A/N: I'm evil. How dare I update hours before the start of the school year?
I've been trying to update for months. How crazy. Thanks to Juri. DP for giving me feedback before this chapter was published. Love ya, Juri!
.
XXXX
Chapter 15:
Unveil
.
"A world beyond your sleep, beyond what's real
An in-safety hidden sphere,
Away from our daily reality."
-Sleepwalker's Dream by Delain
.
.
.
XXXX
.
December
His black eyes were heavy with discontent and resentment, the visible accusation in them sharp like a dagger's blade.
Sensing his silent despise, Mitsuki faced him, her expression grim but resolute. She did what she had to, no matter how abrupt.
Turning away from her, Sasuke translated the familiar weight of his doll out of Hiashi's arms and into his own, almost snatching her away from the Hyuuga head in a way that said he had more right than her biological father himself to touch her. Hiashi's Byakugan orbs widened with surprise, only to narrow with displeasure and suspicion. Sasuke failed to notice.
He didn't care enough to pay attention or even pretend to try. He was too busy tending subtly to Hinata's vitals and respiration to grant the leader of the Hyuuga a fraction of his time.
His gloved fingers reached for the side of her neck through her turtleneck, and even with the thickness of fabric in the way, he searched for her pulse.
A moment later, he found it.
It was feeble and far in-between, but it was present.
Hinata's heart was beating faintly, but it was there, pumping blood through her veins.
His eyes closed in hidden relief and his jaw lost some of its tightness.
The Aburame matriarch hadn't hurt the woman in his hold, not really, this he had known beforehand. However, she'd weakened the indigo-haired kunoichi and deprived her of her chakra with a technique he'd never been privy to before.
The fact that he knew nothing of said jutsu caused a muted sense of uneasiness to spread through his system. From the corner of his eye, he shot her another cold glare.
Only the knowledge that Mitsuki wouldn't hurt Hinata severely and without a reason had stopped him from ripping one of the Aburame's arms off when she performed the technique. Only that; nothing else.
The prospect of someone harming Hinata didn't settle too well with him. His desire to see her in pain had vanished a while ago, and in its place, the urge to protect her had appeared. It was hypocritical to feel like that, he knew, but it was something Sasuke couldn't counter.
She was a large part of his being and he refused to allow anything that had the prospect of harming such exquisite existence to fragment it in any way.
"You're kind, Uchiha-kun," was what the gentle Hyuuga had uttered from her lips not too long ago.
While she wasn't precisely right, she wasn't wrong, either; she was just unaware that the only people he could ever express such benevolence towards were her and Naruto.
Kindness for the rest besides the previously mentioned individuals wasn't an applicable concept.
"We don't have all night. The sun will appear in less than ten hours. Let's go!" the blonde suddenly voiced, causing everyone to look at her instead of Sasuke.
Her words, which were law among those in the team, were immediately carried out.
Yamato and Shikamaru were the first of the team to move out.
Naruto hung back for a moment, regarding Sasuke with a strange –if speculative– gaze and the unconscious Hinata with a longing expression behind his mask.
Sasuke stared back at him in return, his Raven cover unable to suppress the intensity of his sharp eyes.
Without waiting for Naruto to break the optical connection, Sasuke moved. In a flash, he was behind Yamato and Shikamaru.
A second later, Mitsuki fell into step, following close behind.
Hiashi watched them go silently.
Neji...take care of my daughter. Hitsumi, watch over our child. Hizashi, protect your son and my daughter, for I cannot.
XXX
.
Sasuke's face was unbelievably cold (even for him) as they traveled despite having the chakra-drained Hinata safe with him. (The ANBU Captain hadn't said he could take the Hyuuga, but neither had she denied him the privilege.)
The reason for his icy demeanor was Naruto, who kept targeting him with discreet but inquisitive glances. Sasuke could take note of them unbelievably well even with the mask the Uzumaki had on his face.
Although his curiosity and the desire to clear his mind by confronting Sasuke were strong and constant, Naruto's strategy seemed to consist of waiting for a proper time to present itself. That way, he would avoid any unnecessary interruptions with the Team while simultaneously keeping the mission from falling into danger.
That was his duty as a shinobi and Hinata's friend, and he had no intention to fail her or the Team.
However, the blond's unofficial plan didn't involve forcing his blue gaze away from Sasuke and the woman in his arms. For his part, Sasuke was starting to get irked by the looks he was receiving. The already frowning Uchiha could only scowl harder as a result.
Tch.
