A.N.: First of all, sorry for the long hiatus! I'm not abandoning the story, 'kay? I got an ouchie in my arms that kept me from writing until a few days ago (I only had about 2K words written up until that). Yep, an ouchie, deal with it. I'm a writer, I can do what I want. /sarcasm
Last chapter of the first arc! (Duh.)
Warning: a little of Barebones' insanity slipped in here. There are semi-vague descriptions of some bad stuff, a whole load of implications and all that jazz. Is "articulate 6-7 year olds" a valid warning, I wonder? Aside from that, the narration might be confusing as hell, but it should be understandable - this is an intended feature, fret not (unless I fucked up and it just makes no sense).
Thank you so much for the silent and verbal support you've given me. I'm very inspired to keep writing, and I'm glad to be back!
.| ARC I | Haru | CHAPTER 3 | Sazanami |.
Hinata tucks herself away, using a conveniently shaped tree as her cover, as the screams fill the flower field. Her fingers tense around the empty bento box, her head low and body hunched defensively. She has to remind her jittery self that this has nothing to do with her. She didn't do anything wrong.
But she could have stopped them, so it's still her fault, somehow.
It's just that Ino and Sakura have started to fight a lot lately. She doesn't really know the reason why, but the tension has been in the air for a week. In their eyes, Hinata herself has become a lot jumpier and mostly mute, but it really is hard to feel at ease when there is hostility and subtle warfare flying between her two friends at all times.
They become so spaced out that, half the time, they don't even notice if she slinks away and shelters herself from the worst of it.
"Why do you always have to be so bossy! You're so annoying!" shrieks Sakura, probably with her hands on her hips and a pout on her expression. Hinata flinches a little bit, and so desperately hopes to never mess up (whatever Ino did), so that this anger won't be directed at her. She doesn't think she could survive something like that.
"What?! You're the one who's been all up in my business, lately!" retorts Ino, and Hinata can picture the Yamanaka girl holding her flowers with a tad too much force. They never hit each other or anything like that, but this is just as bad.
"That's because you're all over everything I do! Just…! Just leave us alone, Ino-pig!"
There is the rustling of clothes, and Hinata dares to take a peek over her esteemed tree. Sakura pushes the dumbfounded Ino, making her lose her balance and fall to the ground. The pinkette's eyes are full of tears, her whole body shaking; it's all hurt and anger, but where did it come from?
Sakura seems to debate her next action for a few seconds, her lips halfway parted as if she wanted to keep speaking, but she never does. She just shakes her head and turns away from Ino with a stomp.
What happened to make her like this?
"Hina-chan!" Sakura calls out, and the Hyūga feels terribly tempted to hide again and pretend she isn't there. But Sakura will probably be mad at her if she does that, because what kind of person hides from their best friend?
Shaking her head minutely, Hinata resolves herself to come out. She hasn't done anything wrong… right? Sakura won't be angry at her. Her heartbeat keeps jolting, leaving an unpleasant sensation in her chest that she is altogether too familiar with, but she steps from behind her cover regardless.
Who is she trying to fool? Hinata is absolutely terrified. Sakura and Ino are her world, and seeing them fight… It just breaks everything to pieces. She doesn't know how to stand, or breathe, or what to do. Who should she side with? Who, of the two people she has put on a beloved altar, is being bad? Are they both in the wrong? Her guideline is broken, and she doesn't know what to hold onto.
"Y-yes?" she utters, aware of Sakura's eyes falling on her, but unable to meet the girl's gaze. Isn't that rude, though? Shouldn't she look up? Centimeter by centimeter, Hinata raises her head and forces herself to face the person she admires most. Why is she even trying to hide it? She's so scared that she can't think.
"I'm not gonna be friends with Ino anymore! Are you coming or not?"
Hinata's eyes widen, and her gaze jumps between her two favorite people at dizzying speed. Ino seems surprised as well, because she stands up and points an accusatory finger at Sakura, much faster than the Hyūga herself can manage to respond.
"What?! Sakura, what's gotten into you?" exclaims the blonde, with none of her usual self-assured posture. Hinata sees the tremble in her arm, the pain in her eyes. The fear and confusion that are plaguing her own heart. Ino looks lost.
Sakura purses her lips, turning to her best friend in a whirl. "Ya should know! I- I don't wanna to be in your shadow anymore! I won't let ya take everything away, Ino! We should be rivals from now on, and one day I'll beat ya!"
Hinata's fingers seize, her gaze darting to the box held in her hands. Is it because… because she burdened Sakura?
How much did she hurt Sakura, without even knowing? How could she be so oblivious? You did this, you did this, you did this… The voice rises in her head, full of hatred and contempt, and she remembers that one fateful night, abruptly pulled away from the present with unforgiving force.
...His hands were covered in blood, light clothes stained with stinking entrails, yet he still managed to move so silently that not a single floorboard creaked. Looming over her like a harbinger of death, that deranged look in his eyes, the rest of his expression cold as stone.
