My One In A Million
Chapter Twenty Two:
Something went wrong.
Horribly wrong.
She couldn't move, they drugged her, Karin refused to take her place, Sasuke had warned her that if she messed up she will be on her own.
And now she… where was she?
In the land of grass?
A man was standing in the middle of a field in broad daylight, shoulders squared and face a blur.
This particular staring contest felt like it's been going on for days.
He was angry at her.
Why was he always angry at her?
Why did she always show him an embarrassing side of herself?
The wind that smelled like campfire and sounded like the sea tickled her ear for as long as she stood there, waiting for an accusation or an explanation or a goodbye.
She wasn't yet sure why she was here or what it is she was holding out for, it was nice to just breathe every once in a while. Having suffered heart failure several times in her short life taught her to appreciate every deep breath she was allowed to take.
He spoke, without sound, like she was underwater and could only guess the words by the shape of his blurry mouth. "You have to wake up."
Was she asleep?
Was this a dream?
"You have to pull through, you can't die here."
Oh… She was dying?
That would explain how she could be here for so long without food or sleep…
"Everyone is waiting for you. Hanabi, Naruto, Kurenai." The names went on, familiar, hearing them in his voice was funny, he never said them so plainly. "Come back."
But this was alright, wasn't it?
Because, well…
There was nothing around but cliffs and sea. Where would she even begin her journey?
"Where do I go?" He didn't look like he'd heard her question, she couldn't hear it either.
Naturally, because she was dead.
Maybe it was better this way, she liked it here.
This was good enough.
He was here, at least.
"Anywhere you want." The sound of crashing waves was making her sleepy, how come she couldn't hear his voice?
She liked his voice, though…
Especially when –if- he said her name.
Nowadays he only calls her princess, unsure if he was still mocking her or if it had turned into a term of endearment.
"I want to stay here." Even if he was the angel of death, even if he was an illusion that will keep her locked in here forever.
This was okay, nobody was waiting for her anyway.
The Hyuuga failure.
Were her eyes stolen? Did they mount her head on a spike?
Was she being reborn? Can she choose what to be reborn into?
Can she become a mermaid?
"It's wha-" The next words she couldn't hear well, the sound of thunder in the distance deafened her to his already muted words. "-nts to see you."
Nah…
She was good here. "I like it here."
He dropped his head to his chest in defeat, just like that day the war ended when no one dared approach him about the gaping wound on his abdomen so he stood there looking at it, like glaring would magically close it up.
His eyes didn't register her then when she healed him, nor the many encounters before and after, school and exams and assemblies and festivals and rebuilding and group dinners; not until their first argument with a ladle of soup that taught him her name and the weight of putting her foot down.
"All this, for me?"
The wind brought forth the scent of rain and the burning wires of the old academy, the drained slant of his shoulders as he walked home, oblivious of her feet that hesitated seven steps away. The blood and tears he wouldn't show anyone, his pleading voice that still resonated in her head even now.
"I'm begging you…"
His straight back and tilted head, laughing with Naruto in a way he wouldn't do when others were around. Standing face to face with him to argue about something insignificant, in a half-playful manner he wouldn't allow anybody else.
The tightening of his fists as he stood in front of the shelf in the store, asking himself if he wanted to have rice or noodles; he didn't want to have pasta, did he?
"So you're free tonight?"
The smell of antiseptic, the gauze around his torso that peeked through the holes in his hospital gown, the sigh he breathed when he'd forgotten someone was still there. The clamminess of his skin in that moment he collapsed to the floor, too gone to notice that she caught him at the very last minute.
"There's nothing left for me here… Kill me."
"Tell me not to go."
His peaceful face as he slept, graceful fingers whose nails she trimmed, the sadness he shed on her shoulder when he thought he was all alone.
He was all alone.
The last Uchiha.
"What does a princess like you know about sacrifice and regret…?"
The sad eyes he directed to a far-off point as he sat for hours in his district's rubble, unaware of a Hyuuga hiding several streets away trying to muster the courage to speak with him. His disgust of, and desperation for, affection. His heart beating like a scared bird under her hands, his stiff jokes when she made him uncomfortable, the glaze over his eyes whenever she talked for long.
"What do you not understand, the part where I like you or the part where I ask you to marry me?"
The tightness around his mouth when she didn't believe him, the bitter smile he turned away when she was too scared to accept the realization right under her nose.
"Not if you're so disgusted by the thought, no."
The line between the brows when he pretended not to see her, the quiet breath of relief he exhaled whenever she excused herself, his watchful eyes when she told him no, and sorry, and I can't.
"Coward."
A small, frightened part of him that recoiled back into a shell, a safe corner she was all too familiar with, the protective clutching of too-tender emotions. Withdrawing from things good and bad, searching for a dark corner to lick wounds that refused to heal.
"If my efforts are going to be shrugged off then I might as well move on to somebody who would appreciate them. There are a million people in the world…"
There were several million people in the world, yet for some reason it was always her he'd pulled out of a stifling crowd, her hands he gripped for guidance, her hair he touched on a windy day, her offers of food and drink he accepted, her shoulders he held an umbrella over, her body he always kept behind his back to protect.
