Chapter 21: Follow the Nose.
When someone begins to smell like blood it makes the original scent disappear, making it harder to find the person you are searching for. It was a lesson Kiba had learned during a training mission with his mother and sister. He had been unaffected by the body and the blood, the only thing that affected him was the smell; he couldn't smell anything but blood. It was a lesson he could not forget. It was a lesson that he would repeat. Hinata stood beside him as he stared at the bloody body, all he could smell was blood. Shino frowned as his bugs swarmed around the body.
"It's Itachi." Shino stated.
"I'm kind of happy that it is." Kiba told Hinata.
"I never thought anyone could kill him." Hinata told Kiba. "I never believed he could die." She said more to herself then anyone else. Kiba looked at her, squeezing her hand.
"He's mortal Hinata, no matter how much of a devil he seemed to be." Kiba whispered.
"I know." She replied.
"He's dead; we will have to report it." Shino told his teammates.
Kiba nodded and looked at Hinata, she was staring at Itachi. He knew she was terrified of Itachi and he also knew that seeing Itachi dead had to be a relief to Hinata. Kiba took her hand in his.
"Sasuke killed him." Hinata whispered not taking her eyes off Itachi.
"Sasuke?" Kiba questioned, even Shino was listening now.
Hinata nodded. "I told Itachi that Sasuke would kill him. I told him but he didn't believe me." She said softly, there was no trace of emotion in her voice; she might as well have been stating the weather.
"And now he is dead." Shino replied. Hinata nodded as Kiba stared at them, he didn't like Itachi, okay he hated Itachi but he expected some sort of reaction from Hinata at least. A tear, something, just not this, he didn't want her reacting like Shino would. Hinata looked at Kiba. She moved closer to him, hugging him more for his benefit than hers. It didn't work; it only made him feel worse.
Present Time: one week after the sound has been destroyed.
"The sound has been destroyed." Kiba repeated as he stared at Shino who nodded.
"The Hokeage had requested that we join Naruto and Sakura on this mission." Shino said calmly, Kiba nodded. "I suggest you prepare."
"Hinata, do you think she is alive?" Kiba asked Shino. Shino said nothing and left, he didn't want to think of the possibility that she wasn't alive. Kiba understood. He was holding on to the belief that she alive. Only there was one difference, Shino hadn't realized that Hinata would be 16 years old. That she had changed, if Sasuke had been with her then she would have changed. He just didn't know how much she would have changed.
Hinata was staring at the water, this village apparently knew Sasuke. He had helped with the bridge in some way. She had never been here but the name of the bridge, Naruto something it made her feel guilty. She didn't know why, she knew she should have told Sasuke but he had been happy lately and relaxed.
"You're up early." Sasuke said calmly behind her.
"It's beautiful here." Hinata told him.
"My first mission was here." Sasuke told her. "It was an interesting mission." Hinata smiled.
"So this place is special to you." Hinata told him sweetly.
"It is. I would hope that you would find this place special too." He told her. She looked at the bridge. Naruto, that name sounded familiar. "Is something wrong?"
"The name, Naruto, do I know a Naruto?" She asked him.
"He was my teammate, I have mentioned before." Sasuke told her. She nodded quickly; Sasuke was losing patience with her. He moved closer to her placing a hand on her hip.
"Did I have any teammates?" Hinata asked him. She closed her eyes trying to picture what her teammates would look like, she pictured to tall males, one was silent and the other was cocky.
"No. You where training to be a medic." Sasuke told her. She opened her eyes and nodded. Somehow that sounded wrong, she had teammates, she knew she did. Or maybe she was imagining them, trying to fill in the blanks of her memory.
Sasuke stared at her, she was staring to remember, not actual memories but feelings. He would have to make sure that Hinata remained far away from the leaf; he had killed Itachi before he wouldn't do it again. Sasuke already had what he wanted; all he had to do was keep her. "Lets go inside, I want to ask you something." Hinata looked at him. Sasuke smiled coldly at her. She was studying him trying to read him, she was good at that.
