Mari Makinami
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Chapter 18. High Tension.
In their world, being a ninja surely gave one lots of assets without really adding any significant flaws. Sure, one could argue with that by saying that ninja constantly risked their lives, but come to think about it, it wasn't as dramatic as it could seem to a civilian.
Comparing to regular people, even mediocre shinobi and kunoichi could be called invincible, perhaps even all-powerful. They could defy gravity, become invisible, change their appearane to turn into different people – and all that usually was in their arsenal ever since their childhood. Strong ninja could also stay without food, water or sleep for days, sometimes even weeks. Sure, for a regular man it could seem like this mysterious supernatural power they called chakra turned those who learned to use it into nearly godly creatures. And the incredible self-control they always had didn't soften the impression at all.
People feared ninjas, sometimes thinking of them like of some completely different kind to which human feelings, emotions and needs were foreign.
That's why if a regular human would've seen Uchiha Sasuke that morning, knowing everything about his power and capabilities beforehand, their stereotypes would immediately have got completely demolished the instant they took a look at the raven haired teen.
Even without seeing his reflection in the dirty mirror on the wall opposite to the bed, Sasuke already knew that he looked miserable. Not that he really cared about it – appearances never was something he valued much to say the least.
What truly was bothering him at the moment were the few things which, on the contrary, a regular man wouldn't have found any surprising or even worthy of paying attention above everything else.
First of all, he wasn't alone in the bed. He could say that much without even opening his eyes as he felt someone's warm breath tickling his neck, as well as a gentle, soft palm against his bare chest exactly on the spot where he'd been stabbed by Madara months ago. Just above his heart.
On top of that, his own arm was wrapped around …
He moved it up and down to confirm his assumption, feeling the nice curve under his palm.
The Uchiha's eyes snapped open, and for the first few seconds he couldn't see anything clearly – his sight was too blurry which nearly made him panic, reminding him of the same view from the time when he didn't have Itachi's eyes implanted yet.
But then his sight slowly started to regain focus, finally making the teen able to recognize Hinata's peaceful face just few inches away from his own. She was still sleeping, and seeing as the girl was wearing only her underwear along with one of his own old black shirts with the Uchiha crest printed on its back, it became pretty evident to Sasuke that something had happened between the two of them after he'd left Naruto and Yutaka on the roof.
But the last thing he could remember from the morning was the sudden urge to go to sleep when they had opened the fifth bottle somewhere at the point when it was already hard to stand straight. Had he even had any energy to do … something to her?
Feeling his heart starting to race, the teen flinched as if finally breaking out of a weird genjutsu, quickly crawling away from the young woman and sitting on the broad bed on his knees. He stared at the Hyūga with something that was an extremely rare occasion to see on his face.
Uncovered and utter horror.
And just as he moved away, Hinata slowly opened her eyes, squinting and yawning at first, but then giving him a baffled look as she noticed the Uchiha's expression.
"Sasuke …? What's wrong?" she murmured, slightly raising her head up from the pillow.
"What did I do?" he barked, still staring at her as if she had just skinned a kitten right in front of him.
"Huh ...?" she gasped, confused by the question, but then starting to realize what was really going on, cocking her eyebrow and smiling playfully to him. "What are you talking about? You and Naruto were drinking until the noon, don't you remember...?"
"No. Not that. What did I do to you?" he deadpanned as his face was slowly becaming as pale as a list of paper.
"Oh …," she gave him a sly smile, stretching her body, "Don't worry about it, you were a perfect gentleman."
But then Hinata finally sneered, afraid that the Uchiha could've fainted at this rate.
"Well, not really. But you actually were pretty cute. Orochimaru woke me up a few hours ago to inform us that he and Naruto were leaving to get the tenth member, and since I'd been awakened anyway, I've decided to go and bring you some water. Kiba had told me once that it's really something one wants during hangover. By the way, it's there, on the table." She smiled caringly, nodding in the direction of the bottle.
But he didn't move, still staring at her suspiciously.
The Hyūga sighed, rolling her eyes. Who could've known that Uchiha Sasuke was so noble and caring under all his shells and masks?
"I hope you don't mind that I've borrowed your shirt. It had been rainy outside, so my clothes were completely soaked."
That wasn't entirely true, but she didn't want to bother Sasuke with the details of her short evening trip.
Fortunately enough, in his current state that was enough to convince the Uchiha, so she smiled warmly seeing as he slowly turned around to grab the bottle only to completely devour the refreshing liquid hungrily within just a few seconds.
"Do you have more?" he asked then, slightly turning his head.
"No … it wasn't that easy to get this one, and I wasn't sure how much you were going to need anyway. Is it that bad?" she asked worriedly, giving him a pitiful look.
"Hn." He turned away, putting the empty vessel back on the table and then suddenly hissing, grabbing his temple with his fingers.
Hinata sighed, activating the Byakugan and crawling closer to Sasuke. She frowned, lightly tapping his neck from behind which made him flinch and glance at her cautiously.
"Shush … I'm going to help it, sit still," she ordered, making the Uchiha frown. He both enjoyed and disliked the bossy notes in her voice at the same time so he slightly recoiled reflexively, unsure how to react.
"I don't need any help, I'm fine–"
"I said sit still," she gently whispered in his ear, lightly pushing on his shoulders to make the obstinate teen finally relax and let her do the job, to which he reluctantly agreed more because of the shudder the feeling of her warm breath and her soft touch suddenly gave to his body.
