Ok. this next chapter, the scene with the nightmare, is dedicated to Crazykiller2606 (100th reviewer), who wanted to see Hanabi's reaction to the Massacre. Technically, I can't exactly go over to Hanabi pov (very tight schedule: Hinata and Itachi alternated), as you see, so I thought I could incorporate it in a little Hinata 'sister sense' scene. Thanks to my ever loving Airyo-chan, the Beta. Oh, and to alee26606, who started reviewing all the chapters, in hope to get the 100th review, got the 99th and the 101st. I feel so bad, so I had her do a scene, to. The konanXhinata scene is all hers, babes.
Aftermath
The day that Hinata had arrived to Akatsuki, was the day that Hinata dreamed. It was no nightmare; it was... it was... a memory (strange, since it was not her own). It was a gut feeling inside of Hinata. Maybe that's why she woke up while it was still night time outside...
After Itachi had left her in her room, she crashed onto the bed, straight away. Her heavy eyelids drooped to a close, and her world became engulfed in darkness, as she fell unconscious momentarily.
And then she could suddenly see Hanabi.
Hanabi was laying on the bed, fast asleep. She looked peaceful, as if the massacre didn't happen. Hinata felt like an intruder, watching something from the side. She knew that it was a dream, if that made sense, because she felt like she was transparent. It was like... it was like looking through a window. Something like that.
It was then that the ninjas entered the room, startling Hanabi awake. They shook her, yelling, screaming, demanding, making her jump to her feet, kunai in hand. Hanabi was only seven; how could they treat her like that? Hinata suppressed the rising rage within her. There was nothing she could do about it...
"Who was it? What happened? Do you know? How could you be sleeping?" The voices blurred all into one, frightening the sleepy Hanabi, and she plugged her ears with her hands. Hinata wished that she could hug her, kiss her, tell her it would be all right... but she couldn't, and she would never be able to do so again.
"What? What are you talking about?" It was only then did they notice Hanabi's wide and frightened glassy eyes, her shocked and frazzled appearance, it was only then when they realised that they were speaking to a child; a young one, at that. Hinata saw the guilt on their faces, and also saw them all glance at each other awkwardly, as if nominating the person who had to share the bad news. In the end, neither of them knew what to do, and came up on with a group decision. It was then Hinata noticed they were ANBU. It was her first time seeing the animal faced figures...
"Let's take her to the Hokage." Everyone seemed to agree to that. In this dream world, Hinata drifted along with Hanabi, who was the focus of her attention. In a flash, Hinata found herself in the Hokage's office. She had been a few times before; but only when she reported in at the beginning and end of missions. The Hokage's face was more serious than she had ever seen it, the wrinkles seemed more pronounced than ever. His stern eyes were a that of a figure of authority and respect.
" ANBU. Report."
"She is the only survivor, Hokage-sama. Bodies and blood were littering the floor." they did not stop to consider that a child was there and hearing this information with them. Frankly, they didn't care. "All Hyuuga are dead. All bodies are accounted for except the Heiress, Hyuuga Hinata."
Just then, another voice chimed in. "The bodies seemed to carry traces of Hinata's chakra on them, and they have died from sword slashes. There has also been found puddles of water, that is highly poisonous and seemingly acidic."
The Hokage took all of this in with troubled eyes. It was then that someone else entered the office, slamming the door with a bang. Hanabi was pale and trembling, but no one paid attention to her, not with the bigger disaster happening in front of their eyes. No one except Hinata, who could do nothing about it, who was like a ghost, seeing but transparent. And that was when she saw Kurenai.
Kurenai was huffing and puffing, her cheeks red, but her eyes wide with disbelief, fear and guilt. It seemed that Kurenai had never told the Hokage about Hinata's powers (probably because she was afraid of losing her post, but Hinata suspected that it was mostly because she wanted to protect Hinata, or who she remembered Hinata to be; the weak, always disregarded child. She never wanted Hinata to be harassed with ANBU work; but she didn't know that Hinata couldn't be anyway, due to the Hokage's lack of trust in the Hyuugas...), and now felt guilty about not doing so. "I know who did it." She said, right before she burst out crying. It was too much for her; it was too much for all of them, it seemed. It was unfair that Kurenai got to cry, but that Hinata was never allowed to; Hinata indulged herself in that one bitter thought.
