OPrincess ShinigamiO here!
Phew! This chapter's probably the longest thing I've ever written for a fanfiction! Although there's barely any SasuHina fluff in this chapter, there's Hinata acting like a kind mother like she is, and of course, Sasuke and her child, sharing adorable family fluff to make up for the lacking SasuHina fluff, so that's bound to be interesting! There'll be some slightly intense action scenes taking over more than half the chapter (hopefully I've done it well for a first action-focused writing). It's nearly 3 AM here, but I just had to finish this...
But before all that, I'd like to post some trivia for this fic:
1. As you all can conclude in the Prologue, Neji is still alive in this story. The fanfic tries to follow the major canon happenings as much as possible, but I have a need for Neji in this fic, as he has a very important supporting role to both Hinata and her family. Let's just say that Neji managed to dodge those wooden stick things (the scene of which SHOULD'VE HAPPENED :()
2. Before the Prologue, this story takes place roughly three years after the end of the Fourth Ninja War. Hinata is eighteen but will be turning nineteen pretty soon, and Sasuke is, I believe, already nineteen.
3. Yes, Team Taka will be involved in this story. In fact, in this chapter you'll be able to find out what happened to them during the last three years.
Anyway, I'd also like to thank all those people who took the time to review, favorite, and follow Masayume! I'm so glad that this version came out more appealing than the last one, and I hope that this fic will continue to hold your interests and maybe exceed your expectations. ;) Any mistakes, wrong grammars, or unnoticed plotholes, please tell me what you think! Any OOCs are unintentional, and that goes to the whole fic!
joicee: Glad to know that someone also loves Autumn's Concerto to death! XD Hopefully, this fic will also make you laugh and cry and fangirl like crazy!
BlindAdmirer: It's fine that you haven't read the first version of this story. It kinda sucked, so I'd rather forget it ever happened. :P Haha, I did give an explicit hint last chapter that there's going to be some SasuSaku tension going on, so please look forward to that! :D
Thank you all for your reviews! Just remember, you all are my ENERGY BOOSTERS! Review, follow and favorite and I might just update a little faster rather than just once a week! Now let's get on with the story and please enjoy it! ;)
Masayume
…
1st Stop (6 years later)
…
The Calm Before The Storm Pt.1
…
"Mama!"
"Hinata! You're a mess! Did you fall into a puddle again?"
The little girl with short midnight blue hair sobbed loudly, wiping her mud-stained arm roughly on her teary, snot-filled face. Her mother waddled towards her, her middle section bulging with new life within. She reached inside her kimono's right pocket and took out a periwinkle hanky, slowly kneeling down and gently wiping her daughter's muddied face.
"Oh, honey. Look at your pretty face. It's all covered in mud and grass. What on earth have you been up to, dear?"
Slowly, the little girl held out her other arm, revealing a pair of crushed dandelions in her tiny hand. The mother raised a slender dark eyebrow, her bright amethyst eyes glinting in question though half-expecting the answer.
"Why, they're the dandelions from my garden! Hina, honey, did you pick these for Mama?" she asked.
The little girl sniffled and responded by lifting the crushed flowers to her mother, suddenly pulling it back in shame and tearing up again after seeing her clumsiness's disappointing results. "I-I-I w-want t-to show M-Mama's p-pretty f-flowers. B-b-but th-they're u-ugly now, b-b-because of m-me…" She began sobbing and threw the flowers on the ground, looking away in fear of her mother's scolding.
Instead, the older woman's lips spread into a kind smile, her one hand subconsciously rubbing her swollen tummy. She reached out and gently took the crushed flowers from the ground, lifting them under her nose and taking in their subtle green scent. "Oh, Hinata. Honey, I love them. Very very much." She said with a grin, much to her daughter's confusion.
"M-Ma-Mama's n-not mad?..."
Her mother threw her head back in laughter before taking her daughter's tiny hands into her own. "Of course not, honey. In fact, Mama's very happy with you. Although I'm a little sad that you got dirty, I know that you were only very excited to show Mama her flowers. Besides," she gave a wink, "I think they're the best presents I've ever received, even better than the boring roses your Father gives me every week."
Slowly, the little girl's tears began to subside. Her tiny pink lips began mirroring her mother's smile.
"I-It's beca-cause I l-love M-Mama!" she exclaimed proudly, before forming a pout. "B-but F-Father loves Mama too! And h-his r-roses are colorful and p-pink a-and-"
"I know I know, dear." Her mother laughed. "They're very pretty too. It's just that I've received dozens of them already, and I've already had enough roses in the house."
"Oh."
The pregnant woman began twisting the dandelions. "Do you know the meaning of dandelions, Hinata?" The little girl shook her head. Her big lavender-white eyes widened in pure interest.
