Disclamer: Naruto and Shippuden belong to Masashi Kishimoto.
Theme song: Within Temptation.
Dedicated to Lady Veilchanblau, my beta reader.
Chapter 2: The Demon Within
"These flowers are beautiful... don't you agree, Amaya?"
"So the one I've been dreaming about was you all along, huh? I should've guessed, since the only person to ever call me that was you, princess." Hinata smiled at the woman sitting next to her.
The sun shone like it never had. The grass was lively- dancing with the rhythms of the kind breeze. Hinata felt at ease. When was the last time she had felt like this? She couldn't remember, but at that moment she cared about nothing, she let go of everything despite the many questions she wanted to ask.
"What's with that 'princess'? You've never had a problem calling me by my name, much to the elders' annoyance." The beautiful blonde woman giggled.
"I miss you, Shion." Hinata whispered, yet loud enough to be heard.
"Amaya," Her expression reflected sadness? "Flowers are one of the most beautiful things in this world. This," she said as she picked a yellow flower "is what we call a Marigold; beautiful, right?"
"Yes, very."
"Despite her beauty, in the language of flowers her name means cruelty, jealousy, grief and pain." Her eyes began to water, "even the prettiest things can actually be the ugliest. You're still young and naive, you've only seen the ugly side of this world and your pure heart might have been tainted. And that can be what pulls you up or what brings you down."
After a pregnant silence she continued. "Never lose sight of your goals. Ever."
Hinata's eyes widened as her companion started to fade away.
"Hey...!"
"Ah, it looks like my time is up." Giving a weak smile, she added, "see you next time."
With that, the beautiful scenery was replaced with a battlefield.
Looking nervously around, she found nothing but blood and corpses.
Her hands were stained. She started breathing heavily as she remembered exactly what happened. Hatred, blood, death and agony. She couldn't escape. She couldn't forget. She would never be able to forget.
Trembling, she started noticing movement from the dead corpses strewn around her. Their lifeless eyes made her sick.
Her demons were hunting her down.
She woke up with a scream. Sasuke woke immediately- alert to any threats.
After declaring them safe, he rushed to her side.
They were sleeping in an old cabin in the woods near Yamakita. Two days of traveling together had already passed, and each night she had wake up screaming.
"What happened?" He asked, trying to sound concerned.
He was never good with comforting people. And this time he cursed himself for it.
His brother's words still reasoned in his head 'power isn't the only thing in the world'.
She was holding her head with both of her hands, and when he tried to touch her, she flinched away from hm. "I'm fine... it was.. Just a nightmare."
"Are you sure? These nightmares are quite frequent."
"Forget it, please." She turned her head and laid down again, "I want to sleep."
She heard no reply.
-:-:-:-:-
"Ummh! These are delicious" Cried a happy Hinata. "Oba-san, another one please!"
"Right away my dear," responded the old owner of the dango shop, "Here you go." Taking a sneaky peak at Sasuke, she smiled. "Love is a beautiful thing. Enjoy yourselves when you're still young."
Hinata took a moment to consider her words, and then she understood what she meant. She could feel herself getting redder by the minute.
Taking a glimpse at Sasuke, who was silently eating his dango, she noticed how serene his face looked right now.
He was a mysterious man. During their travel, she tried befriending him, but he only pushed her away. She often talked to him, but all he would reply was a simple 'hn'. What did 'hn' mean anyway? 'Yes'? 'No'? 'I don't know'? Or was it his way of telling her 'shut up'?
Having that arrogant attitude didn't help either. Maybe he was a traumatized child with an icy past, and an intriguing character. Yet, as much as she wanted to know more about him, she didn't want to read his mind. It wasn't something she liked doing. People had secrets and fears they want to keep to themselves, she knew that more than anyone else.
"Stop staring at me, chibi."
"I wasn't staring. And quit it with your 'chibi'. It's H.I.N.A.T.A!"
"I think chibi suits you more." He said, teasingly.
She looked at him with puffed out cheeks. "To begin with, I am older than you! I'm over six centuries when you clearly still didn't make it to your second. So respect your elders a little!"
