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XXXX
Chapter 8:
Encounters
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"Cold light above us
Hope fills the heart and fades away
Skin white as winter
As the sky returns to gray
Days go on forever
But I have not left your side
We can chase the dark together
If you go then so will I."
-Anthem of Angels by Breaking Benjamin
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XXXX
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November
Sasuke eyed the wooden cottage with disinterest, black eyes unfeeling as he surveyed several diminutive signs of weathering beginning to coat the small structure.
The buzz of animal life leading to the woods behind his 'home' was audible to the untrained ear, but Sasuke wasn't listening.
His senses were turned off, like a switch. A switch he had no control over.
Was it so wrong, to feel like this? Or, to be more precise, not feel most of the time? To have no say in emotions, to be unable to tap into them at will?
A part of him knew his numbness brought nothing but trouble to the people surrounding him, but he couldn't change who he was and arrogance and indifference came easily to him; they were his nature, a second skin, a shielding costume. It was the way he knew how to behave.
Coldness, as icy and bitter as it could be, never became too much to create warmth. The science of being so cold that a person could burn had never associated with him.
He sometimes wished it did, if only to feel something else.
Looking forward, he continued to walk, his pace quiet, and took the four steps leading up to the small porch in front of the structure. There, he sat down and glanced at the moon.
It was full, its silver brightness glimmering against the black background. Night had yet to disperse even at seven in the morning.
The days lasted less, the end of fall bringing with it the darkness of the last months of the year, the light abandoning the world except for a few hours at most.
His Raven mask hung from his belt, and he untied the knot, letting it fall beside him, the hollow clatter of it ignored. His arm-guards were next, followed by his vest. He didn't stop until only his pants were left.
He leaned back on his hands and contemplated the heavenly sphere once again
The moon had always reminded him of Itachi, of the night in which everyone with the surname Uchiha was massacred and of the day he had awakened the Sharingan for the first time before passing out. Of the night he saw his brother shed tears.
But now it held fresher memories, though no less tragic.
A pair of moonstones flashed through his mind and his lids lowered.
His doll didn't have eyes anymore.
His brows furrowed at this.
She was living in a frozen world, a numb existence.
Maybe...maybe like his?
He couldn't say for sure. She was hard to understand, it was difficult to analyze her and come to a clear conclusion...and at the same time, she was an open book ready to flip the page. He could read the language but understood none of the contents.
In the beginning, she had offered him kindness, shy smiles, simple gestures that had offended him; he hadn't wanted to accept her actions as genuine. She was a kunoichi, and women shinobi when attending to a male with a kind and seemingly unselfish demeanor were often after something. The portion of women infatuated with him had tried that so many times he hadn't bothered to count, but the meaning behind their actions was unmistakable.
Everybody always wanted something from him. Even Team 7 had. Naruto sought his friendship and rivalry. Sakura wanted his love and attention.
Itachi had wished for him to walk a path of revenge so he could restore the honor of the Uchiha. His father to prove his worth to the rest of the clan. Orochimaru his body and the power of his Sharingan.
Karin, like Sakura and many others, yearned for his affection, something that he couldn't give because it didn't exist. Juugo used him to keep his inner demon at bay. Suigetsu had worked with him only to get the Samehada.
Everyone close to him had -at one point or another- wanted something from him desperately.
And as such, he had used them in return.
But she...that Hyuuga had been after nothing.
It had puzzled him (and still did to this day) and that had constantly bothered him. And now...now he had no idea what the hell he was feeling.
It had started with an indifference that had quickly turned into savage and wicked envy. Envy of the life she had, of the life he would have led if not for the sick joke Fate had put him through. Envy of her endless innocence.
Innocence he wished he still had. And then, there was the issue of him desiring her.
Because Sasuke wanted her for himself; he'd come to understand as much. To bask in what remained of her light, because hers was pure, not feigned, not false.
Like her, there was no other.
She was a shinobi and yet..she wasn't hardened by her experience, not tarnished by the ninja world.
She was...soft. Her essence was one he couldn't help but yearn for.