"Dandelions mean that you want your loved one to be happy forever. When you grow older, when you find the person you're sure that you want to spend the rest of your life with, then the dandelion's your flower. And because of that, I know that you picked these flowers thinking of me."
The little girl beamed at her mother, reaching out to take hold of her hand.
"H-Hinata loves Mama very much!"
…
"Hina-Mama!"
Her grip on the hose slipped from her gloved fingers, splashing into the puddle beneath the bright yellow dandelions. She turned around and found her daughter running towards her, tears spilling down her chubby face. Her tiny fists were bruised black and blue, and on each hand was a chopped piece of a tiny wooden sword.
"Yume? What's wrong, honey?" she asked in panic as she kneeled down and brought the crying child into her arms.
"H-H-Haru d-destroyed Y-Yume's new s-sword!" she sobbed. "H-he s-said it was u-ugly and o-old and th-that real n-ninjas d-don't need swords!" she wailed even louder and buried her snot-filled face on her mother's shoulder.
Hinata rubbed circles onto her daughter's back to soothe her, whispering "it's okay" repeatedly until she finally calmed into sniffles. The older Hyuuga smiled gently as she watched her daughter wipe her nose with an arm.
"Now now, Yume dear. I'm sure Haru-kun didn't mean any harm. Maybe it was just a misunderstanding and I'm sure that he didn't mean to break your toy-"
"No it wasn't! I'm s-sure of it! Kiki saw it too!"
"-but Haru-kun is only a little boy, Yume. He still has a lot of new things to learn, and even so, that doesn't mean that you have to hit him back. Fighting each other would only make things worse. Now I want you to apologize to him tomorrow in school, okay?"
"B-but h-he started it!" Yume huffed, crossing her arms together and pouting stubbornly. Hinata rested her palms on her hips, her eyes hardening in silent warning. "Masayume Hyuuga."
Sighing in defeat, the little girl nodded slowly, clutching her broken sword protectively on her chest. "Yes, Hina-Mama."
The young mother sighed, gathering her daughter back into her arms and carrying her back into their tiny home.
"I'm sorry, Yume. I don't like getting angry, you know that. But I'm only scolding you because Hina-Mama loves you very much and wants you to take better care of yourself."
The dark-haired child sniffed, staring longingly at the broken toy sword in her hands. "B-but Uncle Neji gave this to me last year. A-and you said that Papa loves fighting with a s-sword."
"And I'm sure that if he were here, your father wouldn't want to see you get hurt just because someone destroyed your toy." She said as she placed her daughter down on the counter and took off her garden gloves, earning another disappointed pout from her daughter.
"Actually, knowing him, Sasuke-kun would most probably tell you to fight back. Not that Yume has to know anyway." Hinata thought inwardly as she washed her hands, smiling at the thought of the Uchiha acting like an overprotective father. Her smile dropped into a sad frown at the thought of what could have been. "He probably would be, but not towards our child."
A year after Yume was born, Neji happened to overhear from a conversation between two passing Leaf ninjas in the market place that Sasuke was able to recover from the procedure and that Tsunade had finally allowed him to take missions again.
Of course, the former heiress was incredibly relieved to hear the good news. Unfortunately, it seems like the last Uchiha had gotten over her disappearance and moved on, since word came out that he's been seeing someone new. Neji wasn't able to hear who, since there was no way he could ask them himself in fear of being recognized, but that fact alone led Hinata to believe that it was best not to return to the village in order to inform Sasuke about his child.
There was no point to it anyway, especially since the Hyuugas would be downright furious about it. Not to mention, extremely dangerous for Yume.
Yume wasn't just any ordinary child. She was born out of love between an Uchiha and a Hyuuga, a feat that was and is unheard of in the history of ninja. That fact alone made Yume a very tempting target for criminals, and a very dangerous time bomb for the Hyuuga clan.
But that wasn't the end of it. Because of her strong bloodlines, Yume had inherited the eyes of both an Uchiha and a Hyuuga.
One black like her father's, one white like her mother's.
Fearing for her daughter's life, the young Hyuuga mother and her cousin decided to hide in a tiny village somewhere in the Land of Honey, a small country that ninjas are rarely assigned to due to its already peaceful nature and safe provincial environment, where she could let her daughter live in peace and grow among loving and caring people who don't let ninjutsu take over their lives. This way, it could prevent almost any sort of possibilities of Yume awakening a Sharingan.
"Tell me about Papa, Hina-Mama!" Yume grinned as she wiped a finger on her nose, swinging herself back and forth on the kitchen counter that reminded her mother so much of her orange-clad first love. Hinata's eyebrows rose at her daughter's curiosity.
"What do you want to know about your father?" she asked as she took out a kettle and opened the sink to pour water in it.
