Sasuke frowned as he felt the chakra signature flicker yet again and then disappear before he had a chance to turn around. He leaned heavily against the dark stoned wall, placing a hand against his tired face as he sighed.
It had been occurring for a week now. Everywhere he went, he seemed to sense Hinata's chakra, but before he could find its source, it would poof so quickly, that he was beginning to have thoughts that he was just imagining all of it. Why was the girl following him? But then again, why would she so it in such a way that made it seem like she was avoiding him from seeing her as well?
Was this part of the test?
He decided to play along with her little game of hide-and-seek, resolving that it would be best just to ignore her for now, at least until she decided to reveal herself to him.
The sky was shyly blushing a shade darker and the temperature was dropping a little as the cold night wind blew in. Sasuke decided to start heading back home, as it was too late to go training.
Digging his hands into the pockets of his pants, he dragged his feet across the street, taking a small glance at the brightly lit windows as store owners began to clean up their shops. Just as he walked by the bakery, he felt the growing familiar chakra, and suddenly a real presence. It shadowed behind him, and her voice harshly whispered, sending a cold shiver down his back.
"Uchiha."
He was about to turn around, but her firm grasp on his shoulder stopped him. It was silent for a moment as the wind weakly whistled at their feet, the hem of her cloak slightly raising and falling, causing her shadow to waver. Her breath was hot on his earlobe, as she continued to keep her voice at a harsh whisper.
"Alright, Uchiha. We're going to walk now, eleven feet into that alley. Then, we can begin."
Step by step, her knee pressed into the back of his leg as she slowly guided him to the designated location. He was extremely tense, knowing what this was about.
The training had begun.
Extremely long seconds crept by tremendously slowly, but eventually, after an extensive moment, they had reached the safe darkness of the alley. The grip on his shoulder loosened, and he was turned and shoved against the wall, to face the slightly shorter girl.
She looked around under her cape for another few seconds, and seemingly satisfied, she turned to speak, her mouth cleverly shifting to disguise her speaking.
"This is where your first lesson begins. Listen carefully; I'm only going to say this once. I want you to go into that bakery over there as the lights begin to go off. Make sure you aren't detected, stay on light footsteps. Then, you're going to make your way to the back of the room, where there will be a small stairway, leading up to the second floor. It'll lead up to a single bedroom with the door unlocked. Open it."
She paused, before he swiftly nodded, letting her know he understood.
"There should be three forms on the bed. Left will be the woman, right will be the man, and in the center should be the sleeping daughter. For your first lesson, you will begin on merciless killing. Kill the man in front of his family, and then take his head back."
Sasuke gaped at the cloaked girl for a few seconds, not believing what she wanted him to do. She was asking him to murder an innocent civillian. And that wasn't all, an innocent of their own village.
His breathing slowed, as he waited for the shinobi before him to reveal how all of this was a joke. How she was going to take back what she said, in favor of target training, anything but killing. He wasn't with Orochimaru anymore, he was with the good guys now. Sure he wanted to get stronger, but not through these methods.
In a daze, Sasuke found himself nodding in agreement as Hinata jumped up into the shadows, no doubt keeping watch from afar.
His body moved at its own will, taking him through the bakery doors silently, the room inked with dancing darkness, just being able to make out the counter where delightful scents of freshly baked bread and cakes should have been wafting from. The transparent covering glinted softly, as he continued to glide past on the clean wooden floor, stark of dust.
The back room was even darker, a pitch black tunnel where his hands ran along the paper of the walls, to reassure his involuntarily moving body that he had some sense of direction left. Soon his palm hit the thick wood of the western style door, and he slowly ran his fingers down to mold with the doorknob.
Whish.
Sasuke cautiously pushed the door open, his now sweating palm almost glued to the knob. His breath was beginning to slightly shake as his body grew an awareness of what was really going on. It was too late to go back now.
Trying to keep as little weight as possible on the ascending stairs, the boy was just barely balanced on his toes as he climbed the steps.
Creak.
Sasuke swallowed his gasp as the sole of his foot hovered in midair, the big toe just barely touching the feeble wooden stair. Suddenly, he stopped, placing both his feet down on the previous stair. He was a shinobi for crying out loud, not a simple civilian trying to break into a house.
With a deep breath, Sasuke vanished, only to reappear at the top of the staircase. With a triumphant smirk, he once again pushed the next door open, into a small bedroom.