And it confused him.
It was dangerous. He knew she was dangerous. He'd known long ago that if he so much as stepped into her world, everything would change.
But that didn't stop him from approaching her and it wasn't stopping him now.
He closed his eyes and fell back on the wooden boards, his hands acting as a pillow for his head. The low temperature didn't bother him, his chest bared to the cold wind.
The silence here was different, hollow, and barely breathable. It was dense with emptiness, surrounded by nothing but loneliness.
It wasn't welcoming. The cottage didn't welcome him as a home would.
Hmph.
A home.
If he was being truthful, then he knew he didn't have one at all. But it didn't sound so bad because he now kept returning to her. She would be there in her bed tonight, just as yesterday and the day before.
He was too used to her now.
That was a problem. He shouldn't have gotten this attached.
But he couldn't go back; he'd seen her mind already.
It was too late for that.
XXX
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Byakugan eyes stared at the door, a Hawk porcelain mask resting on the top of chocolate-colored locks.
Hyuuga Neji was a prodigy and a status like his consisted of self-control.
Always composed, always stoic.
But that was no more.
Every nerve in his body screamed at him to move, every brain cell in his possession struggled against the power keeping him rooted to the spot.
The iron door in front of him beckoned at him to get closer, to open it, to look inside it.
But Neji couldn't move.
She was, after all, just beyond this door.
She was so close to him and she was awake. Just a few feet away, connected to several machines. He knew it by the slight, patterning sounds emitted. He knew she was there. And she shouldn't have been in the first place.
She didn't belong. She didn't belong here.
The underground section of the Hospital was filled with darkness and secrets. He was ANBU; he was fully conscious of it. This wasn't his first time visiting this secluded area. He had had the unpleasant task of visiting constantly. As an elite ninja, his job was to serve the most dangerous missions. In the lowest part of the hospital, lethal criminals in need of medical care were incarcerated. Hinata-sama wasn't one of them. She was pure, and although he was aware that the 5th Hokage had done her best to keep her from harm's way, he couldn't bear to think of her in this– this place.
The metal door opening snapped him to attention and concerned blue eyes met his own.
"Neji," Yamanaka Ino whispered, though his name still sounded piercingly loud to him.
"...Ino-san."
Ino gave him a small smile, placing her fisted hands on her hips. "You're in luck; Hinata's awake."
His chest tightened painfully.
Her smile disappeared as she peered at him. "She didn't have any bad dreams last night," she confessed softly.
Neji simply shut his eyes and exhaled.
"I can give you guys some time alone. I'll be down the hall, same floor," she continued when she didn't get a response. "Whatever you do, don't leave her alone. Send for me if you need anything." With that said, she walked away.
He didn't bother to look as she vanished around the corner.
His fist raised to knock, but he shouldn't have.
"Nii-san?"
It was a scratch of a whisper, but his heart beat faster just the same. She knew he was there. He had no clue how, but he could ponder it later.
Opening the door, he quietly stepped in.
His eyes trailed the white floor, ascended to the steel walls, and finally rested on her form.
There was a tray in front of her, hospital food clearly displayed and untouched.
Neji swallowed the knot in his throat and greeted her, "Hinata-sama."
There was a loud silence in which he tried not to shake and fall to his knees and beg for forgiveness at the sight of plastic eyes. It was his fault she was here. If only he had protected her, if he'd met her at the gates that day as usual–
"I know what you're thinking," Hinata's voice cut through his thoughts. He watched her blink and lower her gaze down to her lap, a habit she displayed when something troubled her. "It wasn't you, don't you see?" Her hands tightened into fists and she bit her bottom lip. "I wasn't strong enough." She glanced up, her fake eyes seeing nothing. "This," she brushed her hand across her forehead, something that made him cringe, "was also my fault."
Neji felt his muscles grow weak, his heart too heavy to carry. However...
"That's not true, Hinata-sama." His tone certainly sounded stronger than it did in the past few weeks, and he felt anger, fury, outrage, at her words. "It wasn't your fault. I wasn't there, don't try to make me feel better when I know reality! I was your protector, what kind of protector leaves you?! I couldn't do anything for you! I dedicated myself to my training, and yet, it was all for nothing! What does it matter how hard I train if I can't even save you?!"
