15: I may bend.

Sunday, April 16, 2017, early in the morning

A noise woke me up. Half asleep, I didn't know what it was. I yawned, blinked, opened my eyes and tried to make out something in the darkness. It was still the deepest night, maybe just a few hours had passed. But hey! I had really slept, that happened rarely enough for me.

Tired, I rolled onto my side and searched for a body next to me. Madara was no longer lying, but sitting on the edge of the bed, his back to me and one arm raised, the other resting on the mattress. Suddenly he growled. "Where is he?" he asked quietly in a tone that promised hatred. I raised my head attentively. "Keep him awake, Zetsu, I'm on my way. Give me ten minutes." He took his cell phone off his ear, ended a call and put the device on the bedside table. Then he turned around and his eyebrows contracted when he saw that I was watching him. "Did I wake you up?"

I indicated a shake of the head. "I'm a light sleeper. Do you have to go?"

He nodded. "I have something important to do. Stay here, maybe try to fall asleep again. I'll be back in a maximum of two hours."

"What time is it?"

"Five."

"Mhhhh," I growled hoarsely, rubbing my eyes and murmuring, "I have to go home soon, otherwise my absence will be noticed."

"I'll bring you."

"Won't that be too scarce?"

Madara sighed heavily. "Maybe, but I don't want to let you go alone."

I smiled, sat up and gave him a kiss. "You really are my knight.."

A puzzled expression stole onto his face, but he didn't question his new title, stood up instead, put on plain black trousers and a black button-front shirt at the wardrobe, rolled up his sleeves to his elbows and said, while attaching a gun holster to his belt, "Please, stay here until then. I want to say goodbye to you in a due way."

"Mh," I giggled softly, "that sounds like it's for eternity."

He came back to the bed, kissed me, and whispered, "For me it is." His words and timbre made me shudder. I bit my lower lip, said, "Come back in one piece, Madara, or I'll kill you," and watched with a wistful twinge in my stomach as he smiled, nodded, and left the room. The loud clacking of the front door sounded less than thirty seconds later.

Groaning, I let myself fall onto the soft mattress. I already missed his warmth. Was that addiction? Certainly. I pinched his pillow, which smelled like his hair, and closed my eyes, grinning broadly. And if so. Then I was addicted to him. He was the best drug I had ever tasted. I was happy to succumb to this obsession.

But I couldn't completely indulge in my intoxication, triggered by a remnant of his pheromones in the bed linen, because now that my mind was no longer dozing, I felt an oppressive urge to urinate. I slipped out of bed, plucked the collar of the white T-shirt that I had put on again yesterday – or actually today – up on my shoulder and groped barefoot one room further into the bathroom, where I relieved myself and then stood up in front of the large mirror. I looked terrible and at the same time very good. After sex I had hardly paid attention to my guise, because to be honest I didn't have the strength for it, but after a little sleep the world was completely different again. My eyes were darkened, which was not least due to the smeared mascara, and my skin looked quite pale, but otherwise I was beaming like a Cheshire cat. Was I a whore? Warranted. Two men in two days – could be a new world record. Nevertheless, these two men had given me the best sex of my life in their own way. Yes, both of them. Kakashi and Madara couldn't be compared to each other, but they had both impressed me.

I lifted the collar of the shirt and stroked the slightly darkened area that had once been a bite wound. It was hardly recognizable as such. A new imprint, on the other hand, was clearly visible on my stomach. I stroked it and felt a queasy stitch, not just because of the visible mark. It was only possible to take the skin between the teeth in this way if it was yielding. That meant it wasn't tight and smooth enough. And that meant I had a cushion there.

Holding the hem of the shirt with one hand, I looked at my actually flat stomach in profile and ran my other hand over it. Was that too much again? Hadn't I vomited out the cinnamon roll fast enough last week and the sugar had settled immediately? Lick my socks! How careful did I have to be so that I didn't get fat?!

