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XXXX
Chapter 16:
Fearscape
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"Will the darkness fall upon me
When the air is growing thin
Will the light begin to pull me
To its everlasting will
I can hear the voices haunting
There is nothing left to fear
But I am still calling
I am still calling to you."
-Ashes of Eden by Breaking Benjamin
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XXXX
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Hinata wasn't sure how, or when, but she had stepped into a world of nightmares.
"You're back, intruder," came a numbing voice from her side.
Hinata turned, her eyes clear as they found the source in the black and crimson dimension.
Uchiha-kun sat there in the ashes that covered the space like feathers, his small body dressed in a black yukata.
"Uchiha-kun."
For a moment, his gaze flickered to her in silent contemplation before returning to a point lost in the horizon. "'Uchiha-kun'? No one calls me that." His dark eyes narrowed deliberately. "But it sounds familiar. Just who are you, intruder?"
Hinata clasped her hands somewhat tightly, uncomfortable at not being recognized. It was reasonable, she thought. The Uchiha-kun of this age and her hadn't associated at all in the past. Because certainly, this kid in front of her had once been Uchiha Sasuke.
She decided to follow along and introduce herself. "My name is Hyuuga Hinata."
"Hm, a Hyuuga," he murmured, eying the black velvety terrain spreading before them. "You're that girl who lost the match in the Academy last week."
Hinata didn't show her shock, but she felt it. "Oh?"
So he remembered her, however unkindly.
"You could've won, you know," he told her, a light frown etching itself on his pale face. "It was obvious you were stronger than your opponent. So why didn't you?" His question was curt, demanding.
Since she didn't recall what he obviously did, she admitted honestly, "I don't know."
He tsk-ed. "You held back, trying to avoid causing injuries. Your sympathy was a mistake; it showed weakness." He scowled, upset for a reason Hinata couldn't fathom. "You shouldn't display weakness. Shinobi will feed off that and end you." He stopped, as if something had just occurred to him. "But you have power, don't you? You, after all, have gifted eyes like mine."
She remained quiet for two reasons. One, she had the feeling his question was a rhetoric one. Two, she'd never witnessed him talk for so long without being prompted.
"Your hair is longer," he commented suddenly, his eyes back on her.
She came to with a start, her hand flying to touch her blue mane now adorned with the black ashes that rained.
"Your face is thinner," he went on, his own now expressionless. "You are...older."
"...I am," she confirmed softly. And you are young.
He regarded her for a lengthy moment, his eyes – bigger than his present counterpart's but still holding that unenthusiastic quality – half-lidded.
"You look like Okaa-san."
Hinata's breath caught in her throat.
"Your eyes are different colors though," he droned. "But you resemble her."
"Does it bother you?" she asked quietly.
He thought about his answer. "No," he eventually replied. "Okaa-san's dead." He blinked at her in the ominous light, and the ashes that pooled around him began to shuffle slightly. "You may look like her, but she's gone. You're not her and she's not you. I can tell between you two."
The sound of insistent scratching invaded her ears, cutting her response short.
Sasuke must have heard it too, because he informed her, "They are here."
Uncomprehending, Hinata glanced around, trying to find 'them' as the noise got louder.
Her ears began to ring and she almost lost her balance at the intensity of the frequency. For his part, Sasuke looked composed, almost accustomed to this sudden outlet of unnatural sound.
He outstretched his hand, touching the shuffling ashes at his feet.
It was then that she saw what Uchiha-kun had referred to.
An uncountable number of spiders bloomed from the ground like liquid water, their black and red coating a coordinated fit with the color scheme of the macabre setting.
"They always appear before the Change," the young Uchiha boy explained. "Like an omen, they just crawl from underground and come to me."
"A Change?" she questioned, eying the maleficent-looking animals making their way above ground. "What do you mean?"
"Have you ever heard of fearscapes?" he muttered, one of the many arachnids on his finger.
Hinata shook her head no.
"Every person has one. It's where their fears manifest. It's a world of chaos born from a single or many weaknesses." He smirked mirthlessly. "You see, shinobi aren't the only beings that can exploit your low points. There's other things that can also cause your own destruction."
Hinata stared, concern and distress in her expression as she moved in his direction, trying to get to him, her intentions to scope him in her arms and take him away from that place.
But each step was more difficult than the last, each dragging her down as the eight-legged animals crawled up her body and tangled in her hair.
Meanwhile, Sasuke kept on talking, though he sounded distant, almost gone in self-induced deliriums. "The Change is almost here," he declared, knitting his brows lightly. "I despise the Change. Always going in never-ending loops. Tch."
Whatever this Change was, Hinata was sure it wouldn't be something to look forward to.
And she was right.
One moment she was taking one final step in his direction, hand already grasping his. The next, she was submerged in the deepest parts of an ocean.
Her eyes widened, the accumulation of salt blurring her vision, the coldness of the water piercing through her skin.
The shock of such an unexpected change did little to prepare her; water was quickly swallowed.
The pain that followed was something she'd never encountered before. Her lungs contracted, her heartbeat sped up, and her nostrils and throat burned.
No…!
She was drowning.
She was dying and there was no surface she could break to, no oxygen she could breathe.
"Close your eyes."
Hinata could barely turn around properly to look at the owner of those words. The spams that shook her body were so violent she bit her tongue.
Blood flowed freely inside her mouth.
"It'll hurt less that way."
Sasuke's slitted obsidian orbs were momentarily sympathetic as he observed her, his own chest contracting as he, too, drowned. "Don't worry; you'll get used to the pain soon enough."
Her heart shattered at the resignation and forced nonchalance in his voice. That was possibly the saddest thing he could have said.
Uchiha-kun, she wept for him silently, her spilled tears lost in the dark waters. Sasuke!
With one last tightening of muscle in his chest, he went still.