The grip on her hands almost snapped her fingers in half. "Nii-san, please don't say that..."
But her words couldn't calm him. "He took so much once, and then he found another way to hurt you! And where was I on both occasions? Huh?!" he demanded harshly, his voice louder than she had ever heard it. "Where was I, Hinata-sama? Where was I?!"
"Nii-san!"
Her cry stopped him, and he closed his mouth with a snap, completely horrified with his outburst.
Hinata removed the portable tray with caution but Neji was already there, placing it down on the nightstand next to her bed.
"...Forgive me," Neji apologized and looked away from her.
Smaller hands searched for him but Neji took a step back.
Implanted eyes startled at the sound of him knocking over the ceramic cup on the tray.
The brunet stared at the broken pieces and at the water, now spilled. "I – "
"Come here, Nii-san."
Neji frowned at his own carelessness, wanting to retreat; it'd been so much easier when she was asleep, when she couldn't feel or hear him.
But how could he say no to her when she used that voice and waited for him with that expression?
So he took her hand and allowed her to pull him to her.
Her embrace was soft, just like her, her fingers gripping his black shirt (the vest had been left back in HQ).
"Just...don't distance yourself from me again," she pleaded and Neji felt his own arms surround her petite form as he sat on the bed and hugged her to him. "Help me keep my promise, the one I made you last time. Remember?"
Neji nodded and placed his cheek on the top of her head. "...I'll always be here, Hinata-sama."
"Like this, Nii-san?" Hinata demonstrated, her posture straight as she sat on the pillow under her, her chin held out in challenge, though her eyes still consisted of their soft gleam.
Neji hid a complacent smile. Her back showed power, her hands, neatly folded on her lap, grace, the tilt of her neck firmness, and her eyes kindness. Yes, his cousin was going to be a benevolent and strong Head. Just what the clan needed. "You're doing very well, Hinata-sama," he admitted, still forcing that smile off his face. It wouldn't do to smile knowing she'd find him mocking. That, or she'd burst into giggles.
Like the last two failed attempts.
The girl – no, the young woman – gave him a curt nod and rose to her feet, the dignity of her name and future title present in the way she walked. "Follow me out, Neji-dono," she said with command, her forearms hid under the long sleeves of her violet kimono. Just as he stood to walk behind her, Hinata whipped her head to the side, long tresses of indigo smacking him right on the face.
Neji stared at her, a knowing look in his face. "Hinata-sama," he admonished.
Hinata turned around, her head still raised with honor.
Neji stared at her some more, his arms crossed over his chest, and had it been anyone else, he would have tapped his foot impatiently.
His little cousin dared to raise a brow. "Yes?"
"Stop that right this instant."
Byakugan eyes clashed.
Neji frowned.
Hinata stayed composed.
His frown deepened.
Her lips twitched.
He narrowed his eyes until they were slits, sensing the moment before it happened.
A period of silence and then–
She exploded in a fit of uncontrollable giggles, her mask of 'coldness' forgotten. "S-stop looking at me like that, nii-san! How am I supposed to learn how to control emotions if you keep giving me those looks?" she demanded, her cheeks red with laughter that rang like delicate bells in the summer breeze.
"Hn," Neji sighed and closed his eyes before opening them. "Hinata-sama, you're overdoing it." Hinata offered him a sheepish, guilty expression. He shook his head. "That's not the way it works."
"I know that." Another laugh bubbled over. "It's just that," she made a face, her little nose wrinkled. "Everyone in those meetings always look...funny."
Neji's eyebrows arched. "Funny," he deadpanned.
Hinata 'mhm-ed', and stated matter-of-factly, "Like you."
Neji was offended but he would never tell her that. "It is for your own good, Hinata-sama," he reminded her. "You have to learn to keep your emotions in check in whatever circumstance, whether at a war committee or a trade negotiation. No. Matter. What," he emphasized.