To think he'd looked at her the way Naruto looked at Sakura, hugged her like Kurenai, counseled her like Temari, teased her like Kiba, believed in her like Shino, reprimanded her like father, humored her like Hanabi, and took her seriously like Neji.
He was all of that and she'd let him go because she was too scared of an emotional paper cut that may or may not happen.
And now she was dead, and he was gone, and she was all alone to fend for herself because she failed a failsafe mission.
Pathetic…
"Come back." The voice repeated between her ears so many times the words stopped sounding like words.
Others will always find someone else, none of them needed her, father and Naruto and Kurenai; their life goes on without her.
But her? Him?
Would her life go on if she went back now and he wasn't there?
Was it worth it to return to that stiff routine of seeing but not touching?
To hear him talk and not join in?
To know he's heading out to lunch and not follow?
To see someone on his arm and not have the right to be jealous about it…?
Something shook her out of the downward spiral into a cold damp abyss, loud and unbearable, "It's okay if you hate me, but you have to come back!"
She peeked up through the hair that clung to her lashes, the strings that stuck to her lips, he looked like he was in pain. "Go back to what? There's nothing to go back to… It's gone…"
The hooded figure that stood to her right gripped her hand tighter. "See? There is no reason to linger here anymore. Let me guide you."
"Where are you going?" The boy called with horror in his voice, his wide eyes glued to the intertwined fingers. "Everyone is waiting for you!"
"Their life goes on without me, they don't need me." With a small shrug, she turned to follow the angel of death with his dark purple clothes and his white hair and his round glasses.
Sasuke's shirt flailed in the wind, he opened his arms wide. "Then come back for me!"
Didn't he hate her?
He hated all of her, hated her touch, hated her intrusions, hated looking at her. The only reason he talked to her about the whole plan was to ask her to throw her life away.
"If you're so keen on getting yourself killed, how about you sacrifice yourself to a greater cause?"
"No one cares about being proper anymore, I'd rather you move in with me."
"We can use my kitchen."
"So let's go, get out of here. Being a missing nin doesn't sound too bad."
"Next time make sure it is kill now ask questions later, not have your eyeballs plucked out."
She's not ten, she'll say it if she wanted to.
Are they giving you a bad price?
People like us can disappear in the blink of an eye.
When does the lord's mother stop plotting against Tsubaki?
Is Camellia troublesome to take care of?
Do they get married at the end?
Love is overrated.
Marry me.
She ran. Grass and dirt between her toes, wind in her hair and sunshine in her lashes. Her body crashed into him, pressed flush against his like falling from a great height, welcomed by an impossibly tight embrace with equally desperate arms and rainfall on her cheeks.
His familiar scent swirling around them, hands on her face, erratic heart beating against her ear, laughter echoing in her chest that wasn't her own. "Welcome back, princess."
All she wanted was to feel safe and loved, just for a few seconds, and then whatever happens, happens.
"I'm home."
The first thing that occurred to her when she stirred awake was that her eyes were still intact. Several abduction attempts made sure it was the first thing to cross her mind first thing of every morning of everyday for the rest of her life.
The bed she was sleeping in was not familiar, it smelled clean and was warm from her body heat, the whole room was toasty with the orange rays of a buzzing heating unit set a few feet away in her direction. There was barely any furniture save the bed and a nightstand, her dirty sandals were set on a yellowing newspaper at the foot of the only door in this room.
This wasn't home, but her Byakugan was alright and her clothes were untouched. Nothing else mattered.
She was wearing the same heavy layers on top and standard-issue pants two sizes bigger, the last outfit she'd worn to work yesterday only now it smelled of stale sweat and mud. The inside of the sheets was scratchy with dirt and several hairs she shed, the air was crisp and pleasant to take in, as if a weight had been lifted off her chest.
It was strange to feel so well-rested and relaxed considering she's been drugged and kidnapped.
Someone must have saved her because she was whole and unguarded, the window led to snow outside which would be easy to escape through unnoticed, they would've done something about it if containing her was a priority.
The sound of a kettle whistling somewhere beyond a few walls confirmed her suspicions: She was safe and welcome here.
But where was here?
As far as she can sense without alarming whoever was out there with activating Byakugan, there was barely anyone else around in a radius of several kilometers.
A pulled muscle in her left leg hurt, she hobbled carefully in this dim room to the wall, waited for the lightheadedness to subside, and made her way across to the groaning door. The polished wood hallway was illuminated with candles that cast an eerie glow, maybe someone is too cheap to pay for more than heating in their electricity bills. The first room she found was a bathroom, allowing her to wash up quickly to clear her eyes of grime and her face of what felt like tearstains. The taste of bitter cotton was washed away from her mouth at last, it was the bits of dried blood circling down the drain that began the cycle of terribly familiar health concerns.
If she was coughing up blood again then her heart was failing.
After so many years, why?
Her insides were both hot and cold, her breath light and overwhelming, her fingertips clammy and unstable.
The scar between her breasts was ever the same, then why were her insides so different?
The end of the hallway opened to a large dining and living area that was separated from the small kitchen with a counter, it was quiet save the sounds of someone making tea, in candlelight and afternoon sun filtering through the window, it was clear there was no one else in this big house but her.
