Chapter Twenty
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto
A/N: This is a long one. It was supposed to be beta'd but I didn't bother to wake up my beta at such an ungodly hour to beta this extra long chapter for a first assignment. I apologize for the length.
Edited - 2013 January 19
"So, let me get this right? You're girlfriend is a geisha maiko, who's not supposed to even have a boyfriend any how you take it, but her virginity was auctioned, someone won and it isn't you?" Iruka said to Naruto as they sat at the counter of Ichiraku's.
Naruto nodded sombrely.
"Yep. Basically, another man is going to have sex with my girlfriend before I even do."
"Well that's...shitty." It wasn't the most profound sentence that Iruka ever came up with but it was definitely the most fitting.
"Well, the whole point of the matter is that I would like to borrow some money from you." Naruto said. Iruka raised him an eyebrow.
"How much?"
"Enough to surpass a big amount," Naruto told him the cost of the mizuage that Hinata had quoted in her letter. Iruka choked on his noodles.
"Exactly what is it do you think I do? I'm a teacher, Naruto. I'm not in a drug cartel and I do not fund wars to small nations because that's the kind of job I would need in order to get that kind of money."
"So...that's a no, then?"
Iruka sighed. Naruto held his head in his hands. His face could have been used to illustrate the frustration and hopelessness felt by an animal that was about to be slaughtered.
"I can't just take her from Kumo because that might start off a war between Kumo and Konoha. It's not like she belongs over here. She's one of Kumo's best dancers. She's a money-maker. They're not going to give her up without a fight."
Iruka sighed again.
"Look, how do you really feel about this girl?"
Naruto shifted in his seat, his face screwed up in nerves and concentration. Iruka smirked. He was asking Naruto to delve into a part of himself that most men don't like to go into – that emotional part. He knew Naruto could talk a lot, a whole lot, talk until there weren't any more words left to say, but when it came to truly expressing the things that lay in the midst of his heavily guarded heart, his former student was like most men – emotionally illiterate; only seeing white spaces in between black.
"She... when...uh..." Naruto fumbled and faltered. He had told Hinata how he felt. Why was it so hard to simply say it out loud to someone else? "Look, right now? I'm missing her like crazy. I'm always wondering what she's doing, when I can see her next. She makes me feel...better. She's sweet and kind and generous and patient and understanding. If I'm feeling at my worst she'll encourage me to get back up, forgive me for all the crap that I've said to her at some point and trust me when I say that I have said and done a lot of crap. She keeps right on trying to win over my heart even though she knows that it's all hers. Man, she even listens to my every word, even when I'm not saying anything particularly interesting. I mean, on paper it makes no sense for her to like me, but...that's what it is. She's...amazing. . . And I really love her."
Iruka looked over at Naruto, pride threatening to burst from his heart and drown him in good feelings. Naruto was not looking at him; rather his face was focused on the bowl of ramen in front of him as if the noodles had been the one to ask him to confess his true feelings for his girlfriend.
"Listen, I know that you're close to Lady Hokage, but I honestly don't think that she'd give you money so that you'd have enough to properly sleep with your girlfriend." Naruto blushed and rubbed the back of his head. "I think that you should look for someone else that'll be willing to lend you that kind of money; someone who has that kind of money."
"Like who?" Naruto shouted in annoyance.
"Like Gaara. You did try to save his life and all. He does kind of owe you."
"Gaara? Gaara's the Kazekage now. Hmm. And he might not even mind. He and my girlfriend are friends. They correspond."
Iruka's eyebrows shot in the air.
"What?"
"Yeah, she met him at his coronation." Naruto waved aside his answer in dismissal. "But, Iruka-sensei, that's a brilliant idea!"
Naruto was up and off of his seat and bolting through the streets before Iruka could tell him of his suspicions. There was a high a high possibility that Gaara was the sponsor of that mizuage. Iruka could only hope not. Because if that was the case, Iruka could only hope that Naruto kept his temper in check. He did not want a repeat of their fight at the end of the Chuunin exams.
"How are you feeling?"
Gaara turned around in his seat at his office to see Temari standing at the door. She was dressed for a long travel, wearing mesh armour underneath a sleeveless purple dress with a purple blouse over it, a purple sash around her waist, hand warmers and leg guards. Her fan was strapped across her back as usual.
"Better." He answered her.
"You got a letter from Hinata?" She asked and Gaara glanced at the envelope that was in front of him on his desk, with the official seal of Hinata's okiya placed conspicuously on it. Today, he did not seem motivated to discuss his personal correspondence with her and so he didn't answer her. Instead he said,
"Have a safe trip. Hanabi Hyuuga may be young but she is quite dangerous. Age does not necessarily equate experience or inexperience in her case."
"I'm quite familiar with young upstarts being suspiciously powerful." She gave him a pointed look and if she didn't know any better she would have sworn that he gave her a faint smirk; very faint. "I can take care of myself, Gaara. But don't worry about me; it's only a reconnaissance mission of sorts."
"I know. Go on before that Nara boy falls asleep waiting for you at the gates. You can't let him get too comfortable. "
She smiled and walked off belatedly realizing that Gaara had made something resembling a joke.
Shikamaru and Neji were standing on the edge of Kuna, the towering outcrop providing some shade from the unforgiving, conquering blue sky. Ahead of them an endless expanse of brown sand lay punctuated every now and then by a pathetic cactus and sun-bleached bones, not necessarily of the animal variety. High up on the outcrop they could see ninja scouting; even further up were black specs – vultures scouting the ninjas. The bigness of it all made Shikamaru feel slightly overwhelmed and he leaned back on the outcrop intending to rest his eyes for a moment.
"You can't be idle for too long, huh?" Temari said to him causing Shikamaru to scowl as he opened his eyes and leaned off of the rock.
"I'm on power save mode." He mumbled.
"Temari." Neji said with a nod.
"Neji." She greeted him.
They set off immediately to the north.
"What did your Kage say when you told her of our suspicion?" Temari asked Shikamaru.
"She seems to have known of the situation already."
Temari gave him a questioning look.
"Jiraiya-sannin. He was in Kumo all that time training Naruto. He says that Hinata is Naruto's girlfriend."
"What?!" Neji and Temari shouted in unison and came to a halt simultaneously, causing Shikamaru to stop and turn to look back at them.
"Hinata-sama would never fall for someone like Naruto." Neji declared.
"How would you know? You last saw her when she was what, five?" Temari countered.
"No, but destiny has a way –"
"Wait, let me just stop you there Neji." She cut him off.
"Well?"
"Oh no, no, I didn't have anything to say. I just didn't want to hear you." Temari said and Shikamaru had to bite the insides of his cheeks to stop from laughing at the look on Neji's face.
"Anyway," Shikamaru started off before Neji killed Temari with looks of icy hatred alone, "The Hokage says Jiraiya was planning on telling Hiashi Hyuuga, but she's holding her hand because there seems to be something bigger going on and she thinks it involves Sasuke."
Temari rolled her eyes. "Oh great, not him again."
Shikamaru gave her a side glance. He wondered if she really disliked Sasuke for her own reasons or whether she was offering up sympathy for his first mission – the botched Sasuke Retrieval mission.
"Why doesn't Jiraiya-sannin investigate it himself?" Neji asked.
"He's busy with something even bigger she said, but she wouldn't elaborate. Not that I want to know. I have enough of a headache as it is." Shikamaru said and started to walk again. He sighed heavily. It was so blasted hot! "But this is just a reconnaissance mission. We'll report back to the Hokage and you to the Kazekage and together we'll move from there."
