Days passed. I was relieved to find that my vision returned, just like Obito said it would, and I went back to doing recon with my byakugan, albeit more carefully than before, so as not to overdo it again.
Deidara was taken away one morning and returned in the evening with his bandages gone. After that, he refused to speak to anyone, even Sasori. I felt guilty invading his privacy, but my curiosity got the best of me, and I looked one night to see that my hypothesis had been correct. Somehow and for some odd reason, the young man had mouths on his palms and chest. Disbelief nearly had me fainting when the mouth on one of his palms opened to reveal teeth and a tongue inside.
Why on Earth would they ever do something like that to someone? What benefits can this type of modification possibly offer? Despite my shock, I didn't tell anyone about what I'd seen. Deidara was suffering enough having to live with it; he didn't need me telling everyone about it, too.
Our mental and physical training got much more intense after the relocation. Not only that but Groups A and B became combined.
In M.A.T., we were forced to use our knowledge of our partners to mentally torture one another in hopes of helping them overcome their shortcomings. At least, that's how Madara explained it. Instead of aiding our growth, I personally felt like all we were doing was putting strain on our relationships.
Even those who've gotten along incredibly well since day one, like Ino and Sai, had become tenser around one another. Between Naruto and I, it was a different story each day. Sometimes we'd be brought closer and bond over our mutual suffering, while other times, we couldn't bear to look each other in the eye.
In physical training, Orochimaru took things up a notch. At first, it was two versus one hand-to-hand fights. Then, we progressed to armed versus unarmed battles. Every few days, the challenges we faced would increase in difficulty, and no one, not even those who've shined since the beginning, would leave training without minor injuries.
However, we unintentionally discovered a few of the others' modifications during these fights. It turns out that Sasuke's eyes helped him recognize people's movements a million times quicker than before, which took his combat abilities through the roof. Gaara could no longer feel pain. It took a long time for any of us to realize this because he doesn't really show many reactions anyway, but when he got shot in the neck with a rubber bullet and didn't flinch, it was impossible not to notice.
That left Sakura and Hidan, both of whom were found out simultaneously. They were fighting during training one day, Hidan with a knife and Sakura barehanded. The pink-haired girl's ability to overcome her fear of physically facing men steadily improved, so she at least didn't seem about to faint when Orochimaru blew the whistle to signal the start of their battle.
She swiftly dodged swipe after swipe of Hidan's attempts to land a cut and seemed to be doing incredibly well until she lost her footing and he landed a shallow slice across her stomach. The rest of us watched in awe as her face contorted with rage, and she threw a punch expertly at his chest.
The air filled with gasps as her fist went straight through his chest, blood splattering down onto the mat. It went silent as her eyes widened in terror, and she pulled her arm out of his body. A choked sound of disbelief got stuck in her throat, and she lunged forward like she expected Hidan to fall and intended to catch him, but to our surprise, he stood steady as though she hadn't just landed a fatal blow.
He coughed up some blood before raising a hand to touch the hole in his chest she'd created, "Damn, that fucking hurts!"
Orochimaru started laughing, making us all turn to look at him with wide eyes. Sakura didn't bother waiting for the doctor to gain his composure and started fussing over Hidan's injury, trying to apply pressure to the wound, "I-I-I'm so sorry! I swear I didn't mean to! Oh God-"
Our instructor finally got ahold of himself and sighed, "Don't apologize, Dear. He can't die."
Her hands paused over his bleeding chest, and she stared at her opponent's face with a look of absolute terror, "What?"
Hidan grinned cockily at her, grabbing her wrists and pulling them away from his body, "I'm indestructible, baby."
Orochimaru approached the pair, and the rest of us stood off to the side and watched the scene unfold with stunned faces, "You're not indestructible, per se, but you can't die from things like blood loss or disfigurement because we've amped up your regenerative abilities."
The hole in Hidan's chest started to heal as if on cue.
The doctor looked ecstatic to witness his efforts becoming fruitful but turned to address Sakura, "And you. We did a couple of things to you."
The girl tore her wrists from Hidan's hands and glared at the older man who'd experimented on us.
"Your physical strength will eventually be unmatched by any on this planet. Plus, if my serum works, you'll be able to heal others like Hidan just healed himself."
So, everyone knew of everyone's new abilities, minus Kisame, because he refused to speak on the topic. Out of us all, he and Deidara had the most physically altering modifications and were understandably adjusting the slowest to the changes.