She reached out as best as she could and squeezed his tiny hand in hers with shaking fingers, hoping with all of her might for a response.
A twitch. A slight movement that proved he had some emotion aside from indifference, that the unnatural stillness in his limbs wasn't what she thought it was.
Anything that told her he was there.
But her hope was a moot one; he never squeezed back.
He remained immobile, a puppet without life bound to return to a world of dark blood-painted ashes.
XXX
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...drip.
The distant echo of falling liquid reached his ears.
It was hypnotic, alluring in its pull.
Drip.
Almost unreal.
DRIP.
Aside from the euphonious sound, Sasuke could feel a strange warm thickness spreading across his skin, the fragrance of rich copper and salt heavily staining the air like a parasite stealing the oxygen from his chest.
DRIP.
His crimson eyes opened abruptly, his heart palpitating painfully inside his ribcage as the blood in his veins frantically pumped in and out, seeking a hopeless form of escape.
He sat up in a rapid motion, his skin drenched with viscid sweat, his respiration hitched and his head pounding with both confusion and overwhelming nausea.
Sasuke managed to swear mentally before his vision blurred, the tomoes in his irises furiously whirling in mechanical instinct.
In the midst of his chaotic predicament, it took a moment for him to realize that he wasn't alone and that a pair of mystified, if not bewildered, blue eyes were staring at him from the other side of the room.
Disorientated but nonetheless able to stand without stumbling, Sasuke got to his feet and exited the sleeping quarters before Naruto could sputter as much as a word.
Once at the end of the hallway, the Uchiha leaned on the closest wall, allowing it to support most of his weight as he tried to catch up with his surroundings.
He closed his eyes, deactivating his blood-limit in the process, the quick gasps of oxygen his lung craved forcing his mouth wide open.
Although his teammate was ignorant of the Uchiha's situation, Sasuke wasn't that naive
His lids lifted slowly, his gaze traveling to the door where Hinata rested.
Just what was that woman doing to him this time?
He knew it was useless to ponder over the same repeated question when he knew the answer, yet that never stopped him from asking.
She was diving into his mind. Again.
He sighed, brow lowering over dark dilated eyes.
That porcelain doll was going to be the end of him, he knew it and yet he couldn't bring himself to care completely. Had it been anyone else, he'd behaved accordingly and unforgivingly. But knowing that she was deeply involved, he failed to conjure much – if any – of his wrath.
Nonetheless, he would have to talk to her and guide her into how not to do her mind-invasions anymore. Not only was she probably seeing things he wished she would never encounter, but she was affecting him physically now, and he couldn't allow that to happen. Not when he was in mission and she had to be protected.
But when would he teach her how to take reigns over her involuntary takeovers? Since her awakening the day before, the Hyuuga had stayed in a state of constant slumber.
The reason as to why when she'd already regained consciousness once before wasn't clear, but if he had to guess, Sasuke would wager anything it was because she was using too much energy – energy she didn't have in the first place – breaking into forbidding psychical places she had no business entering.
And, as if wanting to add to his already growing exasperation, she was never left alone. With the precaution that she was to be always guarded, Sasuke's chances of speaking to her without raising suspicion or being overheard diddled.
"Tch," he reproached her softly, remembering the feel of her hands cupping his cheeks and the sound of her gentle voice in his ears.
His jaw muscle twitched. Just how had he ended up wanting such a woman? The power and influence he let her have over him still shocked him at times.
He was a bit worse for wear and well aware of it, thus, he came to the conclusion that if he did chide her in the future, he'd do it when he felt up for it and without any bias.
As for now...
He rested his forehead against the wall, his hair gluing to his skin uncomfortably. It had grown long in the last months and he needed to trim it.
Unmindful of the odd sensation his hair caused, he was about to take a seat on the floor when he was interrupted.
"Sasuke."
He all but groaned at the horrible timing.
Glad that it wasn't Naruto (he was still surprised the blond hadn't followed) but unhappy at having anyone there at all, Sasuke spared Shikamaru the slightest of glares as the Nara exited his doll's room, closing the door behind him quietly.
Aware of the annoyance he was presenting but simply not caring one bit, Shikamaru approached him, inspecting him with a clinical eye.
A sluggish pause and then, "You look sick."
Unappreciative of the blunt observation, Sasuke stayed silent, hoping the loud silence emitting from his person would drive the Nara away, and pronto.
He honestly didn't have to put up with this.
As if somehow aware of his unkind intentions, Shikamaru made a face of displeasure before his eyes turned serious. "You do," he insisted.
Whatever was wrong with Sasuke was none of his concerns, but if it endangered the operation and Hinata...well, that'd make things very troublesome and troublesome was something Shikamaru definitely didn't want.
Sasuke's darkening mood didn't take long to enveloping him. Instead of letting the Nara get the better of him, he looked up, his expression apathetic and uninterested. "What do you want?"
Knowing when his statements were being blatantly ignored, Shikamaru scoffed and decided not to waste his time with a helpless situation. "The Captain said we're leaving within the hour. You need to get ready; Yamato-taichou may ask you to go with him to patrol ahead. After this, we'll only have one last stop before we reach our destination."
Sasuke made a noise of acknowledgment but didn't comment.
Feeling his dismissal, Shikamaru begrudgingly walked away. He headed for the sleeping quarters the Team had set up with calm, easy strides, his next course of action consisting of passing the message along to the Uzumaki and packing his own belongings.
He stopped once he reached the room, his hand resting on the sliding door. "One last thing," he added without turning around, "if you're not in any condition to go on, don't keep it to yourself. It can endanger us all."
Having said this, he opened the entrance and disappeared inside.
XXX
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Soundless steps entered the room, the light of the hallway behind him pouring into the entrance, stretching his shadow to monstrous proportions.
Blinking in order to adjust to the dimness of the interior, Naruto took a step forward, closing the door absentmindedly.