And Uchiha Sasuke.
Somehow she wasn't surprised, as if a somewhere in her heart she had expected him.
Or maybe it was the effect of waking up form a dream saturated with his presence. A blush warmed her cheeks at remembering a little bit of the very end where she hugged him as tightly as she sometimes wished she could.
The wheeze in her chest that always bothered her in so cold a weather was quiet, this place was so still that it was hard to not hear her own footsteps on the waxed wooden floors.
His voice, when he spoke, cut through the silence like a kunai. "Tea?" he set a tray with a pot and cups on the dining table and unfolded a newspaper.
"Did I fail?" The corner she hugged felt safer than being the object of his cool gaze, she looked down at her feet the longer he remained quiet.
Why else would they send the director of HR himself, the invincible Uchiha Sasuke, to clean up after her?
The last thing she remembered was the plan going well, him excusing himself, the Cloud nin sharing a knowing glance, and the taste of her lemon water going slightly acidic after she spoke with the waitress.
And then Karen refused to proceed when it was time to do the switch, allowing the poison to invade her whole system…
"Hmm…" He pursed his lips in thought and flipped a few pages. "Fail? Depends on how you look at it."
Hinata limped to the only other chair at the dining table when he turned the newspaper in her direction, and tapped a finger on the biggest headline: Uchiha Sasuke plots with the Water Country to kidnap rich man's daughter!
He didn't look too worried, or maybe that was the mask he wears when he's cornered.
The flashy subtitles scattered around the article read: Cloud kidnappers arrested at the border of The Hot Springs after she escaped, Uchiha still missing! Several culprits who facilitated the event exposed at the very heart of the Hokage's office! Human experimentation labs found all over the Water country! Mizukage is horrified at the scandal, closes down the country's biggest medical institutes for questioning!
The other articles on the second and third pages were about the same event, as if it was the most exciting thing since the ten-tails attack:
Girl's father offers 150,000,000 Ryu to whoever can bring his daughter back unharmed, 10,000R to expose a culprit.
Cloud Ninja kills self in the Leaf's interrogation department following the exposure of their abduction plans, officials claim 'no foul play' was involved.
War hero Uzumaki Naruto swears that no member of the Cloud will enter the Land of Fire until firm laws prohibiting their research on human subjects are set in place, departs to manage talks in person today.
A summit to discuss further treaties is called in the Land of Frost, borders to every village are at top-state alert for the girl.
No official statement over the Uchiha's affiliation, assumed to be with the Leaf until further notice.
The fourth page finally settles down to more normal news: The land of Rain defaults on a leader when other candidates withdrew. The economic value of hay from the village of Grass continues to rise. Athletic summit postponed in the land of Rock because the teams can't make it through the border checkpoints.
It was strange to read a paper full of news knowing they were mostly driven by her little self. The world was spinning on a pin and here she was in the peaceful countryside, chatting over tea.
"Why did you make it look like you kidnapped me?"
Sasuke poured her a cup of tea and edged it to her end of the table, making a point not to look her in the eye. "It wasn't part of the plan."
She waited for him to elaborate but he didn't, simply poured himself a cup and sat to stare at it like the answers would float with the scattered leaves on the surface. "Why are you here, then? Didn't you say I'll be on my own if I failed?"
All she had to do was let them pull a sack over her head and not die, what's there to mess up?
"You played your part well. I was there to set an illusion on their minds to make the switch easier, it was Karin who refused to go on without being a brat about it. She's usually aware of these things but I guess this was something she had to actually touch you to find." across the table, he surprised her by holding her hand and activating a jutsu that prodded her injuries curiously -a technique only Tsunade knew- the chewed part of her lip, the dryness in the corners of her eyes, the tight muscle in her leg, the blush blossoming on her face at his touch. "Then I noticed it too, so I brought you here while I sorted it out away from the chaos in the village. I don't mind that they would come up with something like this as long as I've crushed it once and for all. If anything, it's doing my work for me: Your father's putting his connections to some good use to find out who could benefit from it, in two days he ripped out of office those I couldn't catch in two months."
Her hand grew cold when he removed his, they held their cups firmly in an attempt to restore some heat. "I don't understand… What did you and Karin san notice?"
Snort. "You say it so innocently. How did I not see it before?" it bothered him that she faked the confusion so convincingly he forgot to drink his calming jasmine tea. "Pretend all you want. He couldn't have planted it in five seconds like the shrimp; this was elaborate, crude but complicated. He had you for all the time he needed."
"Who are you talking about?!"
"Kabuto!" He snapped.
"Wha…?! Are you just making things up now?"
"Shut up!"
What a rare sight, Uchiha Sasuke was really, unreservedly angry.
The continued blinking of her eyes was not answer enough, at the same time he didn't want to hear any excuses and found himself caught between needing confirmation and dreading it. "You thought I wouldn't find out huh? When did it start, at work? When you got the apartment? At the hospital? From the very beginning?"
"What's the very beginning, anyway?" A delicate hand rested on her chest, questioning the lightness of her breath and the ease with which her heart beat. Something was different, the tightness in her gut was gone, she was cold but the fluid around her heart wasn't overflowing through the mouth, her old injury should be acting up but it wasn't.
