Notes: I haven't written for this fandom in years. Bear with me here. This is a Demi-Alternate Universe: Modern Ninja Village in which everyone is alive, everyone's personality is slightly colored by Road to Ninja because of it, and Suigetsu is comic relief.
Rating may change. Definitions and links for specific terms provided in the end notes.
like a hostage
chapter 01: i'm the bad guy, duh
May 31 – 11:17p.m.
The brightly lit streets of Konoha were quiet and empty. Hinata watched the familiar scenery go by through the windscreen of her fiancé's expensive car with the same melancholy that had been permeating everything around her since their engagement had been announced. By the end of the week, this village would no longer be her home, these familiar streets a fond but distant memory for her to cherish in Kumo.
"Hinata, are you listening to me?"
Hinata blinked and turned her attention to the man driving. Kousei Yotsuki was a perfect match for her on paper. So she had been told over and over again for the last year. He was a generically handsome young man of average height with brown hair and light eyes, completely unassuming and unimposing. The Yotsuki were an old, prominent, wealthy ninja clan, well-connected in the world. The marriage between that car's occupants would be as much an alliance for the Hyūga and Konoha as it would be a wedding of two people who got along enough to make a go of it.
"I'm sorry, Kousei-san," she replied quietly, "I was just admiring the view."
Her fiancé kept his face turned toward the road, but Hinata could see subtle tension in the muscles around his eyes. He disliked being ignored. "Of course. But as I was saying, once we get to Kumo there are three ladies' organizations I was thinking—"
"Ah, do you think we could stop at that bakery up ahead?" she interrupted. "Hanabi asked me to get her some pastries for the morning. I didn't realize we would be out so late."
"Are even they open at this hour?"
"Not officially but they're usually preparing for the next day around now. I know the owners; it won't be a problem."
The car pulled a little roughly up to the store front, parking at an ungainly angle that would inconvenience anyone else who might try to traverse the narrow side street. While her fiancé leaned forward over the steering wheel to peer somewhat disdainfully at the little establishment, Hinata unbuckled her seatbelt and hopped out of the car.
"Two minutes," she promised as she shut the car door behind her. She knocked on the glass door of the bakery and was let in almost immediately by a short, plump brunette.
From the car, Kousei Yotsuki watched as the Hyūga made her way to the display counter, chatting amiably with her companion all the way there. As Hinata waited at the counter, he turned his attention to his phone. He was scrolling through a news article about their wedding three minutes into that promised two-minute wait when there was a sudden bang from the direction of the bakery.
The door crashed open, nearly flying off its hinges as a tall man in an animal mask that covered his entire head dragged Hinata out of the building. The man had her arms restrained and a kunai held to her throat as he made his way to a black SUV that rolled out of the pitch-black alleyway between the bakery and the next building over. Behind him, another man in what appeared to be a full shark costume followed carrying two duffle bags.
Frozen in place, Kousei watched as Hinata Hyūga was thrown into the back of the SUV and driven off into the dark of night.
What the fuck just happened?
Jun 01 – 1:58p.m.
They had been on the road for hours, driving vaguely southwest for the better part of the day. So far, they had switched drivers twice: Karin ceding to Jugo, then Jugo to Sasuke. Karin had argued for shotgun but eventually lost best out of three at janken to Suigetsu fair and square. The unfortunate side effect of her loss was that Suigetsu now had control of the aux cable and had been trying for the better part of an hour to play Highway to the Danger Zone for the fifth time.
Just as the all too familiar rhythm started up yet again along with the frustrated groans from the backseats, Sasuke reached over and yanked the cable free. Suigetsu's automatic protest died quickly at the red-eyed glare slanted in his direction. There was only so much one could push in a confined space.
"Fine, I won't play anything then," Suigetsu griped. Opening his latest gacha phone game, he made no effort to reconnect and left them all in an unpleasant silence, punctuated by the high-pitched battle cries of whatever water-based character he was playing as.
Sasuke was rarely one for radio, but it would do in a crunch. He left it on whatever station the rental company had it set to, and it transitioned soon enough from an advertisement for some chain garden store to news.