His bright blue eyes, now a shade of dark azure, immediately centered on the female body laying on the futon.
Hinata was so immobile it was concerning. The iridescent pale skin of her face made her easy to spot in the darkness of the place and so enthralled by her figure was he that he missed a third person watching him.
"Coming in for a quick check?"
Naruto all but jumped, his heart nearly bursting out of his chest in startled surprise.
The form of one of the ANBU Captains became visible as she emerged from the murkiness the room was succumbed to. In her hands was a pot of ink, and between her fingers, a brush and a string of gauze.
Not anticipating a response, and not really wanting one, she continued to do whatever it was she was doing before he arrived.
Naruto scratched the side of his cheek sheepishly at getting caught so easily. In reality, the only times he'd visited Hinata was during his guarding shifts since he'd decided that following orders would be the best plan to follow to keep Hinata safe. However, knowing that she had to wake up soon, he'd come in in hopes of catching her out of her slumbering state.
He wanted to talk, hear her voice, make sure she was okay. He wanted to be assured that the darkness in her chakra was a mistake, that Hinata was alright, that she was...that she was...
His thoughts trailed off in despair, his mind aware that they were nothing but wishful thinking. Nothing but false hopes he was feeding himself.
Pathetic.
The sharp tearing of cloth lured him away from his contracting musings and he was more confused than ever to find the Captain ripping one of Hinata's long sleeves off.
Also, just when the hell had that woman even moved to the other side of the room?!
"W-what are you doing?!" he demanded when the ANBU kunoichi continued the process of unraveling the Hyuuga's turtleneck, exposing milky skin and short metallic mesh sleeves underneath.
"Calm down," said Mitsuki, the picture of indifference in the flesh.
Naruto shot her an incredulous look.
"I'm just making way to draw some seals." She observed him from the corner of her eye. "Or would you rather have me undress her completely?"
Naruto's face turned scarlet, a mixture of anger and embarrassment coursing through his being. "No, of course not!"
Mitsuki hummed. "That's what I thought."
Naruto wrinkled his nose and huffed to himself before grumbling, "...What kind of seals are you talking about?"
"As soon as Yamato-taichou returns from his reconnaissance with Shinobi-kun, you'll see," was her airy reply.
Unsatisfied but unwilling to respond to her statement, he watched unhappily as she went on with her task. "You could handle her more gently, you know," Naruto grunted and strode towards both women.
"You could step out of the room, you know," she counterattacked only to realize Naruto was reaching out to do the job she wasn't doing as carefully as he believed she ought to. "Wait a minute –!" Mitsuki began when she understood his intent.
But it was too late.
Naruto's sight had long ago molded to the dim lighting, and it didn't take more than a glance to find what laid underneath the black cloth of Hinata's outfit.
His sudden intake of breath and draining of color was proof enough of his morbid discovery.
His eyes widened, his jaw locked, teeth clenched so hard he'd thought they would shatter at any moment.
Scars. So many scars marred her once unblemished skin, running down her arms like raw tattoos.
He recalled Shino's voice telling him about Hinata and her situation, about his theories of torture Hinata had undergone.
The anger he'd experienced back then was an awfully weak compared with what he felt now.
He heard the Captain in front of him sigh, "I said you could get out of here."
You could have saved yourself the trouble of seeing this.
Naruto barely understood her but when he did, the idea of storming out of the stifling room was born.
To leave and not gaze upon her damaged form hurt less than staying with her and seeing her suffer.
Because surely she was suffering. How could she not?
An indignant part of him berated him for doubting her strength. She'd shown so much strength before, hadn't she? Why was he questioning her capacity to pull through her struggles now of all times?
The Princess of the Hyuuga would be saddened by your senseless judgment if she were to hear you now, Kurama grumbled inside his mind, echoing his thoughts, disapproval dripping from his tone. Don't let her know you think so little of her strength. It would her hurt more than the blade that slashed her skin.
I couldn't protect her, Naruto raged in response. I couldn't even help her when she needed me. How am I going to face her when she wakes up? How–?
Careful now, kit. Your control is slipping, Kurama warned.
He felt the blond take a slow, unstable breath.
Letting him repeat the action a few more times, Kurama went on. If you wish to make it up to her, stay with her, don't take the cowardly way out just because it pains you to see her like this. If you do that, what of her pain then? Stop thinking about your own distress for a moment, you selfish dimwit.
Naruto's indignant cry of 'Hey!' was promptly dismissed.
So what if you couldn't help her before? What was done yesterday can't be undone today, but you can try to amend it if possible.
Naruto stayed quiet for so long after that that Kurama was beginning to think he'd talked to himself this whole time.
Irritated (how could his jinchuuriki disregard his speech, dammit) and flustered (when had he become this sentimental?), the giant fox turned away and was about to go back to his lazy sleep when his host decided to make himself known once again.
Ne, Kurama?
His ear flickered in annoyance. What now?
I think you're right.
The demon fox snorted, slightly offended. You think? Of course I am. Just who do you think I am, you disgusting human?
Hehehe.
S-stop laughing, you ungrateful fool! Don't you have things to do? Get the hell out of here before I kick your skinny ass!
And with a final snap, the Kyuubi no Kitsune cut their link in a decisive move, not giving Naruto a chance to yell that it'd been Kurama himself who'd started the conversation.
Feeling much better, Naruto blinked, eyes coming into focus after staring at nothing for a minute or two.
He realized immediately that while he conversed with his inner demon, the older kunoichi had finished the strokes of ink that now adorned Hinata's arms and had started on peeling off the bandages around her eyes, ready to apply fresh ones in their place.
"Are you done?" Mitsuki spoke when she noted the dullness in his gaze clear.
"Huh?" Naruto mumbled, not following.
"Are you done talking with Kurama-san?" she specified.
"O-oh, yeah," he answered clumsily. "Wait, how did you know I was talking to him?" he demanded.
