Thank you so much for all support. I am really excited to continue this fanfiction. I apologize for delay, I was without my computer, but it's everything ok now. I will start to post some of my other stories, since I write SH a lot.


EMPTY HEART

Reflection


.

My heart is weak

Tear it down piece by piece

Leave me to think

Deep in my structure

[...]

But I need some sleep

.


She let a tired sigh escape her lips, as she continued to stand in front of Hiashi's quarters, still taking the courage to take the first step and enter. The hesitation that Hinata felt was palpable and understandable, since so far, she had not been able to think of a better way to communicate to her father that she would leave Konoha indefinitely.

She didn't think it was right to just leave a note and leave without saying anything. So, she swallowed her fear and finally said in a low voice:

"Can I come in, otou-san?"

The answer came in the same tone as hers, but in a much more serious way:

"Come in, Hinata." She gently pulled the sliding door and closed it again as soon as she entered. She bowed politely before sitting on the floor. Hiashi was near the open window and didn't even look at her. "I was about to open the door myself, since you were standing there a while."

As expected of him, he had been feeling her chakra for a while —even though she was trying hard to hide it— it made her nervousness come back with everything. Hiashi's icy eyes met Hinata's warm and bright ones; he was wearing his typical light kimono with brown haori on top. Something about his posture made her believe that he was preparing for an appointment before her arrival. And that meant that the patriarch would not have much time to dedicate to her.

"And then?" Hiashi asked when the silence stretched to the point of being uncomfortable.

"Good morning, otou-san." She cleared her throat before speak. "I come to inform you that I will go on an S rank mission and I don't know when I will be back."

The Hyuuga narrowed his eyes suspiciously, while Hinata did her best not to give up her half-truth. Except that things hardly went unnoticed when it came to her father.

"S Rank Mission?" he asked with a frown. "Why did Rokudaime choose you for something like this? As far as I know, the missions in this rank are pretty scarce." He came close enough that she needed to lift her neck to be able to look him straight in the eyes. "What is this mission about?"

Hinata blinked a few times and swallowed with difficulty —the saliva went down like a sharp knife down her throat—, before speaking again, she had to be sure that she would not stutter:

"Otou-san, I understand your misgiving, but I cannot give details, it is confidential, by orders of Rokudaime." She stood up carefully, standing too upright for someone who wanted to appear calm. Unfortunately, lying was still not on the list of best things she could do. "I ask you to give me a vote of confidence, I am a kunoichi of the Hyuuga clan, I will return well and safe."

He stared at her for seconds that felt like forever. The Hyuuga only realized that she had held her breath when Hiashi shook her head slightly in silent consent and she let out a breath at once.

"Thank you, otou-san. I'll be out tomorrow as soon as the sun comes up," she said, ready to leave the room.

"Hinata," Hiashi called her when she had already reached the door. "Are you going alone?"

It was as if someone had thrown a powerful paralysis jutsu at her, because Hinata felt her entire body freeze; the limbs seemed to weigh like iron. The color disappeared from her face for a few seconds before she regained her senses to answer it properly:

"I have a partner," she began carefully, analyzing every reaction of her father. It was not necessary for him to say anything for her to continue, "Sasuke-kun will go with me."

At that moment, the kunoichi feared that her training would be compromised, because the disgusted expression that took his face could not go unnoticed. Hinata waited for an explosion that didn't come, instead, Hiashi's lips were pressed in a straight line and his crystal clear eyes looked harder and indecipherable than ever.

The truth is that Hiashi did not like the idea of his firstborn being even in the same environment as a former nunekin. And not just anyone, but soon Uchiha Sasuke, who was all aware that he was a ninja with the potential for mass destruction. Konoha could have forgiven him for his crimes, but that didn't mean he trusted Sasuke.

He was a broken, unstable boy, maybe even a monster. Who could guarantee that he wouldn't do something to Hinata in a fit of rage?

