Love Never Dies
Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews. Sorry, that this one took awhile. I'm still hoping to update this one at least once every two weeks, but we'll see what happens. My real life schedule, technical glitches, and other stories are keeping me busy. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this chapter.
Chapter Notation: This chapter is basically setting up for a big battle next chapter. So expect plotting and fluff. Happy reading.
Chapter 28
He was being ridiculous. "Sasuke, you really shouldn't push yourself." Hinata looks at him with concern. "You just had an eye transplant."
Her lover was of course, well Sasuke Uchiha. His name might as well have been Stubborn Uchiha though. Why wouldn't he listen to reason?
"I had a transplant three weeks ago and the bandages are off." He shakes his head. "Itachi is going to teach me how to use the Mangekyo Sharingan and then we're going to kill that son of a bitch."
Right because he wanted revenge. That had always been the thing that stood between them.
She sighs and kisses his forehead. "Danzo isn't going to harm our baby." Hinata bites her lower lip, uncertain who she was trying to convince more.
"I hope he's not dumb enough to try anything, anyway." Suigetsu shakes his head. "Sparky will fry them otherwise."
Hinata twitches at that. She considered herself to be a forgiving woman, but even she had her limits. Suigetsu had just crossed them.
Itachi shakes his head as he lays in Konan's lap. "I would apologize immediately for that informal term of endearment." Which was now where he spent the majority of his time. "The Gentle Fist is not nearly as gentle as the name would lead one to believe."
"He's just bound and determined to get himself killed." Obito snorts.
Hinata wasn't happy about it, but she privately admits that the eldest Uchiha had a point there. Suigetsu just had zero survival instincts outside of battle.
The swordsman rolls his eyes. "Oh come on." He smirks at everyone as though he had just figured out some great secret of the universe. "It fits him. I mean the Chidori sparked the hell out of Obito."
Well, maybe the nickname wasn't inaccurate. Whatever though. Hinata wouldn't allow Suigetsu to nickname her son that easily.
Konan laughs softly as though she found Suigetsu's annoyingness to be delightfully entertaining. "What makes you think that the child is a boy?" She glances at Hinata. "She's not that far along yet. One can't be certain of his or her gender this early on."
"I have a feeling it's going to be a boy." Hinata smiles. "I guess we'll find out eventually."
Sasuke wraps his arms around her protectively. "That's why I want you to stay here and be safe with the others." He frowns. "I can handle Danzo. I don't want you or our child put in danger because of him."
It was sweet how worried he was about them. Really, it was. Though as logical as his pleas were, Hinata knew the truth.
"If I didn't go with you, I'd be worried sick." She whispers and leans into his embrace. "At the very least, I should send a clone and be nearby."
Hinata needed to be there. Otherwise, she'd go insane. She knew that and the bluenette could only hope that Sasuke did as well.
Itachi chuckles and stretches in Konan's lap. "For once, my foolish little brother is being practical." There was mirth dancing in his eyes, now that they were no longer bandaged. "A clone is likely the best compromise that we'll get in this situation, but we wouldn't leave her unprotected."
Jugo nods at that. "I will stay with her and the baby." She really should have seen that coming.
Sasuke shoots his shield a grateful look. "Thank you." He pauses for a moment before looking at Itachi. "You will stay with them as well." He sighs. "Karin is needed on the battlefield and I'll take Suigetsu with me."
Obito frowns at Sasuke's orders. Whatever his other faults may be, it was obvious that the man wasn't a simpleton. He could do the math and it simply wasn't in his favor at the moment.
"What about me?" He raises an eyebrow. "Where will I be in this scenario?"
That was a good question. Hinata doubted that Sasuke trusted him alone with her, but could Obito be trusted to fight alongside the others?
Sasuke's eyes narrow at him. "I'm tempted to knock you unconscious again." He smirks. "Or to have our child do so, but you'll work well enough as a human shield."
Konan smiles and kisses Itachi. "I'm beginning to like your little brother." The elder Uchiha Brother eagerly kisses her back. "It seems that the two of you are more alike than you are different with your sadism and appreciation cleavage."
Hinata squeaks at that and blushes at least ten shades of red. She couldn't believe that the other woman had actually said that. Had she no sense of decency?