You did this.
Hinata's hands fly to her head, a shriek escaping her lips before she can contain it. The bento box falls to the ground, and her knees hit the grass a second later. Someone calls her name, but the echoes of that night are the only thing she can hear.
She curls up tighter when she feels a hand on her shoulder, but there isn't any pain or scathing words filled with hatred. A familiar smell floods her nostrils, almost indistinguishable from all the other flowery scents of the meadow. Something warm wraps around her immobile body, and the embrace leaves her breathless.
Sakura was the first person to ever touch her so closely, yet with so much affection. No one had ever professed such a desire for physical contact, without harmful intent. Those who hurt her always backed off like she was tainted... But the pinkette has never missed a chance to comfort her, forever firm and reassuring.
It's because of this that the gesture feels welcoming, even though it catches her off-guard and it's scary at first. The flashes of that night scroll past Hinata's eyes, but her senses of touch and smell keep her grounded in the present.
Instead of being swept up by the maelstrom of memory and emotion, the Hyūga takes a deep, shuddering breath, her hands tightening around Sakura's shoulders. Her lifeline.
"Did we upset you?" mutters Sakura, her voice soft in contrast with the other ones.
Hinata shakes her head vehemently, eyes shut and body wracked by tremors.
"You gotta breathe better, Hina-chan." That's Ino, a little off to the side. She sounds like she isn't sure what to do for once. "I can count it for you, okay?"
Sakura doesn't say anything, her own heart sped up to uncomfortable levels. Hinata can feel it against her chest, beating erratically. The pinkette's hands rub between her shoulderblades in slow, circular motions, even though her fingers are trembling.
Time dissolves into a messy stream of memories, and there is nothing in the world but them for what feels like an eternity. Sakura doesn't seem to mind the wet mess over her pretty dress, or how her clothes are stained. When they finally separate, it's not because she got tired of it, but because Hinata's eyes have finally come back to focus.
The world is altogether too bright, and there are wisps of chakra dancing in her sight. She blinks a few times to disperse the Byakugan fully, and then exhaustion catches up to her, causing the girl to lose her balance. Two pairs of hands reach out to her, helping to gently lower her to the ground.
"It's alright now, Hina-chan. We're here with you."
Hinata stares up at the two girls near her. Their anger is gone, replaced by genuine concern over her person; for once, she doesn't think that interrupting them is a bad thing. Sakura and Ino smile at her almost in unison, and then they stare at each other, puzzled by their timing. They burst into a fit of giggles, their argument gone and forgotten, and plop down on the ground by Hinata's sides.
"That was so dumb…"
Sakura lowers her head in shame, and Ino's lips draw a lopsided frown, even as she counts the numbers for Hinata's breaths to follow. The Hyūga girl stiffens a little, literally in the middle of everything, and wonders if they will start arguing again.
She misses the accomplice glint in her friends' eyes, behind her hunched form, as their gazes meet in response to her tension. They nod to each other, and then simultaneously place their hands on her shoulders. Hinata looks at them in confusion, but their eyes are bright and their smiles genuine.
"We're not gonna fight like that again," Sakura promises her, and she means it. "Friends should help each other, always."
"Yah," Ino interjects, speaking after a very long time in the silence. Her voice has the slightest tremble. She hesitates for an instant before her next words, but she sounds slightly more confident now. "If we fight, we're being mean to you, Hina-chan. No more. Promise."
Ino offers a hand to Sakura, well in sight of Hinata's eyes, and the pinkette takes it after a heartbeat of hesitation. Their fingers curl into the Seal of Reconciliation.
"Promise."
The Uchiha clan has always been renowned for their visual prowess. They are always alert and observant, catching the most minute of details, even without their Sharingan. Few know that their other senses are dulled, as a countermeasure to their inhuman sight.
Sasuke notices the very day that someone stops watching his every move. From his desk, he takes a brief, inconspicuous glance at the rest of the classroom. Sakura Haruno has her back turned to him, engrossed in a conversation with Hinata Hyūga.
There is mild, detached curiosity at this. Despite the renowned eyes that the last Hyūga possesses, she is the only girl in the class that doesn't watch him like a chibi hawk. Maybe it rubbed off on Haruno.
Itachi said that he could take his 'situation' with his female peers as training: it will help him get used to being alert when undercover. Sasuke, who hypes for any sort of training like there's no tomorrow, took his words to heart. It's his only consolation.
Still, if Hyūga could spread this anomaly to the entire class, he would be infinitely grateful. He never did like being watched.
"Oi, what's the answer to this one? It's not that I don't know, I'm just making sure you do." Sasuke feels the urge to slam his forehead against the desk. He really wishes Naruto could follow Sakura's steps as well. Dulled sense of hearing or not, this kid is too loud.