At the same time, he was sure that she would hardly be in danger if they were to consider enemies from the outside. Because after Naruto, it was obvious that there was no one stronger than Sasuke. She would be safe around him. The Uchiha had saved him before... Maybe he deserved a vote of confidence.

"Right," he said at last. "Take care, Hinata. Don't let your guard down. Never," he stressed the last word well, hands together on the sleeve of his white kimono.

"Otou-san." She bowed her head in an almost silent and respectful farewell. She didn't expect more than that.

Hinata went back to her own room, in order to finish packing her things in a compact backpack. She already knew that she couldn't take a suitcase as if she were going on vacation —and it wasn't even as if she wanted it too— so she was only taking what was necessary. She was also taking a generous amount of money. She had a lot of savings, since she wasn't the type to spend anything.

As she folded another pair of clothes, she recalled that the day she received the news that Sasuke would be her mentor, she had been up all night. Despite what Hinata heard people say —in a very mean way— about him, she didn't believe that Uchiha Sasuke was a bad person. He had just had a hard time and ended up in walking chaos.

So how could she even think of judging him?

Hinata imagined that she would also freak out if she had gone through everything he went through. Of course, she would never know what it was like to have her entire clan wiped out by a loved one in her own family. She also had her share of suffering: she grew up without a mother, because she died of a mysterious and incurable disease; she didn't have her father's love, because he was obsessed with making her a decent heir to take over the clan; for many years she lived with Neji's hatred, as Hizashi had to sacrifice himself for the sake of the main house. The only affection she had for a long time was that of Kurenai and her team.

That's what she clung to. And then in Neji, when he stopped blaming her for being born in a privileged position. And although she didn't grow up in a warm home, she was lucky to find love in something and that was enough.

In a conversation she had with a drunk Sakura, Haruno revealed that Sasuke had undergone intense psychological torture, reliving his parents' deaths thousands of times. It was no wonder that he had just flipped out at some point.

Hinata did not fear Sasuke at all. She knew he was a powerful ninja, she had never been close enough to him, only she could already see that besides that, he also had a complicated personality. And she was ready to deal with it.

She grew up surrounded by complicated boys: Naruto, Shino, Kiba, Neji —each in their own way— she could handle the Uchiha too. She was already preparing to change his view that she would be a burden; she would show that she could be much more than they expected of her.

That's why she didn't hesitate to say "when do we leave?"

Contrary to what they thought, she did not break easily.


.

You've taken my breath away

Now I want to breathe

'Cause I cannot see

What you can see

So easily

.


Sasuke couldn't sleep more than four hours a day. He had become accustomed to the routine of a nunekin, in which he always needed to be alert to any kind of danger; after all, a hesitation, however small, could cost him his head. So, when it didn't happen to go to sleep too late and wake up early, it happened to fall asleep too early and wake up in the middle of the night, long before dawn.

And it was that last case that was happening now. When he woke up, it wasn't even four in the morning. He got out of bed without any problems and went straight to the shower to take a very cold one. In a few hours he would be leaving Konoha again and he couldn't help thinking how inconvenient it was to have to take Hyuuga Hinata with him.

Naruto's words drifted through his mind like a runaway train. It didn't matter how hard he tried to put his thoughts on the tracks and think of something coherent, because he couldn't get rid of them without any major friction. The memory kept coming and he couldn't fight it; he did not remember seeing as much guilt on his friend's face as he did at that moment when Naruto confessed.

Hinata was really important to him, right?

Sasuke got out of the shower a few minutes later and was in no hurry to get dressed and dry himself; it was still a few hours before he needed to go and meet his future traveling companion. But even so, he wore his ninja suit, which consisted of dark pants, a black sleeveless T-shirt —which left his arms pale and with defined muscles showing— with the Uchiha clan symbol on the back and his ninja sandals. He lifted his head towards the door when he felt the familiar chakra approach.

He wondered what the hell Sakura was doing there at that time. He walked to the apartment door and stood right there for a few seconds, to see if she would knock or just lose heart and leave. Something inside him wanted her to give up and choose the second option. Which, of course, did not happen, like all the things he used to wish for.

