A/N- I'm having company tomorrow so I decided to post a day early instead of making you all wait until Saturday. See how considerate I am? Remember that for the next time you get frustrated with a cliffhanger. :-D Okay, on to the chapter you've all been waiting for…well, part one anyway.

Oh, akai-sora added three more crack panels to her collection for Chapter 10, so check them out for a laugh.

Info- For those unfamiliar with it, Kusanagi (Grass Cutting Sword) is the sword that Orochimaru keeps in his throat. Ironically, the legend speaks of the origin of the sword as having been inside the fourth tail of an eight-headed snake. The name "Orochimaru" means "giant snake" and is from another legend…but that's a whole nother story.

Disclaimer: I'm not sure I'm dedicated enough to write a manga as long and as involved as Naruto…and I can only draw stick figures anyway so obviously it's not mine. ;-)

Enjoy!

Ikigai

in Konoha

Chapter 11

Nothing had changed, at least not on the outside. The forest remained as old and mysterious as when he'd been a child, guarding its secrets with the ferocity of a dark lover. Not a mark remained of the shinobi war between Leaf, Sand, and Sound all those years ago on the towering walls of stone and granite, but scars seldom lay on the surface anymore. Maybe he expected a giant visible difference because he was different, no longer the angry, vengeance seeking teenager who abandoned all ties of friendship and family for the absolution of one man's death.

The sweeping sense of emptiness following Itachi's death would've swallowed him into a void that knew no forgiveness if not for the memory of soft lavender eyes seeking light in an eternal darkness. There was a time he cursed her existence for the burden and obstacle it'd been, but had he known then that she would become the light in his darkness….

Precious girl: blind, helpless, insignificant to all but him. He would give her the comfort all his wealth could provide and honor befitting the matriarch of the powerful Uchiha Clan. Somehow he knew that wouldn't be quite enough, but at the moment it was all he could give. Eleven years of his life had been dedicated to hatred, anger and death, the path of the Avenger, and only a few months to just being a man. This was going to take as much adjustment on his part as it would for Hinata, though he doubted she would see it that way. How long would it be before she forgave him for his deception? Would she ever?

Standing atop the hill, Sasuke gazed down over the village of his birth for the first time in six years. Anbu had been following him for the last five miles, but since he made no effort to conceal either his chakra or his intended destination, they made no move to confront him.

By now the Hokage would've been informed of his approach and someone would be at the gate awaiting his arrival. One guess as to who that'd be. He had to admit to some surprise that his rival hadn't bolted out to exchange insults and fists by now, so it would seem even Naruto had changed a good deal over the years as well. Did he achieve his dream too? Was that why he stopped chasing after him? Or did Naruto finally realize there was no turning him back until he achieved his revenge?

Shifting his pack on his shoulder, Sasuke strolled down the hill toward the main gate. The force that pulled him forward was welcoming compared to the force that drove him away all those years before. There was no frantic fear or barely leashed insanity clouding his thoughts and his only craving was for Hinata's soft warmth. Is this what peace feels like?

He suppressed a smirk when he sighted the orange clad shinobi standing dead center in the wide entrance, arms crossed and foot tapping impatiently.

"Sure took you long enough," Naruto scowled. Sasuke couldn't mistake the double meaning if he tried. He stopped just a few feet from his old friend and rival and took in the miniscule changes with a glance as Naruto did the same. Those bright blue eyes that once only knew mischief were now hardened by time and existence, so much like his own.

"Why are you here, Sasuke?" Naruto demanded.

"To bury my brother's ashes."

Naruto's eyes widened slightly. "When…."

"Two months ago."

The two stared at each other silently, the years and pain that tore them apart slipping into a brutal memory. When Naruto first heard that Sasuke had been sighted making his way towards Konoha at a leisurely pace, he didn't know if he should be excited or worried. The last thing he expected was to see absolute calm and the absence of rage in the obsidian eyes of his old teammate. This wasn't the man who fought him nearly to the death in the past and that made him more nervous than anything because this was a man he wasn't familiar with.

"Is that the only reason you're back?" Naruto finally asked.

Sasuke walked past him, just barely brushing shoulders as he pointedly ignored the question.

"Oi, Sasuke," Naruto growled, turning to follow.

"How is she?"

"Eh?" Naruto blinked.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. Some things will never change. "Hinata. How is she?"

