Author's Note: I'm incredibly pleased to have received such a warm welcome back. Thank you guys so much for all your reviews! You probably have no idea just how much do your comments inspire me to keep writing in general, and how it helped me with this chapter (which was frankly pretty hard to write for reasons) in particular.
As a gesture of gratitude, I'd like to give you all a bit of a teaser: there are only two chapters left for this current arc, and I'm preparing something truly astonishing for you all in the upcoming one and for the interlude that will take place between them. I've also posted the name of the next chapter in AN by the end of this one — it contains a hint to what is going to happen (in case if you're into solving small puzzles). Stay tuned! This is only the beginning.
Chapter 12. A Glance Into Their Past…
"Fine… I'm going to sleep," she snapped, hugging herself and closing her eyes, feeling more than a bit irritated, but not knowing why — she wanted to believe that it was due to Sasuke's behavior, but the girl couldn't fight the quiet voice telling her that it was because she was ashamed of her own.
Slowly absorbed by the overwhelming amount of uneasy thoughts she had been ignoring until now, Hinata didn't notice how the oblivion of the long awaited rest embraced her consciousness in a matter of seconds, sending her mind deep into its own world…
The girl blinked a few times, trying to see through the viscous white mist surrounding her. It was so dense that she was unable to see a thing through it, so the kunoichi decided to simply stride forward for the lack of a better option. Truly, she didn't know for how long was she walking — or did time even exist anymore, here in this strange space? — but then at some point she stopped, recognizing the familiar playground lit by the noon sunshine.
The Hyūga smiled against her own will as she looked around. The Academy… It still hasn't changed after all these years, has it? The handmade swing on the tree, the rusty old slide…
The blond boy with whisker marks on his cheeks, dressing in black shorts and white t-shirt, running around and trying to catch the raven haired boy of his age who was wearing a long sleeved black short, both not older than ten…
She blinked again, this time feeling confused as she began to suspect that something was off with the picture. Why were they… so young?
Hinata turned her head to the left, instantly spotting her own smaller version.
She was standing there, leaning on the wooden fence, her tiny hands locked in front of herself, the white eyes staring blankly at the dewy grass under her feet. Her almost formal white kimono was perfectly clean; the bluish dark hair was barely reaching her shoulders, and her expression gave away nothing at all…
The older Hinata frowned, reflectively taking a step closer to her past self. Unlike everyone else around did she know for sure what was going on in the little girl's head and heart right now… The feelings of immense sorrow, grief and envy; the pain she felt because of not being allowed to play with them just because they were from the not so friendly clans…
"Hey, Hyūga! Come and join us, why are you standing there like a pole?" drawled someone with the slightly annoyed, yet incredibly familiar charming voice from behind her back.
Sasuke…
"Yeah, Hinata, why are you always so dull? Come on and join us for once!" exclaimed Sakura cheerfully, jumping off the nearest tree and taking a step closer to the girl.
"Guys, just leave her alone, really," murmured Naruto, instantly making both the versions of the girl feel the note of gratitude.
The Namikaze had always been the most shrewd out of them all. Even back at the age this young, Naruto had already realized how things worked between the Hyūga clan and the rest…
"Meh. You're right. I guess she's just too cowardly to play with us cool kids." Sasuke smirked teasingly, clearly expecting some kind of reaction from her.
And now that she looked at his soft and completely relaxed face, she couldn't help but find his smile cute...
Of course, she knew what would come next.
The ten years old Hinata raised her head, narrowing her eyes at the Uchiha and lowering her hands, although not clenching the small fists — after all she had always been taught to use her palms instead.
"I'm no coward!" she exclaimed loudly. Her voice sounded so squeaky that it almost seemed pitiful even to her older self.
"Oh yeah? Then why not join us and prove it right now?" The raven haired boy kept grinning at her, which angered the little Hyūga even more.
"Hmpf! As if any of you is worthy of my time, idiots!" She turned away and ran toward the wicket, accompanied by a chorus of laughters fading in the milky mist...
The scene then changed, making Hinata hug herself uncomfortably as she remembered what happened next. Even up to this day the memories of that conversation made her feel uncomfortable...
The little girl was standing on her knees in front of her father, sobbing and completely frightened by his furious expression as he was walking back and forth, his hands locked behind his back in a very bossy manner.
"This is unacceptable. You must learn it once and for all that you are the heir to our glorious clan. The heir to myself. You are destined to be above all those plebeians whom you allowed to humiliate yourself today; it is your duty to meet our highest expectations, daughter."
