First: Thanks to everyone that reviewed! I can't thank you guys/girls enough. I love reading your reviews and PMs. Although I'm not very timely and I only write whenever I feel like it, your reviews motivated me a lot, so please keep them coming!
Second: I hate this chapter. It just didn't come out like I wanted it. Originally, I had planned for chapter two to be something completely different. But somehow, out of the confused mess, emerged this chapter. So forgive me for the poor attempt at plot…
Third: This chapter and continuing chapters are set before the first chapter unless stated otherwise.
Warnings: Tortures, Sasuke being an ass, OOC and unbeta (I will reread and attempt to make corrections once I find the time). Read at your own risk.
Storyline: Canon up to the end of the Pain arc and AU from there.
Kidnapping her was his first mistake.
To make his revenge a reality, he had forgone loyalty, friendship and love. Willingly embraced isolation and the darkness of Hell so that he could gain the power to execute his revenge on the brother he once loved so dearly. Only after Itachi's blood on his hands had long dried did he learn that he was but an insignificant child in the game of power struggles between villages and clans.
Konoha was responsible for the destruction of his clan, Konoha cornered Itachi into the life of a missing nin, and Konoha was the catalyst for the events that had governed his life. Every stone and brick in that precious village was stained with the blood of innocent Uchiha members and he would not rest until he had cleansed the sins from every corner of that despicable place.
But with every step he took closer toward his ultimate goal, Naruto forced him two steps back. No matter how strong Sasuke got, he was always one step behind. Even when he awakened his Mangekyō Sharingan, he still couldn't defeat Naruto. That optimistic fool that called himself Sasuke's friend was always standing in his path toward revenge and no matter what Sasuke did, he couldn't right that wrong.
He needed more power, needed to be stronger and there were only two things that would give him that and enabled him to defeat Naruto once and for all, the Rinnegan and the Byakugan. The last Rinnegan was destroyed in the battle between Naruto and Pain. The only option left was the Byakugan.
But getting his hands on the Byakugan was proving more difficult than he had originally thought. With the new order, no members of the Hyuuga main house were allowed to take missions outside of Konoha. Capturing a branch member would be pointless as their Byakugans self-destruct on any attempt to steal it. Even though the shinobi world was now at peace due to a shaky alliance, his wanted posters hung on every wall of every building in every village. Sasuke knew he would be apprehended before he could set foot in Konoha. He was desperate but not stupid enough to blindly walk into the strongest hidden village in the shinobi world.
When he had heard the rumors, he had not believed it. Hyuuga Hinata, now head of the prestigious Hyuuga clan had successfully removed the controversial curse seal of the Hyuuga branch. It was not possible, couldn't be possible. He didn't remember much about Hyuuga Hinata but when he searched his memories, there was a vague image of her. She was a weak little thing, her head was constantly bowed and her voice barely audible. It was impossible to think anything useful would come from that fragile stuttering girl. He had refused to believe it until he'd seen it for himself, Hyuuga Neji, without his curse seal.
A new plan began to form in his mind. If Sasuke could get his hands on the scroll that held the secret to her accomplishment then there would be no need for him to risk capturing a Hyuuga from the main house. Any Hyuuga would do and he would have a steady supply to experiment on. It was too perfect.
But fate had disagreed with his carefully laid plans. Lady Luck had never been on his side. Everything he had accomplished to this point, he had traded blood and sweat for. He was more than surprised when Lady Luck decided to deal in his favor and delivered Hyuuga Hinata to him on a silver platter. Kidnapping her had been a last minute decision, a hasty one, but he couldn't resist accepting such a gift, especially one that had such lovely eyes.
The importance of the scroll was evident when she, herself, came to retrieve it. Most ninjas fled at the sight of him. She faced him head on. She knew she didn't stand a chance against him and yet she fought. She had put up a decent fight. Fighting until exhaustion took her and she could no longer stand. He had seen her tattered clothes, pale face and shadowed eyes and knew she was at the limit of her endurance. Yet she still persisted in fighting him, her gaze never leaving him from her crouched position, the kunai held tightly in her bruised hand. And as he delivered that final blow that sent her into unconsciousness, he had felt a slight admiration for her determination. Admirable but foolish.
