Chapter 15

'It's cold….'

The lack of another body in the motel bed was the first thing Hinata could process upon waking the following morning. Rubbing her eyes, she groggily sat up and turned to confirm that Hidan wasn't there. The young woman gasped, tears immediately filling her eyes as she clutched the blanket to her bare chest. She was a fool; that much was evident.

"What if I lie so you'll let me fuck you?"

He even warned her something like this would happen, but she ignored it because her hopes were too high.

Humiliated, ashamed, and downright disgusted with herself, Hinata climbed out of bed, located her clothes, dressed, and left defeatedly. When she made it to her car, she realized one of her tires was flat and sighed, dropping to sit on the sidewalk's edge with her head in her hands.

'First, I got caught up in the moment with Hidan last night, only for him to ditch me, and now I'm stuck here with a flat. Today can't possibly get any worse,' sniffling as tears continued to drip from her eyes slowly, she pulled out her phone and began searching the number for her insurance's roadside assistance, 'I hope it won't take a long time for them to get out here….Wherever here is.'

"Miss Hyuga. This is a surprise."

The young woman's spine straightened when a familiar voice spoke her name. Slowly coming to a stand, she watched as none other than her Science teacher, Mr. Oro, stepped out of a large, black SUV. Addressing him politely, she bowed while wiping her tears frantically, "Good morning, Sir."

He came to stand before her, lips tugging into a slight grin as he glanced at her car, "Flat tire? I can give you a ride home if you'd like."

"O-Oh, no, that's alright! I'd hate to be a burden. Thank you, though."

He gestured toward his SUV, shaking his head warmly, "Nonsense. What kind of teacher would I be if I left one of my precious students stranded like this?"

For some reason, Hinata felt a little uneasy but didn't want to be rude, so she relented, "Alright, then, I guess. Th-Thank you, Sir."

Mr. Oro opened the passenger side door for her and closed it once she was inside. When he began driving, he spoke calmly, "If you don't mind my asking, what are you doing on this side of town? It's not safe for a young lady to travel alone."

The events that led to her current situation resurfaced, her mood falling once more, "It's a long story…."

"So you are alone, then? That's surprising for a smart girl like yourself."

Hinata's face warmed, her fingers tightening around her bag's strap, "Y-Yes, I know."

"But at least it was you that I ran into rather than someone dangerous, right, Sir? Thank you again," she frantically tried to lighten the mood and change the topic.

A long pause followed her statement. So long, in fact, that she turned to look at her teacher. When she did, the man glanced at her with a widening grin, "Perhaps I overestimated your intelligence."

Brow furrowing, the girl asked, "What do you mean?"

The locks suddenly clicked down, making a jolt of fear run up Hinata's spine. A cold feeling washed over her chest. The older man continued driving as though she wasn't terrified, "Your boyfriend must've warned you something like this was bound to happen."

'Boyfriend?! Does he mean Hidan? What kind of warning is he-' All the oxygen left Hinata's body, eyes widening in realization.

"Orochimaru's a real fuckin' dangerous guy, alright. Let's leave it at that."

Stuttering in disbelief, the girl tried to open the door and failed since he'd locked it, "Y-You're in a gang?! But you're a teacher! How…?"

"I'm not in a gang, my dear. I run the biggest one in Konoha. As for your other question, there's no better cover than a harmless teacher devoted to his student's futures."

Hands trembling, she fumbled to get her phone out of her bag, only to freeze when something cold met her throat. A familiar voice came behind her, "I wouldn't do that if I were you, Sweetheart." It was a knife, and the white-haired man that tried to hurt her in that alleyway the night of the party held it.

'How stupid can I get? I didn't even look to see if the rest of the vehicle was empty!'

"Here's what I ask of you: Call one of your friends and convince them to meet you at this address, as many as possible, especially Itachi Uchiha. If you give away that you're with us or this is a trap…. Well, I'm sure you know what'll happen."

Hinata stared at him in shock, shaking in fear as the knife remained at her neck.