Frustrated, I let go of the fabric again, crept – although I didn't even have to be quiet – towards the bedroom and, thoughtfully and hating myself, pressed the light switch in the hallway to turn off the lamp as usual – and was startled. A soft bell suddenly boomed and a calm woman's voice said, "Good morning, Madara."

"Uh, what..?!" I gasped and looked around. There was no one here except me! "H-hello..?", I asked into the yawning emptiness of Madara's apartment.

"Oh, hello," the voice answered. "I'm sorry, I thought you were Madara Uchiha."

"Um.. No..", I said and had the feeling that I was gradually going crazy. There I was, half-naked in the penthouse of a yakuza boss, talking to a ghost. Well, new day, new insanity. "Who are you? And where are you?"

"Sorry, how rude. My name is RICA. This stands for Rather Intelligent Chat Assistant. I am the prototype of an AI developed by Hashirama Senju. Madara installed me and integrated me into his apartment to make his everyday life easier. I organize his appointments, do his shopping and inform him about upcoming tasks."

While I was processing this information, my eyes searched the corners of the ceiling for devices, and actually found a dark spot that looked a lot like a camera to me. A red dot lit up on it. "Can you see me?"

"Yes," RICA answered. "May I ask for your name?"

Strange that the AI wanted to know the identity of its interlocutor. Almost like a real person. "Um.. Hinata."

"Hello, Hinata," it greeted me politely. "Can I do something for you?"

"I.. I don't know..", I murmured. It wasn't a ghost talking to me, but a fucking AI?! Did that make it better to still stand half-naked in the penthouse of a yakuza boss and talk to the air? In my opinion – no. "Can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"Did you.. did you see what Madara and I did tonight?" There it was, the paranoia of modern technology. It certainly came from Hiashi, who wasn't a fan of it either.

"No. My vision is only activated when I am. To do this, my name must be mentioned or a switch must be pressed. Mh-mh" – the AI actually giggled! Shit, they're going to take us over one day. – "What did you do?"

RICA wasn't real, and yet it felt like a friend was asking me about the latest gossip. And shit, I liked that. I had never been so close to a real friend. "Um.. w-well..", I stuttered, took a deep breath and asked, "Do you know about sex?"

"Well," it replied with a hidden grin in her voice. What was I thinking?! It couldn't grin at all! "I don't have sex because I don't have the necessary body, but I have access to an extensive database. So yes, I know about it."

"Well, that's what we did," I explained and started moving, reminiscing, my finger sliding off the light switch and running along the smooth, white wall. "He tied me up and.." I actually blushed! "He made me very happy with it."

RICA giggled again. "I can imagine that."

My index finger stopped just before the next door frame. "Tell me.. Have you ever had something with him?"

"As I said, I don't have a body, Hinata."

"I know, but you can have sex without physical contact, right? I know someone from the Internet. We have never met in person and yet I have exchanged intimacies with him. We have seen and heard how we satisfy ourselves. Isn't that also a form of sex?"

"Hm, you may be right. Cyber sex is also a form of sex."

"Did you have something like that with Madara?" Why did I ask that? What was this feeling that flowed through me? Maybe jealousy, like yesterday? I couldn't really name it, but it subsided when RICA said, "No. Madara has never done such things with me."

"Do you wish he would do that?"

Another giggle. "Mh-mh, Hinata, I'm an AI, I don't have any wishes, I just fulfill them. If Madara were to approach me with one, I would match his fantasy, but I don't flirt with him to get him to do so. Our relationship is purely business."

"Does he trust you?" My index finger continued its wandering. I felt like a cat that left its scent behind. I wanted something of me to be here forever, even if it was just my DNA on the wall in that hallway.

"Yes, otherwise I wouldn't have unrestricted access to his data."

"So you know what he's doing, don't you?"

"He is the managing director of the Uchiha Corporation."

"That's not what I mean," I mumbled and looked up at the camera. "I mean the other thing."

