A/N: Huge thanks for every comment that you guys leave to this story! I read all of them with great pleasure, and you people are the ones making me update it so frequently! ^^ This chapter is the longest so far, and it's a very important one too! So I hope you enjoy it as well! owo


Chapter 7. His Light

As Hinata walked out of the shower, she came close to the big mirror on the wall and eyed her reflection up and down, studying herself curiously as she'd had no such opportunity since the moment they'd left that town. To her surprise, the skin on her face had almost completely healed in just two days, only some barely notable traces reminding her of the damage she'd suffered. She was still awfully pale, but her face didn't resemble a skull anymore, which definitely was a pleasant development that made her smile happily.

When she began to brush her hair, the girl groaned quietly, noticing how messy it remained no matter what she tried to do. Eventually, she gave up with a sigh, studying it more closely. Although its sloppy state was slightly bugging her and she felt an irrational need to fix it for some reason, the girl was unsure if she should even bother, not really knowing why she felt the urge to make it look neat. Deep inside she didn't really want to do anything to it, enjoying the slightly wild way her bangs were now, resembling those of Sasuke. The long indigo strands reached slightly below her chest now. He hair was uneven, a bit shorter on the right side — apparently, it had been damaged at some point too, though Hinata obviously couldn't remember it.

And her eyes… She realized they looked exotic, to say the least, being fully pearl-white without a sign of a pupil. Still, it wasn't exactly what bothered her as she studied her own irises carefully, her nose almost poking the glass of the mirror. She had a feeling that something was off with them, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it, not knowing how they'd looked before.

Her gaze then slid down to her bare chest. Despite her body still being terribly skinny, her breasts somehow still remained rather prominent, although she had a feeling they had been bigger before. The scars on her sides, stomach and arms were already white, though still pretty easy to notice which made her frown, wondering if they would ever fade completely.

She then raised her hands, studying her palms and forearms and smiling happily. There weren't as many scars, but the fresh bruises from the earlier training session made the young woman's mood get a bit better. At least the results were already showing, and she could now do various things without being afraid of randomly collapsing...

Absorbed by these thoughts, the kunoichi wasn't really following the time, having nothing to do until Sasuke's return anyway. But, as soon as she was done taking care of her body and had put the black bathrobe on, she almost jumped on her spot when she heard the entrance door on the first floor close shut. Then someone's heels began clattering on the wooden floor sonorously, echoing across the entire house...

Realizing that it couldn't be the owner of the house making this sound, Hinata gulped, crossing her fingers and transforming swiftly — this time into a blonde reminding of a mixture of Ino and Naruto, slightly shorter than her own natural body. She realized it would be unwise to hide now, especially since her chakra pool was very limited so she had to get rid of the mysterious visitor as soon as possible, so she quietly walked out of the bathroom and sneaked down the stairs, trying to take a peek at the intruder.

It turned to be a stunning pink-haired lady dressed in a stylish red blouse combined with a long beige skirt and a straw hat. She was also wearing high heels, but even without them, she appeared to be slightly taller than Hinata. Holding two beautiful bouquets of flowers, she was standing in the middle of the guest room, looking around perplexedly, apparently strongly confused by something she was seeing.

Hinata coughed quietly, instantly drawing her attention. The woman's eyes widened in surprise.

"Uh… hello," she murmured, staring at the disguised Hinata and appearing to be even more baffled now. "Excuse me, but... who are you? Do you know who owns this place?"

Quickly beginning to panic, the transformed kunoichi had to clench her fists hidden by the long sleeves of the bathrobe, barely getting a hold of herself.

"Y-Yes," she replied, trying to sound confident. "This is the house of Sasuke Uchiha."

The jade eyes of the lady widened even more, and she blinked again, as if unsure if she'd just heard her correctly.

"Erm… well, but — pardon me for being so blunt, but — what are you doing here then?" she murmured, clasping the flowers more tightly.

"I—," Hinata stuttered, hugging herself nervously. What should I say now? I don't even know who this lady is, and also…, thought Hinata, desperately trying to figure out the best way to act.

