Alice said in awe, eyes ogling. "They have licorice swirls, my favorite!" the girl stuffed her hand into the bumpy glass candy jar, fishing for the largest handful she could grasp.
"Done stuffing your face yet, Love?" Thaddeus grinned. Even though he sparred with her often, she was always bringing a spark of humor into his travels.
Alice nodded her head, mouth packed like a chipmunk. Thaddeus turned, done with snooping around in the mansion, craving what he came for initially. While he strode off to locate Hinata, Alice followed, mouth chewing vigorously with sweet, sugary snacks.
The gray eyed leaf shinobi woke with a start, feeling immobile and horribly nauseous.
"Hello?" she croaked, throat raw and dry.
All she heard in return was the sound of a ninja chuckling. Suddenly her arm was jabbed at with malicious intent, causing a shudder in her insides. Her mind went haywire with worry. What was going on? Why didn't the watch men stop the intruders causing her pain? What was happening to the rest of her family?
Hinata swerved her head left to right, heart pumping unbearably fast. Everything was so dark… but then she remembered…
"Byakugan!"
With her special Kekkei Genkai, her steel eyes sharpen; face creasing as chakra flows through her. With her special ability, the shinobi had an impeccable 360 degree field of vision. Her tormentors would lie venerable to her in a matter of seconds.
Unfortunately for her, the shinobi holding her down were far more formidable than first expected. Their chakra flow was running through them strong, very strong. The blue haired Chunin could only watch, gripped with tremors, to see what the dangerous pair was going to do. Courageously, Hinata tried to talk, her voice a faint whimper.
"What do you want with me?"
Her cry was music to Alice's sharp ears.
"Why, nothing of course. We are just asking a favor. You don't want all that delicious blood to go to waste would you?" the shinobi said, batting her lashes with a wanton look in her eyes.
"What?" the Hyuuga's eyes widened, heart racing erratically. The shinobi only let out another chuckle before beginning the process of draining Hinata.
After the initial pain of being stabbed in the arm, the rest of the process seemed less agonizing for Hinata. It was moments later when she began to feel faint, black specks dancing across her grey eyes. There was a noise, almost like a small pop, and the Chunin felt the inside of her skin pulling away from a foreign object. Her ebony flesh was sticky with blood, dripping onto her silky sheets.
"She is so peaceful when in this half dead state, hmm?" Thaddeus calmly proclaimed, acting as if taking blood was commonplace in every ninja's life.
"Yes," Alice agreed, her bone that was cradling fresh blood now returning into her body. "Though I'd like to see what she'd look like all the way dead. Oh well… guess we better clean up and feed our companions before they get bloodthirsty…" Alice trailed off, distracted by the smell of iron entering her nose.
Her hazel eyes looked upon Hinata's wound, for longing the taste of the Chunin. Quickly, she flicked out her pale tongue and lapped up the crimson slowly leaking from the leaf shinobi.
The bird tamer brought her head back up, slurping the red that was on her lips with the look of pure ecstasy. "She was delicious, so full of chakra. My pets will love her blood."
"Yeah, after you mix your DNA into it. Stupid animals like yours are so picky. They're almost like those little brats at the ninja academy." Thaddeus retorted, slightly miffed that he didn't get to taste some of the liquid that ran through the purebred ninja.
"Oh shut up Thaddie. How else are they going to get their fill? Without my DNA injections, they'd just be useless little budgies squawking in your ears." His partner growled, laughing with her woodsy eyes.
Yes, Alice was right. In fact, the only way her birds had become so extraordinary was due to their diet; every week, they were given injections of blood transfusions. It was always some shinobi who the pair happened to stumble into on their journeys, for Alice giving her own blood every week was damaging to her health and Kekkei Genkai.
Still, she had to implant her DNA no matter how meager the amount. Without it, the birds wouldn't have developed the attributes they have now. With the DNA of Alice's Kekkei Genkai, the predators gained fierce stamina, lean but strong bones, and razor sharp feathers microscopically lined with glimmering bone, making them shine in the sun.
In such a case like this, blood, as it seemed, had become a most mundane item in the duo's lifestyle.
End of chapter.
Thanks for the views guys! In case you're wondering, next chapter will have Gaara in it. ;)
Okay, I have to go, bye!
From Russia