The girl whimpered quietly, stuttering:
"B-But, otō-sama, I—"
"Silence!" he barked, making her let out a horrified squeak and cover her head with her pale thin hands, as though expecting him to hit her.
Of course, her father would never have attack her physically her; by now she had learned it first hand that he had much more twisted ways of disciplining his subordinates including his own children…
"I shall not tolerate any more damage caused to the reputation of the Hyūga. Because of this damned Namikaze brat and his friendship with the bastard Fugaku, we were forced into disfavor of Konoha and the Daimyo. We cannot afford being humiliated even more, do you get it, my daughter? Whatever we do, we must remain the best among the best in the eyes of everyone. No matter how much would they try to isolate us, we are the most noble and ancient clan in Konoha, surpassing even the founders of this hidden village. We will keep our heads high and ignore whatever they do to us, and you must be the best example for the rest of your clan to follow. Do you understand it, Hinata?"
She whimpered again, slowly nodding her head.
"I—I do, otō-sama…"
Hiashi's features softened a little bit, but the little girl didn't pay attention to that as he started walking threateningly back and forth yet again.
"Very good. Give me a promise that today was the last time when you allowed yourself to be soft and weak in the presence of another person."
The girl hugged herself, nodding again and whispering,
"I promise—I will never be soft and weak again… I—I will be a good leader to our clan… I swear!" She exclaimed vigorously, suddenly raising her head and looking stubbornly right into Hiashi's eyes.
He met her gaze impassively, and they kept staring at each other for some time before he finally nodded as well.
"Fine. And yet, you still have much to learn. You need not my pity; right now you need training and discipline. Go change and wash your tears away; I expect this to be the last time I was seeing them."
The scene shifted again, and this time the older Hinata followed her young self into her room, already knowing who was inside.
"Hinata, darling! What happened to you? Why were you crying?" The beautiful woman with long and silky hair just like her own gasped at the child, lowering to hug her daughter and to take a closer look at the girl.
"I am perfectly fine, okā-san," said the girl monotonously, refusing to look into her mother's eyes that were full of worry and compassion — the things the girl had just promised herself to erase from her heart.
"No, you are clearly not. Please, tell me, what happened to you? Was it your father…?"
The older Hinata frowned a bit. Of course it wasn't… What else could she possibly say in a situation like that?
"No, it was not. I got hurt during training, that's all," she gave her mother a fake smile which the woman clearly didn't find very convincing. And yet after a long suspicious stare the Hyūga matriarch let go of her, getting up and patting her temple lightly.
"Fine then, I believe you. Get dressed into something less formal please, the dinner is just a few minutes away now. And also, please make sure to clean your room properly from now on; if your father finds out how messy you keep it—"
"He won't find out, because it won't happen again!" The girl winked cheerfully at Hikari, and she smiled happily in return, now seeming to be fully convinced in her child's lie…
The scene shifted again. This time they were sitting in the class full of genin rookies. Hinata was able to recognize the place and the situation instantly. Oddly enough, although it had only been two years since the day she had promised herself never to show her weaknesses to anyone ever again, she still recalled it feeling like forever back on the day of sorting, and it still did feel that way… Frankly, it was almost like two completely different lives, her time before and her life after…
"Team Seven! Hyūga Hinata…!"
The twelve years old girl flinched, looking at Iruka-sensei who was standing at the pulpit and holding the scroll with everyone's name and team on it.
"Namikaze Naruto…!"
It was a bit curious now to look at, or rather to remember the reactions of their younger selves — both her and Naruto seemed to be indifferent but, of course, Hinata knew for a fact that her younger version had felt strong relief at that moment, maybe even a slight note of happiness. After all, Naruto had always been the only peer she could sympathize with, and it had always seemed to be mutual… Until…
She bit her lip. Right now she didn't want to remember Sasuke's recent words about Naruto never really trusting her, nor considering Hinata his friend. Although…
She then focused on the blue eyed boy's face. Naturally it was impossible to read anything on it, as per usual whenever the situation demanded him to be concentrated and serious. No… Trying to interpret his expression now was completely pointless, she realized.
"Uchiha Sasuke!"
Oh, this concoction of feelings burning deep in her heart as she heard this name… She had always considered this boy a rival, and he was the only one who had ever managed to get under her skin deep enough to truly anger her.
