Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. This is a work of fanfiction purely for entertainment purposes.

Paraselene

Chapter Fourteen

Kiba lead their three man team with Akamaru at his side, Shikamaru was in the middle and finally Hinata was in the rear. It was early afternoon when they had left the village. Now the sun was setting and the three shinobi were tired, especially Shikamaru and Hinata who hadn't trained for two weeks. Kiba and Akamaru had picked up the scent and were positive of the direction they were heading and so the three had decided to travel through the evening to try and keep up with the Ito siblings.

As Hinata stared at the backs of her two teammates while expertly dodging branches she thought about a few nights ago at the hospital.

Hinata used her byakugan to scan the halls for staff members. When they finished making their evening rounds she put her ninja skills to use and silently crept out of her room. She passed rows and rows of hospital doors, some patients sleeping, some wide awake, none aware to the Hyuuga girl creeping through the hallway. When she finally reached the hallway she was looking for she was surprised to notice all the rooms surrounding Shikamaru's were empty. She thought that was strange but what was even a bit odder was that there was no guard outside his door. She silently thanked whatever force of nature was smiling down on her that chilly night.

She placed a timid hand on the doorknob and then froze. She didn't actually think she would get this far. What would he do? What would he say? What would she say? What if he attacked her again? Despite all of the progress he had made Ino, Kurenai, Sakura, basically everyone who had access to him warned her that they weren't entirely sure what could set him off. What if Shikamaru still hated her? What if he always would?

Hinata shook her negative thoughts away and put only her positive memories of the Nara at the forefront of her mind. That…person…in there was holding her friend and future husband captive but, she would get him back, even if it was the last thing she did. She would never abandon him again. She slowly and quietly turned the doorknob.

She entered the room and immediately took in his form on the bed, sleeping peacefully. She shut the door with a near inaudible click. She didn't want to startle him; who knows how he could react? She shouldn't even be here, she knew it but, she couldn't help herself. Somewhere deep in her mind she knew this turn of events wasn't her fault but she couldn't help feeling guilty all the same. She approached his bedside and simply stared at him. He looked so much like a boy when he slept. Everything that had ever happened to him seemed to slip away when he was dreaming. She smiled softly and thought it must be nice to forget. As she noticed the scar on his left cheek she was reminded that no one forgot. No one could escape the nightmares, the loss, and the pain of the war they had endured. She was just thankful that right now, he didn't seem to have a care in the world.

Hinata subconsciously reached out her hand to run her finger over the pale stripe of a scar that contrasted with his tan skin when she felt a presence in the room. She jerked her hand away and the veins grew around her eyes instantly.

She saw a somewhat familiar form of chakra standing near the doorway they must have just silently entered through. Her eyes softened but her defensive stance did not waiver. "Sasuke-san." She greeted barely above a whisper.

"Never knew you to break rules Hyuuga." The last Uchiha stayed in his position by the door but he spoke clearly at a normal speaking voice.

She resisted the urge to shush him as she glanced at a still sleeping Shikamaru. She turned back to Sasuke who folded his arms and leaned against the door frame. "That's because you never knew me. K-keep your voice down." She softly ordered.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. 'She grew a spine. I guess war does that.' He thought with a shrug. "He's in a deep sleep. He won't wake up for a few more hours."

She glanced between the two men unsure. "How do you know?" She asked still in a whisper.

"Because I put him in that state."

Hinata nearly shivered at the way he made his statement. 'This state? Exactly what does that mean?'

Sasuke unfolded his arms. "Are they keeping you in the dark about his 'treatments'?" He asked as he seemed to glide across the room towards her then past her to tower over the sleeping Nara.

"They tell me what they believe is necessary."

"Hmm." Without looking away from his 'patient', he decided to give her a brief explanation. "I've been assigned to use my sharingan to reverse the effects of the torture he endured."

Her eye's widened as she tried not to wring her hands together. "The sharingan…it can do that?" She settled on letting her fist rest at her sides.

Sasuke smirked. "No one has ever tried until now but, that Kakashi…" he trailed off in thought.

Hinata took a step forward to approach the Uchiha but thought better of it and paused. "Is it working?" Finally her voice rose above the whisper she had grown accustomed to.

He audibly exhaled through his nose as he closed his eyes in thought. "I think that perhaps…it might be."

She felt her throat swell up and her eyes water in joy. 'Yes.' She thought. 'He can come back from this.' She pushed down her urge to cry as she finally stood next to the Uchiha at Shikamaru's bed side.

"The…sessions…are intense. He has to relive all of his most important and most painful memories everyday but they are the real ones. This makes him realize which of his memories are false and it mentally exhausts him. So what I'm saying is if you wanted to talk to him…" She watched as his hand slithered to Shikamaru's cheek. "You're out of luck." He finished by giving the genius two quick and rough slaps for emphasis.

"Hey!" She cried out as she yanked his hand away. She glared at him as he gave her a look that can only be described as surprised.