"Yes, that is true." Itachi smirks at the thought. "Though it is difficult not to appreciate such things when one has a lover with such a wonderfully feminine form."
On second thought, forget about Konan. Itachi, if anything, was worse.
Their team had been looking for Hinata and Sasuke for days. Everyone was worried and Neji could see it. Some were even suggesting that they should turn around, but the lavender eyed man wouldn't hear it.
"We must press onwards." Hinata had been gone for far too long. "We've got another week before we're supposed to head back." They would have to make the most of that time.
There were some resigned sighs and grave nods. "Yes, Lord Neji." Despite his Branch Member status, they all knew of his abilities.
So whenever the Main House wasn't within earshot, they tended to refer to him that way. It was a nice balm on his soul, but that wasn't what mattered at the moment.
"Wait!" A smile of pure joy graces his face. "I believe I sense Lady Hinata's chakra."
That thought spurs him on. Neji didn't even bother to tell the others to follow him. He was racing towards his beloved cousin.
She was alive. He could feel it. He had to get to her.
"Lord Neji!" The others dart after him. "We're coming!"
Faster and faster, he went. His feet were barely touching the ground as the young Hyuga makes his way closer and closer towards their Heiress.
A few moments later, he skids to a complete halt. "Stop!" He didn't like the feeling of this.
Hinata was there and she wasn't alone. That was only to be expected. Neji had fully anticipated that Sasuke would be with her, but not all those other chakra signatures.
"Byakugan." They couldn't just charge in without any sort of plan.
Mercifully, he was a Hyuga though. They were born to deal with this sort of situation and just about anything else that life had to throw at them. Other than being a Branch Member.
He wasn't the only one activating his bloodline though. Almost everyone else did at the same time. The collective gasps that follow from this action were unsettling to say the least.
"Lord Neji, what are we to do now?" He hears a horrified whisper.
To be fair, his Clansman had every reason to be terrified. One of the people inside was Itachi Uchiha. What on earth was going on here?
Sasuke laughs at Itachi's lewd joke. Who would have thought that his brother was capable of such a thing? For most of his life, Itachi had either been a saint or a demon. Now, he was…almost human.
The thought was all at once an amusing and perplexing one. "Guess you're right about that." He laughs again.
It had been such a long time, since he had genuinely laughed. Sasuke had thought Hinata and their child were the only people capable of making him laugh anymore, but Itachi had proven him wrong.
"Something's wrong." Karin frowns as she looks towards the exit. "I can sense a lot of chakra signatures nearby." She bites her lower lip. "Dangerously nearby, but they aren't charging in."
Jugo stands up and strides towards the door, forming an ax made out of chakra in his hand. "I shall go and check." He briefly looks over his shoulder at them. "I'm Sasuke's shield. So I will protect him and his family."
Idly, the younger Uchiha Brother wonders if that included Itachi or not. Did he want it to? Life could be so strange sometimes. He still didn't now how to feel about Itachi or much of anything, other than Hinata and the baby.
"Thank you, Jugo." Hinata smiles at the giant as he dashes outside.
As the seconds turn into minutes, Sasuke concludes that a battle wasn't particularly likely. They would have already fired shots by now, if that was the case. So what was going on?
"Hinata, use your Byakugan." He smiles at her.
It was the best way to determine what was going on. Did Jugo need help? Was he just having a polite chat with someone over tea and rice balls? They'd never know unless someone checked or Hinata used her bloodline.
She nods at him. "Byakugan." That's when Hinata gasps. "It's Neji!"
Whatever Jugo had been expecting, this certainly wasn't it. There were so many lavender eyed people.
"Hinata's family." He tilts his head, uncertain of how to proceed. "I know that this will come as quite a shock, but Hinata is safe with Sasuke."
He had no idea how to even begin to explain this. Then again, perhaps he didn't have to. The giant understood the basics of the Byakugan. They likely already knew at least some of what he was going to say.
Neji nods at him. "Indeed." Hinata's cousin seems just as baffled as he did. "Considering that Itachi appears in a state of rest and Sasuke hasn't cut off his head, I'm quite certain there is a fascinating reason as to why that is."
That was one way to put it. Feeling at a loss for words, Jugo simply nods. "Come with me, but do not fight." He shakes his head. "We have a pregnant woman in our care."