Mitsuki made a sound of amusement as she tied the end of the bandages, finishing her work. "My son speaks of you very often, especially when you ignore him and everyone else when disputing with your partner. A mother tends to remember such talks."
A moment of silence ensued.
Naruto was so lost he could have cried.
"Er, so this son of yours..." Painfully aware of his puzzlement, he glanced at her sideways, trying to find any possible clues laying around.
Mitsuki stroked the young Hyuuga's dark hair, an effort in making her appear more presentable. Sleeping for so long without brushing one's hair tended to result in rebellious strands going in whichever direction.
"Ah, of course you wouldn't know who my child is; forgive my mistake," she smiled behind her mask. "It's Aburame Shino."
Naruto had a heart attack right there and then that would have taken him to his early grave had he lacked his intense drive for obtaining Hokage-ship.
Instead of dying, he opted for coughing quite aggressively. "Y-you! You are Shino's mother?!"
Mitsuki raised a pale eyebrow. "Did you expect any less perfection?"
"I-I, um, no," he threaded cautiously. If the mother was anything like the son when ticked off...well.
He shuddered. He'd rather play it safe.
Mitsuki chuckled and turned her attention on Hinata once more, letting the Uzumaki adjust to the news.
"So..." he began somberly when the shock finally wore thin. "How is she really?"
She gazed at him thoughtfully for a second, and Naruto had the strange sensation she was measuring him up, seeking something.
"Hinata-chan..." she trailed off. "She's coping. The first weeks were hard on her, I know that for a fact. Right now, her physical is getting better, though after draining her of most of her chakra reserves she'll need some more rest once she awakens. As for her mental health," here she pursued her lips, "Shinobi-kun would know more about that than I myself. He has spent more time with her than anybody else combined," she disclosed.
The comment made Naruto frown, but before he could ask any more, a knock on the door beat him to it.
"Come in," Mitsuki invited, returning Hinata's head on the pillow it had momentarily vacated. Without looking up as she made sure the Hyuuga was comfortable, she said, "You guys are back."
"Hai," Yamato voiced, moving aside to let Sasuke in.
Both individuals brought with them the season of winter quite literally. Their gear and hair were dusted with snowflakes, their masked faces most likely pale underneath the porcelain.
"Any reports worth mentioning?" she prompted.
"A few," Yamoto replied, venturing into the center of the room to place a scroll on the floor. His eye roamed Hinata's arms. "I see you've been busy yourself," he murmured, pleased. "Good; you saved me the time of applying the seals myself. After all, we must hurry if we want to avoid a snowstorm hypothesized to reach our path at three in the morning tomorrow."
"Storm?" Naruto and Mitsuki questioned simultaneously.
It was Sasuke who answered this time. "Aa, it's coming from the north sea at a normal pace. It doesn't look too dangerous, or too developed, but we can't guarantee it won't later. It's in our best interest to stay away."
"I see," Mitsuki stated. She exhaled and stood. "Well, that means we better be on our way. Taichou, if you will," she turned to Yamato, who acknowledged her with a curt nod.
"I know." Sitting on the floor across from Hinata, he unrolled the scroll, took a deep breath, and clapped the palms of his hands loudly.
Almost instantly, the ink on Hinata's arms began to glow, spread and coil, crawling under her shirt like a living snake. Sasuke's vermillion eyes missed nothing and they narrowed, suspicious.
"What's happening to Hinata?" Naruto asked the question that burned on the Uchiha's tongue.
"We're sealing her away for a few hours," was Mitsuki's response, as Yamato's concentration couldn't be breached.
"Sealing her?" Sasuke repeated, his silent 'why?' clear in his voice.
The blonde crossed her arms under her chest, chocolate eyes attentive as Hinata's skin increased in glow. A white poof of smoke resounded in the chamber, the scroll and seals effectively taking Hinata to whatever dimension Yamato had designed for her.
"Our top priority was to keep Hinata away from a threat, and we've done so from the start, but in order to protect her and the village in the long-run, we decided to expose her person first in order to lure our enemy away from the Leaf and the Hyuuga clan–"
"You used her as bait," Sasuke condensed down darkly, his eyes hard.
"Is that true?" Naruto demanded, his tone cutting and accusing.
"I'm afraid so," admitted Yamato. Naruto's hurt at his confession was palpable. "Please, hear us out."
Not wishing to but needing to, Sasuke glared at the Captains expectantly. "Speak."
"You're right in saying that we used Hinata-san as bait, but we had good reasons for it. Also, we knew that the shinobi assigned in each team were capable and that if our circumstances took a turn for the worse, our chances of completing our mission with Hinata-san unharmed wouldn't be jeopardized." Yamato sighed and got to his feet, picking the scroll up and rolling it in place.
Sasuke's stony gaze softened a bit when he looked at it, but he fought the urge of taking it away from the wood-user in that same instant.
"Now, however, the third day is coming to a close, and Hinata-san's planned exposure has completed its purpose. Because of this, she no longer has to be placed in any more danger than she has to, thus the sealing." He raised the scroll for emphasis.
"Will she be okay in there?" Sasuke inquired, not taking his sight away from the compacted paper.
"Worry not," Yamato assured lightly. "Sai-kun designed this scroll himself; if Hinata-san wishes to get out by herself, she'll be able to, but if she stays asleep, she'll be safe there for a week at most."
A set of black pearls and blue sapphires pinned Yamato down with frightening intensity.
"What happens in a week?" Whether it was Sasuke or Naruto growling out the question, Yamato wasn't certain. He doubted it mattered.
"Nothing serious; it's actually something very natural," said Yamato, looking as if he'd just thought of something slightly humorous.
Feeling the glares that would result in his premature death at the back of his head, he explained. "Hinata may be a kunoichi trained to withstand many trials, but she's human; she'll be so hungry once she gets out of that scroll she might eat the first person she sees."
