Shock Your World
[Shippuden]
It was a cool day, and the sky was starting to fill with clouds. A group of shinobi from Konohakagure were on a search mission, specifically, for one Uchiha Sasuke.
The same Sasuke who had left Konoha almost three years ago.
Almost as soon as he had returned, Uzumaki Naruto had formed a search team, with the approval of Tsunade, one of the great Sannin, and the recently appointed Godaime Hokage.
Sasuke had left to train under another one of the Sannin, Orochimaru. He had left the village long ago to form his own, and had killed the Sandaime Hokage in his attempted invasion of Konoha a few years back. What was known was that Sasuke was in danger of having his body taken by Orochimaru…but they had learned soon after that Sasuke had left to find Uchiha Itachi, his older brother. Itachi was the man who had murdered the entire Uchiha clan in one night…the man who Sasuke swore to get revenge on no matter what. Eventually, word came that Itachi had died by Sasuke's hand, but…
Hinata had split up from her small group with Naruto and Kiba. This search was one of many they all had gone on…
She suddenly heard footsteps coming from behind her. She stopped and activated her Byakugan.
"Who's there?"
"Someone you know…long time no see, Hinata-chan."
"!" That voice…she turned, but…
He was already in front of her.
"I see you've grown…interesting."
"…S-Sasuke-san?"
"Are you still looking for me? Why is that?"
"…Is…is it true? Did you really…?"
"Hm? You mean Orochimaru? Don't worry about him…this body is my own."
"And…and…"
"Hmph. I took care of him as well."
Inwardly, she breathed a sigh of relief that Orochimaru was truly gone for the most part, but as for Itachi…she didn't know how to really feel about his passing.
"Then, why won't you…?"
"I have another mission. By now you've probably heard about it."
"Y-Yes…" she stammered, knowing that she didn't know what he was going on about this time…
"Then I'll be seeing you." He turned to leave.
"Wait!" Hinata practically screamed at him.
He stopped and looked back at her.
"Looks like you have something to say…"
"I-I…I do…Naruto really wants you to come back, Sasuke-san. All of us…all of us do. We want to help you."
"That's not possible."
"Yes it is! You can come back to us, Sasuke-san! We'll help you out, really!"
"I wasn't getting any stronger, so I left. Why would I go back, hm?"
"B-But…Kakashi-sensei, he helped you improve, didn't he? He taught you the Chidori, didn't he?" She was searching for something, anything to keep him talking…
Sasuke scratched his head. "Mm…I suppose. It's a useful tool."
"T-Tool?"
"Yeah…just like you are. A tool."
"Wh…what…?"
He smiled as he walked back towards her and patted her on the head.
"You're just a nobody, only useful for gathering information at times, I guess. You do what you are told, you speak when you are spoken to, ne? Just a scared little girl in a big world. So…I had no expectations from you when I noticed you here. But…"
He unsheathed his sword. "You might be worth killing, maybe. You know that I'm here, so…"
"Sasuke-san…your bond with Naruto…don't you…don't you…"
"Bond? Oh, that…"
He shrugged. "I tossed that away years ago. Like I told him…he's only alive…"
He leaned close to her. "Because of a whim of mine. That's all."
All of a sudden, Hinata felt something inside of her explode. She didn't know what it was, but she couldn't control what came out of her mouth.
The bitterness, the anger, the hatred in her words…everything she had felt for all of those years, seeing Naruto sad and angry and hurt and crying…all because of this guy…this smug bastard…
"You…"
"What is it, Hinata-chan?" he said in a mocking tone.
"You…son of a bitch."
"Hm?" Surprise.
"How dare you…how dare you act this way, Sasuke…after all the things you've been through, everything that you've experienced in Konoha…"
"Like I said, all that is in the past-"
"No, it's not! You don't get it, do you?" She stepped back from him, her anger making her hands quiver as she spoke.
"What is there to get? Please, enlighten me…" he replied unkindly.
