Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
Notes: I wanted this to be put up yesterday but I had to go to the hospital for a reason, and so I ended up putting this up late. I hope it's not too bad, and the wife of Sasuke is anyone you want it to be.
This is the fifth in my 30fis in 30 days.
Sacrifice,
It was raining, well more like pouring. They say it hasn't rained like this in decades and Sasuke knows why it has chosen to rain on this sad day.
It was raining, stupid summer; it shouldn't rain in summer after all that's what winter is for right?
But it was, raining, it was only a drizzle but it was enough to make the rocks slippery and allow the man they were hunting, get away.
They walked for hours and hours letting their clothes soak and become like a second skin on their bodies. Sasuke knew they should've taken refuge but they had been tracking the missing nin for over two weeks, and had finally caught up and a little rain wasn't going to stop him.
He was traveling with Naruto and his fan girl, Hinata. While the blonde beating himself up about how they didn't grab the man Hinata was trying to make it better.
Sasuke couldn't help but notice the little changes in the girl, he had always noticed the little changes in her dating back to when they were seven years old.
He could tell when her blue indigo hair was even the littlest trimmed, when she had grown in height, when she wasn't eating enough.
He noticed how her eyes would shine whenever Naruto would walk into the room, any room, how she seemed sad when she had to go home and how her eyes would weep silently for the fallen enemy.
She was a Hyuuga, anyone could tell by looking at her, her pale lavender eyes and pale skin making her seem fragile and yet so beautiful at the same time.
Her soft hands would heal him whenever he was hurt, he'd never tell her how much he enjoyed feeling her soft skin against his hard and calloused, but he thinks she already knows.
He shakes his head; they needed grab this guy and get home.
Sasuke should've made camp, even then he had known.
But he was an idiot thinking of getting home to a warm bed and a hot shower, he didn't think of the others. He didn't think he would have to do something that would break his heart.
He laughs bitterly, 'do I even have one? After what I did I wouldn't think so.' But his laughter downs down and gives way to sobs that wrack his body, thanking only God that he was alone in the rain.
"I think we should stop," her shy gentle voice was almost drowned out by the harsh winds, but he heard her.
He stopped and waited for her and Naruto to catch up; he had taken to walking ahead. "Stop? Do you know how long we've been trying to get this guy? He snapped at her, "Two weeks Hyuuga." He watched her cringe at her last name, knowing he had hurt her he sighed.
"Fine," he told her ignoring Naruto's protests, "Naruto, if we rest now we'll catch up to him in no time." He told his blonde fox friend.
Naruto puffed out his whisker marked cheeks and went to help Hinata who had already started to set up a tent.
He stood out in the rain not seeking shelter from the now pelts of rain hitting his arm and stinging it like needles. But he stood and watched her with her hair sticking to her pale forehead and her shaking hands trying to get the tent to stay up against the strong winds. He looked at Naruto who was having just as much trouble as Hinata but he was just about to throw a tantrum, a childish thing to do but it was one of the reasons Sasuke liked his friend, he kept them all…young.
Young was the only way he could say it, being a shinobi makes you feel older than you really were, Kakashi says it's the deaths, how many people you see die and how helpless you are to stop it.
And Naruto, no matter how much of a nightmare of a mission he's on he'll always have some bad joke by the end.
Sasuke couldn't help but give an amused smirk at the pale eyed girl as her side of the tent flapped up and shocked her into making a 'yelp' escape from her pale pink lips.
He walked with the rest, a village dressed in black, and he noticed how any people were going to be there.
'How many hearts as she been able to reach out to and touch with her soft hands?' He wonders to himself as he walks among the sea of black clothing in silk, cotton and satin.
The crowd of people stopped and he wondered if they were already at the memorial grounds where her body was resting.
Looking up with his shattered dark eyes he noticed that they were waiting from her family to open the doors, to let them in to say goodbye to their long time friend, team mate, and mednin.
The attack happen just after they had rested, the man they were looking for had gathered his friends and attacked near a cliff.
The rain had become hail and the cold bit into his skin turning it the smallest color of blue. Hinata was fighting to keep her eyes open against the bits of ice that flew into her face. Naruto was trying to keep himself from shivering, hoping that the attack would keep his mind of the freeze.