The tension among the men lowered at the revelation, Mitsuki noted with mirth.
"That isn't funny," Naruto pouted, sensing her inner attitude on the matter.
"It is if she eats you," an ominous drawl whispered in his ear.
Naruto jumped for the second time in less than an hour, swearing loudly when Yamato, who had sneaked behind the blond at some unknown instant, leaned back, satisfied for once again catching Naruto in his verbal traps.
Ignoring their childish behavior, Sasuke stepped away from the two, only pausing to observe the scroll in Yamato's right hand, an unknown expression on his features before contemplating Hinata's futon, now empty but most likely still retaining some of her body heat and vanilla flavor.
Hinata.
Meanwhile, Mitsuki observed him slyly in return, her eyes narrowed but her wine-colored lips curved into a smile.
So the Uchiha brat could display such a vulnerable human emotion as yearning, she thought dryly.
Mask or no mask, the power of Sasuke's gaze didn't waver for a moment, reinforcing her many theories.
Mitsuki's smile turned into a gentle smirk.
That was good. The fact that Sasuke worried, in his own way, about the woman of his most profound thoughts was a good sign.
She thought of her husband, detached and stoic to everyone but her when at home and the bedroom, and a sense of unbounded warmth filled her heart.
Good, she thought. Good.
Mutely, she encouraged him and hoped with all of her being, that when all of this mess the Hyuuga, and specifically Hinata, were in was over, she got the opportunity of seeing them become closer.
Everyone needs someone, no matter how independent that everyone is, she concluded.
Independence wasn't a bad thing, far from it, but a partner on which to relay upon made life that much richer.
Again, the face of her husband without his usual sunglasses invaded her mind and she grinned with confidence because she knew her deduction was accurate from experience.
Picking up the bowl of ink from the floor, she exited the room. She had, after all, her own packing to do before leaving, no matter how interesting and entertaining Sasuke's actions were when concerning a certain Hyuuga girl.
XXX
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It wasn't even twenty-five minutes later that they departed, the wooden cabin Yamato kept over the Team's heads sucked underground once more.
At some time between their three-day journey, the skies had turned a permanent shade of dark gray and spilled their fair share of snow.
Sasuke thanked the predictability of the winter weather and tucked his icy hands into his gloves, clasping the straps that secured around his wrists, traveling quickly through the extensive clearing of the desolated area. His steel-toed boots didn't get to touch the white landscape of the season as he almost glided with confident speed through the terrain.
Even though they flanked him, he barely turned to look at the Nara and Uzumaki at his sides.
His eyes were centered in front of him, alert for anything out of the ordinary. Despite the desert-likeness of the area, Sasuke wasn't lenient enough to discard the idea of bandits or renegade shinobi hiding in the rough frontier between the Fire and Earth Country.
The Aburame kunoichi was a hundred yards in front of them, serving as the watchman in charge of signaling threats before encountering them. The wood-user ran behind the young ninja, his job laying on defense in case any of the threats the Aburame was on the look-out for slipped past her defense. Shikamaru and Naruto were the last resources if a battle ensued, and Sasuke...
Well, he thought, his fingers momentarily grazing at the scroll attached to his belt and hidden under his cloak.
He was in charge of their protected subject.
Said subject was sealed away, kept out of sight, and soundly asleep in a world of her own.
He squeezed the rolled paper once before loosening his grip, his focus returning to what lay in front of him.
It was now close to two-fifty in the morning, and the lack of moonlight made it difficult for those unadapted to nightly missions to run without stumbling or finding an obstacle in the consuming darkness.
For Sasuke, this was not a problem worth noticing since his blood-limit took care of detecting things (such as protruding rocks and caved holes) before he got to them.
Naruto wasn't in such a lucky state. Although his Senjutsu was useful in directing him, the depleted amount of living things found in that particular rocky area was just about enough to help him make it through without depending too much on Sasuke.
If Naruto didn't have it as good as the Uchiha, Shikamaru couldn't possibly have it much better.
The genius shinobi, however, was fairing well for someone with no special eyesight and that was thanks to his companions and his uncanny ability of remembering which exact spots the Uchiha and Uzumaki had stepped on.
Without warning, an explosion in the sky made them all come to a halt, the embers of the explosive tag attached quickly dying with the cold snow.
Swift death aside, the light produced was enough for the Team to see that not too far away from where they stood, the clearing had come to an end and a batch of leafless trees stretched before them.
Yamato landed at their side. "That's the warning signal. Your Captain has engaged in battle."
"In a place like this?" Naruto exclaimed incredulously.
"They were hiding in the trees, expecting us," Sasuke concluded, his eyes catching sight of orange light.
Fire. There was a fire being lit.
His scowl deepened.
"Who's they, exactly?" Shikamaru asked, rounding on him. "You did go on patrol with Taichou, didn't you?"
"The only tribe that lives around this territory rarely tends to leave their sacred ground, especially in winter," Sasuke replied. "With that in mind–"
"You don't think it's those shadows, do you?" Naruto interrupted seriously.
"That's exactly what I think. Look at the light coming from the trees; in this darkness, they're using it to their advantage. They must have created it."
"But how?!"
"Their master must have speculated we would use this road," Sasuke responded, more to answer himself than anything else.
Tch.
"They set us up." It must have been before Hinata was sealed in the scroll, he thought. So the bait had worked, and here were the consequences.
"Let's move," Yamato told them. "Uchiha-san, take the scroll away with you; Nara-san, serve as backup for Uchiha-san. Naruto, follow me."
With those orders given and without much protest, they separated.
Sasuke and Shikamaru returned the way they'd come. Yamato and Naruto charged ahead.
Moving his mask to the side of his head, never mind his identity, Sasuke brought his thumb to his teeth and bit down until he drew blood.
"Summoning jutsu."
