Chapter 13: The hawk's feather
Neji, Tenten, and Lee were at the scene of where the lightning had struck.
Now there was only fire and empty scenery left.
"There are no more people under the ruins. I think our job is done. Let's report to the medical team," Neji suggested, his Byakugan sensing no more chakra.
They were on their way to the hospital when suddenly Sai dropped down from his ink bird.
"Neji! You have to hurry! Hinata is fighting Sasuke on the roof of the hospital. But Naruto and Sakura are too exhausted to fight against him," he said in a hurry.
"What!"
"She's losing! We have to be quick! Lee and Tenten can give the report," Sai said.
Lee and Tenten smiled at Neji as a sign that they can take care of the rest.
Neji smiled back and jumped with Sai on his ink bird and took off into the sky.
"Let's not fail Neji. We will give this report and then help him, right Tenten?" Lee said quite energetically.
Tenten smiled at him and nodded.
They dashed off.
Hinata stared hard at Sasuke, waiting for his attack.
She was ready.
All she needed was to respond quickly enough so when he attacks her, she knows where to release her chakra from.
She was surprised at his powerful genjutsu since she was paralyzed for several minutes and she still couldn't move.
But then again, the Mangekyo Sharingan was feared for the power it grants to the user – the power to inflict internal and external damage by just looking at someone.
He remained silent, his eyes scanning her features and resting on her face – her face that didn't show fear or depression but strained concentration.
"She is watching too close. I'm sure she has something on her mind," he thought, surprised by her determination in such a hopeless situation.
But somehow he was also like her.
When he fought Orochimaru, he knew he was too weak but still kept fighting – for his friends.
But now he resolved that fighting for your friends is useless if they fought against you.
If they fought against you, that meant you had no friends.
And he didn't need any – all he needed was revenge.
He was too concentrated on revenge to be focused on friends – too concentrated on his revival of the Uchiha clan.
Hinata saw him smiling – a smile that was different from the ones she saw, making her feel apprehensive.
He slowly lifted his sword.
"Goodbye, Konoha. I'm going but finally I have the chance to protect you," she thought, staring at his sword.
"Hinata!" a voice screamed.
She knew it was Naruto's.
She didn't need to turn around.
"Goodbye, Naruto! I'll leave Sasuke to you," she thought sadly.
Suddenly Sasuke's hand was held back…by Neji.
"Don't touch my sister!" he said angrily, making Hinata smile.
Sasuke looked at Neji.
"Don't worry, I won't touch her at all," he smiled, his eyes staring at him.
"I had something very different in mind," he thought.
Neji dashed a palm towards him but missed when Sasuke stepped to the side.
Neji was about to hit Hinata accidentally when suddenly Sasuke pulled him back and threw him towards the ground.
Neji slowly stood up, standing behind Hinata.
"How do you want to pay for your crime?" Sasuke asked.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"Should it be a final blow or would you like to have it more slowly so you can apologize to your so-called 'sister'?" he asked, his Mangekyo Sharingan ready to damage Neji.
"Neji, run!" Hinata screamed, angry that she couldn't move.
"I won't run! I'd rather die," he answered, concern in his voice – concern for her safety.
"Yes, take responsibility for what you did to her," Sasuke said.
"You don't know anything about her," Neji said angrily, disgusted by Sasuke pretending to know her for years.
"But you said that you used to be cruel to her, right? Did you ever apologize to her?" he asked.
Neji just looked angrily at him.
"Then I'll make you," Sasuke smiled, ready to attack.
"No! Don't hurt him! Hurt me instead…for never telling him that I forgive him," she shouted, standing between them while still paralyzed.
"No! Hinata!" Neji shouted at her, not believing what she just said.
Sasuke stared at her, seeing how they support each other.
He remembered his fight with Itachi.
He remembered his words his brother said in his ear before Sasuke passed out.
"You don't have enough hatred."
Unlike Hinata's and Neji's relationship that was based on compassion, their relationship was only based on hatred.
But it was hatred that helped him to get stronger…but also that made him lonely.
But he has to bear with loneliness first, so he can achieve his goal.
He was aware of this, the moment he decided to leave Konoha.
He was brought back to reality, when Neji began charging towards him.
Sasuke took hold of his palm when he noticed Neji smiling.