She's been told the blocked points in her chest were too far gone to restore, that not even a miracle worker like Tsunade can return her to that ideal physical condition before Neji attacked her in the Chuunin exams.
The ominous figure in her sleep wasn't the angel of death, was he? She'd heard about Kabuto being a healer, but he was also a spy and a dangerous opponent with questionable intentions. Even if he could've healed her she would never risk him getting close enough to take her eyes. "When could he have gotten to me?"
"That's what I'm asking!"
"I don't know either! I'd remember if someone like that touched me! My whole life I've been trained not to let strangers get close, a Hyuuga wouldn't be left without a seal if there was a one percent chance for their body to be used by someone else! I may be the leader's daughter but I'm not exempt from that! My team wouldn't let him, they'll never forget to tell me even if he did! I had no contact with that person, there must be some kind of mistake!"
He looked like he'd rather be listening to oldies music on the radio than her theories –excuses!- and it was the coldest expression he'd ever aimed her way. "Look at the article about the Rain, those puppets he controlled fell apart like castles of cards. Same method he used to control that dead guy who burned the Academy down. Naruto wasted months there trying to sort it out and all along it was you…"
"It wasn't me!" She squeaked, "I didn't even know!"
"Hnf. Whatever." The first sip of tea was hot and watered down, the second just as unpleasant and the third, bitter and contemplative. "You're in luck because no one will believe me even if I accused you of anything, so we're gonna stay put until I'm certain you weren't controlling someone in Konoha as well."
Her mouth ran dry at the thought of being his captive just like the newspapers claimed, "You're holding me prisoner?!"
His finger tapped the newsflash, "I'm accused of kidnapping you already, Ibiki's torture chamber is waiting for me no matter what truth I tell. So yeah, if I'm damned if I do and damned if I don't, might as well take you hostage."
"Till when?"
"Until I say so. Now drink your tea."
The steam was warm on her lips as she took what felt like the first drink in weeks, the one persistent thought lingering in the back of her throat escaped before she could refine it. "If you trusted me before when it was there, why not now that you've taken it out?"
There was no immediate answer, he looked at her, he saw the moisture stubbornly clinging to her lashes, he made up his mind and sucked a breath to speak, in the end he never replied.
Eventually, the only sounds she listened to were the hum of the fridge, the buzz of the electric heating unit by their feet, and the occasional sip of tasteless tea.
At the bottom of her cup was a small shriveled leaf, she turned it this way and that to watch the clear waves toss it around helplessly, working up the courage to say something or the other.
If she was going to be kidnapped by him, there needed to be some clear boundaries. "I won't follow any rules." Out of context, that was the second most horrible thing she could have told him. The first most horrible was, "I mean…! You don't scare me!"
"Because you were never on the other end of my sword." He scowled and leaned back on the creaky chair, unbothered by her challenging words or the determination in her eyes.
"No, I don't mean that in a defying way!"
"You've always defied me. It should have been the first clue."
"I'm not his pawn!" Her cup hit the table louder than acceptable of a proper lady, Sharingan flashed in his eyes at the aggression. "Why does it sound like you're making it up to take my eyes for yourself?"
"What makes you think I'm not?" His expressionless face contradicted the need to keep his eyes prepared. "Eyeballs with Dojutsu are hella expensive in the black market, did you know that?"
Her pleading eyes were set on him for long, trying to understand where he was coming from. He never let his guard down for a second. "I thought we were friends." His eyes when she peeked through her fringe were cold and expectant, like he was waiting for her to do something wrong to justify murdering her. She didn't want to fight him, only an idiot got into a scuffle with Uchiha Sasuke and the only idiot who did had a lineup of tailed beasts on his side. "If you only found out about this recently, why else did you hate me?"
"Hate you?"
The transition from red to black was a relief, but not as great as the genuine surprise in his voice.
Did he… not hate her?
"Yes, well… It was hard to miss, we used to spend so much time together and then suddenly you can barely talk to me. You hang out with others but when you see me you remember all the things that keep you busy. And now this… I don't know if you're pushing for a fight or if you're really keeping me here for the safety of others…" Her intertwined fingers stopped being interesting the longer he kept quiet. "I won't fight you, it will either end with my death or with me killing you, and I'd rather have neither."
Her submissive statement might as well have been a spit in his general direction because in an instant he was out of his chair with a sneer on his face and a hand reaching for her neck.
Reacting on instinct before logic, she knocked back his wrist with the heel of her hand, turning off the point like a light, and jumped out of her seat to stand a safe distance away from any obstacles. His reluctance for furnishing was becoming an advantage, to him there was nothing to use as a weapon, to her it was just another open dojo to dance however she liked.
"Whose house is this?" She rolled down the sleeves of her jacket to cover her palms.
"Mine." He kept his eyes on her, the actual weight of his Eternal Mangekyou's power was haunting to experience in person, like a claustrophobic cloud of mist closing in around them. "I bought it a few years ago, a housekeeper cleans it when I message her. I'm not telling you where it's located."
