SWEPT AWAY

Chapter 34

It was unfortunate that Sasuke just had to leave on the eve of the duel. Hinata's left arm was greatly missed. When a web shot from the recesses of Kidomaru's mouth and pinned her to a tree, she couldn't help but miss it even more. Neji cut her free immediately and steadied her. Together they went in for another attack. "No one's ever been able to cut through my net before!" Kidomaru shouted as he jumped into the canopy. "The Hyugas are something else!"

"This is starting to piss me off." Neji pulled a strand of web from his vest and chucked it. He gave Hinata a quick flash of his eyes with a bit of guilt. "Excuse me."

"No, I'm getting irritated too. We don't have time for games."

"No," Neji said, narrowing his eyes. "We don't. But he obviously thinks he does. I would call it stalling, but he genuinely seems to be having fun with this. He thinks he can kill us at any moment if he wants to."

"Let's not give him that chance."

"Ready when you are."

"Going in." Hinata used a flexible branch as leverage to spring into the canopy. Kidomaru filled his mouth and spat webbing into the trees. The chakra surged through the net like an electrical current, feeding it and making it grow. Several smaller ones shot in the opposite direction towards Hinata, but she only had to slice through a few of them to get to the canopy. Her feet landed flat against a trunk, and with another leap she propelled herself further into the cluster of branches were Kidomaru was.

The net formed a barrier between them, but Hinata sliced through it every bit as easily as the smaller ones. Kidomaru used the strength of all four arms to spring away from her oncoming needle, and when he did another web dropped from above. It landed directly on her back, trapping her like a fly. She bounced like a drop of water in a bubble, weighing down the center of the web as it stretched from branch to branch.

Kidomaru didn't go for her right away. There was still Neji to deal with. Instead of attempting to free Hinata he went directly for Kidomaru. Another snarl of chakra filled his mouth, but what shot out wasn't a web. It was an arrow. Neji hadn't been expecting that. He made an attempt to spin in midair, but the arrow caught him in the shoulder, pushing him back toward the trees. It pinned him.

"Nii-san!" Hinata cried.

In a single movement Neji was able to rip the arrow from his shoulder, but it left him open for another attack. Kidomaru had enough sense to stick him to the tree with another web. "Not too bad for a brat," Kidomaru laughed, dropping to a flat branch. He approached Neji on two legs, throwing his shoulders back arrogantly with every step. "How should I kill you? Do I rip your arms off one by one, or do I play a fun little game of roulette? How about I spin you into a ball and tie you to a tether pole?" He drew back and howled. "Orochimaru-sama only sent two of us, but I think he still overestimated you. You die here. I hope the Uchiha was worth it."

"Trust me," Neji gritted with a clench of his fists, "he isn't." With a burst of chakra he pushed out his chest and let the needles fly. They rushed from his pores and fingertips, slicing through every string in the web. Hinata too followed the same technique, exactly as he'd taught her. The net cut from her body and unlatched from the trees, dropping from the canopy. Kidomaru had been too shocked by Neji to look up, so when the net fell on top of him he had no idea what happened. With his fingers pointed out, Neji pushed a chakra needle directly in his chest.

Hinata fell from the tops of the canopy with her right hand thrown out, pointed toward his back. Together they met at the center of Kidomaru's heart. His eyes went blank before they pulled away. When they did he slowly leaned sideways and plummeted towards the forest depths.

Neji fell back against the tree, panting, and slid down to sitting position with his hand covering his wet shoulder."Nii-san!" Hinata fell to her knees in front of him. "Are you all right?" she cried. Neji had to take a moment to steady his breath. With the adrenaline dying down the pain came rushing in at full force, making him dizzy with it.

"I need a moment. You go on ahead."

"I won't leave you like this," she said fiercely. "Here, I have a disinfectant with me. It's a an ointment I made for Hanabi when—"

"When she lost to you?" Neji managed a harsh laugh through the pain. It hurt to so much as open his hand to accept it.

"I hope father is taking care of her."

"He is," Neji said. Just as she placed the ointment in his hand something shot up from the cloudy forest floor. Whatever it was sliced through the entire branch, almost cutting off Hinata's hand in the process. She gave a cry as her body and the branch started to fall. Neji dropped the ointment in his haste to grab her back, missing just in time to see her disappear into the fog. "Hinata-sama!"

With a fresh burst of adrenaline he pierced through the void with his Byakugan. There wasn't a single glowing node to be seen: either from her, Kidomaru, or anyone else. That meant either she had fallen to her death, or . . .