"Hey, mom, I know it's against the rules, but…"
Sakura's conviction evaporates almost in its entirety when the moment of truth arrives. She twiddles with her fingers, trying to keep her eyes somewhere near her mother's face. On the other side of the table, her father peeks over a newspaper with blatant curiosity.
"Can I bring Hina-chan over? For her birthday."
Mebuki Haruno exhales just a little harder than it's necessary, exchanging a glance with her husband. Kizashi frowns minutely and then shrugs with nonchalance. Sakura pushes rice around her plate, extremely uncomfortable. She doesn't like to question authority figures, but some slivers of her determination still remain.
After all, Sakura still remembers Hinata's surprised stuttering when she offered to celebrate her birthday. It is unacceptable that the Hyūga hasn't had a proper party, or at least, can't remember it. No one should spend their birthday alone, especially not in the creepy Hyūga compound.
It was the smile that got to her. Hinata really looked like she was about to cry, and Sakura panicked and flailed around for a few moments, until her friend assured her that she was just so immensely happy.
It's worth a try.
"Please, I don't want her to be lonely…" Sakura pleads, regaining her spirits. She couldn't imagine Hinata spending a day so special on her own. "If it's not okay to celebrate here, I'll go to her house instead." Even though she hates the old compound. She cares about Hinata that much. Her mother looks at her skeptically. "I'll do more chores? And… and I'll eat everything on the plate." Haggling with her diet on the table is a desperate, last-resource measure.
"Alright, alright," concedes her mother, bringing up a hand to halt Sakura's nervous blabber. "But only when your father and I are home." The pinkette nods a bit too fast, smiling with visible excitement. She practically bounces away from the table, settling the dishes in the kitchen sink.
She doesn't see the way Mebuki's shoulders sag and her eyes turn downcast. She misses Kizashi's heavy sigh and comforting pat on his wife's back. Sakura doesn't even hear the hopeless it will be okay.
Friendship means sacrifice. So, choose your friends carefully, Sakura-chan, just like your fights.
The words echo in Sakura's mind, spoken to her by her gravelly father. Back then, she didn't understand what it really meant. She does now, though, after making a promise to always stand by her friends.
She isn't brave enough to confess the truth to Ino, but she resolves to follow her word to the end. After all, it's what honorable people do, and she wants to be like that, one day. She gives up a dream in silence, tucking it away somewhere it won't be a nuisance.
Sakura would be surprised about how fast she forgets it, if she could remember what was so important to begin with.
Sacrifice, she decides, isn't a bad thing. It means you have something worth fighting for. So she isn't sad to let go, not when she thinks of Ino's bellowing laughter and Hinata's tiny smiles.
A powerful emotion blooms in her chest after she tells them that they can celebrate Hinata's birthday together. The last of the Hyūga can't breathe for a moment, but after a few instants (and a poke from Ino), she blushes fiercely, and bows fast enough to make her back ache in protest.
Hinata's eyes are slightly moist with tears, but neither Ino nor Sakura can remember ever seeing a smile so wide on her face. It's in this moment the pinkette tells herself I made the right choice.
Ino has her birthday a week after that. She is the only person that Sakura is allowed to have a sleepover with, and only in rare occasions. Hinata, despite their crestfallen expressions, insists that she has to go back home to 'tend to the garden', so she can't spend the night with them.
"Maybe we can sleep at your house, Hina-chan?" Sakura inquires. "Since it's empty..."
Ino looks absolutely mortified at her words, as if she could not believe that someone can be so absolutely tactless. Hinata flinches in a rather visible manner. Their reactions clue Sakura in, and understanding dawns in her eyes, intermixed with horror.
"Oh! I'm so sorry, Hina-chan, I… I didn't mean it like that!" she splutters, her face redder than a tomato and her hands firmly clasped in a nervous tic. "I meant that you don't… well, you don't have to spend the day alone. It's a ce-… err, celebration."
The blonde Yamanaka sighs in both relief and exasperation, nodding along. "Yeah. If you think it's a bother, stop that: I'd like to have my friends with me on my birthday," she adds, quickly nipping one of Hinata's worries in the bud.
"I'm n-not offended, it's alright," mutters Hinata, because she can't stand watching Sakura flagellate herself over something like this. The relief in her friend's eyes is enough to calm down Hinata's racing heartbeat. There is a hopeful glint in Sakura's eyes, and the Hyūga already knows that she won't be able to say no a second time. "I… I s-suppose it's okay. I'd- I'd like to be with you, too."
Sakura cheers, throwing a fist up in the air.
Somewhere in the background of her ensuing apology, a dream fades into nothingness, and another one begins to bloom.
Hinata has always been aware of her nightmares, but she didn't know they were bad enough to cause her friends to stare in pure shock. She wakes up, a sheen of sweat making her clothes stick to her body, a look of panic on her face. Her eyes dart from Ino's face to Sakura's, and she stumbles over her apologies for waking them up.
Sakura holds her hands, rubbing Hinata's fingers until they loosen and let go of the sheets, and they end up tangled in an unsteady hold.