He heard her mutter something to herself, as if she were rehearsing a rehearsed dialogue, only then to knock three times on the door and everything was silent again. At that point, Sasuke doubted she would leave if he decided to just pretend he was still asleep; after all, Sakura had the key to his apartment and if she wanted to, she could enter without announcing herself. But there was still that uncomfortable barrier between them, which certainly prevented her from going ahead with this option.

The Uchiha opened the door at once and Sakura looked up at him with that emerald eyes. As always, the blush spread over the female face in a disconcerting way, she smiled tenderly before saying:

"Good morning, Sasuke-kun." Her gaze passed over him for a long time, analyzing his clothes, before returning to his face again. "I came to say goodbye, I just left another hospital duty. Things have been running around there, so I couldn't make it to dinner that day. Excuse me. Naruto told me you're leaving today..." She swallowed. "Again. That's why I came."

"I see," he merely murmured. It seemed wrong to leave her outside, so Sasuke left the door and gave way for her to enter. "Come in."

"Thank you, Sasuke-kun," she accepted the invitation without blinking. It wasn't every day that she had the opportunity to be at Sasuke's house with him. It was usually so empty, lifeless. Ghostly. It was different with him there.

He closed the door and then followed her into the living room. She sat on the couch, leaning on one arm, trying to sound as carefree as possible. Without saying anything, Sasuke went to the kitchen and made an entire pot of tea; when he returned to the same room as her, he served her in complete silence, only to serve himself later.

They were drinking tea in silence for a while. Sakura watched him discreetly from under her long and thick lashes. It was incredible that Sasuke was the owner of that absurd and practically immaculate beauty, she would never tire of looking at him. Sitting next to him like that, she wondered if there would ever be a day, in the not-too-distant future, when she could stay that way with Sasuke and know what was going on in his head.

"So, where are you going now, Sasuke-kun?" she wanted to know, curious.

"I haven't decided yet," he replied. There was no emotion in his voice.

On his last trip he had found traces of Kaguya, which made him believe that it might still have some white Zetsu clones out there. He had not yet talked to Kakashi about the new information he had obtained and did not intend to do so until he had something more concrete. Sasuke had also secretly helped some smaller villages, most of which were still recovering from the war. In the end, he hadn't really thought about what his next destination would be.

"That means you don't know when you're coming back, right?" The kunoichi deposited the empty cup on the table and rested both hands on her knees when Sasuke just nodded. Her voice was reasonably low and controlled when she spoke again, "Sasuke-kun, do you think you'll ever be able to stay here in Konoha?"

He also left the empty cup on the table and turned his body towards her just a little. From that distance, he could read the apprehension and anxiety on her pretty face. He was almost funny as Sakura always seemed so optimistic and hoped for a positive response. The problem was, the truth was more painful and cruel than his teammate's innocent desire. If he ever was, would he be ready to stay in Konoha?

Maybe the next day.

Maybe never.

Sasuke didn't know.

"Sakura." There was a certain affection in his tone that Sakura did not remember hearing in any other moment.

It was strange how her strongest memories of Sasuke were still from the time that they were nothing more than genins.

You have no idea what it's like to be alone.

You are annoying.

Sakura just shook her head to indicate that she heard him.

"Why do you keep waiting for me?"

The question caught her completely off guard. But she was very quick to answer:

"Because Konoha is your home, it is where you should be." Sakura tightened her fingers on her knees, the wet fabric of the pants she wore denounced the sweat that was accumulating due to the growing nervousness. She came a little closer, just a few centimeters and continued, "And because... Because I love you."

None of her responses surprised Sasuke at all. It was exactly what he expected of her —no less, no more. The statement didn't make his heart flutter or make him feel that he needed to do anything with her because of it. It felt like his heart was in a permanent state of numbness.

There was no reason for Sakura to love him.

What had he ever done good for her?