"In today's top story, Hinata Hyūga, eldest daughter of Hiashi Hyūga, head of Konoha's Hyūga Clan has been kidnapped. According to official reports, the 27-year-old Hyūga heiress was taken by three masked assailants who were in the process of robbing a local bakery outside the Hyūga district in western Konoha. At the time of her abduction – roughly around 11:00 p.m. last night – she was on her way home from dinner with her fiancé, Kousei Yotsuki, grandson of the daimyo of the Land of Lightning. Their wedding was scheduled to occur this weekend.
In a statement released this morning, a Yotsuki Clan spokesperson stated that the young lord Yotsuki is distraught after witnessing the event. The Yotsuki Clan have vowed to lend all possible aid to the Hyūga Clan and village authorities in their efforts to recover Hinata Hyūga.
Authorities are currently searching for—"
Click. "Tch."
It was an uncharacteristic fit of pique for Sasuke, who his companions not-so-secretly believed was physically incapable of emoting anything beyond shades of anger. Though briefly taken aback by this break in his usual stoicism, the three shook it off quickly enough and began their barrage of questions and complaints. Suigetsu was the clearest (and closest) to voice their collective displeasure though he kept his voice quiet to avoid disturbing the fifth occupant of their vehicle.
"What the fuck have you gotten us into?" the light-haired ninja demanded and, for once, neither Karin nor Jugo made to interrupt or temper him. "When you said you had a job, ya didn't tell us we were going to be taking the fuckin' Lightning Daimyo's daughter-in-law. What the actual fuck, Sasuke?"
Their leader frowned, eyes fixed on the road ahead, but his mind was on the bound, gagged, and blindfolded figure passed out in the third row. The truth was, he hadn't thought too hard about who her fiancé was when he'd accepted the job. Yotsuki forces and international news coverage increased the risks tenfold at least. But the deed was already done and could not be undone; the only way out was through.
"As much as I hate to agree with him," Karin added, "Shark-boy is right. This isn't just 'some bride'."
In retrospect, Sasuke realized that description may have been a bit too blasé for the situation.
"This," she jabbed her thumb over shoulder to emphasize her point, "is political disaster. This is grounds for war, Sasuke."
Exhaling harshly, Sasuke signaled for a lane change. He pulled into the first gas station he saw and chucked the keys at Suigetsu.
"Fill up. I'm going to make a call," he instructed. "And switch seats with Jugo so he can play his new age nature shit again."
Jun 01 – 2:16p.m.
Three weeks ago, Sasuke learned that Neji Hyūga owned a burner phone. The Hyūga cousin answered just as Sasuke thought he was being sent to voicemail. The irritation of waiting injected itself into his greeting.
"About fucking time."
The heavy thunk of a door closing cut off the background noise and Neji, unfazed by the Uchiha's tone, replied, "What did you expect? My cousin's just been kidnapped."
"My condolences."
"Appreciated," Neji replied as though Sasuke's sentiments had been genuine. It grated on the Uchiha's nerves even if he understood the need for the display on the Hyūga's end.
"You didn't tell me the fiancé was bringing reinforcements." It wasn't an accusation, simply a statement. "The price is going up."
"Done."
Sasuke raised an unsurprised eyebrow at a passing cloud. "Don't you want to know by how much?"
The background noise filtered in again and so Sasuke took Neji's silence for the freedom it was to continue, "Ten times the original agreement."
Again, the response was immediate. "That works."
Of course it did; the Hyūga pockets were as deep as they came.
Then Neji reminded him, "After this weekend, of course."
"I'll be in touch."
"Thanks for reaching—."
Sasuke scowled and cut the call before Neji could finish his pretense.
Jun 01 – 7:03p.m.
Itachi Uchiha was exhausted. Leaning back in his zaisu [1], he pinched the bridge of his nose beneath his glasses and wished for the hundredth time that day for the sweet release of death. Or at least ibuprofen; ibuprofen would be a great start.