A spasm makes Hinata's entire body go tense, her eyes unfocused and following the movement of things that aren't hiding in the dark. Despite the painful pressure, Sakura doesn't let go. Ino nods at her, and quickly makes her way out of the room, in search of tea. For all her social blunders, Sakura seems to know how to deal with Hinata's attacks best.
The wooden, sparsely furnished room feels eerily silent and empty. Something seems to loom over them like a phantom menace. The pinkette swallows her unease at the unnatural emptiness, her thumbs stroking the back of Hinata's hands, like her parents do with her. She whispers disconnected words of reassurance, kneeling next to Hinata's hunched form, waiting for the worst of it to pass.
Sakura knows that, when panic is at its height, few things can dent the overwhelming cloak that fogs up the brain. Hinata seems to notice her after a few minutes, and her only reaction is to practically jump towards the pinkette, holding on for her dear life.
Ino manages to goad Hinata into taking a few small sips of her tea before it goes completely cold. Sakura has difficulty disentangling herself from her friend; Hinata herself seems reluctant to let go, her small hands now holding the cup lifelessly.
The Hyūga raises her eyes when she hears a sniffle, only to find Sakura crying. Hinata's jaw comes slightly unhinged, her cup shaking dangerously in her tremulous hands. Her throat is too hoarse to speak, but she doesn't need to say anything. Ino can only stare.
"N-no, Hina-chan. I-it's not your... fault," Sakura hiccups, wiping away her tears, though it's a moot effort. She smiles a little, just to show that it's fine, but the gesture looks completely off. "It's okay to be scared," she continues, quoting her parents and quite grateful for having them. Hinata doesn't have any family.
That Neji isn't family, for sure, not after what he did to his clan. There is a spark of anger towards him, but Sakura's mind is occupied with someone much more important.
Ino looks oddly calm, the most composed out of the three, and she nods to herself. It was a good idea to get tea for everyone, after all. They're going to need it.
"Hina-chan," Ino starts, as softly as possible. "What happened?"
It could mean 'what did you dream?', but it's not that. Hinata seems to understand this much, because she jerks her head toward the Yamanaka, faster than she has ever moved. Her eyes are full of shifting emotions, and Ino is quick to add: "You don't have to tell if you don't want. But we're your friends, we're going to worry about you anyway. It's just that, if you tell, maybe we'll be able to help you better."
Sakura nods shakily, taking Ino's handkerchief to clean the mess on her face (and she is grateful that Ino is so good at planning ahead) and forming a slightly more assured smile. Hinata's gaze shifts from one face to the other in contemplation, her fingers absently rapping on the ceramic cup.
"I…" Hinata starts, her eyes firmly glued to her tea. "Are you o-okay with that? If I t-tell you… you won't be mad?" There is a desperate glint in her eyes, which only Ino catches. The waver in her voice, however, is something even Sakura notices. They both shake their heads at the same time, without an ounce of doubt.
"It's okay," Ino assures her, just for good measure, quickly compiling all the data on an imagined desk in her head. This is going to be her first serious psychological evaluation. She just barely reached the age of seven, but she is a ninja - shinobi are always precocious when it comes to maturity in behavior and thought.
Hinata takes a deep breath, steeling herself for the task at hand. It's not that she doesn't trust her friends; it just feels wrong to confess things like these. Her sins. Her fatal failures. Her weaknesses that people have picked on-
No. Ino came to her house just to be with her on her own birthday. Sakura snuck around her parents' restrictions to be here, instead of leaving her alone, even though she doesn't like breaking the rules.
They deserve the truth, even if… even if it scares Hinata to death. She can only believe in them; believe that they won't abandon her, no matter how bad she is.
"Alright…" the Hyūga whispers, pushing through the emotions that choke the air out of her. "M-my family... " Hinata bites the insides of her cheeks, her throat closing up. "My family… had a very special Seal: the Caged Bird Curse." And they would be so, so angry if they knew that she is revealing its secrets to outsiders… "E-every Branch member had it. It protected the Byakugan, destroying it when they died. I… I didn't know, but it was used to enslave them as well."
Sakura's eyes brighten up in recognition, but she doesn't speak. Hinata takes a sip of her tea, trying to ease the knot in her throat, but the sense of guilt doesn't go away. The Hyūga's perfect enunciation is at odds with her childish features and small voice, creating an odd ambience. The room is deathly silent.
"It- It could be used to punish them as well, so they would always serve the Main house," she continues. "My cousin…" Can't say that name. "H-h-he was b-born in the Branch family. He was a genius, b-but he was branded and put aside. I didn't…" Her breath escapes in a shudder, and Hinata speaks so fast that it's almost impossible to understand her words. "I didn't know, I was so little, I didn't know how awful it must have been." I'm so sorry...!
She was so ignorant of something so cruel, a willing participant of it. She never did anything to stop it, even when Neji stepped out of line and was punished for it. She thought it was normal. That it was fine.