Temari and Neji nodded. Neji quickly sidestepped a small, rotting beast whose insides had been carefully picked out by vultures. He knew Temari did not care for his belief in destiny and to be honest, he hardly believed in that much either, only saying it out of a lingering habitual world view, but he couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was about to happen. It always seemed to be the case when it came to Kumo. He remembered Naruto's words. Neji looked up at the vultures circling the bright, blue sky and hoped that he could change Hyuuga destiny. He sped up past Temari and Shikamaru, forcing them to keep his pace.
Only about four hours later did Naruto burst into Gaara's office unannounced. Gaara was not surprised to see him.
"Gaara!"
"Kazekage, we tried to stop him but - " Two nin rushed in after Naruto. Gaara stared at them and the two nin bowed and retreated, while Naruto wondered when did Gaara learn telepathy.
"Naruto. Does your Kage know that you're here?"
Naruto grinned mischievously. "Technically I'm still in Konoha. I left a clone."
"I see."
"Anyway, hey Gaara. How're ya feeling? Better? It can't be easy coming back from the dead and all?"
"You came all the way here to inquire after my health?"
"Not really. That was an empty gesture. I just didn't want to seem rude." Naruto said as he took up a seat uninvited. Gaara thought that Hinata would point that out as irony. "Anyway, I have to talk to you. It's about –"
"Hinata's mizuage?"
Naruto's face dissolved into confusion.
"Yeah? She wrote to you too?"
Gaara nodded. A small twang of jealousy and idle suspicion reverberated in Naruto's chest. He took a deep breath and dismissed it. "So you know that as her boyfriend, I need some money real fast otherwise some idiot will, you know..."
"Naruto, there's something I want to talk to you about."
Naruto's heart plummeted straight through his feet and past the stone floor as dreaded realization suddenly jumped on him.
"Oh no." He muttered in low tones. Gaara looked at him blankly, but curiosity slightly tweaked in his eyes. "Gaara, are you..." Naruto struggled to bring out the words, stumbling as if speaking it alone would confirm its veracity. ". . . Are you . . . are you Hinata's mizuage sponsor?"
In retrospect Gaara supposed that the circumstances could be misconstrued. After what seemed a decade, as far as Naruto was concerned, Gaara finally gave him an answer:
"No."
Naruto slid halfway down his seat as relief washed over him.
"Oh thank God. If you were Hinata's sponsor..."
"What would you have done?"
Naruto looked up at him and grinned mischievously.
"You like being back from the dead?"
"Are you threatening me, Naruto?" Gaara asked as tiny columns of whirlwinds twisted around his friend. Naruto looked around uncomfortably.
"I would never dare." He said soberly. Gaara almost smiled, but not quite. Naruto grinned again.
"Whew, kunai dodged. So...what did you want to talk to me about, because I don't have much time. I need to get to Kumo like yesterday and I need to borrow some money from you. Please."
"I think that Hinata is actually the dead Hyuuga heir, Hinata Hyuuga." Gaara – direct to a fault.
Naruto stared at him, his eyes melting into pools of disbelief.
"What?"
"I've sent Temari and your Kage has sent the Nara boy and Neji Hyuuga to Kumo to investigate the matter."
Does not compute, does not compute repeated like a mantra in Naruto's head.
"What?"
"I suspected this when she came to Kumo some months ago. I sent scouts to Konoha, but they returned dead with telltale signs of the Gentle Fist about their bodies. That was around the same time that Hanabi Hyuuga went missing. I take it you heard of that?"
"Wh –"
"Naruto, do you understand me? Do you know anything of this?"
Naruto continued to look unfocused, his eyes blinking rapidly as his unwilling brain tried to organize the stimulus into useful information.
" Uh . . .Th-there's a maid that recently joined Hinata. She's always with her. She's young. She came into Hinata's life after Hinata's return from Kumo, after her kidnapping at the edge of Sound..."
"Hmm, that must be Hanabi Hyuuga."
Naruto felt like a heat was rising up to his head.
"Something is going on. I don't know if Hinata knows everything that is going on, but I think that you should talk to her. I'll come with you if you want me to." Gaara offered to go because he knew of Naruto's rage. No matter what the outcome, he knew that he would hate for Hinata to be on the receiving end of that. He was going as Naruto's friend, but he was also going as Hinata's friend and self-proclaimed protector.
Naruto didn't move immediately. He sat there with anger boiling over in him from his own stupidity. How was it possible for him to not notice that those were Hyuuga eyes! Clearly, she was a Hyuuga. He remembered that the first thing he noticed about her was her eyes and their similarity to Neji's. But did Hinata really not know? She could never be lying to him like that. It just wasn't possible, in addition to the fact that he could not fathom any possible reason she would have to lie to him…yet, he couldn't shake that feeling. In his heart he knew that Gaara's suspicions would not be unfounded. In his heart he knew that Hinata was keeping something from him. But still. . .
"And what if you're wrong?"
"I will humbly apologize to you and to Hinata-chan. I'll give you whatever money you need. I will back you on whatever you decide to do."
Naruto nodded grimly as he looked at Gaara who was wearing full-length dark trousers, with a pair of laces on each leg, respectively a few inches below the waist and the knees, a long-sleeved crimson coat with flaring hemlines on the front and the back, a grey holster vest held in place by a single strap over his left shoulder and by two buckled belts which he used to carry his gourd. He also wore another pair of casually worn belts around his waist. He looked ready to make good on his declaration.
Naruto stood up resolutely.
"Gaara, I want you to know that I trust you with my life. You're one of my very best friends. I also love Hinata a lot and I trust her with my life as well. I know that you and Hinata are close, and I'm telling you now, I'm not that comfortable with it. If I learn that. . ." Naruto couldn't bring himself to say out loud the suspicions that stay lay embedded in his mind. There was another man in Hinata's life, he knew it. Instead he said, "Forget about it. Let's go."
Hanabi was getting used to the acrid smell of vomit. She pulled herself up, flushed the toilet and walked over to the face basin where she washed her hands and rinsed out her mouth. She was getting used to that scent. That was never a good sign. She closed off the tap and stepped back to look at herself in the full length mirror on the side wall. It was a little after ten on a Wednesday morning and the light from the window came in soft, but hot. She removed her tunic and rolled up her tank top as she activated her Byakugan. In the distance of the geisha quarters she could see Nayako talking to Hinata, her sister's face looking grim. She brought her main focus back onto herself. She would have to re-bandage her stomach and arms soon. The sores were getting worse and the medicine that she rubbed on them seemed to be ineffective. Her legs had them too, though not as bad as her stomach, back and arms. She could only thank the Heavens that none had come out on her face. Her eyes were sunken in and she moved in closer to examine her teeth. She was worried about the effect the bile would have on her teeth. She didn't have much time. She needed to get back to Konoha and see the Hokage as soon as possible. The pain had started to make simple tasks unbearable despite the brave front she had up. She turned off her Byakugan and looked at herself through normal vision. She still looked a mess. Sasuke had better show up soon or else she'd be forced to abandon her plan. But she couldn't. She couldn't, not when the payment for all her hard work and patience was so steep. She pulled down her tank top and was about to put back on her tunic when a voice made her jump, unconsciously activating her Byakugan.
"There's a specific tea that would help. I know it helped me when I went through that."
With her Byakugan on or off, Hanabi would know Nayako's voice anywhere. She turned off her Byakugan before she turned around, finishing putting on her tunic.
