Hinata looked up as Sakura returned to her side, noticing that Naruto had left. Wisps of her dark hair were matted to her face from her tears.
"Where did Naruto-kun go?" Hinata asked, her lavender eyes meeting the medic-nin's emerald.
"He had to catch up on work for a mission," Sakura lied, unwilling to tell Hinata the truth. It would only make her insist to go with him.
The pink-haired kunoichi couldn't help but examine the Hyuuga heiress more carefully than usual. From Naruto's cryptic remark, it seems like Hinata is in love with Sasuke - or, at the very least, Naruto thinks that she's in love with him. It bothered her a little bit, but her feelings for Sasuke weren't as strong and selfish as they had been when she was younger. After all the betrayal and heartache they'd been through, Sakura now loved Sasuke in a mature way. More than anything, she wanted him alive and happy - with her or not. Although that became less plausible by the second.
"I see," Hinata sighed, pushing her hair from her face and drying her eyes. "Well, I'd better get going, Sakura. I've got an early morning tomorrow."
"Let me walk with you," Sakura smiled. "I'm going the same way."
Sasuke couldn't control his anger. He slammed his fist on the floor until his knuckles bled and clenched his teeth until his gums ached. Fresh droplets of blood from his hand fell to the floor of his cold, dark cell.
What right did they have to question the Uchiha clan? These bastards - these so-called 'elders' - were the same people that drove my brother to kill our clan. If they hadn't oppressed the Uchiha, discriminated against them, sequestered them like cattle, none of this would have happened. And even though they had caused every single goddamn problem, they still had the nerve to ask my brother to kill his parents, his girlfriend, his friends, everyone he ever knew and loved.
The black-haired man grimaced as tears began to slide down his face and the blindfold covering his eyes slowly grew wet. Uchiha Sasuke cried only for those he loved. Never for himself or anything else in this world - only for the few that he truly loved. The fire that the elders ignited in him grew hot and unstable - the wounds of his past trauma reopened, slowly turning his vision red. He heard the buzzing of cicadas in the night and opened the door to his parents' room, finding them dead on the floor. Murdered by his brother, for the whim of these sick bastards.
Itachi had killed them for Konoha. And yet, they were dead nonetheless. He walked to his mother and looked at her beautiful pale face, still beautiful in death and untainted by blood. Itachi had taken their lives carefully, with respect and honor, letting not even a single drop of blood touch his mother's face. Sasuke stared into her black eyes, just like his own, when suddenly he saw a flash of lavender. A light shade of purple, glinting in the moonlight, a stark contrast to the puddle of blood slowly filling the room. His mother's black hair slowly began to take on a purplish hue. By the time he realized what his mind had conjured, Sasuke's mother had become a mirror image of Hyuuga Hinata.
Sasuke forced his mind out of this horrific fantasy, gasping for breath and sweating profusely. And yet, he had only grown more angry. If the Hyuuga clan had been discriminated against instead of the Uchiha, maybe Hinata would have been laying in a pool of blood instead of his mother. Hinata's beautiful, dark hair would be stiff with blood, her bright eyes turned dull and lifeless. Sasuke slammed his fist as hard as he could against the wall, hearing the sickening snap as the bones in his knuckles gave way. Though his hand was horribly disfigured, the young man could feel no pain - only anger.
In the end, he knew why the elders had been so hard-pressed to have him killed, why they didn't care that he'd fought with the Shinobi Alliance, why they looked at him with utter disgust. It was glaringly obvious: they knew that he knew. They knew that Sasuke had found out the horrible truth of the Uchiha massacre - the truth that even Tsunade had the faintest idea about. The only other man who had that knowledge, the Third Hokage, was dead in his coffin. That knowledge was a grave threat to the elders' position. If the citizens of Konoha realized what had happened, there would be a revolt against their leaders. They'd be thrown in jail by Tsunade herself.
To prevent that, they would go to any length to have Sasuke pronounced guilty by the jury. It was self-preservation at its finest. While Sasuke wanted nothing more than to kill the elders along with every person in Konoha that turned a blind eye to the Uchiha's suffering, he knew that wasn't the answer. That's what he learned from Itachi. Whether Sasuke agreed or not, Itachi had performed his duty out of a genuine trust in the Will of Fire that guided Konoha. If Itachi could have that utter belief and devotion, then Sasuke wouldn't betray that. He couldn't. It would be as if he betrayed his beloved brother himself.
Despite that, Sasuke realized that he could never continue living without avenging his clan. While he wouldn't resort to violence, Sasuke was determined to find a way to ruin the elders without killing them. He already had plans on how he'd disseminate the information that the Uchiha massacre was carried out by the council. In the end, Sasuke wasn't as selfless as his brother. He needed revenge - whether Itachi would agree or not. But to achieve that end, he couldn't die in this trial. He just couldn't.
At this point, Sasuke was exhausted from his nightmarish thoughts and wanted more than anything to see Hinata. She'd clear his mind and give him the peace he desperately needed. Even just thinking of her face - bright and happy, a perpetual blush tainting her cheeks - made him unbelievably calm. He had to ride this trial out and trust his friends. Naruto and Hinata were surely trying to fix things. Whether or not he truly believed they could make a difference, he had to keep strong - if only for Hinata. And if they still couldn't alter his death sentence, he'd figure something out. He was determined now, cradling his broken hand in his lap.