"Tell me again about how you met daddy!" the little girl exclaimed in excitement.
"Again?"
"Yes! Yume wants to hear again about Papa saving Hina-Mama and hiding in a cave together!"
For some strange reason, the phrase didn't really sound right to the young mother. But Yume was just a young child. She wouldn't understand.
After she settled the full kettle on the stove and lit up the gas, Hinata gently smiled as she leaned on the dinner table across her daughter and recounted her first memories of the Uchiha.
"Let's see. It all started when your Uncle Kiba and Uncle Shino and I went to the Hidden Mist Village…"
…
7 years earlier
…
"Now this just sucks! And I mean big time!" Kiba grumbled before letting out another bout of sneezes. Akamaru, his giant white dog companion, whimpered in worry for his master.
"Why? Because you stubbornly refused to take a break from acting as look-out guard and then refused to bring a thick coat along while traveling and now you've earned a cold from the freezing weather?" Shino muttered in his usual no fussed tone. "You should've known better than to take on the Mist's winter season."
"Shut up, Shino. I meant about us missing Christmas just because of a bunch of dumb thieves hiding in the Mist. And I was so damned looking forward to spending those limited-only all-you-can-eat coupons at the Barbe-Q."
"H-here, Kiba-kun. Some medicine for your colds." The young Hyuuga heiress handed her teammate a tiny box of cold pills from her backpack.
"Thanks, Hinata. You're a lifesa-sa-… AH-CHOO!" Kiba sneezed loudly as Hinata and Akamaru backed away slightly.
Much to all their disappointment, a group of witty outcasts from the Mist decided to use their favorite pastime of the year, of all times, to kidnap a Fire Daimyou's daughter, in return of a ransom of several million ryos. As they were one of the best sensory teams available, Tsunade assigned the trio and a few trailing ANBUs to finish the job by sending them the cart of money to the rendezvous in exchange for the hostage.
Which brings us back to the present, wherein Kiba receives a cold from trying to impress the hidden ANBU (but failing miserably), he and Shino carrying the cart bagful of money, while Hinata uses her Byakugan to check any surprise ambushers. All on their way to the rendezvous in the mountains of one of Mist's many islands.
However, none of them expected to end up battling such a strong group of ninjas, all of them at least Chunin level.
"I do believe that someone forgot to write this little piece of information for us." Shino pointed out eight hours later as he dodged the barrage of explosive kunais targeting him, which exploded and created an empty crater behind him.
A few in the group turned out to be more than thirty of them. Hinata used the Eight Trigrams Palm Technique on a few thieves, effectively throwing them into the trees. Her activated eyes throbbed as she searched for the Daimyo's daughter.
"I found her!" she cried, relief seeping through her veins, "The ANBU found her! They're taking her back now."
"Great. Now how about a hand here with these guys?!" Kiba shouted, blocking an opponent with a kunai while Akamaru bit his shoulder and threw him off a cliff, the thief's screams echoing through the mountains.
"The hostage takes priority. They'll have to go ahead without us to ensure her safety." Shino said, blasting a few ninjas with his parasites until their screaming bodies were completely consumed.
The apparent leader of the group, an infamous criminal from the Mist named Sato, known for his poisoning expertise, began shouting at his men to retreat with the money. "Take them! Disperse and meet at our new hiding place! You there! Yes, you men! Go carry the money!"
"Yessir!" His cronies dispersed, some of them taking the money cart and some attempting to escape.
"Oh no you're not! Not after you made us go a long way here just to miss our Christmas festivities!" Kiba growled. "Let's get them, Akamaru! Gatsuga!" The canine duo leaped and rotated ferociously towards the closest enemies in their proximity, drilling them unconscious on the ground. Shino lifted his arms, and out came thousands of insects. The insects then formed themselves into three insect clones of their master and attacked. One of them leaped and chased after the group with the Daimyou's money.
"Juho Soshuken!" Hinata clenched her fists and concentrated until twin bursts of blue lion-shaped chakra appeared on her hands. She then proceeded to punch the lights out of anyone who got in her way.
"You meddling kids have gone far enough. This is where you'll have your last stand." Sato smirked slyly. After taking out a scroll from his back pocket, he summoned a barrage of flower-shaped shuriken and threw them at the trio and Akamaru. As the tiny weapons stabbed the ground around them, blasts of transparent purple petals came out and dissolved into a pink haze of gas, trapping them effectively in one circle.
Hinata gasped as she noticed the strange dizzying scent and immediately covered her nose and mouth. "Shino-kun! Kiba-kun! They're poison! Try not to breathe!"
"Shit! Easier said than do-do-ACHOO!" Kiba cursed as he unintentionally breathed in a lungful of the pink smoke before giving a loud sneeze. "Especially with this stupid cold!"
