Author's Note: This will be a two parter. This is kind of an au story, you see in this tale Madara doesn't exist. The characters, especially Sasuke, are left more to their own devices. Please be patient for updates, I want it to be alright. I am also very lazy. If this inspired any thoughts, I would love to hear them. Have a lovely day, okay?
Permission was such a strange concept. He played with the word in his mind for a minute, imagined it rolling off his tongue. He had always just taken what he wanted. He had found if he did such a thing, people never bothered to stop him anyhow. What was the point in asking? Hearts, minds, time, he could have those in a glance. Approval, he hadn't ever needed this either. He only put up with praise as a consequence of pushing himself, yet he was proud. Proud of his independence and strength.
He had not need such things, but as he watched Konoha from the tree tops, he tasted regret. He did not regret the actions he had taken over the years, only the consequences. People feared him, nobody tried to know them. See his reputation preceded him and people seemed to have a distaste for spending extra time with him. He was nineteen, and had yet to have a girl, not that he minded much. He took over the Akatsuki, forming new branches and watching and waiting to intervene justly. The villages often overstepped. He knew these oversteps lead to and decided to stop these.
He had Karin by his side. She was focussing on some detail, her hand pressed against her glasses and the other gripping his arm. He had grown used to her touching him. She was still obnoxious, but she was strong. If only she would listen to him better.
He was here with a purpose. Collect the outliers, the ones who would be willing to leave not because the glamour seen by being associated with him. Talent, blood talent would also be necessary. There was one clan known for their outcasts, they outcast anyone for nearly any reason. He had his mind set on Neji. He had always respected him. They were two sides of the same coin. He imagined they might have been close if not for political complications.
"I don't sense his Chakra the way you described it, Sasuke, are you sure he's even here"? Karin asked, her voice sharp.
"He's here." Sasuke said.
"He could be on a mission, you know, if he's as talented as you say, Konoha is probably working him hard." she argued, certain the man was not here.
"Missions decrease substantially in the winter" Sasuke admitted.
"All the Hyuga are in one building. Maybe It's a funeral, Sasuke, how awful to bury a body in the winter. I used to hate the winters in the northern hideout, the ground froze solid, the bodies had to be kept in the morgue for months" She frowned slightly pouting like a child. He could tell she thought she looked cute when she did as such.
He dropped down, sandaled feet crunching into fresh snow. It was deeper than he had expected, but his refined reflexes prevented him from sinking past his ankles. Karin dropped down after, plummeting waist deep into snow. He didn't turn to look into her face, but imagined the tone of her face matched her eyes and hair. Together they easily made it past the guards, who were dotted along the top of the now iron wall. Karin guided him, and he wouldn't have said but without her he might have been noticed, not caught, he could handle a fight, but noticed.
The night was cloudless, for better and worse. The pair cut though the civilian cemetery that lined the left wall. Sasuke brushed Rai's headstone with his fingertips as he passed. Karin had the tact not to ask, even though curiosity ignited within her. She knew Sasuke well enough to know no action was ever wasteful. The cemetery lie at the very end of town center. The two huddled close as they passed other couples. The Hygua's had taken their own will in creating defense measures. Tall stone walls and Hyuga guards. They snuck around the back.
"Why is this always easy"?
Sasuke didn't answer, he was examining the compound grounds. It was more ornate than how he remembered the Uchiha's. There were stone bridges arched over frozen pounds, and wrought iron lamp posts were scattered across the place, of which he assumed lined paths, but the paths were nowhere to be seen. He noticed a large central building, white like the snow and a dark pointed roof, peaking from beneath thick snow.
The building was humming with life. There was no death here, yet he had no desire to enter the place. He walked over to Karin and the two of them perched in a nearby oak tree. Karin thought it romantic. Sasuke reveled in the harshness of the cold.
"I still don't think he's here," Karin murmured, slurring because her mouth was numb. Sasuke opened his eyes and began walking back towards the stone wall. He jumped onto the wall in one motion. He kneeled activating his sharingan to see where he couldn't. Karin followed bewildered by his erratic movements. But he moves how he thinks, she knew. He wouldn't do anything out of boredom or bare curiosity. He had outgrown such influences years before.
He began back through the snowy street. Karin window shopped behind him, enjoying the sight of original weapons and couples curled into late night cafes. The sharpness of the air was wearing her down. She felt lesions tearing in her throat from it, but Sasuke continued as if the weather could not affect him. His ears were red though, and his hands casually tucked into the pockets of his winter ware.