His second mistake was thinking that she would weakly obey his orders.
With each passing day, her countless attempts to escape coupled with his fruitless efforts to read the scroll only served to angered him further until he was practically seething with mounting frustration. Finally, he was forced to admit that he was getting nowhere. The scroll was written in some ancient language that he could not decipher; a precaution against anyone outside of the Hyuuga clan using it. He should have known Lady Luck was just waiting for him to turn his back so she could screw him over.
He didn't like to admit defeat but he was at his wits end. Sasuke had hoped that other than delivering meals to her in that cold dark cell of hers, he wouldn't have to have any interactions with her until it was time to put his plan in motion. In the end, he was forced to come to her.
"Decode it," he commanded, handing her the scroll.
She looked from him to the scroll and then nodded without a word of protest. It was strange that she didn't put up a fight when she had fought him so rebelliously before. Sasuke took her wiliness for weakness and concluded that she wouldn't be foolish enough to try anything. He should have realized how wrong that conclusion was.
The moment the scroll was in her hands, she released a blast of chakra that turned the scroll he had obtained with great difficulties into a pool of black ashes.
In the next instant, he had her against the wall, one hand around her delicate throat; squeezing the life out of her while the other pressed Kusanagi against her soft flesh until it drew blood.
She didn't beg him to spare her, didn't cry, didn't show any sign of fear. She looked into his crimson orbs and smiled. It was not a mocking smile, not even one of satisfaction. No. It was one of serenity and acceptance. It was one that said, 'she had destroyed his plans, saved Konoha from the wrath of Uchiha Sasuke and now she would go willing to her death.'
He almost killed her. His anger so great, his hand had ached to squeeze until she was no more. But luckily his sanity was still intact. The scroll was no longer here but she was. She wrote the damn thing and she would do it again! He smiled. His grip released and Hinata staggered to the ground, coughing and gasping for breath.
He stared down at her pathetic form. "If you had only done what I asked. I would have release you once the task was done." He knelt; his fingers gripped her chin roughly and forced her gaze on him. "Did you honestly think that by destroying it, you have done the honorable thing?"
She didn't answer him, merely stared at him with eyes full of hatred.
"Weak little Hinata thought she would sacrificed herself for her beloved village," he mocked. "How naïve."
Her eyes narrowed in anger and she tried to twist out of his grip but he held her steady.
"No." He snarled at her. "You have sealed your fate. You created the scroll and you can do so again. I will not kill you, Hyuuga." He shook a finger at her, a mocking grin on his handsome face. "I will keep you for as long as it takes until you submit to me and give me what I want."
She glared at him. "Never."
"Oh you will," he said with complete confidence. "Until then I will make sure you wished you were dead."
Hinata jerked away, furious, and he let her go. "It was really a shame," he said as he got up. "I really would have released you." He laughed; a cruel and unearthly laugh that sent a shiver of fear down her spine.
It was a lie. He had no intention of doing so but she didn't need to know that. His laugh followed him all the way through the door and down the hall as he left her there to ponder her fate.
It was easier said than done. As he needed her, he couldn't kill her. Even if he could, she was not afraid of death, she had already proven that. She didn't respond to any of his threats. Even when he starved her for days, she would not break. He had stopped short of tortures as he knew it would be pointless. He had even tried to put her under his genjitsu but with the help of her Byakugan, she had somehow managed to break free. And now her defense was up, higher and stronger than ever, never leaving her side each time he came near.
With each increasing day, he grew more desperate. He needed to find her weakness. Needed to know what would break her. It was then that he made the decision to stand back and observed her. For the first time in his life, Uchiha Sasuke took time off to examine a girl. He simply watched and waited.
That was his third mistake.
They were constantly on the move, never staying at one location for any length of time. He couldn't risk her escaping while he went into town to get supplies so he was forced to drag her along. Each time they went, they were in disguise, never using the same face twice, but always masquerading as husband and wife. Those very few times that they had gone into town allowed him to observe her in a different environment other than the cold, gloomy room of her cell.