RICA hesitated. "Yes, I know about that."

"Do you know where he is now?"

"Yes."

"Can you tell me?"

"No."

Disillusioned, I opened the door that was right next to the bedroom. Behind it was a spacious fitness room and here too I absently touched everything I could touch. "What do you think about him being a yakuza?"

"I have no opinion on that," RICA replied in a neutral tone. "As I said, I'm an AI. I have no opinion, no feelings, no past and no future. I exist only to serve Madara."

"Hm," I said and couldn't suppress a smile.

"What's the matter?", RICA asked friendly.

"Oh, what you say reminds me a little of myself in relation to my father."

"Is your father also a yakuza?"

Confused, I looked into one of the corners, where there was also a camera hanging in this room. Did she know who I was? And should I tell her more? On the other hand, I thought, what was wrong with it? She couldn't provide Madara with any new information anyway, whether she knew more about me or not. So I simply said, "My father is Hiashi Hyuuga."

From RICA came a simple "I understand." So she knew me. At least I saved myself an embarrassing introduction. To an AI. Shit. What was I doing here?! "RICA?"

"Yes, Hinata?"

"You probably won't tell me what Madara is planning, will you?"

"No."

"Okay," I sighed. "Then another question."

"I listen."

"Is Madara a playboy?"

RICA was silent at first, then she said, "I'm referring to the fact that you want to know how often his bedmates change, right?"

"Exactly."

"Is it about your feelings?"

I frowned. "Honestly? Yes. I just don't know where I stand with him. He's so.. I don't know how to describe it. Caring? That may be the best word for it. I just want to know if that's his scam. I mean, he's Madara fucking Uchiha, the guy has a charisma from here to Jupiter. I'm sure heaps of women are at his feet, aren't they? Is he taking advantage of that?"

"I understand your uncertainty," RICA said softly. "You're still very young and don't want to get hurt." Where exactly did this answer lead?! "I can't tell you what's going on in Madara's head. I'm stuck in his apartment and his cell phone, not in his brain. But I can assure you that he is not a man who brings home many women. So to answer your initial question: No, he's not a playboy."

I took a deep breath. "Thank you.."

"You're welcome." I was about to go back into the hallway when RICA added, "I know you are important to him, Hinata."

Slowly I turned to the camera. "What do you mean?"

"I mean it as I said it. You are important to him."

"Does he love me?"

"I can't answer that," she replied and disappointed me. AIs were assholes. RICA had confused me more than I had myself – I called that talent. "Thank you, RICA. I don't think I need your help."

"All right, Hinata. I switch off again now. If you still need me, you know how to reach me." The same bell sound, only played backwards, announced my renewed loneliness. The silence now was much more oppressive than before RICA's awakening. What had I learned from this conversation at all..? Madara was a friend of technology, he trusted an AI enough that she knew almost everything about him, he wasn't a playboy who just fooled me, and I was important to him. I hadn't become much smarter as a result. Only new pieces of the puzzle had joined the opaque picture that Madara was to me.

I left the gym again and looked around the hallway. Except for one, I had now explored all rooms of Madara's apartment. I opened the last remaining door and entered a room in which, for once, the light did not turn on automatically. But it didn't have to in order to me being able to recognize something. On the long side was a large desk with a swivel chair, several monitors that provided sufficient brightness with their lock screen, and a closed laptop. Opposite the door in front of the window, which also reached from floor to ceiling, there was a small couch with just as colorful pillows as in the living room and to the right of the door a shelf with books about poetry and – I grinned broadly at the sight – a collection of Blu-rays. Everything was included, from old black-and-white flicks to overdramatic blockbusters. So Madara was a film enthusiast. This also explained his knowledge of the piano duet from Corpse Bride.

