Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Song of the Mist ❯ The room ( Chapter 6 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

Hinata sobbed bitterly as she thought of her sensei's loved one. Many questions ran threw her mind, which helped her to not faint from using so much of the little energy she had left on weeping. Thoughts like, `could he really dead?' `What will she do with her fatherless child?' `How did he die?' `Was he tortured?' And, `what would Kurenai do without him,' echoed throughout her aching head.

Mourning over Asuma wouldn't help his case or Kurenai's, but Hinata couldn't think of anything else to do. She had been throughout ruff times, and had just found out that someone she knew for years was now dead.

“Shinobi don't cry,” she murmured to herself as she tried to calm herself. All that time she wanted someone to be with her in that room had all instantly changed now into the desire to be alone. There was nothing more that could show how weak she was then to brake down right in front of an enemy. Sadly for her though, fate didn't have time anymore for her to mourn as she wished. As she sobbed heavily, the sound of footsteps arose to her ears. With fear that they might have figured out that she had heard their conversation, Hinata stared at the door intensely as she saw someone's shadow break the light that casted into the room from under the door. The thought then came to her. Would it matter whether or not they knew that she had over heard them? They would probably kill her anyways. It would be best to just get it over with. There wasn't even a guarantee that they had figured her out. So why get even more worked up?

Dropping her head in defeat, she folded her arms around her legs and rested her head against her knees as she softly wept. A loud bang could be heard as the lock on the other side of the door was released momentarily. Closing her eyes, Hinata let out as may tears as she could before the sound of the door creaking open was made as someone stepped quietly into the dark room. A low grunt of disbelief was made by the person who stood before her that made her slide her eyes open slightly. Where did she recognize this sound from? As the girl started to look up, she could only make out the pair of large boots that stood before her. As her eyes came in contact with the warm light that now flooded the room, she buried her face in her sleeve as she slightly flinched from its intensity.

As new tears escaped her eyes, she found that they were quickly whipped away by a large gruff, but gentle finger. Rubbing her eyes, she slowly looked up at the man she had met only about six weeks beforehand. With a small cry of joy, she whispered his name as more tears trailed down her swollen red cheeks. He then picked her up gently, bridal style, and walked out of the room.

Walking out of the room, Hinata heard Kisame's voice for the first time since he had handed her over to the other members of the Akatsuki. “Itachi,” he said as he walked out. Before them stood a man who couldn't be mistaken for anyone but an Uchiha. He was a rather tall man compared to most men. As the man's attention was put fully on Hinata and his partner, the blue man continued. “I've got her now, let's go.”

Hinata's heart went off beat for a moment as she heard those words. “I'm… leaving this place?” She thought with delight. A weak smile appeared on her face for a fraction of a second before it disappeared completely at the thought of doubt. What if they just bring her to another place to have the same thing happen to her again? What if they were trading her for Naruto-Kun? As the girl opened and closed her eyes many times to try to get her eyes use to the light that had for so long forsaken her, she felt a calming breeze as they traveled threw the maze of a building.

As they walked throughout the torch-lit halls, Hinata said a small prayer of thanks as she tried resting. This though, was almost impossible for her now. Her eyes had been so adjusted to the dark that there wasn't much of a difference whether her eyes were open or not. Either way, she wanted to know where she was going, and why she was leaving. Minutes later, they found themselves near the entrance of the cave where Itachi did the usual ritual to open the cave wall for them to exit throughout. Hinata watched silently as the black haired man sat on the ground and released some sort of a sealing jutsu. Within the minute, he was back on his feet and the cave wall was slowly but surely opening for their departure. After then opening the second wall, they were met with the light of the glowing moon and the bitter cold of the wind. It had been cold in the room she was made to stay in, but this wind greeted her like an old friend welcoming her home as it touched her damp skin and hair. Joy filled her heart as she breathed in fresh air for the first time in days. For the moment, she didn't even care where she was being taken. Hinata was just glad that she wasn't in that dark room. She then realized how kind the “terrible Uchiha Itachi and Hoshigaki Kisame” were compared to how the other Akatsuki treated her. From what she heard; they were terrible people. Was this really so though? Though she didn't know this Itachi, could this man who has taken care of her so well, this man who held her so gently in his muscular arms now, be truly evil?

When the Akatsukis' feet touched the hard earth, they bolted threw the rocky plains at a high speed down hill in a new direction from once they came. Hinata's eyes were now wide open as her long hair whipped in her and Kisame's face. Looking up at her captor, she saw that his eyes rested on the lands ahead of them that his partner was leading them throughout now. Looking to where they were headed, she saw they'd hit the tree line very soon.

Kisame was rather annoyed with what he had discovered less than an hour before. He had kept the girl in perfect condition before dropping her off for a while when they were having a meeting with the others. Less then two weeks later he sees the same girl, as thin as a rail, and as pale as a ghost. Not only that, but by the way she reacted to the light must have meant that she had been in the conditions he found her in the whole time. As he held her gently in her arms, almost afraid that he'd snap her in half; he found that she was shaking violently.

“Hey girl,” the man said as he now looked down at her. Startled, Hinata blinked hard a few times before giving him her full attention. “When was the last time you had something to eat and drink?”

Hinata paused for a second, afraid to respond. Would she get in trouble if she told him the truth? Pausing for a moment as she looked away from the face that asked for an answer, she let out a slight sigh before stuttering out her answer. “About t-three days ago, I think.”

After thinking for a minute, he yelled, “Hey Itachi! The girl needs something to eat!” Itachi then slowed their pace to a stop. Then, reaching into his cloak, he took some water and a bag of food pills out.

“Here,” he said as he tossed them to Kisame. The blue man then grabbed them, holding Hinata only with his right arm. He then took two food pills and handed them with the water bottle into the girl's trembling hands. Noticing now how thirsty she really was, Hinata drank almost the whole bottle of water in less than thirty seconds. Once she was done, Kisame tossed the pill bag and bottle back up towards his partner.

“Alright, let's keep moving,” Itachi said turning forwards.

“Just where are they taking me now? Will they take me to another hideout? Are they just using me as bait to run on a wild goose chase,” Hinata thought, accidentally saying the last part out loud. Then seeing the mistake she made, she covered her mouth with her hands, without even daring to look up at the man who held her in his gruff arms.

“I doubt it,” Kisame said from above her. “I don't think Itachi would do a thing like that. He's most likely going to try to figure out how your village is going to react about it.”

The girl didn't say a word but just looked down in embarrassment. How could she let it slip like that? She felt even stupider when Kisame actually answered her.

“Kisame, don't try to give her any ideas,” Itachi said in his emotionless voice as he turned to face she and his partner.

“Don't worry; I know how this one behaves. I won't let her escape,” he said chuckling as he held her with both hands again before they started moving.

“I wonder how long we're going to be traveling… For some odd reason I feel content just lying in his arms… They're better than that ice cold, concrete floor, no one could deny that after going throughout that...If I was stuck like this for the rest of my life,I don't think I'd mind toomuch…Why is that? Why do I feel so content now? I'm guessing it's because I'm so happy to be out of that dark room now. I hope I never have to see it ever again.” She thought as she drifted off to sleep in her captor's arms.