"I want to marry you." Sasuke told her softly.
Alternate Universe
"I am a married woman." Hinata whispered to herself as she sat in the darkness of her room. She turned as the figure moved in the darkness. "You need to move on." Hinata told him, more like ordered him. Sasuke walked over to her, kneeling beside her on the floor.
"We can run away and be together, have the life we always wanted." Sasuke told her as he embraced her, she tensed. "The life we would talk about."
"We found Itachi's body." Hinata stated. "I know you killed him."
"You knew I would, it's not surprising." Sasuke told her as he laid down taking her with him. Hinata closed her eyes; this was the bed that Neji slept on, her marriage bed. "I saw you with Kiba-kun." He taunted. "You two have always been so close. I bet he's itching to get closer isn't he."
"He's my teammate." Hinata told him simply. Sasuke laughed softly into her hair.
"And Neji is just your cousin." He whispered. "Yet we both know how that turned out."
"Everyone will know you killed him." Hinata told him as she stared at the wall.
"I'm leaving to join the Akatsuki and I want you to go with me." Sasuke told her.
"No." She told him simply. She had dealt with the Akatsuki enough, removed enough tails, she had lied to many times. She had a different life now, one that didn't involve the Akatsuki.
Sasuke released her and frowned. She sat up and watched him as he stood. He didn't say anything just left her there. She sat there in the silence and the darkness that was her new life. She wanted to say that she was sorry, that she loved him. Only she couldn't, maybe it was because she was trying to keep one promise in her life. She was to be faithful, she smiled sadly. Itachi had once told her that she was incapable of being faithful. She was a caged bird, and once they could no longer sing for their masters they had no purpose. She had one last purpose in life, and that was to make Neji happy.
It was a couple of minutes before the sun rose when Neji returned. Hinata was still sitting there. "Sasuke was here, he came to say goodbye." Hinata told him. Neji sat down beside her.
"He asked you to leave." Neji stated. Hinata nodded. "What did you tell him?"
"I told him no." She answered after a few seconds. Neji stared at her. He placed his hand on hers. She looked up at him. In the darkness she could see his eyes. She placed her head on his shoulder. "Let's go to bed." She whispered to him.
Present time
Kiba looked at the team that had been formed to search the sound for any signs of Hinata and Sasuke. Shino was silent, but that was expected. Sakura and Naruto where hopeful that Sasuke was fine and would return. The looked at Shino, he was the leader of the mission.
"We are searching for evidence." Shino reminded them, and himself. "It is unsure if Hinata and Sasuke are even alive. Don't get your hopes up." Shino stated. Kiba closed his eyes and smirked. Shino did have his hopes up; Kiba had spoken to Shino once on the second year that Hinata was gone.
"You like her don't you." Kiba asked Shino. Shino didn't respond only remained staring at the log that had been hers. "I'm surprised; I had thought you incapable of feeling." Kiba watched his teammate waiting for any sign. Shino gave none. They stood there at her log, before Kiba punched it. Shino jumped slightly and then frowned. Kiba blinked as Shino said his name.
"We are leaving." Shino repeated. Kiba nodded and followed. He was going to bring her back and kill Sasuke.
"Marry me?" Hinata repeated. Sasuke stared at her and nodded. Part of her wanted to say no, that she was in love with another who had blue eyes and a bright almost blinding smile. Another part wanted to say yes, because he had saved her, because he had risked so much for her. Sasuke was watching her, waiting for her answer. She smiled at him and nodded, hugging him. Sasuke stroked her hair.
"We can be married today." Sasuke told her. She closed her eyes. In her mind she was thinking of a boy with red markings on his face. He was smiling at her and laughing at something she didn't understand. Something that the other boy in the dark glasses had said, she opened her eyes and looked up at Sasuke.
He was smiling at her, one of the warm smiles that she had rarely seen. She smiled back at him, hoping that his smile would stay. Today she was getting married.