Author's Note:
Sorry for the delay everyone! I rewrote this chapter so many times. I wanted to make sure it felt right and like the feelings were genuine.
Well, here's hoping I accomplished that. Without further ado.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
PART ONE
Chapter Eight: Arrangements
Hinata followed Sasuke back through his house to the front door. Stepping back into the courtyard, Hinata started to second guess herself. This was starting to feel like a bad idea. What if she ended up further injuring the Uchiha? That wouldn't help anyone. It would most likely cause her more problems.
"Uchiha-san—" Hinata began, but stopped. Noticing the way Sasuke seemed lighter. He needed to spar just as badly as she did. This similarity surprised her, but the last Uchiha needed to center himself somehow. Seeing as training did that for her, it only made sense that it likely did the same for him. Sasuke was still human after all.
"What, Hyuuga?" Sasuke glanced over his shoulder.
"Nothing, sorry."
Sasuke snorted. "Don't apologize. It's annoying."
Hinata bristled at that. He didn't know her well enough to say something like that to her. He isn't wrong though… Hinata decided to ignore the comment. Sasuke was an irritable man, he was bound to say rude things.
Following Sasuke into a field felt odd.
It reminded her somewhat of their recent encounter, but she didn't feel uncomfortable. All things considered, she should feel like her skin was crawling, but she felt relatively at ease. She was somewhat nervous about how the ANBU watching Sasuke would react. That didn't really affect how she felt about Sasuke though. That more so affected her work life. As much as she wanted to help Sasuke and take some of her guilt away, she didn't need to get in trouble with the ANBU when she had only just joined.
Assessing the area, Hinata noted the location of the three ANBU that were currently keeping tabs on Sasuke. One was about 40 yards away in the forest that surrounded and encroached upon the Uchiha land. The other two were about a half mile away from Sasuke's house—positioned closer to the village. This was likely in an effort to surround the Uchiha, but it wasn't very affective. If Sasuke even had half of his abilities he'd be able to get away in a matter of seconds with the ANBU positioned as they were.
Maybe they're keeping their distance because I'm here? Hinata shrugged at the thought. Whatever the reason. It seemed odd to her that they were positioned the way they were.
Or maybe it's so they can keep him away from the villagers. Hinata grimaced. Right now, with a majority of his arsenal sealed, Sasuke needed protection from the villagers, not the other way around. Especially since most of the villagers have made it apparent that they want him dead.
"Are you coming or what, Hyuuga?" Sasuke snapped.
Hinata noticed that Sasuke actually seemed eager to spar with her. That likely had more to do with the chance to spar than anything else. He almost seemed excited, which Hinata certainly did not expect.
Sasuke hadn't yet had a chance to walk around outside besides his walk to his new home from the hospital, let alone spar. This was his first real taste of freedom he'd had in a while. Especially since sparring with Hinata was his choice, unlike walking with Naruto.
Reaching what felt like the middle of the field, Sasuke suddenly turned around to face Hinata.
"Any ground rules you'd like to establish before we start, Hyuuga?"
Hinata tipped her head to the side. "Well, to be fair, no dojutsu."
Sasuke snorted.
"And since you have no weapons, and limited chakra…" Hinata glanced at Sasuke and noted his tense figure. "We should stick to just taijutsu for today."
"You can use whatever you want, Hyuuga." Sasuke smirked. "You'll need it."
Sasuke realized he made a mistake around the time Hinata hit him in the gut for the second time in a matter of seconds. He knew she wouldn't be easy to fight, but he didn't expect it to be this difficult. Not being able to use his eyes or a majority of his jutsus was making it extremely difficult to counter attack.
It also didn't help that his chakra being so low was affecting his physical abilities. He didn't anticipate that to be a problem, but it was. They'd been fighting for about ten minutes and he already felt out of breath.
This was really causing him to reevaluate all of his fighting tactics. Obviously he was relying on his chakra and jutsu far more than he realized if he was struggling this greatly.
"Do you need a break, Uchiha-san?" Hinata asked, her voice even. She clearly wasn't having to work hard to combat him. She hadn't even bothered to remove her jacket, and she wasn't sweating or even winded from the spar.
Sasuke was impressed. He wasn't at his full capabilities. Not even close. But he still hadn't expected her to be completely unbothered by him. He'd have to actually full out spar with her at some point. That would definitely be interesting. There would have to be limitations to be fair, but he had the feeling that she would prove to be a decent opponent even then.
The Hyuuga was no Naruto, but having another person to spar didn't hurt. Especially given Naruto's busy schedule and how aggravating he could be to be around.