Yet still, now that she thought about it, her ill feelings were probably not quite justified. It's just that she had never truly understood him, this boy without a predetermined destiny…
He had probably never meant to offend her at all. Now that she thought about it, reflecting on the memories of their past interactions, he had simply treated her the same way like he treated everyone else, refusing to acknowledge her as his equal, or at least as someone special. All that childish teasing, the phantom rivalry he had never considered himself a part of… And finally what happened between them a few weeks ago…
To him it was simply not the same as it was to her. It could never really be the same, she now realized; despite the amount of similarities between the two of them, they were off completely different worlds. He had a loving clan, a family that adored him; he had the future full of endless possibilities where he could become whoever he really wanted, be it Hokage, a nukenin, or even Uchiha clan's heir instead of Itachi…
And she had none of it. Since her early childhood had Hinata been doomed to be unhappy, to serve the clan she had grown to hate, and the village that treated all of them like dirt. Yes… That was probably it. Sasuke was completely right; she refused to admit the existence of the impossibly huge gap between him and her; she refused to just be herself and accept her own unenviable destiny.
And he…
The surroundings changed again, and this time they were standing on top of the roof of some huge building — she had already forgotten what exactly had it served for. The sky was gray and heavy; the rain was about to start, but none of them seemed to care as they were far too excited — each in their own fashion, but still — about what was to come.
"My name is Uchiha Itachi, I'll be your sensei and the leader of our team from now on. Since this is the introduction session, I'll start first by telling a few things about myself. I admire peace, loyalty and determination when it comes to people; I also like spending some nice time in a cafe, especially where they serve good sweets. I dislike traitors and those who cannot accept their true nature, and I also hate steaks. My dream is a world without war."
Her eyes widened a little bit. Those who cannot accept their true nature… As much as she hated it, the girl felt the upcoming treacherous tears filling her eyes.
Sensei…
"My name is Namikaze Naruto. I like playing with my friends, reading and sleeping. What else... I don't particularly dislike anything. My dream is to find myself a dream, and, eh… I guess you could actually say that I kinda dislike people who don't believe in themselves." He shrugged and smiled timidly.
The realization of the meaning of his words made Hinata's heart beat faster.
Those who cannot accept their true nature… people who don't believe in themselves…
"The name's Sasuke…," drawled the other boy lazily, not looking at any of them. "I like a lot of things, dislike some stuff. My dream is none of your concern, next please," he waved at them dismissively, which made both Naruto and Itachi chuckle and shake their heads at him.
The female member of the team ignored him, however, and said:
"My name is Hyūga Hinata. I like training and becoming better, and I also love a good challenge. I dislike arrogant people and those who think very high of themselves without a good reason. My dream is to become a perfect heir to my clan and to make the Hyūga name greater than ever before." The girl was dressed in beige light leather jacket and dark blue shorts reaching her knees. Her hair was now a bit longer than two years ago, but still quite short compared to that of her future self… "I also hate annoying little morons who like to get everyone's attention and waste their time aimlessly all the time," she added a bit venomously, to which Naruto frowned, and Sasuke turned his head to eye her up and down leniently before replying calmly,
"Yeah, those can be quite annoying, you better stay away from them," he winked at her and turned away again, making the girl groan quietly in annoyance.
At the same time her older version bit her lip, lowering her eyes thoughtfully.
Now with all these memories rewinded, she could see that Sasuke was right. Both Itachi and Naruto disliked her — or at least they initially had, maybe to an extent, but they did nonetheless — for never really being herself around them. They were smart enough to realize that the girl hid her real self from them behind the hardened facade of an unbreakable kunoichi which she really wasn't. Naturally, all the three of them couldn't have missed the glimpses of her true nature showing up from time to time as they spent days and weeks together, doing missions, training and so on…
Hell, she wasn't even that careful to hide it from them now that she thought about it, especially when any of them got hurt…!
The girl blushed, covering her face with her palms as the mist was slowly surrounding her again.
He was right. He was always right. And at the same time, Sasuke had never intentionally tried to hurt her… It's just that he was always honest, she now also realized. He had never hidden his real feelings for her, always being very straightforward and blunt whenever it came to his attitude — another luxury she could never afford herself… And it also had made Hinata hate him even more among many other things.
"S-Sasuke…!"
She flinched, opening her eyes and almost gasping at the sight.
The Uchiha pushed her to the wooden wall of the old inn, his left hand sliding under her top as his lips pressed against the soft skin of her neck.