That must be why she can't remember doing something bad enough to earn so much hatred. But, if what he said is right… maybe, it's just because she was the heiress to such a terrible system, the product and representation of all the things wrong with the Hyūga.
She's just as bad as the rest of them. She would have been another monster if she had grown up with them, so ignorant and cruel. It is her fate, and she was punished for all of her sins.
"Sakura, you… you know it already. That girl wasn't lying," Hinata adds, her shoulders slouching in defeat. Her voice is high-pitched and uneven, but she has to finish this. It's the least she can do.
"My cousin… cleansed the clan. The classmates that had seen him suffer and did nothing. He k-killed the ones… the ones who graduated, because ninja should defend justice, not… not be sheep in a herd. Sheep aren't individuals, thus, they don't deserve mercy, because they have no future." Just like Hinata. Her voice is near its breaking point, but she is close, so close…
"And I… I was spared, because death was too good for me... death could not wipe away my sins. I…! I lived j-just b-because I should atone for our c-clan! B-because… it's my fate to bear their burdens, so I will, even after their deaths!"
Hinata's voice cracks and a sob wracks her entire body, the memories of that day replaying in her mind like clockwork. The Byakugan can process so much more information than the Sharingan, with an unholy level of accuracy… It is only logical that it would be decidedly better at retaining it. She remembers every single detail.
The screams are muted, and her body only barely retains the sensation of the physical pain. The images, however, are vivid and taunting. They have been burned in her eyes so deeply that she sees them even now. The ghastly figures dance around the room, replaying a battle that was never fair and always ended in gore.
He punished every single one of them. The monsters and the sheep, equally, one instance of torture for each of their sins. He said that nobody should be forgotten, not even demons. Otherwise, their crimes would be absolved. He burned it all in her brain, in her eyes, branding her with a different type of curse. After all, he had methods to ensure Hinata would always remember.
Who could have known that a genius would figure out how to make bodies blow up from the inside out, abusing of the Byakugan's proficiency and his own unparalleled strength? That he would be able to put an entire household to sleep with a genjutsu, only to wake them up one by one… dragging a terrified Hinata to each and every room?
Her eyes burn, vision blurry and spanning the entirety of the Hyūga's compound. In each room, she sees one slow and methodical murder. No one helped. No one even noticed what was going on, until it was too late. The Uchiha policemen arrived at midday, when the Hyūga shinobi were reported to have disappeared en masse.
They found her in a pool of blood and entrails, clutching the tattered remains of her nightgown and halfway past death's gate. She can't remember anything for weeks after that, but everything of that day is so vivid… And now, it's as if she was reliving it once more.
There are no words capable of encompassing this nightmare. The world loses its consistency around her, shimmering in bursts of chakra. She can't hear the silence, only the bubbling screams of her memories. Her sense of tact goes completely numb, and there is only the horror she sees, repeated over and over, in each and every room of the compound.
And then, it all fades to black and she collapses lifelessly.
Naruto Uzumaki doesn't understand the meaning of boundaries or rules. To him, everything is an obstacle to overcome. He has driven teachers to tears and given them sore throats by stubbornness alone (including his 'skill' in forgetting any and every theoretical explanation).
It is thus only natural that the Uchiha are his mortal enemies. People who think he is beneath, just because they are naturally good, piss him off beyond belief. He will show them who's boss, believe it!
For this reason, he was initially rather miffed with the monthly checkups that they do on him. He has been told in clear terms that psychological evaluations are required for aspiring shinobi, and so far no one has said a peep about him being inadequate, so it's a small victory. He'll take what he can get, even if those spinning eyes are creepy.
However, he kind of (maybe) likes- no, approves of Shisui Uchiha (also known as Girly-Lashes, which is one of Naruto's best nicknames to the date). It's a matter of competition: he has never managed to truly outrun Shisui. He can give most ninja a run for their money, something he is inordinately proud of, but this one Uchiha is fast as hell and never lets him escape from their sessions.
Maybe, just maybe, he actually likes the challenge (and he also gets to miss class sometimes, like today).
That's why, the morning Shisui doesn't appear to drag him out of a bush, Naruto starts to feel a little bit angry. Has he been abandoned? (A little voice in the back of his head feels a pang of anguish. What if Shisui ditched him, like most people do?).
Naruto shakes his head, resolving himself to stomp all the way to Shisui's house and tell him things straight. Even if the Uchiha doesn't like him, he still should show up for the evaluations. It's fine if people don't want to spend time with him (it's not), but Naruto knows that this is too much.
Besides, no one dares to demean him and gets away with it!
He lets himself in once he reaches Shisui's house, not too surprised to see Sasuke sulking on the bench of the lobby. Shisui's residence has been adapted to receive the visitors who need evaluations, so it feels more like a hospital waiting room than anything else. Despite the presence of his self-proclaimed rival, the room smells clean and familiar, just like always.