"It's just that, I'm not sure Sasuke-kun would appreciate someone breaking into his house, you know?" The pink-haired one smiled at her leniently, and something in her expression made Hinata feel a prick of irritation. She had no idea who this person might be, and it was clearly mutual. Then why did she assume she had broken into Sasuke's house?

"I did not break in," she uttered quietly yet firmly, deciding to just do as the shinobi had told her. "I am Sasuke's girlfriend."

She instantly regretted saying it, but it was too late to go back. The other girl's eyes became glassy and dim right away. She rapidly paled, and her hands began to shake, one of the bouquets falling out and landing on the floor at her feet. Without saying a word, she turned around and stormed out of the house, leaving Hinata alone, feeling as if she'd just inadvertently made a horrible mistake…

=oWo=

By the time he got to the house of Kurenai, it was already well past noon. The heat apparently decided to show some mercy to the citizens of Konoha and retreated for now. Rainy clouds slowly covered the sun, allowing everyone in the village to take a relieving breath of fresh air. As he walked through the narrow streets, still reflecting on the conversation with Hiashi Hyūga, Sasuke glared at the grey sky, slightly narrowing his eyes. He couldn't explain it, but his intuition was telling him that the meeting that was about to happen wouldn't be an easy one either…

He knocked on the door, trying to maintain a neutral face despite his already rather foul mood. At first, nothing happened, leading him to assume that the woman wasn't at home right now. But, when he was already about to turn around and walk away, he heard someone's loud footsteps quickly approaching the door, so the ninja cleared his throat, preparing to explain the reason behind his visit. After all, it was common knowledge that Sasuke Uchiha didn't pay random friendly visits to people. Especially not to those he barely knew at all, so he expected her to be quite surprised.

However, as the door opened, Sasuke himself turned to be the bewildered one. In front of him stood his former classmate who, to be fair, looked just equally as baffled. And unlike that girl Hinata, this guy was hard to forget. A loud mouth, very similar to Naruto, except not nearly as talented or strong…

"Sasuke? The hell are you doing here?" asked the brown-haired young man with red markings on his cheeks. Despite the sentence itself being rather mean, he didn't seem aggressive at all, merely surprised and overly blunt.

"I've come to talk to Kurenai Yūhi. Does she live here?" he replied calmly, watching as Kiba scowled and let go of the door handle, although not letting him in yet.

"Wha…? Well, yeah, she does. She's busy with Mirai right now though, so you gotta wait."

For a few seconds, they just stared at each other, each thinking on their next move. Although Sasuke had no clue who or what Mirai was, he realized that he had to make haste — leaving Hinata alone for too long wasn't very wise, and he'd already spent enough time away from his companion.

"This is important," he said quietly yet crisply after some time, not looking away from Kiba's eyes. "Can you ask her to come out?"

"Well, whatever you gotta say to her you can tell me as well, I take care of her family these days," said the ninja, putting his hands on his sides and looking at Sasuke daringly but also with a hint of genuine curiosity.

Quickly weighing out the imposed offer, the Uchiha decided that telling him wouldn't hurt as he was also involved to some extent.

"This is about your teammate, Hinata Hyūga."

These seven simple words made Kiba's expression change a few times in a matter of a second, from shock and surprise back to an almost angry scowl.

"What the hell do you mean? What of Hinata? She's gone, in case if you don't know," he murmured, the grief of the recent loss more than clear in his hoarse voice.

"That remains to be seen," drawled Sasuke, realizing that unlike Kakashi, this guy probably was quick to flap his mouth, and could also be in touch with Naruto. Which meant the Uchiha had to choose his words wisely this time, not letting him or Kurenai realize he wasn't really intending to look for their deceased teammate. Besides, as he knew just how hard the loss must feel for them, he didn't really want these people to feel any worse, whether they knew what Hiashi had told him earlier or not…

For a while, the short-haired ninja kept gazing at him in disbelief, his face expressing a vast spectre of emotions. But then, to Sasuke's relief, a dark-haired woman showed from the corridor behind Kiba's back, walking towards the two shinobi.