"Fine. Then I should call you grandma, don't you think?" He smirked. Annoying her amused him.
"Why you-" she tried protesting but he put a dango stick in her mouth to shut her up. "Finish this one and let's go, we're only two days away from Edo. We have to make it to the next village for the night."
Finishing the last one, she stood up, grabbed her bag, and ran to catch up with him.
And then, curiosity stuck her.
"Say," she started as she walked next to him "why did you join Nurarihyon's Hyakki Yako?"
He didn't respond.
'That was too personal.' She thought, regretting asking it immediately.
"It's a long story." he responded, simply.
She looked at him with mixed emotions.
"I am looking for the Kyuubi, as you know, and Nurarihyon is the only one capable of helping me. Of course, I must do some things for him in return." He explained, looking beyond the horizon.
"I see..." She said timidly, recognizing that look on his face. She'd dug into a sensitive spot. And she hated herself for that.
Curiosity killed the cat.
He didn't look angry, but she had obviously reminded him of something painful.
"What about you?"
"Huh?" She looked at him with wide eyes
"When did you awaken?"
After days of travel, he was now willing to know more about her? Or was he just looking for an easy way to change the subject?
"T-Two weeks ago"
"But you said that your clan has been waking up for a few years now?" He raised a brow.
"Yes, that's the truth. It's just that we didn't all wake up at once. Some woke up a few years ago, some are waking up in this exact moment, and some are still sleeping."
'Hanabi, how are you doing right now?' She thought.
"So tell me, how much did the yokai world change?" She asked.
"Other clans have risen..." He didn't know what to say exactly, since the current world of yokai was the same when he was born, and he didn't know how things were in her era.
"Maybe you should ask Nurarihyon later, he'd be able to answer you"
"Hum... Yeah, sure." She answered, smiling.
-:-:-:-:-
It was almost sunset when they made it to a little village down Mt. Hakusan, whose inhabitants could be counted with bare hands.
As they walked down its alley, they noticed people looking at them- terrified; women closing their windows violently, parents hiding their children. The hostility was eerily evident.
On the extremity of the main road there was an inn in which they decided to stay for the night.
"Excuse me," Sasuke called, entering the inn.
Hinata stood behind him silently as an old man appeared.
"Welcome," he saluted with a dry tone.
"We would like a room."
"I'm sorry, but we are out of vacancies." He said, avoiding eye contact.
"But the sign at the entrance says otherwise."
He noticed that the old man was doubtful. Fear was present in his eyes.
"Please mister," Hinata interjected, "we've been travelling all day. We'll be leaving tomorrow. Even a tiny room would do."
He looked at them suspiciously. "You two married?"
"We are," responded Sasuke as he put his hand around her shoulders, which caused Hinata's cheeks to redden
The old man sighed then called over his shoulder, "Hey, Inari, come here!"
"Yes, grandpa?" A young boy appeared from behind a door to the left of the counter.
Upon seeing the customers his attitude changed to one of animosity.
"Take them to room number six."
"But granp-"
"Do it," the older man ordered.
"My name is Tazuna, I am the inn's owner. This is my grandchild, Inari. If you need anything call him. Dinner will be served in half an hour, and after that you can't leave your rooms. There's a strict curfew. Clear?"
"Yes. Thank you." Hinata smiled and bowed her head politely.
"Please, follow me!" Interrupted the young Inari.
Walking behind the boy Hinata noticed that the inn was bigger than she expected. Passing by the garden she saw rabbits running to their hole. Her contemplation was interrupted by the boy's speech. "This is your room."
He slid open the doors to a normal sized room that wasn't very furnished. Again, it was only a little village- it surely didn't have many visitors. For her, it was more than enough.
"I will bring you dinner later. If you want to shower or wash yourselves, the onsen is in front, and if you do then do it now, because leaving your rooms after dinner is prohibited."
Putting her bag on the floor after Inari left, she watched Sasuke analyze their new environment.
"I-I am going to the onsen."
"Hn."
Hinata took a last glimpse at him before closing the doors behind her.
Entering the women's side she took off her clothes to cover herself with a towel and pulled her hair into a messy bun. She made her way down to the onsen and checked its temperature with her tiptoes. When she felt ready she took off the towel and slowly got into the water.