Hinata's face softened and she walked the four feet dividing them to poke his cheek gently, her eyes amused. "I'll never crumble, Neji-nii," she assured him and flashed him a small smile."And I...I never go back on my word. That's a promise."
Neji tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, his jaw tense.
Hinata-sama never went back on her word. She wouldn't crumble. She would heal.
She had to.
XXX
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Sasuke brushed sweaty bangs away from his sight and slid his katana back into its sheath.
He turned his back to the destruction caused by lightning throughout the surrounding training grounds and without a second glance, set off for the cottage before his stomach voiced its hunger.
He was far from tired, but if his senses served him right – and they did – a certain knucklehead was heading his way. It was best if he just went back and took a shower. He had plenty of work to do, unlike a week ago. Now, he had a new purpose.
He had just exited the forest when he heard it.
As if anyone would miss that annoying and happy dobe.
"SASUKEEE!"
Great.
A dose of dobeness. Just what he needed.
Resigned, he glanced over his shoulder, detecting the oncoming figure frantically running in his direction.
Sasuke merely stared for a moment before retaking his path.
"Wait for me, bastard!"
Sasuke merely pressed on.
Naruto caught up with him in no time. "Hey, what's your problem! I told you to wait for me, jeez!"
Sasuke wasn't interested. "Go away, dobe. You're invading my personal space. And wasting the planet's air supply."
Naruto's fist was dodged with ease. "I didn't come here to be insulted!" he exclaimed.
"Then I see no reason for you to be here," Sasuke retorted.
"Don't be such an ice cube; aren't you happy to see me?" the blond questioned, a happy grin on his face.
It was truly nauseating. The answer was spat without hesitation. "No."
Naruto's smile only broadened and he elbowed the Uchiha on the ribs. "Aw, you don't have to pretend not to care when I'm around, Sasuke-teme. I won't tell anyone," he winked.
The Uchiha's face arrayed into a scowl. "You're disgusting. Go away."
"But I got something to ask!"
"Don't care. Go bother someone else."
"What, don't you want to help a friend in need?" Naruto, to Sasuke's irritation, matched his pace and continued to exist.
"What gave you that idea," Sasuke's glare intensified. If Naruto ended up invading his kitchen, may a powerful Being help the Uzumaki if he dared to touch the Uchiha's food. He wasn't going bankrupt again.
"But it's about Hinata! I've been looking for her and can't find her anywhere."
Sasuke halted.
It took a moment for Naruto to notice. He whirled around to face the Uchiha, a puzzled look on his face. "Hey, why did you stop–"
"...The Hyuuga?" Sasuke cut him off.
Naruto gave him a duh look. "Yeah! I just came from the Hyuuga house. Cold bastards don't tell me much, if anything at all. They all say the same thing over and over: 'Hinata-sama is out'," he mimicked a grave and serious voice, kicking a stone out of his way in exasperation. "I wonder where she is? I got something to give her," he grinned, his mood swinging. "I think she'll like it," he murmured to himself and turned back to his friend. "Well? Have ya? Seen her, I mean?"
But Sasuke was staring straight ahead, a strange expression on his face.
Naruto pouted and waved a hand in front of his face.
Sasuke blinked and batted the hand in annoyance.
"I haven't seen her," he finally lied, his eyes throwing daggers at the Jinchuuriki. He tucked his fists in the inside of his pockets, once again heading for the cabin, his pace hastened.
Naruto stared after him. "What the hell was that about?" the blond wondered.
XXX
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She felt his presence before he took hold of her chin.
"I've said not to cry, haven't I?"
It was past midnight, of that she was aware and no one could tell her wrong – she had been counting.
It was an activity that kept her from falling asleep, contrary to popular belief. Counting kept her awake, it didn't bore her. It was something that soaked her mind, refreshing it from bad thoughts.
Thoughts she didn't want dancing inside of her.
Hinata had been dreamless last night, but she wasn't stupid; he, that monster that had scarred her so sickeningly, would come back.
He would come with whispers of adoration first, of praise and gentleness through her ears. Such bitter hypocrisy.