"Oi, bastard," Naruto greets, without much enthusiasm. Sasuke pretends to ignore him for about half a minute, but the Uzumaki boy knows that the façade won't last. Sasuke always gets pissy when his brother doesn't pay attention to him, and that happens despite his best efforts to tail Itachi everywhere. "Is Shisui home?"
At the mention of the one boy who steals the most of his brother's time, Sasuke frowns, glaring at Naruto. It's not that the young Uchiha is a dick, per se, but Naruto just loves to piss him off. Vexed Uchiha, the most amusing of human expressions.
"They're busy, so stop being so loud and wait," Sasuke spits out, turning his head toward the second door. 'They' is definitely Itachi and Shisui, judging by Sasuke's distaste. "Haruno, Hyūga and Yamanaka are with them."
Naruto's brows furrow. Sakura-chan is here? Shisui said that only special people need evaluations, so why would she be in this place? Maybe she's just there as moral support for one of the other two… Girls do that, right? They go everywhere together.
He would know. He hasn't been able to approach Sakura in a while, because she is always flanked by Ino and Hinata.
The Uzumaki paces around the room, much to Sasuke's consternation. Naruto can't stand still, and Sasuke feels himself getting uneasy with these antics. Barely ten minutes later, the blond punches his own palm, startling Sasuke out of his reverie. "That's it! I'm gonna spy on them and see what they're doing. Wanna tag along?"
Sasuke scoffs; a vaguely insulting mutter escapes his lips, and the boy dismisses Naruto with a nonchalant gesture. Not a minute after Naruto runs off, there is muffled, high-pitched yelling in the vicinity, and the second door slides open very quickly. The aforementioned Uzumaki is flung through it before he can finish his protests, but he doesn't get up when he hits the floor.
The door closes before Sasuke can see who is on the other side, and he needs about five seconds to blink and process what just happened. He stares at Naruto, expecting some sort of explanation, but his not-friend looks oddly pale, almost sick.
A shiver courses their bodies when a wave of chakra surges from the wood of the door. A complicated design of black ink spreads through its surface like an animated spider web. Sasuke knows from experience that Shisui only does this when he needs absolutely everything to stay out of an evaluation, insulating himself in his own little world.
The timing is appropriate: Naruto jumps to his feet a second later, dashing toward the door and already bellowing a string of obnoxious demands. "HEY! WHAT THE HELL?! WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO THEM!" His fists are about to collide against the door when he is flung back by a burst of chakra, sent sprawling on the floor once more. "SHISUI, YOU BASTARD! OPEN THE DOOR!"
Sasuke flinches at the volume, an annoyed sneer on his lips. Before Naruto can charge pointlessly once more, he finally decides to step up and grab him by his shoulders. The Uchiha shakes Naruto roughly, making the boy's head loll back and forth for an instant, but the blond quickly retaliates by holding onto his rival's arms and trying to push him away.
"Naruto!" Sasuke yells, eyes wide open and flashing red. Naruto's muscles go slack on pure instinct. Something in the blond boy's gut churns and coils with immeasurable tension for an instant, and then goes numb and soft.
What was he doing again?
"Naruto," Sasuke repeats, lower this time. He tries to blink away the odd blur in his sight, and finally manages to focus his gaze. Naruto's blue eyes are listless for a few seconds, and he looks quite dazed. "What did you do? What's happening?"
Naruto looks like he is only hearing gibberish instead of actual words, quite like how a class tends to go for him, but after a moment he blinks and returns to his typical, overly exuberant expression. However, there is a heavy grimness that marrs the usual lines of his face.
"Sasuke, what's it called when you use a jutsu to make an illusion?" he splutters, a desperate ring in his voice. "What is it?!" The vehemence in his tone overrides the possibility to ignore his nonsense.
"Genjutsu." The young Uchiha is caught off-guard by the bizarre question, but he supposes that it's well within Naruto's range of random actions. "What are you on about?" Naruto gets worked up about anything and everything, but Sasuke has never seen him like this.
"That thing! Well, I don't know what they're doing, but…" The hyperactive knucklehead is remaining eerily still, though there are tremors running through his body. His eyes are glued to the closed door. "When I went there, Hinata was naked and had a lot of stuff drawn on her. Lots of it on the floor too. Shisui was next to her! And your brother was with Sakura-chan and Ino!" he blabbers, so fast that Sasuke is hard-pressed to catch half the words.
"What?" he splutters. It's a little known fact that a vast majority of Uchiha feel distaste for subduing fūinjutsu - their Sharingan is able to replicate the same effect with less hassle. Shisui is the only one who specialises in it.
Sasuke knows that the elder Uchiha only ever uses it in extremely dangerous cases, and very rarely has to resort to using it on his patients. It only ever happens when the special cases (those that can't just be put down with a simple illusion) go crazy with screaming…
Naruto's explanation is only worrying him more. His brother will be fine, right? Itachi is a prodigy and a genius, he has to know what he's doing, but… Sasuke just can't think rationally about it. He has to know right now.