"What are you doing here in the maids' bathrooms?" Hanabi asked her, not bothering to sound politely inquiring but instead coming across as suspiciously rude.
"I used to be in here a lot before my geisha training started. Come with me, I'll make you some tea."
Nayako turned abruptly, sure that Hanabi would follow. Hanabi did follow, annoyed that she gave Nayako the satisfaction but she was in too much pain. She was open to any suggestion. She activated her henge, pain spiking through her eyes, legs, and back as she did something simple as walking at a slow pace.
The kitchens were surprisingly quiet and Hanabi suspected that Nayako's mere presence ran the maids into doing some other job; any other job. Nayako was busy pouring hot water into a teapot, then carefully pouring it out into a delicate teacup. Hanabi rolled her eyes, a warm sensation hugged them, as she wondered if everything for geisha was always so over-the-top. It was just tea for crying out loud!
"I was just talking to Hinata. I left her training. She's training very fiercely. Something must be on her mind. Anyway, I used to drink this tea when I started getting those symptoms, though my symptoms came faster and more furiously than yours. My brother used to make it for –"
"What do you mean 'your symptoms'?"
Nayako looked up at her and smiled. Unlike Hinata, Hanabi had yet to decipher all of Nayako's smiles, so she took the current one's meaning at face value – slightly understanding and apologetic.
"My father was a ninja. My mother was a civilian. When he came to Kumo he fell in love with her instantly."
"He wasn't from Kumo?"
"No, he was from Konoha."
Hanabi gave her a small smirk as she replied, "Reminds me of some people that I know."
"Yes, quite. Drink up." Nayako said as she handed Hanabi a small cup of tea. Hanabi had been distracted and had not noticed what kind of tea it was. It was black and frothy.
"What kind of tea is this?"
"It's an herbal mixture. It has oolong, Karailli leaves, orange peel, fever grass, powdered snake skin and other foul things that no one wants to hear is in their tea. But it works." She poured some of it into another teacup and sipped it. She screwed up her face in disgust. "Tastes awful, but it works."
It looked like coffee. It tasted the way cat piss smelled. Hanabi fronted and tried her best not to gag, something that she had gotten used to doing.
"They were apart a great deal of the time." Nayako continued, "My mother loved Kumo too much to leave and my father was still an active ninja and so he was in Konoha a lot of the time. My mother would sometimes visit, or Father would stay here when he was not directly needed. She didn't mind. Being a civilian means living a catch-ass sort of life. She was happy to marry a ninja – he had more social standing. Only ninja, geisha, very rich businessmen and nobles have any sort of life in this world, as you know.
"Anyway, I would tag along with her when she visited whenever I could be spared from the academy. My brother was already a Chuunin for Kumo, so he was regularly occupied here. But I was there with her when my father was killed the day the Nine Tailed Fox attacked. I was there when my mother was killed. I tried to protect her, but getting hit with that amount of chakra and that type of chakra, put me out of commission for a while. Well, not for a while, but forever. It damaged my chakra system to such an extent that my ninjutsu days were over before they really began."
Hanabi sipped her disgusting tasting tea and looked at Nayako over the edge of the teacup, trying to gauge her emotions. She didn't seem too affected, but then Hanabi supposed that Nayako had a lot of time to come to terms with such a tragic event. She didn't know if she'd be able to easily turn to another profession as easily as Nayako did. Being a ninja was all that Hanabi knew and would ever want to know. Yes, it was true that her family also made their money from mining in addition to missions, but still... A pang of sympathy coursed through her heart. Suddenly a thought occurred to her and she casually lowered her teacup.
"Do you hate Konoha?"
"No, just that damned demon fox."
"Hmm. You've recovered well from that."
"I'm an opportunist and a survivor. I'm trying to teach that to Hinata. I suppose you are too. Right now you're body is attacking itself. The sores are there because your body is literally eating away at itself. It happened to a lot of nin that were affected by the Nine Tails attack so many years ago. That chakra is devastating. Your father must have built the seal to have a similar effect if someone other than himself broke it. But I suppose that your blood is close to his and that's why the effects have not been as sudden and as devastating as if, say, someone like me had tried to break Hinata's seal. Your father is a brilliant man. I would like to meet him someday."
Hanabi snapped her head up to fix Nayako a warning look.
"You have designs on my father? Because he would love to meet you as well to give you a firsthand account of how the Gentle Fist works."
Nayako only gave her an amused look and shook her head as she giggled. She sobered up quickly though and said, "Sasuke is Hinata's mizuage sponsor."
Hanabi nearly choked on her tea. "Why didn't you say something earlier?"
"I didn't say anything for the same reason that you wouldn't have said anything to Hinata if you were me. You don't think that she's committed and ready to face him. I know that you planned on throwing her onto him with no warning whatsoever."
Hanabi eyed her. How did she know that?
"I know that because that's what I would have done. We both recognize that Hinata works better under pressure. I know that you were there the night the Ichimokari Teahouse was demolished. You saw what Hinata did to that ninja that tried to have his way with her. You heard what she did to Sasuke when he abducted her. I want her to have that same response and if I told her that Sasuke is going to be in that room with her, she'd act brave, but in the end she'd try to run. She doesn't see herself as a ninja. She sees herself as a geisha in an impossible situation. Don't you agree?"
Hanabi nodded. She hated that Nayako was right. She had already planned that as soon as she caught wind of Sasuke in Kumo she would not tell Hinata; rather choosing not to let her sister face him with prior knowledge that would cloud her mind with fear. However, right now she didn't care too much about how right Nayako was. Right now she wanted to know how she could have missed Sasuke's dealings with Nayako for this mizuage.
"That's because he hasn't been in Kumo as yet." Nayako explained. "He's been acting through another. Well, actually that's not true. He has been in Kumo to see her dance, but he's kept his distance. You might have missed him because you were too busy throwing up from the pain you're suffering through."
For the first time in a long time Hanabi blushed in shame. It was just a light dusting over her cheeks, but Nayako noticed it.
"Do not feel ashamed. You are ill. You're doing quite an admirable job of biting through that pain by the way. I had wanted to kill myself, but I was too weak to lift even a razor blade to slit my wrists. How are you feeling now?"
Hanabi downed the dregs and set the empty teacup on the wooden counter.
"Thank you. I do feel better. I don't know why you're helping me, but if you think that this will help you get in good with my father; then you're mistaken."
"I don't know what you're talking about. But you shouldn't worry about me. You should think about Hinata."
"I've been training her and as you so rightly said, she performs better when she thinks her life's under threat. She is a Hyuuga. She'll be fine."
"That's not what I meant."
Hanabi gave her a questioning eyebrow.
"I mean, wasn't Hinata your father's favourite? With enough training she will become the heir. I know that you've talked yourself into ignoring what I have to say on that subject, but the reality is that Hinata is doing very well in her training with you and someday she may even surpass you. She was and always will be your father's favourite. There is the possibility that she will be made heir and you will be demoted to the branch family. It's unfair, but that's the Hyuuga law, isn't it? You can't tell me that you've never considered it. Anyway, whenever you need some of the tea, just ask me."
Hanabi nodded stiffly and walked away from Nayako, loathe to admit that she did feel considerably better and that yes, the thought that Hinata could be made heir did still lurk around in her mind. She made her way to the geisha's quarters and jogged up the stairs wondering what was in that tea. She felt great! She opened the door to Hinata's room, since as Naruto was now back in Konoha, Nayako allowed Hinata to move back into her old room. She found Hinata dressed in a blue and silver grey kimono, with a purple obi. She needed to train in her usual kimonos in order to gain the experience of being in a battle with such cumbersome attachments. She knew that her sister had written to Gaara and asked him casually how he dealt with having that large and heavy gourd strapped to his back. Her Byakugan was activated, her lips set in a grim and fixed line of determination and annoyance. She was hitting the practice dummy with a lot of force and precision.