"Kiba, who is there? Mirai is finally asleep, so—oh," her bloody-red eyes that resembled Sharingan quite a lot widened as she noticed the guest, instantly recognizing him, "Sasuke-kun? How may we help you?"

"He's saying he knows something about—about Hinata," Kiba stuttered by the end of the sentence, throwing a cautious glance at his old sensei. She stopped next to him, looking even more dumbfounded now.

"Is that so?" she finally asked in a low voice, peering at the Uchiha searchingly.

"I have a reason to think she might be alive. I need your aid to find out if it's true or not," he replied with a deadpan expression.

Kurenai didn't respond right away, continuing to study him attentively for a while, before finally uttering:

"Sure... sure. Please, come in."

As Kiba slightly reluctantly stepped to the side, the Uchiha followed his sensei into the guestroom.

"Make yourself at home, Sasuke-kun. Would you like some tea?"

"Yeah, thanks," he nodded, sitting in the chair near the small table filled with various tailoring items as well as a few half-empty plates with food. He also noticed the huge dog lying on the floor in the corner of the room, looking at him lazily as it was apparently half-asleep.

"Here you go," she mumbled, putting a cup in front of him and filling it with steaming yellowish liquid. "So, before I ask you how exactly may I help, would you be so kind as to tell us what exactly makes you think Hinata could be alive?" Kurenai sat on the leather couch, tucking up her legs in a surprisingly childish manner. Kiba lowered soundly just next to her, continuing to peer at the guest incredulously yet not saying anything for now.

Sasuke took the cup, looking at the tea pensively. Not that it was an unexpected question, but it surely wasn't the easiest one to answer as he didn't find Naruto's reasoning any convincing himself. Was he supposed to tell them he and Naruto had caught a glimpse of the Ōtsutsuki chakra that supposedly belonged to their teammate? Or should he come up with a more simplified explanation, which meant lying to some extent?

Feeling annoyed and frustrated by how unpleasantly difficult the situation had become, he took a deep breath, trying to confine his irritation. Just how hard could it be to get a simple picture of somebody…? Not like he was obliged to be doing this anyway. He offered these people help without asking anything to return, and now he had to fight them in order to get a chance to do something for them! If nobody wanted him to help, then why did he even bother…? It wasn't like he had nothing better to do right now than to pretend to be a lonely bigot who wanted to chase the dead…

In his mind, he unwillingly returned to his home, wondering what was his student doing right now. Hopefully, she had rested enough; right now he wanted to leave the village as soon as possible, feeling more than fed up with its 'welcoming' atmosphere. And Hinata…

The sudden idea popped in his head. Could he use her story right now by a chance?

"I encountered a similar-looking person about a week ago," he began, meeting the studying gaze of Kurenai. "That was before I found out what happened to Hinata, and I was too busy to approach that person anyway. I wasn't even sure if it was really someone familiar or not; in truth, I don't remember her face very well. We haven't seen each other in a long time," he explained, pretending to look a bit embarrassed. Whilst it was completely true that he had no idea what Naruto's girlfriend looked like, he didn't regret it at all. After all, he'd never been too fond of the girls from their class…

Both Kiba and Kurenai appeared to be astonished and interested in his words, which made him inwardly smirk, relieved by the fact that his little bluff seemed to be working just fine. It took the retired kunoichi more than a few seconds to slowly open her mouth, babbling,

"W-While it's… completely shocking to hear, I—," she looked at Kiba who stared back silently, worried, excited and dazed at the same time, just like her. "First of all, thank you very much for telling us. It means a lot... more than you might imagine," she whispered, lowering her eyes that began to tear up. "You see, we've already lost hope… weeks ago, to be honest. Considering what Kiba witnessed back then…"

Sasuke frowned, looking at the brown-haired shinobi. Witnessed? What exactly was this supposed to mean? Had he seen her die, or…?

