"The White Nights describes the few weeks around the summer solstice during which sunsets are late, sunrises are early and darkness is never complete. The sun does not set until late at night, and twilight lasts much longer."


"So you say, the watcher kid still lies in the hospital? In a coma you say? "

The Yamanaka boy attending to the voice coming from the roof seemed anxious to get away, but he could not turn from this pinnacle of madness as they called Uchiha Nahoko.

"…yes. Last time I heard, they told me he was still in a coma. "

Hinges creaked, and from the ceiling trapdoor emerged a single white hand which delicately grasped the edge of the door before flinging the rest of her body through it. For a moment, Uchiha Nahoko's body seemed to be falling helplessly. Then her leg kicked out and she landed safely on the marble floor, one of her legs cleanly through the wooden wall.

Prying her leg out of the debris, she pouted.

"Pity. There really isn't much of a man around here you know. Cowards aren't even worth my…attention. "

The boy cringed, quite glad he hasn't caught Nahoko's eyes.

Her attention, he could do without.

"Jesus… Nahoko."

There were sudden footsteps, and the two were joined by a mildly disgruntled Inuzuka.

"You really didn't have to do that to the wall. We just fixed it last week. "

Amano frowned as he examined the damage, running his fingers down the wooden mess.

"It's people like you who mangle our already crummy crumbling mansion, y'know? "

"And it's people like you who mangle our polished reputation…Amano. "

Nahoko replied icily, her eyes like dagger.

"Why are you here? I know you'd never bother visiting me. We hardly ever agree on anything. "

Amano did not disagree, trying not to let his placid self get aggravated.

"Sasuke's trial. It's in two days. "

"…and? "

"All the Uchiha line personnel are supposed to be present. "

"…and? "

Amano grimaced. Knowing Nahoko, she wouldn't think much of a brother or kin's death. He even wondered if she even cared about her own death. Probably not.

"The number admitted into the decision chamber is limited to mostly selecteds and senior members. And much as I don't want to admit, you are considered senior to my rank. "

Nahoko smirked at that.

Amano wasn't one to ever get rankled about the fact that he was always ranked lower than he could have been—but it had its downfalls. It was incredibly amusing to her that he should care less about his rank, but still have it tie him down at times. She gave him a dazzling but chilly smile, her eyes twinkling with humor.

"I never noticed. But I guess so. "

Amano did not react to the snub. Instead, he came right out with what he'd come for.

"Give me your place in the trial. "

Nahoko raised an eyebrow.

"Why should I. "

"Because you could care less about what happened. "

"Are you implying that I don't give a shit about what happens to my little brother? "

"…yes. "

At that, Nahoko's hand with the polished buffed black nails shot out and gave the Inuzuka something of a cross between a slap and a cut. Amano did not bat an eye as a tiny rivulet of blood ran down his cheek. If anything, he let her nails cut deeper into the skin than needed be. For some, sugar coated words were good enough. But for the pretty little miss who belonged more at an insane asylum than a proper home… He didn't know, but maybe blood would please her. And a straight face perhaps.

Nahoko took in all this with a cold tight smile.

"…fine. Take it, cheeky son of a bitch. "

Having gotten what he wanted, Amano relaxed and left his spot without so much as a goodbye. Watching the back of Amano's retreating maroon head, Nahoko shook her hair out calmly, a little more reserved that she made out to be.

Amano. By right, he should have been the selected, not Kiba. The current selected was fine, but lacking somewhat in his older brother's…restraint. Too vulnerable. You could just tell by the way the kid went overboard after being "betrayed" by his best friend. A true selected should learn to overlook all that.

'…all the Uchiha line personnel are supposed to be present... so they say. '

She smiled tightly again. There could be only one meaning to that.

"He had a good run anyways. "

Poor little Sasuke.


White Nights: Summer Solstice

Chapter 4- Blackout

(Session#5–Day Four)


(Uchiha mansion)

Hinata stared aimlessly through her slitted eyes at the figure with the wet matted hair and bleak eyes. She had somehow fallen asleep after bawling her eyes out, and only realized so when she opened her eyes at the creak of the door. She felt miserable for reasons unknown. Before she could catch on why, she heard the dripping noise and the sound of footsteps entering the room. She glanced up.