"W-What are you doing…?" She tried to push him away, which he obviously ignored, slowly removing her jacket off her shoulders with a sly grin. His face was quite bruised, and his lower lip was bleeding — oh, he had definitely deserved the trashing he had just received from her for peeking. But, apparently it had only aroused him...
...Just as it did to her.
"What does it look like?" He whispered huskily, kissing her so passionately that made the kunoichi blush. The slightly salty taste of his blood on her lips… She had to stop it right now…!
But, of course, she hadn't stopped anything, and probably wouldn't have no matter what…
"We—wait—we can't… Please—just stop, it's—"
"I think we can. You want me, I want you. If it helps us loosen the tension, and if it makes you stop lashing out on me all the time, then what's the problem?" She wanted to respond, to retort somehow, but he only shut her up with another torrid kiss. Hinata's hands wrapped helplessly around his neck as she was rapidly losing the last bits of self control under his unbearable pressure...
Another shift, and Hinata found the two of them lying on the roughly made wooden bed in the same room.
Her right hand was draped over his naked chest, and there was a barely notable happy smile on her lips as she was sniffing peacefully in her sleep. Her now wild long hair seemed to be covering everything around them...
His face, however, wasn't happy at all. He looked conflicted, if not torn; his eyes were full of some strange anxiety alongside the depth she had failed to ever notice before, and although his own hand was resting on top of hers as he clenched the kunoichi's wrist lightly, he was clearly somewhere very far away in his thought…
No. That wasn't it, the real Hinata realized. He actually looked… Lost! Yes, he was clearly lost and his eyes were also completely hopeless… But, why?
She already knew that she wouldn't have found him next to her once she would wake up. Afterwards he would tell her that what had happened between them was nothing serious, and she should just forget about it…
Had he realized just how much would it hurt her? Most likely not. After all, he was clearly too preoccupied with something that bothered him very much, and she… She was just a small time for him, apparently.
Or… At least she had been sure about that… Until that day would come and change everything…
Another shift, and now the two of them were standing in the painfully familiar meadow.
The sun was shining so brightly that it made her narrow her eyes as she stared at him and yelled:
"Sasuke! Let's go, we must leave! Now!" She knew that the target was quickly approaching, and that their chances to escape were very small, and yet they had to at least try...
"No. I'm staying." His voice was unusually full of resolve, as though silently telling her that it was pointless to argue but, of course, she tried to anyway.
"You idiot! At this rate we all will die here!"
Back then she had thought he was suddenly being suicidal, but now… Now she knew what had really driven him back then.
"Don't worry, darling, you won't," he said calmly, taking a few steps back to her. "He's coming here..."
"We must run! NOW, Sasuke!" she screamed, grabbing his sleeve.
"No, we won't make it," he muttered, raising his head up to look at the blond man high in the sky.
"We have to try… Otherwise, we're all dead!" She repeated, but he didn't reply this time; instead he quickly formed a few familiar seals of his clan's signature technique as he took a very deep breath…
"Sasuke, no…!"
But, it was too late. A huge orb of fire shot up in the sky, and then he finally turned around, looking at Hinata who was staring at him in utter horror, covering her bleeding hip with her hand and panting heavily.
"Now that I've drawn his attention, Naruto and Itachi should be able to escape safely."
That was it. He had decided to sacrifice himself to save their teammates… Uchiha Sasuke was truly noble above all his numerous flaws — something she had always refused to admit yet, at the same time, it was the very thing that attracted her so much… The strange mixture of good and bad that were constantly fighting deep in his soul, making him the peculiar person he was...
"I—I see…," she gulped loudly, lowering her eyes sadly. "I guess… this is it for us, then."
"Hn. Who knows," he shrugged, coming closer to her. "Well," he turned around and looked up at the sun again, his lips curving in a mysterious grin — both of them noticed that something huge and massive was quickly falling right on them down from the sky. "Maybe not exactly."
"What…?" she murmured in confusion as he looked at her again.
"I'll miss you, princess."
"What are you—gah!" she gasped as he jumped at her, grabbing the girl's thin waist and pulling her over the edge of the cliff they were standing on, quickly rolling down into the ravine. His arms were hugging the kunoichi as tight as possible, pressing her head to his chest and covering it with his hands before they heard a tremendously strong explosion.
