Chapter 28: I Loved you so much

He had planned on coming back yet he didn't plan on her leaving


The swirling columns of smoke were visible miles & miles away from Iwagakure

The closer they ventured, the stronger it got .. The pungent smell of rotten flesh.. Of phosporus .. Of sulphur .. Of death

The peculiar dog growled irritatedly as it kept jumping up and down , spinning erratically around Kiba.

"Akamaru can no longer distinguish the smell, this is as precise as it can go"


The town was a mess when he arrived

"We have been attacked"

He rushes to the hokage's office whereas Suigetsu carries Karin off to the hospital


"Can you see anything?"

"This isnot another false trail" Ko assured


He finds Hiashi head in hands in Kakashi's office

"Sit down" Kakashi grimly commands "I am sorry, Sasuke" his voice breaks

"What do you mean?"

"Hinata and Tama have been captured"

His vision became groggy .. Distorted ... As if a red scale has descended over the world,completely tinting it in all shades of crimson as his heart drops ten feet under.


Kankuro was badly beaten when they finally found him, legs battered in pieces ...

They have taken their time in completey humiliating the once revered commander .. The inherently esteemed personnel

'That should hinder us furthermore' he darkly mused


He turns his head towards the apologetic Naruto, all accusations itched on his stone hard face.

"How could you let this happen?"

"Naruto here isnot at fault, Sasuke" Hiashi finally spoke through a thinly restrained calm, an intimidating calm that usually preceeded a hurricane

"Then whose it?" he finally lashes out, punching through whatever coming up his face, thrashing at whatever facing him

"Mine" it is a dead weight voice that belongs to a desolate man, a man who had nothing left to lose, man who has failed his family not a single time ... But thrice

"It was an inside job. They were handed over. I never thought their impertinence, their greed would go this far. I never thought they'd stoop as low as siding with the enemy. Their commutes ... I never thought they would dare betray the entire village just to oust our house"


Their path to Kankuro's extraction was littered with blood ... Screams of pain echoeing off walls, walls that divide those dark catacombs to tiny cells, dark mouldy cells filled with torture, instruments of torture .. Hundreds of innominate stories, hazed and forgotten.

It made their blood boil .. Even Suigetsu was fazed

"I maybe a killer but heck, they take it to whole different level of sadism, of venegence"


They were captured by those bastards, they are in these bastards' hands.

His heart sank further and further into the well of rage, of despair.

"Hanabi .. Tenten, where are they?"

"In hospital, recovering"

"Sasuke, help me up" the weary sound of the man broke him out of his dark musings, Hiashi was tired, so tired and broken ... Finally the weight of everything caught up with the patient old man.

"I want to see them before doing a one final thing that should have been done long ago"


The hospital in turn was bristling, bustling with casualties.

The staff fussing around, scrapping and fumbling with whatever medical supplies they could find ...

The lines of wounded seemed to stretch everywhere.

Shikamaru was pacing to and fro ... Before peerng through delivery booth ..

Temari has gone into labour .. A preterm labour .. Just like her late mother.

Apparently, the ventures from Suna to Konoha, the pressure of handling diplomatics in such sensitive time has taken its toll on her.

Temari would make it, he 'd learn later on & under heavy resusitation, one of his sons would ...

The other won't.

Shikamaru would indeed be thankful , happy even despite the gloominess hanging over their heads.

And in the middle of all this, Sasuke can't help but envy him, his agitation, his mirth. He can't help but wonder if he would ever be in his place .

'So unlikely'


Hanabi was in stable condition, few fractured bones at most.


"If she dies here, I will kill you, I will cut you in half or better, your wife"

Suigetsu hiseed as he took a longing look at Karin. Even the worst of psychopath could be brought down on his knees.

They have barely stopped her bleeding, and there she laid down limp on the solid ground.

"I would like to see you try" Sasuke calmly replied

"I could have run off you know, I wanted to run off. I only ever took refuge in Konoha because of her. She wanted to settle down, I wanted to start a life with her. Finally after all those years pining after you, she started to take notice of me, she was even starting to look at me the same way she used to look at you ... And now all of this lies at stake, because of you and your stupid mission, so if she dies .."

"I have let you mop around enough already. I will get the both of you out of here alive, this is my responsibility to reckon so enough with the empty threats"

He could sympathise with Suigetsu, understand the root of his heartbreak on a whole new other level now, however if he waned, if he softened just a little, Suigetsu will keep going far, his anger would get the best of him and he would do something stupid.

He must always be kept in lieu.

On their way to Tenten, they passed Karin by. He stopped by the glass panel, taking a look at the now Stabilised Karin surrounded by Jugo, Suigetsu and the rest of team Taka.

She caught his shadow, behind the glass pane as she smiled at him before turning her attention back to the joyfully oblivious Suigetsu.