"You're too late, little Hyuuga girl." Sato laughed sinisterly. "Now that the poison's out in the air, there's no way any of you kids can escape from it. And it's not just any poison too." He grinned gloatingly, patting the scrolls in his pocket. "This special jutsu of mine is especially attracted to sensory-type ninjas and would follow the nearest one until its target finally takes a whiff off it. Not only will it poison you, but it'll also make you hallucinate like a madman. Slowly… and then quickly until the poison sucks out all your chakra and rots your brain while killing you inside your nightmare. For a VERY long time." He emphasized drolly with a satisfied grin, cackling as Kiba dropped to the ground and gasped harshly while his sharp claw-like fingernails dug onto the ground, with Akamaru whimpering and falling unconscious beside him. Shino's bug clones began to dissipate, buzzing around in shambles.
"You'll never hold out before sunset. Well, at least, not until after we complete our escape."
"K-Kiba-kun!" Hinata mumbled frantically against her palms, staggering as she begun to feel the poison's slow effects. Suddenly, a humongous gale of black butterflies zipped past her, and then turned and charged towards her direction until they surrounded her completely in darkness. The Hyuuga closed her eyes tightly and concentrated.
"N-no. It's a poison genjutsu! W-we have to get out of this spot! O-or else Kiba-kun and Akamaru will-" she thought to herself, fighting off the genjutsu through sheer willpower. "Sh-Shino-kun! Wh-where-?"
Another flash of black butterflies shrouded her vision, with the Hyuuga barely stopping herself from yelping. Soft, yet harsh voices began to whisper into her ears, as if they were the very air she breathes.
"You're weak."
"You're a weirdo."
"You're less approachable than a rock."
"You don't deserve to be loved."
"Byakugan!" she shouted, activating her clan's famous eye technique. But to her shock, the poison's effects did not subside, completely resistant to even the all-seeing Byakugan. Sato was a much better genjutsu user than given credit for. Again, the voices in the dark surrounded her every senses.
"You'll never become worthy."
"You're Father will forever discriminate you."
"Naruto will never ever love you. He's just pretending to be nice because of your pitiful state. In truth, he actually hates you. No one will ever love you."
"Kai!" she clapped her hands together, closing her eyes in concentration. But because of the genjutsu's effectiveness to its prey, the dispeller only allowed her a few seconds of resistance, her eyes blurrily spotting her poisoner turning around to escape with an evil grin on his face before a sudden blast of blue and white blinded her back to the nothingness.
"You're better off dead."
"You don't deserve to live."
"Die."
"Die."
"DIE!"
"NO! P-please! G-go away!" Hinata mumbled to herself, tears streaming down her face. "It's just a genjutsu. They're all unreal. They're just lies." She repeated in assurance of herself, for a second disconnecting herself a fraction from the genjutsu again, allowing her to hear several clanking noises from clashing weapons.
But a flash of light appeared. Out of the light formed two suspicious shadows. But as she looked closer, she gasped and scrambled away in horror as she realized that the two "shadows" were actually both her teammates' rotting skeletons, her eyes widening in a horrified shock. It took all of her power to stop herself from screaming.
"H-H-Hi-n-na-t-ta…" Kiba's skeleton slurred with a voice so old and choppy and uncharacteristically full of hatred. "W-w-why… d-d-didn't… y-you… s-save… m-m-me?... A-aren't… I-I-I… y-y-you're… f-friend?" Shino's skeleton didn't say anything, but its hollowed eyes, free from his shades and crawling with black skin-eating parasites chewing on whatever's left, looked even more frightening with its dark, unfriendly glare. A few more shadows appeared and surrounded her, and like the first two, transformed into rotting skeletons. First her father's and Kurenai's, then Neji's and Hanabi's, and lastly, Naruto's, his usual bright and sunny face soiled down to that of a screaming skull.
"N-no! NO! Na-Naruto-kun! K-Kiba-kun! Shino-k-kun! I-I-!" she dropped to the ground and closed herself from the horrifying sight, clutching her head in utmost fear as her burning hot tears flowed even faster, her mouth and throat feeling dry like a scorching hot desert and her long midnight-blue hair turning greasy with sweat. "P-p-please! Th-they're s-still alive! S-someone please! I-I-I-…"
"Kai!"
A woman's voice cut through her senses, as if Heaven suddenly revealed itself to sinners. Slowly, Hinata blinked through her wet lashes and was shocked to see that she could see her real surroundings again. All the voices, the skeletons of her loved ones. They all disappeared without a trace. On her back, she felt a warm hand seeping chakra through her, effectively overpowering any of the poisons left in her body.