"You formed a bond with your team-mates…your sensei…all of the people in the village that cared for you and wanted to see you grow. And you shared a special bond with Naruto-kun…he acted the way he did around you because you never took it seriously, you were just like that…and I…I even admired your strength, like I did his. You were an important person to me as well, Sasuke…" Her voice had softened as she spoke.
"Hm. Good to know." An uninterested response.
"But…seeing you like this, it made me realize just now…you going to someone like Orochimaru for power…throwing away your friendships, your bonds with people…throwing away your heart to darkness…it's all because…because…"
"Because…what? Come on, out with it," he said, irritated.
However, he was not ready for what came out of her mouth next.
"Because…you're weak." She said, with absolute bitterness.
In a flash, Sasuke was behind her again, twisting one of her arms behind her back and holding his sword against her throat.
"What…did you say?" Sasuke's voice was strained as he tried to keep his anger in check, Sharingan activated.
"You heard me. You're pitiful…pathetic…you think you have strength now, but in the end…it'll all fritter away."
"You…bitch. Who the hell you think you're talking to?"
Her tone was ice-cold as she smiled and spat out two words: "Nobody significant."
Blood trickled down Hinata's throat as the blade dug in deeper. Sasuke was having trouble controlling the pressure.
She continued anyways.
"Naruto's gotten stronger…without having to betray the people he called family. He still cares about you, Sasuke. You say that you threw away your bond with him…but he hasn't thrown away his bond with you. He still chases after you, he still sees the old Sasuke there…but seeing you now really makes me wonder if that Sasuke…hasn't already disappeared."
"Shut…up…"
"Why, because I'm right? Because you can't come to terms with the fact that you've been wrong this entire time?"
"Ha…ha-ha…ha-ha-ha-ha…"
"Is…something funny?"
"You fool…I have gained power. I have obtained the strongest Sharingan…I now have the power of the Mangekyou Sharingan. Do you understand what that means?"
"Yare, yare…that sounds impressive. The strongest Sharingan."
Hinata didn't know how or why, but she was like this…that bitter, out of character, venomous, arrogant bitch that was some other part of her had come out, thanks to Sasuke. She could say all the things she wanted to say, act the way she would never act in front of people…and it felt so good. She didn't care about the murderous intent radiating from him, nor about the sword pressed against her throat…for this moment in time, she didn't care what happened to her. Making Uchiha Sasuke lose his composure…making him look like the scared little schoolboy he was…this was priceless. This was life at its finest. Pure gold.
She then remembered something that she had overheard about the Mangekyou Sharingan…something she could use to make him really lose it…
"Oh, but…Sasuke-san…do you or do you not have to kill your closest friend to get this…strongest Sharingan?"
"…Where are you going with this?"
"Ah, I see…so since you couldn't do that, I guess…"
"You guess what?" He said with increasing anger.
She turned her head to one side, looking him straight in both eyes with one of hers. An incredibly malicious smile formed from her lips.
"I guess Sasuke-chan had to get a little help again. It's okay, I won't tell…"
Sasuke's Sharingan changed into the Mangekyou Sharingan, and he threw her to the ground, kneeling over her with his teeth gritted. The sound of a thousand flapping birds rang through Hinata's ears as Sasuke's Black Chidori was in his left hand.
"I'll kill you, right here…I'll tear your heart from your body…"
Hinata felt her heart pounding through her chest. Still she smiled madly.
"Do it…go ahead and do it! Then Naruto will have less of a reason to come look for you…"
"Who the hell do you think you are…calling me weak when you didn't have the courage to even string together a proper sentence in front of him. What have you done-"
"I've gotten stronger, while in Konoha. I've gotten stronger so that I can go on missions with Naruto-kun, so that I'm strong enough to complete them…and one day, I'll…be someone who's in his life all of the time…because…I want to be just like him. I want to become strong, with all of the people I love surrounding me!"