And then the white mist consumed everything again, the other small fragments of her memories surrounding Hinata and swirling around her chaotically. The only thing she could now see clearly were two burning red eyes staring at her from the dark as she fell on her knees, unable to look away. It was exactly the same way as it had happened back in the shaft… His gaze was completely different than it had ever been before, but at the same time it was still oddly familiar...
Uchiha Sasuke…
He had decided to become Hokage. Was this the goal he had always lacked which in turn had bothered him so much that he hadn't wanted to even keep living at some point? And was this, in turn, why he had decided to sacrifice himself in order to try to save them? Or rather, maybe this was the dream he had never told anybody about? But, in this case…
Why had he changed so much of late...?
None of it made any sense to her. It was true that Sasuke had never been the most open and welcoming person despite always being seemingly friendly to everyone including her, for it was impossibly seldom that he was serious and revealed some of his true feelings for anyone or anything.
But, nowadays… Clearly he had decided to finally take the mask of a goofy playboy off for good.
And yet, the question was still there. Why? What had made him become so different…?
That was what she desperately needed to find out. She had to figure him out, this was the only way she would be able to find her own way to deal with her inner problems. Apparently something had happened to him shortly after he got out of the hospital back then… Hinata merely had to find out what exactly was that.
And until then…
She smiled softly at another fragment of her past in which she was sitting in her room, completely crushed and emptied by the news about his demise, having yet to find out that he hadn't really died. Back then she had realized just how much did this boy really mean to her, and now she also knew why she felt that way. All that remained to do for her was to find the keystone, the last missing link...
Until then she would try to follow his latest advice and to just be herself… at least around him. Or maybe around Itachi and Naruto as well... Sasuke was right after all. He had always understood her better than anyone else, better than even she understood herself. Besides, now Hinata had realized that there was nothing to blame him for; it was due to her own stupidity that she had misinterpreted his intentions, and she had payed for it already. They didn't owe anything to each other…
Which opened a perfect opportunity for a fresh start.
She half-opened her left eye right in time to see Sasuke getting up and coming somewhere behind her back. A few seconds later Hinata could hear him closing in on her as she pretended to still be asleep, just out of curiosity wanting to see what he would do. For a few moments there was not a single sound reaching her ears, so eventually she grew impatient and decided to finally open her sleepy white eyes, frowning at him the instant she saw him — the boy was sitting right in front of her.
"What are you doing...?" she murmured, blinking in confusion as her eyes were still adjusting to the dim light of the campfire.
"Trying to prevent you from losing your limb. Don't scream now."
"Wha—OW-W! C-COLD!" she yelped.
"I told you not to scream." He sighed, pressing something icy to her skin and then wrapping a piece of bandage around the girl's leg. "There you go. Feel free to return to sleeping now."
"I'm hungry," she decided to ignore his slightly annoyed tone, sniffing as she felt the smell of some food. "What do we have for breakfast?" It was probably a bit awkward on her part to try and be joking and friendly now, but Hinata wasn't about to make a drama out of their previous conversation back in the shaft; no matter her inner weaknesses, she was still a very strong girl, and the fact that she had realized that he was right about everything didn't mean that she was going to openly admit it. At least not on words for sure. Instead she would make him see that she could overcome it… And see her true self as well.
He glanced at her a bit skeptically and deadpanned,
"A nice steak with rosemary and thyme; mashed potatoes, magnificent salad and a strawberry cake for dessert."
Huh…? She blinked at him a few times, a tad confused by his words but then quickly realizing that he was kidding, and deciding to play along,
"Woah... Really? That sounds amazing!" She exclaimed, clapping her hands quietly as she was still lying on her side.
"Yeah. Enjoy your meal." He handed her a half of his toast with a piece of dried fish on it, which the girl accepted without a complain before chuckling at him.
"And the cake?" She looked at the Uchiha a bit playfully, as if trying to taunt him.
"I ate yours," he deadpanned again. They both smirked as their eyes met for a brief moment.
Yes… She definitely could make everything right from now on. If her father's hard way of disciplining had ever given Hinata anything good, it was her unbreakable will and determination when it came to her goals and desires, as well as the ability to stay strong no matter what happened to her. If not for everything she had endured under Hiashi's guidance, she probably would simply back off now, much like a silly spineless girl would do in hopes for her crush to miraculously notice her one day, spending weeks, months and years in waiting without any guarantee that her happiness would find her by itself... Truly, she had learned to be better than that.