Sasuke had never dedicated so much time and energy analyzing the opposite sex before. The more he watched her, the more he felt drawn to her and it infuriated him. It was her eyes. Not the Byakugan but something that belong solely to her. Her damn expressive eyes.
It didn't matter what disguise she was under. Her body could be short, skinny, or fat and her hair blond, brown, or black, none of it mattered in the least. Whenever she smiled, it translated directly in the way her lips curved upward and in the pink blushes that graced her soft cheeks. And her eyes, her damnable expressive eyes would shine brightly, twinkling with innocent wonder and amusement.
If Hinata liked you, she'd let you know in the softness of her touch, the laughter in her smiles and the care that shown unhidden in her eyes. And if Hinata didn't like you, her eyes said so, because she was too honest for her own good and didn't know the first thing about duplicity.
How she found it possible to smiled, even laughed in her circumstances was beyond his understanding. But the very few times he had seen her laughed, he had been struck speechless, fascinated by her joyous laughter, drawn to her like a moth to a flame. It wasn't the richness in her voice or the sweetness in her laughter that had him so enthralled. No, when Hyuuga Hinata laughed, she laughed without care, without restrain, her voice soft like the kisses of a butterfly wings but as potent as a bee sting.
The very first time he had heard her laughter was on one of their trips into town to get more supplies. They had bought their goods and were walking back when a little boy, no older than eight ran up to Hinata, grabbed the ends of her kimono with his dirty hands, his pleading look hinting at his intention without a word. Sasuke expected her to swat the dirty little bagger away as it was customary of a lady of her status.
Instead, she knelt down, her hand digging into the inside of her backpack until they found a pack of red bean paste buns, took the boy's dirty little hands in her impossibly smooth ones and placed the buns in them. The boy had grinned at her with unrestrained gratitude and in the next instant was wrapping his dirty hands around her, sneaking his hands into the gaps of her hadajuban, and dirtying her kimono in the process but Hinata didn't seem to care. She smiled, returned his hug and gave his head a few soft pats.
And Sasuke had only stared and stared, at a loss for words. It was the first time he had seen softness in her eyes, the first time he had seen a ghost of a smile across her face and it was…beautiful. Like soft sunlight across a green meadow, bright and warm.
She must have felt his piercing gaze because she glanced up at him and Sasuke quickly turned away from her. Refusing to acknowledge that he had been caught staring like a love-struck fool.
"Are you dim-witted?" He asked, putting as much irritation in his voice as possible. "He stole your money."
She watched the boy ran from her, his skinny little legs doing its best to support his growing form but her smile did not faltered. "It's okay," she said. "He needs it more than I do."
"How much was in there?" asked Sasuke.
"Several months' worth of salary for the average shinobi."
Several months?! He gawked at her. She was crazy. For a brief scary moment, he wondered about the financial status of the Hyuuga household. I must rid her of that pathetic habit, he thought inwardly. There's no way I'll let her continued in those foolish benevolent acts with the Uchiha household. He frowned at the dangerous path his thought process was heading and shook his head to clear the unwanted thought. What was wrong with him?
"Besides," she turned to him, her smile widened and her eyes gleamed mischievously. "You have money."
Sasuke froze. His mind was completely devoid of anything but her smile…wait, did she just informed him she was planning to leeched off him from now on? He grunted and turned toward the gate. "Let's go, it's getting late."
She followed him, her rich laughter blowing in the wind, calling to him like the sweet song of a Siren but Sasuke resisted the urge to turn back. He faltered, allowed his eyes to slid shut for a moment; took a deep, aching breath, opened his eyes and continued walking. He refused to be undone by her laughter.
Since then he had taken special care to make sure that she had little opportunities for laughter in his presence. Her laughter was something that he cannot afford. It reminded him of all he had lost, all he had turned his back on. With her freely given smile, she was luring him into unknown territories and he hated her for it.
But with those brief unwelcome experiences, there was finally a breakthrough. Of course. He should have known. He had been foolish not to have noticed it. It was so clear right from the start. Hyuuga Hinata didn't value her life because she valued…the lives of others.