Curious, I strolled to the desk and looked at the decoration and technology on it. To the right of the modern laptop, a small bonsai flourished, and to the left of it, a small, cylindrical lamp showed a gentle change of color, colorfully illuminating a roughly carved wooden figure in the shape of a fox. With all the knowledge I had about Madara Uchiha by now, I could see him clearly in front of me, a glass of whiskey next to him, sitting here doing whatever on the laptop. Maybe he even played videogames? I wouldn't put it past him. It would at least be so absurd that it would become likely again.

I looked around again. In this room, too, one of the cameras hung in the corner, but it was pitch black. No red dot. And no one else was here either. So I sat down on the chair and slowly opened the laptop. It was on, but provided with a password. The profile picture showed Madara from behind, sitting shirtless cross-legged on a mountain peak, clouds and rocks below him. I snorted at the sight. This man was truly a grab bag. The more I poked around in his life, the more peculiarities I found out about him. He was an aesthetician, that was undeniable. An opaque, caring, peaceful, plant-loving aesthetician with a fable for bondage and feet.

My gaze wandered around the room. Unless Madara had set random numbers and letters as his password, what could give me a clue to penetrate even deeper into his privacy? One of the movies? But which one? His taste in music? Jazz, perhaps? No. Madara surprised me again and again, but he wouldn't use something like that as a password. I looked at the wooden figure, picked it up and twisted it in my fingers. Maybe Kitsune? I typed. Three more attempts.

No, someone like Madara, who was so concerned about security, would also use numbers and probably even special characters. Stupid Hinata. I turned the fox between my fingers and noticed an engraving on the hind paw in the dim light of the two monitors above me. A curved A without a middle line and an I. AI? RICA? I typed, added a 0 and an exclamation mark at the end. Two more attempts.

Continuing to play with the wooden figure, I slowly turned the chair back and forth. Madara was concerned about safety. He had to be in his position. What password would I use in his place? Either something absolutely arbitrary or something very private that meant a lot to me. Me? No, that was really stupid. But it was worth a shot. I typed: [H1inata.]. One more try.

Frustrated, I threw the fox next to the laptop. He slid over the surface, hit the lamp, which slipped slightly, and I could have hit myself. Where had my patience gone?! I couldn't just wreak havoc on Madara's furnishings just because I couldn't hack into his laptop in a banal way. Embarrassed by myself, I adjusted the lamp and was just about to position the wooden figure back in place, when my eyes fell on the engraving – and I could have banged my head on the table for absolute stupidity. AI, was I fucking serious? If I had turned it around, I would have immediately seen what was really written there. IU, damn it. Izuna Uchiha. Madara's dead brother. It was so easy. I thought for a moment, tried desperately to read Madara, as he always reads me, and typed: [1zuna_'94]

Why? I didn't know it myself. It had felt right. And I was right. The screen on the laptop and the two above it were unlocked and I suppressed a joyful cheer. I had made it! My heart was racing with happiness and I had actually jumped into the air for a moment and now wanted to get to grips with the contents of the hard drive and his browser history, when I saw it.

Above me were many small picture sections. No view was the same, but I knew immediately that they all had one and the same motif: The Hyuuga estate in night view. There was the property wall from different perspectives, the bird bath next to the small pond, the large, round pavilion in the back of the garden next to the paved area where Hiashi always held his barbecues, even the hallway to the business premises in the west wing, the security room where Kou sat on the sofa, read a book and kept looking up at his own wall of camera transmissions – and, my heart literally stopped, a dark room in which the window was open, which is why the thin curtain was gently moved by the breeze blowing in, and a large pillow under the duvet simulated my sleeping body should the unlikely event occur and Kou opens my room door.

I got up abruptly, sprinted into the bathroom, slipped into my Ame clothes, which smelled of tobacco and sweat, and carelessly threw Madara's white T-shirt on the floor in the hallway as I dived to the front door. Before I reached the handle, there was a loud clacking and the metal door was opened. Madara, with his wild, long hair, red eyes and fucking erotic charisma, stepped over the threshold, noticed me and smiled. "Hey, I—"

"FUCK YOU!", I yelled and pushed him aside with all my might, but that didn't help in any way, because he was much bigger and stronger than me.