"No . . ." Neji pounded the side of his fist against the tree which sent a burst of pain rippling through his whole body. "Dammit!"

Sasuke heard a rumble from the forest. He couldn't see anything passed the fog, but he knew there must be a fight happening. It had to be Naruto. Probably some others too—it'd be a shock if he came alone. And too stupid a maneuver even for him.

It doesn't concern you anymore.

He pressed on. Orochimaru was found resting leisurely against the base of a waterfall. With his white face and kimono he blended almost perfectly with the fog, and rose up like a ghost when he saw Sasuke approach.

"I knew you'd make it," he said, grinning with a crinkle of his eyes. Though Sasuke gave no outward reaction, he was deeply repulsed. He remembered running into this hideous thing in the Forest of Death. He remembered the pains it caused him to fight for his life—and his teammates'. It was a fight he had lost. If Naruto and Hinata hadn't been there . . . But then again, it's not like Orochimaru ever intended kill him.

"I'm ready to go."

"That is good. Did you know your teammates are already here looking for you?"

"I figured they would be."

"I've sent a team to kill them off. They don't seem to want to leave you alone." Sasuke pressed his lips.

"They're not that hard to kill. Konoha's useless, but one thing it does have is promising recruits."

"You are fond of them, aren't you?"

"Are we leaving or not?" He was suddenly desperate. The quicker he left, the quicker Naruto and the others would give up. Once they found out he really had no intention of coming back they would have to leave him alone.

"You're not ready," Orochimaru said with a thin sigh. Sasuke drew his brow together angrily.

"What are you talking about?" he demanded. "I'm packed. I'm here. I came to you like you wanted. Am I missing something?"

"If you left now in the state you're in, you'd just go back."

That pissed Sasuke off beyond reason. "So what do you want me to do, go back? After all this—"

"I'm going to appoint you a task, first." He clapped his hands together and a shinobi appeared. It was a woman carrying someone . . .

Sasuke tried not to react. His whole body froze as a result, and for a moment his mind went numb. The woman threw Hinata beside Orochimaru. He lifted her by the collar so that she was sitting on her legs. Her eyes were halfway closed and her body rocked. If Orochimaru wasn't holding her she would have leaned sideways to the ground. "What did you do to her?" Sasuke asked quietly.

"Nothing. I brought her for you."

"I have nothing to do with her anymore."

"Leaving isn't always sufficient. Did you think Itachi acquired the power he has now just by leaving? If you want to separate yourself from the village, it has to be permanent. There has to be no way for you to even think about turning back."

"That was the plan!" Sasuke erupted. "That's why I came here. What did you want me to do, burn the village down to the ground?" His body started to shake. He wanted it to stop, but the mark on his neck was burning and his stomach felt sick.

"That would have been quite dramatic." Orochimaru pulled something from his kimono. A knife. "This should be sufficient."

"No." The word came out utterly on its own. He didn't even think about it. Couldn't think about it.

"As long as she lives you will always think about the village."

"And what about you?" Sasuke dared. "This was your home too. Don't you still think about it every day? If you didn't, why would you keep coming back?"

"I come back to kill," said Orochimaru. His fingers trailed the blade sensually. "Learn the lesson now, little Uchiha. Your brother killed his entire family to attain the power he holds. If you can't even kill one girl, how could you ever think to compete?"

"I am not . . ." He was clenching his fist so hard blood was beginning to secrete.

"You are not Itachi?" Orochimaru chuckled. "No. You aren't."

"Not Itachi . . ." Hinata mumbled. Orochimaru looked down at her with a movement of his eyes. Sasuke's insides twisted at the sound of her weary voice.

"What's that, dear?" Orochimaru was supporting her by the top of her head now. That filthy hand touching her . . . Sasuke ached to chop it off. It was his choice to wade through the quagmire—not hers. She wasn't meant to be dirtied. That's not what he intended. It was part of the reason he decided to leave in the first place. What the hell was this?

"Not Itachi . . ." Her head swayed as if she were too weak to even lift it. " Sasuke-kun . . . don't go. Please."

"Well would you listen to that." Orochimaru looked directly at Sasuke. "Even she knows you wouldn't be able to leave." He offered the hilt of the blade to Sasuke. "Do what must be done. Only a prick." He tapped the left side of his chest where his heart was. "You can do that much, can't you? After seeing what you did to that fool child Zaku, how could I believe otherwise?"

Sasuke looked at the knife as if he couldn't comprehend what it was. Orochimaru told him what he had to do, but he didn't quite understand it. Kill Hinata . . . helpless Hinata, right here at his feet? It didn't make sense. With a shaking hand he reached for it. His body moved mechanically, but his mind was in pieces. The images flashing through his head were not of him stabbing Hinata, but Orochimaru.