They came across a flower shop. Sasuke leaned next to the shop window folding his arms across his chest. He looked at Karin. She entered the store at the sound of a wooden wind chime. The space was tiled a baby blue, the walls a soft green, and it was humid. Her glasses fogged up and she removed them tucking them into her pocket. A blonde girl with eyes like the same shade as the polished tile, greeted her.
"Hello, we're just about to close, but what can I do you for?" The girl asked her voice loud and sharp like the winter air.
"Um flowers," Karin grumbled her entire face tingling from the changed temperature.
"Well you've come to the right place, for what occasion?" the girl blinked. She spoke accompanied by dramatic gesticulations. Karin was annoyed.
"Something seasonal." She grit her teeth.
"Well geeze that is everything we have," she faltered noticing Karin's dark demeanor, "Our most popular item will definitely be a hit." She said a cheery as she could muster. She hoped some of her mood could rub off on this poor girl. She stepped into the back long blonde hair shimmering. Karin felt jealously prick her and she couldn't help but bring her frozen fingers up to touch her own jagged red hair.
She gazed at a sign propped by a twist of wire on the dirt dusted wooden counter. 'If I had a flower for every time you made me smile, I'd have an entire garden' it read. Karin was not inspired by this sentiment. The blonde returned and placed a small wreath of woven pine and poinsettias and bright berries.
"What do you think?" The blonde asked leaning forward on the counter. Habit from serving male customer's probably. If Karin had those curves she would certainly do the same.
"Perfect." Replied Karin. She dug abound in her pocket retrieving the adequate amount. She denied a gift wrap as she exited the shop to the sound of wooden wind chimes.
She presented the parcel to Sasuke. "You carry it," he said pushing himself off the wall and continuing his, and by consequence her own, journey.
She couldn't help herself, "What is the Sasuke Uchiha afraid of flowers?" She grinned, "Do they threaten your masculinity." Sasuke, to her disappointment, ignored her, as per usual. So she persisted, "You shouldn't associate flowers with females," she lied to prove her point, "the man at the counter could have beaten the average man up. Most would consider him manly. He was six foot two, at least, and had muscles like you wouldn't believe. If he can handle flowers and he's manly, that means you're not and I am."
Sasuke replied "I know who works there Karin," his voice steady. Karin did not respond.
Snow began to fall as they reached the cemetery gates. Karin knew better than to complain about the cold, and still it was pretty. The air glimmered against the inky sky. Sasuke began walking up and down the rows reading each headstone. He was so focussed, Karin didn't follow, as he seemed a million miles away. Halfway through the second row he came to a stop and waved his arm to tell Karin to return to him. She did, pushing through ankle deep snow. It felt like a shame to disturb such serenity. She stepped beside him read the epitaph, 'Hyuga Neji aged 19 years, beloved cousin and comrade.' A bundle of lavender tied by white string rested atop the tomb. Karin knelt and rested the wreath against the headstone. She paused a moment before standing. Sasuke began walking toward the exit. Karin felt warmness, she always did when he proved to have a heart.
She caught up by the time he reached the gate. "So what now?" she whispered.
"Don't whisper." He said.
"Sorry," she said voice breaking into loudness.
"There is another, same plan, different Hyuga." He explained starring ahead.
"You owe me a trip to a luxury hot spring," Karin half laughed, half chattered.
"You can leave at any time," Sasuke looked into her eyes. His sense of humor duller even than his sense of sight.
"I know, but I have thing to do back near the hideout, not till later though, so I think I'll waste some time helping you. Waiting around is such a bore," she defended out of habit.
They crunched through snow in silence back to the Hyuga compound. Fewer shop lines shone in the darkness, fewer couples cluttered the streets. Karin repressed the urge to press closer to him, she had annoyed him enough for tonight. She was not unaware of the effect she had on him, yet she couldn't help herself. She never did have the most acute of impulse controls.
Back at the compound the crowd had dispersed. Each family unit now tucked away in their respected cubbies. Sasuke was unfamiliar with the layout of this compound. He understood the information Jugo had given him, the map, must have been pre urban destruction. If it were anyone else to commit such an error he would have been deeply annoyed. He scanned the property with his blurred vision and listened. He didn't mind the blurriness, in fact he found he could notice alterations in colour all the easier. He was no longer distracted by unnecessary minutia. He found such clarity in his fog.
From the distance an owl called. Night was deepening, all the city asleep. He had always loved the sanctuary of the night. He made a guess, not wanting to get Karin involved for selfish reasons, and she still followed him though. He took a roundabout way to where he remembered his own head house to be. He assumed it would be in a similar location, surrounded by similar buildings equipped for similar functions. He was correct. The head house was magnificent, constructed of the smoothest oak and cherry woods. The carving on the supports showed nature scenes, all of which seeming more beautiful in the medium of shining wood. The snow had been pushed aside from the entrance, a few sets of footprints pressed into the new snow.