Absently, he tossed his glasses onto the papers covering his borrowed workspace and dragged his hands over his face a few times. This Hyūga job had spiraled out of control and what was supposed to be a quiet week of easy work away from home had turned into a complete mobilization of the full force of the Uchiha Private Security firm. To add to it all, the police were involved too—they had to be given that this was a few signatures shy of being an international incident—which inevitably meant butting heads with his father.
"Knock-knock." The familiar head of the captain of Konoha police's Criminal Investigation unit popped out from behind the open shoji doors leading to engawa [2] and immaculately kept rock garden beyond.
"You know you're actually supposed to knock."
"Sure, but then I'd only have enough hands for my own coffee," Shisui retorted.
He waved a to-go cup tauntingly in Itachi's direction. Itachi simply stared at him until the older man sighed dramatically and relinquished the beverage. Despite his neutral expression, Itachi eagerly accepted the caffeine.
Shisui smirked and settled on the other side of the chabudai [3], looking curiously around the inside of the Hyūgas' dedicated security center. It was a traditional building, like all the others in the sprawling compound belonging to one of Konoha's oldest and wealthiest clans, and traditionally furnished too. But unlike the ornate screens and elegant decorations that adorned the main houses, the walls here were entirely functional. It wasn't what anyone in their right minds would call ugly; just clean, simple, utilitarian lines. It almost felt like being at home.
"Interesting digs," Shisui began as Itachi nursed his coffee. "No cameras?"
Itachi raised an eyebrow over the rim of his cup. Cameras? In a compound full of Byakugan users? Shisui picked up on the unvoiced question.
"For posterity?"
Finally, having drained three quarters of his drink, Itachi replied, "No, no cameras. I'm just going over statements; trying to calculate the likelihood of it being an inside job to eliminate suspects."
"And?"
With a tired sigh, Itachi lolled forward and dropped his forehead onto the tabletop. "It's either a freak coincidence or it was definitely an inside job."
Shisui snorted a brief laugh. "No in-between?"
"Unlikely."
"Hmm."
The two sat in silence for a while, Itachi still almost napping on the chabudai and Shisui quietly sipping coffee and observing the rock garden in the early evening dark. Eventually, Itachi raised his head and scrubbed at his eyes again before donning his glasses once more. He finished what was left in the cup from Shisui and shoved the folded sleeves of his work shirt further up his forearms.
He cleared his throat and asked, "Did my father send you?"
"Yep," Shisui answered, popping the 'p'. "He's leading the case on our end but he wants to split the load so we can cover more ground. I'll be liaising with you for the most part while he deals with our PR."
It made sense, of course, but mostly it came as a welcome relief to the elder of Fugaku Uchiha's sons. He truly loved his father, but they often disagreed on methods and motives which made a healthy working relationship difficult at times. Sasuke had basically deserted the endeavor entirely somewhere in his teenage years. With Shisui, at least, Itachi could work through those differences as friends and equals.
"Based on what we saw from the bakery's security, I think you're on to something about it being internal," Shisui continued in a low tone. "The timing was a little too perfect. She walked in the front and the backdoor flew open at almost exactly the same time. And the robbery itself was laughable; they took the change from the register and a shitload of pastries. Fucking pastries. Not exactly the haul of the year."
"Interesting. So, the next question is: why would they escalate a simple robbery to a kidnapping?"
"Exactly. There wasn't any real reason for them to take a hostage; no one was trying to stop them. But it's possible they recognized her as a Hyūga and we'll hear about ransom soon."
"It's been about twenty hours since she was taken. If we were going to hear anything from them, it likely would have happened already," Itachi countered.
"There's still a chance. We'll keep our men on that one though," Shisui conceded. "And we'll have to go through the public leads. So, the proposal is to split this down the middle. We'll take the freak coincidence approach, and you investigate the inside job angle."
"You're just taking the easy job."
"Of course," Shisui grinned. "But you know neither of these families would consent to a public inquiry implicating anyone inside. You're on their payroll for now; they'll work with you. I hear the Uchiha have a great reputation for discretion."