It didn't take Hinata long to do whatever she was up to – apparently she already had done the same thing to her teammates in the past. The thought made Sasuke feel some weird kind of displease that was pretty much foreign to him, and he didn't really understand what it was.
Perhaps he was feeling a bit jealous at the idea of her treating Kiba and Shino in the same way, but the Uchiha certainly didn't feel like deepening into reflecting on his feelings at the moment anyway. The feeling of absolute bliss completely overwhelmed him as the terrible headache miraculously disappeared within just a few seconds.
"Is it better now?" she asked, though already knowing the answer as well as knowing that he wouldn't reply anyway. After all, she knew him better than anyone else at this point.
Of that both of them were absolutely sure.
And so he simply turned away again, activating a seal on his wrist to get a fresh shirt and getting up from the bed, wincing slightly as he stretched his stiff muscles.
"What really happened to you while I was asleep?" he suddenly asked, not looking at the young woman.
She frowned. He could read her with such ease now ... but that wasn't really any surprising. He knew her better than anyone else, too.
"I … well, Orochimaru woke me up and then ..."
Flinching at the sudden knock, Hinata slowly opened her eyes and activated her Byakugan.
She frowned. Behind the door stood Orochimaru who looked as vigorous and imperturbable as usual. Did he even ever sleep at all ...? It was only close to sunset, and he already seemed completely rested. What a weird man.
And next to him was Naruto … in his female form, and even under the effect of his perfect Henge no Jutsu he looked horrible. And judging by the way Ashura was glaring at the sannin, the jinchūriki wasn't amused by the early awakening either to say the least.
Orochimaru knocked again, a bit louder this time which made his companion wince, so Hinata decided to get up and come out to them before another knock could disturb Sasuke's sleep.
But that wasn't a trivial task considering that she was being hugged tightly by the Uchiha's arm.
Fortunately enough, his condition made Sasuke pretty oblivious to what was happening around him, being deep in his sleep unlike the usual, so she somehow managed to slowly slip out of his grip without waking the young man up.
Quickly coming to the door, she opened it, quietly walking outside.
"Hinata …?" Orochimaru made a surprised face, "I thought it was Sasuke's room. Was I wrong, or ...?" Now it was clear that the sannin was simply messing with her, though it was pretty obvious even with the tiny amount of knowledge about him that she possessed thanks to the Uchiha.
"He's asleep. Can I help you?" she asked, annoyed by the man's attitude, but even more so by the fact that he had forced her to get out of her comfortable nap in Sasuke's warm embrace, making her walk out into the draft of the cold corridor.
"Not much. We just wanted to let him know that we're going after Hidan so it may take us a while to get back. Right, Naruto-kun?" he smirked at Ashura who glared at him melancholically, apparently hardly following the sannin's words.
"Yea, yea ... whatever you say," the jinchūriki mumbled, leaning against the wall and letting out a heavy sigh.
Orochimaru chuckled, turning back to Hinata who gave him a deadpan look.
"Is that it?" she asked, moving her eyes to Ashura and barely holding a grim smirk.
Apparently they really had drunk quite a lot in the morning. Of course, the Hyūga could probably help him with the hangover, but somehow she didn't feel like doing so. Perhaps because she knew that Sasuke hadn't planned anything like that so it had most likely been Naruto's idea to get wasted to begin with.
It kind of serves him right, doesn't it?
"Yes, pretty much. Tell that to Sasuke if he wakes up before we're back, will you?" It irked the Hyūga how evident was the fact that the sannin was simply having fun with them in this situation, but she wasn't going to amuse him any further.
It wasn't that she disliked Orochimaru. In a way, she actually felt sympathy for the man – after all, he was Sasuke's former teacher and he had saved her own life, not to mention the power he had given her. And even putting all that aside, he also was a brilliant, perhaps even genius scientist, and Hinata always respected intelligent people no matter who they were.
But he surely could be incredibly annoying. And she wasn't going to play along, at least not this time.
"Fine, it will be done", she snapped, turning around and closing the door behind her back.
Deactivating the Byakugan, Hinata came close to the small table near the bed where Sasuke was snorting calmly. Leaning against the wooden surface of the furniture, she stared at him, unable to resist the urge to smile.
For once he looked so peaceful in his dreams … it was a rare occasion for the Uchiha to sleep so well. Usually he could be awakened by the slightest sound, and during their long journey together Hinata had found out that he also often had nightmares which made him talk asleep, sometimes even scream in terror.
That's why she was so happy to see him like this, careless and peaceful for once, and that also was another reason for her to be a bit mad at Orochimaru for risking this precious idyll by knocking on their door.
Our door … I can get used to it, thought Hinata distantly, slightly blushing at the idea.
She suddenly felt the strong urge to do something good for him. Sasuke usually was pretty reluctant to accept anything, especially if it was about helping him with something in any way, but still … he gave her the feeling of comfort she always lacked throughout her entire life. With him, she actually felt like she was at home. Safe.
Warm.
And then the idea hit her. When he would wake up, he'd certainly want something to drink. And since she was already up anyway, what if she went for a short trip around the village, buying him something on her way? After all, she didn't feel sleepy anymore. Her hands were already back to normal, and all that remained to completely negate the damage she had received from Kyubi would be painting her nails again.