Instead of calling Naruto out and dealing with whatever issue the Uzumaki wanted to resolve, Sasuke stayed quiet and did his best to ignore him. He was pleased with his rate of accomplishment.
Mostly.
When the night began to wane and give way to dawn's imminent approach, the Konoha shinobi were gestured to a stop by the raised hand of the wood-user in the Team.
All heeded the signal, awaiting instructions.
Yamato and Mitsuki, both of them veteran ANBU, stood at the front. They glanced at each other knowingly before nodding in sync to an unvoiced agreement.
Yamato's hands began to move in a series of seals, the sequence so swift his movements were but a rapid blur. He slapped the ground with mighty certainty and with a hollow groan, the earth began to tremble. It cracked and moaned as if voicing its protests when the elements of water and earth were combined to manipulate and split wooden roots into a calculated structure.
A two-story, box-like building big enough for two average-sized rooms on each floor rose from the dirt. The lack of windows and other domestic details kept it from being thought of as a cabin. Its shabby and rough appearance did little to make it look homely.
The four tall blocks of wood engraved with animal faces and complex seals poised at each corner of the structure didn't help in making it seem ordinary, either.
Without waiting for anyone to comment on its appearance, Yamato nodded at his work and said, "Head inside."
As his words departed from his mouth (and before Naruto could ask how the heck they were supposed to go into that thing without a door in sight), an entrance wide enough for a single person to enter at the time opened at the front side of the building.
Naruto shut his mouth with a snap.
Sasuke observed the concluded construction with external apathy, but inward suspicion had already been born in his mind once he beheld the strange walls absent of any windows and the surprisingly detailed runes engraved in the blocks enclosing the 'house'.
"We'll be spending the daylight hours here, undercover," Yamato once again took it upon himself to explain. "It'll serve to keep any ninja" – and our main enemy – "from noticing us."
He didn't say the middle bit; there was no need. Everyone understood the implication.
"...Is this wise?"
The members turned to Sasuke, somewhat startled at the sound of his baritone voice. Since their departure from the village, his silence had been absolute.
Mitsuki arched a brow. "What do you mean?"
Sasuke didn't bat an eyelash as he elaborated. "Stopping here, now. Even during the day, we're able to keep to the shadows without trouble. Our strength hasn't decreased, nor our speed. Stopping here is pointless when we can keep moving."
A valid argument, considering how everyone in the group was more than capable.
But...
"I understand, but there are things that I need to discuss with everyone as soon as we're out of earshot," Mitsuki replied, sighing softly in resignation. "Until I've briefed you again, we won't move from this area. Believe me when I say I'm not enjoying stopping either, but it's necessary. Now, please, all of you, go ahead and enter."
No one opposed, but questions begun to form as they – one by one – entered the building.
Once everybody was inside, Yamato touched one of the inner walls and addressed the Team again. "I suggest you apply chakra to your feet; you don't want to lose your balance."
Without waiting for a proper acknowledgment, the structure shook violently – and sank without a second of hesitation back into the ground from which it emerged.
If someone was to watch from above, they would have found nothing but a very light, if undiscernible, disturbance in the surrounding soil.
XXX
.
Black.
She was used to the color of endless ink loose in tendrils before her eyes.
It was a setting that no longer surprised her, and waking up like this – in a hole made out of masses of darkness in which the imaginary shadows of monsters, demons, and every creature of occult folk lurked freely, – failed to impress her.
There was no illumination she could turn to, no source of brightness at her disposal that could light up her path, but that was okay; Hinata was an acquaintance with the shades of the night.
The sensation of constant madness crawling up her body and penetrating her skin out of fear was faint. She was aware that darkness took it upon itself to become a cloud of smoke that kept her from the true colors of the world, but this time, she wasn't scared of facing the unknown space that ran expansively or recognizing the macabre sense of lunacy.
Distantly and in a part of her being, Hinata couldn't help but think that Uchiha-kun had instructed her well in those aspects.
Accepting a world without light had been a tough step to take but she couldn't bring herself to regret having taken it in the slightest. Although not compliant with her blindness (far from it), she had recognized the fact that she could no longer see; doing that had presented her with unexpected liberty from the burden and acknowledging her fears had given her a barrier that kept some of the blackest emotions in her heart in check.
Yes, she was used to a dimension painted in pitch black...but not one in tones of enticing scarlet red.
Her eyes, no longer unseen but able to capture the approaching territory, watched with slight wariness the surrounding world she had entered without previous warning.
Where was she, exactly?
Was this...a dream?
It...didn't feel as such.
In dreams, sounds were muffled, as if the world had been submerged in profound, black waters.