His ever-loyal hawk appeared in a midst of smoke, its amber eyes glinting in the darkness.
"Sasuke-sama."
Nodding in acknowledgment, Sasuke bent his knees and jumped, landing upright on the bird's back.
Shikamaru mimicked him, unfamiliar with this form of travel but not about to voice his doubts about it.
The inhuman screeches that shattered through the howl of the wind coming from the dead forest made him pause.
Taking notice of this, Sasuke looked at him. "Nara..."
"I'll probably get an earful for this, but gathering information wouldn't be so troublesome right now," said Shikamaru with a caustic edge. "If I observe those shadows enough and crack their mechanism –"
Sasuke understood his inclination and shook his slightly throbbing head. "Give your reasoning to someone that cares and get going," he told him. He didn't have time to try and convince the Nara to stay (not that he wanted to in the first place). Besides, his doll was starting to once again filter into his mind, though he had to admit, his pain was duller.
Shikamaru smirked grimly but jumped from Sasuke's summon, landing on the snow a few feet below him.
Sasuke didn't look as Shikamaru broke the fall, but he did call for one of his smaller messengers.
The medium-sized hawk that had once delivered Mitsuki's message to Senju Tsunade popped into existence, its claws grasping on Sasuke's extended arm.
"Uchiha-sama."
"Follow that shinobi," Sasuke instructed. "Guide him to me once he's done with his business."
"Yes, Uchiha-sama."
With that, Sasuke disappeared into the snowy sky and into the darkness, the precious scroll hanging from his belt secure in his hand.
XXX
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He went off-course, and he knew it. He'd done it intentionally, after all.
Whether those shadows knew any more about the course the Team had set, Sasuke didn't know nor was willing to find out. Sticking to the old instructions was futile now
He settled on a mountain cave a few hours away from the designed traveling path, deciding to wait for any signs from the rest of the Team, as he was told to if anything like this happened.
He soon grew cold (as he had no fire) and bored, his back pressed against the cave wall, the whistling of the frigid air in his ears, the darkness oppressive.
The only thing that kept him at bay was his slight headache, which came and went at will.
"Hinata," he sighed the name of the culprit, wondering just what she was doing at the moment.
Taking the scroll from under his coat, he studied the design and the way it felt on his palm.
As if invoking her by merely pronouncing her given name, the scroll in his hold vibrated.
Before he so much as moved, a poof of smoke so known for releasing summons and seals clouded the cave.
Familiar gasps filled the air and Sasuke sat, attentively listening.
When nothing else was heard, he called her. "Hinata."
Heavy panting. Then, "Uchiha-kun...?"
"You are awake." Way to point out the obvious, Sasuke.
"Yes," was her feeble attempt of an answer.
Among the smoke that was quickly fading knelt Hinata, her hand at her throat, the other one at her heaving chest.
At some time, her braid had lost its composure and released her hair, which now curled in soft waves around her shoulders. Her shirt was in shambles and failed to possess sleeves to protect her from the cold.
Sasuke sent a mental smack to the Aburame woman whom he blamed before disrobing his coat and placing it on her shivering form.
Whatever protest the young girl sputtered was heard by deaf ears and the embarrassed 'I can walk' and 'You don't have to do this' were ignored in a similar fashion when he hosted her in his arms.
"Your strength has yet to return fully. If you go around and fall to your death on my watch, guess who your pretty cousin is going to hunt down?" Sasuke questioned dryly in order to excuse his actions.
Hinata's mouth dropped open only for a soft chuckle to exit.
"What?" he looked down at her suspiciously.
She smiled, dimple showing. "Y-you called Neji-niisan pretty. He'll be delighted when he hears about this."
His eyes narrowed, but he decided to play along. "And I'm guessing you'll be the one to tell him?"
Her lips twitched. "Maybe– " Her stomach chose that particular moment to growl indecently.
Hinata's nose and cheeks were instantly flushed in an ashamed pink.
Sasuke snorted at her expression but nonetheless said, "I see. However, I'm sure we can come to an arrangement over keeping quiet for my slip."
Her covered gaze fell on him as he sat her down against the wall he'd used previously, interest clear on her face.
"Here's my offer: I give you food and you forget I ever mentioned your cousin's one and only good quality."
"Neji-niisan has many qualities!" Hinata was quick to point out. "A-and all of them are good!" Except for a moody few, but she wasn't going to mention that to anyone.
Sasuke shook his head. "You're missing the point. Deal or no deal?"
The girl delved into Sasuke's coat a few sizes too big and pretended to think about it.
When Sasuke decided it was time to call for the big guns, he pulled out a packet of food from his bag, that although preserved, was still better than an empty stomach.
Hinata's pretense didn't last long after she caught on to him eating, so obviously tempting her.
"T-that was low," she muttered, but grabbed the food when Sasuke supplied it directly to her hands.
"Mere war tactics," Sasuke dismissed, flickering a grain of rice from the corner of his lips.
He could have sworn she pouted. "Hmph."
Sasuke smirked.
As she ate, Hinata seemed to get lost in her thoughts, her face sobering as their light banter came to an end.
It wasn't until she was on her third ration (the girl had quite the appetite, Sasuke thought, impressed) that he decided to bring up what was obviously bothering her.
"You saw something, didn't you." It wasn't a question. "In here," he continued, tapping the side of her head gently.
Hinata's mouth parted, then pressed together grimly in remembrance.
He knew.
Uchiha-kun knew.
She was initially surprised, but that quickly faded when she remembered he was the one who'd introduced her to her own icy mindscape. Of course, he would know more about the process of diving there.
"Yes. I did."
Silence.
Hinata felt her recently filled stomach drop, its contents becoming ridiculously heavy. She turned away, lowering her chopsticks and placing the lid on her plate to store whatever remains away, a troubled expression on her face when he didn't say anything.