It was simple really, though too dark to observe properly. The first corner on the left had a simple dresser with a foggy mirror bearing the blackened features of the small room. Not far from it was a small set of drawers, no doubt containing clothes. Across from the items on the other side of the room was a bookshelf, where only a few paperbound books lay teetering upright against each other, most likely cookbooks.
However, in the center against the longer wall and beneath a small wide window were the targets. In a squeaking mattress with a jumble of warmly knit blankets were a man, a woman, and the tuft of hair that could only come from a small child. Their different breaths heavily clashed against each other, but all were deep enough to show that they were sleeping.
Sasuke's lungs were clenching in silent panic as he realized that he was about to tear this family apart. Letting his eyes fall to the small, peacefully slumbering girl, he realized he was about to take somebody's father away.
His mind was beginning to jumble as he lost sight of the calm he kept as a shinobi. His body kept moving on its own accord as a shaking wrist landed withdrew a small, glinting kunai from its holster. The smooth edge let up to a perfectly sharpened tip, one of which, he gulped, he had sharpened himself.
Sasuke's hesitation was dragging his feet forward almost too slowly, and it wasn't before he was at the foot of the bed that a shadow shifted and he felt Hinata's presence behind him again.
"Why are you taking so long?"
Her dry whisper let off her irritation clearly, and he was aware at how pathetic he was appearing, not even able to kill a defenseless simpleton. The fact that she was behind him, waiting with little patience but still giving him a chance, gave him the little fire in this clamping lungs to regain his composure to the best he could after his distraught state.
Pressing his lips together into a thin line, he smoothly grabbed hold of the sleeping man by the scruff of his neck, shaking the victim awake as they were pulled to their feet. The man yelped, his cry waking the wife who blearily shrieked at the sight of the two shinobi. The girl had cradled to her mother, letting out more quiet whimpers of confusion and fear.
Sasuke's teeth clenched as he pulled the man closer, the tip of his kunai just grazing the neck. The man was howling curses, but it fell deaf on Uchiha ears. His onyx eyes gently met with the little girl's, whose larger brown eyes widened as they locked gazes. His kunai was shaking violently in his hand, threatening to drop, before he felt warmth envelop his fingers.
Turning his gaze to his hand, he found to his much surprise that Hinata had wrapped her smaller hand around his to help steady the blade. Drawing in a weak breath, Sasuke looked back at the little girl who was by now starting to shiver with cold tears, and the kunai plunged.
The dark trickle of hot blood kissed down his long, pale fingers, glowing crimson in the darkness. He watched as both his and Hinata's hands joined in lifting out the kunai, letting the corpse fall heavily to the ground. The woman's cries were shrill, but it was the girl's that were silent. He couldn't look at her, but knew she was in a state of shock.
Because the little girl had just seen her loved one die in front of her.
She would grow up with nightmares, with hatred towards himself, and without a father.
Sasuke felt his insides breaking every emotional wall that had ever been set up before in occurrence to what had happened. His legs wobbled, and he was just about to collapse on his knees before a pair of arms wrapped themselves around his waist to steady him, and then a poof of smoke.
He blinked as the white clouds cleared away to reveal Hinata, who stepped back calmly after releasing him. She looked completely normal, as if they hadn't murdered an innocent.
He felt bile claw its way through his throat.
"H-h-ow c-c-c-oul-"
His voice came out in desperate chokes, unable to form proper words.
How could you make me do such a thing? How could you let an innocent be murdered? How are you so calm?
"M-monster.."
He felt a surge of anger towards her, watching as she made no reaction still towards any of the events or his accusation. It was one thing to be required to kill on a mission, but inside your village for no reason- it should have been against any normal person's morals.
Did she even have any morals?
He could have laughed if he had the voice to even do so. She probably killed people on an everyday basis. This mighty Hinata was a true shinobi.
Was that really such a trait to be envious over?
His head throbbed with pain as he closed his eyes while leaning on the wall, fearing for his knees to give way. His mouth felt disgustingly dry, and his eyes were too wet to be considered normal.
It was like a daze as he felt Hinata's hand softly caress his cheek, unconsciously leaning into the touch. It could almost be said as comforting…
Her touch also held something that could have been remorse, but only if it had been anybody but her.
Shaking his head slightly as the bangs fell in front of his closed eyes, he felt her mouth near his ear again, her breath this time soft enough to be ticklish.
"That man was to be executed at dawn."
She was always departing after those kind of statements, he mused, as this time he fell on his knees. Touching his face lightly, Sasuke wondered why his breaths suddenly sounded like sobs, and why his face was too wet to have been blood.
To strike without first thought, only to have second thoughts afterwards.