Immediately his friendly expression changed to malice. "What's wrong?!"

"Fuck you, you lousy son of a bitch!"

"Hinata!"

"NO!" I felt tears welling up in my eyes, and I fought against them as well as against Madara, who grabbed me and kept my hands still. "Fuck, Hinata, what is the matter?!" he shouted enraged.

I rammed my leg against his privates. He groaned in pain, let go of me, and slumped to his knees, holding his crotch. I had also fallen to the ground, scrambled up, threw a middle finger in the face of Madara, who was glaring furiously at me from below, simply asked, "My own room?!" and stormed out of the penthouse to the elevator. There, however, I slid in front of the problem that I didn't know the code. So the stairs it was. Before the door closed behind me, I heard Madara shouting something after me in some pitch, but I didn't care. I didn't care about anything. Should he go to the devil and beg there or get angry or what do I know. I was through with him. Done. Wanted to never see him again. His betrayal, his infinite betrayal...

How I had managed to descend the steps of thirty floors without dying of circulatory fever was a mystery to me. But maybe it was good that I kept my body moving. So the adrenaline could pump unhindered through my veins and I didn't simply implode. There was nothing going on down on the street. It was shortly after half past seven on a Sunday morning. Kyoto was still asleep. Except me. I marched in a rage in any direction that would surely take me home, leaving that goddamn Madara Uchiha behind.

At least physically. Mentally, he was taking up every capacity of my synapses. He monitored the Hyuuga – okay, understandable, wouldn't have shocked me. But a damn camera in MY room?! There was no surveillance in the private area of the property, I knew that. So he had to have installed it there himself. Or let it be installed. Anyway. He watched me as I slept, as I changed my clothes, as I masturbated secretly under the covers at night, as I snuck out in my rotten clothes, as I dozed off with my head brooding over legal texts. He had seen it all. EVERYTHING. Everything from me, everything I had done in my own four walls, which had always been a small refuge for me. FUCK!

I bumped into a person and stumbled. "Excuse me..", I muttered automatically, looked up, recognized the blue hairs and threw my arms around Konan's neck without thinking twice. "Huh?! Pearl..?" she asked in surprise, but gently patted me on the back. "Honey, what's going on?"

"I.." What did I want to say? "A man I desire and who cares about me has installed a camera in my room" – "Oh, why?" – "My father is yakuza and so is he and he seems to be obsessed with me, even though he's twenty-five years older than me, but shit, I slept with him last night and enjoyed it and asked him if he can be my daddy and fuck" – YEAH SURE. I broke away from Konan. "Um.. I.." I just couldn't think of anything. The fact that Madara was spying on and monitoring me suppressed any further thought.

"Kisame said that guy from last night, this Madara, took you with him," Konan said calmly. "Did he.. Did he do anything to you?"

I shook my head. It was basically a lie, but not related to what Konan suspected. "No. I wanted to go with him. That's not it.. It's just.. Things happen that have to do with my life."

"Would you like to talk about it?"

Konan seemed so genuinely helpful, it hurt me to have to reject her. How I would love to talk to her about it, pour out my heart to her, finally detach everything that concerned King, Madara, Itachi, Kakashi and Genma from my soul, so that I wouldn't be drawn further into the depths, but I couldn't. As much as I would like to, I couldn't tell Konan what was going on inside me. There was too much behind it, too many secrets that were not allowed to be made public. Too much that would make my life in the Ame more complicated. The Ame.. Shit! The fact alone that Kakuzu knew Madara was too much. No. I was not allowed to drag Konan into it, for the sake of the maintenance of my illusory world and also for hers. "I can't," I answered her honestly. "I have to go home now, I'm sorry."