Could the Byakugan tell if a woman was pregnant? It was an interesting thought to consider, but Jugo couldn't quite muster up the courage to ask.
"Hinata is pregnant." Neji blinks. "How is that possible?"
Jugo blinks right back at him. "I thought that such things would have been covered at the Academy." He tries his best to smile warmly at the other man who was clearly far too sheltered. "You see when a man and a woman love each other very much…" He trails off, wondering what would be the most tactful way to say what obviously needed to be said.
Neji scowls at him. Oh. Perhaps, that was just a question asked out of astonishment and a 'legitimate' one.
"I already know that." He shakes his head and gestures for the others to follow him. "Come. We must see to Lady Hinata's welfare!" With that being said, they all walk inside together.
Itachi stares in confusion as a flock of Hyugas come filing in. They were either a flock of swans or a hive of bees in his mind. Well, perhaps it didn't matter what they were. What mattered most was that they were here.
"Hinata!" Neji rushes over to her and embraces his cousin. "I'm so glad that you're alright. You are alright." He looks her over from head to toe with his Byakugan blaring. "Aren't you?"
Sasuke glares at him for that question as though Neji had just personally insulted his honor. "She's more than alright." Which in a roundabout way, the Hyuga probably had. "She's with me and we're expecting our first child."
Itachi wanted to laugh at Sasuke's expression. He was both like a proud peacock and a wet cat all at once. His foolish little brother had always had the most wonderfully expressive face.
"Yeah." Suigetsu nods at them. "Whatever you do, you don't want to piss Sparky off."
The Hyugas understandably were rather bewildered by that statement. "Sparky?" To which, Itachi could only rub his head sheepishly.
Fortunately, Karin must have decided it was vital to step in. That was odd to say the least considering how often she yelled at the infamous swordsman. Be that as it may, Itachi couldn't help but feel relieved by her decision.
"That's just what he calls Hinata's and Sasuke's baby." She shakes her head. "He's an idiot. So you'll have to go easy on him."
Konan laughs at that and runs her fingers through Itachi's hair. "Yes and to answer the questions that are no doubt on your mind, Itachi carried out the Massacre on Danzo's orders to prevent a coup the Uchihas were planning and the eventual Great Ninja War that would have eventually followed."
Kisame's jaw drops at that. It wasn't hard to see why though. Konan was Konan. She truly was an exceptional woman.
"Damn you're good." The other Akatsuki truly resembles a gaping fish at the moment. "How the hell did you explain all that so quickly?"
Obito rolls his eyes at Kisame. "She's the only female member of the Akatsuki." Indeed. She was. "The woman is also one of the few reasons why our organization exists at all." Without her, they likely would have killed each other off ages ago.
Speaking of women though, what were they going to do about Hinata? Of course, the clone idea was a wise one. Itachi knew his future sister-in-law better than that though. Sooner or later, she was almost certain to join the fray.
"Yes, I apologize for the abruptness." He smiles at them. "It seems that my foolish little brother wants to kill Danzo though. Seeing as you're all here, perhaps you'd like to stay with Lady Hinata and a few others to ensure her safety while we engage him in battle."
He had to fight along Sasuke's side. It was the least that he could do really. Itachi had so much to make up for and he scarcely could even begin to imagine how he was going to go about doing that. He had to try though.
"This is a lot to take in." Neji sighs as he looks at Hinata. "You can't be that far along yet. You're not even showing, but Lord Hiashi will be highly displeased."
Sasuke glowers at Neji as if he had just committed some unforgivable sin in his eyes. "I will marry her as soon as we're able." His brother was practically spitting bullets at this point.
The other Hyugas shake their head. Clearly, they knew better than to get in the middle of this. Say what you want about that lot, but they weren't that reckless.
"We'll come up with a strategy." Obito smirks at them. "Itachi has been instructing Sasuke on how to use his newly acquired Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan for the past few days. With your assistance, we shall most assuredly emerge victorious."
Itachi really didn't care for the way that his kin was smirking at the Hyugas. He could already see those wheels turning, but there was no going back now.
"First, we'll kill Danzo." His eyes narrow at Obito. "Then we'll discuss everything else. Now, let us commence battle preparations."
After all, he had a foolish little brother, future sister-in-law, and a niece or nephew to protect. In light of that, Danzo didn't stand a chance.