Her eyes stopped on Sasuke's back as he went back to the pot, and then she smiled to herself, quietly hemming as the plan was beginning to shape in her head.
It was true that, having seen the small glimpse of the Uchiha's raw potential back in the city, the young kunoichi had also realized that she most likely wouldn't last long as a match for him in power now that he had started taking his training seriously. Who knows, one day he might even surpass Naruto at this rate, as impossible as it sounded... But, Hinata at this point had realized that there were ways to make him acknowledge her other than the most straightforward one. And fortunately she now knew for sure what she had to do for that sake. Until now, the girl had been held back by her father, her clan and her own inner issues like the idea that it was both impossible and pointless for her to do what she really wanted, but... Come to think about it, the Hyūga hardly had anything to lose; the girl was absolutely sick and tired of constantly trying to please her father and the elders of her clan. Which is why now she was, for once, going to do what she wanted herself, even if it would piss a lot of people at the end of the day...
Besides, she was the strongest in their clan beside Hiashi himself. They couldn't afford getting rid of her even if they would want to, which mean that she could use this as a mean to manipulate them into getting more freedom for herself. Things definitely weren't as bad as they had always seemed before...
You just wait, Sasuke. I'll show you what I truly am behind all the masks. And you…, she thought, lowering her eyes to the food she was holding in her hand before taking a bite, Shall be mine.
-~X~-
"How much time have we spent here already?" asked Hinata sounding almost suspiciously polite. Not that Sasuke really minded it — right now he would prefer anything that wouldn't irritate him, so he was almost grateful that she wasn't about to make a fuss over what had happened back in the shaft.
"A few hours," he replied vaguely, sipping the soup from the small plastic cup. "Can you activate your Byakugan yet?"
She frowned a bit, analyzing her body's condition for a few moments before shaking her head sadly.
"I can, but not for long enough to scan everything around us. My chakra supply hasn't restored yet."
He hemmed. The girl was relatively strong for all he knew, or at least she was much stronger than most of their peers, yet her chakra limit…
"You need to workout more," he said, not looking at her though suspecting that her reaction wouldn't be very friendly.
Surprisingly, he turned out to be wrong, for she merely uttered:
"Yes, I think so too."
He raised his head to look at the girl, slightly baffled by her sudden pliability. She noticed his stare and grinned in return, adding,
"I have noticed the results of your own recent training, and I don't want to be left behind you and Naruto-kun. I'm not handing you the position of the second strongest in the team, you dimwit," she stuck her tongue out and showed him a middle finger, to which he sighed, barely holding back the desire to roll his eyes at her ridiculously weak taunt.
"Fine, you can have it for yourself. Pretty sure Naruto wouldn't mind being the dead last," he said impassively, looking away then.
Her eyes widened and the girl coughed on the sudden laughter.
"Really? Aiming pretty high nowadays, aren't we?" Hinata giggled but, unexpedly to her, he didn't react at all, which made her frown the next moment. "What happened to you?" She asked bluntly then, looking at him without a sign of the previous playful mood.
He glanced at her briefly, unsure what he was supposed to say now. Was this just another silly girlish question without any meaning behind it? Or maybe she was implying something deeper…?
"What are you talking about?" He asked carefully, his face remaining completely blank.
"Everything. You've changed, and I'd like to know why."
Apparently she wasn't that short sighted after all. Or maybe it was simply that she paid extra attention to him all the time… Sasuke wasn't quite sure, but he realized that he had to be very cautious around this girl from now on. For whatever reason was she attempting to pry into his secret more than anyone else, so there were only two ways of getting rid of this little nuisance: either to tell her the truth, or to just keep avoiding her as much as possible.
Naturally, he wasn't about to tell her a damn thing.
"People do change, Hyūga. Only idiots remain the same throughout years."
Hinata nodded, crawling closer to him and taking a cup of stew for herself.
"You have a point," she admitted, enjoying the fragrant hot liquid, "But, I can see that you are hiding something. Not just from me, even from Itachi-sensei and Naruto-kun. It is in your non-verbal signals; you know I was taught to read those," He flinched, instantly angered by his own reaction — he already knew she got him, and he had just given himself away, the boy realized in silent lament.