The apologetic smile wore off her face in seconds, she knocked back the saltshaker he chucked with accuracy towards her nose and hissed at the pain that traveled up her arm at contact. Sasuke didn't have weapons, so he came at her with his limbs. He was fast and efficient, she was injured and reluctant, and before she could get another word in, his elbow hit her in the face and she reeled back with blood running down her nose and tears of pain clinging to her lashes.
And then she blinked away the illusion to find that her nose was alright, that the Uchiha was teaching her a lesson without landing any actual hits.
Activating her Byakugan meant he wouldn't mess with her with illusions anymore, even if it increased her headache. "Does Naruto kun know where we are?"
"Probably not." His Eternal Mangekyou softened to basic Sharingan, not wanting to emit too much chakra to trace. "Snake messengers are hard to follow, it'll take that idiot some time to decipher my message and answer back."
"What did you tell him?" Her eyes were on him in case he moved for another attack which left her completely open to the snake that wrapped around her right ankle and pulled it from under her, the slap of her hands on the floor was loud but so was the grunt that escaped his throat when her foot found his stomach. He was grinning –or grimacing- and stepping back from his attempt to pin her to the floor, it allowed her a moment to right herself up and allowed his body to disappear in a puff of smoke.
He was standing relaxed behind her, amused.
"You're going easy on me." Her brows pulled together, offended.
"So are you, what's with those sleeves."
"I don't want to kill you!"
"Unless you're aiming to kill, you won't land one hit. I'm disappointed, maybe I should've kidnapped your cousin, wasn't he the strongest?" He was too comfortable in his unbalanced stance thinking she would listen to him till the end, he didn't know what hit him until he was flat on his back staring at the wooden beams in the ceiling, colors danced around his peripheral vision and the backs of his legs stung.
Hinata's face was tight with veins of Byakugan and the displeasure of being ridiculed. "Neji-nii had a tree run through his chest during the war, I'm second in strength to Hanabi now." The hands that peeked out of the sleeves were cotton-white with roughly cropped nails, her knuckles were scarred from training but only barely. "Did you tell him you abducted me?"
Sasuke hopped up to his feet without caring that his dry lip split open or that he bit a sizable portion of the inside of his mouth, blood and saliva dribbled down his chin in a steady stream. He worked the wrist she'd hit moments ago to restore some sensitivity, the fingers curled but the sensory system had shut down, it felt like he'd slept on his arm for two hours and now it was a swollen tingly weight by his side. "I told him to keep an eye out, who knows how many puppets made it up the ranks."
His punch buzzed next to her left ear, she had to turn off the light in his bicep to make sure he couldn't use any electric jutsu on her. His hot breath washed down the side of her face, it took great willpower not to poke his throat to disable fire jutsu as well, it would mute his voice and if he was sensitive there at all, it could obstruct his airways.
Defense was her strongest point and he learned that early on, the only way to get her to attack would be to taunt her. She breathed through rounded lips and watched him attempt a genjutsu again. The darkness that settled on them both dispersed like fog under a hot sun, he stood in front of her with wide eyes and she smiled in apology because she didn't need to know what he would try to do in an illusion to negate it. "Kurenai taught me all about sharingan genjutsu."
"What does she know about Sharingan?" his demeaning sneer straightened at the unexpected answer.
"She lived through a battle with Uchiha Itachi."
Just when she thought the fight was over he came at her again, arms and legs kicking and punching with great control, barely grazing her vital spots while she struggled to catch up with his speed. Showing her that he was purposely missing her because he chose to, not because he couldn't.
By the time he landed the third punch into her kawarimi it was beginning to dawn on him that the less serious he was, the more of his chakra points she blocked without actually touching them.
Hinata stood a few feet away with her arms out and her knees slightly bent, still on the defense. "Is Karin san still around?"
Sasuke was busy formulating a different tactic and could spare a moment to answer. Somehow it had turned from an angry release of frustration into a spar. Or maybe as an ambitious shinobi he was trying to get her to use most of her jutsu to learn how to fight a Hyuuga before he disposed of her. "She's at the Sound by now, that paper was printed a few days ago, even if they find her she won't know where we are. We won't be interrupted by her if that's what you're asking."
A few days…?
How long has she been asleep?!
Her eyes wandered for just an instant, enough for him to lung at her and aim to kick her knees to where they shouldn't bend. The jump was easy, it's the landing that was painful when the muscle in her left leg finally gave out, excruciating burn blinded her momentarily. With one hand he looped her arm around her neck and held it to the back of her head, effectively choking her with her own limb, and with the other squeezed the palm that landed on his chest, a few inches away from his main chakra pool.
It was suddenly very quiet, nothing but their mingled breath filled the lack of conversation and nothing but the feel of the other's heartbeat kept them from addressing the stalemate.
She could expel a single burst of chakra and disable his heart just like Neji did to her all those years ago, Sasuke could yank her arm and break her throat in a fraction of a second.
The perspiration glistening on his forehead, restraint evident in the tiny muscle twitching under his eye, it was her chance to stay alive.
"How long was I asleep?" She gulped back the dryness in her mouth and wet the sandpaper of her lips.
"Sleep? I'd say a couple of hours." With relative ease he brought back her other hand to join the one on his chest. "You're been feverish for three days at least."