Itachi rolled his eyes.
"Between you and that little brother of yours, they couldn't ask for better," Shisui added. Then paused at the look on his friend's face. "So where's the kid?"
"No idea. He disappeared a week ago; something about visiting Tea Country."
"Ah, that princess again. He just left you in it, huh?"
"To be fair, this wasn't supposed to be a hard job. I was going to sit here, drink tea, and ruminate on the nature of life for a week."
"Nerd."
Jun 01 – 10:02p.m.
Hinata awoke with a cramped left arm. She was gagged, her arms and legs bound, but she wasn't blindfolded anymore. At least her captors weren't completely stupid. Neither did they seem completely cruel if the softness of her resting place and the pillow beneath her head were any indication. Still, that meant nothing.
All Hyūga children were trained as ninjas, even if many never took up a profession that utilized the skills. Hiashi's daughters were especially expected to perform, if only for their own protection. Hinata did as thorough a sweep of the place as she could with limited sight. There was little to discern from the dark wood planks of the wall she was facing although the sky she could glimpse beyond the high window above was dark. The stars were out, and it was clear enough to see them. And she wasn't alone. There was something playing media at a very low volume, possibly even through headphones, and it was quiet enough all around them for her to hear that.
Well then.
She shifted a little to relieve some of the pressure on her shoulder and that slight movement irritated her parched throat. Her cough was gagged but it still was enough to draw the attention of her captor. Even as she choked, she could hear the unhurried footsteps of the other person in the room as they came toward her. Then, a pair of large hands flipped her onto her back and into an upright sitting position. Her eyes widened in recognition as she let out a muffled noise that, unobstructed, might have been a croak of his name.
Sasuke Uchiha and Hinata Hyūga were not friends but neither had they ever been enemies. At least, not to Hinata's knowledge. Their families had a cordial but cold relationship and the two had never individually had cause to interact much beyond briefly being in the same academy class as children. Even the few gatherings with mutual friends amounted to nothing as they never spoke. The one period in which they potentially could have developed a friendship, Sasuke had been away at boarding school. The last time Hinata had seen Sasuke alone, they had crossed paths in tea shop and exchanged polite nods.
There were no logical causal leaps between then and now.
Crouching down in front of her, Sasuke said calmly, "I'm going to remove the gag, but you have to promise not to scream."
Hinata nodded. She had no idea how long she'd been out for, but the cloth felt dry and stale in her mouth.
Carefully, Sasuke reached around her and untied the gag, throwing it somewhere behind her. "Water?"
She nodded again, throat sore from the coughing fit, then realized her hands were still bound. The Uchiha ignored this, instead grabbing a bottle from the table beside the bed she was on. Once it was open, he raised it to her lips. She drank greedily, practically chugging most of the liquid in a matter of seconds.
Sasuke was surprisingly good at adapting to her suddenly ravenous consumption. But then again, she didn't know how often he had to hydrate people he had randomly kidnapped. Honestly, she didn't know much about Sasuke Uchiha at all and that thought negated some of the relief she'd initially felt upon recognizing him.
She slowly stopped drinking and when some of the water trickled down the side of her mouth, Sasuke took the hint that she was done. Hinata watched him carefully as he withdrew and re-corked the almost empty bottle, trying to discern anything at all about the situation from his face. To her frustration, he maintained a neutral expression of professionalism about the whole interaction. When he turned back toward her with a tissue and tried to wipe her chin, she jerked back.
"What's going on here?" she demanded.
A few years ago, Sasuke couldn't have told you what Hinata's voice sounded like. He had not one single memory of conversation with her from before university. Even when their extended families gathered for the annual Hyūga-Uchiha interclan weekends, the two had somehow always been separated. By contrast, Sasuke knew Neji well—the two of them had spent their childhoods getting up to more mischief under Itachi and Shisui's stewardship than any of their fathers could rightly handle—and even that little firecracker Hanabi had made herself known to him by being a general nuisance to their boys' club, but Hinata had always been the lady of her house. Always quiet, always ladylike, always in her spotless little pressed kimono with the other ladies.