Of course, Hinata's triumphant grin only confirmed that as she continued,
"I'm not going to ask you to entrust me with your secrets. Albeit you are, without a doubt, a moron, I know that sometimes you know what you're doing, and if you're hiding it so carefully, you wouldn't tell me anyway. But...," she leaned closer to him, reached out and touched his cheek gently with her palm before adding quietly in the unusually soft voice that sent a pleasant shiver down his spine, "I'd like to let you know that you can trust me… If you ever want to. No matter what happens, I am your friend, and your teammate. If you ever decide to reveal something to me, I assure you that it will stay between the two of us and no one else."
For a few seconds he couldn't look away from her discerning eyes that were, despite her dōjutsu being deactivated, looking somewhere very deep into him; somewhere he wouldn't want anybody to ever come. It suddenly made him feel so uncomfortable that he wanted to push her hand away and tell Hinata to leave him alone, but… He couldn't. The Uchiha felt mesmerized by what was going on, it was like a heavy genjutsu… Had he not known any better, he would've believed that it was exactly that.
Yet it clearly wasn't, and he now felt even more uncomfortable as he failed to understand what exactly was happening to him. His mouth opened as he muttered, fighting off the strange stupor that gripped him through her soft touch,
"I appreciate it. You can trust me too, although something tells me that you never would… Anymore," he said carefully, realizing that he was stepping onto the dangerous field of playing the role of someone who possessed the memories he didn't have — about whatever had happened between the two of them in the past.
But, much to his relief, it worked, even though not exactly as intended — her face darkened a tad, and she took her hand away, lowering her head.
"Thank you. I… will try my best."
He was about to let out an unsure awkward smile, but their conversation got interrupted by incredibly strong rumble coming from outside the cave. Hinata flinched, looking at the exit cauciously while Sasuke was already standing up, his sword drawn out.
"W-What is that…?" asked the girl, for once sounding almost scared at the increasing volume of the sounds coming from the outside.
"I don't know, but it's something huge… Check it out, the situation might be critical now, and you can't fight right now anyway, so you won't need your chakra anytime soon."
She nodded and activated her Byakugan, but it deactivated the next moment; still it was enough for her to recognize the source of the threat as the girl paled, stuttering:
"S-Sasuke, there is… A reptile…!" her voice cracked as she added in a whisper, "It's coming our way."
"A reptile?" He frowned, coming closer to the entrance of the grot. "A snake?" The boy asked almost hopefully. He just couldn't be that lucky today, could he…? First the sword, and now a pet to tame…
"No," came the quiet answer as she shook her head, biting her lip and looking at him in horror. "I wasn't able to get a clear picture, but... It looked more like a dragon."
"What?" He blinked, frowning. Considering what Orochimaru had told him back in his world, dragons were very rare creatures related to snakes — both came from Ryūchi cave the location of which he had yet to find, but the problem was that…
"Sharingan doesn't work on dragons. This is bad," he uttered, coming close to her and grabbing the girl by her waist which made her yelp in surprise. "We're leaving."
"What? Where? How…?"
"I don't know," he replied impatiently, jumping out of the cave and almost gasping as he saw the massive creature. It was almost as big as Manda used to be, although thanks to its broad wings it probably seemed even more grand than the King of Snakes. Its scales were shining brightly under the sun, almost blinding him with hundreds of bluish glimpses. And, most importantly, the creature's red eyes were staring…
Directly at them.
"Is it huge?" asked Hinata almost casually with uncovered curiosity in her voice as she was unable to see anything from behind his back. "I didn't have enough time to get the full image when I looked at it."
"What exactly are you asking me about?" The words came off his mouth before he knew, instantly making the boy want to slap himself for such a vulgar and misplaced joke — apparently, some reflexes of the previous owner of his body were still there, or at least so he wanted to believe.
"Prat… Are we going to die?" asked the girl clearly suppressing a chuckle.
"No. I'll get us out of this somehow… Let's go!" He jumped to the top of the nearest rock, hearing the dragon's loud and angry roar as well as the cracking sound — the ice broke under the creature's sharp tails while it raised up to the air with a single swing of the massive wings.
"Woah… It is beautiful…!" The girl gasped in awe, finally being able to see the reptile with her own eyes as Sasuke was quickly jumping away from their former hideout. "Hey, Sasuke... I'd like to ride it one day! Can you imagine how great would it feel? Aw-w!" She smirked, raising her eyes to look at his nape.
"What…?" He winced, glancing at her toned bottom as he gripped her hips more tightly.
"What? Wouldn't you like to fly high up in the sky sitting on its neck? I wish I could summon a dragon like this one!" She whistled, and he almost bought the pretentious innocence in her voice.