Her glossy eyes flashed down to the sight of her small hands in his big tanned ones, his face was tight in concentration when she looked back up. "And you took care of me?"
His chest rose and fell heavily. "Look at you, about to have your eyes plucked out and you still won't go for the kill."
"You don't want my eyes." One of her hands slipped out of his grip slowly to undo the damage in his wrist. He let her touch his chin for the bleeding to stop, his shoulder for the numbness to wash away, his bicep for the heaviness to lift; not once taking his eyes off her. "Naruto kun will be sad if I kill you."
"I don't need excuses."
He kept her left hand on his chest, daring her to turn that main switch off like some suicidal game of chicken. "You're the last Uchiha in the world…"
"I don't want your sympathy."
The tendons in the back of his hand were impressive, he must have trained very hard to have those perfectly calloused knuckles. Compared to him, her hands were like flimsy marshmallow bags. "Are you waiting for me to kill you?"
"I'm waiting to hear why you won't."
Was he hoping for something that will convince him she was sent by someone?
To do what, kill him? Convert him? Seduce him?
And then what, take him to a castle in the forest like a foreign fairy tale?
"Why are you laughing?" His nose flared in insult, he let her hand go. "Spill it!"
Her breath finally slowed down enough to speak comfortably, there was no metallic taste in her mouth or a gagging sensation in her throat. It was a nice upgrade in health even if she felt lightheaded. "I just don't want to kill you."
"Lies!" The aggravation in his voice threatened to start another battle, so she let the words go without a filter.
"I heard you calling for me in there, in that genjutsu or subconscious, I don't know- telling me to come back… I died, didn't I?" It wasn't his mouth that answered, but the guilty aversion of the eyes. "He tried to take me with him, I don't remember why but I remember him standing there, telling me to let go. Is he very pale? Long white hair in a ponytail and big round glasses?"
The stiffness of his back and the square of his shoulders relaxed slightly, the distrust in his eyes simmered down to curiosity. "He hadn't looked like that in years."
She shrugged and hung her head, uncertain of what any of it could change. "I guess I didn't want to come back... Not for Naruto kun, not for Kurenai, not for anyone… It was like I've given up."
"You were hallucinating…"
She shook her head and continued to stare at the floor, big fat tears were bouncing off her lashes and she didn't want to show them to him, "I only came back for you! So please…"
He stood there to watch her cry like she was behind a television screen and he was an uninvolved spectator.
One breath, two breaths.
And then he decided to get involved. "What are you asking?"
"…I don't know! I just don't like it when you're angry at me. I don't like it when I don't know what you want from me! I miss you but I don't know if I'm allowed to say it. I want to hang out with you but you look angry if I try so I tell myself not to waste your time. It hurts when you're there and it hurts when you're not, and I don't know how to make it stop! I don't remember when it started to be this way, I don't remember the beginning, I don't even remember a time when you weren't there!"
A surprise sob interrupted the breaking of the dam, she didn't care, it was too late to fake composure anyway. "It's not like with Naruto at all! It's not enough to just look anymore, I've become greedy and pushy and intrusive, and if you don't tell me why you hate me then I would never stop trying to fix it! I don't care if you don't believe me, but if you do- If… If you still care –even just a little bit! I want to accept that. I don't know what words to use but that's what I want. It's not because you're the last Uchiha or because Naruto will be sad, I was selfish, I just didn't want to live in a world without you in it!"
She couldn't see what kind of face he was making, even if the blurry world through her tears could be cleared, she was crying too hard into her hands to dare peek through the wet fingers. At least, not until he pulled her off the floor in a bone-crushing hug and groaned his frustration in the crook of her neck. She hugged him back gratefully, pulling so tight she thought her flesh would blend into his, crying and laughing against his shoulder with abandon; her brain stopped processing anything beyond this simple gesture of acceptance.
The noises in his throat vibrated against her, reducing himself to an instinctive form of communication when words no longer sufficed. His unspoken protests dipped straight in her belly in that ticklish fizzy pot of happy soup, curling her toes and warming her cheeks. She held on for as long as he would let her, for all those days she couldn't be with him and for all the ones to come, charging up a battery she hadn't been aware existed.
He set her down when his back threatened to give in to the weight, following her when her knee buckled in response to the pain in her calf, until they were on their knees in the middle of the bare living room. She clung to his neck stubbornly, he buried his nose in that warm spot below her ear. "I wouldn't know what to do with myself if you died…"
The tears she thought she'd finally pushed back washed her face like a waterfall again.
Was this why he was upset?
He was worried about losing her?
Scared for her? Scared of her! Watching her tiptoe on a thin line between life and death for several days, ready to join his family at any moment…
Who wouldn't find it easier to hate in that situation?
"I'm here." She cried into his hair, happy and sad and just as scared. She'd watched Hanabi nearly slip away once or twice and wouldn't wish that terror on anyone. "I'm right here, you brought me back!" he nodded twice against her neck, pulled her tighter like he couldn't believe she was real. He didn't have to say anything for her to know this was a side of him nobody else was allowed to see, she rubbed his back soothingly and wiped on her sleeve the constant stream that washed down her chin.
For a terrible lifetime it felt like this wasn't something they were allowed to have, to be warm and safe in someone's arms.
