Chapter 21-Welcome Home
They had just crested the last hill when the Uchiha felt a weight lift from his shoulders as he beheld the gates of Konoha ahead of them; he breathed a sigh of relief and there was a renewed buoyancy in his steps as he lead his team home.
Catching sight of an overly-exuberant blonde waving to them in the distance, the Uchiha sighed, glancing at the pink-haired kunoichi over his shoulder.
Sakura hadn't breathed a word since their confrontation earlier that morning and he had to admit, he'd been relieved.
But seeing Naruto's wide foxy grin, left the Uchiha feeling a little uncertain; should he tell his best friend about what had happened? Didn't Naruto deserve to know that the woman he thought loved him, may just be using him as a rebound?
But Sasuke couldn't be certain of what her motives may have been—she was certainly jealous but it could be for various reasons and he realized that now was not the time for him to get involved in their relationship; whatever Sakura's issue was, it was between her and Naruto and Sasuke was perfectly content to leave it at that.
…He had his own personal concerns to worry about.
It was then that he caught sight of a small group gathered near the gate with a cart in tow.
Kakashi had met them and was presently speaking to the leader while the others stood quietly by, guarding whatever it was they had loaded on the cart.
The leader was nodding to the Hokage which in turn, caused Kakashi's famous eye crinkle of a smile as he laid a hand on the young woman's shoulder and…
Wait.
Indigo hair.
Was it…?
"Ah, Sasuke you're back I see; I must say I'm impressed, you're rather early aren't you?"
Sasuke didn't respond, his black eyes focused only on the young woman whose back was to him as she spoke with Kakashi.
"Uchiha's been pushin' us since two and a half days ago, Kakashi; he's been super antsy about getting' back—quite frankly, having him as team leader has been a real pain." Shikamaru muttered, his expression exhausted as he cast a sideways glance at his leader who was still absorbed in the dark-haired woman who had just turned toward him, her pale eyes wide and her cheeks flushed a bright red.
"I see. Well Nara it is to be expected…a month and a half is quite a long time, after all." With that, Kakashi was nodding towards Sasuke and Hinata while tossing a sly wink in Shikamaru's direction.
"Why don't you and Sakura accompany me to the tower, you can give me your official report and then maybe we can go grab a bite to eat at Ichiraku's, eh, Naruto?"
The exuberant blonde's blue eyes lit up and he gave an enthusiastic fist pump. "Hell yeah! Ichiraku's the best, ne, Sakura? Com'on let's hurry up, I'm starving!" As Naruto scrambled to catch up to Kakashi and Nara, the pink-haired woman hesitated, gnawing her lip as she glanced nervously between the pair. "Ne Sasuke we—we should really get to the tower so we can report to Kakashi—"She touched his arm, but the man didn't even glance at her.
"You and Nara go ahead; you heard Kakashi. I'll be by to give my report later." With that, Sasuke walked towards the dark-haired woman, ignoring Sakura's hand on his arm.
For herself, Hinata was overwhelmed with a painful shyness at seeing the dark-haired Uchiha again and she turned to her companions. "Thank you, Kiba and Shino—I'm sure Kakashi has everything in order now." They'd turned Itachi's body over to Kakashi's care, the moment they'd returned and Hinata had to admit she was relieved; Sasuke had appeared just seconds later and she didn't want him knowing of her part in the whole affair, just yet. In all honesty, it didn't matter to her if he never knew what she'd done; all that mattered was that Itachi had been returned home and soon, he could be laid to rest by his brother—as he rightfully should be.
"You sure, 'Nata?" Kiba glanced from his teammate to the approaching Uchiha; he eyed the dark-haired man warily, curious as to the nature of Hinata's relationship with him. They didn't know each other hardly at all before the war and Sasuke had only just been back for two to three months at the most…was that really enough time for him and Hinata to have developed some sort of bond?
"Yes, I'm certain Kiba, thank you both."
"Of course. Please. Let us know if there is anything else we can do, Hinata." Shino stated in his typical monotone voice before turned and walking away with Kiba and Akamaru at his heels.
It was only after her teammates had disappeared down the road, that the young heiress fully faced the man before her.
She was trembling from head to toe though; it was so bizarre—after almost two months of not seeing him and then here he was before her—it almost felt like they were meeting each other for the first time all over again.
"You just got back too, I see."
His toneless voice sent a shiver rippling down her spine.
"Y-yes, I—well we had a special task to carry out for the Hokage."
"Hn. And here I'd been told that you weren't allowed on missions as long as you were under Konoha Fugitive Status."
Hinata bit her lip nervously; this was the part she knew he wouldn't like and to be honest, she was a little terrified to tell him. "Yes—well…I actually r-requested this mission s-so I went to the Hokage myself and—"
Sasuke's eyes narrowed and he crossed his arms over his chest, glaring down at her. "What did you do, Hyuuga?"
Yep. That icy glare was exactly what she'd expected. "L-listen Sasuke-kun it's—it's not that I'm giving up; I'm not going to let my family walk all over me again—you taught me courage and how to stand up for myself and I—I will always be so grateful. But I can't just sit around, hiding at Ino's for the rest of my life, I have to face this!"
When her pale eyes pierced into his, Sasuke felt that intense, tightening feeling in his chest and somehow, the anger ebbed out of him and he dropped his arms to his sides.
He sighed heavily, massaging his temples as he felt a headache coming on. "Princess, you really should've waited until I got back before you—"
"I couldn't wait!" She shot back, startling the man and causing his black eyes to widen marginally as he looked at her.
"I—I needed this, Sasuke-kun. It was time." Taking a step towards him, she hesitated a moment and then laid a hand on his arm, her eyes staring meekly at his chest. "I'm tired of running. I'm tired of hiding and I'm honestly tired of fighting for their acceptance…screw whatever they think, I don't care anymore. Honestly, I'm proud of my heritage but I'm not proud of what has become of it; we Hyuuga are so blinded by our own 'superior' bloodline, we can't see passed it to see our need to grow and mature. The Byakugan is a formidable technique, Sasuke but it's—it has its limits and for me, I don't want to be limited anymore—I want to go further and I want my people to have that choice too." She looked up at him then, her eyes almost pleading with him to understand. "I want more for the Hyuuga than what our bloodline has to offer…I want companionship, trust and loyalty. I want us to come together not just as a clan but as people of Konoha who aren't afraid to go beyond the limits of those set down by our forefathers, but I can't even hope to achieve that if all I ever do is run."
Sasuke wanted to be angry with her but he knew he'd already lost; who could argue with such a beautiful, capable and inspiring woman?
"There's no arguing with you, Princess." He admitted at last, shaking his head.
She smiled a little but the expression was hesitant and her eyes strayed to the ground between them. "So…does this mean you aren't angry with me?" She asked carefully, almost afraid of his answer.
Sasuke scoffed but he couldn't keep a light smile from his lips as he reached out and tilted her chin up to look into her eyes. "Even if I tried, something tells me I'd lose that fight rather quickly."
A weight lifted from the young heiress' shoulders and she smiled up at him. "Well then, in that case…"
She tiptoed and with only a split-second's hesitation, planted a chaste kiss to Sasuke's cheek before pulling back, blushing furiously. "Welcome home, Sasuke-kun."
The Uchiha was surprised by her action but exceedingly pleased and a soft smile spread across his face as he bowed his head and planted a tender kiss of his own on her forehead. "I am home." He whispered.