Never Meant To Win
A/N: Mmkay, people have been asking for it—there is a part of the chapter in Hinata's POV. Which part is it? Separating Hinata and Sasuke's POV, the separating mark will be underlined, instead of the usual. Okay? Good. Sorry about the long wait, I always get slight writer's block whenever I have to write action scenes. But those chapters are necessary… Oh, and while you're still reading this, thanks to everyone who has reviewed this story. It has become my most popular story thus far, and I'm very proud. Okay, you can read the damn chapter now. ((Woohoo, longest author's note EVER!!))
My hands flowed into a fireball jutsu, a move that Kakashi copied easily and just as quickly. The fireballs flew at the same time, and at the same time, Kakashi and I flung ourselves back gracefully, flipped, and landed back on our feet. I landed effortlessly into a taijutsu stance that Orochimaru had taught me, but Kakashi landed back into his casual, hands-in-pockets-bored-look-on-face stance. My hands were becoming more seals, which became a smaller jutsu, but with more results. We were fighting outside this time, so all I had to worry about was the fire catching the attention of other ninja, which wasn't unlikely, but at the same time, it was the least of my worries.
Kakashi, it seemed, was even able to copy the amounts of fireballs I threw at him. I was using my Sharingan very little, and finally, I decided to see if he would make any moves.
He didn't.
If I just stood there, Kakashi would stand as well. He didn't seem to be interested in making any moves of his own.
Kakashi was firmly against fighting a past pupil unless it was absolutely necessary, and due to the simple fact that he made no moves on his own was explicit proof of this.
I charged at him, a kunai raised in my hand. I had no ill will towards Kakashi, and I wasn't planning on hurting him, but hand-to-hand seemed like it would be the best way to solve the fight. However, Kakashi copied my moves just as quickly and efficiently as I dished them out, and by the time I had reached Kakashi, he was ready for me. Every move I made, Kakashi parried or blocked effortlessly.
It was then that I was positively certain that this fight was completely and utterly useless. Kakashi knew it as well—I could tell from his lazy movements, the fact that he didn't seem to preoccupy himself with attempting to win.
Finally, I jumped away from Kakashi, who mirrored this move. I couldn't win. It would be a nearly never-ending battle, and could only be own by one or the other becoming exhausted.
"Kakashi. You'd do the same if your teacher was threatening the entire village," I noted, a pleading tone in my voice. Please, let begging work…
"That's not why you're going," Kakashi accused.
"Yes, it is. I don't need a bunch of innocent people dying because of someone like me," I snapped out. Kakashi's eyes didn't widen at all, but he simply gazed at me, as if taking me in. "Besides, I… need to protect Hinata…"
Kakashi continued staring at me, before finally, he took out his Icha Icha book once again. He flipped to the page where he had been, and eyed me curiously from the novel. "This scene really is interesting… So interesting, perhaps, that I'll just forget everything else around me…"
I smirked, and within seconds, I was up and away, charging forward through the town towards the immense forest that lay beyond this sleepy little town. My home. Hopefully, my last thoughts would be about this place, and the angel it contained.
----
My battle plan was simple. I knew where Orochimaru would be—it was engrained onto my mind. Now that I thought about it, wasn't it strange that Naruto didn't interrogate me? This sort of information seems almost protocol to obtain…
Anyways, a requirement of being a ninja of the Sound is to memorize every hideout. We stay on a week-by-week schedule, and there are 56 hideouts—one for every week of the year. As it stood, it was the 38th week of the year (near the end of September), which meant that the current hideout was in the cliffs of Suna. However, due to the fact that it was nearing the end of the 38th week, they'd be moving soon, to a location six miles south of the Cloud.
As the Cloud aren't our allies, the Sound has made an agreement with them that they can have a few hideouts around there. In fact, the Sound has six hideouts in that area, which is the most condensed area of hideouts for the Sound around the world.
As I traveled towards the Cloud, knowing that I'd get there just after they settle in, I did a lot of thinking. I figured if I did make it back to Konoha, I'd be considered one of two things—I'd either be a missing-nin, and be chased and/or killed, or I'd be a hero. It all depends on Naruto's temperament, and how well the people receive me… again.
How strange that I never cared for Konoha before, left, and then, when I came back, within a few months' time, I felt like that place was home? Did it have to do with Orochimaru? A change in myself? Killing my brother? Hinata?
And, also, how had Orochimaru known that Kabuto failed? It was a good fight, but I suppose it was apparent that I would win in nearly all circumstances. Had he foretold the outcome of the battle, or had he had some kind of correspondence with Kabuto, even in his final moments?
Another plus, I couldn't help but think to myself, is that I'll finally be rid of his power, maybe even the damn seal, whether I die or not.
----
When I arrived, I wasn't entirely surprised that no one but Orochimaru and a few other lackeys were at the hideout. A lot of the time, actually, most people weren't around the base—the only reason they memorized the locations of the bases were to be able to report back to Orochimaru.
