Enjoy!
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Black and Purple Don't Mix #10
By all appearances, Neji was glad he and Hinata had become close over the years.
He couldn't say they were friends because he's seen the way she interacts with her teammates or the other kunoichi or the villagers, but as far as members of the Hyuuga went, they were close. He wouldn't complain over what little barrier there was between them because it was more or less his fault there was ever a barrier to begin with.
He hated her at one point, but he realized far too late his hate wasn't with her. She was too kind and too selfless for anyone to truly hate her, and he regrets the wasted years he could have used to establish a real bond. Neji was still a strong believer in Fate, even though his little dispute with Naruto slightly lessened this belief, so he truly believed he and Hinata were destined to be close no matter what. He just wished he had been more accepting of that fact.
Hinata, however, was very loving—almost disastrously so—and she did not turn him away when he made the first move in wanting to interact with her. Of course, she had tried to interact with him before he tried with her; she always tried in her hesitant, shy way, and he never made it easy for her.
So, he had to admit the first time he tried initiating his own truce, he was not very kind about it.
He would force her to sit and eat with him even though she was clearly uncomfortable. She usually left a lunch out for him in the hopes that he would take it, and he felt more like an animal she was trying to keep nearby rather than the family member that he was. Other times he would call her out of the shadows when she tried to secretly watch him take the food she left for him. He never knew why she did these things—watching people—but he supposed this habit of hers provided them the opportunity to reconnect.
So, that's why he wanted to there for her. He was aware that his current actions around her were not to her liking. Neji was good at reading people when he wanted to, and Hinata often times was hard at hiding her true emotions. She was never fond of the servitude that went on in their household, but Neji thought he should atone for the way he treated her by acting the role that was meant for him. He wanted to offer his friendship without having to say it, and he held hope she'd see through this ruse and confront him on it.
But he wondered if Hinata was the type to confront people...
Nevertheless, Neji had been given hope recently.
Hinata had been home for four days despite Kiba and Shino coming for her, and that was very unusual. Neji took it upon himself to check her for a fever, but aside from being a bit cool, she was fine.
Then she requested they spend time together.
It wasn't an outrageous request, nor was it impractical, but Neji was always around her—especially since she still refused to explain her latest disappearing act—so he had not known what she was asking right away.
He simply sat next to her and...talked.
He didn't know what people did when they spent time together because the time he spent with other members of the family involved sparring, intellectual gaming, and political speaking. Hinata was surely not asking for that. The only other reference was his team, and spending time with Lee and Tenten was a warped view from the norm. Lee was loud. He always talked and challenged and posed. Tenten was more logical, but she still talked more than Neji did. In fact, Neji rarely spoke, but there was no way he could get away with that with Hinata.
So he talked.
He talked about nothing in particular, then soon strayed to his childhood and events in his life when the two were not on good terms. She listened intently, highly interested in his life and things he had to say. He had been surprised by how she would awe at his life, and he found himself talking more than he ever had. He tried asking her some questions about herself, but she had been unwilling to answer. He dropped the subject because he did not want to cause awkwardness between them, but he was curious. He wanted to know if she remembered her attempts at befriending him. She had been so persistent, but perhaps kindness was just another reflex for her. But she didn't seem to remember the memory when he vaguely spoke about it.
Neji shook his head, forcing himself to stop dwelling.
He was very...happy he and his cousin spent time together, but he could not shake the feeling that something was very off. He knew it was centered around Hinata, but he had not seen anything out of the ordinary. If it was something she was not telling him, then he couldn't do anything unless she opened up to him. Until she started to fully trust him, he would not be able to help her.
Or save her.
Again, he shook his head because; this wasn't the time. He had just gotten through speaking with his uncle about some trivial affairs, and Neji was eager to get back to Hinata. He refused to let it show, but he rather enjoyed her company.
Making his way back to her room, he noticed a figure walking outside. The moonlight shone brightly on the person, and Neji was sure he was seeing things.
He watched for a second longer before walking to meet the person. "Hinata-sama?"
She tensed then relaxed, looking at him harder. "N-Neji?"
"What are you doing out here?" He left her in her room for no more than a few minutes, but she looked as though she was coming from the front of the compound.
"I..." She looked around. She was more drawn into herself than normal. "I was...just going to my r-room."