In dreams, time ran past her without a second thought, the manacles of an imaginative clock moving at an untraceable speed.
In here, though, everything seemed...still, very still, although not exactly stiff. No, more like momentarily suspended.
Roaring flames stared back at her from a high, untouchable ceiling, unnaturally frozen in motion as if someone had commanded a pause in their existence when the fire had reached an elegant, yet frightening ruby hue. Were she to look at the grandiose canvas overhead from a different angle, she would've taken into account the drastically slow motions of the licking flames melting like boiling lava.
The walls that caged her were stained in satin crimson, giving the appearance of bewitching warmth.
Alluring.
This world was alluring, rich in intensity, overabundant in passionate reds.
The entire place seemed like –
" –an inferno," she muttered, her orbs of white lavender wide in wonder.
This situation, contrastingly enough, reminded her of those times in which she visited her inner mind.
Instinct informed her that although the place held a vibe very different from that of her congealed landscape, it also told her that this place was similar.
She wasn't sure why or how, but she knew.
Assurance rushed through her veins with this new-found understanding, and she moved.
Hinata took a few steps forward and pressed her palm flat against the closest corridor wall, only to feel the piercing coldness of the stone penetrate down to her bones despite its scalding looks. Snatching her hand back in reflex as if deeply burned, she brought it to her chest in an attempt to distribute warmth to it once more before she continued on her way, the substance in which she stood on splashing with a hushed whisper.
Her delicate feet were bare, exposed and without protection, her dainty build wrapped loosely in the violet yukata she had used in her own landscape a few weeks ago, a long curtain of indigo blue hair untied and free on her back.
Suddenly, a drop of icy liquid touched her cheek, the substance too thick to be water, yet too thin to be oil.
A lithe finger brushed it from her face and Hinata's eyes filled with alarm when the red drop of blood ran down her fingertip, winking under the scarce glow of her surroundings.
It wasn't the blood that caught her off guard her, nor was disgust at having it slid down her white skin what caused her to wrinkle her brow; it was the prospect of someone bleeding that made her feet detach themselves from the floor in the direction where the source of light was stronger, first in a slow motion and then into a sprint when her instincts didn't scream at the prospect of danger.
No...it wasn't malice she felt; rather, it was an aura of abandonment that embraced her heart, though the reasoning for the depressing sensation was uncertain.
"Hello?" she called out, her voice carrying as if inside a deep tunnel.
No answer.
"Who goes there?" As stupid as voicing such questions made her feel, she had to ask, she had to make sure no one was hurt.
Again, no sound but that of dripping blood falling every once in a while from above.
Drip.
Drip.
Pure, oppressive silence proceeded.
Hinata, about to part her lips touched by the red pigment of blood, narrowed her eyes in apprehension before taking another step.
"Who are you."
Had she been raised a civilian, Hinata would have probably exclaimed out in fear. As it was, she paused in place, an unpleasant chill running down her arms.
Drip.
"What do you think you're doing in a place like this."
A severe voice. A cold voice, its timber unforgiving.
Drip.
The echo of deliberate steps emitting from a short distance resounded like deliberate wet, sticky smacks in her ears.
The endless corridor, once upon a time bathed in the color of scarlet, sobered, becoming gloomy and ominous.
"Won't you speak?" the tone was sardonic, mocking, and callous. "I asked you a question; I demand an answer, intruder."
A voice full of contempt, sharp and stern with no empathy in it.
Blue, ankle-high ninja shoes came into her view, the size of them smaller than she had anticipated.
A short pause.
Then, "You don't belong here." It was a calculated observation effectuated by someone that was very familiar to her.
The feet came to a stop, and Hinata blinked, eyes of translucent pearl wider than usual.
...a child's. Those shoes had to be a child's.
But, how was that possible? If this person was who she thought he was...
With great care, she raised her gaze...and met the dead obsidian glaciers of a miniature Uchiha-kun.
XXX
.
His head hurt.
Again.
He couldn't articulate the reason why (Naruto's stares had lessened twenty minutes ago, so he was out), but it did and had – in waves of random interventions – since last week.
He wasn't prone to headaches, so having one now wasn't sending him jumping over the hills in joy, much less now that he was on mission.
Sasuke sighed quietly in exasperation, only for his pulsing temples to protest angrily at him for the simple action.
He grimaced, thankful for the Raven mask that hid his discomfort.
Tsk, this was just what he needed; a headache. A strong one at that and in such a crucial time as a mission.
