Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Chapter Nine

10ShizukaYuukiMistress10

It became quite clear to Hinata after three days spent healing the Uchiha in this inexplicable village that something had changed in her. For one, she noticed the absence of her nightmares at night—the faces of the victims of her forbidden jutsu strangely gone.

And for some reason, the Hyuuga heiress couldn't keep out Sasuke's rattling words from the previous evening from her mind.

Sounds like Danzo is using you, the same way the Snake tried to use me like he owned my body or something. You are losing your soul. To a Machiavellian elder.

As Hinata grabbed her towel and headed to the bathe in the bathroom adjourned to her room in the rather cheap Inn, she questioned the wisdom behind her actions. So far, Sasuke had not posed much of a threat to her—for obvious reasons—or the people of the village. She had no idea how long he intended to maintain his cover of restraint. Was he really doing justice to the civilians by getting rid of the trash shinobi who abused them whenever they saw fit? Or was he merely seeking to find an honourable death on the battlefield?

Hinata furrowed her eyebrows, slowly turning on the faucet in the bathroom as she realised that Sasuke nearly had a quarter of his maximum chakra back.

She wondered if he would be a very different person indeed once it was all fully returned to him.

~.~

"I'll admit it Hyuuga, I'm impressed you've kept to my terms and stayed here to complete your end of the deal."

Hinata's face was drawn in tight concentration as she worked on Sasuke with both her hands against his chest on the outcrop of rock beside his temporary cave.

Through her Byakugan, she was able to envisage the pathways of his Chakra System, which were like little links that joined together in one massive maze-like system. His Gate of Death was eternally lit up, unaffected by the initial absence of Sasuke's chakra from her tremendous jutsu-gone-wrong.

As Hinata watched her bright azure chakra pumping into the eerily dark areas of Sasuke's system, it was like seeing the life being brought back into a chakraless corpse.

"I wasn't aware we had any deal. I'm restoring your chakra out of goodwill and trusting that you'll eventually return to Konoha realising you've made some bad choices. Naruto, Sakura and Kakashi care about you deeply."

Sasuke was silent as he held her gaze before chuckling lowly. Hinata's Root training was the only thing that held her composure together. She was sure that he hadn't taken a liking to her carefully worded response just now.

"Don't fucking tell me what to do, Hyuuga. You know nothing of my motives. And you have no right to question me. You're working for Danzo who isn't the most innocent person I know, carrying out his dirty assassinations."

Hinata could've congratulated herself that she didn't even flinch at his harsh words once.

For some reason, it didn't even register to her—his perspective, that is. Maybe she just didn't want to acknowledge it. To her, choosing to work for Danzo had been her only choice at the time.

"It works both ways, Sasuke. You have no right to accuse me either. You've killed many people, on behalf of Orochimaru. And you're continuing to slaughter with the excuse that you're doing justice to the Ninja world. I believe in reality you're bloodthirsty…"

Hinata's words died in her mouth. She was unable to comprehend why she would voice such a thing to Sasuke himself, even if they both knew it was true. It just felt wrong, like calling out a madman for his contorted behaviour.

Oddly, Sasuke's obsidian eyes were completely blank, as if he had expected this.

"I'm already a monster, Hyuuga. But you're not—at least not yet. Concern yourself with your own predicament. You'll soon find out how easy it is to cross the line and never be able to come back."

Sasuke's words were chilling, but not something she hadn't considered herself before. Hinata wanted to save herself, but didn't exactly know how. Hopefully she would before it was too late, as Sasuke forewarned.

For some reason, the silence between them afterwards wasn't awkward. It was as if they'd cleared the air between themselves. Just said their opinions and left it out in the open.

Sasuke ignored her presence completely, as if she was just a mere insignificant insect, in favour of staring out at the late afternoon sky pensively, as if he was wrapped up in a blanket of his own thoughts.

Hinata sat back against the rock, ignoring the way the jagged edges made for an uncomfortable backrest. She was just about to apologise to Sasuke for some of the unnecessary comments she'd made when she realised he owed her an apology as well but she knew this would never happen. So she dropped the idea entirely. Hinata would apologise for anything callous she'd said to Sasuke if he proved her wrong about himself.

She still couldn't quite fathom how she'd landed herself in a situation as unique and equally terrifying as this. At this current moment Hinata and Sasuke had reached an unspoken truce: they were not exactly enemies anymore, but at the same time they were not allies.

Ever since Sasuke left the Leaf village four years ago to train under Orochimaru in order to become strong enough to kill Itachi, he'd made it clear to everyone that he wished to sever ties with his home and anyone in it, going as far as attacking his former teammates, Naruto, Sakura and Kakashi as if they were his foes. But Hinata doubted Sasuke was truly capable of hating the people of the Leaf village.

She'd known him when he was a child, after all. And the sweet, innocent smile he used to always have on his face until he turned eight and his whole world was sent to ruin…

It was at that moment that she realised Sasuke had been staring at her for a rather long moment.

"Hyuuga. I can tell you're attempting to figure me out," Sasuke said warningly, his onyx eyes burning through her angrily, but despite the threatening expression on his face, his young features and his slightly dishevelled raven-black hair framing his face just served as an oddly attractive view for her.

"And I wouldn't try that, if I were you." He finished, getting up from his outcrop of rock.

Hinata took that as her cue to leave the premises as well, as his cave was close by and she would be sleeping in one of the Inns in the auspicious village below.

It was still late in the afternoon, but Hinata knew Sasuke would probably be heading to bed soon. Although he tried his best to hide it, he looked utterly exhausted. Hinata knew restoring his chakra was taking a toll on both their bodies, his especially, but she also suspected that he had been using his Sharingan lately, and for what reason she did not know.

Sasuke was not the kind of person who cared about the consequences of his actions.

"Goodnight." Hinata finally said, almost forcing the words to come out of her mouth before she could change her mind. She didn't know if he'd heard her because he made no sign as he began walking away to his cave.

But before she could see him finally turn to her, Hinata had already convinced herself that he had simply ignored her and she turned her back on him, making her way down the mountain.

Sasuke watched Hinata go in silence, his shadowy figure framed against the entrance of the cave as he stood there alone. He watched her long midnight hair swaying behind her as the air blew through her strands soundlessly.

For some reason, he couldn't quite get this image of her out his mind that night.

Hinata's expression was always somewhat mournful.

Seeing her with her back towards him, he imagined that she was walking towards a better future.

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A/N: And here you go guys. :D I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Thanks for all your lovely reviews and I look forward to hearing your thoughts! Can't wait for you guys to find out what's in store! Love you all! 3333

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