"Call me Sasuke." The last Uchiha quipped, sliding to a stop after receiving the Hyuuga's latest blow.
"It's really alright if you need a break. Your chakra is extremely limited." Hinata spun and kicked Sasuke in the chest, sending him sliding back once more.
Sasuke grunted.
"I'll admit, I overestimated how much strength I currently have, but I can still spar against you just fine, Hyuuga." Sasuke countered, jabbing at Hinata's flank and sending her on the defense. Making her guard herself with her forearms.
Hinata dodged and leaped backwards until there was some distance between her and Sasuke.
"If that's how you feel…Sasuke." Hinata charged.
The abrupt change in tactic surprised Sasuke. Hinata didn't seem like the type to be so direct with her attack, but her upbringing probably had more to do with that than anything else. The Hyuuga fighting style, as far as Sasuke had heard, was pretty direct and aggressive. He hadn't really seen it in action, but from what he heard, it didn't suit her personality at all.
Her training with ANBU probably had some influence with her fighting style now too.
Sasuke feinted right and leapt to the left, struggling to get out of Hinata's way. The woman was persistent and every move was within a hair's breadth of being a direct hit.
Knowing he couldn't keep this up for much longer, Sasuke took a direct hit and anchored her to her spot. Sasuke struck out his right leg, trying to sweep her legs out from under her, but Hinata blocked him.
Sasuke struck out with his left arm while holding her in place with his right, and she blocked him again. Getting frustrated, Sasuke moved to knee Hinata in the chest, but she was too quick for him.
Using her free hand, Hinata latched onto Sasuke's right shoulder. Acting quickly, she spun around so her back was against Sasuke's chest. Using this momentum and her hips, Hinata flung Sasuke down on his back.
Sasuke's eyes widened, surprised that the petite Hyuuga girl could body slam someone double her weight.
Hinata smirked. Knowing she had taken Sasuke off guard. He'd underestimated her—
Eyes widening, Hinata realized that Sasuke had not yet released his hold on her, and she was quickly falling with him.
At this, Sasuke smirked. Sure, he'd underestimated the Hyuuga, but that didn't mean he wasn't always prepared. Using the momentum that Hinata had created Sasuke tossed Hinata over his head. Forcing her to land on her back with her arms locked in his.
Sasuke chuckled, knowing he'd won—
Hinata pitched her feet over her head, flinging herself back toward Sasuke.
She landed with her knees on either side of Sasuke's chest and hands pinning Sasuke's arms above his head. To say that the last Uchiha was shocked, would be an understatement. At this point, Hinata was breathing deeply and the two locked eyes.
Realizing the compromising position they were in with Sasuke's smirk, Hinata's face went beet red. Stumbling to her feet, Hinata moved away as quickly as she could while apologizing.
Sasuke, seeing the opening for what it was, latched onto the Hyuuga's ankle and caused her to trip. In a second he was on top of her, pinning her down and switching their rolls.
Hinata's face went tomato red with embarrassment.
It had been a while since she sparred with a partner. Even longer since she had sparred against a partner that she was not related to. Sasuke being as attractive as he was definitely made things worse. She didn't have feelings for him, but it was hard to deny how handsome he was.
With dark mysterious eyes, inky black hair that was difficult to tame, and all that lean muscle—it was hard to disagree with the assessment that the last Uchiha was still extremely attractive.
Naruto's face flashed before her eyes, and all the color drained from Hinata's face.
"I win, Hyuuga."
Falling to the side, Sasuke rolled away from Hinata and into the grass. For a moment he laid there on his back, taking stock of all the odd thoughts and feelings that had flickered through him during that sparring match.
The Hyuuga was by far a more interesting and attractive opponent than Naruto. Half way through the match, it became apparent exactly why the Hyuuga was so adamant to wear her multiple layers and jackets at all times.
She was very petite, but was definitely a curvy woman under all that drab and boring training wear. Sasuke wasn't sure why that thought came to the forefront of his mind, but it did.
The Hyuuga was full of surprises.
It was a shame that she felt the need to cover herself so completely, but her modesty was admirable. Plus, it was probably safer for her to be modest while living the life of a shinobi. Men weren't usually like Sasuke. Most were motivated by other needs than to seek strength, and that could be very dangerous for someone like the petite woman next to him.
That line of thinking made him incredibly uncomfortable and mildly concerned.
Shaking the thought off, Sasuke quickly rose to his feet. He turned to the Hyuuga, who was still laying on the ground, and offered his hand to help her up.