His fingers, now glove-less, ached to rub the middle of his forehead, where the main blue seal bestowed upon him by the Konoha elders laid, granting on his nerves as it throbbed, adding to his torture.
Not for the first time did he wish to rip the skin there off just to get rid of it. Or better yet, force the people responsible to remove it. If the aid of unpleasant means was required (he was a hundred percent sure it would be), then Sasuke was inclined to comply.
That thought made him feel slightly better.
But not enough.
"Well then," the Aburame kunoichi said with a clap of her hands that made Sasuke give her the Stare of Doom for amplifying his headache.
She barely noticed his dirty look, for her attention was on the remaining members before her.
Shikamaru and Naruto sat, one leaning back on the wall behind him and the other cross-legged in that order respectively. Their masks and uniforms were intact, their weapons and cloaks wrapped around each member tightly. The cabin they were in was, after all, a tad cold. Winter had officially arrived. Aside from larger equipment, which included sleeping bags and rations of food, Shikamaru, Naruto, and Sasuke were harmed to the teeth.
Yamato, meanwhile, stood by the door leading to Hinata's current room, his arms crossed over his chest.
As for Sasuke, he stood on the corner, away from the rest, his posture rather unfriendly.
"We'll now begin with the second part of your briefing," the Aburame went on. "The first briefing took place almost two weeks ago with all of us – sans Hinata-chan – and our backup team present. You were informed of our mission and the way we would go about it, as well as whose Team was going to be expecting us at the given location. Details such as how long our journey would be were speculated, and we concluded it would take us approximately three days to reach our destination at full power. Am I right?" she glanced at Shikamaru, who nodded shortly. "What you weren't told, however, was that we would be traveling only, and only," she emphasized, taking the time to look at everyone in the eyes, "from dusk to dawn."
By the time she was finished, three faces sported a frown that varied in intensity.
Shikamaru was unpleasantly surprised at the news, for, despite his intelligence, he hadn't seen this turn of events coming. That was quite troublesome, he thought, making a discontented face.
Naruto was confused, if not unhappy at the new strategy. What was the purpose of traveling only during those hours? Wouldn't it make more sense to reach their destined stop as soon as possible to keep Hinata safe?
Sasuke's furrowed brow deepened, eyes narrowed to slits as he studied the Aburame with cold interest. What was that woman planning? Intense dislike aside, he knew she wouldn't dare put Hinata in more danger than necessary. By no means did he trust her (he scarcely trusted a human being), but he was having a hard time imaging her doing something like decreasing their chances of survival.
"Are you saying the journey will take longer to complete?" Naruto was the first to speak, not bothering to hide his skepticism.
"Not necessarily," Yamato answered him immediately as if anticipating the question.
Confusion grew inside the blond Jinchuuriki. "Then?"
"Take the season into consideration," the male ANBU Captain prompted.
"The season, huh..." Naruto murmured thoughtfully. "What does winter have to do with all of this?"
Shikamaru sat up sharply, a glimmer in his dull brown eyes as he connected the pieces of the puzzle. "So that's what it was."
Naruto's eye twitched in annoyance when Shikamaru failed to elaborate.
Okay, just what the heck was he missing here?
Sasuke closed his eyes and shook his head very slightly, catching on a moment after the Nara.
"Think about it," Shikamaru said, turning to his Uzumaki friend to explain. "Seasonal winter hours have less sunlight to give because of the change in the angle of our hemisphere relevant to the sun at this time of the year. If we travel from the start of dusk, which is the darkest part of twilight, to dawn, which is the dimmest time before sunrise, then we have plenty of time to finish the journey in the amount of three days because dusk starts early and dawn begins late."
Naruto blinked.
Well, jeez.
"How did you come up with that so quickly?" he wondered, begrudgingly impressed.
Shikamaru just shrugged lazily in reply.
He wasn't about to divulge that his shadow jutsus were the weakest when in the hours of dominating darkness and the strongest when in hours of sunlight and thus he had to always keep in mind the weather and seasons when in mission.
Shadows, after all, could not be born without the presence of light.
"That's exactly right," Mitsuki granted. "The reason why we'll be traveling at night is due to the effort of increasing our percentage of making it to Hyuuga Neji's safe location without encountering danger, meaning our main villain."
"You've already stated our schedule," Sasuke spoke next, "but you have yet to explain the motives behind it. I'm assuming the cover night gives us isn't the only reason behind the agenda, is it?"
He could literally sense the woman smiling brightly at his observation. He suppressed a shudder of disgust and kept his cool.
"Always at the top of things, aren't you Shinobi-kun?" she mused.