And then he would go for the kill. It was always like that.
That voice echoing inside her head disgusted her.
"Haven't I?" Sasuke pressed, bringing her to the present.
Hinata blinked and focused on his words, the smell of electricity prominent. "Y-yes," she confirmed softly and his touch vanished.
"Then don't. You'll wake Yamanaka."
"Gomen," she said in return, lowering her voice as much as she could. After Neji's visit, Ino had come and explained that he was on the way out to a mission. The blonde didn't have any details, except that he'd be back in a few weeks.
"It won't solve anything," Sasuke added after making sure Ino was truly under, his Sharingan checking her chakra for any change.
Hinata closed her eyes in pain, and a few tears, tears she had tried so hard to stop, spilled down her cheeks. "Ne, Uchiha-san...how did you deal with so much pain?" she asked in a gasp.
Sasuke didn't move, did not react.
She didn't outright say it, but he knew what she meant.
How had he dealt with the event of his clan's massacre?
He wasn't going to tell her that as a kid, once he was discharged from the hospital, he visited the Uchiha District every day. He wasn't ready to tell anyone how he walked without purpose for a while, how he almost drowned in the lake where he hung out with Itachi, the place where he spat his first fireball, chasing imaginary fragments of his aniki. How when he visited the room with his family's blood, he wept and cried and shouted at the injustice of it all until he fell asleep.
How had he dealt with so much pain? He became cold, detached, focused on an erroneous goal.
Someone like her would never be able to do that. She was simply too damn kind. Her heart was too damn soft to sink completely into darkness like his had done.
So he answered in the best way he could; by taking action.
He didn't need to speak for her to know what he meant, and she came to with a start. Her eyes opened and he could have sworn she looked straight at him.
The simple tap of his fingers on her temples – a silent warning disguised as a request – was enough to let her know what was about to come next.
"I told you," he began, " that I would give you an escape. Last night, we got interrupted, but you slept well after. We'll go there again tonight." He observed her keenly. "Will you take it?"
An escape in which the cold was so biting it left her numb to everything, even her thoughts? An escape in which her sight was restored?
All she could say was, "Yes."
XXX
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Uzumaki Naruto was many things.
Hard-headed, brash, reckless, a ramen-lover, a Jinchuuriki, a very unpredictable ninja...The list could go on.
But he wasn't stupid.
He was idiotic at times, that was true, but he noticed things despite his short-attention-span. Many believed he was just a 'dobe' and he had to agree – but not always.
He wasn't as gullible or as moronly-orientated as he once was. Naruto was no longer a child. He had grown up. The war made sure of that.
So here he was, resting on his bed with his hands placed behind his head, drilling holes into his ceiling, his blond eyebrows furrowed so deep in thought they almost touched.
There was something up with the teme, it couldn't be denied.
Maybe he was overreacting. Then again, maybe not. Sasuke was good at playing pretend.
The teme could have just deadpanned an emotionless 'no' and walked away today; that'd be normal for the stoic bastard.
But he hadn't.
He'd shown indifference, but Naruto wasn't his best friend for nothing and had seen right through it. Not even Sakura or Kaka-sensei knew Sasuke as much as he did, that was a fact he could prove any time.
The blond hadn't missed the way his obsidian orbs narrowed at his question for a blink of a second before his face smoothed like toned marble. His features had gone rigid and cold, unwelcoming, his eyes guarded.
Naruto had witnessed it and he was sure as Kurama was sealed within him that he hadn't seen things. Did the stupid teme think him blind or something?
The teme was hiding something, Naruto knew it and suspected it involved Hinata.
The Uzumaki's eyebrows dipped lower over stormy blue eyes and finally touched, forming a complete unibrow.
He hadn't seen her for months and he wasn't as simple-minded as to believe the 'mission' excuse Tsunade-baachan had given him.
A mission could last a few months, a very, very important mission. He knew things like that existed, but that didn't explain to him why he'd seen Kiba training in a secluded area with Akamaru only to collapse, grabbing his chest as he fell, completely passed out when Naruto reached him.