Maybe she had upset him. Kid Uchiha-kun had, after all, told her she didn't belong in his domains but she'd ignored him.
"I didn't mean to," said she, her voice hushed.
He glanced at her fondly but his expression was lost on her physical blindness. "I'm not mad at you."
Silly girl.
If anything, he was a little frustrated at himself because his mental barriers were futile when with her and he didn't have the time to build them up during this mission.
To be honest, he didn't even know if he wanted to, but he knew it was a must. There were things residing in his mind that were not to be privy to anyone's eyes, much less hers. If she were to know the darkest places of his heart...he was apprehensive she'd turn away from him.
"There's something I don't understand," he began, shaking off the daunting thought, "and that is how you managed to enter another mind-scape aside from yours in the first place." Never mind that she'd entered his. It was only logical if he thought about it. No one he knew had gained so much ground as he had in the field, not even Yamanaka Ino with her mind jutsus.
No one had developed his mind so extensively as he, so it was somewhat expected that Hinata's own subconscious would pull her to him or vice versa.
"You said you didn't mean to do it," he mused out loud. "However, that doesn't mean you didn't try anything. Am I wrong?"
Technically, no. She told him as much.
"So you did try something. What was it?"
"Well, Uchiha-kun told me to take control of my own mind, so I did as I was told. When Tsunade-sama had me in her caring, I spent the majority of my time alone, so I meditated for hours. More than once I found myself in a dark hall,...but I thought it was just a side-effect of my lack of sight."
"It wasn't," Sasuke reassured her. "Those dark halls were most likely entrances to my head. Recall that I mentioned that there were many doors in a person's mind."
She nodded. She remembered that.
"Next time, don't do it by yourself. Wait for me," he advised.
"Is it because I can get lost and not resurface, as you said before?" she asked.
"That," agreed Sasuke, "and also because you're affecting me as well."
If the look on her face was any sign, she hadn't expected that reasoning. "Affecting you? H-how?"
Sasuke leaned back on one of his hands. "Whatever you're seeing or experiencing while in my mind reflects on me if I'm asleep. This afternoon, I woke up drowning."
Her body went stiff.
Drowning.
So it was true.
"If I happen to be awake, which is most of the time, pain builds in my head," Sasuke added. "Because we're on mission, it'd be in our best benefit to maintain our top shape."
Her already pale skin lost all sense of color.
"I-I'm so sorry."
Sasuke glanced at her through messy dark bangs. "I didn't tell you this so you could feel guilty. You don't need to apologize."
He should have filled her in earlier, but having taken her circumstances and condition into consideration, he'd found it wise not to.
The fact that the information itself was surreal and quite personal hadn't made it easier for him, either.
"But...I hurt you," she protested, jaw clenched tight. "So, please accept my apolo–"
"Did you do it on purpose?" he interrupted before she was done. "Did you do it will ill intentions?"
"That's not what I –"
The firm hand that fell on top of her head stopped whatever sentence that was to be formed.
"Did you?" he persisted, giving her crown a little shake.
"No," she admitted softly and truthfully, seeing where he was heading with this.
"Then there's no reason for you to bow your head to me, or anyone else, ever," he concluded, fingers absentmindedly sinking into her wavy indigo hair.
Hinata said nothing, and he could tell by the whitening of her knuckles that she wasn't satisfied.
"Hinata, you didn't know, but now you do. Is that understood?" he prodded after a moment.
She nodded hesitantly in answer, but that wasn't good enough for him.
"Hinata," he chided, moving her head a little with a tilt of his wrist. "Am I understood?"
"...Hai."
Sasuke sighed almost inaudibly. "Good," he murmured, standing. Sitting for so long was making him stiff, and the last thing he wanted was for his muscles to lose their efficiency.
Before his frame could straighten completely, the doll spoke. "If you won't let me apologize, t-then allow me to take a bit of your pain away," she proposed in a flurry of words.
Sasuke blinked but regarded her curiously, wondering what she would do if he gave her the go-ahead.
Her face looked so resolute but was so filled with embarrassment he almost laughed.
Almost.
What a peculiar expression.
He then thought that it would certainly be interesting to discover what she came up with if he agreed to her spontaneous proposition.
"Hm."
Taking that as permission, she stood as well, pinpointing his direction by the sound of his baritone voice.
The little smile that escaped him at the difference in height between the two was hard to contain.
The midget of a Hyuuga didn't even reach his shoulders, he noted with a gleam of hilarity in his eye.
Nonetheless, height aside, Hinata was attempting in reaching a point in his neck that she was most obviously never going to reach with Sasuke standing.
Giving her struggles a break, no matter how entertaining, Sasuke bent to her level.
"Now you may proceed."
Hinata puffed her cheeks at the subtle teasing.
Getting back to work now that her objective was within reach, she traced the back of his head with small digits gliding over his hair.
A second ticked by. Sasuke waited patiently.
"Found it," whispered Hinata victoriously.
Before Sasuke could question her discovery, a string of chakra entered his system.
He sucked air and released it in a hiss.
Shinobi deities abroad, what had she done to him?
It felt amazing.
"Contained electric shocks," Hinata provided as a form of explanation. "In the Hyuuga clan, they are used to relieve stress, s-since we need a clear mind to perform our taijutsu – "
Sasuke's mouth in the hollow of her throat was a whisper of a touch, making her breathe softly.
….Ah, and there went her concentration.
"I think...we've done a sufficient amount of talking today, don't you, Hyuuga?" commented Sasuke, rising to his full height again.
That was the verbal signal that gave her admittance to her new-found and growing desires when alone with him. "I-I don't know about that," she mused.
"Hn." He didn't believe her one bit.
Her fingers deliberately scrunched the fabric of his shirt and Sasuke closed his dark eyes, allowing her hands to roam from his shoulders to the nape of his neck in tentative touches.