"I-I'm s-sorry o-on not s-saying anything e-earlier, Hokage-sama." Kurenai cried out, but started muffling her hysteric sobbing, trying to get her voice clearer.
"Calm down. What do you want to tell me?" He asked, trying to keep his calm, although Hinata could see that Kurenai was affecting even his composure. He himself, was getting worried, over something Hinata did. Hinata wanted to laugh. Why now, old man? Why now, why show her his concern now, when everything was over? Couldn't he do something to stop it, rather than try to clean up the mess, now? Useless. All of these old, omniscient people are so god-damn useless. Hinata had no words for them.
"I-I know it was her." Kurenai started her story, finally calming down enough to talk. Her eyes began to have a glazed edge, as if looking at something beyond her reach. "I know it was Hinata." At this point, Hanabi seemed to have went into shock. She didn't say anything.
"Calm down. Start from the beginning. What are you trying to explain?" He commanded, his intense wise old eyes upon Kurenai. He looked through Hinata, as if sensing that she was there. But she knew that he couldn't sense her, especially when his eyes moved passed her body.
" Hinata. When she was younger, she was especially weak; with major trauma. She was a cute, stuttering child, worrying over everyone and everything." Kurenai began, what Hinata categorized, as a long, very long, sob story. But she continued listening, nonetheless, to the sob story she knew was about her. It wasn't as if she could do anything else. "But because Hiashi deemed her weak, he gave her to me to train. I agreed; the moment I stepped outside, I saw Hinata standing there, tears in her eyes, listening through the entire conversation.
"I felt sorry for her. I didn't see her again, though, until the day she was given to me as a Genin; the day she managed to defeat me. It was strange, though; the child I had sensed before was no longer there. Instead, there was a stony faced, unreadable cold monster, that defeated me, sparing me no mercy. I could barely believe that they were the same people. Still, I was reminded of that child, so long ago."
"Because of that reminder, I couldn't report Hinata. My maternal instincts had kicked up, and I could do nothing but hope that all would be all right when she became Chunin. Something, I knew, would happen for her with no difficulty. By this point, she was Jounin level, or above. At thirteen."
"I couldn't report it, even when she brutally murdered the bandits that were about to rob us. She was still... she was still that little girl that I met crying in the Hyuuga estate. And besides, she never harmed any of the others."
"But she was very strong, so very strong, Hokage, strong enough to kill all the Hyuuga." Kurenai finished, before she immediately burst out crying. "I'm sorry! I'm a traitor! Kill me! Lock me up! I don't deserve to live!" Kurenai wailed, before another person, that Hinata recognized as Asuma, burst into the room. He started comforting Kurenai, taking her out of the room. It probably wasn't the appropriate time for Hinata to connect the dots and find out that Kurenai and Asuma were in a relationship.
But it seemed like Hanabi, her sister, had finally had enough. Overcoming her shock, she turned to face the Hokage, unaware of Hinata's invisible presence. "LIARS! ALL OF YOU ARE LIARS! MY SISTER WOULD NEVER DO SUCH A THING! YOU GOD DAMN LIARS!" Her voice drowned out even Kurenai's hysterical crying. But a seven year old could only do so much; with her age, she also burst out crying, sobbing, calling out 'Nee-chan' in desperation.
In this dream, Hinata couldn't cry. She was just unable to, physically. But even in reality; Hinata wasn't sure if she would cry, either. Because she was in a state of shock. Why did Hanabi defend her so? Even though Hinata had disregarded her all these years? No! Hanabi should move on, and forget about her! Why was she defending her?
Hinata's mind hazily registered the Hokage's old, troubled eyes, registered his words that commanded that Hanabi be taken out, registered how right it was for her not to trust him; not with the way he had just ignored Hanabi, a crying, lonely little girl. It was then that the sirens sounded, reminding Hinata that at that time, she was still feverishly kissing Sasuke.
The moment that Hanabi was taken out, was the moment that this strange, reality in a dream ended. The moment that Hinata's eyes opened and welcomed darkness, she knew that it wasn't a dream; no, it was well too real to be a dream. But why was she dreaming this now? This happened days ago...
Probably because she had joined Akatsuki, and tried moving on from the massacre. But her subconsciousness was warning her that it was impossible to move on... reminding her of Hanabi, and her feelings, and her fury, and her sadness, and her tears. It was impossible to move on; she should have known that even as she joined Akatsuki. The massacre, the Hyuuga could never be forgotten; just like the Uchiha could never be forgotten.