"We're not going in through the front." Karin exclaimed her voice cracking in the air. She no longer had the energy to keep quiet.
"Don't be stupid," he commented in monotone. He walked up the three ice crystalline front steps and bean walking down the wrap-around elevated walkway. She followed growing ever impatient. He stopped before the second window to the end. Through Lavender curtains haphazardly closed, candlelight shone. Karin thought she could feel the warm light from all the way at the end of the walkway. She floated closer, like a moth to a flame.
Inside the room a girl slept. She had forgotten to extinguish the white candle on her nightstand. It burned low, the wax spilling over the brass holder and hardening on the wooden surface. The flame, near its end, still leant light to see the girl's face. She was pretty, with soft features and long silky dark hair; apparently this was a standard in Konoha, and Karin scowled.
"What's your plan genius?" She inevitably exploded, treating him as she eventually did all the others. It just took an hour or two longer with him.
"You should wake her up," he suggested as if it were obvious.
"What why me?" Karin demanded. She did not want to deal with another version of the flower shop girl at the moment.
"Because there is a chance she'll recognize me, he explained, "You'll take her off her guard."
"That's stupid." She huffed.
"Then leave." He shrugged.
"Fine." She spat stepping back, she pulled a kunai from the side and threw in into the window, fast she stared at Sasuke. He didn't even blink. When she did the window was solid once more and the girl still curled in her covers.
"Now that you've got that out of your system, try again," he stated smoothly. She hated when he got her like that. She stepped toward the window with a steadier mind. She rapped on the window. The girl did not stir. She tapped her fingers against the side of her thigh, where the kunai was.
"I don't know what you want me to do?" Karin shrugged. Sasuke didn't answer. He just watched her, this was after all another test. Always with the tests. Karin hated many things about that man. So, maybe in defiance, she turned a smirk on her mouth. She was going to utilize that front door.
The door was intimidating, taller than necessary and heavy. It was laced she could tell with sealants, she could sense them, but she didn't dare return to him. Could you imagine his face? She tapped her bottom lip thinking how to open an unopenable door. Suigetsu would have probably been more help, he could've dropped into a puddle and slid beneath the door. He probably would have frozen solid and used, most literally, as a doormat until spring came or someone broke his icy form apart. What a delightful thought.
The door began to creak open, Karin instinctively jumped back, ducking behind a decorative shrub. The girl appeared, her eyes reflecting the lantern light. She looked like a dream, stepping out into thin crystalline snow with bare toes. Karin blinked in disbelief. The Hyuga girl drifted past her and turned with the walkway to where Sasuke would be waiting. Karin lowered herself further, spreading her fingers on the ground. She pounced, unsuccessfully containing her battle cry, tackling the girl who promptly crumpled to the ground. Sasuke watched, his exhalation curling through the crisp air.
Karin caught her own breath, her bravado fading when Sasuke said nothing. Sasuke walked toward the girls. He bent and pulled the Hyuga over his right shoulder, not acknowledging Karin or her actions prior. He set off back once more to the Hyuga walls. Jugo might have been better for this mission, he could have carried her with such ease. Sasuke, although strong, was not incredibly such, and was already weakened by the cold. The girl's dead weight wore on him, but he ignored it. He was so close to being done, he could function for another few hours.
"So, who is this?" Karin asked. She liked knowing names, it was empowering to know the most basic personal details of a stranger.
"Hyuga Hinata," Sasuke answered.
"How are we going to get her through the streets without anyone noticing?" Karin asked.
"It should be dark enough." He replied shortly.
"You get so lazy when you are tired. She looks like a dead body, all it takes is one person to notice and they'll know someone took her, and anybody in the ranks would recognize a description of you in a heartbeat," she lectured.
He reasoned aloud, "Her reputation would be maintained if they knew she was kidnapped."
"You don't care about that, ours would be damaged," she retorted.
"You knocked her out. You can't say anything," Sasuke told her.
"We can take her somewhere, wait for her to wake up, I bet those real seedy bar hotels wouldn't blink an eye over you bringing a passed out girl into a room."
"I thought you were concerned with reputation," Sasuke chided, readjusting Hinata on his shoulder.
"Pretend you're from out of town and she's your girlfriend who drank too much. I'll meet you at the room's window and we can rest and wait. We can't make it back to the hideout like this, never mind avoiding detection." This is why he choose her, she could keep his pride in check.