"That was a decent spar Hyuuga." Sasuke admitted when she accepted his help up. "You could do better though."
Hinata grimaced. The backhanded compliment all too familiar to her. "Thanks, Uchih—Sasuke. We should do it again sometime." Hinata automatically responded, not sure if she meant it. Sparring with another partner had been fun, but she wasn't so sure that sparring with Sasuke was a good idea.
"Do what again sometime?"
Hinata's blood ran cold. She should have sensed him coming over, but she had been focused on the spar.
Hinata slowly turned around to see Naruto walking up to them.
"The Hyuuga let me spar with her," Sasuke began, glancing between Hinata and Naruto, noting the immediate tension that settled into Hinata. "She stopped by to give me more of that salve because of all the seals that cover my body now—I think that's supposed to make us even somehow?" Sasuke added, noticing that that seemed to make Hinata more uncomfortable.
"I'm truly sorry, Uchi—Sasuke." Hinata's head was down and hands gathered in front of her, looking the picture of remorse. "I didn't have any choice—"
"Now that, I disagree with, but—"
"Stop it, Sasuke." Naruto snapped, moving closer so he was between Hinata and Sasuke. "If Hinata says she didn't have a choice, then she didn't."
Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Sure."
"I'm truly sorry, Sasuke. If I had let Tsunade do it alone, then the chance of mortality would have been incredibly high. I wish…" Hinata hesitated. "I never wanted to help create a seal like that. I am so sorry. I just didn't want you to die because of my feelings."
Tears began to brim in Hinata's eyes, and Sasuke felt…odd.
"Hn." Sasuke shrugged. "It would have happened with or without your help." Sasuke shoved his hands into his pockets, not sure what to do with his hands all of a sudden. "So I guess it's not completely your fault—"
Hinata perked up at that, relief spreading through her.
"—but you still owe me." Sasuke smirked, knowing he had her where he wanted her. "How about since I can't leave the house by myself, we spar every morning. Plus, I need to get used to my new chakra level." Sasuke watched Hinata hesitate and weigh the options. It probably didn't help that Naruto was standing right there watching this happen and being surprisingly quiet. Sasuke knew from Naruto's expression that he was alarmed at the idea of Sasuke and Hinata training together, but knew he had no reason to intervene.
Naruto didn't even have a way to.
"You would benefit from this too, Hyuuga," Sasuke added as an afterthought. "You need a partner to train with, and I can teach you what I have learned."
Hinata's eyes lit up and Sasuke knew he got her.
"How are you going to teach her anything if you can't do anything?" Naruto raised an eyebrow and narrowed his eyes.
Sasuke shrugged. "I can somewhat keep up with her taijutsu, and I can teach her more as I get my chakra back over time."
Naruto couldn't argue with that.
"So, Hyuuga," Sasuke moved so he was directly in front of Hinata, "what do you say?"
Hinata thought about it for a moment. Unsure of whether this was a good idea. She did feel like she owed him, and she could use a partner that she hasn't practiced with often. It would keep her on her toes, and she could hopefully learn some new jutsu. Plus, she had actually enjoyed sparring with the last Uchiha. More than she would like to admit.
He didn't treat her like she was a fragile thing, and she appreciated that.
"I'll think about it." Hinata decided.
Sasuke snorted. "Fine."
Hinata had left Sasuke in the field with Naruto shortly after. She had given him a once over with her Byakugan to make sure his chakra was in balance before leaving, but she left immediately after.
She hadn't felt comfortable staying when it was apparent that Naruto had come to see Sasuke. She didn't want to be in the way, and she still felt off around Naruto.
After letting the ANBU know that Sasuke needed food brought to his house, Hinata headed back to the village. Now that she didn't need to train for the morning, she could get some errands done, like she had meant to the day before.
Walking through the newly built streets, Hinata stopped into Tenten's weapon shop first. She needed to get some tools sharpened before her next mission, and Tenten was the only one she trusted with her equipment. The only down side was… well there was a few downsides to seeing Tenten.
The guilt was a big one.
A huge one really.
Then there was the fact that every time she went in Tenten tried to get her into another weapon, which was hard for Hinata to say no to, but she didn't use too many weapons. Pretty much just the standard kunai, shuriken, and needles.
Having recently joined ANBU—the ink of her tattoo was still healing—she was considering purchasing herself a new weapon to celebrate.