Shakily turning to look behind her, the Hyuuga's teary eyes widened as she saw an impatient-looking woman, sporting uneven crimson hair and a pair of glasses, looking at her like she was a bother.
"Geez. Can't you Konoha ninjas do any better?" she said rhetorically, resting a hand on her hip after she finished transferring chakra. "It's no wonder Sasuke left the village. You're all a bunch of weaklings."
Hinata stared blankly at the rude kunoichi as the latter huffed and babbled more about unreliable ninjas not worthy for Sasuke's awesomeness. Not because of her bad opinions but more out of curiosity as to how she got here and why she decided to save her.
"A-ano…" the Hyuuga stuttered slowly. "Th-th-thank you…"
"Whatever." The redhead crossed her arms together, her eyes scrunching to slits at the strange Hyuuga girl. "So, you're a Hyuuga with a very unimpressive chakra signature. Almost too pure and calming like a river, but not much to show off. Such a shame…"
Hinata was pretty sure that was meant as an insult, but right now she didn't care. Her extremely reluctant savior somehow looked quite familiar to her although she couldn't exactly recall when she first saw her.
"Kiba-kun!" Hinata quickly scanned her surroundings and found her teammate and his dog still lying unconscious. But a giant, orange-haired man was kneeling behind them, laying a pair of scaly dark gray arms full of chakra on their backs, and somehow she knew right away that he wasn't an enemy. For a second, the giant's red-orange eyes calmly flicked up towards her before sliding back down to his rescues.
At a distance echoing in the forest, a clash of weapons mixed with bloodcurdling screams of pain and a burning smell of lighting gradually invaded Hinata's senses.
"Karin, you'd better let her bite you." The giant suggested. "They'll need the energy to get back from where they came from."
"Shut up, Juugo!" Karin screeched, roughly pushing up her glasses while her face turned as red as her hair in anger. "I don't need to take orders from you! And besides, why should we help these people when they have absolutely nothing to do with us?"
"Because they're from Konoha." Juugo replied calmly. "Do not forget that not only did that village pardon us and did everything they can in their power to free us from charges, it's also where Sasuke first came from."
"Yeah, after like, IMPRISONING US FOR TWO FREAKIN' YEARS!" Karin retorted furiously, flailing her arms in emphasis.
"Would you have preferred more than that then?"
"ARGH! You are such a goody-goody! It sickens me so much to the point that you're almost on par with Suigetsu!" Karin threw her arms up in exasperation.
The giant merely shrugged. "If you say so."
Still red-faced, she snapped her head towards Hinata, taking the yelping latter by surprise. The Hyuuga wondered whether insulting each other was their strange way of showing affection, as it appears that they haven't throttled each other to death yet.
"And you! Just because you have a pretty face and an annoyingly huge rack doesn't mean that you deserve some more saving! I've wasted enough chakra on you, which might I regress was already a pretty huge amount! I'm not letting anyone other than Sasuke suck chakra out of me, you got that?" Karin pointed at Hinata's chest, ignoring the nervous squeaks of the latter.
"O-oh, b-b-but what does S-Sasuke-kun have t-to do with-!" Hinata stuttered in shock, her eyes widening at the kunoichi's surprisingly short fuse. "-… I-I-I still have t-to find Shino-k-kun!"
"The one covered from head to toe with lots of bugs?" Juugo looked up. "He went after the group carrying a large cart. I believe he is involved in a battle as of now. Sasuke and Suigetsu went after the leader."
"Oh, now I remember." Hinata thought to herself as she studied her two companions' faces. "These two are part of Sasuke-kun's new team and were former subordinates of Orochimaru. I remember seeing them somewhere in the last Great Ninja War three years ago… That explains why she keeps mentioning Sasuke-kun's name. If only Naruto-kun and Sakura-san were here…"
Hinata stood up in a snap, her head suddenly throbbing in pain at the sudden movement. "… I-I'll go check on him!"
"H-hey, waitasec!" Karin's red eyes widened as watched the Hyuuga's wobbly attempt to walk straight. "A-are you stupid?! You're not even strong enough to move normally, let alone fight!"
The Hyuuga rested an arm on a nearby tree, panting at the hard effort to increase her speed. Although her head was still in circles, she activated her Byakugan and checked her own vital organs. Her current chakra flow was unsteady and weak, although it was made considerably better after Karin transferred some of her chakra, but still not enough to survive a battle. The effects of Sato's poison were incredibly dangerous. It would take awhile to recover all the chakra he sapped out.
"B-but I c-can't leave him on his own…" Crestfallen, she slumped against the tree, wringing her hands together in disappointment at her own helplessness.
"Then I'll accompany you." Juugo said.
Both kunoichis snapped their heads towards the giant in disbelief.
"Oh, th-thank you!"