Sasuke had apparently had taken a shower long overdue. Droplets of water from his hair dropped onto the floor. Sunlight was pouring into the room between the cracks allowed in the shackled window. Faint smell of soap. Dust particles floated around in the room, resulting in a slightly hazy, somewhat surreal atmosphere. Hinata closed her eyes again, her head throbbing, trying to grasp the reason why she had cried herself to sleep like that.

Sasuke is going on trial. He's going to die in two days….remember?

…no. Tomorrow. He's going to die tomorrow.

He was going to die tomorrow.

The harsh truth jolted her back to reality. Her puffy eyes snapped open and she actually convulsed in fear. Her stomach clenched and she shot up and hugged herself. It wasn't her death, so why was she so caught up on this? Everything seemed so surreal, like she was watching a movie that did not seem to end.

"It's nothing. You're going to be released in less than 48 hours. "

Hinata raised her head painfully from her seat within the bulk of blankets on the floor, gaping at Sasuke, at his calm words. He continued while running both his fingers through his messy clumps of hair. The shackles tying him were gone for the moment, but the deep bruised welts were still visible.

As if he didn't notice his increased mobility, he stiffly turned and met her eyes and spoke with simple clarity:

"By right, you should be rejoicing… no?"

Again, the somewhat polite but hardened voice. Hinata rocked herself and shook her head silently. He sounded like someone who was condemning another to death, not someone who was condemned himself. Water snaked down his neck and soaked patches of his white shirt as he stood quietly, immobile, staring down at her from the furthest corner of the room.

"You should be. You're a Hyuuga. "

He emphasized the "Hyuuga" part—and that was when she stood up shakily.

They were both standing up, two still figures in the dusty sunlight filled room. From afar, Hinata heard faint voices of boys arguing—Sasuke identified them as Inuzukas, probably Touru and a random freshman kid. No Kiba.

Watching him from this spot, Hinata saw a downright acquiescence in his clenched jaws and drained features. Life didn't move further on than this point to him, and bonds made during this tiny sliver of limited time was deemed worthless. Wasn't worth the effort. The tiny rapport he built up yesterday was forgotten, at least to him. He actually seemed a little elated, like a little kid who would move to a new home, a new destination soon; and as sick as the thought made her, it was sort of true. He looked half at ease now. Homebound.

Before she could say anything, three Uchihas trailed in and locked Sasuke into his place again. The hard metallic ring of the shackles echoed in her ears, as the image of Sasuke's bruised cut wrists. His short moment of freedom, gone just like that. As soon as the deed was done, the people filed out swiftly, not bothering to make eye contact. They seemed a little afraid of their violence prone selected, worried that he might wreck havoc during their shift.

The door closed quietly after them, the room falling back into its solemn equilibrium; Sasuke chained and Hinata mute.

Again, he turned his back against the wall, pushing himself against the wall. Further away. Sat down. Looking up at the ceiling. Silent.

She suddenly could not stand it anymore. All those days she had spent before, waiting and hoping for somebody to notice, give her a hug maybe—it had been a futile attempt since her parents weren't exactly the doting caring type— but at least she had room to hope. But it seemed like Sasuke had already given up without a fight.

"…what are you doing? "

There was a hard edge of warning in his voice when she took the first step forward. It was the tone she used to be afraid of. The heated voice rose acutely in volume as more steps followed.

"Go bac—stay away! "

He barked as he inched sideways, his head jerking away from Hinata's approaching form.

His shackles did not let him move any further, and he was cornered. He would've jumped—but the shackles could give out and he might've torn the wall down, having the debris crush the frail girl. He fixed her with his harshest glare, yet she still persisted.

He was infuriated. Idiot girl, stupid reckless girl!

"What the hell are you trying t—"

"I just want to…"

She stepped closer.

His voice died away, losing all its ferocity the moment her arms wrapped around his sinewy body.

"…."