Sasuke simply waited.
She lamented on his attitude. This kid was no fun. Shino-chan at least gave her a reaction, no matter how small it was. She loved to tease her stoic husband and son, not to add her father-in-law and Hyuuga Hiashi, but this Uchiha kid was a hard nut to crack.
"As for your question, yes, you're spot on in your assumption; the main reason for the schedule isn't to take cover, not really, though it's a very good bonus." She let out a long sigh, all traces of her previous teasing gone. "Our main purpose is to avoid shadows."
Quizzical looks were thrown her way, except for Yamato, who was already filled in, and Shikamaru, who had reached that conclusion a minute ago.
The Nara genius wasn't completely understanding as of why things were being controlled like this, but he was resolute to find out.
So he asked, "Why?"
Mitsuki smiled bitterly. "Because our unnamed enemy keeps shadows in its arsenal."
Shock, surprise, and bewilderment met the statement.
"So...this enemy can control Raiton, Fuinjutsu, and now shadows as well." Shikamaru's tone implied a fact and not a question.
"The enemy doesn't control shadows like your clan does, though, and the sealing techniques are not quite like the Fuinjutsu we know," Yamato added, "but yes."
"How do those shadows differ from Shikamaru's?" asked a genuinely curious Naruto.
"For starters," Mitsuki began, "they don't require their master to be near. There seems to be no distance they can't travel. This, of course, can make them deadly, for they can reach lengthy places while the master is far away from the crime scene, locked safely and watching from afar. Another thing is that they can come in more than one. The highest amount we're aware of at the moment is four," she finished grimly.
"If there is no limit to the distance they can travel, and they aren't one but more, then that means a large amount of chakra has to be used," Sasuke pointed out.
If what the Aburame was saying was true, there was just no way this enemy of theirs, no matter how strong, could keep such developed techniques without suffering from chakra exhaustion or other negative side-effects eventually.
"I'm certain that would be the case," Yamato commented dryly, "if only the enemy was alive."
Sasuke's eyes zeroed on Yamato like a hawk's, his stomach uncomfortably hollow at the unsettling comment. "Are you saying...that the enemy isn't?" How?
Naruto echoed him, disbelief coloring his tone. "Yeah, what do you mean 'if only the enemy was alive'?" The blond was starting to seriously dislike this more and more by the second.
"It's just as your Captain has said," Mitsuki hummed. "The enemy isn't alive – but neither is it dead."
What?
Knowing that the exclamation was shared by everyone but her and Yamato, Mitsuki continued, "I'm not repeating what I just stated; you guys heard what I said, I'm sure. We don't know how this enemy is still able to work when we know for a fact that it's no longer alive, but that's why we also know it's not exactly dead."
Sasuke's mouth was a pressed thin line by then. "And how do you know of all of this?"
Her smirk couldn't be hidden, not even with that ridiculous rabbit mask of hers.
Yamato seemed to be traveling through the same wavelength, because he said, quite amused, "You didn't think your Hokage, the Hyuuga Clan, and your Captains were just wasting time since day one, did you? We've been busy with research, you see."
No, they couldn't see, but there was another question that was itching like a parasite in the young Team members' minds.
Naruto spoke for the rest of his companions when he demanded, "And what is this fact that rules the vitality out of the enemy?" A pout could be heard with his words; he was unhappy at the realization that he'd been off the loop for months and was just now catching up. Had he known all of this sooner, maybe he and everyone in the Rookie 11 could have done something about this whole mess the Hyuuga were in.
"Simple," Mitsuki chirped, undeterred by Naruto's foul mood. "The enemy emitted no chakra signature."
Sasuke went unnaturally still, his throat parched.
But of course, he thought, how could he have missed something so damn obvious?
The night Hinata was cursed with that blasted seal, he'd sensed a presence, not a chakra signature. Now that he mulled it over, those were two very different things that gave off completely different sensations.
He could have face-palmed at that moment.
But wait, speaking of that night...
"If that thing can control shadows, and shadows are more active in times of daylight, how do you explain the night Hinata was cursed?"
"Hmm." It didn't take Mitsuki long to come up with a question of her own. "Do you remember, by chance, what phase the moon was at that night?" she asked quietly.
Sasuke's jaw clenched at the indirect implication of her words.
Yes.
Yes, he remembered. He remembered looking at the ruins of the Uchiha Compound bathed in moonlight before redirecting his gaze to the sky in order to figure out the time before heading for his shift at the hospital.
"Full," he replied bitingly after a moment. "It was a full moon."