In school she had been the wallflower, shy and retiring and completely forgettable. They had exchanged no words ever and then he'd gone off to boarding school. The interclan weekend became the only time he ever saw her, only if he bothered to look. Someone had mentioned something once about that Hyūga girl and Naruto something-something confession, something-something Sakura, something-something break up. The details never registered or mattered.
It was only recently that he had noticed (just in passing) that the quiet Hyūga had started … existing when their overlapping friend group got together. She was usually a soft voice of reason and calm in a sea of boisterous noisemakers, a gentler touch of sanity than her steely cousin.
Sasuke had never heard her demand anything in his life. Huh.
He stood to his full height and stared down at her through his bangs. To his complete surprise, she met him head on, expression hard despite the obvious power disparity. If he didn't know any better (and he really didn't), he would think she was looking down her nose at him.
"You've been kidnapped," he told her smugly. "We were robbing a bakery and you were a convenient hostage."
She blinked wide, pale eyes at him.
"You were robbing a bakery," she repeated slowly, weighing the words and their validity, and finding each more wanting the next, "and took a hostage?"
"Hn."
Hinata studied his impassive face. He kept half of it hidden behind dark bangs and the rest of it was alabaster, unmarred and unmoving. His ability to tell such a terrible lie with such a straight face was almost impressive but now, in her aching, hungry, and abused state, it was just insulting. Taking a deep breath, she reached hard for the diplomacy that had been drilled into her from childhood.
"Uchiha-san, please don't insult my intelligence."
She caught the minute shift of his eyes away from hers. Regardless of their personal interactions, they were both ninja of the Leaf. He could afford her that much respect at least.
"I'm getting married on Saturday," she continued, "You know this; Itachi-nii is my security detail."
She watched him swallow at the mention of his brother and the job that, technically, he was supposed to be on too. "The Yotsuki will never work with Konoha or the Uchiha again if whatever this is goes on. I don't know what's going on but let me go before this starts a war. Please."
She left that hanging. It was no exaggeration to claim that a wrong step in the delicate balance of politics that was her marriage negotiations could easily result in armed conflict between Kumo and Konoha. The push for her to entertain the idea of being Kousei Yotsuki's wife had always been more for the benefit of the Hyūga and, by extension, Konoha than it had ever been for Hinata's own sake.
Tense silence stretched between then longer than was comfortable, the two having found themselves in an impromptu stare-down neither was willing to concede. But Hinata's shoulder protested its painful position again and she winced, breaking the stalemate.
"Here's the deal, Princess. You're here until I decide otherwise. If you're sensible, you'll behave and get out of this no harm, no foul," the Uchiha dictated. "I'm going to untie you now. Don't try anything."
Jun 01 – 11:03p.m.
The fucking disrespect.
If Sasuke wasn't so irritated, he might be a little impressed. Most women his age—and a good number of the men too—would give their right arm to be trapped alone with him but not the Hyūga heiress. No, she had better things to do. Like try to run away to get married to a man whom he had it on good authority she didn't love, and then head off to live a long, wealthy life in a sad, joyless marriage to the human equivalent of a plastic cup. Itachi had met the Lightning Daimyo's grandson when Uchiha Security had been hired and had remarked to his sibling that the Yotsuki heir was almost offensively forgettable.
Sasuke looked around the bathroom the Hyūga had occupied for the better part of the last hour. She had indeed showered and changed as instructed. But then she'd taken so long to come back out, he knew she had defied his orders not to try anything. He should have nailed the window shut while she'd been knocked out.
As he surveyed the vast field surrounding the cabin he had rented for the week for any sign of his captive, Sasuke wondered why Neji thought he needed to intervene. It was clear Hinata was determined to see the wedding through. She had no idea where she was, no weapons, but had still defied the most talented ninja in their year to escape. It said something of her skill that she was managing to avoid immediate detection when there was practically nowhere to hide on an essentially wide open plain.