He could not come up with a logical explanation as to why she left her room. What's more, she was acting very different. She had been extremely welcoming to him these last few days, but now she was back to cowering from him.
"Allow me to escort you," he offered.
She couldn't meet his gaze; she simply nodded and continued to walk to her room.
It was too much. After talking with her so freely, it was too much to go back to this silence. Neji studied his cousin's back, and then was struck with a sudden realization: Hinata was now wearing her normal clothes, but he last saw her in her night-clothes.
He activated his Byakugan.
There was no jutsu—no trick of any kind.
It was just Hinata, but something definitely was not right. She walked slower than usual, sluggish. Her clothes were wrinkled, like she had been in them for days. She was also clutching her stomach.
When they reached her room, Hinata silently thanked him and walked in, but Neji stood in the doorway as she sat on her bed, still clutching her stomach. For a second, she didn't notice he had not left, and her face fell, taking on a tired and damaged appearance. She looked up suddenly, her surprise masking most of those features.
"Neji? Is something wrong?"
He walked into the room, shutting the door behind him, and studied Hinata up close. She looked away, confused and embarrassed.
"Neji? S-say something, please."
There was dirt in her hair, grass bits and other debris as well. Her eyes had bags under them—nothing caused by lack of sleep, it seemed. Stress, maybe? Her face was a bit oily as well, which made no sense because this only ever happened if she was unable to clean herself properly for some time. Neji still had the nagging suspicion that this Hinata was a fake, but no ninja would make mistakes like these.
"Hinata-sama," he said, not wanting to believe the other possibility, "do you remember when we first began to speak with each other?"
She hesitated, surprised. "You mean...when you wanted me to eat with you?"
She was able to answer. When he asked her the first time, she had no memory of it.
Neji cursed himself, bowing his head.
Stupid.
He was so stupid!
This was the real Hinata. The Hinata he bonded with—the one who made him turn a blind eye to her unusual behavior—was a fake. This whole time, he was bonding with a fake simply because he finally had a chance to get closer to his cousin...but it was all a lie.
"You were gone this whole time, weren't you?" he forced out, chest tightening.
Hinata tensed again, her body shaking slightly. He turned abruptly, trying to make sense of this, but he couldn't. He ran a hand over his mouth, then looked back at her. She stared, petrified by some knowledge she assumed he knew, but he knew nothing.
She wouldn't tell him anything.
"Where do you go?" His voice cracked, betraying the stern position he was trying to take.
"N-nowhere," she lied.
"Where have you been?"
"I...I was here the whole time."
"No, you weren't." He shook his head, kneeling in front of her and looking her in the eye. "Hinata-sama, talk to me. Why are you keeping secrets? Why do you keep disappearing? Who.." His voice rose, "Who was that who took your place?!"
She recoiled, her voice trembling. "Please, calm down."
"Do you not realize the trouble you could have caused disappearing like that? Did you think it was right to run off again?"
"I...I didn't mean to. I-"
"This is serious!"He stood, stepping away from her. "You have people who care about you. I-" He held back, but it only frustrated him more. "Do you have any idea how your actions affect the people around you?!"
"No!" She cringed, hands gripping the sides of her head. "I-I don't know anymore! I didn't mean to hurt anyone, and I don't know how to fix it!"
Neji was bewildered. Hinata was crying, and her statement seemed to address something else entirely.
He took a step forward. "Hina-"
She flinched. "I'm sorry!"
They both froze. Was she scared of him now? Had she always been scared of him? He didn't want to believe it, but maybe that was just the way they were. After all, she was born to the Main family.
He was to serve her. Nothing more.
"Forgive me." Neji knelt in front of her, bowing his head. "It was not my place to speak out."
"No, Neji, I didn't mean to-"
"It is alright. I had forgotten my place."
"Neji..." Her voice was a helpless, heartbroken whimper. "I-I'm s-sorry."
He looked up to find her head bowed,one hand balled at her eyes; one arm still firmly grasped her middle. It was bothering him. "What's wrong with your stomach?"
She shook her head, attempting to scoot more on the bed, but he wouldn't have it. He closed the distance between them, attempting to lift her jacket. She struggled, bringing her other hand down with such quickness that it almost startled him. She was hiding something.
"What's wrong?" he asked again, struggling with her.
"Nothing! It's nothing!"