"It happened during our last mission," explained Kiba quietly, meeting his puzzled gaze. "We were delivering some stuff to Suna. Our squad, that is. She was a part of it too, naturally. Well, we decided to halt a few miles away from their village, and made a camp for the night. That's when we got attacked. It was no battle… a butchery, no less. Most of us got killed, I was critically injured too. They definitely didn't think I'd survive, and Akamaru too," he nodded in the direction of the dog who whimpered quietly from its corner, raising its head a bit,

"I saw it, man. They…," Kiba threw another cautious glance at Kurenai who looked away, biting her lip and nodding, giving him the permission to continue. "They beat her up, badly. Tore her clothes off too… She tried to fight back to the end, but then one of them took out a sword and chopped her hands off," his voice cracked, and he squeezed his palms that lay on his knees, taking a deep breath before continuing,

"The last thing I saw was how one of them stabbed her. That's when I blacked out. When the shinobi of Suna found us, she was already gone, as well as a few others. Shino was there too… he didn't make it."

The oppressive silence filled the room as Sasuke was quickly proceeding the information he'd just received. He didn't know who Shino was, though the picture surely had just become a lot darker, knowing that they'd actually lost two team members in one night. Still, going back to what they were having at hand… Team Eight was never known for their extraordinary combat prowess, nor for healing abilities. A relatively weak kunoichi with her hands cut off, combined with a wound from a stab… The chances for her to survive were minimal if there were any at all. And yet, they had taken her with them, it seemed… Why?

"When did it happen?" he asked suddenly, breaking the heavy atmosphere of the room. Noticing the perplexed looks both of them gave him, the Uchiha added, "Naruto said he stopped sensing her chakra sometime after she'd gone to that mission. How much time had passed, exactly?"

"Oh… a few weeks, I guess," Kiba shrugged, frowning. As dense as he could be, it seemed that the guy also had a feeling there was something off with that timing. Because it could only mean that she had actually survived those wounds somehow and that she'd lived for quite some time afterwards…

"I see. At any rate, I'm going to find the person I saw to confirm if it was her or not. What I need from you is Hinata's photo," he said then, looking at Kurenai.

"Oh—yes, of course," she quickly nodded, getting up from the couch and walking towards shelving filled with various little statuettes, photos and other stuff that was evidently supposed to keep some memories to it. "Although I only have one of them left — the rest was taken by ANBU as soon as she was announced dead, this is the only one they let me keep. Here," she walked back to them, handing Sasuke a framed photo featuring a slightly younger version of Kurenai hugging three happily smiling kids.

Reluctantly, the scraps of his memories began to crawl out of the depths of his mind. The girl definitely looked familiar, though he was positive he'd never really interacted with her at all. Besides, she didn't make the impression of someone like Sakura or Ino who had always attracted everyone's attention no matter what. At least on this particular picture, he could only see a preposterous, clumsy-looking girl with an unattractive short hair, dressed in some baggy jacket that didn't look feminine at all. She must have been a really quiet one — that's most likely why he didn't remember her at all, not even her voice…

The Uchiha almost sighed, not really satisfied at all. The person on the photo was merely a child around eleven years old, and besides, her appearance had no memorable features aside from her timid lilac eyes, of course. Not taking them into account, there were probably thousands of girls across the Elemental Nations who looked pretty similar to her, with straight dark hair, fair skin and generally soft features. Besides, almost ten years had passed by now, so it would be impossible to recognize her in a crowd without knowing for sure what she looked like these days…

"I see," he said nonetheless, quickly making a mental copy of the photo with his Sharingan before returning it to the woman. "I'll see what I can do. Sorry for disturbing you, and thanks for your hospitality," he drank the entire cup of tea in one big gulp and got up, walking towards the exit.

"Sasuke-kun…!" He stopped, looking over his shoulder at Kurenai who now gazed at him with a hopeful plea that almost made him feel ashamed of lying to them. "If you happen to find her after all—or even something that's—that's left of her… Please, bring it to Konoha," she asked quietly, getting up as well, with Kiba quickly following. "We—," she lowered her eyes, and he could see that she was about to break in a sob, desperately fighting her tears in an attempt to remain stoic front of him, "We didn't even have anything to bury…"

"Of course," he said impassively, although he did feel compassion for both of them, of course. He simply wasn't someone to show his emotions and feelings openly… He'd never been the kind to.