Orochimaru's gaze warmed, "Please don't force my hand." He pulled a small piece of paper out of his pocket with an address near where the party had been scrawled in his familiar handwriting.

The weapon at her throat backed off so she could get her phone from her bag without being cut, but returned to her skin when she sat back again. As she scrolled through her contacts, her thoughts were hectic.

'Who do I call that'll actually answer, much less figure out that something's wrong without me saying it? I don't know if anyone will-' Eyes widening, a plan shot through her mind when she saw the name she was about to stake maybe her life on. Taking a calming breath, she hit the call button on his contact info and put it to her ear.

"On speaker, my dear," Orochimaru hummed in a sing-song-type voice.

The girl obeyed, worried her plan wouldn't work if they could hear her friend's responses. "This is Yahiko." "H-Hey, I have a f-favor to ask!" Purposefully, the girl spoke to the orange-haired man more casually than in the past, praying he understood she was under duress. He paused before replying cautiously, "What is it?"

Tears dripping down her cheeks, she tried to keep her voice from wavering, "Can you and the guys m-m-meet me here? It's important." The girl proceeded to relay the address to him.

He repeated it to confirm, then asked, "Why do you need us there?"

Hinata responded quickly, "I-I can't talk right now, but p-please come!"

She placed the phone face down on her lap, breathing deeply with her hands to her face to wipe at the tears. After a moment, she growled, "Y-You aren't going to get away with this. They're not stupid."

The vehicle's brakes squealed as Orochimaru slammed them down, making everything roll forward. He grabbed the phone from her lap before it could fall to the floorboard, with ire clear on his snake-like features.

'Damn it. He saw right through that. I guess it wasn't a very good plan, anyway. At least Yahiko knows I'm in trouble now.'

She watched as the man clicked the call to an end, hissing, "You'll regret this, Hinata."

A sharp pain flared out on the side of her neck, and then everything went black.

~

Hinata awoke sometime later and sat up with a gasp, looking around with wide eyes. She was on the floor in a room barely big enough to not be called a closet. Orange cones lined the entire right wall in stacks. A tall metal shelf covered the left side, with cleaning and painting supplies messily stored on its shelves. It smelled dusty and maybe even a little like mildew.

Wherever she was, the young woman knew one thing: she needed to get out. Confined spaces like closets or tunnels made it seem as though the walls were closing in, like she couldn't breathe.

A headache pulsed at her temples as she fumbled herself upright and grabbed the door handle, only for it to be locked. It was dark in the small space, and the tiny bit of light shining through from under the door wasn't easing the discomfort or panic. Trembling hands felt along the wall for a lightswitch and found one, but nothing happened when Hinata flipped it.

So, fear escalating, she began panting for breath, sweating, and banging her fists against the door, "Please let me out! Hello? Can anyone hear me? Help!"

The air in her lungs became choked when the white-haired man's voice came from outside, "Shut the hell up, or I'll come in there and make you."

'Right now, this room is scarier than that guy. I'm going to faint, or maybe even worse, if I don't get out of here.'

Hinata was ashamed to beg someone so awful, but she'd be no good to her friends unconscious if and when they arrived, but she did it anyway, "P-Please, I can't breathe! Just let me out!"

"Final warning, Brat. Be quiet."

Though she knew any outcome of the situation would be bad, she placed her bet on the current course of action and pleaded, "I swear I'll behave. I won't try to run or fight, so please, at least open the door!"

The sound of keys jingling met her ears, and she stepped back so the door wouldn't hit her upon opening. Though she expected to immediately be hit and cursed at, that's not what happened. No, the man fixed her with a dark glare, stepped inside the room, and shut the door behind him.

Hinata's heart rose into her throat when he locked the door, "Wh-What are you doing?"

One moment he was standing before her, a terrifying shadow in the dark room, and then they were fighting for dominance, eventually coming to the floor to wrestle. Though the Hyuuga girl's a natural at defending herself, she wasn't much of a challenge against a fully grown man.