"You can't be serious!"
"Karin, take over here and transfer your chakra to these two." The orange-haired giant stopped his chakra-transferring and stood up. His scaly arms transformed back to normal human flesh.
"WHAT?! YOU'RE MAKING ME WASTE MY PRECIOUS CHAKRA ON THESE IDIOTS AGAIN?! DIDN'T YOU JUST HEAR ME EARLIER?!" Karin screeched, clutching her uneven hair in utter disbelief.
"You refused to help her. And with her current condition, there's no way I'm letting this woman handle things all by herself." Juugo walked steadily towards Hinata, giving her a reassuring smile. "Let's go find your friend."
"Th-thank you, um…"
"Juugo."
"Juugo-san, thank you." Hinata smiled at the gentle giant. She recalled hearing Kiba mention about his ability to shift into an uncontrollable bloodthirsty monster, but after he kindly decided to volunteer to help a bunch of strangers, it almost compelled her to believe otherwise.
"W-waitaminute! What if Sasuke and Suigetsu come back?" Karin asked, still not believing her eyes and ears.
"Then you guys can go ahead. The mission would be over when Sasuke and Suigetsu finish the missing nin off anyway. I know my way back home, don't worry." Juugo nodded at the redhead before lifting a surprised Hinata bridal style into his arms and leaping deep into the forest.
"I-IDIOT! I AM NOT WORRIED AT ALL! FINE! SEE IF I CARE WHEN SASUKE COMES BACK AND BITES YOUR HEAD OFF WHEN YOU COME BACK!" her shrill voice echoed as Juugo and Hinata headed towards the Aburame's chakra signature.
…
…
"Hina-Mama! Where's Papa's part?" Yume complained, impatience clearly written on her chubby face. The little girl even puffed her cheeks in emphasis.
"Patience, Yume. He's coming, he's coming." Hinata assured her, tapping a finger on her chin. "Let's see, where was I? Oh, right. Your Aunt Karin stayed behind to heal Kiba-kun and Akamaru, and your Uncle Juugo went and helped me find Shino-kun. After a few minutes of searching, we were finally able to locate your Uncle Shino. At first, we only expected a battle between Shino-kun and the bad guys. But much to my surprise back then, it appeared that a few more participants had decided to join the party."
The little girl's black and white eyes twinkled in anticipation, her lips spreading into a big toothy grin.
"Aha! And that's where daddy came in! My favorite part!"
Hinata smiled proudly at her daughter while twisting a strand of her hair as she recalled the first time she really laid eyes on her beloved.
"You're correct. It seemed like your father and the enemy decided to do their battle at the same place Shino-kun was protecting the Daimyou's money. Honestly, all I could remember at first was a flash of bluish lightning, mind you it almost burnt me to crisp if it weren't for Juugo-kun's quick reflexes."
Yume raised a tiny eyebrow. "… So, daddy almost burnt Hina-Mama?"
Hinata laughed nervously, realizing of how twisted their first meeting was. "W-well, sort of. B-but he didn't mean it of course. I think…"
"Anyway, after I could see clearly again, that's when I first saw your father again after the last Ninja War…"
…
…
Hinata coughed as Juugo leaped away from where the lightning nearly struck them.
As they landed back on the ground, the dust and burnt ashes airily floating around them, the still weakened Hyuuga rubbed her eyes and looked up at the shadowy form that landed before them. As the dust and smoke subsided, she realized that the figure's back was facing them. Her eyes widened after she noticed the all too familiar attire of her crush's best friend; the Uchiha crest imprinted on its back was unmistakable.
Finally, his messy dark head turned sidewards and noticed for the first time of the newcomers to the battle.
Shocked lavender-white eyes met swirling black and blood red eyes.
"S-S-Sasuke-kun?!" Hinata gasped.
"Juugo, what is the meaning of this?" Sasuke inquired in a deep no-nonsense tone, his blood red eyes flicking at the giant in question.
"We came to help her friend. The one with the bugs." Juugo replied.
"That creepy dude? He's taking care of the spares." A blob of liquid suddenly appeared beside Sasuke and formed into a pale, sharp-teethed man wielding a giant beheading sword in his hands. The man grinned slyly at the Hyuuga girl like an animal cornering his prey.
"What's this? A hot girl in the middle of the forest? A much more welcome view than Karin, no doubt." He snorted.
"E-excuse me?"
"Suigetsu. What's the enemy's position?" Sasuke asked, flicking his sword of Kusanagi to the right to flick off the blood and dirt on its blade.
"He's still standing on top of the cart. Still hadda few extra scrolls on him. Che, what a coward. That guy really lo~ves his money."
"Then let's hurry and finish him." Juugo stepped forward beside Sasuke and shoved his cape behind him to free his arms.