His instincts didn't sense the danger in time when Naruto grabbed a fistful of his shirt and yanked him around. Blue eyes shaded red glowered heatedly at him with a snarl revealing one sharp canine.

"I don't know what your game is, Sasuke, but she is not one of your pawns and I'll kill you before I ever let you hurt her!"

Fury flamed and snapped inside, but he squelched it beneath iron control. Naruto was only the first in a long line of opponents he would face. Rising to the bait now wouldn't win him any allies and would only serve to alienate Hinata further. That alone made any offense tolerable.

"She'd be dead if not for me, dobe." He grabbed Naruto's wrist. "Don't think for one minute you can stop me from getting what I want."

Naruto pulled him closer. "And what is that, exactly."

Sasuke smirked. "The favor she promised me."

Naruto snorted and shoved him away. "I swear someone dropped you on your head as a kid."

"You're one to talk," Sasuke scoffed, turning away. They walked for several minutes, pointedly ignoring the stares and whispers they gathered. They'd grown used to such attention all their lives. Of course, it wasn't every day people saw a missing-nin strolling through the village as if he had every right to be there.

Naruto glanced sideways at the silent Uchiha as they headed to the Hokage's tower, trying to make sense of his sudden, not all-together unexpected, appearance and what it meant. After hearing Hinata's account about the requested favor, he knew eventually Sasuke would show his face to collect on it. The man went through far too much trouble to save Hinata's life and bring her back to Konoha to not have some motivation to do so. I wonder what exactly he has at stake here.

"So why did you help her anyway."

"You tell me," Sasuke shot back.

Naruto grinned and crossed his arms behind his head, watching from the corner of his eye. "I think that even a jerk like you couldn't stand seeing a sweet, pretty girl like Hinata suffer."

The reaction was so slight that Naruto would've missed it if he blinked. Sasuke's lips pulled into a thin line and his eyes almost shifted to meet Naruto's.

"Hn," he grunted finally.

The blonde nearly tripped over his own feet. Holy Hokage, don't tell me I'm right! No, no way. Sasuke would never go out of his way over something so trivial. Just look at how many times he hurt Sakura. But then, he did spend months taking care of Hinata, just the two of them and that old mute lady. Neji said Hinata still calls out for him in her sleep when she gets scared, so he obviously treated her well enough to earn her trust. There is something seriously screwy going on here.

Blue eyes narrowed thoughtfully before casually looking up at the sky.

"Sakura had healing sessions with her twice a week to work on her optical nerves and chakra pathways, but Tsunade-baachan gave her a less than two percent chance of recovering her sight."

"Hn."

"She seems to be managing okay, but none of us get to see her much. The Hyuugas keep her practically under lock and key." Naruto paused and frowned. "Especially now."

Sasuke tilted his head to look at him, catching the frustration and anger barely hidden beneath the surface. "Why now?"

Shoving his hands into his pockets, Naruto sighed. "She ran away last week."

Sasuke's steps halted. "Ran away? From the compound?"

Naruto shot him a wry smirk lacking amusement. "Nearly made it all the way to the market on her own too."

Her mind must not be as stable as I thought, Sasuke mused with disappointment and not a little concern. On the trip to return her to Konoha, she'd been terrified of every sound, every movement in the unknown environment and had fervently clung to him every step of the way. So what could possibly have been so frightening, so horrifying as to drive her away from the familiarity of her family home?

Obsidian eyes narrowed on the blonde shinobi. "Why?"

Naruto shrugged. "I guess she wasn't as thrilled about her arranged marriage as her family thought she'd be."

Sasuke jerked back as if he'd been slapped. So soon? He'd been expecting this to happen eventually which is why he pushed himself to get back to Konoha as soon as possible. The old man Masa had adamantly disapproved when he started training sooner than planned, but Sasuke ignored him and the pain of forcing his still healing body to comply. Each night passed with disturbing dreams of Hinata lost to him in the arms of another man. At first it'd been simply a matter of who got there first, but then his mind started to torture him with the possibility of her falling in love with some gentleman lord and he couldn't bear sitting still anymore. He wanted her, he was going to have her, and no one was getting in the way.

Pulling out of his thoughts, he realized Naruto was studying him suspiciously.

"When," Sasuke demanded.

"When what?"