"What are you hiding?!" He managed to pull her arms away and pin both her hands above her head. She writhed, now begging him to not look. He lifted her jacket and saw a series of small bruises on her lower abdomen; the button to her pants was gone. Neji's mind reeled, immediately coming to a conclusion that made his stomach produce a bile so awful, he thought he would be sick right then and there.
He released her.
She stiffly curled into herself, softly crying. It was then he finally noticed that his cousin was hurt. "I told you not to look."
"Hinata-sama..." Neji swallowed hard. "Who... What happened?"
She shook her head, crying harder. "Nothing. Please, leave it alone."
Neji sat on her bed, intending to comfort her. "Someone forced themselves on you."
She shook her head violently.
"Tell me. I'll help you." He placed a hand on her back, but snapped it back when she screamed. She sobbed and dry heaved as Neji turned her on her stomach and lifted her jacket again. He nearly gasped.
Her entire back was one giant blister that was charred and peeled in some places.
"It's not what you think." She was panting, her body shaking. "He doesn't mean to...do these things. He..says he loves me."
She went limp
Hinata awoke and realized her window was bright with sunshine. She blinked, mind groggy, as she concluded it had to be well within the afternoon.
And she was home.
She had vague memories about getting home, though she was not able to recall everything. She decided she could deal with it later because she felt terrible at the moment.
She pushed herself up on her hands, only to be greeted by stiff, sore muscles and an agonizing pain coming from her back. She heaved, scrambling to sit up. Her breathing was ragged, body trembling and weak. She vaguely remembered this pain starting shortly after leaving Sasuke, but it was worse now. She reached around to rub her back, but moving made the pain worse.
Her skin felt like it was ripping.
She bit her lip, drawing her arm back in front of her. For the first time, she looked down, feeling coolness caress her, and screeched. She covered her naked torso with her arms, shooting over to her dresser to retrieve her white cotton robe. She had no idea what happened to her shirt and jacket, though she was still wearing her pants.
Putting her robe on the conventional way proved to irritate her back further. Any move she made irritated her back. Putting on any shirt would prove to be impossible. She resorted to putting her robe on so that it covered her front.
She heard a yell come from the courtyard. It sounded like Kiba's yell.
She hesitated, grabbing a small blanket to hold over her back, and darted out of her room.
Neji stood silently, arms crossed and eyes emotionless.
Seven.
He counted again and again. Neji was out for blood because he was sure one of these shinobi took advantage of Hinata. He had them all tied to wooden posts.
All guilty.
Probably.
Looking at the far left, there was Sai, staring passively at the ground. He probably didn't do it, but Neji couldn't be too careful.
Next to him was a raging Naruto, squirming and yelling his displeasure. He was a good bet. Hinata's attacker had her convinced he loved her, which, coming from Naruto, would probably make her vulnerable enough to anything he wanted to do to her. And why wouldn't he do anything to her? He had to know his cousin was idiotically in love with him, so after being rejected by Sakura so many times, he took to abusing Hinata in his sick, perverted ways. Neji clenched his fists. Yes, Naruto was a prime suspect.
Trembling next to Naruto was Lee. Neji didn't suspect him at all, but there was no more room for error.
Then there was Kiba Inuzuka. Hinata's statement of love could also apply to the dog-boy. He was brash, impulsive, and Neji suspected him of always having a wandering eye toward her. He was just as likely to take advantage of his cousin as Naruto, maybe more so, but he was still only second on the list.
Shino was a different story. Neji could not get an accurate read on him. Unlike Kiba, Shino simply slouched forward. He was not pleased with his current state. He was probably dripping with rage. Shino never let his emotions show, so ulterior motives could be hidden as well.
Watching the birds fly by, Shikamaru Nara was only here because he was so smart, but it was because he was so smart that he was out of place, too. He could definitely calculate when to attack Hinata and how to get away with it, but there was no way a guy like him would be reckless enough to leave a wound on her, especially not like the one on her back.
Choji was also unlikely because he wasn't smart enough to know how to get away with any of this, and he certainly wasn't calloused enough to hurt Hinata either. However, if he and the Nara worked together, there was enough room for error. In fact, there could be many possibilities on who would have worked together to attack Hinata—kidnap her even—and hurt her in such a grotesque way. Even the medical ninja exclusive to the Hyuuga's said...
Neji grit his teeth and gave each shinobi an icy, enraged glare.
