For Hinata, life so far had been nothing but a series of tragedies.
From her Uncle Hizashi's sacrifice to Neji's hatred. Her mother's death. Her Father's harshness and neglect. His constant and blatant dissatisfaction and disappointment for her. The cold, judging eyes and cruel words of the elders.
The many years of struggling to carry all the expectations of her as heiress to the Hyuuga. Her eventual banishment. The devastating knowledge that she was expendable in the eyes of her own father—the first man she loved who's supposed to love and protect her in return.
Then there were the missions. Some of them easy enough but others so hard. Difficult missions she'd been forced to do many things she otherwise would not have done had she been given the choice. Tracking and spying in enemy territories. Fighting. Killing. Burying corpses of not only men and women but also of innocent children.
Then there's the war. Neji's death. The painful, unrequited love she harbored for Naruto. Hanabi's kidnapping.
All of them occurring one after the other that it was all she could do to breathe. To not drown in what seemed like endless pain and sorrow. To keep moving forward one heavy step at a time.
Waking up in the warring states era was just more of the same.
In a very short span of time, she'd been forced to go through the different phases of grief once more.
First was the shock when she woke up and found herself in a place she wasn't familiar with. The confusion and fear she felt upon meeting an alive Uchiha Madara. The staunch denial of everything that's happening. The belief that she was caught in a powerful genjutsu.
Then there's the anxiety once she's realized that what she thought was a genjutsu was in fact real. The frustration for having little choices. For being a prisoner of the man who once played the role of a delusional madman and villain in a war that saw thousands dead.
Next was depression. The inner struggle and the feeling of helplessness in the situation she found herself in. The desperation to escape her prison.
Next came the negotiation. With herself. With the Uchihas. Her first step of overcoming her struggle reaching out by healing Uchiha Izuna and teaching and helping the healers of the Uchiha Clan. Her appeal of making peace as payment for the help Uchiha Madara saw as a debt.
Then finally, the slow process of acceptance. Of exploring her options in the strange world and turbulent time she was forcibly and cruelly thrown into.
And for a short while, she thought she was already on the path of moving on, even if just a little bit forward.
But…
Surrounded by so many strangers, seeing the banners bearing the crests of the Uchiha, Senju, Uzumaki and Sarutobi clans, watching Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama shake hands, hearing them declare the end of hostilities between their two warring clans and the beginning of the peace negotiations…
The reality of the situation, her situation, and the ramifications of it all came crashing down once more. Breaking—shattering her all over again.
Her family. Her friends. Her home.
Kurenai. Kiba. Shino.
Naruto.
Hanabi. Her little sister.
All the people she loved—loves. All of them so far out of her reach.
Everything.
Gone.
The ache that came with the realization was unbearable and robbed her of her strength.
She felt a burning in her eyes and a painful ringing in her ears. She felt her throat constrict. Her chest so tight it felt like it might burst from the pressure. And deep inside, she felt a wail building—trying to claw at her throat and out of her mouth.
...
He was listening with only half of his attention while Hashirama blathered on and on and on about how wonderful it was that they're finally on the road to establishing peace when his eyes caught sight of her.
Even with the distance between them, he saw how even though she stood in the midst of his gathered clansmen and women, she looked small and lost. Then he focused on her face and saw…
Before he could even think of it, his body moved—as though tethered to her—and he seamlessly weaved through the crowd and caught her before she could fall.
His one arm around her waist and the other on her shoulder, he looked down to see moon-pale eyes blown wide and filling with tears and felt her entire body quake as she struggled for air.
He's gone through enough battles and seen enough men suffer and die to realize she's going through some kind of shock.
In his periphery, he saw the people around them turn their heads and start paying attention to the scene they're making so he moved his hands to lift her up and in large strides, carried her to the nearby forest and away from prying eyes. He felt Izuna, Hashirama and even the bastard Tobirama follow but paid them no mind.
After moving some distance, surrounded by trees and far from nosy spectators, he finally put her down on the grass. He took a moment to give his brother, his friend and the white demon threatening looks to shut them all up before going through the process of calming her down.
To his concern, her struggle to breathe has gone worse and her face was now wet with tears. Quickly placing a palm on her back and making slow circles to comfort her, he instructed her in a calm voice, "Hyu—Hinata. Breathe. Breathe. In then out. In... then out."
He repeated the same words until she slowly took several wet, shuddering gasps. It seemed like forever before her shaking stopped and her breathing turned moderate.
Though feeling hesitant, he went on and asked her, "What's the matter? Did something happen? Did someone upset you?"
She shook her head slowly then looked at him, her eyes filled with tears and her normally calm face an image of utter grief and devastation, making him gnash his teeth.
"I want to go home," she shuddered out, voice breaking. "You now have your peace. Whatever it was you did that brought me here, undo it and let me go home. Let this—whatever this is—end. Please. Please."
"I didn't do anything, woman," he said through clenched jaws, "I didn't do anything."