Yamato and Mitsuki shared a look.
Yamato then released an aggravated sigh. "There's also a reason why we waited this long to leave the village," he confessed. "Under normal circumstances, we would depart as soon as the Teams are assembled, but our case is hardly typical. The reason for the delay...had to do with the phase of the moon. In our research, the moon was mentioned, and since the moon reflects the light of the sun, we decided to avoid bright phases at all just to be safe. I don't know if you all have noticed, but just yesterday, the moon was at its lat waning phase. Right now, we're under a new moon."
Complete darkness; that's what they all were under, that's what the new moon represented. Darkness was safe, light wasn't, that's what Yamato was trying to tell them.
Sasuke ran a hand through his hair, a humorless twisted smile of irony flashing on his lips, his headache long pushed to the back of his gloomy mind as the least important thing to worry about.
How unexpected, he mused with tangible bitterness.
How unexpected that under the place where the sun could not shine and darkness ruled, Hinata found perfect safety.
She– a being of light and named after the morning star,–was destined to be kept in the abyss, in a world with no colors where nothing but black smoke formed.
Closing his eyes, Sasuke fought the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose and thought...that hers was an unjust existence.
XXX
.
She was cold, he noticed.
Her skin looked icy and her respiration was a shallow one.
Yamato had placed her in a futon after entering the underground cabin and Mitsuki had showered her immobile form with blankets in hopes of keeping her warm. Such attempts met failure.
The young Hyuuga looked dead, her pallor almost translucent in the balanced light inside her temporary room.
Not for the first time, Hinata painted the definition of frailness in Sasuke's eyes.
So vulnerable-looking, so frighteningly small, so deadly beautiful.
Months ago, he would have regarded her state with wrenched condensation. Now, all he wanted was to take her away to a place where nothing could ever touch her.
He knew that was far from the realms of possibility, and yet, that didn't stop his desire.
How Hyuuga Neji had managed to find a safe haven for her was something Sasuke had a hard time wrapping his head around.
A place where Hinata could be kept out of danger's hands?
Where? Just where was this place that sounded like something taken out of a fairy tale?
As far as he knew, the only thing the Team would encounter if they followed the same path they had since the start was an endless forest.
Countless trees and other forms of nature was all that laid before them.
These lands on which they traveled through held little to no civilization. He could see why that factor would work on their favor...but that didn't answer or clued him in about the place they were truly heading for.
He wondered if Hinata knew.
He wondered if she had been informed with all of this maddening information before ending like this, chakra-drained and asleep.
Mitsuki or Yamato could have answered this particular inquiry, but Sasuke was anything but forthcoming when in the company of those two.
He'd rather wait for Hinata to wake up and ask her himself.
If she ever did, that is.
With her appearance, she was all but showing signs of being alive.
He tried to assure himself that she was strong because she was. Despite her looks and size, she was a kunoichi.
She was strong. She was trained. She was a shinobi.
She wasn't weak, nor was she lacking conviction.
She was sunlight, determination, and strength. She was a desired kindness and an unmistakable flavor of innocence. She was dark and light mixed in an inseparable combination of one. She was scars and power, misery and grace.
Her present condition hardly put up with what she had already been through, so Sasuke reached out experimentally, squeezing her hand slightly to test for a response.
It was unlikely for her to stir, but he didn't falter.
It was already close to five P.M. in the evening and everyone had served their shift as watchmen in Hinata's room but him. After making sure everything in his surrounding areas was where it ought to be, he had waited for his shift to come to a close and for one of the two Captains to come and inform him of an oncoming departure.
He was sure the sun was already setting if it wasn't already.
Seeing that Hinata had yet to move, a part of him had become impatient.
She had been out for almost twenty hours. How long would it take for her to at least make the smallest of movements? Surely not too long from now.
His mind reminded him that it had taken two to three days for him to regain strength after his last excessive chakra drain and that he was being ridiculous for expecting Hinata's body to awaken so soon.
"Tch," he clicked his tongue as he agreed, however unwillingly, with his mind before squeezing Hinata's hand carefully for a second and last time.
He released her, only for him to sense a faint twitch.
He halted, his crouching form beside her bedside paralyzed as he watched the small twitch turn into the movement of fingers whispering against his own.
"...Hi," she greeted. Her voice was a faint hush, but taking into account the silence in the chamber, Sasuke could hear very clearly.
"Hi," he replied in the same fashion.
Her lips curved slightly. "So it is the present Uchiha-kun, after all," she murmured, weariness evident in her words.
Sasuke blinked and arched a brow at her notion.
