They Hold the World

Chapter 29: White

Hinata

Sasuke didn't come to school that day.

Is he sick? And Hinata, fourth period, was beginning to worry. Though he liked to portray himself as a badass rebel who cared little about many things, he did not skip school and paid attention in class - which meant that him missing a day could only mean a few things:

1) He's sick; or

2) Something happened at home.

And having seen him last night, she knew well that the likelihood of him somehow catching a bug in the past twelve hours was slim.

Thus, as the teacher gabbled up front, Hinata fumbled around in her seat, wiggling and sorting through her bumbled thoughts, slipping in and out of her usual, worried state. Don't be nervous, she tried to tell herself, twirling her pencil between her fingers. He's fine. They're fine. You're just being paranoid.

She was. She knew she was.

But she couldn't help but drown in those strong, overpowering thoughts that something, surely, had happened to him.

"Hinata." Shikamaru was leaning into his hand and watching her in the corner of his eye. "You're doing it again."

She bit her lips together and forced her eyes on the teacher. "S-Sorry."

He frowned, but didn't say anything until the bell rang and students began to exit the class. Standing, watching her shove her notebook in her backpack, he shifted from one leg to the next, and said, "Is it because he's not here?"

Kind of. But she just nodded and pulled on her backpack. She left the room and turned left down the hallway, Shikamaru dragging behind her, a bit of hesitation in his step.

"This isn't the way to lunch." They reached the locker bay. Hinata unlocked her red locker and pulled out some textbooks as Shikamaru stood by and hummed over her shoulder. "I can't help if you don't talk to me."

She smiled wearily. "I-I, um, don't think this is something you can help with." Shrugging off her backpack, she traded her books between locker and backpack, but halfway through the process realized she was getting the wrong books and had to start all over. Feeling his eyes on her, she blushed, and said, "Actually, I d-don't even know if there's something at a-all."

"Then don't worry about it," he said. "Hinata, you're always pushing yourself in a corner like this. If it's just speculation, then don't even give it the time of day."

Hinata smiled over her shoulder, wondering if it looked genuine enough. Based off of his frown, she failed miserably. "Y-You're right." She zipped up her backpack, now stuffed with the correct books and binders, and turned to him. "He's just . . . important to me. All my friends are. I, u-um, don't want anything to happen to them."

Something came to Shikamaru at that - a sort of twinge to his face. Small, but overwhelmingly guilty, and Hinata was so caught up in it that she had a hard time looking away to close her locker. Gulping, counting her breaths, she locked the door and pressed her hands against the cool metal. The locker to her left creaked as Shikamaru leaned against it, facing forward so that his forehead was pushed against the section above the door. His eyes were closed as a firm frown stretched upon his lips, and he breathed quietly, shoulders barely moving. She turned to him, heart racing, not understanding the sudden change in the atmosphere.

He looks upset. Her hand rose to grasp her necklace. What -

"Friends are important, huh?" A bitter laugh escaped him, sending ice down her spine. "Isn't that just how it's supposed to be? I mean, they wouldn't be your friends if you didn't care about them."

Hinata frowned. "I don't u-understand."

Those dark eyes opened and turned to her, nearly completely hidden in the shadow of his face. "I'm leaving," he said. "I'm moving to Germany this summer."

...

Hinata, as soon as those words left his unmoving lips, hated herself.

Instantly.

Because she felt so many things she knew she had no right to feel. Angry, at him. Betrayed, by him. Separated, from him. She felt sad and lost and wondering why - why was he leaving her? HER! His best friend who he practically grew up with. At that moment, she forgot about everyone else - about Ino and Choji and the rest of the gang and could only think about her - Hinata Hyuuga - the one he played chess with and bought Fanta for when she felt down and . . . and . . .

And wrote a confession letter to her. Not just any - her first one.

All she could think about was herself and she hated it.

I don't have the right, she thought, slowly turning away from Shikamaru, hoping he didn't see the absolute rage flaring in her eyes. I rejected him. I don't have any say what he should or shouldn't do.

But despite telling herself that, she still felt so fucking angry.

And when she was angry, well . . .

"Hinata . . ."

She cried.

She bowed her head and covered her face with her hands. "I-I-I'm sorry," she sputtered. "Whatever I did to m-make y-you want to leave, I-I'm s-sorry."

"Christ, Hinata." His hand pulled her shoulders forward and made her look up. "I'm just leaving - so stop what you're thinking right now because I know what it is and it's wrong. Dead wrong." He stepped back, hands leaving her to balance herself. "He wouldn't be leaving if I felt the same way. No, Hinata, I'd still leave - only I wouldn't be telling you until the day I left because - Jesus - I don't like this. I don't like seeing you like this. I'm not thinking 'This is what she gets for not dating me' because I'd rather have you hit me than - than this!"

He grabbed her hands, wet and cold, and put them on his chest.

"Hit me," he said, never sounding so serious in his life. "Punch me. Slap the shit out of me. Hell - kick me if you want. If it stops your crying, you can do whatever the hell you want to me!"

But it didn't stop it.

If anything, it made her cry harder. He cursed under his breath and pulled her close, letting her sob into his shoulder as her fists uncurled and wrapped around his back.

"B-Bastard," she wheezed, hugging him tighter. "I need you."

He laughed into her hair. "No, you don't."

And she didn't have to look to know that his smile was shaking.

She had red eyes that night.

He's leaving, she kept thinking, and Sasuke's in trouble.