Looking at her fingers made her frown, but then the girl suddenly smiled.
Just half a year ago she barely cared about her appearance at all. But after her last birthday Hinata actually had begun to find making herself look better rather enjoyable, thanks to Sasuke's present.
She wanted to appear good and beautiful now. Not only for the Uchiha, but for herself as well. And cosmetics surely played a big role there.
But dressing up came first.
Quietly taking her worn old clothes that she had used for the night off, she tossed them into the trashcan in the corner of the room, though watching carefully for Sasuke to not wake up – even though she wasn't really afraid of the possibility of him seeing her naked, it would be pretty awkward given the current circumstances. After all, she imagined it to be more … romantic than that, so the girl quickly got dressed into the new set of female Akatsuki outfit. A pale blue top with open shoulders and abdomen, tight pants of the same color that reached her ankles along with simple sandals with heels, finishing with a familiar black coat with red clouds on it.
Taking a look at her reflection in the mirror, the Hyūga smiled, feeling satisfied as she fixed her hair.
It didn't take her long to apply the cosmetics. After finishing her makeup with the dark red lipstick and painting her nails with matching blood colored polish, instantly drying it with her Katon chakra, she came close to their bed again, making sure that Sasuke was still asleep. Apparently the Uchiha wasn't going to get up anytime soon, so Hinata quietly moved out of the room, closing the door and coming close to the window at the end of the long corridor.
Being a kunoichi, she didn't need to waste her time on looking for an exit somewhere downstairs, straying in the vast labyrinth of different passages and rooms, so she simply jumped out, landing on the small platforms and pipes that bulged out of the massive building here and there until she finally landed on the solid ground of the street.
There was a surprisingly low amount of people around even though it wasn't late yet – the sun was still lighting the streets of the village. But even those who were around the Tower instantly noticed the young woman, unsure how to react to her sudden appearance.
The voices quickly lowered to whispers and then died off shortly. Every single person around was staring at her as if expecting Hinata to make a speech or to start ordering them around.
Frowning, she wiped the dust off her coat, trying to maintain the impassive expression as she slowly walked down the broad cobblestone road. Her eyes were sliding over the signboards, looking for a grocery of some sort as she was trying to ignore the reaction her appearance was causing to people on the street.
It was uncomfortable, though. Very much so, actually, considering that she'd never received so much attention before in her life. If this would've been happening to her old self, to that fragile girl who had run away from Konoha, overwhelmed with fear of the man who probably wouldn't even be able to lay a finger on her nowadays … she likely would've fainted the instant she noticed all the stares they were giving her.
But now things were completely different.
Hinata truly didn't care what they thought of her because for all she knew, not only she was an elite kunoichi successfully executing a top-secret S-rank mission now, but she, Hyūga Hinata, was also a member of Akatsuki, whether it was a bluff or not. Thanks to Sasuke, she had managed to reveal her true potential. Now the young woman knew who she really was, and nobody would be able to confuse her ever again.
She wouldn't allow it, especially now that she had even withstood that talk with Naruto, finally feeling completely free from her past as they'd settled everything between them.
The Uchiha was right – it had been her final challenge, and she had passed it with ease, which finally allowed her to concentrate on her main goals – making Sasuke happy and being happy herself.
Of course, there was much more to it. The most important thing above everything else was protecting the remnants of his clan as well as securing the safety of Konoha in order to ensure their own future.
Now that she gave it a thought, Hinata didn't have much warm feelings for her home village. Sure, there were a few people she still cared about – Kiba, Shino, Kurenai, Naruto. But aside from that … she could easily go to live with Sasuke wherever he would decide to settle down, feeling herself absolutely comfortable. Paying her remaining friends, her former sensei and her sister occasional visits once a year or two would be more than enough to satisfy her nostalgic feelings.
She had a different life now, after all. She had become a different person.
Hinata smiled as the still a bit chilly March wind whipped her hair, enjoying the sunlight warming her face as she came close to the door that led to one of the plain stores that looked unpopular enough to not draw more unnecessary attention.
Raising her hand to open the rickety wooden door, Hinata flinched, realizing two things at the same time as she touched the rusty door handle.
First, she didn't have any money with her.
And second ... they were going to create the rings Indra had told the villagers about only once the tenth member would arrive.
In other words, if anyone noticed her not wearing the ring right now, it would be the same as getting an aim on her head.
And ironically so, just as the realization hit her, making the girl scowl at her own stupidity, she heard a loud hemming to her right.
Slowly turning her head to face the possible threat, the Hyūga frowned.
So they took his words this serious? What a damned nuisance ...
"Can I help you?" she asked the five shinobi politely, not really sure how she was supposed to behave in front of her ... subordinates? Or rather a bunch of insane bigots with no real allegiance to anyone?
"Show us your other hand," the tall man in the middle barked, staring at her with his empty brown eyes. Apparently he was their commander, or at least he had the authority to speak up first.
Letting go of the door, she turned to face them strictly, giving the bunch an impassive gaze. She couldn't call them anything else since they looked more like a mere group of bandits than a ninja unit.
What to do now…? she questioned herself, noticing that she wasn't feeling worried about herself at all – in fact, she was pretty confident in her ability to eliminate all of them should it become necessary. But the problem was that hurting the villagers could ruin their entire plan. Something else needed to be done, and she had to make the decision as fast as possible.