The base was a mansion that used to belong to a Cloud official. He died without family and his home was repossessed by the city of the Cloud. Orochimaru purchased the mansion, which was three stories high and laden with traps all across the perimeter and first two stories. It looked like it was straight out of a bad vampire movie—which was pretty impressive, as it was a beautiful home before Orochimaru bought it. The garden had fallen into a state of disrepair—all the trees and flowers were wilted, mostly dead, and all the grass was a crispy brown. The paint, originally white, was crackled and dry.
Sasuke took in a deep breath before he began walking down the path. He knew where every single trap was, at least leading up to the house. He even knew the only way to completely enter the quarters without incident. He grabbed a hold of the knocker before he moved it from side-to-side, and suddenly just let it drop. The door swung open slowly, the locking mechanism in the door having been deactivated.
I walked through the hallway, avoiding certain traps. However, I tripped over a poorly nailed shag rug, and trotted directly upon a known trap. When a set of blades didn't embrace my ankle, I was more than slightly suspicious. I carefully retraced some steps, throwing kunai or shuriken on other known traps.
None of them worked—at all.
Though I was still being cautious, as it would be folly not to be, I ascended the stairs without incident. Usually, there would be traps all across the first flight of one set of stairs, and then another set of traps on the second flight of the other staircase (one had to swing from one staircase to another to safely get past the traps, if traveling by the interior). However, I made it to the third story easily, and I couldn't help but think that all this had been done on purpose, somehow.
My theory was right. When I arrived on the third landing, a few feet from the top of the stairs, in a large stone throne, sat Orochimaru, in all his gray glory. When he saw me, his eyes lit up with excitement, and involuntarily his tongue flicked out, caressed his upper lip, and shot back into his mouth. His skin was looking wrinkled, older—he needed a new body, and quick.
"Sassssssuke…" he hissed. He arose, the smirk evident on his face. "Have we come back to join me, now that you've reminded yourself why you've left Konoha? Or is this a… business meeting?"
I put on the best glare. "I want to get rid of this seal and the one who created it."
He sighed, though I was positive that he knew my objective for coming here. "My dear Sasuke, don't tell me you've gotten attached to Konoha again?"
"Well, I wasn't attached before, but… Yes. Konoha is my home. I was just too stupid to realize it before."
Orochimaru, in a flash, was behind me. I didn't sense his movements, until I realized his position. Damn. He was scores ahead of me. Could I possibly win?
"Need I remind you about people like us? We are their geniuses, the cream of their crop. We are the best, and yet… They treat us like dirt, using us up and then spitting us out. We get no honors, no privileges; we just work all our lives, risking our very existence day after day after grueling day. We, the 'sullen', the 'dirty', the 'impure of soul', are the only ones to realize what they do to us…" he hissed everything directly into my ear. It was a form of mind control on some people, but it didn't work on certain other people—such as me. It was whispered at a high-speed, each word flowing into each other. Unless it was whispered to you, it was indecipherable—anyone listening in had no clue what the snake Sannin was saying.
"That's not true," I said, in the same manner someone commenting that the trees' colors were turning would. I stated it as a fact, but Orochimaru knew that it hadn't been stated as a belief.
He continued on, which I knew he would do, even if I had made the statement with more conviction. "Our souls are different, soiled, impure, dark. We are the strongest, smartest, best, most talented, but we are treated the same as anyone else… Everyone else is below us…"
Everyone? Naruto? Kakashi? Tsunade? Sakura? … Hinata? Are they all below me?
They can't be.
Can they?
Someone as lovely as Hinata… As caring as Hinata… As smart as Hinata… As well-mannered as Hinata… As beautiful as Hinata… As strong as Hinata… Below me?
No.
Not possible.
"No." I said. My voice had gained strength, the strength of a belief. Orochimaru froze momentarily. "Below us? No. They are above us, and they are the ones we must work towards. We must work harder to become caring, to become emotionally strong…"
Orochimaru smirked. "Ahh, we're thinking of Hinata Hyuuga." He paused, allowing the fact that he knew what I was thinking, and the fact that he knew about her sink in. "But there's something you don't know. Did you know that, if you got into a real fight with her, you'd win hands down? That she's so weak, that she needs someone to look up to? Like Naruto. She needed him, and he hardly knew she existed. She lived off of his words, using the words like they were directed at her. No, my dear boy, if we go after them, it would be devolution."
I knew he was a lost cause. I didn't press it. He continued hissing lies into my ear, lies that used to make up my entire life. They didn't care, didn't matter, and were weak, unimportant—I used to belief religiously in all of that. But I didn't now believe in that anymore, and it was beginning to infuriate Orochimaru.
I slid my hand slowly down my pants and pulled out a kunai. In a flash, it was at his throat. Before I could even get close to doing anything, however, he had circled around me, and wrapped a pallid hand around my throat. He began hissing in my ear, but this time, the hisses were making me sleepy. I tried to fight against the unconsciousness that was clouding my mind, but it was to no avail.