Hinata stared at the three men in front of her, all of them turning away from her. This was the first time she's ever seen Sasuke's new team up close, with the exception of Karin. She had heard of how well this team worked together, despite their extremely diverse personalities, and that even though they were set free, a lot of people still considered them to be a very dangerous bunch.
And now she's about to witness Team Taka in action.
"Naruto-kun. If you and Sakura-san were in my place, what would you have done?"
"Fools! All of you!" Hinata finally noticed Sato standing on top of the money cart some distances away. All around the cart were bloodied and unconscious bodies, some with slash wounds, other's heads severed almost completely, and then some with tiny parasites crawling all over them. It was a sickening sight, but being born and trained as a ninja, it wasn't quite traumatic for Hinata to take in. At least none of her loved ones belonged there. "All of you underestimate my powers! You, little Hyuuga girl, might've been lucky enough to survive my poison genjutsu. But what're you going to do the second time it happens and no one will be here to help you this time!"
"Hyuuga."
Hinata snapped her head towards Sasuke's direction, his back still facing her.
"Y-yes?"
"I suggest you go find your friend and stay away from this place as soon as possible. Unless you want to become a burden and die either by his hands or mine." He ordered nonchalantly. His dark, threatening tone suggested that he would truly not hesitate to rip her apart in cold blood if she gets in his way.
Shakily standing up, she slowly bowed at them in understanding.
"Th-then I th-thank you and wish you all l-luck." She said in a slightly inaudible voice. Juugo turned sidewards and gave her a warm smile.
"And to you as well. Go find your friend and escape quickly."
She smiled back in thanks and bowed for the last time, for a second flicking her eyes at the Uchiha's back before leaping away to search for her teammate.
It was quick for her to spot her teammate nearby, defeating the last of his opponents by making the insects trip him off the cliff. Sighing in relief, the heiress shakily approached the insect-user, who turned just in time to catch her as she lost her balance.
"Hinata! Are you alright?" he asked, a tinge of worry edged in his deadpan tone.
"I-I'm okay, Shino-kun! I'm j-just glad you're alright!" she smiled at her close friend while giving him a friendly hug.
"I'm sorry I had to leave you and Kiba behind. I used one of my insect clones as a distraction while I escaped and tried to retrieve the Daimyou's money. That is, until I was ambushed and had to finish his companions off before I could reach the cart. Luckily, I finished them all off just in time before I lose too much of my chakra."
Shino frowned as he sensed some strong, familiar chakras nearby.
"… Is that-?"
"S-Sasuke-kun? Yes, it is." Hinata replied as her partner raised an eyebrow in surprise.
"Sasuke? What on earth is he doing here?"
"Now's not the time to explain." Hinata shook her head as she balanced herself upright. "W-we have to get out of here. Now."
"Why?"
A loud crash answered his question. The cart where they used to contain the bags of money landed on the trees just a few inches away from them, completely splintered into pieces. The damaged bags of ryos were spread far and wide, all with holes and spilling coins everywhere. So much for trying to save the money.
"No! The reward!" a voice belonging to Sato's echoed nearby.
"W-we have to go back to Kiba-kun!" Hinata pulled Shino's arm and was about to run far away from the crushed cart when she suddenly heard a spinning sound of a shuriken heading towards Shino's behind.
"Shino-kun!"
Activating her Byakugan, she pushed the Aburame away with all her might and spun just in time to the right before the flower-shaped blade imbedded itself on her heart. Unfortunately, due to her weakened reflexes, the poisonous blade was able to scrape her left shoulder. Feeling a familiar wave of dizziness again, she dropped headfirst to the ground. Blinking slowly, her Byakugan deactivated and her vision became blurry due to the impact.
"Hinata!" she heard Shino shout from a short distance, accompanied by a maniacal laugh from where the shuriken came from. A mad-looking Sato wobbled towards her, his face and body bloodied and gravely wounded and his hair scorched, his clothes and summoning scrolls shredded into scraps. The tiny scroll clutched harshly in his right hand seemed to be his last and only hope for escape.
Team Taka finally arrived in the scene and froze as they saw the injured Hyuuga lying on the ground behind a grinning Sato, the latter's hand shakily lifting up his last scroll in grim satisfaction.
"If I'm going to die here, then I'm at least taking one of you down to hell with me!" he screeched, blood and spit showering Hinata's unmoving body.
"Hyuuga-san..." Juugo whispered, wary to make any unnecessary moves that might make Sato snap and kill Hinata for real.
"Shit. Got us bad. Let's leave them to die together, eh?" Suigetsu suggested, grinning in a sadistic manner.