They took a backroad to the 'undesirable district'. Konoha's recent urban growth had attracted the downtrodden attracted to the possibility of attaining a better life, except the gravity of poverty has wicked strength. Karin hopped onto a shingled roof of hotel with a neon 'vacancy' sign flickering in the dirty window, as if it hadn't been cleaned following installation. It was a small establishment, probably flaunting a max of twenty rooms. Across the window painted in vibrant green calligraphy arched the words 'Inn of Sin'. Karin watched Sasuke readjust Hinata before entering.
The foyer was just as decrepit. A curly headed woman was smoking at the front desk. A broom sat in the corner collecting dust and cobwebs. The woman arched her eyebrows at Sasuke, who didn't have to say a word before the woman slid a small key across the table, her finger nails flawless emeralds. He turned to climb the rickety steps, feeling the gaze of the curly headed woman burning him.
Room 201 was written across masking tape stuck to the key. He opened the door and dust fell from the door frame. He closed the door behind him. The room was small, a twin bed and nightstand greeted him. A shadeless lamp stood on the floor next to a bare chair. 'Inn rules' were posted in a frame hanging across from the bed including 'no children', 'no pets', 'no open flames'. He was momentarily entertained that children and pets could be likened to open flame.
After stopping into a 24 hour convenience center for refreshments, she folded into a bench outside of the bar located across from the inn. She picked at the handle of the plastic bag in her lap. Karin watched his signature move about the building and into a room. She descended to the window sill, the glass already slid all the way open. Her and her plastic bag tumbled into the room as the wood gave away beneath her footing. After collecting herself, she sat on the bed next to Hinata. How hard did she hit the girl? Or maybe she simply was not as tough as Sasuke thought. She was built soft, but still had the muscles of an average shinobi. Karin was not impressed. Sasuke sat in the wooden chair, looking like he did not plan on movement anytime soon. She approached him, giving him exactly half the contents of the plastic bag. In silence they ate corner-store bagels and sipped cool canned coffee.
"I'll take first watch." Sasuke determined. Karin couldn't complain. She curled up beneath the blankets, facing away from Hinata, who lay on her back stands of hair strewn across her face. Sasuke relaxed into the chair and focussed on the rhythmic sound of his own breath. When his shift had passed he chose not to wake Karin. He was capable of remaining alert. A mouse crawled from beneath the bed, its nose twitching, eyes glinting at Sasuke through the dim. It approached him, nails clicking on the wooden floor. Sasuke watched the creature without interest. When the mouse realized he was going to be given no food it scampered off into a hole in the wall to the right of him.
Hinata lay very still atop the musty blankets. She steadied her breathing and kept her eyes shut tight. Fear felt like poison in her veins, targeting her stomach and triggering an intense nausea. She was trained well, however, and was able to maintain some level of composure. She pretended to sleep, mimicking her younger self when her parents had heard the sounds of her training in her room at night and came to check on their daughter. How she used to scrambled into her sheets at the sound of their footsteps. She had gotten better at it. People always get better at lying with age.
Sasuke caught her in her lie, though, he made no motion to notify her of his knowledge. He watched to see how she would deal with the situation. Hinata squirmed a bit, as if experiencing a bad dream, and rolled over. She rolled right into Karin, whom she hadn't known was there. Karin jolted up, her hair ruffled and clinging unattractively to the sides of her face. Hinata cuddled closer to Karin pretending to appreciate the warmth. Karin panicked, tangled in rough sheets and spilt onto the floor with a thud at three curse words. Sasuke blinked at the girls. Karin stomped, breathless, toward Sasuke.
"You were supposed to wake me." Sasuke didn't answer, he didn't believe in supposed tos, they are imperative to judgement, like alcohol.
Karin paused pursing her lips, her eyes still laced with sleep, "Fine, well should we wake her?"
Sasuke stood up in response. He was curious to know how far she would drag out her facade.
"We need to restrain her first," he murmured. He kept his eyes on Hinata, he knew she was listening. He wanted her to hear, the softness of his voice was only to induct ignorance.
He walked to the side of the bed, pulling wire from his pocket, he unwound the adequate amount from the spool before cutting it with his teeth and retuning the spool to his pocket. He leaned forward, reaching across her and lifting her wrist. She stayed limp, but her heart raced. If she was going to move, she had to now. She wanted to cry. She wanted Naruto to save her, like how she had imagined so many times. She felt the moments pass, each more painful than the next. No matter what she did, she thought, it would be over soon. She remembered last week when she had woken early to do herself up, wearing new clothes and practicing a smile in the mirror to meet Naruto in his office. He inspired such hope by calling her there, but she supposed Naruto was right in denying her application to join the ANBU considering.