----
"Hokage-sama. The die is cast. Sasuke left last night, and I alerted the mission members without incident. They've followed him to the Cloud." This was Kakashi's 'report' to Naruto.
Currently, I was planning for my wedding. My father was oh-so-very cruel. Not only was I being married against my will, but also I had to plan my own wedding. Somehow, when it is an arranged marriage, the simple questions like "What color should my dress be?" and "Hmm… The fish or the pork? I know Aunt Jen is allergic to fish…" don't come up as much.
Not to mention, there is someone else I would have for the groom… But he's not here, and I must not think of him.
Therefore, such planning took a backseat to my work at the hospital. Now, that was important. I actually got to assist in a few surgeries, and (mostly for practice) Tsunade even allowed me to perform an appendectomy with chakra!
"Hinata," Naruto addressed me, shocking me out of my deep thought.
"Yes, Hokage-sama?" I replied, always polite.
"Stop with the Hokage-sama. It's just us two in the room, now that Kakashi is out. Call me 'Naruto-kun' again. Please?"
… He's being weird. Clingy, almost. I wonder why? Well… He is the Hokage. Better do what he says… "Only if you tell me what's on your mind, Naruto-kun," I added his name at the end so that he could extract whatever comfort he could from it.
He smiled slightly, and heaved a deep sigh. "I know that I've sent a good deal of ninja after him, but… It doesn't seem like enough. I've sent Jiraiya, Tsunade, and a few other Jonin… But somehow I can't help but think I should be there, too. I won't know until they return, if they return, what the fate of my best friend is."
He won't admit it out loud, but he needs comforting. He needs to know that at least one of his old friends is there for him. I'm not nearly as close to him as… Sasuke… but I can be there for him…
I hurried to his side, placing one hand on his shoulder and the other on his head in an awkward embrace. But then again, everything about me was awkward. "It's okay, Naruto-kun. I'm still here, and Sasuke is…" I paused. I didn't like thinking about Sasuke, because that worried me. But I pressed on. "Sasuke is strong. He'll come back, and so will all the others… Tsunade-sama, Jiraiya, Neji, and all the rest will be fine." Not only had Sasuke gone, but Neji had, as well. I needed his advice now, and second to him was Tsunade, whom was gone as well.
And Sasuke…
It was true. I had only really known him for a few months, but it seemed like so much longer. I thought about him a lot, though I pushed such romantic thoughts to the back of my mind whenever I needed to. I did, however, allow myself the pleasure of fantasizing about him before sleeping, or when bathing, or walking, or anything else that didn't require any active thought.
"You must miss Sasuke as much as I do," Naruto muttered.
"W-wh-what m-m-makes you think that?" Damn. I stuttered again.
"Really, Hinata. I know you like him, maybe love him." He paused. "And I'm sorry your father is making you marry Shino. I know… that you want Sasuke. But, even as Hokage, there's nothing I can do. It's all up to fate, and Sasuke, now."
I was still silent. There was nothing to say, and I wasn't going to deny it.
It was the sad, sad truth.
"You know," Naruto chuckled to himself, "I put you two together on purpose. You see, I knew that the best person to be his friend when he came back would be you—you're warm, caring, but you're not overly physical with your affections."
"You wanted us to get together?" I was in shock. Disbelief had clouded over my mind—how could Naruto foresee such a thing?
"No. I'm no matchmaker," he frowned, "But if someone was to date you, or Sasuke, then I'm glad you two feel for each other."
"Naruto-kun, Sasuke doesn't care for me in that manner."
Naruto smirked. "Did he say anything?" I pressed on.
"He doesn't have to."
"… It doesn't matter," I said, firm resolution in my words, "I am to be wed to Shino Aburame in a week. And that's that."
Naruto sighed, defeated—or simply merely aggravated. After all, who could truly defeat the great Hokage-sama Naruto Uzumaki?
----
I blinked slowly, coming to in the middle of a warm bed. If I had been a normal prisoner, I would be waking up much later, on a cold, wet floor instead of a bed. Beside me, at the nightstand, was the boy who used to be Kabuto's assistant.
"Shiniji," I greeted, a tone of dislike in my voice.
He didn't return the greeting. "I figured you'd wake up about now. Orochimaru-sama told me to me to deliver the message that the preparations for the body transfer. It will be tonight."
Shiff. Shiff.
Shiniji, being someone unfamiliar with sounds pertaining to ninja, he simply continued on. I wasn't sure if he had heard them or not, but he had been 'adopted' by Orochimaru just a year ago from a village, and he didn't hold much shinobi potential, though he would become a good replacement for Kabuto.
But all that didn't matter at the moment.
Was that the sound of Sound ninja coming to witness Orochimaru's body change? Probably.
Shiniji slams a needle into my leg, full of what I know to be a sedative. When I wake up… I won't own a conscious anymore.
My last coherent thought is: "I hope the bastard who marries Hinata deserves her."He continued on. I knew he would, even if I had stated it more as a belief.