It was ironic considering this was something normal people could have any day, relationships that didn't start or end with death, unconditional love that didn't have to be paid back, a hug that didn't need to be justified or fought for.
After he cleared his throat two more times, his voice finally worked. "You could be playing me like a flute and I wouldn't have a clue. You know what? I can take you on, I'm Uchiha Sasuke, let's do this."
She pushed hair and tears off her face and laughed –or cried?- up at his brave clench of the jaw. "But I thought it was gone. Are you saying you didn't finish the job?!"
"Of course I did!" If he hadn't been upset, if his eyes weren't bloodshot and his nose red, she would have assumed he was blushing.
It was cute.
Now that she was doing more laughing and less crying it was safe to look into his eyes and hope she didn't horrendously misunderstand everything. "All this time I thought you hated me!"
"You think I'd bother with any of this if I hated you?" His words were firm, his voice gentle. His dirty sleeve rubbed her face to remove a sparkling fat tear that lingered on her squishy cheek. "You think I'd care if your sister or kids or grandkids lived in fear of abduction if you were another Hyuuga on the street? You think killing the vessel wasn't the easiest way to get rid of a threat? I don't know what else you want me to do, because I'm not saying it."
Glossy bright eyes stared at him in confusion, then in disbelieving embarrassment, as beautiful and expressive as the first time he really looked at her that day in the dingy community kitchens.
His calloused fingertips touched her chin absently, drawing a shy smile and a noticeable blush across her whole face, she knew what was coming and didn't turn away, and it was all the encouragement he needed. He kissed her lightly, warily, as if he wasn't quite sure how enthusiastic he was allowed to be, peeking through hooded eyes for signs of resistance.
Bashful and busy swallowing back an ill-timed laugh at the base of her throat, she let him have his way.
She would never admit it, not even to herself, but this time she was actually looking forward to it.
Her lashes fluttered against his cheek, her warm breath mingled with his, his fringe clung to the corner of her mouth. It was easy and relaxed and that made her feel safe enough to attempt to kiss back, angling her head so that their noses didn't bump and allowing herself to enjoy the fragility of the moment. His hands on her arms held her lightly at the second attempt, pressing against her with a tad more confidence, she held on to his shoulders for balance and giggled at the silly sound that followed the parting of smiling lips.
There was no knocking of teeth or invasive tongues, no aggressive pushing against walls or pinning of limbs; it relieved her greatly that kissing can be simple and sweet unlike what she'd read in the books.
I could get used to this.
He wrapped her in his arms and let her hide her blush in his shirt, something had changed in him from before and after their not-confessions. It was impossible to mistake how happy he was of this outcome, the beat of his heart that was five times calmer, the buzz of his chakra turned smooth and bright. It was relaxing to be held so close to it, kappa could invade the world outside and she wouldn't feel like she was missing out on anything.
Maybe in some alternate reality, she would be allowed to fall asleep like this.
This reality was too cruel, however, since just as that previous thought passed, she came crashing back into the real world with a bitter realization.
A mob of shinobi were closing in on them, aggravated and murderous.
Their eyes met, having felt the presence at the same time, and stood up to meet the pack of irritated ninja that burst through the door.
Hyuuga Hanabi, Uzumaki Naruto and Morino Ibiki stood in the living room entrance glaring daggers at the kidnapper, wary of the way he pushed his hostage behind his back away from sight.
"You scummy little dirtwad!" Naruto approached without hesitation and grabbed his shirtfront, "You thought I couldn't follow a snake messenger when I had a mob of reptiles chilling in my pocket? What the hell was all that talk about disappearing once and for all? You going back on your promise?!"
Ibiki spoke from a safe distance away, "Talk later! Look at the bruises on his face, they've been fighting! Just get her out of there before he attacks again!"
Sasuke released an annoyed groan as he considered his options, there would be no talking as long as Ibiki was there picking at his every word, and Hanabi would see through any illusion he might attempt to cast; Naruto would be too impatient to listen to any rationalizations, so he turned his head to address the girl behind his back. "I'll deal with this, you can go."
"Is she brainwashed?" Ibiki questioned.
"Hyuuga can't be affected with Genjutsu." Hanabi opened her arms for her sister to run into.
Hinata swept her gaze across the many faces in worry, Naruto was genuinely upset, Hanabi was concerned but not too murderous, and Ibiki had that poker face that always got under her skin because this man always had a backup plan involving assassination. It was true even now, there were at least twenty people in the vicinity of this house and that was only the amount of people not hiding their presence.
If they returned now he would be in for another series of interrogations, he would walk the streets afterwards as if the purple bruises on his face and arms didn't hurt, like his mind and memories didn't get violated for several days in a row, he would make that cool expression every time he talked to someone because it would be fresh in his mind how easily his words can be twisted around to fit someone else's expectations.
If she went back, if she told the truth, they would announce her a traitor for willingly accompanying an enemy, and even if she somehow came out of that unscathed, it would be her family who would chain her up for going easy on a kidnapper who could have possibly taken her eyes.
If they would be allowed back in the village as civilians he will definitely be ripped out of his position as head of HR, several annoyed politicians will make sure of it, and she might be assigned local low-rank missions for as long as she was sympathetic with the Uchiha's cause.
