Chapter 36:

……….

Sasuke sat on the bed, trying to gain some form of comprehension on the situation. What he had believed he had succeeded in his goal of keeping and maintaining the life he had wanted, he was now very aware that while he and Kiba had somehow managed to be here, so had Hinata.

This information was not the most troubling. He was now ever more aware of the time changes and what could and would be altered in order for his desire to be realized. He had succeeded in gaining Hinata but now he needed to find a way to keep her firmly under his control.

There were also circumstances that were haunting him.

His brother was still a member of the Akatsuki, no doubt soon to be arriving for Naruto. Sasuke frowned, his brother…..

His brother had done so much for him had even helped create an illusion to keep Sasuke's attention away from his actions. That had been what Hinata was, Itachi's answer to Sasuke's protection.

"He loved you more than me." Hinata informed him as she stared at him with such hate it forced an unconscious flinch from him. "He betrayed your clan, and the leaf, all for you." She looked away from him, to glance at the wounds he had inflicted, she was too weak to heal now, and at his hands she was approaching death.

"Hinata." He whispered as he approached her, she didn't even look in his direction as her eyes moved to her fallen teammate, arrived to save her.

"I think I loved him the most of all." She whispered softly.

At her confession Sasuke glanced at her teammate. Kiba was sprawled on the floor, even in death he still felt hated for the dog nin. It was almost as if, Kiba was still laughing at him for having the upper hand once more.

"I love you." Sasuke confessed to her.

She looked at him, coldness darkening her pale eyes. "I never loved you, I never could." She smiled softly, death now asking for her company she made her final answer to him short. "I'd die before I considered to."

Sasuke stared at her till all life left her. "You will love me." He promised.

This time he had gained her love, and with it a life, now it was being threatened.

"Now you don't lack hate."

There was an option for this, Sasuke started to prepare.

…………

Uchiha Itachi had played a very important part in shaping who they would and had become under his guidance. So it was without saying that both would reactions to seeing him again, even if he wasn't the one that either had interacted with.

For one, he had this uncontrollable urge to suddenly laugh. To simply laugh until tears poured down his face. This was a situation that was clearly insane to him. He had silently mourned Itachi when Sasuke had killed him, simply because without Itachi's continuous need to kill him, he wouldn't have achieved that level of skill he had been at. A level that presently he was no where approaching.

For the other it was something else. When she saw him all she could feel was this form of amusement, here was Itachi all dressed up and no idea where the ball was. It was amusing, especially since she knew everything behind his façade, and she was choosing at this moment to ensure he failed.

Kiba turned to look at Hinata, "Lets go, they can handle this." She whispered to Kiba while she turned to walk away. Kiba was a little shocked that she was walking away; he had expected her to at least want to stay and maybe play with Itachi for awhile.

"You're not going to…" he started before she interrupted him.

"Madara will get Sasuke, it's the right thing to do." she stated calmly.

Kiba blinked, he was not familiar with that name, and if she knew it-it was one that he had better learn quickly. "Wait, you're married to Sasuke remember!" He reminded her.

"I think we're going to be separated." She answered.

He stared at her; he really remembered her being in love with Sasuke. "Didn't you…You loved him...didn't you?"

She paused before she turned to look at him. "CAN"T YOU SEE IT"S NOT ME!!" Hinata's inner voice screamed. Hinata flinched; she was not enjoying this at all. The voice inside her head was now at screaming level, "I was incapable of it." she answered.

He stared at her, before he sighed.

Shino's voice laughed slightly in his head, this was behavior that was classic of Hinata. Kiba placed his hand on her shoulder; Hinata's voice was reminding him that physical contact with her was not his best choice of action.

………

Elsewhere, a strange occurrence was being witnessed. An animated corpse was walking around with the intention of gaining a very rare and quite valuable object, the cursed eyes of an Uchiha. He had assumed that the cursed eyes were Itachi's, which had proven false. Then he learned of another Uchiha, the younger brother of Itachi.

That was where this animated corpse was headed, to visit the younger Uchiha and if possible gain those precious eyes once more. Though he was certain that Itachi was doing all in his power to protect Sasuke, perhaps even ensuring the boy was under rigorous training, whatever it was, he was certain this was not an easy task he had assigned himself too.

…………..