Still, he hadn't been top of their class for nothing. A patch of grass rustled out of time with its surroundings. There she was.
Before the others had left, Karin had set up a perimeter of seals around their hideout that would cloak the chakra of anyone within its confines. Hinata was almost to the edge off the forest that marked the boundary. So long as she stayed inside that perimeter, they could remain undetected. Flickering quickly into the shadow of the wood the Hyūga was clearly aiming for, Sasuke leaned against one of the tall trees, crossed his arms, and kept his eye on her movement through the grass as he waited for her to reach him.
When she was within hearing distance, he called out. "Going somewhere?"
She froze. He was sure she could see him; was, in fact, a little disappointed that she hadn't sighted him already with her Byakugan. There was a single tense moment and then they both moved. Sasuke leapt forward, intent on forcing her back into the open and away from the seals. He blocked her open-palmed strike with the sheath of his katana. Years of sparring against Neji had taught him not to let even the lightest touch connect. Now, Hinata's kekkai genkai was fully activated and she moved fluidly into the familiar stance of her family's style.
Sasuke smirked as his eyes flashed to red. He could do with some exercise.
He moved again, releasing a barrage of non-lethally aimed shuriken in her direction. Fully prepared for his attack to be rebuffed by some standard Hyūga spinning, he was surprised when his projectiles weren't just blocked, some of them were sliced through. Changing tactics, he executed a swift series of familiar hand seals. Fireballs rained down around his target from his Phoenix Sage Fire technique, creating a tight ring around her established chakra perimeter.
With her Byakugan activated, Hinata saw and recognized the seals the Uchiha zipped through. She readied her Vacuum Palm counter but realized quickly that Sasuke had inadvertently given her exactly the cover she needed. So far, he hadn't attacked with anything approaching real aggression instead he was pointedly driving her back from the forest. He likely had some sort of perimeter set up; she just needed to get beyond it.
As the fireballs continued to descend around her and light the hip-high grass aflame, they generated a thick and wholly useless smokescreen for her captor. Inside the circle of flames, Hinata had a thought of startling clarity: Sasuke Uchiha was an idiot. Wasting no time on that epiphany, she bolted. She cut a path toward the trees that kept the Uchiha at the edge of her blind spot. Idiot or not, he was lightning fast with his jutsu. Hinata launched herself into the dense foliage of the treetops just as huge, blue-black snake materialized around where she had just been, smothering the fire and revealing her second flight.
"Fuck!"
Sasuke's Sharingan zeroed in on her location almost immediately. Aoda shot after her, disappearing into the darkness of the woods and going well beyond Karin's seals. So much for a quiet week in the country. Who could have guessed Hinata Hyūga would be this much trouble? Propelling himself through the canopy, Sasuke took in the trail Aoda cut. It would be a dead giveaway out here in the sticks. They would have to move again and quickly. He could only hope that any Hyūga scouts were somewhere far enough away that none had glimpsed their princess's chakra as yet.
Trying not to be distracted by the insane and unique chakra flow of the creature on her tail, Hinata noticed a faint chakra signature in the distance ahead. It moved strangely, almost like a fish in water but unlike any of the actual fish in the water around it. Most likely there was a ninja there, she just needed to get closer to figure out who it was. But first there was the issue of her pursuer and the massive beast's incredible speed. Was this why Sasuke's summoning had been so quick? Was there a speed test on the snake summoning contract?
There was no sense in trying to outrun the snake in a straight sprint. Instead, Hinata began weaving a winding path, alternating between high and low branches. Despite these efforts, the snake's jaws had almost closed around her three times. Now she heard it grumbling—quite genteelly, it had to be noted—about the logs it kept crunching. Leaping forward automatically, she realized a moment too late that she had come upon a clearing. Her vision filled with dark scales and the overwhelming chakra of the snake as Sasuke's summon caught her easily in its coils. She couldn't begin to guess where to hit to incapacitate it.