He has kept this promise.


The dam broke

Inside were Tsunade, Gai and Rock lee, trying to pacify the raving Tenten, never in their lives had they seen her so devastated, demented and out of control.

Even as she witnessed Neji die, she had been composed. She had silently mourned the friend she cherished, the husband she loved and was willing to heal and love for eternity had she been given the chance.

It was heart wrenching.

Her son's capture was the final straw that broke the strong woman, the weapons' mistress

Pain .. Sorrow they drag you down the rabbit hole of memories, all the antecedents leading to the downfall playback in livecolours, vivid details.

Mourning transcends the event unfolding, we never exclusively mourn the present.

We mourn a leading past.

We mourn a lost future.

"Why did you have to do this to me?" She cried "Why did you have to leave me? to leave us? Can't you see we needed you, he needed you. Can't you see what we have been reduced to in your absence?"

"Tenten calm down' the broken hearted Lee tried to reason

"I loved you, I love you so much"

In the spur of the moment, Tsunade managed to inject the sedative in her system

"I will never forgive you" She whispered before being devoured by darkness, so still, so sad.

It was but a mere trail of treacherous tears that Sasuke spied out of the corner of his eye, spilling from Hiashi's opalescent Byakugan.

"Come with me" Hiashi finally spoke "We still have business to do"


The Hyuuga council.

The council in question, sat in silence, anticipating what Hiashi and the Uchiha would do.

Hiashi's face was as stoic as ever, his pose poised and his voice controlled

He started his conference by an inquiry, a single question hanging between them for years

"Had I been anything but a capable leader?"

No answer was in store

"Had the mainhouse been anything but exemplary?"

The pause extended

"Had I ever been anything but responsible? But merciful? Had I ever been a tyrant?"

"Then, why did you have to betray our house like this?" He raged, all restrait thrown to the wall.

"Why did you hand them over to our sworn enemies?"

"You can't throw accus.."

"Silence" he bellowed, as they entire council fell to the ground, writhing and wiggling in pain.

'The seal' Sasuke realised.

It was the perfect reminder why the notorious Hyuuga seal was always dreaded but never entirely abolished.

"you thought you would oust our house then defeat the Raikage and reclaim the Byakugan. How foolish, how dumb! You don't realise the gravity of what you had done, the dire consequence of handing him the byakugan they so fervently sought. He will destroy the realm, the entire wretched realm! And you have helped him. Now, you will be branded the harbingers of war, the byakugan always revelled in utmost respect would be tainted forever.

All my life I have strived to prevent this. But now you destroyed everything. Now, everybody would know that the Hyuuga destroyed the realm.

All my life, I have strived not to become a tyrant, I have avoided using this seal as much as possible, now you have turned me into the very person I never wanted to be"

"You know" he added venomously "None of you is fit to lead the clan, because none of you think through the consequences" he finally mocked


The dust has settled

"You haven't eaten anything all day"

Kakashi regrouped them into his office, they were now discussing the line of action they'd use against the offenders.

"You have decided upon what?"

His expression was brooding, brooding and uninterested. His eyes were travelling an immeasurable distance, an unknown one.

"We will have to locate them first"

"Then?"

"We end this war, I promise. No more procrastination, just eat something for God's sake"

"And Sasuke" Kakashi said before turning away

"I am sorry you came back to this"

Naruto had to wait after Kakashi was gone before approaching his friend.

He laid a single hand on his slumped shoulder, the one carrying a stumped arm.

"I shouldn't be able to show you my face but ... I swear we got caught up in defending the academy and the hospital. His attacks were ferocious .. We couldn't keep up"

"I understand .. As painful as it is I understand, It is partially my fault anyway. The responsibility of them, of keeping them safe falls to me"

"If someone is to blame, it is the treacherous bastards that sold them out. It is me for getting distracted, all of us for being hindsighted. We will take him down together I promise, we will bring Hinata-chan and Tama-kun home unscathed, as soon as possible"

He tilts his head, slightly lifting it towards the window in view, showing the dark sky illuminated by the pale white moon.

"I pray to god that I'd be able to see her eyes one last time, to stare in the unreachable depth of them one final time even if it meant my undoing"


Hello,

A thank you is in order for your kind reviews.

I hope the story has kept you interested so far, Some might have been a little disappointed by the plotline. I hope it has slightly improved

Does Tenten know Neji loved Hinata? Already early on in the story we established most people (save for Hinata herself) knew Neji had a thing for her, Tenten included. Neji was still hung up on Hinata. He loved Tenten, would lay his life for her, but not only her.

A very good friend has asked how far are we in the story, basically this is supposed to be the penultimate chapter. There is one chapter and an epilogue left.

The ending line is a Turkish song reference.