The boy was a civilian, barely nine, with a head of blond hair and the bluest pair of eyes Sasuke had ever laid eyes on. Sasuke smiled…he was perfect.
He kicked the door open and jerked the boy forward.
Startled, Hinata barely had time to register anything before she felt a pair of tiny hands grasped desperately at her, seeking anything to hold on to as a small voice cried hopelessly. Hinata pulled the crying child into her embrace, her arms circling him protectively.
Sasuke pulled Kusanagi from its sheath, his sword glistening in the moonlight.
She stared at him with horrified questioning eyes. Fear? Good, he had waited so long for it and for a moment Sasuke simply relished in it. "Give me what I want or the boy dies." He commanded.
Hinata's eyes widen in understanding. "You wouldn't…"
He smiled. A cruel and emotionless smile. "Watch me." Sasuke dug the tip of Kusanagi into the boy's right leg, drawing blood as the boy struggled, his hands instinctively reaching for the area and cried in agony when the movement only served to push the blade further into the bleeding flesh.
"Sasuke!" Hinata cried, her hands reaching out to protect the boy from his actions. "He's but a boy."
Sasuke ignored her and brushed her hands away with a hard sweep of his hand. He thrust his sword in deeper, slicing through the soft bleeding tissues like butter.
"Ahh!" the boy screamed. His hands clutched frantically at Hinata's clothing, tears ran down his face, and his body was drenched in sweat.
"Stop! Sasuke, please."
"Then give me what I want." He said simply. He sliced an inch here, an inch there, not really doing much damage but making each little cut felt.
"I…"
Hinata cared for the boy, too much. Her large pale eyes were awash with tears. She was hurting for some boy she never even set eyes on until a few seconds ago. Somehow, that made him angrier and he dug his sword in even deeper.
"Ahh!" The boy's face was pale, sweating, crying in pain, shaking in fear. He cried and begged for his life, clutching desperately to Hinata for protection.
He saw her resolve broke; her beautiful eyes glistened with tears and fear. "No," she cried, begged. "Please, Sasuke."
It was the first time he'd seen desperation in those gorgeous eyes. He looked down at her hand on his left leg and brushed it off. "It's useless to beg me."
Hinata made a sound, a choked whimper, before she whispered, "Please. No more."
He still seethed over what his assumptions and mistakes concerning her had cost him in personal gain. It was there in his eyes, in his expression, and he lifted Hinata's face in his hand, forcing her to see it. But his hand was not rough, even in his present anger because he knew he had won.
His voice, however, was harsh in questioning. "Will you give me what I want?"
Hinata sighed, hung her head in defeat. "I will."
Sasuke smiled at her answer and wiped the blood from Kusanagi with the ends of his black haori before placing Kusanagi back in its sheath.
He stared at the unconscious body of the boy and marveled at his work. He was not one for tortures, he preferred quick and clean kills but didn't mind getting his hands dirtied if it came down to it. He was surprised the boy lasted this long before fainting.
When he turned toward her, he was surprised that Hinata had moved away from him, her back was now against the wall, holding the kunai from his legging tightly in her fist. So she had not merely wanted to beg for the boy's life earlier when she had pleading placed her hand on him? Sasuke chuckled softly, slightly amused. She obviously didn't understand the definition of 'giving up.'
He raised an eyebrow at her. Was she planning to fight him? Surely, she was not dumb enough to start another battle she couldn't win. "Don't be ridiculous, Hyuuga."
Her hands tightened on the kunai. "You're doing this because you want me to write you another scroll, right?"
"Well, aren't you a smart one?" Sasuke smirked, his face cruel with harsh mockery.
Hinata ignored his insult. "I won't do it."
Was she so slow that she could not understand the hopelessness of her situation? "I don't think you have much of a choice. Unless you want the boy dead?"
"I won't give it to you," she whispered. "The shinobi world is finally at peace. If I give you the scroll, I'll only be condemning many more innocent lives to death. I'll never be able to forgive myself if I did." She raised the kunai to her chest, pointing the sharp end inward until it stabbed into her flesh through her kimono and hadajuban. "But I will not let you use the boy as a bargaining chip either."