It felt good. No, it felt great! It was absolutely transcendent, unifying, calming, and healing.
It had been a while since she'd been to an onsen. Actually, it had been centuries. Since she woke up she had only had time for reunions with the elders, or taking care of her clansmen. Not that it annoyed her; she gladly followed her obligations. But while she had to look after everyone else, she felt abandoned.
She had to be there for all of them. She was their pillar; but she didn't have a pillar for herself. In the past it was either Shion and Hanabi or Neji. But now... she had no one.
Sighing, she started to swim to wipe away unnecessary thoughts, but it didn't help.
'What did you mean, Shion? What, exactly, happened to make you like that? What in the world happened during the sixty days carnage?' She thought.
"The prettiest things can actually be the ugliest..." She sighed. "How can that be?"
"It simply can't." A familiar voice replied.
"Ehh! S-Sasuke?" The indigo haired maiden was startled for a second.
"I'm on the other side, idiot."
"Ohh... I see."
After a long silence he continued "There's nothing like that."
"Huh?" She frowned, not quite understanding what he was talking about.
"There aren't beautiful things that are actually ugly, because everything is ugly. No matter how good people are, they all have a demon within. Either they chose to awaken it, or just let it sleep."
After a deep breath he carried on. "Everything is ugly. This world in itself is ugly. Nothing is fair. Everything will go back to darkness."
She felt a cold sweat running down her spine.
"Sasuke..."
"Yeah, I know." he muttered.
Then she let out a stifled cry. Something grabbed her by her feet and shoulders and tried to make her drown, with no warning Sasuke pulled her up.
And there she was, in his hands, in all her naked glory. For a second she thought that embarrassment would kill her.
"You okay?" He asked handing her a towel.
"Mmh…" She mumbled as she hastily pulled the towel around her. "Yokai?"
"No... Ghosts." Sasuke stood firmly glancing around. "Tch... I can't find them. This is why I hate ghosts they have no scent. Let's get out of here."
"Y-yeah..." She shyly walked behind him, noticing that he had a towel around his waist.
"Thank God... I thought he was naked" For a second she turned even redder. God knows why...
Omake:
With no warning Sasuke pulled her up.
And there she was in his hands in all her naked glory. For a second she thought that embarrassment would kill her.
...
"Cuuuuuut! Hey, you perverts! Why did you stop, the act isn't over yet!" An angry marshmallow with glasses, and rabbit ears from behind the camera cried out.
"Seriously if you keep it up just go and get a room." She added fixing her glasses
"D-director-san!" A very embarrassed Hinata cried.
"Hn." responded Sasuke.
Did he just say 'yes'?
"We've made it this far so keep it up don't make Hinata even more uneasy Sasuke. Making her act with only a towel around her was very hard you know."
Yeah, Hinata wasn't naked; it was all fake, the vapor made it easy to trick the viewers.
The marshmallow sighed, "When she didn't faint you wanted to make out…"
"W-w-what are you t-talking about director-san!"
"The way you just screamed, was very moe Hinata. I believe Sasuke just had a nosebleed." Smirked the marshmallow.
"Eeeeeh!"
Sasuke turned his face.
"Now, we have to re-do the scene and... LOOK AT THE TIME! We have to finish quickly or Lady Veilchenblau will be angry at me!" The marshmallow cried, letting out a scream of horror.
Sitting on a chair, a book in a hand, and tea in the other, responded a living beauty, "Oh no, I'm super patient so don't worry about sticking to times." Smiling like an angel.
"Don't say it so sweetly pleaaaase! You'll make them even lazier!"
"Actually... I think the lazy one here is you," Said as a matter of fact Lady Veilchenblau.
"You... serious?"
A/N:
*Yamakita: is a town located in Kanagawa Prefecture.
*Mt. Hakusan: is a potentially active volcano, located on the borders of Gifu, Fukui and Ishikawa prefectures in Japan. Along with Mount Tate and Mount Fuji, it is one of Japan's "Three Holy Mountains"
*Onsen: hot springs.
Nolifenomoney: Thank you :)
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