"But only you could have," she croaked out, insistent. Her fingers gripping the front of his clothes tight. "You are capable of many things. Impossible things. My sister…I need to go back."
Torn between anger at her blame, pride in her belief in his capabilities and sympathy for her situation, he settled for clasping her shoulders. "How? Tell me how and I'll do my best to help you."
No answer came from her lips. Her eyes slipped shut and she slumped in his arms, sobbing so hard that her breathing went erratic once more.
"Madara," Hashirama called as he approached, voice low and careful. "What is this? What's happening?"
When he looked up, he saw that the Senju Leader's face was one of worry and bewilderment while the bastard Tobirama was looking at him with eyes narrowed in judgment.
"She's a Hyuuga. Her eyes and her chakra tell me so. Did you abduct this woman from her clan and keeping her against her will?" the white-haired demon asked with a frown.
Madara stiffened and saw red, his blood suddenly boiling hot and his ire rising at the accusation. He opened his mouth to answer when Izuna beat him to it.
"Shut your mouth, bastard! Don't hurl accusations at my brother's feet when you don't even have a single fucking idea what's happening."
"The woman is asking to be returned to her home and family—what are we supposed to think?" the asshole Senju challenged.
"Well! I'll have you know I've offered to take her to the Hyuuga but she refused. She chose to stay with us!" Madara snapped heatedly.
"Maa, calm down you three. We're literally in this place to make peace, not war," Hashirama intervened using a placating tone while placing himself like a barrier in their midst. "Tobirama, don't go assuming things. Izuna, apologies if my brother's words offended you, I'm sure he's just concerned. Madara, why don't you enlighten us? What's happening? Who's this? She doesn't look fine, is there anything we can do to help?"
Madara ran a hand down his face in exasperation before looking down at the woman in his arms and nudging her a bit. "Oi, Hyuuga, you troublesome woman. Help me out a little bit here, won't you?"
The woman took shallow inhales and exhales and wiped her face with the sleeves of her borrowed kimono before slowly detaching herself from him. On shaky knees, she stood up and faced the other three, her head bowed and her long hair hiding her face.
"I'm—I am so sorry. I didn't mean to cause all of you any inconvenience." she said, voice a bit hoarse but sincere and full of remorse. "And…Thank you for your concern Hashirama-sama, Tobirama-sama. But Madara-sama is not keeping me hostage. I…What he said was true. I've decided to stay with the Uchiha of my own free will."
At her words, the atmosphere changed. Hashirama didn't look so worried anymore and the bastard Senju stopped looking less like a bastard.
"You still look unwell though, Lady Hyuuga," Hashirama pointed out. "And you did say earlier that you wanted to go home. Is there anything we can do to help?"
"Do you know a jutsu that can defy the laws of time?" the Hyuuga blurted out, making all of them still.
A look of unease was painted on Izuna's face while Hashirama looked flabbergasted. And Tobirama…To Madara's irritation, the white-haired demon was staring at the Hyuuga, looking highly intrigued.
"Defy the laws…of time?" the Senju Leader asked with his head tilted in confusion.
"Yes," the Hyuuga confirmed, then added softly, "Time travel."
Hashirama—the idiot—suddenly burst out laughing. "Oh…You're funny! I like you! I'm sure you and Tobi would make great friends. You see, he's also very interested in researching and inventing all sorts of jutsu. He even made a space-time jutsu!"
"Hashirama, you idiot," Madara bit out in annoyance. "This isn't the time to be stupid. Just look at her. Does she look like she's trying to be funny?"
The man, thankfully, stopped laughing immediately.
"I'm sorry. That was a serious question?" the idiot asked, confusion returning to his face.
"That's a stupid question Anija," Tobirama huffed then moved closer to the Hyuuga, his red eyes looking at her so intensely that Madara could not help but move and stand behind the time-traveler Hyuuga and glare at the blasted Senju.
Izuna, he saw, also looked ready to off the younger Senju should he make any stupid move.
"Time travel," the white-haired man uttered in a low voice, his face not showing any surprise or confusion at the revelation. "You look serious about this topic, Lady Hyuuga. You said earlier that Madara could do impossible things and you asked him to undo whatever jutsu it was that brought you here and let you go home. I take it you're a time-traveler then. From the future?"
With a shaky inhale, the Hyuuga nodded her head.
"Wait…Madara," Hashirama interrupted. "Is this the healer you told me about earlier? The one who saved Izuna?"
"Yes," Madara responded tersely.
Tobirama looked sharply at them before turning his gaze at the Hyuuga.
"You saved Izuna," he said with a brooding expression on his face. "And now here we all are, in this time and place, ending the hostilities and discussing peace. Such actions are bound to have consequences. Many and great consequences. Lady Hyuuga, have you considered that the future now might no longer be the same future you came from? That even if a time-travel jutsu was miraculously created, you returning there might be for naught?"
At the darned Senju's words, the Hyuuga gasped loudly and her body shook so hard. Then, with a terrible, choked cry, she started falling.
And like before, Madara's body instinctively moved to catch her once more.