Hinata came to the sudden realization that Sasuke's hand wasn't as cold as ice. Now that she thought about it, that was a silly idea to have about a person, no matter what was in his past, underneath the callouses and the scars and scratches, he was still human, he still bled…

Sasuke's surprised look was washed away by his usual passive one as he shifted his eyes from her face to their hands in midair. Hinata immediately dropped his hand with a stuttered apology her glare melted away into a look of sincere remorse. Sasuke ignored her quiet "s-sorry" as he contemplated the fact that she had the speed to catch his hand. He was almost impressed.

They stood there silently for a moment that felt like an eternity, both looking down at the peaceful Nara. Hinata broke their silence first as she turned to look up at the raven-haired man next to her.

"Sasuke-san…if he has to relive all of his memories…does that mean you feel what he feels?"

"I don't have to."

She turned back to Shikamaru. "But…you do?"

"Hn." He folded his arms in front of his chest. "It makes the treatment more…effective."

Hinata brought her finger to her chin in thought. She figured it wouldn't hurt to pry further, the worst thing he could do was ignore her. "So…why?"

Sasuke glanced down at the lavender eyed girl as a myriad of answers passed through his mind. 'Because it's my mission? Because I have to? Because I have to get back into the good graces of this damn village before I can move on with my life?' All of these facts were true so, he'll never know why that night he decided to tell her his most personal reason. "When I left the village…he came after me."

Hinata's eyes widened but before she could get more of an answer he turned and walked briskly to the door. "You have two minutes before a nurse comes around to check on him. Whatever you came to do, I would do it then get out of here."

Her mouth opened to speak but before she could get a word out the Avenger was outside the room with the door closed behind him. She blinked twice before shaking herself out of her daze. She finally sat on the edge of Shikamaru's bed and took his hand into her grasp. She always wondered how his hands could be rough and soft at the same time. She nearly pulled away in shock when he lightly gripped her hand back. Her eyes shot to his face, he was still peacefully asleep. His lips were moving as he mumbled quietly. She leaned closer to hear his sleepy words.

"Stay."

She smiled, a real smile, a truly happy smile. She didn't care that he was asleep. She didn't care that he had hurt her. She didn't care that people thought she was crazy for being there, for wanting to be near him, for wanting to be with him.

Hinata Hyuuga was in love with Shikamaru Nara.

She didn't know how or when or really what love truly was. Ninja didn't have time to love and be loved but she just couldn't find a reason within herself to not love him.

She kissed the back of his hand. "I'll see you soon." She whispered as she stood to make her escape.

As Hinata hurried out of the hospital room she glanced down the halls to look for Sasuke and thank him but when she heard a hospital staffer shuffling her way instead she hid in one of the empty rooms until they entered Shikamaru's.

When she safely made it back to her room she thought about Sasuke.

She decided that one day she would pay him back for bringing her true love back to her in more ways than one.

Hinata's train of thought was broken as she noticed her teammates slowing down in front of her.

Kiba turned his head to glance back at Shikamaru. "The scent is getting stronger."

Shikamaru nodded and tapped his temple, a silent signal for Hinata to scan the area with her byakugan. She activated it immediately. Her range was large, she could see several kilometers in any direction and yet she could not see anything out of the ordinary in the surrounding forest. She shook her head and Shikamaru resisted the urge to swear.

It wasn't until the sun set that Kiba's footing faltered on a branch and he went crashing to the forest floor and the trio decided they needed a short break.

"They don't have much of a head start and we'll be useless anyway if we reach them exhausted." Shikamaru said after taking a swig of water. Hinata quietly agreed looking over Kiba's ankle to make sure it wasn't sprained.

"I'm fine, like Shikamaru said we just need a break." Kiba said trying to keep the frustration out of his voice. Akamaru seemingly agreed, flopping down next to his master and Hinata.

Hinata produced a small jar of ointment from her pouch and gave it to Kiba. "Use this anyway. It helps with sore muscles." She explained with a smile as Shikamaru passed her the canteen of water.

Kiba obliged and rubbed the medicine onto his sore ankle generously. Shikamaru took a deep breath. "What is that?" He was familiar with the Nara medicines but this smelled like something completely different and seemed to soothe Kiba immediately.

She sighed after drinking her fill of water passing the canteen along to Kiba who took it gratefully. "A special blend my mother came up with. Mitsuko still uses it to this day."

Kiba nodded. "Yeah you've always been good at that sort of thing Hinata. Who knows how much Shino and I would have suffered without your ointments…and your tea." He said thoughtfully. He scratched Akamaru behind the ears. "Of course Akamaru benefits too. I could never get his vitamins balanced until you came up with that treat for him." The dog barked happily at the mention of a treat.

Hinata giggled. "It's always been my pleasure. Ever since…the war…and after passing on my title as heir, I've given a lot of thought into becoming a medical-nin like Sakura-san or Tsunade-sama." She said thoughtfully putting the jar of ointment back in her pack. She silently scanned the area with her byakugan and after confirming there were no enemies she breathed a sigh of relief. It felt nice to rest.

"I think you would be great at that Hinata! Especially with the byakugan you'll be able to even see internal problems with people." Kiba said with a grin.

"I agree." Shikamaru spoke up quietly as he stood. "Especially since you'll have Nara expertise and ingredients at your fingertips, I believe you could even surpass Tsunade-sama."