"I have no idea!" Naruto retorts, frantically trying to free himself. Stunned by shock and dread, Sasuke lets him go, though the Uzumaki doesn't charge at the door this time. He merely drags himself near it, eyes staring up in endless dejection. "When I went there, Shisui got distracted, and it was like… I dunno, like a nightmare. The room was so different in an instant. Like a genjutsu, but in the room, not just in my head."
The shiver that wracks Naruto's body doesn't go unnoticed. What could be so upsetting, to shake him up this much? Sasuke has only ever seen this boy being very loud and hyper, or (very rarely) distancing himself and looking impossibly sad. Never has Naruto been afraid of anything.
The blond boy seems spaced out, rubbing his own belly as if it ached, but the gesture is detached and robotic. His whisper is barely audible, voice cracked. "I don't get it… Why did it feel like I was gonna die?"
A soundless scream reverberates in the mind of Sakura Haruno, but it is not her own. It belongs to Hinata. The pressure in the pinkette's consciousness retreats as if it had been burned, and when her eyes open, Itachi Uchiha is staring at her with the most expressive face she has ever seen on him.
Sakura cannot read the emotions flashing through his eyes (but she understands them too well: endless pain, unfathomable betrayal, abject horror). Blood trickles down from Itachi's nose, yet he seems too stunned to react.
You can't save her.
Itachi's eyes narrow ever so slightly, as if he too had heard the voice. Sakura jumps a little, startled out of her reverie and so tense that her body hurts. Something is horribly wrong, but she can't tell what.
The room around them comes back into focus, and Itachi finally seems to collect his bearings. He isn't holding her against the makeshift bed anymore: Sakura has stopped her frantic, delirious struggles.
Besides, he would hardly have an easy time bringing himself to restrain her again.
"So that's why…" the Uchiha whispers, more to himself than her. Itachi's mind seems to recalibrate and kickstart the usual thought processes again. Sakura blinks a few times, trying to make sense of the face above hers. These red eyes are very pretty, almost shining in the darkness of the room.
Not three seconds have passed, and another blurry Uchiha appears in the periphery of Sakura's vision, kneeling next to Itachi's hunched form. "Are you alright?" the newcomer inquires, speaking to his junior. "You shouldn't overtax yourself. This is sensitive work."
Itachi shakes his head, slow yet vehement. The perfectly trained mask slides over his face in an instant, as if his lapse of concentration had never been there to begin with.
"I'm fine." He seems to hesitate for a moment, as if he wanted to say something, though Sakura isn't sure how she is able to see that.
...How did she get here to begin with?
"And how are you?" Sakura needs a second or two to register that Shisui is talking to her. He slides a hand behind her back and props her up against an impossibly comfortable pillow, all motions performed with extreme gentleness. Sakura takes the glass of water that he offers, though she barely notices doing so. Her mind feels positively fluffy.
Her eyes finally start to register the details of the room… and the two cute boys next to her. Granted, they're double and triple her age (respectively), but she still blushes and stammers an unintelligible response.
"I suppose that means you're okay. Do you know how you got here?"
Sakura's brows scrunch up in concentration, but… the last thing she can remember is Hinata's oddly morphed voice, as if she had been hearing it through a cascade of water. Her friend sounded very distressed, though her words weren't intelligible. She shakes her head slowly, because if she tries to say anything, she's just going to embarrass herself further. Ino said that's not ladylike at all.
Something clicks in her foggy mind.
"Ino! Where's Ino?" Sakura explodes, scrambling to get up. "Hina-chan! Where are they?" Shisui reacts fast as lightning, pushing her down without aggression, but with a certain amount of force.
"They're alright. Please, don't strain yourself, you've been through quite the ordeal," he instructs. As soon as the words reach her ears, Sakura lets herself relax. They're alright. Whatever happened, her friends are fine. She can't imagine doubting Shisui's words (she misses the lazy spin in his Sharingan eyes). "We were on patrol and heard strange noises in the Hyūga compound. It was just a nightmare, Haruno-san."
His expression betrays nothing of the truth, even after Sakura closes her eyes, overcome by sudden tiredness. Itachi is aware that it wasn't exactly a lie, just a convenient modification of reality.
He and Shisui were indeed near the compound when they heard the screaming of not one, but three girls. And no one was harmed - despite the grotesque scene they found upon arrival, no enemy was anywhere to be seen. It truly was just a nightmare.
However, Hinata Hyūga's body is still heavily sedated with fūinjutsu bindings, in a room right next to this one. Her eyes are still fully open, staring blankly at the ceiling and surrounded by veins loaded with chakra, pulsating gently with her heartbeat.
The genjutsu is still active, though Shisui is subduing it with an invasive Sharingan skill and his seals. Like a beacon, Hinata's Byakugan broadcasts vivid memories of the night in which the Hyūga clan was wiped out. It's almost too much for a non-Hyūga person to process, and the Sharingan is heavily strained in its presence. If not for Shisui's skill, everyone in a twenty meter radius would be spasming on the floor alongside Hinata.