"Thank you," she somehow pulled a tiny smile, putting her thin hand on his forearm and squeezing it lightly.

"Mommy?" A little girl showed up from a side room, yawning and rubbing her face. "Who's that?"

Kurenai didn't react right away, looking into Sasuke's eyes for a little longer. It was only then that he absently noticed how her face now had more than a few wrinkles, as well as a few grey hairs on her head glittering under the lamp's dim light. She was almost half a feet shorter than him now too... He could still remember this woman to be known as a strong, talented and relatively young kunoichi. A sensei just like Kakashi, someone who was supposed to always be much wiser, stronger and more experienced than them, their students.

And now, here they were... Not even a full decade had passed since those times yet, and things had already changed so drastically...

"I should be going," he uttered quietly, stepping back. "I'll do all I can."

"Thanks, man," came Kiba's mild voice from behind Kurenai. Their eyes met for a moment and Sasuke could see genuine appreciation and respect in the ninja's expression, to which he simply nodded with a deadpan before leaving the house — hopefully, for good.

The rain had already begun to gain momentum outside, but he didn't even notice it, still captivated by the final scene of their goodbye. For a moment, the way Kurenai had changed throughout these years made him wonder how swift and merciless was the flow of time. He realized that — rather sooner than later — he would grow older too. At least she had a daughter and a student who seemed to care for her deeply...

And what would he have five, ten, or even twenty years later...? At the current rate, most likely nothing. He would still be a lonely shadow fighting for the village that didn't even welcome him very much… Not that it wasn't his own fault, of course. Perhaps, if he spent more time here, people would grow used to his presence. Besides, he had sworn to protect the village, yet what did he have here to actually stay for? No family… No clan… No woman he would at least feel comfortable around.

With these mirthless thoughts, the Uchiha didn't notice how his feet brought him the cemetery of Konoha. Now walking aimlessly under the rain between countless graves and memorials, he eventually paused, feeling a familiar presence ahead. He raised his head, and then his eyes slightly widened in surprise as he saw the pink-haired kunoichi sitting on the iron fence with a bouquet of some flowers in her hands She was staring at the gravestone in front of her and not moving at all despite the rain making her clothes more and more wet with each passing moment.

"Sakura, huh?" He walked towards her, stopping a few yards away from her slouched figure.

She flinched and slowly turned around, looking at him blankly. He instantly realized something was wrong with his former teammate — her eyes were red, the light makeup she wore was now very messed up, and all in all her posture indicated that she wasn't feeling well, to say the least.

"Sasuke-kun," she whispered weakly, now also looking a bit puzzled aside from depressed. "What are you doing here?"

"Looking for you, what else?" He tried to joke in an attempt to loosen the atmosphere, but then the Uchiha noticed how her expression got even darker at his response. She turned away, lowering her head.

"Sorry," he muttered, coming close and leaning on the fence next to her. "You're all wet. You'll catch a cold at this rate," he added as softly as he could, wanting to comfort his old friend, whatever was bothering her. After all, he had caused enough pain to her, of all people, in their past… This was the least he could do right now.

To his surprise, though, she smirked in response, shaking her head and then pursing her lips.

"Why do you care, Sasuke-kun?" she asked in a slightly wrought-up tone that made him frown. "It's not like I've ever meant anything to you, is it?"

Words died in his throat as he realized he had nothing to counter that. She had a reason to believe that; frankly, he'd never given this girl nearly as much credit as she deserved… And even that was an understatement, he understood it clearly now.

"I already told you I'm sorry," he said simply a few seconds later, still not moving his eyes off her. "I do care for you, no matter what you think."

"You do, huh?" she murmured, scowling. "Care so much that you haven't sent me a single letter in more than a year? Care so much that you didn't even tell me you were back? Care so much that you forgot to mention that you brought a girlfriend with you?!" she exclaimed, finally turning fully to look at him, not hiding the intense anger anymore.