"Why don't you come at me?" Hanabi asked her. Hinata did not turn around but was surprised that Hanabi had offered since of late, Hanabi more instructed her, but rarely if ever trained her hands on.
"Hmm, Hanabi-chan you must be feeling better?"
"A bit." Hanabi replied, though she knew that the tea only affected her brain's view on the pain. The sores were still there. But she doubted that Hinata could actually land a hit on her. "Here's what. I'll make it interesting and I won't turn on my Byakugan. Sasuke doesn't have a Byakugan."
Hinata nodded and launched at Hanabi.
Hinata's attacks were forceful and consistently so. Still, she couldn't land a hit on Hanabi. Her sister would simply slap away her hand, blocking any potential hits.
"Come on, sister. I don't even have the Sharingan and I can see your next move. You might as well mail it to me a month in advance!"
Hanabi smirked when she saw Hinata speed up her movements, but still she was too slow and Hanabi said as much.
"Good lord, you're slow!" Hanabi said as she dodged a hit aimed at her liver, heart and jugular in quick succession. But she was unprepared for Hinata's next move. Hinata pulled from her sleeves a fan and threw it in the air. Hanabi was forced to break her main focus on Hinata for a second to take note of the position of the fan and estimate where it would fall. She saw Hinata unfurl the long sleeves that she had wrapped around her arms and she braced for Hinata's hand to come darting out of the folds of the sleeves and her sister did exactly that. But the fan fell between them, momentarily distracting her. She dodged her sister's hands that darted out like an unpredictable snake in a whirl of fabric. But her hands and the fabric were only distractions and in that one moment Hinata kicked her sister in the stomach sending her skating back a few feet, dislodging the henge that she still used. She should have used her Byakugan.
"Hanabi-chan! Are you alright?" Hinata squealed and ran to her sister. Hanabi pulled Hinata by the arm and hit her hard in the chest. The lash purposely avoided her lungs and heart, but did nick one of the bones in her rib cage. Hinata went flying and hit the wall on the other side of the room hard.
"That was a very good move - distraction on multiple levels. I wasn't expecting a kick from you. Very good attempt. But you're too soft. You should have come over to deliver a finishing blow and not underestimate me. Get up." Hanabi said bravely but really she was in a lot of pain. Hinata's kick did not hurt as much since her sister was still trying to get used to building up chakra in her feet, but the physical kick hurt the sores on her stomach and she could feel blood seeping through the bandages. But the pain was faint compared to how it was earlier thanks to the tea that Nayako gave her. Before she would have had to rush to the toilet to throw up and try her best not to pass out on the tiled floor. She wondered how long it would last. She wondered how long she would last when she had to face Sasuke.
She saw Hinata get up, her face still grim, breathing hard.
"Are you alright, sister?" She asked with furrowed brows. She didn't like the look on Hinata's face.
"I...I..." She looked like she was struggling not to cry. "I...I don't want to do this, Hanabi."
"What? Fight me?"
"No, my mizuage."
Hanabi shrugged. "It's geisha tradition, no?"
Hinata snapped up her head to fix a gaze on her. Her Byakugan was still activated. Hanabi thought that she looked like an incredibly attractive demon with her eyes shining white and her extravagant clothes. At least she didn't have on the white make-up, Hanabi thought cynically.
"Tradition? Some things are not fair."
"The law isn't fair either. It's legal or illegal, right or wrong, but it's the law."
"Some laws are changed, Hanabi-chan."
"The rites of tradition are there for a reason. It wasn't thought up just for the heck of it."
"Oh, so the Caged Bird seal is there for a good reason, other than keeping the branch members in subdued fear and submission?"
"It was because of that seal that our father is alive today and that Kumo does not have our eyes. It is there for a reason! It is Hyuuga law and tradition and we must follow it, otherwise anarchy would reign. Do not speak of things that you have no idea of!"
"And would you accept Hyuuga law if I am made heir?" Hanabi's eyes bulged in surprise, then narrowed. Oh, so that's what Nayako had been speaking to Hinata about, Hanabi sourly thought.
"What do you mean by that?" She tried for an even tone.
"Or will you eliminate me, tradition be damned? That won't be fair if you've done all the hard work but I'm still made heir, no? But it will be right. It's tradition. I am the eldest."
Absolute rage bubbled inside of Hanabi and she rushed toward her sister slapping her hard. Luckily she did not use Gentle Fist or her sister would have been dead. She did draw blood however, as she saw her sister get up and wipe blood from the side of her mouth.
"I have no interest in your position of heir, Hanabi-chan. But why exactly are you doing this? Are you planning on throwing me to Sasuke, let him eliminate me after I have incapacitated him and then you can get rid of me? Two birds with one stone?" Again she wiped the side of her mouth that was cut; a bit of blood glistened on her pale thumb that she showed to her sister. "You want it this badly?"
Hanabi breathed out hard. She wanted to say that she was sorry but she had never apologized to anyone in her life other than her father. The words came right up to her throat and stuck there as if someone forcibly pushed them back down with a heavy handed fist. Instead, she said,
"You're the same one that told me not to let Nayako get inside my head. Follow your own advice." She walked off.
Hinata didn't say anything; she knew Hanabi was right. Nayako was inside her head, but why she was trying to convince her that Hanabi would try to get rid of her was not quite clear to Hinata. She collapsed on the ground, but no tears came out of her eyes. She had to stay in this livelihood in order to carry out the plan. She was doing this for Naruto. But if she went through with her mizuage, wouldn't she lose him anyway? She never thought that she'd be wishing that Sasuke would just show up soon. Her mind reverted to the man that had tried to rape her. She hadn't known it then but she had nearly killed that man and she wasn't even trying then. She didn't like to think about that, but she supposed that if push came to shove, she would do what was necessary and face the consequences later.
The day of Hinata's mizuage came up all too soon. She hadn't seen Hanabi in three days and she understood why, but to be honest, Hinata didn't feel like seeing her anyway. Hanabi had no sympathy for her situation whatsoever. It wasn't just Nayako's words speaking through her sister. Hinata knew that Hanabi had a definite sense of right and wrong and she respected the importance of tradition. She was a true Hyuuga. Hinata sighed. She couldn't see herself in Konoha living the life of a Hyuuga if that was the case. She simply did not belong there. The only tie she had to Konoha was Naruto and if that was the case, couldn't he come visit her over here?
"I haven't seen in her a while, either." Nayako replied to Hinata's unasked question as she applied Hinata's make-up. Hinata noticed that Nayako didn't look too broken up about it, though.
"I hope that she's alright. I insinuated some things that I really..."
"She'll be fine." Nayako said dismissively. "But don't be nervous. I had the same experience as you. It's not as bad as you think. He'll be so excited that he'll finish in less than a minute. There'll be a burst of pain –"
"Pain?" Hinata said alarmed. "If there's pain then why do people want to do that all the time?"
Nayako laughed. "Yes, there will be pain. It'll feel like he's trying to rip you in half, and you'll bleed a bit, but it'll all be over before you realize that's what happened. And people want to do that all the time because after the pain, it's get better...a lot better...sometimes."
"I don't want to do this."
"Because of Naruto?"
"You wouldn't understand."