Her shoulders were heavy and her face was dry, not because she didn't feel like crying her heart out, but because she had used up all her tears and now could just hiccup quietly inside her room as the dying sun left hard, creeping shadows along her room.

He's leaving . . .

She closed her eyes and sighed.

And Sasuke . . .

Suddenly, there was tapping at her balcony's door.

She sat up and saw Sasuke - though, by how ragged he looked, he looked more like a shell of himself - at the door. Gasping, she hopped off her bed and yanked open the door. He walked in, papers falling from his coat and flittering in the air around his legs, and fell into her, feeling cold and hot at the same time.

"S-Sasuke -"

"Shisui's in the hospital."

They locked gazes, and Hinata saw that she wasn't the only one with red eyes.

...

"What h-happened to him."

I don't know."

Sat on the chair by her desk, Hinata watched the Uchiha in her room roam around, circling her bed and pacing by the window. He looked ready to pass out, but she knew he wouldn't sit for even a second without getting overwhelmed.

"Is he . . ." She tried to find her words, wanting to avoid panicking Sasuke any more than he already was, "o-okay?"

"I don't know."

He paced by the pile of papers, a few of them flipping around and sliding to the floor. She saw that most of them were pictures. But of what?

"You haven't s-seen him yet?" she asked.

He stopped and stared off to the side. "I can't." She knew what he meant by that and didn't press further. "But I know something - or rather - I'm trying to." Running a hand through his bangs, pushing them more into his face, he crouched over the piles and held up a few pictures. "Like this. Look at this, Hinata. What do you see?"

She stood and walked over to get a better look.

"Shisui." They were all pictures of him, some alone, some with Itachi and Sasuke, and some with two older Uchihas that she didn't know about. They didn't look familiar at all, so Hinata supposed they didn't come out of Mikoto's scrapbook. But then . . . where did Sasuke get these?

"Right," Sasuke muttered. "When he was older." He dug through a few more pictures. "No baby pictures or first day of school photos or anything. It was like he was born a teenager."

She settled next to him, looking at him. There were bags under his eyes. Obviously, he hadn't gotten much sleep. "I don't u-understand."

He looked at her, foggy-eyed. "Exactly." Huh? "He's hiding something - and it's not just that." Settling back on his heels, Sasuke glared down at the pile. "I didn't know his family well because they passed before I was even born - but I went through some books and found that his father's - my uncle-in-law - name was Hae Uchiha. But . . . the grave in the cemetery . . . didn't have that name."

"Sasuke." She put a hand on his tense shoulder. "Please -"

"Akito," he sneered, red eyes flaring up with frustration. "Just Akito. No Uchiha."

At that, Hinata's curiosity began to grow. Bright person, she thought, humming in wonder. "That's not an . . . Uchiha name."

Finally, he turned and looked at her - really looked. "Hinata," he said slowly, shifting closer, taking up her whole world, "Do you know what Hemophilia is?"

What? Her head snapped back, eyes going wide. How does he -

"What is it?" he asked.

"A-A bleeding disorder." Her vision swam and darkened, and she had to grab at her burning chest. A strong hand held onto her shoulder, bringing her back to Earth, and she sighed and asked, softly, "Why . . . are y-you asking me this?"

He scowled, eyes flickering away. "Shisui has it." The room grew cold, and Hinata had to look over and check to make sure the balcony's door was closed. The sudden turn of her head made her dizzy, and the grip on her shoulder tightened as she groaned and rubbed her temples. "Hinata. Please, tell me what it does."

She bent forward, breathed heavily, and nodded. "It m-makes you bleed longer and easier. I-It . . . um, runs in my family." She looked up and saw him staring at her. "Hanabi has it . . . and . . . m-my mother d-died from it."

"It runs in the Hyuuga?"

She nodded, lips pursing. "Where are you . . . ."

She trailed off when Sasuke pulled something out from his coat's pocket. A small, plastic container made of two shallow, circular cases. She'd seen it before - not in her own family, of course, but in shows and movies.

It was a contact lens case.

"I couldn't understand it," Sasuke muttered, standing and stepping over the pile of pictures to stare out the window. "What would make a family not have pictures of their own son - or rather, what made him get rid of those pictures? What about him being older made it suddenly alright for pictures to be taken of him?" He turned and held up the case. "It's because of these."

Hinata stood and went to his side. "He was embarrassed f-for wearing glasses?"

"Not glasses." His thumb pressed against the front of the case, and the lid popped open, revealing nothing inside. "Because . . . Uchihas and Hyuugas have perfect vision."

An hour later, they stood in front of a white, hospital door, the grey numbers of the room acting like a guard as its cold gaze stared Hinata and Sasuke down. Hinata looked down the hallways, somehow feeling she didn't belong here, at this room, and that at any moment a doctor would come and drag her away. But no such thing occurred, and she stayed planted by Sasuke's side.

"H-He might be resting," she whispered.

"No." The hand at Sasuke's side tightened into a fist. "He's waiting."

A sigh quietly left him before he grabbed the handle and pushed open the door. Hinata followed behind him, taking a final, tentative glance down the hall before allowing the door to close behind her.

The room was freezing, even for her, and she curled her fingers into her sleeve to keep them warm. Sasuke's back was straight and still in front of her. She waited for a bit, heard nothing but breathing and distant beeping, and finally gathered enough strength to creep past him.

Beyond his form, she could fully see Shisui sat up in the hospital bed -

"You're late, little brother."

Staring at them, eyes as white and cold as snow.

Chapter Twenty-Nine - End