Her graceful movements were expected from her gentle nature; the pleasure they created were not.
Sasuke decided he liked having her like this, with the heat of her fingertips welcome in the cold of winter.
The muscles in his body relaxed as much as he'd allow and his own hands settled on her hips, slowly stirring her as close as humanly possible without startling her.
Hinata moved along with his guiding hands and was delicately pressed against his chest. She put up no resistance when his loose grip tightened, fingers digging into her skin, and only released a shuddering sigh that he returned not a moment later when she raised her face and kissed his chapped lips chastely.
She repeated the action not once, but twice and thrice, before pulling back slightly.
Her flesh departed, but her warmth remained. His tongue licked his lower lip, indulging itself in the flavor she'd left.
"I-is your headache gone?" she whispered, a single digit tracing the contour of his jaw.
Frowning momentarily at the distance, he brought her closer again, the tip of his nose brushing hers. "Mm, perhaps," he admitted in serious contemplation but she could feel the slight pull of his lips against her own. "Whatever you did must be taking effect."
Her cheeks reddened at the strange sensation his smirking mouth caused, but she didn't distance herself again. From another man, she would have, but not from Sasuke, who'd obtained her trust and her heart.
Detaching her hands from his back, she settled them on his thawing cheeks and their rough texture that asked for a shave was a first for Hinata.
She'd never seen – or felt – Sasuke without his pale, clean face. His, that was much prettier than a girl's but that was accurately male, had always captivated women and some men, but never Hinata.
Until now. She'd recognized that he was handsome since childhood, but the proof of his facial hair made him appear that more gorgeous.
However, outside beauty was not all; she knew better.
She knew something that many (if any) would never even encounter.
She knew a part of his mind that would never be seen by the eyes of others.
And that part of his mind was a macabre world painted in blood and decorated with pain and regret. It was a heavy section filled with human horrors and human mistakes. It was a world of secret passages and deep black oceans.
It was a terrible inner reality surrounded by dark wonders.
She didn't come to love his fearscape, because all of that tragedy in the flesh represented his own agony, his own fears.
The Hyuuga Princess didn't love it, but neither did she despise it completely.
She accepted it because, in the end, it was Sasuke and she embraced his being with his past and his present. Despite her feelings about that mindscape, it hurt her that his inner child was trapped in such a frightening existence.
Knowing that there was nothing else she could do but support him, Hinata sighed again and pressed a last kiss on his cheek, prolonging it as much as she could before pulling away.
She was weary. She wasn't sleepy, per se; she'd slept more than enough, but she was exhausted.
Sasuke, an individual that missed little, noticed. "Tired?"
Her strength was enough to conjure a primitive sound of assertion.
"Come here," he tugged at her hand, readjusting his coat on her from its displaced position. "Rest." It wasn't an order, but neither was it an option.
"Hai," she chirped lowly as he deposited her back on her previous spot.
He sat next to her, his right arm draped over her shoulders, his left one on the hilt of his katana.
With everything happening, questioning the other Team member's whereabouts must have slipped Hinata's mind. That was fine with Sasuke. He didn't have to worry her more than she probably was with this mission anyway.
However, that didn't mean he could slack off. Turning on his Sharingan, he kept his senses on the alert.
Now that Hinata wasn't sealed in the scroll, he had to keep a sharper and more vigilant outlook.
It wasn't until hours later that Hinata started to gain more vitality that someone finally appeared.
Dull brown eyes watched in complete shock from the opening of the cave, the sharp claws belonging to the hawk on his shoulder disregarded as his brain tried to come up with a logical explanation for the particular scene he'd walked on.
The eyes' owner stood frozen in disbelief even when Hinata and Sasuke, the protagonist of his stupor, turned on his direction.
Hinata and...Sasuke?
There was something that just didn't add up about those two in the equation before his eyes and he couldn't figure out what it was. Maybe he was just over-thinking things.
Then again, he didn't tend to analyze matters of any kind to that extreme.
Troublesome.
That day was the day Nara Shikamaru questioned his ability to deduct. And his sanity, because certainly what he was seeing was his mind playing tricks on him.
Certainly.
XXXX
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A/N: I was going to update on the 11.26, but I wanted to add more interactions. Well, I didn't take 9 months this time. However, I have two words: 'work' and 'college'. Now, I'm well aware of losing popularity when taking months to update. But what am I to do? Drop college, work, and focus only on writing? If only I could, but sadly, writing fanfics isn't gonna pay the bills.
Anyhow...THERE WERE SO MANY THINGS I WANTED TO PUT IN THIS CHAPTER but it just couldn't be. In that case, please await Chapter 19: Frost.
I'll be back in a month, I believe, since I have finals next week.
Thanks to sandeep, Syumi, SigAnGelHeArt, mangetsu no hime, sash, Hinata-Hime-Starz, rallybabe89, Anushka, guest, Saki-Hime, hyuuga nala, Fiona, anon, guest X, Onlyluna, jex the dork, guest, rozen1331, Lyriel, Cat Beats, Guest, SasuHina fan, MexiKim, MsChifSantos, Sahel, I luv inu so bak off sike, anlmoon, xXNevarXx, Lushca, Break Blade, WarFlower, Duchess23, necee90, 21me21, anee, RosalieCullen1822, KoiFusion, forgetmenotlovely, NanamiYatsumaki, 372259, Akumakisses, Guest, Yazie567, Guest, SilverDreamsCA, Guest, umnia, aurora0914, Short-Stuff004, LIZA, KaoriAyako, iivogelchen, la bella nunez, nanitaa, Essencedesiles, megingjoro, Crystale, EMLA, KatsukiCrimsonSnow, and Risu-YUI.
Dear forgetmenotlovely, I've tried to be concise. I've failed miserably. I could work out this problem, but it seems my mind has turned a deaf ear to the suggestions.
-12.1.15
Revised 5.17.19