Naruto against three men, each attacking at the same time and yet each outwitted by the blonde fool, he would gloat them into an early attack putting them off of their game.
Sasuke would use his fireballs, even though it would be damped by the hail and rain, he knew it was still a good attack to use.
He spared a glance at Hinata who was only fighting two men near the edge of the cliff, one was a lackey the other was the man they were to kill.
He heard Naruto let out a painful cry as both him and his last opponent fell to the ground passed out from the blows.
'dumb ass,' he thought with humor as he saw the blonde snoring slightly on the ground.
He disposed of his opponents as fast as he could, but he was fast enough as he watched the man throw himself at Hinata as she pushed his friends' dead body off herself.
He let out a cry of warning but it was too late as he pushed them both off the edge, he watched her pale face twist into a face of shock and fear.
Running over to the edge he saw her small hands clutching to the wet muddy ground just barely holding on.
He kneeled down as he saw the man holding onto her ankle, holding on for dear life and Sasuke knew then that he had to do something.
Her small hands slipped and he thru out his own pale hand to grab hers.
His dark eyes wide and his black hair sticking to his wet white face as he knew what he had to do.
"I'm sorry Hinata," he whisper and her face turned from fear into confusion before changing into a heartbreaking look, "I'm sorry." He said again, whispering.
"N-no," he had just hours ago enjoyed how she stuttered but now he hated it, knowing that her last words to him were going to be stuttered. He thought her last words would be when they were older and she had grown out of it but not now, not at the age of 17.
"P-please, S- Sasuke, d-don't," she knew it wasn't going to work, her pale eyes filled with tears that fell down her cheeks.
Her hand slipped a little in his grasp and both let out a gasp, he held on tighter and she let out a cry, the man holding on to her begged Sasuke to help him, he ignored the man.
"I'm sorry Hinata but we were to kill him at all costs," he could fill tears wanting to be cried but he'll wait, he'll wait until he's alone.
He could feel her shaking, from fear or the cold maybe both, and he wished he could've helped her.
Dropping her head she looked at how high up she was, he knew she'd die as soon as she hit the bottom, "O-ok," she whispered and he thought she said something else…no, he wanted her to say something else.
She was slipping, he didn't want to let go, he should have been stronger.
He heard her let out a sob, and he couldn't help but feel that everything was his fault, her having to die because he wasn't strong enough, him letting her make camp, and him for noticing her.
She was slipping, his hand only wrapped around her fingers and he couldn't hold on any longer, she looked up at him.
Her fear was gone, her sadness and her confusion, all that was left on her face was a bright smile.
Her last smile.
Her last smile for him.
She had slipped and he couldn't look away as her small body fell through the air as though she was flying, he didn't look away as her body smashed onto the ground.
"I'm sorry," he whispered to her heart shaped grave stone, "I'm sorry you became the sacrifice for a man who wasn't even worth having you look at him."
"I'm sorry I didn't tell how much you meant to everyone, how much you meant to me." A gust of wind blew around him and for a second he felt her there.
"I'm sorry I wasn't strong enough to pull you over the edge."
"I'm sorry," he said.
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you I loved you." Tears had fallen from his dark worn eyes and onto the soft ground.
Yes she was there, he could smell her, almost feel her, almost see her there smiling at him, telling him it's ok and that he is strong, he was strong.
And that she loved him back.
34 year old Sasuke walked back to the gates of the grave yard where his wife, who he loved but not as much as Hinata, and his three kids were waiting for him.
Touching his shoulder she asked, "Did you finally do it dear?" she knew he didn't love her as much as she loved him.
He nodded, a smile appearing on his face and his seven year old daughter smacked her nine year old brother over the head.
She knew a huge part of his heart went to the grave the day Hinata Hyuuga died, and she felt a little jealous of the dead woman that made her husband so happy whenever he looked at a picture of the rookie 12.
But he was happy after all those years of being sad, and in a way she's thankful.
The end, written by Jessica.
Again, the wife of Sasuke is anyone you want.