But before Hinata could figure it out, the words came off her mouth on their own,
"You need to watch your tone if you don't want to die right away, filth."
Feeling both awed and a bit frightened by her own sudden courage and insolence, Hinata still somehow managed to keep her calm mask up.
She couldn't remember herself calling someone filth ever before, but these men …
Hinata and Sasuke had seen many different people during their mission in this weird village. Some of them were truly awful to say the least. Some were decent – for instance, Jun was an irritating idiot without a doubt, but he still was a person. He had his own views, his own goals, even his own dignity … well, in a way.
And he certainly was no fool.
Now she could truly understand the man's deep despise whenever they were talking about the locals.
These shinobi, however … being mindless fanatics and approaching her like this as if they didn't even remotely care about their lives. Bluntly risking to get killed only to check the presence of some ring on her finger, even though most likely realizing that whether she was an Akatsuki member or an intruder powerful and cocky enough to impersonate herself as one just few hours since 'the god's arrival' ... she felt like they really deserved to be despised.
But then again …, the girl frowned. Why did she even care in the first place?
They feared her. It was clearly visible deep in their eyes – apparently such people could only be controlled by force. They already could feel her power, but in spite of it they still refused to even apologize as she'd put their leader in his place.
Mindless animals, that's who they were.
Filth.
"Kami-sama said you need to wear the ring for us to consider you his angel. Otherwise you will die," the leader of the bunch replied stubbornly, looking at her with his empty eyes. He seemed to be the most brainless out of them, tightly followed by the other one that stood next to him and nodded at his words; the other three looked away, sweating and clearly feeling pretty uncomfortable.
Apparently some of them could at least think, after all. Perhaps she wouldn't have to hurt all of them.
"Do you realize that I'm going to kill you for your impudent attempt to humiliate me like this, whether I have the ring on me or not?" she asked calmly, staring at the man without blinking.
It all was up to him now. His reply would seal his fate.
"Yes. I do. I don't care. Kami-sama is watching. Always watching. I'm his obedient slave, and I will follow his will to my death," he deadpanned, not moving his eyes away for a second.
Hinata could feel her body beginning to shake as she was overwhelmed with fury.
How? Just how could one simply give his life up for his ridiculous beliefs when it was obvious that his 'sacrifice' would end up being a waste in either case?
She simply couldn't believe that people like this existed in this village. Moreover, they seemed to dominate those who tried to oppose this idiocy. And to think that they actually drew normal people along with them into their madness …
This dirt needed to be wiped off the face of Ame if they truly wanted to fix everything here.
Infusing her fists with chakra, the young woman nearly gasped in surprise – the main bigot, as she called him now in her head, had actually beaten her to it by quickly weaving a few signs.
Before Hinata could step away, the immense wave of water already was just in front of her.
Hakke Kūshō!
She repelled it with her Vacuum Palm, but a bit too late for it to be a perfect counter – unfortunately the Hyūga was able to cover only the upper part of her body while the lower part of her coat got completely soaked as well as her pants, making her feel even more angry. Now she was going to need to dry it for she didn't have another set of clothes prepared.
Someone was going to pay …
Before the man could react, she used Shunshin to get close to him, raising her hand to pierce his skull with a bone. But just a split second before the deadly attack reached its target, something triggered in Hinata's head and she stopped the attack midway, striking the tenketsu on the man's neck instead.
He fell on his knees, unable to use chakra properly anymore. Apparently the shinobi of Amegakure were really poorly trained ever since the downfall of the original Akatsuki.
She glared at his face thoughtfully, seeing that none of his subordinates were brave enough to attack her. They just gazed at the young woman with utter fear and idolatry at the same time.
Hinata didn't really know why, but it only made her anger strengthen even more. But she wasn't going to simply kill them. Doing so would turn them into martyrs in the eyes of the villagers.
No, they needed to see how wrong they really were.
"So you truly think that your god would approve you giving up your life like this? And for what? For a futile attempt to–" She stopped, meeting his stubborn, empty gaze.
"I'm only following the will of god. My life is irrelevant."
She punched him in the face, making the man fall down to the ground, reflexively covering his broken, bleeding nose.
"If it wasn't important, you stupid bigot, he wouldn't have sent us here in the first place. We are to protect you. To make you open your eyes at last. To lead you in that bright future you've been promised! You must value your lives if you want to make it happen! Not just blindly follow someone's words, frankly following them without any thinking!" she yelled, feeling herself unusually infuriated.
Perhaps she was feeling something familiar that she was afraid of herself? Something from her past, some sort of blind loyalty and admiration she herself once felt?
Whatever the reason was behind it, she didn't want to think about it at the moment.
"B-but what can we do?" the other man finally opened his mouth, afraid to look her in the eyes, "You've seen him, didn't you? The god … he's our only hope," he mumbled, lowering his head and gripping his kunai tightly.
Hinata growled, coming close to him and grabbing his collar with her slender fingers. He was young – perhaps just a bit older than her, but the difference wasn't really notable. After all, her makeup made the Hyūga look a older than she was.
Yet still, she suddenly felt like she was treating a silly, lost child.
"You are your only hope. Remember it well. Your god is going to show you the right road, but he's not going to walk it instead of you."