Kiba yelled, louder than anything Naruto had done. "Dammit, Neji! I don't know what the hell has gotten into you, but get those damned things off Akamaru!"
Neji looked over at the chained dog. "He's growling too much."
"No shit! You have him chained like a wild animal! Where the hell do you get off doing this to us, ya bastard!"
"Yeah!" Naruto roared, still writhing under his bindings. "What the hell'd you have us dragged here for?!"
"Questioning," Neji said simply.
"Then just talk to us, you psychopath!" Kiba bellowed. "Don't make your men drag us away like we're criminals!"
"Oh, but you are." Neji regarded the mixture of emotions. Some were clearly riled, a few terrified, others virtually unreadable. "Probably all of you."
"What is this all about?" Shikamaru spoke for the first time. "It's not like you to do something as reckless as this. My guess is, something happened—Hinata, maybe?—and you have no idea what to do."
Kiba shot the lazy ninja a look. "Something happened?"
"Very good guess." Neji smiled, small but vicious. "So, why don't you all tell me what you have been up to these last few days."
"What happened to Hinata, Neji?!" Kiba demanded.
"N-N-Neji!" Lee wailed. "You know I would never hurt anyone from your family! You are my rival, but I would never hurt you i-i-in such a way!"
"Then your innocence should speak for itself."
"If something indeed happened to Hinata," Shino spoke, "what makes you think it was one of us? What makes jonin such as Kakashi or Gai untouchable? What makes any resident untouchable?"
"Gai-sensei would never hurt someone if he did not have to!" Lee retorted. "Do not say such things!"
"And seeing how you've only gathered males," Shikamaru said, "it can be inferred that the damage done was," he paused, giving Neji a knowing look, "only something a guy can do."
"Like what?!" Naruto screeched. "Neji doesn't look like he knows a thing!"
Kiba and Shino exchanged glances.
"Neji..." Kiba's face paled. "What happened to Hinata?"
"I'm not sure yet."
"Then what do you think happened?!" He pushed against his ropes. "You better not be accusing me of that! I wouldn't do that to her!"
"Calm yourself," Shino muttered. "We don't know anything yet."
Neji groaned to himself. If they didn't shut up, he couldn't get anywhere.
There was a gasp. "Neji."
He turned sharply, finding Hinata standing in the doorway leading outside. "Hinata-sama... What are you doing up?"
"What are they doing tied up?" She looked over to the right. "Why is Akamaru chained like that?!"
"Please, return to your room. I am taking care of it."
She flinched, taking a step back, before shaking her head and darting over to the large dog.
"Hinata, tell your cousin we didn't do anything to you!" Naruto yelled.
"What?" She released the chakra controlled chains. Akamaru gratefully rubbed his nose against her before going to Kiba, sniffing him and whining.
"Why does Neji think we did something to you?!" Lee cried. "We would never hurt you!"
"Hurt me?" Hinata stood and walked back to Neji. "Neji, I thought... It's not what you think." She gestured to the boys behind her. "They would never hurt me."
"Then who would? I am only trying to help, so why won't you let me?"
"Be-because I don't want it." She stepped back, shaking her head. "I don't need it!" She gestured back again, forcefully. "They're our-!"
Hinata froze, her body going rigid and her eyes spilling over with tears. She fell to her knees, hands dropping to brace herself. Behind her, a series of gasps came. Neji rushed to her, his main objective being to cover her now exposed body, but when he picked up the fallen blanket, he saw the blister on her back had burst open. Clear liquid and blood poured out, saturating the ground.
Hinata was trembling. Her face contorted in pain. She grabbed her robe and bit down on it as a chilling scream came from her throat.
"We need medical assistance!" Neji yelled into the house.
"Hinata, what happened?!" Kiba yelled frantically.
Only screams and strangled sounds escaped her. She fell forward, writhing.
"Dammit! Akamaru, get me outta these!" Kiba commanded.
Neji looked up to see a few ninja escape from their confines. Akamaru bit through the ropes in one go; Shino's bugs had just gotten through eating his way out; Shikamaru nodded at Choji who used his expansion jutsu just as Shikamaru used shadows to cut him loose.
"What's up with her?" Kiba asked as they all approached the duo. As he looked down at his teammate writhing in so much pain, he felt like he could kill someone. Neji thought they did to her? Someone actually did this to her?