He tensed up in indignation at her gesture, his dark eyes darting from her feeble white arms to his bruised darker hued ones. His hands were balled up tightly into fists, hanging by his side stiffly as if to avoid more contact with the Hyuuga's skin.

Yet he was fascinated. By what, he wasn't sure of.

Meanwhile, all Hinata could think about was how slender Sasuke seemed despite the hard muscles and good build. He was solidly built, yet his frame in total wasn't that of a brawny burly man. It was more like a jaded young boy's.

"When was the last time somebody touched you like this…?"

It was a question that normally would've brought on blushes upon blushes when hearing it—but for her to actually say it herself…? It was unthinkable, bordering on ridiculous. Yet here she was, asking it to the one person she thought she never could be close or intimate with. This boy—more of a man—who could break her neck in less a time than it took him to tie his shoes.

"…you don't know what you're doing."

Sasuke muttered in a hard voice, his head lowered to shroud his widening frightened eyes. He would've liked to think that he could throw her off without hurting her, have her run away without having to resort to drastic measures—but somehow he could not do anything. He just stood there, the naïveté's cool skin against his feverish flushed one. Couldn't even lift a finger, waiting for the ordeal to pass, waiting for the girl to remember herself and run away from him in newborn fright.

He felt… something, something that he hadn't felt for the longest time. But it was in his memories, deeply ingrained from his childhood years. Really. What was it again?

Oh right. He found the right word and smiled ironically after a bitter pause.

Vulnerable.

Like someone could hurt him again.


(No Man's Land- Edge)

On the outskirts of town, there stretched the foreboding mass of greenery that was dubbed "No Man's Land." In the spot where Nara Shikamaru had taught Hinata of the basic rules of the Konoha community just a few weeks before sat Neji, his long legs stretched out over the tree stump. He was waiting for somebody when his phone rang. A number he didn't recognize.

He paused before warily picking up.

"…hello? "

A disgruntled yet concerned tone rang out, forgoing all pleasantries.

"Neji—you missed attendance again. It's going to look bad, if the selected himself keeps out of school like this. "

It was Ryuha, who seemed to have phoned out of worry for the missing Hyuuga selected—which was odd, since Neji had Ryuha's number…and practically the number of every friend and kin in the Hyuuga line. So it would mean he was borrowing someone else's phone…either a naïveté or…

'Amano. '

He scowled immediately when he realized he knew very well whose phone this belonged to.

"Ryuha. Don't tell me this is that Inuzuka's phone. "

There was a short tight silence, then Ryuha sighed, slightly irked.

"Bah—what do you care? Amano did nothing to aggravate you. And even he thinks what you're doing to yourself ain't right. "

"What if the phone is tapped? And why do you even listen to an Inuzuka…! "

"Forget it. I'm not going to fight with you over this."

Ryuha cut him off curtly, and continued in a more reasonable tone:

"Look, Neji. Come to school. So what if you don't feel up to acting normal? Keep up a charade, we all are, and you know it. "

Neji did not respond, his hand tightening around the small metallic device. He contemplated briefly on how ironic it was for Ryuha to chide him over for missing school when he himself missed it all the time whenever he felt like it… So it really wasn't the act of missing school that mattered. It was what it looked like to the opposite line.

The Uchiha line.

"The trial's in two days y'know. You're the main selected—it's mandatory. We've got to get together at least once before the meeting, to get all the facts right. I'll bet the Uchiha side would make a whole lot of fuss and demand something in change for Sasuke's neck. "

Neji went mute when he heard the Uchiha selected's name. Ryuha saying it so casually… it was only a day before when Hinata hung up on him for being too callous with the subject. And yet here was Ryuha, who was treating it like he liked to treat anything that he deemed petty—down to earth and indifferent. Hinata's shrill voice kept ringing in his ears, making him wonder if those Uchiha pack had anything to do with her sudden change of view—the girl used to be terrified of the guy! What had happened in that short period of time she spent in that mansion? What had happened to make her turn against her own cousin brother in favor of an enemy selected?

The questions were driving him crazy, but everyone expected him to go about his way as he always used to.