A majority of ANBU had a sword of some kind, or a specialized weapon. Hinata was teetering on telling Tenten that she'd been promoted and was thinking of commissioning her for a weapon. She felt some guilt about this though. Ever since Neji had died…
Well a lot of things had been consistent since Neji died, but one thing in particular was Hinata's training. All she did was train, eat, sleep, and go on missions. She'd been so focused because of the loss of Neji, and feeling like she needed to prove that she was worthy of his sacrifice. Hinata had a burning feeling in her chest whenever she thought about Neji, and just how she wanted to make him proud of her. She wanted to be true to his memory, so she was dedicating herself to their family and their village.
Now that she thought about it, she wasn't sure when she last saw Tenten, or a majority of her friends for that matter.
Guilt pooled in her stomach and licked her the sides of her ribs like acid.
She needed to make a better effort to be social. Neji would want her to keep tabs on their friends, especially his teammates, to make sure that they were all doing ok.
Hinata shook her head, chastising herself. Here she was, letting him down once again. She needed to be better than herself. She needed to make up for Neji's loss. It was her fault, and it was the very least she could do.
Stepping into Tenten's shop, Hinata's was hit with a wave of strong burning incense. Tenten had always been a fan of incense, but recently she'd been on quite a renewed kick with it, or at least she had been the last time Hinata saw her. The smell wasn't unpleasant, it was just…really strong and unique? That was probably the nicest way to say it.
Hinata enjoyed her fair share of incense too, so she didn't blame Tenten, she just preferred more mellow scents.
Hinata scrunched and wiggled her nose, trying to get the smell out before she saw Tenten. Hinata knew as soon as she saw her, she wouldn't be able to do that again any time soon.
Hinata wasn't always so sensitive to smell, but after having a teammate like Kiba for so long, it only made sense that she'd be more aware of it than the average person.
Hyuuga eyes searching the rather poorly lit shop—not all of the new developments had full access to power yet—Hinata's eyes landed on Tenten. Her double buns poking out from behind the counter in the back of the shop.
The entire shop was made of natural wood from Konoha, which gave the shop an earthy scent. The walls were covered in weapons of every kind, only limited by the imagination. The more standard civilian and shinobi weapons were closest to the door, with the more extravagant items closer to the back where Tenten spent most of her days.
Hinata remembered when Tenten first let her know that she no longer had the desire to be a full-time shinobi. She'd be surprised at first, but the more she thought about it, the more it made sense. With Neji gone, Tenten's team would never be the same. On top of that, Hinata had always suspected that Tenten had had romantic feelings for Neji. After his death, Hinata suspected that Tenten didn't have the drive to be a shinobi any longer.
Tenten still assisted with missions when she was called upon, but it wasn't her primary job anymore.
It still made Hinata a little sad, but it made sense, and Tenten seemed happier now at least. Hinata wasn't sure if she'd always be a full-time shinobi either. If she ever got married, she'd have kids, and then…
Hinata stopped that train of thought. Blonde haired and blue eyed children were not in her future, no matter how badly she wished for it.
Clearing her throat, Hinata alerted Tenten of her presence. She had remained underneath the counter, busying herself with something, since Hinata walked in. A little voice in the back of her head said it was because Tenten didn't want to see her or have anything to do with her. Logically, Hinata knew that wasn't the truth. Tenten loved her and she was one of her best friends. But, there was always that niggling doubt in the back of her mind.
"Hinata!" Tenten shouted, jumping up from behind the counter, face lightly flushed in embarrassment. "I'm sorry! I didn't hear you come in!"
Hinata giggled.
"It's alright Tenten, you're busy with work," Hinata hesitated, taking in Tenten's mildly disheveled state. "I can come back later—"
"Nonsense!" Tenten shouted, hopping over the counter to get to Hinata. "This is the first I've seen of you in weeks!" Tenten grinned, hugging Hinata fiercely. "I can't tell you how happy I am to see you." Tenten sighed.
Guilt made Hinata's stomach squirm. "I'm so sorry Tenten, I've been—"
"No no no. You don't have to apologize to me for anything Hinata." Tenten smiled, stepping back from Hinata but still holding onto her, like she was afraid a strong breeze would take her away.
Hinata nodded her head, not sure what else to do.
"Come here, let's go to the back." Tenten flashed a conspiratorial smile and flipped her "Open" sign to "Closed". Grabbing Hinata by the wrist, Tenten pulled her into the back room office of her store.
"So, how have you been?" Tenten asked, sitting down on a pillow in front of a small table that had paperwork, coffee, and kunai scattered across it.