"Naruto, this is not the time to be obtuse!" Sasuke snapped. "When is the wedding?"

Naruto crossed his arms stubbornly. "And why should you care about that? She's nothing but a favor to you, a means to get the Council's pardon."

His fist shook as he fought the urge to punch the blonde. "She's more than that," he hissed through clenched teeth. Turning on his heal, he stalked away.

Naruto blinked after him for a moment before running to catch up. Sasuke jerked to a halt when the blonde jumped in front of him, expression stormy and threatening.

"Don't get me wrong, Sasuke," Naruto growled. "I'm thrilled to see you home and in one piece for however long that might be, and I hope you found the peace you needed in your revenge, but this isn't about you."

Sasuke felt his Sharingan activate in instinctive response to Naruto's building chakra.

"Hinata's been through enough without you making petty demands. You're not going another step until you tell me what you want with her."

"Naruto," Sasuke growled softly, trying to hold onto his temper in the face of threat. "If you want her to stay in Konoha you will get out of my way because I'm the only one who can make that happen."

Blue eyes narrowed in suspicion. "And how is that, exactly," he demanded.

Crimson eyes shifted back to bottomless black and Sasuke smirked. "You're just going to have to trust me, dobe."

Naruto deliberated for a moment before snorting and relaxing his stance. "Don't think it'll be that easy, chicken head. Whatever you got up your sleeve had better be good because I'm supposed to be at Hinata's wedding in an hour."

All amusement vanished and the former Avenger scowled. "You couldn't have told me this sooner?" he snapped, striding past the blonde at a pace just short of running.

"Forgive my lack of confidence," Naruto muttered, jogging to catch up.

Unheeding of the stares he garnered, Sasuke strode into the tower pass gawking shinobi and civilians alike with Naruto hot on his tail. Few things had changed since he left the village and it almost felt nostalgic stalking down that familiar hallway, only this time he didn't bother to knock before entering the Hokage's office.

Stern amber eyes met his across the spacious room and Sasuke calmly crossed his arms as he met her glare impassively.

"Am I supposed to be happy to see you," Tsunade demanded.

"I honestly don't care one way or the other," Sasuke said.

The buxom blonde leaned back in her chair and smirked. "Arrogant cur. Give me one good reason why I shouldn't execute you."

Sasuke reached behind him to grasp one of the swords sheathed at his back and paused when he felt Naruto's chakra start to build again. Slowly he drew the sword out and took three deliberate steps to lay it on Tsunade's desk before stepping back and crossing his arms again.

Amber eyes glared at him before dropping to the sword. She blinked several times and looked up at him in disbelief. "Is this what I think it is?"

Sasuke nodded once and Tsunade reached out to take the legendary sword in hand.

"Kusanagi," she murmured, inspecting the blade. "I take it this is your confirmation of Orochimaru's death."

"His carcass would've been an unsightly trophy," Sasuke smirked.

Tsunade eyed him as she leaned the sword against her desk, wondering for a split moment if the man before her was nothing but a snake in wolf's clothing. Just as quickly, she dismissed the notion. Orochimaru couldn't hide his creepy nature that well and he would never willingly relinquish his treasured Kusanagi to anyone. Oddly enough, she felt no sense of loss for good or ill with regards to her old teammate, only relief that one more threat against her people no longer existed.

"I suppose this will get you at least life in prison instead of an execution, unless you got something more up your sleeve," she said.

Dark eyes narrowed sharply. "I'm not here to bargain."

"Neither am I," Tsunade snapped. "You severed your ties with this village a long time ago, allied yourself with the enemy and even attempted to kill some of our shinobi." Her eyes flickered to Naruto and then back to Sasuke. "So the real question is what do you want and why should I even consider giving it to you."

Reaching inside his shirt, Sasuke pulled out a scroll and dropped it on the desk. "I want what's mine and you'll give it to me because you don't have a choice."

Tsunade scowled as she swept up the scroll and unraveled it. Dropping her eyes to the scrawling script, her blood froze. If not for the obvious red droplets on the parchment, she would've believed it to be a pathetic joke on the Uchiha's part. But then, Uchiha Sasuke never joked and he never did anything without a reason. Suddenly the confusing events surrounding Hinata's rescue made a whole lot more sense.

"Shizune!"

The dark-haired kunoichi bolted through the door just seconds after Tsunade bellowed and halted short on seeing Sasuke standing casually before her desk.