"Neji…Neji? Are you listening? Look, Shikamaru…would normally inform us on whatever formalities we'd need to go through during meetings or trials, but you very well know that it won't happen this time. Plus, the kids are running wild… There 'has' to be an authority figure around the school kiddo, and right now, all three are missing. "

True—thought Neji. Sasuke was in house arrest. Shikamaru was lying on a hospital bed in a coma. And he was out here.

"I'm sorry kid, but there are unspoken rules. Shino and Sai's just about had it trying to stop the brawls. And Naruto's not exactly an authority figure, despite him being a selected. Yesterday, some Uchiha freshman had a run-in with Shino's little brother—something about it being our fault for bringing down their selected… ridiculous. "

Neji tuned out Ryuha's voice. It was all but a dull buzz to him. Perhaps the Uchiha line did have a point—if only Hinata hadn't moved to Konoha, none of this would have happened.

And really, why did Hinata come back? And alone too, without Hanabi or at least one of her parents to accompany her. And why come back at this time, this particular point when she and her family had stayed away for so long? There was too many questions that had puzzled everyone, but now forgotten.

Why now. Why alone. Why here of all places when her parents knew how it would be for a Hyuuga naïveté …?

"Neji—Neji? Are you there…? "

"…Ryuha, listen. I'm going to be late today. "

"Wha—you're already late! Kid, you've been away for days! "

Ryuha sounded exasperated, but Neji felt like he could not waste any more precious time humoring his cousin brother. There were matters at hand that he had to settle. Questions he had wanted to ask since Hinata was sent here. Things he had not the guts to ask Hiashi. Hiashi wouldn't answer him straight anyways. Elder matters-he would say.

"I'm going to be gone for just a bit longer. Sorry. "

He clicked off and immediately removed the batteries from the contraption. He pocketed the cell phone and set off towards the Nara residence.

Of course, Shikamaru was not there, and Temari and Kankuro would be either at the hospital or the school… but the Nara elders would be there. And they were the ones who handled all transactions that went about in the village. And there would be Gaara—funny how many people assumed he was deaf and mute, only because he was crippled.

Gaara probably had a gist of what was going on—he was so quiet yet he heard everything. There was a chance he'd heard something before Hinata returned to Konoha.

He fastened his pace.

Destination—Subaku residence.


(Konoha Hospital)

"Damn… can't believe how down things are, even after White Nights. "

Naruto brooded while shuffling a pack of cards he had nicked from Sai. Yurie sat nearby, acknowledging the comment by turning away and becoming mute. Shino was leaning against the wall, silent for a moment before asking aloud:

"Technically, this is still White Nights. ''

Naruto flicked a card at him.

''Good point—but that's not what I meant. "

He heaved out a drastic sigh and flicked the rest of the cards over in a careless manner, leaving some to flutter down on to floor of the spotlessly clean hospital corridor.

''Trial's coming up. "

Shino commented, folding his arms carelessly over his chest. Yurie stiffened in her seat but did not voice her feelings on the matter. Naruto only frowned and replied:

"Right…the trial. Things should get a bit tipsy after that bit of shenanigan. And only one person to sort through the mess too. "

Yurie flinched at that. She forcedly rose and swiftly proceeded to walk down the corridor. She knew what he had meant by that. Her footsteps echoed down the hallway. Shino and Naruto stared at each other for a moment, the latter sighing and scratching the back of his head as if he'd made yet another faux pas—which he had.

"Shit—I'm so clueless y'know? I keep saying stupid shit to remind everyone of things they don't want to be reminded of…why am I so dumb? "

"You ain't dumb, Naruto. "

"Nah, seriously! I think I pissed Neji off too last time when I told him to … y'know. Get a grip of himself and come to classes and all. "

Shino pointedly stared at Naruto and enunciated:

"You did the right thing—you know that? "

"Bah—you're just doing that to make me feel better. "

They fell silent again after that, each rising to leave only to come back tomorrow and repeat the ordeal again after school—two hours of everyday. Two hours of just meaningless waiting. But they both knew there was someone who spent over 10 hours in the hospital, someone who—despite having a ridiculous amount of workload—had perfect attendance, both at school and the hospital.