A technique like this isn't common - only the tales of ancient feuds between the Uchiha and Hyūga speak of anything like it. The illusion is something instinctive, triggered by a violent emotional response to traumatic experiences.
Ino Yamanaka is stable, if exhausted. Her clan's blood helped to soften the brutal hammering of the genjutsu, and she is the safest of the three girls.
The same cannot be said for the pinkette girl that Itachi was taking care of, not thirty seconds ago. Her mind has a bizarre structure, a duplication where there shouldn't be one, but that was not all.
He explored her memories, thoughts and emotions in search of the source of her stress, the cause for the anomaly in her psyche. He doubted it was a kekkei genkai, but he never thought he would find something like this. The scenes are distorted, but the echo of Hinata's screams still rings in his ears.
Except… they weren't in the right pitch. Even though it somehow felt like the cries belonged to the Hyūga, the voice was definitely Sakura's. A projection of the pinkette's own unfathomable horrors, placed in the image of her friend. And all of that is trapped in a mirror of Sakura's psyche, hidden away from everyone. Even the girl herself.
Sakura Haruno does not remember, because every memory is locked away very tightly, but he now understands why she seems to defend Hinata so fiercely.
It's much more than it seems: Sakura has lived through something so horrifying, that her mind simply could not cope. And now she keeps seeing the signs elsewhere, in another innocent girl who isn't strong enough to defend herself. Just like Sakura once was.
Itachi saw the pinkette lose her mind when Hinata was hurt, back in that alley. He has watched how her body language shifts almost unnoticeably anytime the Hyūga girl is attacked, gaining the strength to defend her despite the meekness in Sakura's own character.
Sakura is trying to protect Hinata from something that does not exist, at all cost. She is trying to save a phantom of herself, and possibly prevent someone else from suffering the same fate. Despite the projection, it is obvious that the pinkette cares greatly for her friend, and her moral code is a rightful one.
It doesn't make the revelation any better.
Itachi was forcefully shoved out of Sakura's mind, something he attributes to his own shock, as soon as he broke through the mirror that hid one half of her thoughts and emotions.
You can't save her, her fate is sealed, said the voice of a monster, buried deep within the girl's mind. It was the last thing he heard before being kicked out. His hair still stands on end.
The voice... It belonged to neither Sakura nor Hinata, and the amount of cruelty and disdain it contained is something most people reserve only for their worst enemy.
"Who did the voice belong to?" Shisui inquires, away from prying eyes and eavesdropping ears. He has sat through Itachi's evaluation with nothing but a calm façade drawn on his features, the perfect image of a composed Uchiha.
Itachi is barely aware of the tension on his own shoulders, but the elder Uchiha can read his body language like a book. Older men would be shaken by the information he has stumbled upon, a truth hidden underneath an illusion. However, the younger Uchiha does not waver in his words when he speaks.
"Neji Hyūga."
A.N.: Might be hard to believe, but I don't hate every character to death. Breaking things is just too much fun. Now, I don't wanna treat y'all like idiots - a writer should have faith in a reader's ability to understand. I'm doubting my own ability to transcribe the mindfuck that are Hinata and Sakura (I've tried to use external POVs for that). It should be confusing, but you should have an idea of what's going on. I hope.
FoI:
[1] Sharingan/Byakugan: implied in narration, but I'd like to add that, unlike in canon, their abilities will be parallels at times and contrasting in others. These details will be scattered through the narration, but know this: either kekkei genkai, in the right eyes, should be able to fight evenly against the other (unlike in canon, where the Sharingan left the Byakugan in the dust). Consider this part of the story's AU premise. [/1]
[2] Kid-talk: kids don't seem to have very childish speech patterns in Naruto. It's kind of jarring, but I'll blame the maturity a shinobi needs, and maybe chakra, and bad writing. I'll tone it down some, but I'm still taking similar liberties. [/2]
[3] Shisui/Itachi: Shisui is a ninja psychologist because he enjoyed understanding people. His Sharingan's ability is absolute mental manipulation, so I imagine he would have a proficiency for techniques of the sort (and he is smart enough to apply them in a more peaceful environment). Shisui's occupation in the story, and the fact that Itachi is practically a little duckling for him, are also part of the story premise. [/3]
[4] Meaning of Sazanami: ripple(s). [/4]
Response to Guest: I hope that the new information on the AU situation with Hinata, the Hyuuga and Sasuke is satisfying! I'll attempt to reveal things at a nice enough pace, and not at the end of the story. As for your question: I can't answer, since it would spoil the story, but it's a very good one.
Question for Guest and everyone else: what theories do you have on how Neji would have managed to kill his clan, given the fact that he was already sealed?
Thank you for every little bit of kindness and appreciation that you've showed me, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! :)
Cheerps!