"Tsunade-sama?"

Scribbling a quick note, Tsunade pressed her seal on the bottom. "I need you to bring Hinata, now."

"But Tsunade-sama, she's in the middle of preparing for her wedding. The ceremony commences soon."

Tsunade handed her the sealed summons. "Then I suggest you run."

Shizune blinked at her in surprise and then down at the missive labeled 'urgent'. "Hai, Tsunade-sama!"


If she had her way, the women fluttering around her would be her friends and comrades, not the self-important matrons of her Clan. If she had her way, she wouldn't be preparing to wed a man she had never seen in her life despite having spent several days in his company. Apparently this was too much to ask, so she remained as silent and unresponsive as the day Neji took her back to the compound after her reckless escape.

Her betrothed didn't appear to mind her silence, considering her delightfully meek and demure. Otoya-san was not unkind, but he had expectations of a quiet, obedient wife to dote on and bear him sons. From the perspective of others it was a fine match since she would never want for anything but the things a man she didn't love couldn't give. Hinata could see it as nothing more than a cushioned prison where she would fade into the void that threatened to consume her every day she spent in darkness.

She'd known there was never any real chance of recovering her sight and life as a medic, but to have all hope taken away left her hollow and helpless. Otoya's home was far from Konoha, far from the healing touch of Sakura and the healing words of Naruto. To heighten her despair over being parted from her family and friends was a knot of pain sitting low in her chest, a certainty that she had betrayed someone in acquiescing to the Clan's manipulations. This feeling pained her most of all.

She listened absently as the women around her fluttered about how handsome Otoya was and how blessed she was to be taken as his wife and fought the urge to strike out like the cornered animal she felt. Would they still think her so demure and useless if she could break just one of them as much as they kept breaking her with their words?

"So beautiful," a number of them chorused. "Otoya-san will be so pleased!"

Her expression remained neutral under their praise, not caring if they had dressed her in sackcloth and ashes though it would've been far more suitable to how she felt. No one had bothered to even describe the color of her wedding kimono or what manner of ornaments they had placed in the hair that now dusted the nape of her neck.

"Ne, Hinata-sama, you must smile on your wedding day," someone chastised.

She fisted her hands in the long sleeves and held her tongue. Spiteful words danced there, but she had no strength to breathe them life.

With exasperated sighs, the women converged on her again to nitpick at her clothing and jewelry in anticipation of the approaching ceremony. Neji's promise to find a way out of this echoed through her mind as it had done many times since he spoke it and she knew this day would be as painful for him as for her. This was one thing he couldn't protect her from.

A knock sounded on the door and the women all gasped with an excitement she would never feel. Was it time already?

The door slid open and Hinata felt the charge in the air alter instantly. Turning her face towards the familiar presence, she felt his gaze even when she couldn't see it.

"Hinata-sama." Neji's deep voice couldn't mask his agitation from her adept ears. "Hokage-sama has summoned you."

Utter chaos broke loose in the room and confusion settled on Hinata's pale features.

"The ceremony is to begin in a few minutes," someone spoke. "Can this not wait?"

"Hokage-sama is aware of the time and wouldn't have summoned Hinata-sama if it were not urgent to do so." Neji brushed past the women and gently grasp Hinata's arm to help her to her feet. "Hiashi-sama and Otoya-san are already on their way to the tower."

Hinata obediently followed his guidance away from her twittering caretakers and felt nothing but relief if only to be beside him. Looking up in the general direction of his face, she tried to filter the myriads of emotions entangled in his chakra.

"I don't know what it concerns," he admitted once they stepped outside. "But I suspect she wouldn't have interfered with this day if there was no reason to do so." He looked down into her unseeing eyes. "Perhaps there is yet hope, Hinata-sama."

Her free hand clutched at his arm, afraid but needing to believe. The flame in her was not yet extinguished and she cupped it desperately close to her heart if only for a little while longer.


Also thanks to Starfire201, Cat, hullo!, oulja, Jay_chAn, hana chan, LilL, tsuki-poums, fanofthisfiction, Blah…, and tatski kiba loveer for all of your lovely reviews. Remember, if you want a question answered, please leave a signed review so I can reply through FF and not bog down chapters with replies.

I see a couple of my chibi shy shadow readers popped up to say hi. Huggles!