Hinata woke up early in the morning, while it was still dark. She hadn't slept well, tossing and turning in the night. She rubbed her strained, tired eyes and got out of her bed. Her sleep was filled with nightmares of Sasuke, dying just before she could reach him. He'd be pierced by a thousand kunai, drowned in a river, hung by a rope, and every time she'd run to him and would only see the blank look of death in his eyes. It terrified her.
Today, the trial was on hold and would resume tomorrow. Hinata had been called in to look at Sasuke's wound from Madara and treat any injuries he had - apparently he was currently unable to sign any documents. The thought of Sasuke's hand broken, the same hand that caught her when she fell, that held her when they kissed - it broke her heart. Hinata sighed, her chest aching, and started to get ready for her day.
She took a quick shower and headed to a Hyuuga meeting that aimed to straighten out left-over discrimination between the main house and branch house. The lavender-eyed girl did her best to address the problems she had in mind, but her thoughts were entirely elsewhere. Her eventual meeting with Sasuke was what carried her through each moment. Hinata was brainstorming constantly on how she could save Uchiha Sasuke. Could she file a complaint about the elders' clear bias towards Sasuke? Or beg Tsunade-sama to talk with the elders about Sasuke's trial? Each time she followed her train of thought, it led to a dead-end. The elders have no regard for anyone's agenda but their own, and even then, they clearly hate Sasuke so much that nothing would deter them from putting him to death.
It seemed absolutely hopeless, but Hinata still filed a complaint just in case. When the time finally came to treat Sasuke, despite all her worries and sadness, the Hyuuga heiress couldn't help but feel her heart grow warm. He was the love of her life, after all. Naruto send a note earlier to let her know that he was still busy with work for his upcoming mission and asked that she tend to Sasuke alone. Hinata was glad she could spend some time with Sasuke without anyone else around. Hopefully, they could come up with a plan.
Naruto had just delivered a note to one of Hinata's retainers and immediately rushed back to Tsunade's office. He lied again to the Hyuuga princess, but with good reason. He didn't want her involved in a heated argument with the Hokage. He stormed through the doors yet again, ignoring Tsunade's clearly annoyed expression.
"How many times do I have to tell you, Naruto? Get out of here!" Tsunade yelled.
Naruto's blue eyes shone with passion. "Tsunade-baa-chan, you have to stand up to those bastards! They're clearly biased as hell and keep exaggerating everything Sasuke did!"
Tsunade sighed, rubbing her face with her hands. "Look, Naruto, I know they're lying, scheming, cheating bastards. Trust me, I know more than you ever will. But to maintain the current power balance in Konoha and even the whole shinobi world, I can't just tell them to back off. The Raikage, for one, would be furious if Sasuke walked free. It's not as simple as you think. Please understand."
Her eyes looked into Naruto's, trying to find reason. He ignored her again and persisted. "That's why you have to change the power balance, Tsunade-baa-chan. It's not right as it is. It's screwed up. They can't just ignore our complaints. We're the people they govern, goddamnit!"
Tsunade looked away from Naruto's frustrated features and stood from her chair, stretching her back. "I have a meeting with the instructors of the Chuunin Exam now, Naruto." The blonde-haired woman walked past Jiraiya's pupil and sighed. "Maybe you can change things when you finally decide to become Hokage, Naruto. Maybe you should stop waiting around for someone else to decide for you instead of lecturing me." She knew her words hit a sore spot when Naruto didn't fire back. With a frown, she quietly clicked the door closed.
The blonde-haired man deflated, feeling like a child for demanding things that he knew nothing about. That he's been ignoring since the end of the war. Sliding to the floor, he rested his head in his hands. It was always Naruto's dream to become Hokage, and yet, when push came to shove, he was reluctant to take on that role and that responsibility.
If I wasn't even responsible enough to save my best friend from himself, how could I protect an entire village?
The thoughts running through his head were interrupted by Shizune, who hurriedly brought a stack of papers into the room. Her trusty pig followed behind her.
"Oh, you're still here," Shizune noted, her eyebrows raising. "Persistent as hell, at least I can give you that."
Naruto looked up and gave the medic-nin a weak smile. The perceptive woman immediately knew the cheerful boy wasn't himself.
Shizune smiled sadly back. "I wish I could do something too, Naruto. That's why it's so hard to be the assistant of the Hokage - you see so many horrible things that you can't do anything about."
The blue-eyed boy remained silent, looking at the tiled floor. Shizune sorted through the stack of paper before coming across something that caught her eye. "Looks like your girlfriend feels the same way as you," Shizune laughed drily, handing Naruto one of the papers. "At least she didn't barge in here yelling like you did."
Naruto quickly read Hinata's formal complaint about the elders' bias in Sasuke's trial. For some reason, it gave him solace. He's really not fighting alone in all this, not with her around. He couldn't help but realize yet again how much he loved her.
"Thanks, but she's not my girlfriend, Shizune-chan."
Author's Note: I absolutely love writing for this story right now, especially the scenes from Sasuke's perspective - his mind is so complex and it's incredibly fun to write. Hope you guys enjoy this chapter! I've got some awesome stuff in store, so I'd love if you keep reading/favoriting/reviewing/following. It means the world to me!