::Prologue::
Graciously tracing the line of her jaw, her fingers lingered in the right corner of her little mouth. Wide, silver mingled with lilac coloured eyes inspected her features in the mirror of her vanity. They caught the slight movement of surprise her arched, finely outlined ebony brows executed. Moving in their holes, her orbs easily read her own thoughts on the mimics she displayed. Her nii-san was more than right when declaring she could be read through like a book. Her nose wrinkled at the idea of that man being able to rape her mind each instant of her sheer existence. It fascinated her how just a simple contemplation about something as insignificant as her well-being could make her pulp lips dislocate, her plain eyes water and her cheeks flush in shame. She truly was weak. She maybe could have accepted her physical capacities to be limited, yet her mind, something her late mother had told her to cultivate, was at loss as well. She was so pathetic, so lame, so miserable. But not for long. She did not believe in fate as her nii-san and father did. She was maybe more inclined to reckon that it was up to oneself to forge his or her future. She couldn’t let herself think that one’s life already was traced, that there was no way of changing of path. If she let herself being submerged by those traditional Hyûga thoughts, she knew she would die. She would let go, abandon. And that was not how she should conceive her nindô. She had to be strong once in her existence. Now, if she wasn’t able to be so before.
The maiden confined in the glass shot her a fierce glare. She would never be weak again. She would show them all that she existed. Nice words, good behaviour never brought her anything but pain. She had been exploited, insulted, ignored without departing herself from that faint, sad smile she was characterized by. No more. Nobody after that night would forget Hyûga Hinata. She would receive their acknowledgement by force if it was needed. They would bow their heads at her. They would quiver under her strength. They would fear her as she had feared them.
She stood up from her vanity, putting down the brush her hand had been gripping with abhorrence. She zipped her jacket up, sliding the now free hand over her nape to remove her heavy, navy strands from the collar.
She grabbed a bag, full and weighty, that was lying by her bed. She was ready. Ready to turn her back to everything she had lived through, she had ever known … she had ever loved.
She was sixteen, she had no goal in her life, she would have no family soon, she gave up on her love. She was a shadow of nothing.
Soon to be … soon to be … one of the most terrifying shinobi ever.
Her sweet smile fell. Her eyes became glazed. She was staring again at the reflection in the mirror of her vanity. Her right hand, the one that was liberated, rose again towards her face. Her index travelled through her skin again, from her right temple to the tip of her round chin, appreciating how soft the flesh was. A flesh of a person that never truly fought. That never suffered physically. The cover of a Jûken user.
She approached again the piece of furniture, her face distorted in disgust at what her family and friends had made out of her.
Her hand formed a fist, each one of her fingers coiling up against her palm at a slow pace. She didn’t feel the chakra that had started flowing through her arm and gathering around her fist.
Her shoulder rotated, her fist tightened, her elbow straightened, her knuckles came in contact with a cold area for a faint moment before sparkles of flying glass appeared in the air. Without even noticing the pain, a shard came cutting her cheek open. Her bloodied fist untangled. Her heels turned. Her body launched itself out of an open window. The silhouette of a young girl disappeared in the darkness of night.
Her first thought had been to shield herself from the thorns of the enormous rose bush under her window, yet she wouldn’t do so. In a way, she necessitated the burn of her torn skin. She wanted to leave the most despicable memory of that day in her psyche. She realized that being immunised from those feelings she sensed at the moment would perhaps hinder her in changing her mind. She shouldn’t obey the tears of regret streaming down her pale cheeks.
Strange noises came to her ears. If she hadn’t been so overwhelmed with sorrow and panic, she would have distinguished the voice of her nii-san healthily discussing with a guard about someone. If only she would have paid attention to the words uttered, she might have chosen not to not run away so cowardly from her problems. Yet, she didn’t heed his paroles.
“Don’t you dare talking about her that way! She is without any doubt the only main Branch not treating us like stock. We should be very grateful to the gods that she will be our future leader. At least with her, we have chances to survive a little longer …”
Their relationship had changed throughout the years, yet his cold respect was not strong enough to keep her from fleeing.
She had made a decision, and it was with will that she propelled herself above the wall of the Hyûga compound. She realised that when she truly was in necessity of strength, she had enough of it to break out of her golden cage.
A certain pain ran through her hip when her feet landed flatly on the ground outside the clan’s territory. Hinata, withholding a moan of ache, bit intensely on her lower lip, not sensing the blood that came flowing in a tiny river down her chin and dropped silently in the dust.
Activating her bloodline under her breath, the young woman scanned her surroundings before letting a sigh evade her mouth. Nobody around. She knew guards of her family were patrolling in the environs, yet she was even better aware of the fact that what her father did not know could not hurt him.