Sasuke blinked, astonished both by her reaction and by the words she said. My girlfriend? What on earth is she—

But then he even paled a bit, belatedly realizing what exactly must have happened.

"You… came to my place today?"

"I did it almost every day! Who do you think was taking care of your house while you were away?!" she cried, stepping away from the fence and facing the Uchiha now. "Do I really not deserve at least a little bit of gratitude and respect, Sasuke-kun?! Tell me!" she came closer, and he had to fight the urge to step away from her, remembering just how powerful her punch could be, especially when the girl was truly furious — and that seemed to be the case right now.

"You got it all wrong, Sakura…" He said calmly and paused, feeling very conflicted inside. He definitely didn't want to offer excuses to Sakura, or anybody else for that matter; not now, not ever. But, at the same time, he felt like he did owe her an explanation after all the pain he'd caused to this girl in their past, and even right now…

That's why he took a deep breath and looked firmly into her desperate eyes as he said,

"She's not my girlfriend. I told her to say it to anyone who would come while I'm away so that she wouldn't get interrogated or arrested."

"A-Arressted?" Sakura blinked in confusion, instantly losing the nerve. "Then… who is she?"

"I don't know," he said honestly, looking away.

"You… don't know?!"

"She is my responsibility now. This is all you need to understand," said the Uchiha, wiping the girl's broad forehead with his sleeve. "Are you sure you won't catch a cold?"

"I can heal myself even if I do," she shrugged indifferently, leaning on the fence next to him and looking at the gravestone once more. "So why did you come here?"

"Right here? Or in Konoha?"

"Both, I guess…"

"Naruto asked me to come to the village. He wanted to discuss some… things," he muttered, not really wanting to bring up the delicate topic once more this day. But, it seemed that any attempt to hide the elephant in the room would be totally pointless as Sakura nodded at the stone and uttered quietly,

"This is her grave…"

Sasuke's gaze slid to the wet marble a couple of yards away from them.

Hinata Hyūga...

"It's empty," he commented absently a few moments later as if to just break the heavy silence no matter what.

"I know," she nodded, rubbing her palms to warm up. "It's not uncommon for a ninja's tomb."

The Uchiha sighed quietly, looking away. She was right, of course… That was the gruesome reality of their lives, sadly.

"I'm going to leave again soon," he said after some time, glancing at her askance.

"I see," replied the girl neutrally, her face completely blank.

"Thank you for taking care of my place, Sakura. I really do appreciate it."

"You don't have to thank me, Sasuke-kun," she looked at him with a sad smile. "I would do anything for you, and you know it. It's always been this way."

He lowered his eyes again, feeling ashamed now. Of course, he knew it. To be honest, until the most recent events, he had already begun to consider the idea of getting together with her… No matter what she imagined, Sakura was an important person to him, it was pointless to deny it at this point. Did he love her, though? He couldn't say so; then again, he wasn't sure if he could love anybody at all in that way after all the things that had happened to him. Not so long ago, the idea of having a family with her almost seemed acceptable to him. Surely, he realized it would never be perfect. Maybe he would never be able to make her happy and vice versa, but at least neither of them would have to age in solitude.

But now…

He suddenly remembered the clumsy, anorexic, amnesiac girl who was waiting for him at home. Naturally, he didn't have any feelings for her either — it would be ridiculous, given that they had only met a few days ago, and she didn't even know who she was. However, the fact he had someone who depended on him entirely… He did realize that it limited his freedom to some extent. And perhaps it was this very limitation that had just caused this problematic misunderstanding with Sakura. But, now that he had accepted that girl as his responsibility, there was no way back. No matter what people might think of him, he wasn't heartless, nor selfish. Sasuke knew he would never abandon her. At least not until he would be sure she didn't need him anymore. And whether he liked it or not, there already was a bond between them. A bond he felt obliged to preserve.