The blade drew away before his fingertips could even touch it. Orochimaru sighed in disappointment. "So you truly cannot do it." He looked at Sasuke with pity.

"Sasuke . . ." Hinata used the remainder of her strength to look him in the eyes. "I love you."

That was the last thing she said before the knife ran her through.

I don't deserve love, therefore I don't deserve you. I knew that if I left my heart with you it would burn through your hands. So I took it with me. But it seems like you had it all along. Why else would it hurt this much?

Sasuke thought the annihilation of his soul was over with. When Itachi killed his mother and father—that should have been it. Can a soul die twice? When Hinata's body fell motionless into the river it certainly felt like it.

He dove after her. With his hand outstretch he cried for her, trapped in the ever rushing current. She was like a plastic bag in the water, thrown every which way and dunked again and again. When he finally did reach her he was able to stroke his way to the bank. When he pulled her to land and looked at her face, he stopped breathing.

Her jacket was gone, washed away down the river. The wound in her chest still bled, soaking through her shirt and wetting her skin. It was on his hands, on his clothes . . . It was like being back at the estate when he saw his parents lying on top of each other—dead. He pressed his ear to her breast. He listened hard for a rhythm, a beat of any kind—no matter how small—and heard nothing. He pulled away, feeling as if he were drowning.

"This isn't happening." He said it with finality. In this moment that felt like an eternity he truly believed this. This wasn't happening because it couldn't be happening. Hinata was fine. She was all right. There was no way Orochimaru had killed her and there was no way he had let it happen. It . . . it wasn't . . .

His neck burned. His eyes were hot. He had lost all feeling in his head, and his gums hurt. Everything hurt. He stumbled away toward the forest until his back hit a tree. When he looked down at his trembling hands he could see his skin changing color. It turned gray and bulged with veins. Every pore screamed. Chakra leaked from the curse mark on his neck and spread to his entire body. He had felt this before, but never of this magnitude. It didn't feel human. His mind clouded over in horror, though he didn't exactly know what from. Whatever it was must have been agonizing, because he couldn't bring himself to remember.

The intense pain of the curse mark—as unbearable as it was—seemed preferable. It erupted from his entire body, deformed his bones, shifted his organs, and just for a moment his lungs froze in the exhale. It took the breath he needed to scream. He fell and rolled toward the river's edge, just barely managing to catch himself from tumbling into the water. As he lifted himself on his hands—hands that he did not recognize as his own—he saw himself in the reflection. Gray, leathery skin, black eyes, wild hair . . . who was this?

When the rushing water splashed his eyes and returned another reflection entirely, he was certain it wasn't him anymore. Now it was Orochimaru who stared back. He was grinning that malicious snake grin and staring with those perverted eyes. Sasuke leaned back with his chidori ablaze and pulverized the earth. River water surged up over the banks, but Orochimaru wasn't in it. Where was he? Where?

Sasuke's eyesight transitioned to a blur of reds and blacks. It was just like that time during the invasion . . . if he lost his mind again, would he end up attacking someone other than Orochimaru? Screw it. Didn't matter. It was much easier to concentrate on only one thing for now.

Die.

He was used to this thought.

Die.

Simple. "So you finally tapped into it!" Orochimaru cried. He rose up out of the water, smiling with wide eyes. "You look magnificent! Well done, Uchiha! Now you're on your way to fighting Itachi. Just a little more of this."

"You . . ." Sasuke propelled himself into the sky with the force of his wings . . . Wings? Well, more like enormous amphibious hands, but they did get the job done. The extra weight was overwhelming; or would have been if not for the boost of the curse mark. Orochimaru disappeared in midair—an illusion. Sasuke landed on the other side of the bank, digging claws he didn't know he had into the earth. His heart hammered and his vision swam with rage. It was violent, a persistent rush to the head. He yelled through the fog for Orochimaru to face him.

"Don't think you can defeat me so easily, Sasuke," he chuckled. "But you may want to catch your friend. Looks like your little outburst swept her up in the current. If she wasn't dead already, she will be soon. Hurry up and you might just have a body to bring back to the village. If you think they'll even take you back. Ha ha ha ha!"

Sasuke immediately plunged into the river. With his new appendages it was easy navigating through the water. The horror which he thought had numbed came bursting back to life, hot, angry, possessive. Now it was another word entirely that encompassed his mind.

Hinata . . .

Hinata . . .

Hinata!