Either feeling his silent request to elaborate or feeling that she'd been too vague, she added, "...I had a strange dream."
"A dream?" Sasuke repeated slowly, eying her in case she was hallucinating or sleep-talking.
"Mhm," she hummed softly, "though...'dream' isn't...the most befitting word, I think," she continued, trying to turn on her side to face him.
She didn't make it far, and Sasuke decided that letting her struggle when she could hardly talk wasn't an option.
"Don't move," he warned. "Your body isn't ready for any unnecessary actions just yet."
"...I feel so heavy," Hinata breathed but didn't try to change position again, much to Sasuke's secret relief.
However, her fingers did graze against his again. Sasuke took them in his grasp, disregarding how cold they felt. "You should; it's normal for you to feel that way. Your body's trying to harvest chakra to replenish the amount you lost."
"I know...Chakra drains, they're never pleasant," she acknowledged quietly.
She would know from past experiences.
Her comment caused Sasuke's mind to sharpen. "You don't sound surprised," he noted slyly. "Did you know this would happen?"
Behind the gauze strips on her eyes, Hinata blinked. "This?"
Her brain was trying to catch up with the conversation.
Cobwebs were still fogging her thoughts, though they were starting to clear away.
"Aa. Were you aware that the Aburame woman would do this to you? Take your chakra, that is."
Hinata seemed to ponder about it for a moment, her hand unconsciously grabbing two of his fingers as she did.
Sasuke didn't stop her as she absentmindedly fidgeted with them.
Finally, she said, "Not...exactly." She inhaled gently. "Although I expected her to do something to conceal my presence. Tsunade-sama also mentioned it to me before-hand. However," she chuckled faintly, "I have to admit...it never crossed my mind that Aburame-san would be so brusque about it."
Her amusement was lost on Sasuke, who found no hilarity in the Aburame's strategy at all.
"The only one who seemed to know what that woman was planning was your father," Sasuke murmured bitterly.
At the mention of her father, Hinata's lips were pressed together in discontentment, and her fingers gained strength as they clenched.
Dark, attentive eyes slid to her hand. "What is it."
Startled, she mumbled, "Huh?"
"Your face changed at your father's mention," Sasuke said. "He must have done something to make you react as you did just now."
Her mouth parted.
Uchiha-kun's keen vision really missed nothing.
"It's complicated," she articulated, choosing her words carefully.
"Unless you want to go back to sleep, we have nothing else to do but waste time," Sasuke pointed out.
"I-I'm sure Uchiha-kun has better things to occupy his time with," she protested feebly.
"'Uchiha-kun' has no such thing. Now talk."
Hinata almost smiled, taken aback but nonetheless amused by his mocking command. For some odd reason, he had sounded like a five-year-old stubbornly demanding something.
But then she recalled the subject of the conversation and her lips tilted downwards.
"Father...," she started, "I love Father very much, despite how poorly he treated me when I was a child. His lack of confidence in me as I grew up, was also regarded as unimportant once I regained my title of heiress. I have forgiven him for his detached and cold behavior, as well as his countless harsh words directed at me. I have forgiven him for many things, but this time...This time I can't find it in myself to forgive him for forcing me to run away." She swallowed thickly. "The Elders of my clan gave me two options, one of which Father denied immediately and," she paused as if remembering something she wished she didn't.
"What were those two options?" Sasuke prompted when she didn't speak again.
"To wed a Feudal Lord," Sasuke felt his blood freeze, "or to leave the village and step down as clan-head."
The casualness in her tone could not veil the true distress she felt at presenting these choices.
She had worked so hard for nothing in the end, and it pained her.
"...I take it your father said no to the former of the two, then," Sasuke voiced, his hand engulfing her own.
Hinata nodded lightly and brought their clasped hands to her cheek.
Sasuke, not oblivious to her emotions, decided to change topics and redirect her mind at something less grave.
Before he could, Hinata beat him to it.
"Uchiha-kun is very warm," she said suddenly.
Sasuke stared for a second too long, and he would rather face a D-mission in a daycare facility than to admit that he was at lost for words at her statement.
"I-I'm glad you're here," she whispered.
For the first time in his life, Sasuke felt self-conscious enough to realize that he was the closest to flustered he had ever been.
He quickly grasped at something – anything – that could serve to distract them both.
"Your dream," he voiced, attempting to suppress his embarrassing discomfort. "You never said what was it about."
His plan seemed to work; Hinata once again looked thoughtful.
"I don't think I can define it as a 'dream'," she muttered gently. "It was more, like another dimension, another world. It was... not a dream."