Sasuke tied her wrists and then her ankles, waiting for her to spring to life. Karin hung over his shoulder in anticipation. Hinata made no motion to wake, so Karin stepped forward and slapped her straight across her face. Hinata exhaled and opened her eyes. The boy, he was Naruto's friend, the one he had the entire genin squad pursuing when they were children. Sasuke crossed his arms across his chest, the Hyuga eyes always made him a shade uncomfortable, he supposed it had something to do with his heritage.
"I need to speak with you." He said, sharingan activated. He was too tired to use genjutsu unless in emergency, but it was an intimidation tactic. Hinata arms broke into goosebumps, unshed tears filled her lungs and she gasped.
"Karin, step out for a moment," he commanded. Karin pulled the sheet off the bed and in a fluid motion wrapped it around herself. She shuffled into the hall, slamming the door behind her.
Hinata pulled herself up and turned to sit facing the Uchiha, her bound feet just touching the floor, and waited for him to speak. She knew, after all, he was not one to tell her anything oh his intention through desperate questions on her part. Her face was a mask, with eyes painted shut; Hinata wouldn't look into his eyes for anything.
"I'm not going to hurt you," he said, "I only have something to offer you." The two sat in silence. Sasuke was shuffling the dialog he had prepared for Neji to suit Hinata. "You've grown strong, your abilities are valuable, and you should join us."
Hinata smiled, "I haven't grown strong, I'm still exactly as you would remember me. Return me to my family, there is no use in persisting."
Sasuke ignored her, "Your clan has kept you in the shadows all these years, don't you think it's time for you to step into the light." He lifted her face up, placing two fingers beneath her chin. Her eyes opened, but she kept them trained to the side, fixated on a dent hallway up the wall the bed was pushed up against.
"Nobody here believes in you, there is something to be said of worldly experience. To leave the village like I have, like Naruto did. It is an enlightening embrace such a separation. Nobody would have to know where you have gone, unless you wished them to."
"I would be a missing nin, to betray my family. I could never do it."
"Of course you can. You can do anything you want. Make a decision for once for yourself, by yourself. Live on your own terms."
"You only want me to work for you." Hinata accused, shrugging her shoulders.
"Of course, but you are not obligated to. You are free to leave at any time, but I think you would find the work rewarding."
"What kind of work?" she asked.
"We intercept weapons merchants, destroy chemical engineering factories. Prevent nations from stepping on each other's toes, but you'd have already known all this if Naruto had let you join ANBU. He's still as blind as ever." Sasuke concluded. He was closing in, he could feel her relaxing. He only had to remember to make no sudden movements, like when hunting any other creature.
"Why me?" Hinata asked, her voice small.
"Because you're an outsider. You are wise and strong. Konoha, even under Naruto, hasn't appreciated you. They are all caught up in themselves. You're slipping between the cracks." His lack of animation as he spoke was becoming increasingly off putting.
Hinata bit her lip, withheld tears filling her to the brim with sadness. They began to shine through her eyes.
"You're lying." She breathed, the words spoken only to comfort herself. She knew he didn't lie. Naruto had said Sasuke was too proud to lie, and besides she had been thinking the same things for the last few years now.
Sasuke said nothing, but deactivated his sharingan and her face morphed to watercolours due to his vision. Her eyes flicked to his when she felt his chakra shift. They were sad, lonely, angel eyes.
Her mind was racing. She imagined being a small child running through fields of sunflowers with her mother. It was her happy place. She held her breath. The decision: she could see her life entirely staying in Konoha, it was lovely. She imagined another life, one on his team. It seemed to belong to a stranger. She felt like a stranger tied up, wire cutting into her skin. She felt like she was standing at a cliffs edge looking down into the bay, bound by a perverse desire to jump, and so she did.
"I will," her voice betrayed her and shattered upon meeting musty air. She covered her mouth.
Sasuke nodded, "Karin and I will meet you in the small fishing town across the Naruto bridge tonight." He said in monotone. He the exited into the hall.
Hinata heard their voices distorted through the thin walls and then distancing footsteps. They had left her tied up. "A test?" she thought. She worked the wire behind her back loosening it until she could contort her hands out of the bind. She bent down and snapped the wire with her hands. Around each of her ankles and wrists were thin red lines of broken skin. Beads of blood grew from the lines, she whipped them away without thinking and blood smeared across her pale skin. On her journey home she was only accompanied by an orange sunrise - The kind that sets glistening snow on fire. She had to close her eyes while taking back streets and rooftops. The light was so bright, but she had memory to guide her. The snow burned her bare feet, but she couldn't risk being seen, she had no answers for any questions. The front door of her home was a jar and she tiptoed back to her room where she slid down the wall to bury her face safely into her hands.