Hinata looked up at her future husband as pink slowly began to dust her cheeks at the compliment. "You…you really think so?" She asked him.

He smirked down at her and gave a slight nod. "I believe that you can do anything."

She couldn't stop the grin that spread across her face. "Thank you…"

He nodded again before he looked around the clearing. "We should keep moving. If they aren't in your range we have a lot of catching up to do. Hopefully they'll stop for the night." He said seriously.

The two members of Team 8 nodded in agreement as they stood. Hinata tossed Akamaru a treat to help restore some of his energy. Kiba gave her a small smile of gratitude before he turned to their team leader. "Let's get going godfather."

Shikamaru resisted the urge to smile at his old nickname as he let Kiba take the lead. The team continued on their run through the forest a little more uplifted than before. Hinata kept her byakugan active the entire way, she refused to allow herself become distracted and it paid off. After another two miles of traveling she finally noticed two human chakra patterns near a small lake a half mile east of her teams current location.

"There!" She called out quietly. Her male teammates came to a halt several branches away in a large snow covered tree.

"Can you tell if they are asleep?" The genius asked quietly as he turned to the direction the girl was looking in.

Hinata shook her head in response. "Maybe if we get closer…"

"Hm." The Nara thought quietly for a moment. Hinata liked the way his brows furrowed in concentration and the way his eyes narrowed as he thought. She had missed him so much more than she realized.

As Kiba jumped to join Hinata on her branch Shikamaru finally turned to his teammates. "Alright…here's the plan…"

They decided those two were going to pay for their crimes.

Shikamaru stared intently at the two lumps of sleeping ninja. Kiba confirmed they had the scent they were trailing and Hinata nodded as she scanned their chakra systems.

His plan was a go.

He placed his hands into the familiar form to use his shadow binding jutsu. He watched as his shadow seemed to spring to life and spread towards the siblings. They awoke instantly and the female half cried out and the male just groaned.

Shikamaru nodded to Kiba who approached Kohaku Ito with a kunai drawn. Hinata stayed hidden in the tree line.

Kiba squatted down next to the brother and put his kunai to the man's neck. "Where do you think you two are going?" He asked with a smirk.

Koharu sneered and tried to wiggle to face Kiba but her efforts were futile. "You might as well kill us. We aren't going to talk to you bastards back in Konoha."

"Oh and why's that?" Kiba asked not moving his kunai from Kohaku's neck.

"We will never help a village that protected that monster. He should have been killed along with his stupid parents."

It took a moment for Shikamaru to register what she meant until he realized they were talking about Naruto. They were still bitter about their parent's being killed by the nine-tails.

Kiba's eyes narrowed. "So why were you after Hinata? Too scared of Naruto?"

Kohaku scoffed. "Once our father gets his hands on the byakugan, not even Naruto could stand in his way."

Shikamaru stepped forward so he was in the line of sight of the twins. They glared once they realized he was the reason they couldn't move. He noticed as Hinata stepped forward as well and the twins shifted their gaze as much as they could. "I've got some bad news for you two. That isn't going to happen."

The twins laughed in nearly identical manic fashion. Shikamaru resisted the urge to glare down at them. "Let's get them back. Knock them out Kiba."

Kiba nodded. Kohaku stopped his laughing long enough to look up at the now standing Kiba who openly glared at the man.

"You know…" Kohaku smugly started and Shikamaru and Kiba both warily eyed him. "You smell like a dog. I wonder if your brain is as small as a dog's too…"

Before he could get another word out Kiba's fist came crashing down on the back of the man's skull as Koharu continued to laugh, fat tears rolled down the side of her ugly cheeks as her brother slumped forward…

Then, he disappeared in a puff of smoke. A perfect shadow clone. Before Shikamaru and Kiba could register what was going on they heard a muffled cry. They both turned to see Hinata gagged and the real Kohaku's arm was around her arms locking her in a position not even her slim body could wiggle out of. His kunai poked the delicate skin of her throat. Hinata's eyes pleaded with her teammates but before they could move Kohaku clicked his tongue.

"I'm going to enjoy this."

He slit Hinata's throat and her eyes went wide before dulling as she fell to the ground like a lifeless heap of trash.

Shikamaru heard a yell somewhere in the distance and saw the earth tremble around him. It only registered after a few seconds that he was shaking, not the ground and he was the one yelling as he lunged toward the grinning Ito brother.

Shikamaru's genius mind was not calculating, it was not calm, he only saw red.

He decided he was done playing nice.

End of Chapter Fourteen

A/N: Sorry for the less frequent updates. I just started a second job. Please review and tell me your thoughts so far. Is this story too cliche? Is there too much focus on other characters, not enough focus? Do you guys even like this whole "he/she/they decided" thing I put at the end of each section? Are you excited to find out who Koichi is and why he's after Hinata? Please let me know! I would just like to add that yes Sasuke plays a pretty major role in this part of the story. Sorry I couldn't resist, SasuHina is my OTP and I may or may not be in the works on a new fic focusing on them but, you will have to wait until Paraselene comes to a close because I love ShikaHina so much! Thank you all for the support so far!