"Is that so." Interest somewhat piqued, Sasuke listened with one ear, keeping the other attentive at the closed door of the room for any unwanted company. "How do you figure?"
"It just felt...too real. Dreams are usually evanescent; nightmares feel endless; night-terrors are...awful. But this time...it was none of those." Submerged in her explanation, she didn't sense Sasuke taking a seat by her head.
"So what did you see?"
Her answer shocked him.
"Fire," she said, wondrous nectar dripping from the simple word. "A frozen inferno, a hallway painted in dark red."
Sasuke didn't dare to move a muscle; even his lungs held their breath.
Hinata's voice lowered a notch. "It was like the ceiling was made out of lava; time was still, and...it was dripping wet." Purposefully omitting the fact that the substance falling was actual blood, she proceeded with a tiny yawn (she was getting sleepy by the second). "The most surprising thing was that Uchiha-kun was there. But," her indigo brow knitted together, "you weren't Uchiha-kun at the same time; you were a child."
And you looked so defensive, so alone, so...tragic.
Knowing that saying so would be unwanted, she stayed silent.
"To tell you the truth," she buried her face in a quilt, "it all felt like...like when you take me there, in this world of my mind. Yes...like a mindscape–"
"That's because it is," Sasuke interrupted.
"Mmm?" Hinata questioned groggily.
He reached out, brushing her bangs that were in need of a trim away from her face. "A mindscape, Hinata. You went inside another person's mindscape."
Now he understood the peculiar headaches.
In his defense, he never expected her to achieve something like diving into another person's psyche so soon.
This woman...she would never cease to amaze him.
"Another...person?"
Knowing that she couldn't see him, he nodded, waiting for her to fall asleep.
Eventually, she did, but not before asking, "Whose?"
Whose mindscape had she entered?
He didn't speak until the fingers in his hand curled and went limp. Raising her hand to his mouth, he turned it and touched his lips to the skin of her wrist.
"Mine, silly Hyuuga."
XXXX
.
.
.
A/N: 9 months. NINE. I want to kick responsibility's face and run. I honestly don't even know if people will even review. Apologies for the long wait. College is finally here and my 18th B-day last month only kept me busy.
Anyway, now I shone light on some topics I wanted to conclude, such as Jivu's weaponry and the fact that the Team now knows she isn't alive, but neither is she dead, when the journey will end once they reach Neji, who is in a place I won't tell you just yet, and also! I got to introduce you to a section of Sasuke's mind. FINALLY. Do you guys know how long I have been waiting for that? If you are asking as to why Sasuke's mind is important, well, it plays a role in this arc. So yeah.
I hope to add some romance (a genre of which I'm so totally not good at, apparently), so yeah! I'm not done with this story yet. Many things to come, much love, much adventure, much conflict, much discoveries.
Thank you: MsChifSantos, Guest, Darth Lelouch, In Memory Of Yesterday, Tenzin, Xsynphonia, Dark Amy-chan, farahb, necee90, Kibachow, xHinaLovex, TheValkyrielGladiator, kawaii-sama25, Anon, aurora0914, Myreally, NanamiYatsukami, umnia, 1, Tamani, luvhinata, LIZA, FireGladiator, Guest, Hilda9Achillius9Fitra, paranoidbychoice, crookshies, anlmoon, RosalieCullen1822, Yazie567, hecate0808, the boulevard, Guest, Fanficlover16000, abbyciel, 21me21, lolvampirebookworm2000, .bae, Tsukiome, Guesto, Duchess23, stasoft, jjttii, Melanieciel, kandita, deadlu-chronicles, Cat, sooxingsic, Yudoku Kabe-no-Hana, nikols, , GrimoireHeart, Padora-Lilith, huri chan, Akumakisses, sara-islidas, zsaryn, Sani K. Halleng, Lia Du Black, ShanaZeal, corpus-luteum, MexiKim, Your One and Only1, hyuuga nala, LelaReonxX, jex the dork, Guest, ChoppingBoard, forgetmenotlovely, anisu, SilverDreamsCA, and kawena85!
You're AWESOME. I'm glad you liked the story thus far, and if you were shocked about Jivu, then I'm doing a decent job.
And just to be clear, chapter 699-700, etc, never happened, 'kay? Okay!
P.S: As for Naruto's ending, the pairings are whatevah (except for sasusaku, in which case, it can BURN); what really bothered me was *pulls unending list. Well, where should I even start?
PLEASE R&R.
-8.24.15
Revised 5.17.19