She could not thank more humanity to be lazy and irresponsible. At least, if there was one thing each human being, poor or rich, weak or strong, could rely on was his sense of evil-doing and smugness. And she was no exception to the rule. Every human was selfish and cruel. She had tasted the flavour of the wickedness she believed in on her own flesh. Okay, there might be one person that might be considered as purely good. Without her greed, her desire, her hate. A person that maybe was more of a deity than a normal being. A cheeky smile, deep blue eyes and sun-coloured hair flashed through her pulsing eyes. Oh how she reviled him. Oh how she loved him.
However, there was no place for that sick infatuation in her life anymore. Everything that made her so despicably pathetic would burn. Now, soon, whenever. For a last time, she turned her head towards the sky of Konohagakure, her native land. Her pale orbs touched by traits of pure lavender twinkled in the star-light. A beam, childish, the first one since her mother’s death grazed upon her petite mouth. She would be free. Free to spread her wings in the light of a morning’s sun. Nii-san will be so jealous of her.
°*°
He brushed away a few droplets of sweat with the sleeve of his orange attire. Long and heavy breaths came from his tightened throat. Night was floating around him in her dark cape, the odours of it lingering in his nostrils. He had been running since the evening and did not expect to stop so soon. Ji-chan would not be very impressed by his lack of stamina. Something he would have to train more seriously. Yet, he couldn’t suppose anything better than this from a completely exhausted body as his was. Baa-chan was overwhelming him with missions and trainings she would book up with the best shinobis in the country. And there was Sakura as well. Sakura that craved attention, love and time. He sometimes had more the impression of possessing a pet than a girlfriend.
Stretching his arms to the moon, he let a groan of pleasure get away from him at the strain on the muscles of his dos.
He had to sprint some more before returning to his home. A true training could be felt in the morning, and what he had done that night couldn’t even be considered as warming up. Not knowing for what reason, he decided to dash to the Konoha Gates. Not that he feared an invasion or whatever, he just had a feeling that something interesting might occur if he only went to have a peek. Ah, what wouldn’t he do with his instinct that once almost made him cut down a rabbit’s head because of nervousness!? He was a child at that time, however he still did not trust his capacity of foreseeing. A conspicuous yawn deformed shortly his features.
Arching his backbone, he prepared himself to return to his jogging before something appeared for a faint instant in the corner of his cerulean eye. He had perceived something without a doubt, and this time it was no rabbit or whatsoever animal.
Again, in swift motion, the shadow evolved through the calm streets of the dozing village. Going right towards the Konoha Gates. Not so bad after all, the instinct.
It had to be an enemy. The movements were too flexible, too sharp. Something he had not seen any konohan shinobi he knew of perform. It also gave the impression of being a child, small, slender, fragile. Conceivably a little female according to the noise of hair beating the air in her race. But if there was one thing he shouldn’t bet on was the gender, there were guys that had long hair.
His curiosity ablaze, he couldn’t deter himself of following the shadow throughout its course, his steps as silent as the palpitations of a butterfly’s heart.
The silhouette was faster than what he would have expected. If his animalistic intuition was not so developed, he would have lost it without any doubt.
The high, metallic blocks of massive rusted iron made their apparition in their respective visions after five minutes of strenuous sprinting.
As to help him identify the stranger that wanted so badly to flee his village, the moon divested itself of a cloud dimming her cold light.
Providence was truly on his side since the slim form turned itself to the shadows in which he had found refuge, exposing her delicate features to a scrutinizing glance.
He could not mistake that person for an opponent. It was not a foe. The sweet sadness painted in those doe-like orbs sharing the hue of the moon was telling him it was not someone to fear. He was familiar with the babyish roundness of that visage, with those plump pink lips, slightly pulled in an everlasting pout.
He just had to remember who that person could be. His stare on the characteristics of her expression hindered him in noticing the movements of her hands towards the zipper of an extremely thick jacket. He as well did not pay attention to the textile brushing down her arms, revealing pure white skin underneath it, only tainted by the lace of a fishnet shirt. Albeit his concentration was perfect, the vast impulse of her hand brandishing the coat to the darkened skies, letting it float away from her and deforming her silhouette for a fraction of a second diverted his attention from the flashes her hair sent, illuminated by rays.
The moon, as a spotlight, played on her now silvery-glowing, slightly exposed skin. It reminded him of marble. So wholesome yet seeming to be harder than anything this world could bear. Unbreakable.
Gauging the body from feet to head, he finally noticed a smile replacing the adorably sulking expression. If he couldn’t recognize that very person before, that smile cleared his mind from doubts. The streams of tears, dancing down her chin, only confirmed his idea.
The form, outlined by the stars, belonged to none other than Hyûga Hinata. He could excuse himself of not having distinguished her by the darkness and the changes a year could do to a woman. She had withdrawn herself from the ninja world for a year or so to accustom herself to the responsibilities of a future clan leader. According to what he had overheard between Yûhi Kurenai and Inuzuka Kiba, she was to come back to her functions soon. If that was so, what was she doing in front of the only entry and exit of Konohagakure, crying and gracing the obscurity with that sad smile having the strength to break a monster’s heart?