Behind them, Sasuke sped up when he saw Aoda break through the trees with a lunge. The steady rumble of Aoda's movements slowed as he curled around his trapped prey. Hinata was caught but Sasuke had to admit he was impressed by her resourcefulness. She had made it all the way to the far bend of river that meandered through the area with nothing but chakra and wits. That was a lot of weaponry for a ninja, but not all knew how to use them well.
At the river, Sasuke hopped onto Aoda's coils and approached Hinata, who continued to struggle vainly against the snake's grasp. Leaning forward, Sasuke got directly in her face, Sharingan spinning menacingly.
"Stop it," he said, watching the way Aoda's constrictive grip tightened dangerously the more she struggled. "I told you not to try anything."
She glared back at him but stopped her futile squirming. He studied her for a long moment. The success of this kidnapping endeavor required her cooperation, but it wasn't going to be as easily won as Neji claimed. Sasuke was beginning to wonder if the older Hyūga cousin knew anything about the woman in front of him at all. Nearly all the information Neji had provided was so far proving unreliable. Words were on the tip of Sasuke's tongue when a new voice cut through the air.
"Ok, I've definitely seen enough hentai to know where this is going."
Aoda cocked his head curiously at the floating head in the river. Sasuke was not about to explain to a snake what hentai was; not tonight, not ever.
"Shut up, Suigetsu."
Jun 02 – 3:24a.m.
Hinata was woken by light tapping on her cheeks. How had she fallen asleep again? She blinked groggily into wakefulness and took in her surroundings. From the familiar rafters she knew she was back in the Uchiha's cabin, laid along the length of the couch this time, hands bound in front of her. The room was a mix of soft shadows and warm yellow light coming from a single illuminated floor lamp in a far corner. It smelled amazing. Or maybe that was Sasuke.
The Uchiha was also seated on the couch, his side pressed warm against hers. His left hand braced casually on backrest, effectively trapping her between him and the cushions. In his right hand, he held a cellphone. He appeared entirely unperturbed by their proximity.
"Awake now?"
Licking her lips, she asked, "Why do I keep falling asleep?"
"Genjutsu."
"Oh. That makes sense." After a moment, she whispered hopefully, "You're not going to untie me again. Are you?"
"After that display?" he retorted but there was a shadow of humor in the left corner of his mouth. "Aoda's taking up most of the yard just in case you get out on your own."
"Is that what the snake is called?"
She tilted her head along the armrest, curious. No Hyūga had a personal summon and Hinata was a little fascinated by the concept. Naruto had mentioned his personal summon, Gamakichi, to her but she'd never met the frog. Circumstances notwithstanding, her escape attempt had been the closest interaction she'd ever had with anyone's summon. Were they always that large or was Sasuke's snake an exception? Did they all talk?
Scrolling through something on his phone, Sasuke's reply was a distracted, "Mm-hm."
"Well, thank you for the warning."
The edge of his mouth twitched upward at that, but he kept his head down and said nothing. Hinata was working up the courage to ask another snake question when he brought the phone up so she could see it.
"Let's call your cousin."
Hinata frowned. "Neji-nii? Are you going to ransom me?"
Sasuke coughed lightly and it took a moment for her to realize that he had almost laughed. Amusement colored his next response: "I really should. He can afford it."
"No," she protested weakly as Sasuke hit speaker and ringing permeated the quiet, "ask my father. Neji-nii works too hard."
"Hello?" On the other end of the line, Neji's voice was heavy with sleep.
"Hyūga," Sasuke greeted. Forgoing any preamble, he demanded, "Explain the situation to your cousin before she tries to escape again."
"Ah. Give me a moment."
TBC
Footnotes:
[1] A zaisu (座椅子) is a Japanese chair with no legs but a normal chair back wiki/Zaisu
[2] An engawa (縁側/掾側) or en (縁) is an edging strip of non-tatami-matted flooring in Japanese architecture, usually wood or bamboo. The en may run around the rooms, on the outside of the building, in which case they resemble a porch or sunroom wiki/Engawa
[3] Chabudai (卓袱台 or 茶袱台 or 茶部台) is a short-legged table used in traditional Japanese homes wiki/Chabudai