Disclaimer: Don't own, don't sue.
Summary: Seven deadly sins. Four missions gone wrong. Sometimes things don't always go the way they're planned. Sometimes you have to deal. Some people do it differently than others.
The Seven Deadly Sins
Chapter 2: Gluttony
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Gluttony: gula; Wasting of food, either through overindulgence in food, drink or intoxicants, misplaced desire for food for its sensuality, or withholding food from the needy.
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Hinata bowed before the Hokage as she and the rest of her team were dismissed. What was left of her team, at least. Half of them were gone. Half of them were strewn across a forest clearing in bits and pieces. Actually, some of them were on Hinata right now.
'I failed.'
Once she was out of the tower she quickly leapt to the nearest roof and flew from rooftop to rooftop. Blood and pieces of flesh flew off her clothes as the wind whipped at them.
"HEY HINATA-CHAN!"
Hinata, had she been in her right mind, would've blushed and waved back to Naruto, who, at the moment was frantically waving to her along with his friends. Sakura was nowhere to be seen. Hinata, had she been in her right mind she would've also wondered at her whereabouts, as Sakura had set off in that direction after they had returned from their mission. Yes, Sakura had been there with her.
But she wasn't in her right mind. Not at all. Half of her team had just died. Hinata continued on her way.
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"AMBUSH!"
Hinata immediately activated her Byakugan and her eyes widened; there had to be at least two dozen bandits attacking! "TWO DOZEN! WE'RE SURROUNDED!"
Hinata dropped into the Gentle Fist Taijutsu style and shut down the chakra coils of the bandit that had tried to attack from behind her. She fought easily despite the fact that she was outnumbered six to one.
Sakura, a few feet away, was punching away with her super-human strength when she decided to use a genjutsu and four of the bandits clutched their head in pain. She quickly knocked them unconscious and ran to help Hinata, who was being attacked by more bandits.
Hinata frowned as she felt another presence and she quickly pushed her eyesight to look further…there! Another surge of chakra and there was a scream. Sakura formed a long string of seals in fast movements and a small barrier came up around herself and Hinata, whom she had her back to.
"Hinata! What do you see!"
The Byakugan searched and located where the chakra had been; it was so strong that it had left a residual dust in the air visible to her eyes. Her stomach lurched as she looked below the shimmering particles. A hand lay there looking as if it had been burned off, on top of a pile of cooked, smoking flesh. The smell permeated the air just as another scream did.
Sakura let the shield down and she and Hinata battled towards the members of their group that were on the edges of the clearing, both understanding that they would most likely be next. The attacker had to be hiding among the trees.
Another scream proved them wrong. Hinata spun around and felt something hot and wet and soft slap against her cheek; a horrified expression crossed her face as she pulled the piece of thigh from herself and let it land on the ground. The bandits were dwindling and whatever ninja or demon who had caused these deaths was still masking his chakra.
Hinata closed her eyes and blocked out all sounds other than her heartbeat; Sakura would protect her.
She could feel it but she couldn't pinpoint it. She could feel it moving! In a flash she was at Cho's side and she thrust her hand out to block the arm that came towards her.
Quicker than her Byakugan could see another arm went for her stomach and she just barely dodged as his knuckles scraped the side of her stomach instead. Sakura and Cho had finished off the rest of the bandits and the thing disappeared.
A breeze blew through the clearing and Hinata caught the strong scent of blood—stronger than it should be even with the bodyparts strewn around the forest—and ducked as the clawed hand aimed for her shoulder.
Sakura, having thought ahead, finished the last seal of a barrier jutsu and trapped whatever It was in a transparent yellow bubble of chakra. All three kunoichi got into fighting position and carefully watched as It pulled back the hood of Its cloak and grinned.
There was a loud explosion and the sickening sounds of meat smacking a barrier were heard by the surviving group. The thing had shoved chakra filled claws into his stomach and Hinata, following with the Byakugan, saw small balls of chakra and chakra enhanced fire make their way through the veins of It. Instead of exploding right away as she had expected, the chakra fueled the fire to such an intensity that it burned through the flesh and bone before an explosion.
She heard Cho fall to her knees and vomit as Sakura patted her on the back and applied a jutsu to help with her nausea, eventually just settling for putting her into a deep sleep and slinging her over her shoulder.
Tears of horror slid down her face and she walked out of the clearing, "C'mon, Hinata. He just skimmed your side. The most you'll get is a bruise. It's good he didn't break the skin or else…"
Or else she'd have exploded as well.
Hinata and Sakura, who still held Cho, sprinted back to the gates of Konoha and to the Hokage's tower.
C-Class Mission: Retrieve Parrot-Failure
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Hinata nearly cried in relief when she saw the barbeque just thirty feet away. She increased her pace and landed outside the glass doors, pushing it open and nodding at the man who would take her to her seat.
"Table for one, please."
She inhaled the scent of barbeque-ing meat on the grill at her table and, using her chopsticks, pulled it off and onto her plate. She practically shoved it down her throat in excitement, only to have it come back up again.
The smell of cooked human flesh made her stomach churn as she looked at the hand—she watched the meat burn to charcoal on the grill.
"Ch-check please."
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Hinata realized how stupid she had been, going to the barbeque after her last mission. She should've come here.
Hinata tossed box after box in, bag after bag, and when the cart was finally full, she brought it to the cash register. Charging the food to her personal account, she waited impatiently for the sales clerk to bag it, then she grabbed the bags and sprinted home.
Once she was safe in her room, she tore open the plastic wrappings on the boxes and opened one, closing her eyes to relish the smell.
One chocolate after another was pushed eagerly into her mouth and she chewed as quickly as her jaws allowed, eating sour gummy worms the moment she could fit them in. When she had swallowed the chunk of carbohydrates and calories, she ripped an opening in one of the many bags of chips she had bought and ate them in a frenzy.
Then she moved on to a box of soft cookies that she devoured quickly. Hinata grabbed the bottle of milk she had bought and guzzled it down, glancing at the doorway to her bedroom and making sure it was locked. It was.
Another box of chocolates, a box of caramels, another bag of chips. A can of soda and a carton of wafers. A box of pocky and another box of gummy worms. A cake and another bottle of milk. Half a gallon of mint chocolate chip ice cream.
It was another two hours before Hinata could stop and she settled on the ground, eventually crawling away from the mess on the floor to hide under her bed where she would fall asleep. Tomorrow, she'd continue, but for right now, she just wanted to sleep.
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A week later, the maid came in and found the door unlocked. She hadn't even bothered to try it until now. She cleaned Hinata's room, throwing away empty chocolate boxes and candy wrappers, wiping the sticky floor where soda or ice cream had spilled, and she pulled the blanket out from under the bed and carefully folded it, placing back in the corner of the bed to sit with the rest of her security dolls and security blankets.
Hinata walked it, her chin length hair gleaming and he face slightly tired, but calm and happy. "Ohayo, Migumi-san."
Migumi smiled and bowed, "Ohayo Hinata-sama," quietly taking out the garbage bag and wet rag she had brought to clean with, and closed the door after her. Hinata pulled on a light brown jacket and looked in the mirror, giving a small smile at her reflection.
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"HEY HINATA-CHAN!"
Hinata blushed and waved back to Naruto who was still not accompanied by Sakura. "H-hey Naruto-kun."
"Wanna go visit Iruka-sensei at the academy?"
Hinata felt like she was going to faint. He had asked her to go somewhere with him! "S-sure N-Naruto-kun."
'Until next time, then.'
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A/N: This fic was inspired by Elizabeth Culmer's Rituals, which is an excellent story, and the definition at the top is from wikipedia. Please review!