It was only then that tears started coming. It was a very delayed reaction to what had happened, sure; but it was still there, and it was better late than never. She needed to get all of these emotions out, and anyway, she was crying with Hanabi; for Hanabi. She should have known that this would be Hanabi's reaction... she should have known that this would be the aftermath. She should have known... but she didn't.
In an effort to calm herself down, she began to meditate, trying to think of peaceful thoughts, and of the future, and not the past. She tried to categorize everyone: Itachi was a calm and stoic man, Konan was blunt and crude, Pein was ringed and... dead. He seemed dead. He was too pale, and she could not see the blood flowing in him. She trusted her eyes; after all, the Hyuuga saw all.
Then she focused on Naruto. Even in such moments, he, so far away, could still calm her down with the ghost of his smile; with the ghost of his bright blue eyes. She only resorted to his memory, only in desperate moments like these, however. Fortunately, it managed to clear her mind, off of what had transpired in her dream.
Unknowing of the time passing, her eyes grew accustomed to the darkness that surrounded her. It was then that she sensed the figure approaching the door; she recognized the Uchiha's chakra. For a man with such a bloody past, it was calm... and almost peaceful. It relaxed Hinata, it truly did. But still, all presences in this place made her cautious and weary. It was a natural defence. Especially after the spar yesterday...
When he arrived, he brought with him a strange hologram of Pein, that made Hinata understand the wonders of the ring on her finger, but he also brought hunger (his stomach grumbled, therefore making Hinata hungry, too). It was then that Hinata learnt of the arrogance of criminal bad-ass organizations, as they deemed themselves above food. It was a good thing that she had extra left overs from her time in the wilderness.
After the quick make-do breakfast, it was time to go to the meeting that Pein had organized. There, Hinata was instructed to go on one of the giant fingers of the statue; luckily, she had enough IQ to guess which one (the one that her ring was one, AKA, left pinky). She and Itachi went to their positions, and so did Pein and Konan, who were there when they first arrived. It was then that Hinata decided to account for every member of Akatsuki. And what her first impressions include.
Konan is blunt and crude, but underneath that mask is a gentle humour. That was proven when she teased Itachi on having a boyfriend; although Hinata didn't actually find that one funny, because it was believable. You shouldn't judge people for their differences, and that was a motto that Hinata had adopted as hers. Her chakra was light, and sharp. Somehow. Almost like a sword... but not quite, since her chakra was lighter than a sword.
She didn't even have a first impression of Pein. He was too un-impressionable, really. He looked, and acted, as if he were the living dead. But he seemed like a strict, rule following man. His chakra, was the complete opposite of Konan's. It was very dark, and it crushed. It didn't cut. Almost like a hammer, but not quite... because, it crushed slowly, so very slowly.
Itachi was a calm and stoic man, and by meeting him, Hinata was certain that he was asexual, much like how she believed Sasuke was, at first. That made it impossible for him to be gay. He seemed to hold some sort of prejudice against her, though; Hinata could tell, because he was slightly hostile, while his chakra was calm. Maybe because she was from Konoha? He passed as a partner. Hinata was satisfied. His chakra was strange. It was calm, but it burned with intensity, at the same time. The only chakra similar to his was Sasuke's. But that was probably because they were brothers.
When she sensed presences approaching, she instantly activated her Byakugan. That way, it would be easier to see and judge the people and the chakras. In this place, she'd need all the information she could get.
The first person that entered was strange. He was encased... in some kind of wooden structure? She couldn't even detect a body, inside the wood... she could only see chakra, and a heart. When she failed to see a body, she concluded that the wooden structure further into the other wooden structure was his body. He only needed a heart to survive. It was strange. Even his chakra was... strange. It was like it was toxic, and it was controlling. Dominating.
The person that followed after, was much louder, and reminded her of Naruto. In looks, that was. Since she had the Byakugan, she could see in the dark, so she could see his long blonde hair and bright blue eyes. He was loud, too. "Why do we always have to come on time, un! You are so annoying, Sasori-danna, yeah!" The wooden figure was now identified as Sasori. Hinata had never heard of that name before. This Naruto, though, while bearing the outward characteristics of the previous Naruto, was much more dangerous. His chakra was fiery, explosive, and overall unstable, and even a little bit self destructing.