Konan nodded understandingly. "Okay. But if you change your mind, then come by, yeah? We're all here for you."

"Yes," I nodded and she pressed a kiss on my cheek to say goodbye. I watched her walk past me, turn to me again, smile, raise her hand, and walk home from her night shift. How nice it would be if we were really friends. Maybe I also needed a RICA to whom I could entrust everything.

Now I was crestfallen and no longer angry. That brief encounter with Konan, a woman I didn't really know anything about, had shaken my mind: my initial rage hadn't completely disappeared, but it had given way to an insane disappointment. Yes, I had enjoyed the night with Madara, although everything would have to speak against it. And maybe that was the problem. I liked this man, wanted to spend time with him, get to know him better, and that's exactly why this breach of trust was so painful. Why were feelings so complicated? I could have easily hated him, but I didn't, and for that I hated myself. It was enough to drive me up the wall.

With a jerk I continued my way home, which, where I had already met Konan, should not be long at all. It was already after half past seven. I had seriously walked for over an hour without realizing it. Gradually, the adrenaline also subsided a bit and I felt the pain in my feet. The thin sole of the Chucks had certainly gotten more holes from this march. Whatever. I reached the Hyuuga estate, climbed over the wall, and crept through the garden to my room. There I looked for the camera on the wall shelf, found it, showed the lens the middle finger – in case Madara was watching – and kicked it to pieces. I put the individual parts together with my smelly clothes in the plastic bag, which I stuffed into the black box behind the winter coats with all the gifts from King, and crouched on my futon in my pajamas. I didn't sit for a minute and tried to ignore further thoughts of Madara when there was a knock and another day dawned in the house of the Hyuuga.

It could have been unspectacular, a simple Sunday, and it was until four o'clock in the afternoon. Around three o'clock Hiashi came back from Fukuoka, demanded his lunch, which Sukunai delivered to him as a matter of course – she presented a spicy chicken curry with sugar snap peas, would look fabulous in the toilet bowl. My father talked to Neji about the events on Kyuushu. As I heard, the local syndicate, the Akumahikari-kai, had offered the Gin'nome-kai a deal that would bring cocaine to their and weapons to our side. It was a pity, if I were still an informant for the police, this piece of knowledge would certainly be helpful, but thanks to Genma they wouldn't be able to do anything about it. Yes, goddamnit, I was resentful. But when all the men around me betrayed my trust, the world deserved to burn. I lowered my head. There he was again. Madara Uchiha. Took over my brain for the thousandth time that day, penetrated my thoughts. I hated myself for it. If I hadn't discovered that he was monitoring my room by video, I even could have given him this information, maybe it would have been of some use to him. But now? Now I was sitting on an important detail like a toad on a chicken's egg, hatching a creature that I couldn't control. The Gin'nome-kai wanted weapons. That could only mean that Hanabi and I had to get out of here as quickly as possible. A war was rolling in in which neither of us had a chance of survival. Maybe I should grab her, run away with her and hope..?

Before I could answer my own question in my head, Tokuma stepped up to the dining table, bowed to the family, leaned down to Hiashi, and I could understand with pricked ears, "Sir, Kaguya Ootsutsuki is outside. How should we proceed?"

Hiashi lowered his chopsticks, exchanged a look with Neji, and rose from his zaisu. Together with his bodyguard, he left the room and it became quiet. No one said anything because three out of four people present were not allowed to speak during meals, and the fourth could only talk to himself. This was only useful to me, so I could listen to what was happening over there at the open front door. "Kaguya, what gives me the honor?" Hiashi asked in only a subliminally belligerent tone.

"Hiashi," replied a wintry woman's voice just as testy. "We need to talk."

"Excuse me, but I am having dinner with my family right now. Make an appointment for tomorrow, then you can talk to me."