Shikamaru used his shadow technique to keep her in place; dirt was getting in her wound. "Judging by her injury, it looks like she came into contact with high levels of heat."
Hinata screeched as she was forced to become motionless. "It hurts!"
"She needs a hospital fast," Shino muttered, the unease in his tone was clear.
"Put her on Akamaru," Kiba quickly waved his dog closer. "We'll get her there in no time."
"No," Neji said firmly. "We can take care of her here."
"Obviously not! You don't even know who did this! For all we know, it could be someone from your own damned clan!"
"Guys, something's coming out of her!" Choji warned.
Hinata's screaming increased. Various tiny blue spikes were forcing their way out of her back.
Shikamaru dropped his jutsu. "Everyone get back!"
They all moved out of the way, ducking to the ground and hiding behind the nearest objects, just as thin, blue needles started shooting out of her back.
"What the hell is that?!" Kiba yelled, bewildered.
"It's a jutsu that turns the opponent's own chakra against them making needles project out of the skin." Shikamaru explained. "If she was hurt some time ago, it shouldn't have delayed this long. I'm guessing someone put too much chakra in their attack, and it caused an imbalance in her body that produced this technique."
"How do we stop it?!" Neji asked.
"For you, that would mean closing the flow of chakra in her back, but seeing how there's really no way to do that-"
Medical ninja finally arrived, bursting from the house.
"-you'd have to wait until her chakra runs out."
Neji watched helplessly as Hinata was given cuffs to drain her chakra faster. Shikamaru assured him Hinata would not die from this, but hearing her screams of anguish made him wonder if putting her out of her misery would have been the best option.
Kabuto watched Sasuke stalk around the hideout.
That's pretty much all Sasuke's been doing since he returned.
Sasuke was rather pleased—sporting a more casual, more dark attire than before—in a very Uchiha way, and the bifocal ninja was slightly disappointed the young pain seemed to have enjoyed himself. But he was back for no more than a few minutes before he started creeping about.
He said nothing as he went from here to there, going down one hall and emerging from another; his eyes slowly crept from side to side whenever Kabuto saw him pass. Occasionally, there would be horrific screams coming from what they liked to call Sasuke's Toy Room, where all his spar victims were kept. Judging by the way the screams only happened one at a time, it was safe to assume he was using genjutsu to mess with them; it was one of his favorite methods of messing with people: Make one suffer as the rest watched. Have them hope the next time he showed, he'd do it to anybody but them.
Sasuke was very strange and very unsettling. Kabuto liked to think he had become immune to the Uchiha's intimidating nature, but then he did crap like this that unnerved him. He sighed, realizing the appeal females found in him was all superficial. There was no way any girl could fall for the real Sasuke Uchiha.
Kabuto watched as Sasuke passed through the training room again, walking like a creeping figure in a child's book.
"Fucking weirdo," Kabuto said under his breath.
Sasuke stopped, looking in Kabuto's direction. The white-haired ninja tensed, not letting his face betray his discomfort. Slowly, Sasuke's eyes turned red, his lids gradually rising until they were horrendously apart.
Kabuto shuddered, his blood running cold.
The Sharingan faded, lids coming halfway down, and Sasuke's head fell to the side. His walking resumed. Kabuto said nothing as the Uchiha ventured down another hall, slightly leaning forward, his hands clenching and unclenching.
When he was gone, Kabuto shuddered again, shaking his body violently. He almost pitied the Hyuuga girl because Sasuke was a true psychopath.
o0o0o
Kabuto did well to avoid Sasuke for a while. Instead, he tended to some experiments that needed documenting, information cards that needed updating, and bodies that needed categorizing. With less bodies being annihilated due to Sasuke being gone, they actually had bodies to work with that were in decent condition.
This took no more than a few hours, and Kabuto found himself unable to do anything else. He sighed in the small room he found himself in. Maybe Lord Orochimaru had something for him to do. There was always someone who could be taken or a village to be upturned.
Kabuto turned to leave, but found himself staring at onyx eyes. Sasuke stood in the doorway as though he had paused when passing, still slouched, and stared at the ninja in the room.
There was no expression on his face, his eyes were indecipherable, but there was definitely something dangerously off about him.
For a solid minute, the two simply stared at each other—Kabuto prepared to counter any attack—when Sasuke's lips spread, teeth gleaming. A lazy smile.
"I'm bored," Sasuke stated before a swirl of wind engulfed him. He was gone when it cleared.