"Once a coward, always a coward." Sasuke smirked conceitedly at the crazy man, seemingly not to care whether he would really kill the Hyuuga or not. "You boast about your poison genjutsu skills, but you still kidnap helpless people and make ransoms in the shadows in order to get money. If you really had that much confidence in your abilities, then why not just outright attack a village and steal their money by yourself? Wouldn't that give you a higher ranking on the roster lists?"
"SHUT UP!" Sato's body shook, his hand nearly crushing his scroll. "If you do not care about this little girl, then I suggest you all step away and let me make my escape."
The last Uchiha shrugged nonchalantly. "I could care less what you do to her. What I do care about right now is having your head imbedded on top of my blade." He lifted his blood-stained sword right in front of his blood-red eyes. The spinning black wheels on his left Sharingan morphed slowly into that of a star-shaped Mangekyo Sharingan.
"Sasuke, be careful." Juugo warned, his eyes never leaving the Hyuuga. The Uchiha, however, did nothing to acknowledge his warning.
"Amaterasu."
Suddenly, a blast of black flames exploded from Sato's right shoulder, quickly eating his arm and eventually his scroll.
"NO! NO NO NO NO NO! WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO MEEEAAAAAAAAGGHHHH-!"
"You wanted hell? You got what you deserve." Sasuke muttered, unmoved by the blood streaking down his eye as he watched the flames consume his enemy.
The genjutsu-user screamed in agony until his whole body was finally consumed completely by the dark flames. Hinata blinked slowly, her numb body suddenly feeling the intense heat of the flames.
"No! HINATA!" Shino shouted, quickly leaping towards them. But before he could reach the burning man, the ground in between them began to give way, dividing them into different lands. As the black flames completely rendered Sato into mere ashes, the ground crumbled and exploded as the flames made contact with it.
"Hyuuga-san!" Juugo shouted. "Sasuke, you have to stop!"
The Uchiha still didn't extinguish his flames, his eyes staring coldly at the Hyuuga lying some inches behind Sato's ashes.
"Just let him be!" Suigetsu demanded. "She's already going to die anyway!"
"HINATA!" Shino watched in horror as the ground separated them. He couldn't risk summoning his insects to save her, as they would just burn into ashes if they attempted to help her.
All the while, the Hyuuga lay there unmovingly, her lavender-white eyes blurrily scanning the people behind the black flames. The genjutsu in Sato's special shurikens didn't need to impose any nightmares for her anymore. Her throat was feeling dry, and she coughed harshly after inhaling a large amount of Amaterasu's smoke. Time seemed to go on forever, the flames in her vision somehow slowed in motion as she felt her life slowly withering away.
"So this is it then? This is where I'll die." She squeezed her eyes shut, silently praying to God that He just quickly end her misery. Despite the scorching dryness, tears began to prickle through her ash-stained lashes. "I-I'll never see Father or Hanabi ever again. Neji-nii, Kiba-kun, Shino-kun, Kurenai-sensei… I'm sorry. Hanabi, I know you'll become a great leader in the future… I'm just so sorry that I won't be there to witness it… Neji-nii, please take care of her and Father and take care of yourself too…"
"Naruto-kun, I'm so so sorry… I didn't get the chance to say a proper goodbye... P-please live happily a-and I sincerely hope that y-you'll find someone who'll truly make you happy for the r-rest of your life… I… I still love you… Even when things couldn't work out… I still l-love you… so so much…"
Droopily opening her eyes, she smiled at the people behind the flames. She silently apologized to Shino for being so helpless to her situation and prayed that he wouldn't take her death too harshly. She thanked Juugo for showing concern for her even after spending just a short amount of time together. She thanked Karin, wherever she was, for healing her despite her obvious reluctance to help strangers. She didn't have anything much to say to Suigetsu, so she merely hoped that he'd continue to protect Sasuke in whatever manner necessary.
Lastly, her eyes turned to Sasuke, whose blood-red eyes were staring back at her with a blank expression. She frowned as she saw blood seeping from his eyes, remembering the time during the last Ninja War when she last saw him use his ability.
It was a frightening sight, partly because of its humongous, incredible power and partly because of its costs on Sasuke's body.
"Sasuke-kun… We barely speak to one another even though we both grew up in the same village... But I hope that one day, you'll find it within yourself to return back to Naruto-kun and Sakura-san, and realize that it's not too late to turn back into the light… Seeing you like this… in pain… even though we aren't really friends…"
"… S-Sasuke-k-kun…" she whispered, closing her eyes in finality as she felt the ground below her crumble and the darkness shrouded her vision.
"I sincerely hope you'll find your way back home."
The last she remembered before completely losing consciousness were voices shouting someone's name, the black flames nearly licking her face suddenly dividing into half, and a pair of blood-red eyes turning into a plain onyx shade.
...
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