He snapped his eyes to meet hers, looking at Hinata with shock and … prayer?
"Are you really his angel?"
She couldn't help but roll her eyes at the question. So helpless and naive … just how come their village hadn't ended up in ruins yet? Probably only thanks to the Pact.
"I'm his woman, not an angel. And trust me, I know what I'm talking about. He has shown me that road, and I'm walking it now myself."
His eyes widened, and so did the others' – even their leader whose nose she had just broken was staring at her in awe and shock.
"So you are the goddess ...?"
Hinata desperately fought the urge to slap her face, feeling more frustrated than angered now. They truly were just like children, after all.
But on the other hand, that could be some good practice for her. She was to become a mother one day, wasn't she?
The ridiculous context of the thought somewhat calmed her down, nearly making the Hyūga chuckle.
"I guess you could say so ..." She sighed, deactivating the Byakugan. They weren't ready for the truth, but at least they would leave her alone now. "Now get out of my sight. And tell your comrades to not mess with Akatsuki no matter what. Especially with me. I'm going to kill you if I see you behave like this again." She scowled, making the five of shinobi pale. Apparently her little bluff worked out nearly perfectly. Well, not entirely so – instead of running away, they dropped to their knees, lowering their heads.
"Yes, my goddess!" the chorus of their voices echoed through the street, making Hinata want to roll her eyes again.
"Whatever … just get lost," she mumbled, turning away and entering the store at last.
Just as it looked from the outside, the interior wasn't any beter. There were a few dusty shelves mostly with conserved food on them, as well as a few boxes filled with bottles of water - exactly what the Hyūga was looking for.
An old woman stared at her as if Hinata was a ghost when the bell above the door rang, making the Hyūga frown once again. These villagers and their reactions certainly were going to drive her insane...
"Can I borrow some water, please? I don't have any money with me right now, but I really need it, so–"
The woman that apparently owned the store bowed down, quietly uttering,
"Of course, my mistress. Please, take whatever you need, just … I beg you, don't kill me or my family. We didn't do anything, we're just simple people–"
Hinata winced, coming closer to the showcase and picking a bottle.
"I'll do no such thing. I'll make sure to pay for this the next time I'm around. Thank you very much." She smiled kindly, making the old woman stare at her in utter shock. Apparently they totally weren't used to such attitude coming from the upper ranks of the village …especially from the previous line up of Akatsuki.
Desperately fighting her own emotions and trying to not accidently scare the poor old lady, Hinata turned on her heels and left the store, not looking back.
"Is that it?" asked Sasuke, lazily fixing his hair and washing his face with a splash of cold water he had conjured with his chakra.
Seeing him doing that so casually, Hinata felt pretty stupid for a moment, only to realize a second later that there probably was nothing to be ashamed of. After all, seeing as he had played along, even asking her if she had any more water for him, he seemed amused by her care.
"Pretty much. I still think we should do something about them. These people are so miserable, Sasuke ..." She lowered her eyes, wanting to express all of her impressions over her short yet eventful adventure outside, but unable to find the right words.
He turned his head to face the young woman, eyeing her thoughtfully.
"It can't be helped any time soon. This is going to take a while, especially now that we have Kusagakure to deal with. As well as all the other things."
She gave him a weak smile, nodding in agreement.
"I know. I just wanted to ask you to help these people at some point if it's even possible. After all, you of everyone else–" She gasped, meeting his eyes that were now just few inches away from hers.
He always was so fast … no matter how much she had advanced, the Hyūga still felt that she was nowhere close to being a match for him.
"I don't care about them. They are free to believe whatever they want to believe. Changing their paradigm doesn't concern our mission here." She lowered her eyes in defeat, partly expecting this answer, yet still unable to hold the curious expression as he touched her chin gently, making Hinata raise her head to meet his cold and impassive gaze again. "We're going to be too busy with the things we're having at hand. Although … since you are asking for it ...," she gasped quietly in surprise, feeling his lips touch her own, making the girl want to cuddle him senseless as she heard his last line, "I'll try to figure something out. If we'll have time for it, that is." The corners of his mouth twitched, giving away the tiniest of smiles.
Hinata squeaked happily, wrapping her arms around his neck and hugging the Uchiha as tightly as she could.
But apparently he didn't expect such emotional reaction of her. She was only able to catch the small glimpse of surprise in his eyes before they lost their balance, falling onto the bed.
Grave silence fell upon the room. His mismatching eyes were open wide just like her own white ones as Hinata was sitting on top of the teen with her hands against his bare chest. The girl was afraid to move as her cheeks were slowly reddening at the realization of the position she found the two of them being in.
Being caught off guard, she got completely lost in his deep eyes. Was it some kind of his genjutsu? If this was the case, then it certainly was a very pleasant one. It seemed to her like the whole eternity passed before the kunoichi suddenly flinched, feeling his hand touch her bare hip.
And then something inside of her just broke, mercilessly throwing her into the undiscovered realm of desires. Hinata leaned forward, kissing him so desperately and hungrily as if her life depended on it. Perhaps it actually did? Why was she feeling so alive now when her tongue met his, feeling his arm slide under her shirt at the same time...