He frowned. "What are you planning?" Even as he asked, he knew. He could see her intentions written clearly in her determined eyes. "Don't be stupid, Hinata."
She ignored him. "I can't stop you," she continued. "But if I'm gone, killing the boy would be pointless. You would gain nothing. And as evil as you might want me to believe you are. I do not believe for a moment that you would kill him pointlessly."
He shrugged. "And what makes you so sure? You know nothing about me. I might just kill the boy for spite," he said, keeping his voice as careless as possible.
Hinata took a deep breath, trying her best to stay true to her course but she could already feel the effects of the poison cursing through her body. "You are right. I do not know you and I do not understand why you do the things that you do."
Sasuke took a step toward her and Hinata quickly took a step back, winching in pain when her shoulders hit the hard wall, her eyes never leaving his. "But Naruto believes in you. And I believe in Naruto."
With as much as force as she could managed in her weakened state, she plugged the kunai into her left chest. The pain was excruciating and it was all Hinata could do not to scream in pain as she pulled the kunai out and thrust it back in once more. Clenching her teeth, she twisted the kunai deeper until she could go no further and then she forcefully pulled the kunai out inch by agonizing inch.
Sasuke watched in muted horror as Hinata staggered backward, the bloodied kunai slipped from her hand and clattered to the ground, the dreaded sound of metal against stone echoed throughout the room and hammered loudly in his ears. Blood, ruby red blood, flesh and warm, seeped forth. "Hinata!" he screamed, flinging Kusanagi aside. He was beside her in the next instant, the boy and his plan forgotten.
Wrapping his right arm around her waist as she collapsed weakly into his arms, his left hand immediately moved to cover the gaping wound on her chest, frantically applying enough pressure to stop the flow of blood. "You honorable idiot!" he chide. "Don't think I won't kill the boy if you die."
"Sasuke," Hinata whispered weakly. "No…"
But Sasuke was past hearing her. All he heard was the chaotic pounding of his beating heart. He laid her against the wall; his hands ripping her kimono and hadajuban into shreds as he searched his brain for any medical ninjutsu he knew. Sasuke was a fighter, not a healer, but over the years, he had learned the necessary healing techniques in order to survive.
"Don't die, Hinata," Sasuke whispered as he placed his hands on her chest, performing the Chaka no Mesu he learned from Kabuto. "If you die on me," he continued. "I'll…I'll…" He shook his head and tried to refocus his attention. He could feel the breath leaving her body. With each second he could see the light fading from her eyes.
"Don't die. Don't die. Don't die." He heard himself repeat over and over again. He ignored the desperation creeping into his voice, refused to acknowledge the weight of emotions that were now pounding through his head so hard he could hardly concentrate.
"I'll kill the boy. I'll kill every damn boy to ever grace my path!" He screamed at her. "Do you freaking hear, Hyuuga Hinata?! If you die on me, you better be counting on getting lots of playmates. No way am I sending you to Heaven alone!"
Hinata struggled to keep her eyes open, willed herself to remain conscious, and strained to listen to his words. He was talking to her. No, screaming at her but she could barely registered what he was saying. Everything was becoming numb and Hinata could barely keep her eyes open. She was dying. Naruto…
Sasuke resisted the urge to shake her awake and instead concentrated on healing her wound. She was the one in pain, she was the one poisoned, she was the one with a gaping wound in her chest but somehow it was his body that trembled, his hands that shook and his fears that he tasted.
He had sought out to destroy her, bend her to his will but as he collapsed next to her, exhausted from the loss of chakra, he realized with a sickening horror that it was his resolve that broke, his mask that shattered.
End Note: So? What do you think? This is why I don't write stories with plot…I'm just horrible at it. There was no smut this chapter but don't worry, the following chapters will have plenty. Please read and review.
Okay, so I tried looking for a beta and there were so many that I got overwhelmed and scared. If any of you know any beta that doesn't mind reading strong sexual content and can put up with horrible sentence structures and bad grammar, please let me know. Thanks!