And to that end…

"Sakura, we must settle things once and for all," he said in an iron voice, realizing that the upcoming words would hurt both of them, but also knowing that this was the best — no, the only way out of this situation nonetheless,

"Whatever feelings you have for me, I can't return. Maybe someday I will be able to, and maybe I'll regret it's too late, but I don't want you to waste your youth on the wait that will likely get you nowhere," he said as softly as he could, feeling her perplexed gaze on him but not wanting to meet her eyes right now,

"You and Naruto will always be my closest friends, it won't change. I don't know when I'll return to Konoha the next time, but I will. And I want to stay for good when I do," he continued, looking at the horizon thoughtfully. "That's why you need to stop worrying about me. Right now, Naruto needs you a lot more than I."

Listening to him carefully, Sakura sighed as he paused, biting her lip and looking away shamefully.

"I—I guess you're right… I've been a horrible friend to him lately, not gonna lie…," she uttered sadly, putting her hands on her knees. "But, the way he is now, I—I suppose, it's just so unnatural to see him like this… completely crushed and lost," she ended the phrase whispering, hugging herself uncomfortably. "Maybe I'm just afraid to look him in the eye when he is like this... Afraid of what I might see there."

"You are forgetting that Naruto is not just our friend. He is the future of Konoha," said Sasuke, getting up. "We must make sure he gets over this, no matter what. For the sake of the village."

"You know, he once told me Hinata was the only thing that hadn't let him give up at some point during the war," suddenly said Sakura, looking at the gravestone absently. "He called her the light that gave him the power to do everything. So in a way, without her, we would have lost to Obito and Madara back then."

The Uchiha eyed the name inscribed on the marble again, comprehending her words. It was hard to imagine that such an inornate, grey and seemingly uninteresting person he'd seen on the photo could be that important, especially to someone like Naruto… This realization almost made him regret he'd never even talked to her when she was alive. And now he had no chance to. Yet another ironic whim of fate... Fortunately, he'd long learned to overcome such whims against all odds.

"One doesn't need this light in order to keep doing what they must. Trust me, I know for a fact," he replied after some time, putting his hands in his pockets.

"You deserve your own light, Sasuke-kun..." He shrugged.

"Who cares? Didn't I just say I don't need it?" He squeezed out a grin, though it wasn't a joyful one at all.

"But, Naruto said—"

"It doesn't matter what he said. He will come to his senses eventually. I believe in him, and so must you." He met her widened eyes and added, "I am his sword to fight the darkness he can't deal with by himself. And you must be his shield, whether you like it or not. Just like the two us, you are a ninja. You always said you wanted to keep up, didn't you? If so, then just like us, you must endure." He turned around, beginning to slowly walk away, leaving his teammate alone.

What he didn't see was how she smiled a few moments later, her face finally expressing the former energy and confidence once more as she got up and ran back towards the village. She had yet to realize it, but this conversation gave her the feeling of closure she had secretly craved for a very long time...

What she didn't see, however, was what was going on inside Sasuke's heart as he realized he had just burned yet another bridge, perhaps a very important one. And even though he knew it was inevitable, it still hurt him more than he had expected it to… All of a sudden, the almighty Uchiha felt just as lonely as he had thirteen years ago when he was a mere child who'd just lost everyone. And this long-forgotten, suffocating feeling that had come back after everything he'd seen, heard and said today was disturbing him more than he would want to admit...

=oWo=

Almost an hour after the pink-haired lady left the house, Hinata finally managed to calm down, taking hold of herself and trying to think with a cold head. She'd been horribly worried and frightened of having possibly done something wrong; the way that woman had run away clearly indicated that something was seriously wrong. And she had no slightest idea what that was no matter how much she thought about it…

But, eventually, she assured herself of the simple truth. Sasuke had told her that nobody important would come, and he'd also given her clear instructions on how to behave, so she couldn't have done anything wrong. The rest was probably just her overthinking the whole situation and nothing else...

Still, not feeling completely over that incident, she decided to do keep herself busy doing something useful — anything to stay distracted until Sasuke would finally return. That's why she headed to the kitchen and began to cook dinner for both of them — or rather, bake it because she hadn't found anything aside from floor, butter and some fruity jam.