He straddled her hips and began wrestling her hands down, but she didn't give up. No, she fought and fought until she finally landed a good hit to his face. The satisfaction didn't last long because a pain sharply came across her cheekbone. A cry of pain left her, but the fact that the man dared to cut her with the knife he'd held to her throat earlier made her angrier than anything. It overshadowed her fear and distracted her from the tiny room.

So, her efforts increased to the point that the man became irritated, "Don't make me stab you, Bitch, because I will."

"That beats what you'll do if I give up!" Hinata's voice was hoarse and almost unidentifiable.

Undoubtedly, he intended to finish what he started in that alleyway so many days ago. The pair froze simultaneously when the unmistakable sound of gunshots began sounding somewhere else in the building.

Hinata's breath hitched, eyes darting to the door, 'Oh, God! Please tell me none of them are going to get hurt or die because of me!'

The man began moving again, and she rushed to defend herself with a new fire igniting within her, one that wanted to rescue her friends, 'I have to overpower him somehow! There's no other choice.'

Deciding to try a distraction, she asked while smacking his hands away, minding the knife he was flailing around, "Wh-What's your name?"

A slap landed on her face, busting her lip and making her see stars. At that moment, her hands were finally captured in his, and a white-hot ache erupted in her palm when the man stabbed the knife into it, entirely through to the other side so it'd be pinned to the ground. Hinata froze, trying to register the fact that he had actually stabbed her while choking back the cries of pain that were begging to leave her mouth.

"That's better. Keep still, or I'll do the other one, too."

Slowly, the knife was pulled from her palm, hurting just as much as it had going in. He sat back and began cutting down the front of her shirt, obviously trying to declothe her. Each pump of her heartbeat sent a wave of fire to her cut palm and cheek, but she couldn't focus on that because she was about to be hurt much worse if she didn't do something to stop it.

'Breathe, Hinata. Calm down. Wait for an opening and turn the tables on him. You have to.'

For a moment, the only sound was the slowing rate of gunfire elsewhere and their heavy breathing. Just before the man could cut the bottom half of her shirt to remove it, an opportunity arose, and the Hyuuga girl let her adrenaline take over. She slid her legs out from under him, kicked his chest with all the power she could muster, and made a break for the door.

It appeared she would succeed until the very last moment when a hand came to the side of her head, and then the world around her became blurry and much too warm. Hinata's limbs gave out, and she crumpled to her knees while clinging to her consciousness with all she had.

'I think he slammed my head against the wall…. Is that what this pain is? Did he crack my skull?' She could only hear her own breathing. It was erratic moments ago, but now it was slow and shaky.

Hands maneuvered her body so her back was to the wall, and the man tugged her leggings and underwear down.

'Move, Hinata! He's going to rape you! Get out of here, no matter what!'

The girl begged her body to move, but it wasn't reacting quickly enough. Her arms felt as heavy as concrete blocks. The sound of a belt jingling, followed by a zipper, came, and then she was being adjusted to lay on the ground. Her shoes and clothing were removed, leaving her in just a tattered shirt and bra in front of this monster of a human.

She felt him move to his knees between her legs when her body and mind recovered enough to comprehend her surroundings. The fact that she'd all but fainted when he hit her head was a blessing in disguise because the white-haired man made the mistake of assuming she'd stay out of it long enough for him to complete his disgusting mission.

The knife lay, abandoned, within Hinata's reach.

While trying to keep her expression as dazed-looking as before, she inched her hand toward the weapon and held back a cringe when the man licked his fingers before bringing them between her legs to lubricate her most personal area.

His eyes left her face when he began lining himself up, and Hinata didn't waste a single moment. No, she snatched up the blade and wrenched it into his chest before shooting away from him in a shaking, sobbing mess.

A gurgling, choked sound left his throat as he remained in the same position he'd been in for a long moment. The girl's sobs picked up and got louder when he eventually fell forward, dead, on the ground.