"Thank you!" he said and formed a palm with his other hand.
Sasuke quickly moved past him, Neji's hand still in his grip and threw him over his shoulder. Neji flew past Hinata and fell from the building.
"Hinata!" he shouted, while Naruto ran over to the place where he fell from.
But after that, there was no sound at all.
"W-what did you do?" Hinata cried shocked.
"Don't worry! I don't think you lost him. He can't be that stupid to just simply fall from the building," Sasuke said, obviously making fun of her cousin.
Naruto heard what he said, making him madder every minute.
"I'm going to kill you!" he thought but was doubtful since he still felt a bit out of breath despite Sakura giving him first aid. "I need help! I don't think I can beat him alone," Naruto thought – and jumped from the building, making Sakura scream.
"No! What are you doing, Naruto?" she yelled.
Hinata opened her eyes in surprise.
"He jumped?"
She knew that he wanted to save Neji…but she only hoped that he'll do it quick.
Sasuke watched her closely, seeing that she was truly worried about her cousin, even though he used to let his hatred of the main branch out on her.
He remembered that he and Itachi had something similar to that – to concern – mostly during the few times Itachi trained with Sasuke.
Now Itachi is gone and Sasuke was alone again.
But he didn't intend to stay alone forever.
Hinata became increasingly angry and miserable.
"You! You! What should I do to make you stop?" she thought, managing to clench her fists in frustration.
She noticed tears rolling down her cheeks, adding to her pain.
"I have to do something," she thought and closed her eyes.
Sasuke watched her, wondering if at least she would understand his feelings now.
Hinata opened her eyes and deactivated her Byakugan, taking Sasuke by surprise.
More tears were falling but Hinata didn't get angry anymore.
She was unusually calm, as if she'd lost her feelings all at once.
She looked into his Mangekyo Sharingan emotionlessly.
He looked back at her, wondering what she wanted to accomplish with that.
"I have no chance against his Sharingan. No matter what I do, I can't win against him. The only way for me to win…is to die," she thought, silently shedding more tears.
She took a deep breath.
"Kill me!" she said.
He looked at her in astonishment.
"Please kill me, Sasuke! I'm no match for you. And after I lost Neji and Naruto…I don't want to live anymore," she said, her voice shaky.
She noticed that he looked at her more intensely.
"Only…don't use your Sharingan. I want to die from physical damage," she murmured, when another tear rolled down her cheek.
"You really want to die?" he asked, doubting her since she was crying.
"Yes."
He smiled, making her shiver inside.
"Then your last wish is granted," he said in a low voice and walked towards her.
Hinata kept staring into his eyes, hoping that he wouldn't use a genjutsu to kill her.
He stopped right in front of her, face close to hers.
"I'll never forget you, Naruto. Thank you for everything you did for me," she thought glumly, expecting her death at any moment.
She saw that he was extending one of his hands towards her.
"I'm ready," she thought – when suddenly she noticed his other hand disappearing behind him.
"W-what does he want to do? Which hand is it? Did he find out?" she thought, about to panic.
She decided that it was the hand behind him and focused her attention towards it.
Suddenly she felt his other hand holding her wrist.
She looked at it in surprise.
"Why is he doing this? I'm paralyzed and I can't escape…so why is he holding me?" she thought confused.
She remembered the time he removed the paper bomb from her.
But now was her chance. She could release all her chakra from her wrist and so block his whole chakra network. She was about to do so when she noticed his other hand slowly extending towards her.
"He knows what I want to do! I have to stop him quickly," she thought but was stopped when she felt his other hand slowly opening her fist.
She tried hard to keep her fist clenched but saw that he was stronger.
He unfolded her fist to a palm.
"Let him do what he wants to. It will be the last time," Hinata thought, not fighting back and waiting for the right moment to strike.
She noticed that his hand stopped for one moment.
He looked at her palm silently.
"This is for you," he said in a low voice.
She felt his palm touching hers, making her blush slightly.
"Now!" she thought but couldn't act.
It was only for a short moment but his hand felt surprisingly warm.
Suddenly she felt something tickle her hand.
He slowly removed his palm…and her eyes opened in surprise.
"This is for me?" she thought.
In her palm…lied the hawk's feather.