The best case scenario would be that her reputation will be slandered for hiding away with a man, and he will be doubted tenfold for breaking the rules of his parole; they were both in for a life of isolation.
There were two options: to tell the truth and go back handcuffed, or to announce themselves enemy of the village and run away to live individually on odd jobs, to travel freely through the open world beyond Konoha walls as missing nin, unaffiliated with anyone and with no home to go back to.
He'd said it before: damned if you do, damned if you don't, might as well be the bad guy.
But those were not the only options, were they?
There was still…
Hinata stepped out from behind his back but didn't go for her sister's open arms or the intelligence commander's beckoning nod, instead she held Sasuke's arm and lied as best as she could. "He didn't kidnap me, we eloped."
It got so quiet someone's whistle of disbelief rang too loud in everyone's ears.
If Sasuke was surprised he didn't show it, no one else felt the prickly chakra under her arms or understood the questioning glance he shot her.
Naruto stood there dumbfounded, the masked ANBU members that filtered through the door exchanged confused glances, Ibiki just groaned. "Are you effing kidding me? All that freaking international chaos is happening because two kids wanna get laid?! Hyuuga, justify this to me right now!"
Hanabi was just as horrified as the next one, Ibiki's frightening presence didn't help at all. "She always had a sweet spot for him but this isn't her style!"
The interrogations expert was not convinced. "Uzumaki! Knock some sense into your friend! If I go back and tell the village their tax money was used to crash a wedding, it's not gonna be me who beats the piss out of him!"
"Hey, is it true? Did you really get married?" Naruto asked a little too calmly.
"If it wasn't true you think I'd b" Sasuke could only begin before he got punched in the teeth, blood splashed everywhere, his feet remained planted in place, steadied by Naruto's grip on his shirt.
"You bastard! You said I'd be the first to know! I'm not the first now am I? The whole world knew before I did! You were on the front page for crying out loud!"
"That's not the problem, Naruto san…" Hanabi shook her head in dismay and decided it was now safe to approach the trio. "Hinata, is it true? Did you sign a real paper and everything? Without father's permission?"
She couldn't lie about this one, it would show in her eyes if she tried, Hanabi knew her too well.
It was a relief when it wasn't her who answered. Sasuke was convincingly confident, albeit congested and teary-eyed. "That's what elopement involves, kid. Look, didn't you owe me a favor? It's payback time. This is what I want in return for saving your life."
"I can't pay you with my sister! There's like a warehouse of better guys who still got rejected, father isn't gonna be too happy about it being you who scored!"
"And aren't you the one in command in your father's absence?" He smirked, aware that he was striking a sensitive nerve. "Unless you're just a puppet on strings who can't make any decisions without daddy's approval?"
Hinata knew the face Hanabi was making, it was the last face people saw before they had their navel punched in. she didn't want Sasuke to suffer through thirty days of bowl inflammation so she interrupted before that little fist curled. "It was the only way. The ninja from the Cloud tried to kidnap me from that bar and Sasuke was there anyway, he was the closest one to save me. We didn't know who else was in on it so we came here…" At everyone's intense stare she had to cover up for herself as best she could, which was why she hated lying in the first place. It was too much work for someone who was very self-conscious. "We've been engaged for a long time now, it shouldn't be a big surprise! It shouldn't be a problem with the elders as long as the Hyuuga reputation remains protected, right?"
The ANBU and their leader clucked their tongues and shuffled out dejectedly, congregating outside to discuss the formation to follow on the way back to the village.
The general anxiety in the room dropped noticeably. There will be no torture chambers warming up for an Uchiha in chains, no intrusive examinations of her body for stolen secrets or chastity, no one will suspect her of offering herself to her kidnappers and most importantly: Hanabi was safe.
Hinata wasn't too worried about paying the price or lying her way through, as long as her baby sister was okay. It didn't hurt that the Cloud learned a lesson, too.
"Dad will be pissed." Hanabi brushed a stray hair off her nose and grimaced up at the smug Uchiha. "You're gonna have to get married again when you go back, you know that, right? A big ceremony and all."
"Yeah, you also have to register every marriage in the local office, even if it's official in another village." Naruto clapped Sasuke on the shoulder affectionately, wiping a tear from the corner of his eye and sniffling through his runny nose. "You stupid duckbutt! How could you beat me even in this?! Even Chouji got married before me and he's way less cool, it's not fair! That's it, I'm gonna be married to Sakura chan by next month, I don't even care if I'm not Hokage by then!"
Hinata's alarmed gasp startled them into staring at her, her horror about missing Ino's wedding went unaddressed because Naruto asked the stupidest question in the world. "What?! What is it? Did your water break? Isn't that what married women get surprised about in movies?!"
Sasuke was the one who slapped him upside the head, but it was Hanabi who spoke. "Probably not, but I'm guessing it's only a matter of time before that happens, they've been alone for a few days now." Her narrowed eyes switched from her appalled sister to her now brother-in-law. "Let's hurry up and go back, I can't wait to watch you beg for your life when dad knows you slept with hisfavoritedaughter. You might wanna write a will for where you want your severed limbs to be buried before we get there."