Naruto turned back to eye the closed door once more before he entered the elevator.

'Poor Temari. '


Temari stood erect by Shikamaru's bedside, her expression ambivalent.

The sterile room was silent, a faintly medicinal scent enveloping the surface of the walls. A basket of fruits lay untouched on the side of the table, shrouded somewhat by masses and masses of wilting flowers already in a poor state. Sent from both sides of the opposing lines.

She traced her finger over the bridge of Shikamaru's nose, mutely scrutinizing the face she had known through most of her childhood and all of her teenage years. His pale face looked as if he was only in a deep sleep. Her pinkie brushed his eyelashes lightly.

She felt a dark pang when she realized he looked more peaceful now than he had ever looked when he was on duty. Then, he always had a slight tick, a small furrow in his brow or a vein pulsing on his forehead—something that made him seem slightly standoffish, unapproachable. She knew how people talked about the way Shikamaru sometimes blanked out, wiping his facial expression away as if afraid of what others may discover underneath. She knew how some people felt uncomfortable with the way he had something going on in the back of his head even as he made small talk, always balancing out the situation.

Dear Shika. He'd always been a serious boy. Too serious at times.

Despite what others assumed, he wasn't really just a 'smart nice guy'. He was truly too smart for his own good, a trait which made her recall yet another view people had of him. Something that Kiba had once aptly put into words:

''I'm glad Shikamaru wasn't born into either of the lines…"

"...Why's that? "

"Shit, Temari—the guy's pretty much efficient in whatever he's set out to do. If he was a selected… you're his girl and all but seriously, I wouldn't want to cross him when he's set to wipe one side out…I mean, we all depend on the guy yes, but sorry—sometimes I feel like he ain't really that much of a nice guy. It feels like he's acting it all out or something… Just...doing what he's told to do because someone said so. "

She blinked and a random tear leaked out from the corner of her eye. She'd refrained from crying too much till now but… For once Kiba had been dangerously close to the truth. Despite what people thought or said, Shikamaru was only human—he did things because that was his supposed duty. He was a very rational fair person, and mostly acted within that mold of level-headedness, even towards people…— everything except with her.

True, he did not exactly have a heart of gold. But he had been the first boy to ever approach her in a mature way, with almost an adult-like seriousness and the keenness of a child's. No other man she knew could make her feel like she was truly wanted and needed like Shika made her feel. And she could depend on him when all others failed her. Even when Gaara got mauled, even when divided alliances forced her to cut friendships with children she knew and grew up with—he was always there with the exact right words to coax her out of her misery.

And now…

'I got to get a hold of myself...'

She had to face the truth—Shika might never come back.

She owed it to him to at least not fall apart. He'd held the system up so far. Now it was her turn.

Time to face reality.

She lifted her hand from his cool skin and allowed herself a few more seconds of watching his face up close.

When she felt she was done, she sighed briefly and turned her body to walk away. But as she passed halfway through the room, something shot out from beneath and locked her to her spot. She tried to kick her legs out but it remained rooted to its spot. She tried to turn her torso but that also seemed stuck. Angry words bubbled to the surface of her mouth but she remained mute.

Her first instinct was to thrash and attack whatever that was half-strangling her with her wind, but somehow she did not. She could not.

It felt too familiar.

"…don't turn on me, Temari—shtt. Just promise you won't shout. "

She flinched at the achingly familiar—slightly raspy, but all the more welcome— voice she had missed for so long all these long nights… Nodding stiffly her consent, she felt her body regaining its mobility. Half trembling—as if too afraid to hope—she took a half measly step backwards—then swiftly turned around with her eyes screwed shut. Scrunching up her fists, she opened her eyes to find Nara Shikamaru staring drowsily up at her from his bed, a weary amused sort of anticipation in his impassive eyes.

"Miss me much…? "


(bloodiedsugs's words on WNSS—

My ridiculously long slump is over.

One more story on the way (Synchronicity)… and I really should get on with White Nights again… I swear I won't be gone that long this time.

Bear with me. =)