It was then a weird presence literally melted into the room. The chakra was disturbing, split into two, and sort of plant like, so Hinata didn't even waste any time examining it. She even concentrated on not seeing the thing.
Along with the plant presence, entered another presence. The person in question... was blue. He sort of looked like a shark, especially with his gills. He kept quiet, and headed for his spot. His chakra was slippery... and fishy. Great. One was a plant, one was a fish, what was next, a vampire?
Hinata then learned not to predict herself, because her predictions were always accurately creepy. What entered next was a person, who had five hearts. Yes, Hinata detected five hearts, all supplying chakra to the man in question. The chakra was impossible to distinguish, since it was all mixed. The figure was hooded, and Hinata didn't care to see what he looked like.
After him, entered another loud one. "I haven't done my ritual yet! Jashin-sama is disappointed with me! Oi, Kakuzu, answer!" So the man with six hearts (including his own) was called Kakuzu, then? The loud one was albino, with white hair and red eyes. As Hinata looked closer into the chakra system, she saw that her prediction came true. This person had an unending life force, and was an undead! That aside, his chakra pointed, but quite slow.
When Hidan went to his place, Pein decided to start the meeting. "We have a new member of Akatsuki. She will be partners with Itachi." Hinata wished that he hadn't announced it quite like that. There was instant outrage.
"What the, yeah? A new member? We don't need to replace the snake, un!" The blonde one shrieked, his pony tail flapping indignantly. Hinata was reminded of Ino, with her long pony tail and girlish tantrums.
"I had to come all this way for you to tell me that? That costs time, and time is gold!" Kakuzu roughly complained, snorting.
"I agree." The man/wood said, keeping his response short, but powerful, nonetheless.
"I already knew that. But a woman, nonetheless! We don't need another woman. She'll be a nice addition on the team. No she won't." The plant seemed to be bipolar, and it was only then that Hinata noticed that it was divided into two. The fish, her partner, Konan, Pein, and the albino, were all keeping silent.
Until the albino decided to speak up. "The hell we have a fucking new member! Let her and her fucking family all burn in fucking hell, with Jashin-sama!"
Hinata could tolerate many things. Someone cursing at her family, though, was one thing that she could not take. Especially with Hanabi's tears so fresh in her mind. In a flash, she had fired a needle at the albino, and in another flash, she was in front of him, holding him by the throat. While the albino might have been powerful, he was not very fast, and Hinata had caught him off guard.
"No one speaks about the Hyuuga that way. Try that again, and I'll have all of your flesh burned with water." Hinata informed stoically, her icy anger making her all the more frightening. The albino tried to retort angrily, not sensing the danger, but Hinata used her other hand to shut him up, and pressed a pressure point on his throat, stopping all sounds that could've been made. The albino glared angrily, but Hinata paid him no heed.
Pein demanded attention, yet again. "This is actually not the only reason of why I called you here. I also came to say that some of us will be doing side missions for a while, branching off the main ones. Those given a mission must complete them immediately. That is all. Dismissed."
Konan motioned for Hinata to follow her, and so Hinata did, completely disregarding Itachi. He showed no emotion, although Hinata could sense his annoyance. Konan led them through the winding corridors, into a room that Hinata identified as her room.
"You'll be leaving for your first mission in Akatsuki." Konan said, repeating things that Hinata already knew. But Hinata paid closer attention when a slight, very slight pinked betrayed Konan's cheeks. "I've grown up around boys. You're my first female acquaintance. I've never been around girls." Konan confessed, scratching her cheek awkwardly. So she had no idea how to act around girls, huh?
"I find your presence tolerable. Come back safely." Konan ordered before... before... before she kissed Hinata on the cheek. Hinata was ushered out, literally shoved out of the room.
Hinata was confused. Had Konan just... kissed her? On the cheek... but still. It must have been her way of saying goodbye. And now Hinata was lost, in the middle of the Base, because of Konan's awkwardness.
Hinata killed her family. And this was the aftermath(weird girls, weird guys, and weird plants). And she was lost in the middle of a cave. Fun.
The ending was very rushed, but I'm tired, and if Airyo has something to make me add, I'll add it. It's almost 1 in the morning, and Im too tiiiiiiired to do anything. But I finished this chapter. Yes. Be proud.
I was ill today, and I didn't go to school. :(
Review, Review, Review,
Aurora-chan.