Almost.
"Touché. Now stop fucking with me, I'm actually trying to save us here," he murmured, jumping off another cliff and landing down into the nearest ravine.
"Well... It's getting closer. I think you're not exactly managing it."
He gritted his teeth, groaning in annoyance as he kept jumping forward.
"You know… For someone who is about to die, you're being surprisingly merry." He heard her giggle behind his back before the girl replied,
"Not the worst possible way to die, to be honest. Although I'd prefer a better company, but oh well…" She sighed artificially, which made him smirk in response.
"Likewise… Here!" He jumped into the narrow abyss that turned out to be not as deep as it would initially seem from the outside — only about ten feet, not deeper than that.
They landed on the snowy ground, the darkness around them broken only by the few rays of light coming from above. He took the kunoichi off his shoulder, putting her down and staring upwards. The dragon's eye glanced at him through the crack in the ice, a loud roar almost deafening them the next second, the gust of wind caused by its breath ruffling their hairs.
"So what now? The plan is to freeze here to death, isn't it?" asked Hinata, looking up as well.
"Not if you have a better option," he muttered through his teeth, trying to figure out a way to escape. He looked around — there was no sign of an underground passage they could use to flee from the deadly creature…
"Yeah... we're trapped, it seems," she finally summed up, letting out a loud tired sigh. "I guess this is it for us…"
"Shut up for once, will you? I'm trying to think," he barked angrily, scanning the place with his Sharingan.
"Okay, okay, genius. Feel free to go on." She rolled her eyes and shook her head, hugging her knees.
"If I manage to melt this…," he came close to the wall of ice, putting his palm on it as the dragon roared once again, almost making everything around them shake, "There might be a way we could use—"
He flinched as Hinata let out a happy squeal which made him turn around and grip his sword again, taking it out of the scabbard and covering the girl with his back, now feeling truly frightened possibly for the first time in this world.
Because the person who was standing in front of them now, having appeared out of nowhere, was painfully familiar to him. He wouldn't confuse this man with anybody else in any universe. His face was still the same scarred one; the Mangekyō Sharingan in his eyes still had the same pattern he remembered, and even his hair was still the same short black one this ninja'd had in Sasuke's past.
"Stay away!" Sasuke exclaimed, taking the battle stance as he was ready to attack the shinobi.
"Huh?" The person blinked in surprise, seeming confused by the rather defensive reaction of his younger clansman. "Not exactly the warmest welcome, Sasuke… Especially considering this," he pointed at the dragon's face above, to which the creature let out the loudest roar so far, making all the three of them wince a bit.
"It's you…!" Sasuke growled before stopping for a moment, thinking rapidly and eyeing the man up and down. He was wearing the long black loose overall similar to the ones Akatsuki had worn back in his world, but there were no red cloud pattern on it…
"Obito-san! You're right in time!" exclaimed Hinata cheerfully from behind Sasuke's back, making the boy turn around and blink at her in surprise before he finally, though belatedly realized what was going on.
Uchiha Obito had never left Konoha in this reality. He was still a member of the his clan, and a ninja of his village…!
"Hokage-sama ordered me to retrieve the two of you," said the man, still looking at the sharp tip of Sasuke's sword in slight confusion. "Naruto-kun gave me the approximate coordinates of your location. Took me some time to find you, but at least you guys are alive… Now, shall we go home?" He offered them his hand, smiling unsurely at Sasuke who now looked lost as he lowered his weapon hesitantly.
"Yeah… I guess," he murmured, striding closer to the man, still a little shocked by just how much did Obito visually resemble himself from the other world. And yet something was clearly different about this version of this man — it was in his expression and his eyes… There was no sign of the darkness Sasuke had seen before! How could it be possible...?
"Hey, didn't you forget anything? I can't walk, you know!" said Hinata indignantly, making Obito smirk and come close to her.
"I guess you'll tell me the full story later, eh? Let's move out." He gripped their wrists and the world around them disappeared in the dimensional swirl, accompanied by another helpless cry of the dragon.
A/N: This is it for today. I'm finally back to working on this story to the full extent, though it took me some extra time to get back into the necessary shape. Not much has happened in this chapter, which was exactly why it wasn't easy to write it as I prefer writing dialogues above everything else, followed tightly by action scenes, but I hope you guys do realize this chapter's real value to the plot. And for those who don't, here is a little hint:
See you in Chapter 12: ...To See His Future!