Turns out that the Inuzuka was wounded and not fully recovered.
That was his first clue, the hint that stirred his suspicion.
He should've watched out for odd details surrounding Hinata, but after going to the Hyuuga compound, and been reassured that she was coming back in a few weeks, he hadn't given it much thought.
Hinata was a good kunoichi; she would come back.
Eventually.
But now her teammates were back...and she wasn't.
Naruto closed his eyes in helplessness. Just what the hell was going on?
Not knowing was starting to kill him with both worry and anxiety.
He huffed, annoyed with himself until a little light at the back of his head went off.
If Kiba was inside the village...and he was wounded...maybe Hinata was as well? But if she was...wouldn't he know already?
His teeth ground together as he thought.
Maybe she was hiding?
But why would she? It didn't make sense to Naruto.
Nonetheless, he sat up, his eyes brimming with determination.
First, he had to check if she was within Konoha's walls, then he could busy himself with the next thing.
Clones were too non-stealthy to gather the type of subtle information he needed, and he was no tracker. How to find her without a Byakugan or the Inuzuka's nose? He sure as hell wasn't going near the Aburame compound; he had enough with Shino's creepiness, he could do without a whole clan, thanks a lot.
"Gah," he groaned and climbed off his bed and onto the veranda of his new apartment. The one he'd lived in as a child had been completely wiped in the destruction caused by Nagato. Situated close to the Hokage Tower, he could just catch sight of Baachan scanning a set of papers intensely, sneaking sips of sake every once in a while without departing her eyes away from whatever it was that she was reading.
Fresh air would help him think better. Nature always did have that effect on him –
Naruto stopped, his fingers halting just before closing the door behind him.
Nature?
Senjutsu...The Sage Arts!
Not for the first time in his short life did the impulse of smacking himself upside the head overcame him.
A foxy grin stretched over his tan face.
A few moments later, his trademark orange eyelids opened, his yellow frog irises bright.
He was going to look for her. She was his friend, the woman that loved him.
A love he didn't know how to return just yet.
But that wasn't the main priority right now; she was.
And he had to find her. Not because she was a Hyuuga, not because she was a ninja of Konoha, not because she was an heiress.
Hyuuga Hinata was his friend, one of his precious people.
So he got his shoes, got changed, and started looking, not overlooking the most mundane of details.
Hours later, his efforts paid off, but not in the way he had anticipated.
The hospital? What the...So she was injured?!
When he was able to fully focus on her...her chakra, her pure chakra was...tainted, lukewarm, no longer warm, not as bright.
There was something off with Hinata's chakra.
It took him a moment to place it, not because he didn't know which was hers among the others close to hers, but because a sense of dread touched his soul the moment he encountered it.
There was darkness in it.
It was as if night had fallen, that was the only description he could find in his stunned brain.
But that wasn't what shocked him the most.
No.
Neither did the fact that she was in an unknown area of the hospital he thought he knew.
No, no.
The fact that Tsunade-baachan had lied to him didn't even bother to cross his mind.
No.
It was the other chakra that he felt.
It was...calm. It was stable, it was...slightly warm.
It was no longer a thunderstorm of black emotions, no longer filled with as much sorrow and pain.
For the moment, that chakra was stable. But Naruto, poor oblivious and shocked Naruto, didn't – couldn't – believe it.
Because he knew whose chakra that was. It could only belong to him.
Uchiha Sasuke.
XXXX
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A/N: Acknowledgements: Fenris Jin, Jullhyanna, Saki-Hime, Luky, NewSkiea, , XsymphoniaX, GreenHeadphones, Tina, TAIRA18, LIZA, Fiona, Justpassing, aurora0914, 21me21, YukiTenVianey Team, Forever Angelic, Narutoimagine01, lazytologin, BekotaTheMonsterHuntress, nanitaa, umnia, SBello, Sheep-san, farahb, holmesfreak1412, melihdzi, Kia-B, Starcakes, & Minty!
Thanks for reading!
-3.14.14
Revised 5.22.20