He could not answer that question. The only thing he knew was that there was something beyond him that was going on. Something he couldn’t, or maybe wouldn’t comprehend.
She turned her heals, desiring to face the gates, not seeming to want to recuperate the clothing she had stripped her upper body of.
Her catlike strides towards the iron approached her to the only enormous possibility for her to break away from her strangling environment. She positioned her palms on the cold surface pushing with a certain force. Of course, she could not open them. As the material used to build them was chakra-proof, using her families talents would be of no use. A sigh that could have been filled with more than deception came as only noise at that time.
He still was examining her, as she had awoken his interest. She would have been happy of that if she had known, yet she had preferred not to drain her chakra in employing her blood-limit, so couldn’t imagine he was so close.
A tanned hand came to remove the strand of blond that obstructed his view of her. He found extremely fascinating and odd the way she backed away from the Konoha Gates as if she intended to giver herself more power to bound.
But she couldn’t imagine jumping over the gates, could she? No absolutely not! She was Hyûga Hinata, the weird girl that was as much afraid of her shadow as of others’ one. She wouldn’t want to get herself into trouble by departing her homeland, by deserting.
She was wandering outside, alone, at night though, wasn’t she? And he was sure her father would not appreciate that. She must have had enough faith in her capacities to get away from punishment to accomplish such irresponsible acts as straying through more than dangerous streets especially at such an hour. Maybe after all wasn’t she as afraid as he believed? Or was she ensured that nothing of that mattered anymore?
Before he could even think of announcing himself to her, she started running as fast as she could towards the blocked entrance. The way she was doing so, he had the strange impression she would enter in collision with the solid object and die from the shock. Quite a way to suicide oneself!
Yet, she managed to impress and surprise him by giving a boost of chakra in her feet and bouncing highly in the air. She did not leap literally over the entrance of the village. In mid-air, she deactivated the flow of chakra in her legs, taking all the impact in her hips when her feet landed on the edge of the gates. She somehow, without using her essence, stayed in balance on the rim, before letting herself fall like a shot bird to the ground.
At this spectacle, he couldn’t suppress the ‘meep’ that came from his throat.
She did what he was sure she wouldn’t. Was it really Hinata he had just seen violating all the possible shinobi rules? Or was he having a very, very peculiar dream? With Hyûga Hinata in it? Yeah right!
Little did he know that the person that forever detained his interest and gained his respect by that strange prank was meeting the people whose sole purpose was to capture him … He couldn’t envisage that they were waiting for her outside, beyond the village and its gates. Waiting to wallow in her distress and to utilize her one day for their profit.
°*°
“She will not come.”
The blue-skinned man could not suppress the smirk that grazed his lips. He thanked the night to be so obscure. He figured his partner’s mind out a long time ago, and did not wish to battle him for such a stupid matter as if she would come or not.
He of course was completely right by waiting patiently for her, being extremely aware of the hunger he had seen in those famous eyes of hers. And they both knew, him and her, that he, backed up by his organization, was the only one having the opportunity of tranquilizing that craving. Because he had everything she yearned for. Everything, from self-confidence to his peers’ acknowledgement, passing by power and strength.
He had met her as a malnourished little thing, wanting nothing more than attention, something she evidently didn’t get everyday. She had such a bad image of herself, always diminished by family and team-mates. A few nice and understanding words have won over her innocent mind. She had opened up to him, exposing her clan’s cruelty towards her, not realizing who he truly was. He wanted to howl in laughter when she had told him how her trainings took place.
All the shinobi were the same. They did not have any idea on how to train pupils. What does it serve to destruct one’s psyche, when it was so easy to create a perfect killing machine by a few kind paroles? When someone as perfect as her was born? There was perhaps at best one in one hundred years as she was. So easy to manipulate, so perfectly empty.
He could already hear her steps throughout the obscurity, approaching, filling his gills with the fragrance of lavender and sweat mingled with the strong odour of pain and fright.
It took his partner more time to feel her presence.
He extended an azure hand to the void that enclosed them.
His associate must have thought him degenerated, yet in a fraction of a second, another hand, so pale that it could have been mistaken as a ghost’s claw, came clasping his.
He withdrew his arm, attracting a minute silhouette from the darkness for his amber-coloured eyes to inspect. Even if he didn’t express it openly, his partner was more than astonished to recognize his error.
His orbs calmly travelled along her water-stained face, before drawing her slim from to his chest, muffling a sob that shook her body against his.
“Let’s go now, Itachi. We do not want any complication do we?”
His associate scowled at the discovery he had made in opposition to his will. The most dangerous puppeteers were those who did not wield toys.
[Reviews - 15]Chapter or Story
Table of Contents
- Text Size +
Chapter notes: First fic ever, please don't judge me! Especially if you have read my sis's (under a lavender sky) fic (Blood red lavender). Leave some reviews