"What a load of garbage! When has having friends made you any stronger? What has that done for me? I don't need any of that crap! I am an avenger…"
"Where are you now, then? What has throwing your heart into darkness taken you, Sasuke? Don't you still need more power, hm?"
"…"
"You're so…pathetic. I don't know how I ever looked up to someone like you."
Sasuke growled as he brought the black lightning closer to Hinata's chest.
"You called me a tool, correct? Well, I wonder, who's the tool now, eh? Used by Orochimaru, and now being used by Akatsuki…reduced to a little boy with magic eyes. Just another piece of fodder."
"Keep talking. Keep it up until your last breath…because my hand might slip."
"Oh, was that supposed to scare me? Hilarious."
"You…"
The lightning flashed in the atmosphere above them, the rain coming down in torrents.
Hinata's heart was beating faster than it ever had before.
"Come, Uchiha Sasuke…take me…" She laughed excitedly as the thunder roared around them.
Sasuke had never felt this much rage, even towards Itachi…he was almost over the edge with this girl.
"You're crazy…"
Hinata waited for her end, but as another flash of lightning went by, Sasuke was gone.
She shook with pure terror as she lay on the ground, the rain falling on her.
She had almost died. She should have been dead, but someone up in heaven must have loved her very much.
Very, very much.
"Hinata!" Naruto's voice. "Hey, are you okay?"
"I'm fine…Sasuke was here, but…I'm sorry…" She sat up and covered the cut from Sasuke's sword.
She closed her eyes. "I'm so sorry, Naruto-kun…I couldn't…"
"Hey, hey. Don't worry about it. He's gotten pretty fast lately, a lot of us haven't gotten to the point where we could catch him easily, you know. But…"
She opened her eyes to look at him, noting the look of seriousness on his face. "What did he say?"
"…He's not coming back."
"The usual, huh? Well, that's expected. But…did you see him, Hinata?"
"See…Sasuke?"
"Yeah…Sasuke."
She knew what he was talking about.
"Yes…somewhere, he's still there, Naruto-kun."
The blonde-haired genin tightened his headband. "Then that's all I need to know. We'll end this mission for now, okay?"
"Sounds like a plan to me. I'm starved." Kiba said. Akamaru barked in agreement.
"Everything's on me then, okay? Gama-chan's been getting full lately, hehe!"
"You got it, pal!"
Hinata smiled as she looked at Naruto. That boy was always so optimistic, so full of life…
And…what she had said to him wasn't a lie. The old Sasuke was there…she had seen it for herself, even for just a moment.
"Next time…I'll become strong enough…so I can drag him back myself."
Naruto grinned. "Wow, you sounded really cool just now, Hinata-chan!"
"Ah…I…Naruto…" Her face was bright red.
Oh, why couldn't she be as confident around her Naruto? Wasting all of that coolness on Sasuke...what a pain!
"Hyuuga…Hinata…"
That name ran through his head over and over again.
"When I crush Konoha…you just might be at the top of my hit list…"
His anger built until he punched through a nearby wall…that happened to be the one leading to the bathroom, where Juugo was taking a shower.
The shower curtain fell unceremoniously with the rest of the wall. Juugo figured it was time to end his shower soon.
"Hiiii, Sasu-oh God, what the hell? Juugo, put some clothes on! Now!"
"I'm in the shower…"
"W-Well…end it! On the double!"
"Oh, quit it, Karin. You're just mad that Juugo's tool is probably bigger than your precious Sa-su-ke's," Suigetsu said with little moderation.
"You insolent…" Karin started.
"…Who the hell said tool?" Sasuke screamed, charging a Chidori.
Kisame groaned as Sasuke chased Suigetsu through the Akatsuki lair, Karin hot on his heels promising to help him murder Suigetsu and Juugo stepping out of the shower. In the buff.
Sasuke was in one of his "hatred" moods today…though someone seemed to have gotten him good just now. Really good.
"Hyuuga Hinata, eh…" Kisame smiled.
He would have to send her a present or something.