"Maybe. When I was eight years old, something happened to me that left me in a near-death situation. I was in a lot of pain and I couldn't move. A boy came to help me. He had silver hair and he wore a black mask that covered most of his face. He used to visit me when I was in the hospital. We never once spoke to each other, but we had an understanding. During my mizuage I always thought of that person, wishing and hoping that by some miracle he would save me from that. I never saw him again though, but I survived my mizuage. You can't live in a fantasy world, Hinata. Whether you are a geisha or a ninja, there will be things that you don't like to do or want to do, but you have to do it. Well, the consequences for disobedience as a ninja may be even worse. As a geisha you may lose your reputation, as a ninja, you may lose your life."
Hinata didn't respond.
"Let me ask you a question. Do you like entertaining? Do you like your lifestyle?"
"Sometimes."
"Do you like training as a ninja? Keep in mind that you may have to do on a regular basis things like what you did to that ninja that tried to have his way with you."
Hinata did not answer her.
"Have you made up your mind? Are you going to become a ninja for Konoha or are you going to stay a geisha? Do you think that you can handle the Hyuuga way of life? Do you think that Naruto can support you on a Genin salary? He has a little more social standing than the average civilian, but he's still poor. I know you like to dance and after this you'll be in a position to command your own customers. Your mizuage is just a small price to pay for you to lead a life where you'll have respect, fame and status and eventual independence. You might not have as much freedom as a Hyuuga ninja in Konoha. Your missions are chosen for you. And you also have to contend with Hyuuga law. Plus. . . you'll be leaving me."
Hinata looked at Nayako who was busy painting Hinata's lips with an intensity as strong as if she was disarming a bomb. She wanted to be angry at her, but she just couldn't and she hated herself for it. Nayako had taken care of her all of these years. She was hard to live with sometimes, but she was also her big sister for all these years. They quarrelled, but Hinata knew that if ever she was in trouble her sister would be there to protect her. She remembered all of the beatings that Nayako took in her place whenever Aunty of the okiya was upset with something Hinata had done. She remembered how Nayako had hugged her after the near rape incident. She remembered how Nayako had risked her life to protect her maiko at the border of Sound. How could she choose Hanabi over Nayako? Why should she have to choose?
"Have you made your choice?"
"No." Hinata mumbled. "Are you trying to come between Hanabi and me?"
"I didn't say anything that wasn't already in her head." Nayako dismissed the topic and segued instantly into another. "Are you hoping that Naruto will come rushing in here to save you? Or are you planning on killing that man yourself? It's been about two weeks and you haven't gotten a response from him."
"Naruto...I know that he'll come."
"And then what? He'll take you to Konoha? Your father will pay off your debts to the okiya? You'll tell Naruto why you were lying to him all this time? He won't forgive you because you have no trump card in the form of Sasuke. He won't say, 'Oh you did all those things because you were trying to help me bring back my best friend. All is forgiven.' You should wait for Sasuke to come to you. But in the meanwhile, remember that you are a geisha and you have that life to live. You are in too deep in both lives now. But just remember, I was the one that had originally told you to confess to Naruto."
"What if Sasuke never shows? What if I'm in a constant state of anxiety here waiting for him?"
"He'll show. You know that, don't you?"
Hinata did not answer her, but Nayako saw the answer in her eyes. She pulled back and looked at her maiko.
"I'll protect you no matter what, you know that right?"
"I know you will." Hinata smiled at her faintly and got a smile in return. She couldn't help but notice that it was a genuine smile.
"Come on, let's get you dressed." She called in the dresser and soon Hinata was adorned in a brilliantly black kimono and sunshine yellow obi with a red underrobe. Nayako was about to fetch Hinata's okobo herself when in walked Hanabi with the sandals. Hinata couldn't hide her surprise. Nayako couldn't hide her disappointment. Hinata walked over to the door where Hanabi stood on the threshold.
"I'm sorry."
Hanabi took a deep breath and muttered very lowly as she kept her eyes trained on the ground, "Me too."
"Hmm, all is forgiven I see." Nayako said and Hanabi fixed her a glare. Nayako smiled at her.
Hanabi placed the okobo on the ground just outside the door and Hinata stepped into them.
Shikamaru was tired. All he wanted was his bed. Or any bed for that matter. It was nearly eight o'clock and the Kumo nightlife was bubbling over like soup. Geisha were everywhere. He and his team had been keeping a brisk pace for almost two weeks now, barely resting. Temari had been in a bad mood from the moment she reached the Land of Lightning and the rains started and that meant that he was usually on the wrong end of that wrath. It had just stopped raining.
"Temari?"
"WHAT? Ugh. I don't think I'll ever get dry! I'll grow gills by the time I'm done here."
"Right. Look, I don't know about you, but Neji and I are hungry. We're going to stop at this teahouse here and get something to eat and then we'll start our search for Hinata. You coming?"
She grumbled something that he took as an assent, while he mumbled his usual words of 'troublesome', while Neji wished he was anywhere but here.
They walked to the Ichimokari teahouse where Shikarmaru and Neji entered without any fuss, but the mistress of the Teahouse barred Temari.
"No women unless geisha." The mistress said not realizing that she was about to find out how being in the middle of a tornado feels.
"WHAT!" Temari yelled. She was wet, cold, tired and hungry. Most of all, she was in a bad mood. Shikamaru and Neji quickly stepped back outside. Temari looked at Shikamaru. "You didn't know that that was a geisha teahouse?" She asked with an eyebrow quivering sceptically in the air.
"I swear I didn't know."
"Uh huh. All you men are the same. We are here on a mission and you want to look for geisha –"
"Troublesome woman, I swear that I didn't know!"
Neji tuned them out and followed the bickering pair unwillingly, mentally playing the game 'I would rather'. Right now he would rather eat rusty nails than be with these two. The three walked in search of food, Neji in search of ear plugs. They all missed when Hinata, Hanabi, Nayako and old-as-the-road Auntie walked into the Ichimokari Teahouse that was now behind them.
Hanabi didn't know what to say or do when she saw Neji, Shikamaru and Temari walking fifty yards ahead of them as they neared the Ichimokari teahouse. She activated her Byakugan under the henge and felt the pain shoot up her arm, past her neck and almost cripple her face with pain. There was no sign of her cousin activating his Byakugan, but surprisingly or not so much, she did spot Sasuke on a rooftop a couple of miles away. She quickly took off her Byakugan and swallowed hard to keep the vomit from coming back up. Hanabi could only hope that Hinata hit Sasuke good and hard because she was not sure she had it in her to fight even a small child, let alone Sasuke Uchiha. She tugged on Nayako's hand, ashamed that she had to beg but she was desperate. Nayako gave her a small smile.
"More tea? Don't worry. I'll have the mistress make some for you after the ceremony."
"How long is everything going to take? We don't have much time. There's another Hyuuga here." Hanabi whispered to her. She saw Nayako's face darken briefly, then the shadow was gone and she was back to her smiling self.
"Not long. Everything will go as planned." Nayako replied smiling. Hanabi nodded, but if Hinata had seen Nayako's smile she would have been able to warn Hanabi that Nayako was up to no good.
Hinata looked at the man that was supposed to be her mizuage patron. She remembered him. He was the man that spoke to her at Black Pool Square a little over two or three weeks ago. She remembered his too-black dyed hair. He was old. He had a wife. He had come to the teahouse every night and spoke to her while she did nothing more than nod and smile politely, every now and then offering him up sake or tea. She looked grim and set her gaze downwards to the table for fear that the sight of him made her throw up in his face. She nicknamed him Mr. Upset and Vomit because that's what she thought of him when she saw him now. Where the hell was Naruto, she wondered.