Kabuto swallowed, walking out the room on stiff legs, looking up and down the halls.
Of course, there was no Sasuke to be seen.
He took in a shaky breath and turned right.
If anyone saw how Kabuto and Sasuke acted normally, some may question why Kabuto would provoke Sasuke knowing moments like this would occur. The short answer was that Sasuke did not get like this often. The long answer was that these events usually happened in a certain pattern, and Kabuto had become decent at detecting when that would be. Sasuke usually found a place to fall asleep after moments like these, but he had stayed awake for a while now. Now that Hinata was in the picture, Sasuke was becoming even more unpredictable.
But, anyway, Kabuto enjoyed annoying Sasuke, even if his well-being was on the line.
He walked swiftly, briskly, having the logical feeling he was being followed. He could hear footsteps approaching—low and sluggish, far too close—but that was ridiculous.
Sasuke wouldn't make noise.
Sweat began to build on Kabuto's forehead as his flight instincts tried to kick in. He couldn't run. He wouldn't run. Summoning all his courage and composure, he swiftly turned around, but there was no one. The hall was dim, which never bothered him until now. He waited, noticing his breathing had hitched.
Kabuto huffed, continuing down the hall. He turned down a corner and jerked back, losing his balance and falling to the ground. His heart thumped dangerously fast as Sasuke stared down at him. Sasuke squatted.
"Let's go to the Mist Village," he said.
"What?" Kabuto exasperated, his breathing uneven. "The heck are you talking about?"
Sasuke lowered his lids, sighing. He reached for Kabuto's hand, taking hold of his index finger. He opened his eyes. "Let's," he snapped the finger out of its socket, "go."
Kabuto choked on air, trying to free his finger, but Sasuke kept a firm hold on it. Kabuto thrashed about, his hand on fire.
Sasuke churned the dislocated finger around. "Say yes. "
"Fine! Let's fucking go! I'll go!"
Sasuke snapped the finger back in place and stood. "Get that Frost kid while you're at it."
Kabuto sat in pain for a long time.
"A mission?!" Neji gaped. "You cannot be serious!"
"I am..." Hinata said as she packed her things. "It's nothing...big. We're just-"
"Doesn't Lady Fifth know of your condition? It was just three days ago you were in the hospital! I would have thought by now that-"
"Neji," she said softly, ceasing her packing. "I'm the one who pushed for it. Besides, I... I'm much better now."
"Listen," Neji sighed, shutting his eyes tight and pinching the bridge of his nose, "what are you trying to prove?" He opened his eyes. "Who are you trying to prove it to? You're tough—we know that! However, someone is targeting you, and you are in no position to deal with this on your own."
Hinata bit her lip. It was only Neji who thought someone was after her. She was taken to the hospital in the village where the final verdict was nowhere near what Neji believed it to be. Word had gotten out about the weird situation at the Hyuuga compound, and while the village was being monitored more heavily, there was no definite proof of foul play. It didn't make sense for anyone to hurt Hinata, of all people.
"I can take care of myself just fine, Neji."
"When will you start?" He groaned, frustrated. "You disappear and come back injured. Someone is hurting you—you know who—but you're not speaking up! How is this taking care of yourself?!"
"Stop treating me like a child!" Her face was flushed, her body shaking. "Th-this... You wouldn't understand, so just drop it."
They stared at each other, steady white eyes glaring at stubborn ones.
"Fine," Neji spat, turning to leave. "Have fun dying in the Mist Village." The door slammed behind him.
Hinata stood as she was, her fierce glare slipping from her face.
She didn't want Neji to look too deeply into this because she truly believed she had this under control, but no one would understand. If she told someone—anyone—she was trying to help Sasuke Uchiha... It just wouldn't make sense to them.
It barely made sense to her, but she knew what she was doing.
If there was anything she learned from Naruto, it was that everyone needed a friend—someone who would always be there—and if Sasuke no longer saw that in Naruto or Sakura but was certain he saw that in her...she had no choice.
She had to help him.
Maybe he would give up his criminal life and turn himself in. If he did that willingly, the Hokage would be easy on him... She wouldn't...kill him if he came back and dedicated his life to the village again, would she?
Hinata exhaled shakily, sitting on her bed. Her stomach throbbed, her back burning.
She groaned softly, dropping her face to her hands. "I'm sorry."