Hinata sat next to Tenten on another pillow. "I've been ok. I actually came in today to see how you're doing and sharpen my equipment for my next mission." Hinata hesitantly smiled.
"Oh! Perfect! Here, hand them over." Tenten reached out for Hinata's weapons immediately. Hinata quickly removed her weapons pouches. Now that she was ANBU, she carried around three separate pouches of weapon, and they were all very much full. Her most recent mission wasn't an ANBU mission, but she was trying to get used to moving around with that much weight regularly, and in places that she wasn't completely familiar with carrying extra weight.
Handing over the weapons, Hinata realized that Tenten would likely notice how much extra weaponry Hinata was carrying around now. She needed to mention it quickly and briefly. Besides, telling Tenten made it feel like she was telling Neji in a way.
"U-uh, Tenten. I actually wanted to tell you that—"
"You're ANBU now, aren't you?"
"How did you—"
"You have three pouches, you've been training non-stop, and you have fresh bandages on your arm," Tenten pointed to each clue, then smirked, "so I guessed."
Hinata glanced at her right arm. She had bandages wrapping around her upper arm to part of her shoulder. She thought she had made it look natural, but apparently she hadn't. She supposed her sleeveless outfit probably didn't help. She'd taken to wearing a kimono styled purple top with black shorts when it was warm enough. It had been incredibly hot out for the last couple days, so she had dressed for comfort rather than worrying about covering the mark. She'd have to be more creative in the future.
Maybe if she covered both upper arms it would look less noticeable and more like a fashion choice.
"I meant to tell you sooner, Tenten. I'm sorry I've taken so long. It's been hard to…" Hinata trailed off. She felt somewhat guilty talking about her feeling about the loss of Neji around Tenten. It was one thing when Tenten brought him up, but when Hinata brought him up. She just felt like she was shoving fingeres into a half healed wound every time she brought him up.
"I know. I think about Neji a lot too. It's hard not to, especially with something like this. This is a big moment for you, Hinata, and I am so proud of you. Neji would be so proud too." Tenten smiled, her golden brown eyes lighting up the whole time.
"Thank you, Tenten." Hinata said solemnly. "You don't know how badly I needed to hear that."
Tenten just nodded, taking Hinata's hand in hers' and gave it a squeeze.
They sat in silence for a beat before Tenten was moving about her office again, looking for a wet stone to sharpen Hinata's weapons with. "Now, tell me everything else."
Hinata sighed. "Where do I begin?" Hinata laughed, but it sounded empty.
Talking to Tenten had lifted Hinata's spirits. Everything seemed brighter and lighter, and Hinata was feeling relieved. The idea of telling Tenten about her promotion had been giving her mild anxiety. Hinata hadn't been sure how Tenten would take it, especially since Hinata was fairly certain that Neji had been extremely close to becoming ANBU.
He probably would have been if there hadn't been a war to interrupt their lives.
Hell, he probably had already been in the process when the war started.
Still, after talking to Tenten, she felt less tired than when she had gone into the Tenten's store. Plus, all of her tools were sharp as they could possibly be.
She'd even talked to Tenten about getting a new weapon.
Tenten had squealed with excitement and told her she knew "just the thing she needed." Hinata felt somewhat skeptical of that, but nonetheless humored Tenten. It was the least she could do. It wouldn't hurt her to become proficient in more weapons anyway. In battle, one never knew what could happen, and she needed to be able to fight with whatever was available to her.
A chill went up Hinata's spine.
Sometimes thinking about fighting or weapons made her uncomfortable. Hinata had been almost a pacifist when she was young. She'd still wanted to be a shinobi though, that had never perturbed her. It just took her time to understand that it meant fighting sometimes too. She had to be ready not just to protect those that were important to her, but ready to kill for them too.
That had taken her a lot of time too.
She still struggled with that to some degree. Hinata would never hesitate, but she still had an internal struggle when it came to killing. Being in ANBU now though, she'd either get over it or get kicked out of ANBU. She wouldn't be able to have qualms about things like that.
Training with Sasuke would likely help, at least with getting her more comfortable with learning new styles and combatting new people. He also was familiar with working with a sword. She could ask him to train her in that first. That would also keep their training in taijutsu, making his inability to tap into his chakra a non-issue.
With that thought, Hinata's decision was made.
"I'm going to train with Uchiha Sasuke." Saying that allowed made Hinata feel like she'd just signed her death warrant, not just with the other females her age, but with her family and work too. "This is going to be complicated."
Author's Note:
Thank you for reading!
Don't forget to REVIEW! (It makes me happy.)