They were on the third level of the Ichimokari teahouse in one of the many private rooms. Hinata hadn't been up here since the incident of her near-rape. She shuddered that she should be here again in what she considered a similar but not quite, situation. She and Mr. Upset and Vomit drank sake in a ceremony that was meant to bond him to her as her mizuage sponsor. The ceremony took all of five minutes. Auntie and Nayako were smiling brilliantly. Hanabi looked like she was grinding her teeth in pain as she sat in a far corner and sipped on something. Mr. Upset and Vomit was grinning like an idiot. Hinata was considering throwing herself from the window. They got up and headed downstairs.
Afterwards, they left the teahouse and a kago was waiting outside for Hinata and Mr. Upset and Vomit. The dresser was also waiting there.
"Aren't you coming with me?" Hinata asked, panicked, to Nayako and Hanabi.
"No, child." Nayako answered her and then bent to whisper to her, "Take your time my dear; there'll be time for ménages à trois later." Hinata's features set in a rictus of annoyance. "I was just joking. Jeez. Anyway, the dresser will escort you and will stay in a room close by. As usual she," She nodded to Hanabi whose henge eyes looked intensely focussed, too focussed on some imaginary image in front of her, "will be about keeping an eye out for you. So, you'll never be really alone."
"And where will you be?"
"I will be there when you need me most." Nayako responded cryptically.
"But..." Hinata turned to look at Mr. Upset and Vomit, who was whistling loudly and still smiling like an idiot, "but...he's disgusting." Hinata whispered desperately to her geisha sister.
"I know, but stop being silly. Go on. And remember, you're still supposed to be blind."
Hinata nodded absently. She looked at Hanabi who was still focused on God alone knew what. It seemed her sister still had no sympathy for her. Again, Nayako's words crept up in her head, but she dismissed them. She got into the kago with the aid of the dresser. She sat on one end, the dresser was in the middle and Mr. Upset and Vomit was on another end. She stared listlessly out of the window. Where the hell was Naruto, she wondered again.
Nayako turned to Hanabi.
"Why aren't you moving, my dear?"
Hanabi's henge looked dazed and utterly confused as she tried to focus her eyes on Nayako. Nayako pulled her along like a ragdoll to the side of the teahouse into a dark alley. No one looked down the darkness of the alley because there was usually nothing there to be seen.
"I asked why you aren't moving."
Hanabi opened her mouth to speak and she reached as far as that, but her heavy tongue prevented her.
"I never liked this henge." Nayako said. As a full-fledged geiko, her sleeves were not as long as Hinata's, so she did not have to roll up much fabric in order to free her hand and hit Hanabi a hard cuff to her face. Hanabi fell backwards and hit her head hard on the ground as her body had not braced for the fall at all.
"Are you not moving because you are unable to?" Nayako asked as she stood over Hanabi. She could see Hanabi struggling to move. "Hmm, you're a fighter. You're fighting the tea that I gave you. But I know that you won't give up, so how about you take this to relax?"
There was no way for Hanabi to brace or block when Nayako's seven inch wooden okobo collided with her face.
The fact that she was now at the same inn that Naruto had brought her to at one point in time last year only hastened to make Hinata even sicker. She felt that at any moment now she would faint. At least she wasn't in the same room. Instead, they were in a larger room on the ground floor with a lovely garden that the Shogi doors opened onto. She could have cared less about it. The dresser took her into an adjoining room where he helped her out of her elaborate kimono and got her into a simpler, more casual off white kimono. The obi was a simple piece of red silk that was tied in a bow. It felt odd to be that underdressed. She was naked underneath; not even wearing tabi. In an effort to not feel so vulnerable, she slipped within her sleeves, the fan that Naruto had given her for her birthday one year. He removed all of her kanzashi and carefully undid her Wareshinobu hairstyle to let her hair fall past her waist. She washed off her makeup. He led her back into the room and Hinata made a concerted effort to avoid looking at the bed. Mr. Upset and Vomit was not there and she assumed that he was in the bathroom. A maid hurriedly brought in a tea set and left just as quickly. Hinata made the dresser open the shogi doors and she stood on the veranda looking out at the sky, hoping and praying that someone, anyone would come save her. Or she would have to save herself. She heard the dresser leave and she waited tensely, dreading the moment when Mr. Upset and Vomit would re-enter the bedroom. When she heard a door open, she still refused to turn around. She only turned around when someone called her name.
"Hinata."
When she saw him standing there she couldn't believe it. She stared at him blankly, not really seeing him, though she was looking right at him.
"Sasuke-san?" His name was a whisper.
He walked towards her and she wondered what to do. Her heart had sped up to an abnormal rate. She wanted to know where Hanabi could be, but she didn't dare let him know that her Byakugan was restored. What to do, what to do, what to do, what to do, she repeated until it was too late and he was standing directly in front of her and she had no plan.
Sasuke stared at her and was not surprised that he felt for her the same or rather, similar emotions that he experienced when he had last seen Itachi in Konoha – an equal parts mixture of love and hatred. The difference between the two experiences was that he suspected somewhere deep down he still loved Itachi as a brother. But with Hinata, he wasn't sure what he felt for her on that positive side. Was it love? Couldn't be. He didn't know her well enough. Was it lust? It wasn't that alone. He felt a deeper connection to her. Was it a platonic expression? His dreams told him otherwise. He wasn't sure about the positive emotions he felt towards her, but he knew that for the negative half of the emotions, he definitely hated her.
"You...w-w-w-w-w-w-w-what are you d-d-d-doing here?"
"Stop stuttering." He demanded.
Her lips formed a thin line of impenetrability, but it was too late. He already knew that she was terrified. Her eyes were so wide and white that he feared that they had their own gravitational pull and any moment now a tsunami would envelop them. The entire building was still and everything seemed very far from the small distance that was between them. He waited for her to speak. She said nothing knowing that whatever she might say may be turned into an opportunity for slaughter. In the end he spoke first.
"That man never wanted you." He answered her. He looked her up and down.
But you do, she asked in her mind. The realization that she was not ready for this almost crippled her – 'This' meaning a fight with Sasuke or whatever else he wanted from her. She stole a glance at the imposing bed.
"Are –" Her throat felt dry and she had to swallow before she spoke again. "Are you here to kill me?"
Suddenly he wasn't in front of her anymore. Rather, he had moved further inside of the room. Hinata looked up to notice that he was sitting on a tatami mat near the low table. What the hell happened? Can he really move that fast? Did he use his Sharingan on her?
"Come pour me some tea."
She did not move. She wanted to turn around and shield him from her use of her Byakugan, but she knew that it was dangerous to have her back to him. Clearly she was no match for him head on and she should not take him for granted. She would have to beguile him again. She stilled her heavy breathing. Naruto was coming, she reminded herself. Hanabi was watching out for her, waiting. Nayako would come to her aid. She took one shaky step toward him and had to force her other foot to move. Her steps were so unsure that she stumbled a bit. He simply looked on. She sat down at the other end of the small and round table. With trembling hands she poured him tea. Be still, she reminded herself. With a deep breath, she attempted conversation.
"W-what have you been up to, Sasuke-san?"
"Opera singing." He replied sarcastically.
She looked up at him. He looked back at her blankly. She briefly considered apologizing, but his lack of expression, of encouragement daunted her. Seeing him clearly for the first time she noted reluctantly that Hanabi was right, Sasuke was a very good-looking person.