He couldn't remember anything. All that came to his mind were memories of when he was a child and she was constantly striving to gain his attention. Even then, he admitted to having built up some affection for her, but what did Sakura know? Naruto had grown up without parents, lonely, rejected; so, he could understand part of Sasuke's pain and turned it into strength —unlike him, that everything he felt just turned into hate— but what about her? She had the stability of a family, she would never know what it was like to be alone, she was unable to understand the pain of loss.

She would never have known what it was like to want a hug from her mother or a compliment from her father and simply not being able to because they were dead. It wasn't like being homesick and sending a note, going to visit. Everyone he loved was alive only in his memory.

How could she change everything she had and promise to help him get revenge when she knew so little about him? What was losing about? What blind love was this, that she didn't see that she would be dead if Naruto hadn't arrived at the right time? Because he had moved forward without hesitation, he did not intend to back down. How many times, in his memories, the expression on her face was worry, fear, hurt?

How much did Sakura really know him? Did she know about his fears, the demons that haunted him, his desires for the future?

It would a singular touch with his fingertips on her forehead have been able to fix all the damage he had done to her life? To her?

All of these questions were asked in a small fraction of a second. Because the lack of any response on his part made Sakura get up from where she was and approach in slow steps until she reached him. Her face looked feverish when she pulled his legs away and tucked herself in between them carefully. The Uchiha watched her closely, while Sakura held his face with both cold hands and lifted him gently towards her. She closed her eyes before joining her small, pink lips to his in a chaste kiss.

That should be her first kiss, Sasuke thought.

He didn't move an inch, while Sakura continued to make contact, outlining the outline of male lips with the tip of her tongue.

It was also his first real kiss — the part of his accident with Naruto when they were twelve.

And it was strange, because the Uchiha felt absolutely nothing at the touch that should have been so... Intimate? Shouldn't he be willing to sink his fingers into her skin and kiss her back in a scorching intensity? Close his eyes and enjoy the warm, caring contact, instead of keeping them open like he was doing now?

When Sakura pulled away a little, out of breath, keeping her forehead against his, with emerald eyes still closed, Sasuke finally understood. Sakura was not a fool, blind, but she was sure that her love would save him. He didn't have to struggle, because she had chosen to accept who he was, what he had been.

Sakura conformed.

And the great truth was that none of that mattered when every time he looked at her, he saw the reflection of everything he hated most about his past. He could only remember the missions of when he was still a child and how Sakura squeezed her fingers tightly in his shirt, begging him to stop, for him not to go, for him... Not to be who he was.

Sakura was a reflection of everything he would like to leave behind; and he couldn't do that until she was willing to see the harm he had done to her.


.

I thought my demons

Were almost defeated

But you took their side

And you pull them to freedom

.


The kiss hadn't aroused any kind of unbridled passion or desire, quite the contrary. Wrath came, impotence. That was not right. Something screamed inside him and Sasuke ground his teeth and pushed the kunoichi away, then stood up.

"You better go," he said firmly without looking her in the eye.

"But..." Sakura started, babbling, but stopped talking as soon as she found his dark orbs. The Sharingan was activated together with the Rinnegan. And that wasn't what scared her, because Sasuke was no longer a threat to her life; what worried her was the silent anger that ran across his face to the point of brutally locking his perfect jaw. "Sasuke-kun."

"You should hate me," Sasuke hissed. "You better go," he repeated, and this time, he was completely out of touch.

Confused and resentful, Sakura just nodded and said nothing more. She just walked to the door and took one last look in his direction —which he had already disappeared somewhere in the darkness —with trembling lips and watery eyes.


.

Leave me in peace

Caught in my memories

Lost underneath

Deep in my structure

(Demons — Jacob Lee)

.


Well, again, I don't have any intention to bash Sakura at all. I just don't really don't like how she just forgave Sasuke so easily after everything. I love him, but what he done was wrong and here, he has a lot of issues about what he did to her and to Naruto.

And... This is one of chapters more important of this history, I wonder if you guys will figure out the reason.

One kiss can mean a lot of things.

Hope you enjoyed, thanks for reading. Probably I will update again in this week to compensate my lack at last week. :)