One night, during week nine of The Program, I believe, I had a very unusual dream. At first, I was in a lull as though I wasn't dreaming at all, but eventually, a dark gray cloud started to swirl around my vision. Out of nowhere, I simultaneously felt a presence, got scared by it, and felt them get surprised by me as well.
"Hinata? Is that you?"
My frantic panicking calmed slightly when I recognized Naruto's voice. The sensations, not to mention that I could feel the presence of Naruto's consciousness in my head, felt just like when we were in M.A.T.
"I get it; this is a dream, right?" His voice came again before he physically manifested in front of me with a sheepish grin on his handsome face.
Before I could respond, he continued, his expression morphing into an impressed one, "I gotta admit, I didn't think I'd remember this many details about you...It's like you're really standing in front of me."
I opened my mouth to respond, only for him to reach out and gently caress my cheek. My face warmed slightly, but I couldn't bring myself to stop him as he moved his hand away to run through a few strands of my hair, an odd look on his features.
"You feel real, too."
I was stunned, to say the least.
Naruto knows very well that I'm incredibly uncomfortable with being touched without consent, something that started happening after the first time Madara laid a finger on me. He's usually cautious not to make physical contact accidentally. There was the time he hugged me, but that was one of the only exceptions. In this dream, Naruto, though, was entirely at ease as he softly ran his fingers down my arms, eyes following his movements.
He was right. It felt authentic. Goosebumps rose to my skin, where he touched me, and I fought the urge to reach forward and mirror his actions. Even if this was just a dream, giving in to my desires felt kind of dirty when it was someone as respectful as Naruto.
"Say my name. I wanna see if I got your voice right, too."
A wild heat erupted on my cheeks, and I stuttered as I tried to do as he requested, "N-N-Naruto."
To my shock, his face turned a light shade of pink, but he still grinned widely, "Yep, that's definitely Hinata's voice!"
Honestly, I was impressed at my mind's ability to form such a realistic dream. Usually, I'm too nervous about making eye contact with him for more than a few moments at a time, but since this wasn't really him, I selfishly studied his appearance.
Deep blue eyes stared right back into mine. His hair was messy in a cute way and looked soft to the touch, but I didn't dare reach out and verify, even if this wasn't real. His skin was tan, but it didn't have the healthy glow it once did, likely because neither of us could get any sun. It's funny that my dreams reflected such small details so accurately.
My eyes widened.
What if this isn't a dream at all?
We both admitted to feeling odd sensations when we're not hooked up to the M.A.T. machine. What if this is something like that? If that's the case, then...
I gasped and tried to step back from him, humiliated even if my suspicion probably wasn't true. Firm hands gripped my shoulders and stopped me in my tracks.
"Don't do that here, too."
I met his eyes shyly and hesitated momentarily before responding in a defeated voice and looking away, "What if this is real? I...I can't afford to be selfish." If there's even a chance, I want to be as honest and respectful as possible, so I don't hurt or offend him.
"Who gives a damn?"
Suddenly, he was so close that our bodies almost touched, and he forced me to look into his eyes. His mouth was in a severe frown as he argued with me, "It's okay to be selfish sometimes. Here, I'll go first."
My eyes widened when his lips suddenly pressed firmly against mine, a small squeak of surprise getting caught in my throat. He pulled away before I could react in any other way, cheeks as red as mine probably were, "See? I don't care if that was selfish. I wanted to know what it'd feel like, so I did it."
My heartbeat was pounding loudly around me, and an unfamiliar feeling fluttered in my stomach. Is this...Am I interested in him? Of course, I've found people attractive before, Naruto included, but I've never really been romantically interested in someone in a serious way. My eyes danced over his handsome face in awe. So this is what it feels like to have a crush on someone.
The boy before me then let go of my shoulders and sheepishly ran a hand through his hair as he chuckled, "Thank God this is a dream!"
The light and fluffy feeling in my body disappeared, and I was surprised by just how sad I was to hear him say that.
This time, he let me take a few steps away and watched me with a knowing look, "And that right there is why I don't do things like that in real life."
I opened my mouth to respond, only for the dream to cut off and my eyes to slowly open to look at the ceiling of the bunk room. I instinctively turned my head toward my partner, only to realize his back was turned to me so that I couldn't see his face.
I turned onto my side to face him, face warming as I studied his broad shoulders. My fingers unconsciously danced up to lightly touch my lips. It felt so real. My face fell as my hand did, and I turned over onto my other side, so my back was facing him.
Dream Naruto was right. I can't do things like that with him in real life. It's only okay for me to be selfish in my dreams, where it won't hurt anyone but me.