Sasuke looked at her. He had a hard time wondering if her stumble earlier was an affectation. But as she poured him tea and the way that she looked at him, he could see a keener intelligence, keen enough to make him extremely uncomfortable.
"I don't trust you." He told her. She didn't bother to reply. She was sure he knew that she didn't exactly feel relaxed around him. They said nothing for a while, but she was the one to speak first after their silence.
"Do you hate Naruto? Why are you here for my mizuage?"
"I thought that I explained that to you. I don't hate Naruto. I don't have any feelings toward Naruto. I used to hate only Itachi, but my list has been growing and it now includes you." He didn't feel like elaborating on the other feelings he had for her. Only Itachi and Naruto had ever elicited such complicated emotions from him.
"I didn't...I..." She wasn't sure what she was going to say.
"I underestimated you. When did Hanabi break your seal?"
"Hanabi?"
"Don't lie to me!" He didn't shout, rather his words were low and menacing. In his aggravation he flung the teacup onto the floor and it shattered from his force, causing Hinata to flinch. "There are things I won't take not even from you."
Not even from me. She wondered just how much sway he would allow her.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"You're trying my patience. I saw her leave your room after that incident at the Ichimokari Teahouse. I know that she's here in Kumo. What's the plan? Are you supposed to deliver the first surprise blow to throw me off guard and then she'd come in to finish me off?"
"I would never try to do such thing. I caught you off guard once. I don't think it'll work again."
He scoffed.
"You've gotten more confidence. A few months ago and you would never have brought up what happened between us. Quiet confidence suits you. Don't get like your sister, Hanabi, however. She's too arrogant."
"Please forgive me, but I don't know who or what you're speaking of."
"You're really trying my patience."
"I never meant to upset you. I beg your indulgence. Please forgive me of my ignorance."
"You want me to try to hit you, don't you? You want me to let my guard down and come close to you. You are no match for me Hinata. What happened between us...it was a lesson learnt. You see, I learnt a lesson with Naruto. I got too close to him and my focus on my goal suffered. Luckily, Orochimaru helped me refocus on my objectives. You however. . . I never expected you to affect me the way you did. What happened between us showed me how much of a distraction you are. Tonight should serve as a test of sorts for myself."
"Are you telling me that you see friendship and love as distractions in life?" She said it and immediately regretted it. She didn't know why she always got into these debates with him.
"Are they not?"
"I humbly disagree, Sasuke-san. The difference can be seen in that age old quote: are you eating to live or are you living to eat? You can simply exist. You can talk to people and have words coming out of your mouth with a basic dictionary sense meaning of the words. Or you can have someone that can be silent with you in your moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with you in an hour of grief and bereavement and who will tolerate you in the reality of your powerlessness. Love and hatred are polar opposites. But I suppose you cannot know one without knowing the other."
He said nothing for a long while and Hinata braced herself for some sort of lash out. After an eternity, he said,
"I understand what you are saying. You and Naruto have helped me to understand that. But I have a choice to make. There's a law that says that any occurrence requiring unyielding attention will inevitably be accompanied by a compelling distraction. I cannot be distracted. You once told me that you understood the darkness in my heart. Were you lying to me then?"
"No,"
"I cared for you." He said unexpectedly. She looked up at him. His face was blank. She didn't know what emotion or expression she thought she was going to see. He already gave away so much in that one line.
"It's not enough to say that, Sasuke-san," she said quietly. "I…care for you too –"
"No you don't."
"I do, I did, I– It's not enough for you to say those words when you don't show them to me. Your words are empty."
"I feel empty."
Another unexpected confession, though, this time he looked as if he was not planning on letting that slip. Guilt and pity swelled inside of her.
"I . . . I'm sorry. I said that I know what you felt, made you trust me, then I took advantage of you. I'm sorry."
"You are so stupid sometimes it makes me wonder whether you're doing it on purpose."
"What?"
"What do you think apologizing to me is going to achieve?"
"I don't –"
"You should stick to being a geisha. You'd make a horrible ninja."
"I stabbed you, didn't I?" She muttered, but he heard her and snorted. Her head snapped up to look at him. He was wearing a very, very faint smirk.
"I was onto your every play, Hinata, but I just wanted you."
She lowered her head again thinking that getting stabbed in the neck was a hefty price to pay for a kiss. She had no idea that he was thinking the same thing as well.
He looked at her. She had on a faint sullen pout after what he had said to her. She had no idea of the predicament that he was in because of her. She had no idea of the effect she had on him, how she made him disarmingly, almost touchingly open. Sasuke knew that Naruto was a distraction as well, but he got over that quickly. For Sasuke, the difference between Naruto and Hinata lay in the fact that he was not attracted to Naruto in any sexual way. Naruto was a friend, but now he was simply a vague and dusty memory. He wanted Hinata to become like that.
He hadn't seen her in months and he told himself that he was above and beyond her effect. For the first couple of months after the incident when he couldn't talk and couldn't train as his hand and neck healed, he hated her. Orochimaru and Kabuto asked him how he managed to be stabbed in the neck and hand, but he gave them no answers. He could have told them, but even in hatred he wanted her for himself. If anyone were to kill her, it should be him.
But after his throat and hand healed and when the anger within him boiled down to a low simmer, he realized something. She had taught him a lesson. Never before had any woman had that effect on him. He at first blamed it on puberty, but he knew that that wasn't it alone or else he would have been going crazy over Sakura and Ino and Karin or anyone in a skirt. Because of her shyness she spoke in low tones, with her head bowed resulting in her audience being forced to draw nearer to her. All her conversations thus, seemed more conspiratorial and intimate. That was how she physically drew him in. But on another level she drew him out. Every time he saw her he gave away a little more of himself, and tonight was no different. He hoped that tonight would be different, that he was stronger and above her fascination, because Lord knew that he would have to be insane to ever her let her recapture him.
"Why don't you dance for me?"
"There's no music with which to dance."
"That doesn't bother me."
She considered him for a moment before she submitted to his wishes. She got up and walked a bit away from him. She searched her mind for the shortest, dullest routine she knew and quickly remembered the scene from the play, The Lover's Meet Again. There was a very simple dance in there that lasted all of five minutes. She didn't want to dance for him as dancing required a lot of her focus that she couldn't afford to give at the moment. She fixed her stance and only realized exactly how not dull the dance would be due to her attire. The first step began with her right leg extending forward and brushing across the floor, stretching her instep and making a wide arc away from her body, a move that made her usual silk brocade kimonos flutter at the edges. But tonight, with her fluid silk, lightweight kimono, her movement made her kimono fall away at the sides and left her bare stretched forward leg, curvy and fair, exposed to him.
He didn't move, he didn't blink, he didn't react, he didn't want to miss anything. The walls may have bent, but he didn't.
She held his gaze and turned, in that instant activating her Byakugan. She saw his internal organs, his skeleton, blood swimming through his veins, his teeth through his clenched mouth, eyes rolling around in their sockets, his arousal...but she saw no Hanabi and panic flooded her, even more so when she saw him move. He was quick, but with her Byakugan allowing her to see from every angle, it was like seeing him walk towards her boldly. He was fast, but she was prepared and when his sword came crashing down to her neck she blocked just in time with the steel-edged fan that Naruto had given her almost a year and a half ago.
For a brief moment, nothing was said and no one dared move. He was behind her with his sword poised tragically at her neck. She was as stiff as a day old corpse with the fan resting on her shoulder, given the impossible task of preventing her beheading.