When she had almost prepared the pancakes, Hinata heard the door open and close once again, this time the familiar sound of light footsteps making her smile happily — it was him, not some other stranger. The girl took the last pancake off the pan and walked out to greet Sasuke. But, as soon as she saw him in the guestroom, she froze.

He was sitting on the floor with his back to her, hugging his knees and staring blankly at the picture on the wall — his family, as it wasn't hard to deduce by just glancing at it. Unsure what she was supposed to do, the girl waited for a minute, studying him carefully. She quickly noticed that he was completely wet, but Sasuke didn't appear to care, the water slowly flowing down to the wooden floor...

Trying to be as quiet and subtle as possible as she was afraid to bother him, she decided to slowly come closer, only then coughing in an attempt to draw his attention. But, he still didn't seem to notice her at all…

"Sasuke…," she said a bit louder and stopped just behind him, noticing with great relief that his head slightly shifted to the side — he heard her. "You must be cold…"

"Hn." He didn't say anything, returning his gaze to the family photo instead.

Hinata sighed, grabbing a broad woollen blanket from the pile of freshly ironed clothes. She then lowered on the floor right next to the ninja, carefully wrapping it around him. With her next move, she carefully wiped the unruly strands of his hair with the edge of the cloth. He didn't react to her actions at all, which made her conclude that something had to be seriously wrong, but her intuition told the girl it most likely wasn't about her. Although this fact was actually rather sad than relieving — if she were the cause of his mood, at least she would be able to try to fix it somehow…

She didn't know what she expected to happen, but Hinata kept sitting next to him for a while, eventually spacing out to the point where she completely lost the track of time. At some moment, she looked at him again — his expression and posture hadn't changed at all.

"Um… Sasuke—," she paused, seeing as he didn't react this time either. With a light sigh, she began to get up, but then the girl flinched as she, much to her astonishment, found him gripping her wrist, slowly turning his head and looking up at her.

"Wait," he said quietly, meeting her puzzled and worried gaze. "Stay," he ordered, although she couldn't help the feeling that it sounded more like a plea than a demand. So she obediently sat back, staring at the floor in front of her and beginning to blush — he was still holding her hand, and his fingers were so cold… It suddenly made her want to warm him up as much as she could.

Hinata didn't know how much time had passed until he finally turned to her again and asked almost casually:

"The smell is good. What did you make?"

She flinched, her eyes widening in fear at his words.

"O-Oh…! They must be cold already — the pancakes," she murmured, lowering his eyes sadly.

He shrugged, letting go of her hand and quickly getting up.

"Doesn't matter. We must have a good meal tonight, so quantity goes over quality anyway."

"Um… really?"

"Yeah. We're leaving in a few hours, so make sure to prepare."

"Oh," she lowered her eyes again with a quiet sigh.

"What's wrong?" He asked, his brow arching slightly.

"N-Nothing at all… It's just that—," she bit her lip, hesitating to continue which made him scowl impatiently.

"Just say it already."

"It's nothing, really," she raised her head up and looked at him with a sorrowful smile. "It's just that I wanted to stay here for a bit longer… I like this place," she admitted, her cheeks flushing brightly.

He looked away, not saying anything for a while.

"Maybe one day—," he stopped, frowning. After a few seconds of still, Hinata carefully asked:

"One day…?"

"Forget it. Let's go eat," he snapped, taking the blanket off himself and throwing it on the couch before walking towards the kitchen.

The girl smiled timidly, quickly getting up and taking the wet blanket in her hands, wanting to put it to the dryer. She took a deep breath, unwillingly inhaling the smell of rain mixed with Sasuke's own... the smell associated with the only home she remembered ever having.

Unexpectedly, it made her mood a lot better as she realized a simple thing. It didn't matter that they were about to leave this place. It didn't matter who she had once been either. Now her home was next to him, plain and simple. And she knew she would never leave his side... at least as long as he would let her stay with him.


A/N: Soooo, they're about to leave Konoha and begin their journey together! What do you guys think is going to happen next? :P Pls let me know what your thoughts are, I'm really curious! =^.^= Also if you have any questions, please feel free to ask! Until next time!