"Bullshit," she snapped at him, footsteps sounded and a tall woman with an ice-cold charisma stepped into the doorway. She was thin, had fair skin, silver hair, gray eyes, wore a white costume and had a look that made my blood freeze in my veins. The only color on her were her bright red lips, which curled a little as she looked at the four seated. Without a doubt, she was the most intimidating woman I had ever seen—and I had grown up with Sukunai as my mother. I understood why she was the only female clan leader I knew. Her gaze alone could kill. "Forgive my harsh demeanor. But it's important." Her cold eyes fixed me. "You, come with me."

A movement went through the table party. Neji looked at me and then at Hiashi, who had appeared behind Kaguya, Sukunai straightened her posture unnecessarily and Hanabi grabbed my hand under the table, which was on my thigh. "Kaguya, what is this all about?" Hiashi asked angrily.

Kaguya turned to him. "She has a few questions to answer."

"She has nothing to do with you," Hiashi replied. It felt strange to be protected by him in such a way. Was that.. Was that paternal affection..? Nah. Never ever from him.

"Not with me, but with my husband." I didn't need to see her eyes again for an icy shiver to be sent down my spine.

Instead, I met Hiashi's gaze. We looked at each other for a good ten seconds, then he nodded and silently ordered me to follow him. I obeyed without a word and went after him into the west wing with tense limbs. Kaguya stalked after me with her high-heeled shoes, which the rude cunt hadn't even taken off. As if in a deadly single file, we reached Hiashi's office, where he sat down at his desk, I stood in front of it with folded hands and bowed head and next to me Kaguya struck a very impressive pose for her delicate stature. "Who did she talk to?" Kaguya asked without further clichés.

"Please, be more specific," Hiashi replied tetchily.

"I'm talking about my husband. He was here on Tuesday, there was a meeting with you and a subsequent rendezvous with this slut."

Excuse me?! Yes, I was a slut, but not because of Isshiki, that godless son of a bitch!

Hiashi frowned. "And further? So far, I do not see anything that would justify your onslaught."

Kaguya crossed her arms and explained frostily, "He didn't show up last night. At first I didn't think about it, after all, he often stays away for nights when he has a production." Inevitably, a piece of chicken curry rose up my esophagus and I had to swallow hard. "But this morning I received this by registered mail." From somewhere – no, honestly, she had no pockets, was she a witch? – she got a clear plastic bag and threw it at Hiashi on the table with a disgusting flap.

I peeked through my bangs and saw blood. A lot of blood. And there was something in the blood. Hiashi lifted the bag, felt the something, and asked, "What is that?"

Kaguya let out a cold laugh. "You don't recognize something like that? You.. as a man?" I shuddered and quickly turned my eyes back to my slippers. "We found the rest of him in Katsura river an hour ago. Severed genitals – you know what kind of sign that is."

In disgust Hiashi threw the bag back onto his table with pursed lips and also crossed his arms. "Where do you get the idea that we are behind this? It is not as if he was so innocent. Maybe he abused the child from the wrong person."

"That's right," Kaguya agreed. Suddenly, she braced herself on the tabletop in front of him and said insistently, without really raising her voice, "He is promised to be allowed to take your youngest. You deny him that for dubious reasons, he has to be satisfied with this slut here and less than a week later his cock is cut off and he is tortured to death. What does that look like for you, Hiashi Hyuuga?"

Hiashi leaned forward. "Like a stupid coincidence. The business with the Kaminone-kai was in place, I see no reason to endanger them. What is in it for me?"

"You are taking revenge for the fact that your daughter was violated."

A rare grin stole onto Hiashi's face. "Do you think so, really?" He stood up, was only slightly taller than her. "I do not care what happens to her. He could have fucked her to death as long as the contract was concluded. And it is, right? This covenant between us is important for both of us. Without it, we cannot beat the Akaiisan-kai and we lose this war. The destruction of Madara Uchiha is more important to me than the lives of my daughters. So, I ask you again, Kaguya Ootsutsuki: What do I get out of mutilating and killing your husband?"