Hinata couldn't think straight as her body melted under his touch, but one thing she could say for sure – she had just passed the point of no return. Whatever he would do to her now, she wouldn't be able to resist him. Not that she wanted to anyway … if anything, the Hyūga now realized that she craved for his touch more than for anything else in her life. All the other things suddenly became insignificant ... completely irrelevant. Her entire world was focusing in this one man, tossing aside everything else.
It became more clear than ever before.
She loved him, and she couldn't imagine living without him anymore.
After avoiding each other for so many long, frustrating weeks, both of them felt like they finally managed to break out of the chains that had been binding them up to this very moment. And now that they finally let go of their restrains, Hinata felt like she was completely losing control over herself, feeling his hot lips against her deer neck and his arm on …
She let out a quiet moan of pleasure as he gently squeezed her breast, making the young woman feel something she had never experienced before.
The passionate desire to belong to him.
She didn't realize it before how much she really needed this man. And seeing as he wanted her just as badly made Hinata so overwhelmed with her feelings that the girl's brain decided to simply shut down, allowing her body to act on its own.
"Hinata–," he gasped, slightly pushing her away. Sasuke wasn't even sure if she could comprehend his word now seeing bleary the look of her eyes. And to be honest, it took the Uchiha all of his remaining willpower to stop just for a second, but he had to do that. He would lose his self respect if he didn't.
"I can hardly control myself now. Are you sure– "
She didn't let him finish his question, shutting her raven haired lover up with another passionate kiss.
Well, at least I tried, he thought reasonably, losing the remaining bits of rationality as he felt her fingers reach out for his belt.
"Are you sure he won't kill someone while we are absent? He seems to be quite unstable, if you ask me. And from what I know of him, he's a complete maniac–"
"Nah, it's all good. Did you even see how he swallowed that steak? Even if he gets sated soon, which I doubt, he's going to eat so much that it's gonna be hard for him to move. I know what I'm talking about, believe it!" Ashura smirked as the two of them were passing one ladder after another on their way to Sasuke's room, the jinchūriki walking slightly ahead of the Hyūga.
Hanabi cocked her eyebrow sceptically, frowning at the blonde. It was fairly obvious that both him and Orochimaru were hiding something concerning Hidan. Why did they even need him to begin with? There had to be a very good reason to recover such a shinobi, especially knowing that he had killed a Sarutobi Asuma as well as numerous other good ninja of Konoha. Of course, it was a bit hypocrite to judge him - the Uchiha had killed some of Konoha's ninja as well, but unlike Hidan he had been legitimately pardoned by the Gokage Council.
On top of that, apparently whenever there was no foreigners around, Naruto's usual personality naturally began to pop out since there was no reason for him to keep the mask up.
"Could you please turn back into yourself? It's not like he's going to see you anytime soon anyway," Hanabi mumbled, reluctant to admit that she still felt awkward while he was in his female form, especially like this when Ashura behaved so much like Naruto. It was confusing and irritating.
"Huh? Oh, yea, sure," the jinchūriki quickly turned back into the man she was a bit more familiar with, this time not even forming any seals which impressed her once again. Just how was it possible for such a prodigy to be an idiot at the same time ...?
He turned his head to wink at the girl, grinning, "We're almost there. Just a few more floors, I think …" Naruto scratched his nape, stopping on a staircase and looking around perplexedly.
"Do you even know where we're going? Seems to me like we're lost," remarked Hanabi, crossing her arms on her chest and frowning.
"Hey! I'm not stupid, you know! It's just that we've arrived here only yesterday, and we've decided that we are not to use any kind of tracking jutsu inside the Tower. To give each other privacy or something like that, y'know."
Hanabi rolled her eyes.
"So we are actually lost … brilliant. I can't believe it. I should've gone to look for Hinata outside instead." She shook her head, though not really regretting following the Uzumaki. Even though that beautiful red haired girl with glasses had told them that Hinata had gone outside some time ago and that she hadn't seen her sister return yet, Hanabi didn't really fancy walking around a foreign village full of ... gods know what types of people.
Especially not wearing the forehead protector with Konoha's symbol on it.
"Right! I remember now, okay? This way!" He grinned cheerfully, storming into one of the corridors to his right.
Letting out a loud, tired sigh, she quickly followed the knucklehead that was to become their Hokage one day. Sometimes it was incredibly hard to believe that such a guy had played the key role in winning the Fourth Great Ninja War, but then he always managed surprised her with some incredible technique she never hoped to master herself.
What an impossible man...
At least she was going to see the famous Uchiha soon enough. When they had met a few months ago prior to Hinata's birthday, he seemed to be pretty intelligent unlike Naruto, making a good impression on her. Meeting him was going to be some relief at last.
But then something strange happened, making the girl strain. After about ten seconds of quick walking and trying to catch up with the blond, Hanabi could've sworn that she heard someone moan.
Was it just her imagination …? Apparently the the Uzumaki didn't hear anything seeing as he kept striding forward confidently, finally stopping near one of many wooden doors and gripping the door knob.
Pulling it without any hesitation, he stepped inside the room.
But then he did something Hanabi would've never expected of him.
The blonde rapidly paled, slamming the door behind him and leaning his back against the wooden surface with an absolutely ridiculous expression on his blanched face.
"What's wrong …?" Hanabi mumbled, gazing at him suspiciously.
"Eh ... it's nothin'. Let's get outta here. Quickly," he hissed, slowly moving away from the door on his tiptoes, clearly afraid to make another sound.