"I really hate it when you lie to me." He whispered in her ear.
He was stronger than her and he spun her and pushed her against the wall. He was up underneath her before she had time to react. With one hand he pinned hers above her head so that she couldn't slap him. He jammed his knee in between her legs so that she wouldn't be able to kick him. He pressed his body flush against hers so that she wouldn't be able to push forward. He looked down at her as he was now close enough to breathe her breath. His nose touched hers.
Hinata was overwhelmed with fear. Her heart was in her throat blocking her air passages and she could hardly breathe because of it. Or it could be due to the fact that he was crushing her with his full weight pressed against her. Sweat broke out on her face, her lower lip trembled. It took everything within her not to pass out cold from fear. How could Hanabi leave her in a position like this? Now would be an excellent time for Hanabi to make an appearance, she thought. But her Byakugan was still activated and she could not see Hanabi through the walls. All she saw were the other tenants, the dresser in the adjoining room reading a book and the maids moving silently like mice in the walls. She was desperate. She threw caution to the wind and opened her mouth to scream. He seized her mouth with his.
Again he kissed her like it was the end of the world. When he pulled away both their lips were swollen red. He looked at her and said,
"You scream and I bite your tongue off."
She believed him. He said he cared for her. She never knew romance to be so violent. He didn't care for her. He wanted her because he couldn't have her. She thought about defying him, but the look he gave her made her decide against it. Still she struggled. He re-sheathed his sword, raised his right hand so that with both hands he increased the pressure on her wrists until the fan fell out of her hands. Tears slid down her face. She closed her eyes but she could still see him. He gently kissed the tears on her face. He kissed her neck, ironically in the same spot where she had stabbed him.
"I'm not going to hurt you, though I want to. I really want to shove this sword through your neck the way you did to me. I wouldn't have hurt you, you know. There was no need for you to stab me. I wasn't going to hurt you. But I want you to know that because of what you did, I have no patience, no sympathy for your sex. You helped me realize that I should not let a woman come between me and my goals. And the next woman that comes between me and my way, I'll stab her to get to what I want. Thank you for setting my priorities straight."
Anger welled up inside of her at the futility of the situation. She was angry at Hanabi, at him and most of all she was angry at herself. She thought of Naruto. Still she kept hope alive that he would rescue her and all would be right. She would tell him everything. But right now she was angry for listening to everyone else but herself and the only person she could unleash her anger on was the person standing directly in front of her.
"I...I...want you to know Sasuke-san that what happened between us has affected me too. It made me realize that I'm a lot stronger than I think. I was thinking of Naruto when I stabbed you. It is him who stirred in me the desire to do something great with my life, the refusal to allow myself to be grounded by mediocrity, the courage to commit myself to improvement. It was because of him that I was doing all of this. He is an amazing person, but I feel so sorry for him that he is wasting his time on someone like you. I used to feel sorry for you, even to the point that I identified with your pain. I cared for you too. Really I did. I cared too much. But now I realize that there is no helping you. You have lost your family and I feel for you. But you had a chance and you squandered it. You will never have a friend and you will never have a lover. I think I don't even feel sorry for you anymore. I feel nothing for you."
She was so angry that she head-butted him, hard. His grip on her hand only slightly slackened and she tried to wriggle free, but it wasn't enough. In his rage he almost brought his sword down on her. But he held back and instead he moved away from her and in one fluid movement he flung her halfway across the room. She saw the broken porcelain shards on the ground, but her momentum refused to let her avoid it and she mashed down on them painfully with her right foot. She stumbled and fell back onto the bed and cried out in pain.
He approached her and she edged further back up onto the bed, ignoring the pain in her foot.
He gripped his hair in his hand in an act of frustration. "Why?! Why can't you just leave me be?!"
She didn't know what to say. For one brief moment she felt sorry for him. She knew what it was like to feel consumed by someone. It was agony.
Suddenly she stopped as her eyes opened even wider, if that was possible, at the sight of the nin stealthily approaching the inn. He couldn't see it like the way she saw it, but he sensed it. Ignoring her completely, he turned and walked over to the open Shogi doors that led to the garden. He turned to look at her on the bed. Her kimono was ruffled, slipping away and falling provocatively on her shoulders. It had splayed open exposing her thighs to him. Her face was white as the sheets with fright and he hoped that he was not still tethered to her lustful nonattainability, but he knew he still wanted her. He turned again, simultaneously hoping and dreading that tonight was not the last night that he saw her.
After he left, Hinata remained still, unsure of whether she really escaped with her life. The adrenaline in her was still coursing through her veins and she trembled noticeably. She had to get up and go away from here. She released her Byakugan, suddenly feeling drained; realizing the pull it was having on her chakra. She wanted to keep it up if only to know whether Sasuke had clashed with the nin that were approaching, but she was too tired. She looked down at her foot. The broken porcelain was lodged very far up her foot. She took a deep breath and pulled it out. The scream she emitted was bone chilling and it sent the dresser running to her door. He knocked politely.
"Is everything all right?" He asked quietly in case Hinata was simply being melodramatic to her sponsor's affections.
She was in so much pain that she forgot to activate her Byakugan. She simply bawled again for him to enter.
When the dresser ran in he was appalled.
"What the hell happened?" He said as he ran quickly to the bathroom and came back with a towel to wrap her foot in it. While she applied pressure to the wound he cleaned up the broken pieces of the teacup lest there be another accident. He disappeared for a moment in the bathroom and returned with bandages that he haphazardly wrapped her foot with.
"Is that better?"
"Never mind that. We have to get away from here, now."
"What? Why? What's going on? What happened? Where is your sponsor?"
A sudden burst of light outside made them turn their heads as they heard commotion in the distance.
"Was that a fireball?" The dresser asked.
Sasuke-san, Hinata thought. "We have to get back to the okiya. I need to find Nayako. She needs to know that it was really Sasuke Uchiha who was my mizuage sponsor. "
"Sasuke Uchiha? Okay, I'll get a kago for us. Wait here for a moment." He ducked into the adjoining room and she looked at his retreating form quizzically. When he came back he had in his hands a pair of tabi. "Wear these. You can't go out in public with bare feet." He said all the while pulling up her kimono so that she could be better covered.
Hinata rolled her eyes in exasperation. She could bleed to death and all he cared about was decorum. He left directly after that to go organize their kago.
He left and she sank into the bed and put on her tabi. Her mind was reeling. Was she safe? Will Sasuke-san return for her? Did he really not want to hurt her? He looked so conflicted. And those nin! Would he be alright? Why should she care, she reminded herself. Her head was pounding. Suddenly the door was opened and she looked up expecting the dresser. Instead, in stepped Naruto, followed by Gaara.
"Naruto! Kazekage-sama!"
"Hinata! Am I too. . ." Naruto said excitedly. Then his jaw slackened and even his eyebrows sunk in disappointment as he took in her dishevelled appearance. His eyes drifted to the bed with the blood stained on the sheets and he felt his heart stop. ". . . late?" He finished his sentence.
Suddenly in burst Nayako, who in her anxiety appeared to not have seen Naruto and Gaara in the room as she ran to Hinata, so she had no cover for her mouth when she said,
"Hinata! Are you okay? I just ran into the dresser and he said that Sasuke was here? Where's Hanabi?"
Hinata's eyes bulged at she looked over to Naruto and Gaara. Nayako turned her head to see what her maiko was looking at.
"Oh, Naruto, Kazekage-sama" Nayako said, "I didn't see you standing there."