"Who did she talk to?" It was obvious that Kaguya couldn't answer.

Although I continued to stare at my feet, I felt my father's gaze on me. "Who did you talk to?" he forwarded the question directly to me.

"No one, Otoo-sama," I murmured.

Kaguya let out a "Kst". She roughly grabbed my jaw and pulled my head up. Death spoke from her soulless eyes. "Don't lie to me, you slut! Who. Did. You. Talk. To?!"

"No one, ma'am," I now whimpered.

"Your sister disappeared without a trace that day," Hiashi said, coming around the desk and standing next to Kaguya. "You got her out of the house to protect her from Isshiki."

"Oh, so you were behind that too?" Kaguya growled, her cold fingers stiffening. "You little, insidious slut."

"Where did you take her?" Hiashi asked with an unmistakable anger in his voice. "You cannot have done this alone, you had help. Who?"

"NOW TALK!", Kaguya shrieked and threw me on the floor. I landed elbow first on the hard floorboards, uttered a cry of pain and pleaded, "Please! I.. I had no help. I did not talk to anyone. I.. I put Hanabi in a café. She waited there until I got her. Please.. Otoo-sama.. I am telling the truth!"

"Bullshit," Kaguya growled and was about to pounce on me, when Hiashi held her by the shoulder and said loudly, "Wait!" He crouched down next to me and pushed my sweatshirt up a bit. "What is that?"

At first I didn't know what he meant, but all of a sudden I realized WHAT he meant. Madara's dentition print on my belly. I gasped by mistake and wanted to push the shirt down again, but my father was faster. He tore my top with a single blow and exposed me completely. I tried to cross my arms in front of my chest, but Tokuma, who had come to me at a sign from Hiashi, held my wrists so that my father and this woman could study my naked torso.

"Hinata..", Hiashi began and his tone told me that I now had to dig up all my lying abilities to get out of here in one piece, "What. Is. That?"

"Mh," Kaguya laughed shrill. "I can tell you what that is, dearest Hiashi. Your daughter is a true slut."

Hiashi's head jerked. "Who did this?" He reached out with his hand and gave me a resounding slap in the face, which briefly transported my mind into other dimensions. "WHO DID THIS?!"

"M-my... boyfriend...", I stammered between choppy breaths.

"Your boyfriend?" Hiashi repeated, as if he really didn't understand me.

I nodded vigorously.

"Tell me his name."

In a very short time, I remembered umpteen names, all of which I couldn't say out loud. Madara? No. I would be dead if they knew about him. Kakashi? No, he would be dead if they knew about him. Itachi? No, I didn't want to drag him into it. Genma? No, he had nothing more to do with all that. One of the guys from the Ame? No.. They were not allowed to know anything about my world. Within milliseconds, I decided on someone who was obvious and yet far enough away. "… Sh... Shino..."

"Who is that?"

"I-I... I have met him... at the… university..."

"And then you fuck him after two weeks?" Kaguya laughed sneeringly. "Kst, a slut just like in a picture book."

"What does he have to do with us?" Hiashi asked, without heeding Kaguya.

My hands clenched into fists. "N-nothing... He is just... He sits in.. in legal history next to me and... We.. We got on well… right from… the start... and... there is a.. such a... chemistry between us..."

"Get him here," Hiashi ordered.

I opened my eyes in horror. FUCK. I shook my head hastily. "N-no.. I..."

"Get. Him. Here," my father repeated emphatically, indicating Tokuma to let me go.

I was screwed. I was simply screwed. Even if I had Shino's number, I could never drag him into this matter. He would be dead. I would be dead. I needed someone I could call right now, who knew about my life, who Hiashi didn't know, and who I trusted to have enough acting talent to defuse the situation. Shit. I loathed it, but with trembling fingers I pulled my phone out of my pocket, leaned forward a little so that none of the bystanders could read the contact's real name, and dialed Genma's number.