Something was seriously off there. First the strange sounds, and now this … just what was going on in this damned place?
"What? But why …?" she muttered perplexedly, deciding to activate her Byakugan nevertheless. After all, she wasn't a part of their agreement of privacy …
But then she realized that her dōjutsu wouldn't be necessary, jumping up at the sudden infuriated scream,
"I'LL ****ING MURDER YOU, DOBE!"
"Run!" Naruto yelped, rushing away from the door, but it was too late – the enraged Uchiha appeared out of nowhere just in front of him, slamming his fist into the blond's abdomen and making him fall on his bum, covering his head with his hands.
"Come on, Sasuke! I didn't see anything, I swear! I didn't know–"
"Didn't they teach you to knock, you retard?" Sasuke growled, gripping his embarrassed friend's collar and raising him up.
That was when Hanabi who still stood there, absolutely shocked, finally noticed that the raven haired man was shirtless, and the belt on his pants was unclipped. What the heck was he doing there ...?
"K-Karin told us that she's outside! How the **** could I know?!" apparently Naruto finally managed to pull himself together, dodging another punch and pushing Sasuke away.
"Are you trying to tell me that you didn't sense her? Don't you dare feeding me with this bullshit, dobe!"
"How the **** was I supposed to sense her? We've agreed to not use any tracking stuff inside the building, have ya forgotten?" Naruto clenched his fists, beginning to blush terribly.
Sasuke blinked awkwardly as his expression quickly changed into a baffled one.
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"What you yourself have suggested yesterday on the roof, ya dumbass! And we all agreeed, remember? Come on, you weren't that drunk yet, were ya?"
Before she could somehow react to their ridiculous dialogue, the young kunoichi flinched once again as the door slowly opened, making the girl snap her head to her left and gasp in surprise.
"H-Hinata …?" she nearly whispered, staring at her older sister whom she hadn't seen in months.
But now it seemed more like years, because she sure had changed a lot. Her hair was now much shorter than before, only reaching a bit past her shoulders. On top of that, apparently she had decided to start using cosmetics which made her look even more mature and stunning, even though she was standing there on her bare feet … wearing only an Akatsuki coat?
But what really drew Hanabi's attention above everything else was her face. Never before she had seen her beloved sister looking so mad. If anything, the Hinata she knew had never even got angry at someone … and now she looked absolutely murderous quite like Sasuke, if only a bit calmer than him.
So unlike herself …
And she was looking directly at her, making the younger sister swallow hard.
"Hanabi … what are you doing here?" she deadpanned, wrapping her coat more tightly.
"W-well … a lot of things have happened. I'm sorry, nēchan, I didn't mean to interfere, it's just that Naruto–"
"Naruto, huh ...? I should've guessed," Hinata slowly turned her head to look at the blond who was seemingly trying to incinerate the confused Uchiha with his eyes.
However hearing her calling out his name Naruto turned around as well, paling once again as he met Hinata's icy gaze.
"Oh, crap … not you too, Hinata-chan … I'm so screwed," he moaned, although lowering his hands in defeat.
Hanabi couldn't help but smirk at that. Was he accepting the inevitable?
"That you are …," Hinata quietly uttered, stepping out of the room, "Why did you bring Hanabi here?"
"It's a long story!" both Naruto and Sasuke replied simultaneously, giving each other scowling glances.
The younger Hyūga swallowed hard again as she saw her sister's eyes narrow at their words.
"I believe all of you owe me a good explanation. Seeing as she's here now and since you were so insolent to break into our room without knocking, Naruto, I can only assume that father finally had made his move. Did they infiltrate Ame?" she asked, crossing her arms on her chest and frowning.
It was so unusual to hear Hinata speak in such a bossy manner, not stuttering at all anymore ... it seemed like even her voice had changed a bit, sounding less squeaky than before.
"Well, not exactly …," Hanabi quietly replied, making Hinata shoot a suspicious glance at her. "But it truly is a long story, nēchan. And they don't have anything to do with that, I swear! Don't be mad at them!" she babbled, shivering at the unwonted cold look her sister was giving her.
Such drastic change in her attitude … was it all thanks to Sasuke's influence, or more because of what their father did to her …?
Probably both. But it only made the resolve of the young kunoichi strengthen. Once again she had been assured of the simple truth – Hyūga Hiashi needed to die.
And she, Hanabi, was going to be the one to end his life.
"We'll see …," Hinata finally uttered after a few seconds of thinking, turning around and entering the room again. "Get in. You two, stay away for a while. I want to talk to her in private." She gazed at Hanabi, apparently expecting her to follow.
The younger sister let out a heavy sigh, giving one last look to the teens who were still standing there, but the way they glanced at each other before looking at her in the same way … as if they were feeling sorry for Hanabi now. It was written on their faces, which looked a bit frightening especially since the Uchiha's expression was no different from that of Naruto for once.
But the girl was no coward. She was going to withstand her sister's wrath no matter what.
After all, she loved her deeply.
The door closed, leaving the two shinobi in complete silence. And then both of the young men let out loud sighs, leaning against the opposite walls and glaring at each other gloomily.
"You seriously picked the worst possible moment, dobe," Sasuke finally said, sliding down the wall and sitting down, bending one leg.
"I know right." Naruto sat on the floor in the lotus pose, covering his blushing face with his palm.
"Now we're both ****ed. I didn't happen to tell Hinata that her sister wasn't a part of the whole mess."
"Damn it, Sasuke … I already said I'm sorry, okay? Let's better focus on what to do now," Naruto mumbled, still too embarrassed to meet his brother's eyes.
"What do you suggest? We can only hope that the brat is smart enough to excuse us somehow. Otherwise this can get pretty serious. Hinata is no joke anymore."
"She never was a joke to begin with!" Naruto blurted, raising his head to look at the Uchiha.
"You get what I mean, don't pretend to be a bigger moron than you are." Sasuke sighed, closing his eyes. "If she decides that we were a part of her father's plot, not only it's going to be very hard to earn her trust back, but she might also compromise the entire mission."
There wasn't a single sound breaking out of the room, and that was what made the Uchiha feel truly worried. It certainly wasn't a good sign. He'd seen Hinata being truly angry twice before, and she always was very quiet in this state.
"Damn it, teme … these Hyūga women are such a pain to deal with."
Sasuke smirked, not opening his eyes.
"I wouldn't say so. I rather had enjoyed dealing with one before you interfered."
Naruto's face changed, instantly losing all the shame as he grinned devilishly.
"So how was that? How far did you come?"
Sasuke opened his eyes, staring at him in disbelief. This dumbass would probably never change...
But that was who Naruto was.
"Not as far as I'd like to, thanks to you moron. Did you manage to retrieve that Hidan guy?" He decided to change the topic before Naruto would manage to anger him again.
"Eh ... yeah, we did. I s'pose he's still eating somewhere downstairs. But why–"
"Let's go and check him out. I need to talk to him, and we don't have anything better to do right now anyway." The Uchiha got up, starting walking towards the stairs.
"Oi, teme! Wait!" Naruto quickly caught up with him, grinning slyly. "Why are you being so shy? I won't tell anyone!"
Sasuke's fist clenched as he turned his head slightly to glare at the blond with his right eye, activating the Sharingan.
"And here I thought you were older than twelve. Stop being an annoyance. Since you've already ruined the day, we should focus to the tasks we're having at hand. I must ask him a few questions before sending him to the front line."
"The front line ...?" Naruto looked at his nape, confused. "Are you going to use him as cannon fodder?"
The Uchiha simply shrugged.
"Obviously. What else can he do for us? Once he answers all of my questions, we probably won't be needing him for anything aside from serving us as a mean of intimidating other villages."
The jinchūriki blinked a few times before looking away.
"Serves him right, I guess. After all, he killed Asuma-sensei. By the way ...," the blond smirked again, "Are you going to meet him like this?"
Sasuke stopped at a staircase, looking down at his still unclipped belt and quietly cursing before making a hand sign, turning into the perfect image of Indra Ōtsutsuki. The only difference between the one Naruto had seen in the Sage's memories and Sasuke's Henge was his outfit – this Indra was wearing a hooded cloak with red clouds printed on it instead of the white coat with multiple magatama. Under the cloak was a black pullover much like those which many shinobi in Konoha usually wore as a part of their combat uniform, as well as simple black pants, fingerless gloves and plain sandals.
It was also pretty weird to see Sasuke with long, dark brown hair that looked similar to Madara's.
Remembering that he too wasn't supposed to show his face to Hidan, Naruto quickly turned into his female self as they finally reached one of the lowest levels of the building where the stocks of food were located.
Just as they anticipated, Hidan was there as well as all the other Akatsuki members aside from Hinata. They were standing around the man who apparently had just finished his immense meal, hungrily drinking wine from a rough iron cup.
Noticing Indra and Ashura enter, Orochimaru coughed quietly, making all the eyes in the room set on the two of them. Even Hidan turned to face his new leader, putting the cup back on the floor and getting up, wiping his mouth clean and grinning.
"So you are the new boss? I'm not impre–" Before he could finish the sentence, the Sharingan swirled in Indra's eyes, making the immortal man fall to his knees, although not a single sound broke out of his mouth.
Yutaka frowned, activating his Sharingan as well. Apparently he wanted to learn about his own eyes' capabilities as much as he could, and watching Sasuke performing his techniques was a perfect opportunity.
At the same time, Suigetsu sighed.
"I can see he's not in his best mood today, eh?" the Hōzuki drawled lazily, eyeing his old teammate up and down and studying his disguise.
"You don't say," Jun replied, smirking and watching his new companion suffer the effects of the genjutsu.
Nobody else uttered a word, silently watching the show as well.
Hidan slowly raised his head in a few seconds, grinning madly as a small trickle of blood flowed out of his mouth down his chin.
"So that's the famous Tsukuyomi ... okay, perhaps I was wrong. My bad, you are pretty cool. But I'm not afraid of pain, so **** you!" He laughed as Indra came close to him, looking absolutely impassive.
"Very good," his voice was a bit deeper than Sasuke's yet softer at the same time. "Now you will answer my questions if you don't want to get buried for good."
"Oh?" apparently the threat had its effect on him as the man's face instantly changed, becoming serious and collected. "What do you wanna know?"
The corners of Indra's mouth twitched.
"Tell me everything you know about Jashin."
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I wonder, if I post such scene elsewhere and then post a link to it here in the middle of a chapter, would it be considered posting mature content? :lol
