- Pluck -
Part II
Chapter 21: Normal in Emptiness
Companion song: Soft Overgrown Steps by City Girl and Through Time by Kim Dong Hyeok and Lee Han Beom.
The Devil of Sand 1 apparently had nothing to do with the brutal death of Kisame Hoshigaki.
Unless Kabuto's interrogation skills were rusty.
But that was as impossible as a king who had eyewitnesses of his every move during the time of death of Kisame being the one to ultimately murder him.
The Guard will not be pleased to hear this, was all Kabuto could think as he packed his things and gave one, last look about the room, hoping - praying, even - that a splash of blood or a broken shark tooth would be found somewhere, anywhere.
But there was nothing. Only a Devil who looked about as displeased as how he felt.
But for totally different reasons, of course. For Kabuto, he knew the Guard would have no suspects, and thus a full, tiresome investigation would have to commence and waste everyone's already limited time.
And for the Sand King, well . . .
"I want to see the corpse."
He wanted to see the corpse of the dead bastard.
"That's against strict protocols," the man said for perhaps the third time since arriving at that crummy, dusty place.
But the Sand King was as stubborn as he was feared. "I'm a king."
Like I give a shit. "If you're so adamant about it, you will have to discuss it with our Head, Your Majesty."
Not the answer he wanted - the dangerous squint of Gaara's eye told him that much. But, again, Kabuto couldn't find the patience or the will to care.
"Doctor," called the Devil as he was just about to reach the doors that would lead him out of the King's chambers. "Tell me how he died."
He would have called him a sick bastard if he wasn't one, himself.
"That's confidential." He paused for a moment, then added, "But it was certainly . . . not a pleasant death."
The Sand King's head tilted. "Can I trust your word?"
"Without hesitation," Kabuto droned.
The Sand King hummed and rounded the chair at his desk, placing his hands on the back. "I did not kill that man." And then he turned into the very Devil he was nicknamed after as his mouth twisted into a crooked grin. "But now I wish I had."
I'm sure. Kabuto fixed the collar of his coat, bowed, and left the chambers. But if you had, I doubt we'd be able to even identify him afterward.
The Hall was warmer than the Guard.
Hinata . . . kind of missed the cold.
But she blamed the notion on her skin, which slowly turned to the rough, frigid, scaly kind that all Ocean folk had. To survive the icy waters of the ocean like she was told she had done for about seven months, her body must have adapted. The moment those gills ran their course down the length of her neck, the process must have started.
She did not remember it, but she had common sense.
Gills were temporary unless they were carved into your neck over and over again; and when that happened, magic took its course and started to morph one's body in strange and sometimes invisible ways. Suigetsu must have done that to her the same way she had ripped those stickers off his gills.
After all, there was no other way someone from Moon could survive the bottom of the ocean for that long.
But this wasn't Ocean. This was the Hall.
And Hinata was free.
Somewhat.
It was no surprise that she did not recognize what was right in front of her. The Hall was a massive, tall hallway made of mahogany walls that must have towered at least thirty feet above her head. It stretched on a while down the way Hinata had just come from, towards the Guard. At the other end was where the three gates that connected the Sky, Earth, and Ocean universes stood. The gates loomed, dormant, their portals not spilling to life. Above, the dome roof was decorated with stained glass, the subtle glow of the moon casting a faded rainbow onto the floorboards at Hinata's feet. Barely anyone was around, which was expected. It had to have been around two in the morning, and despite how her nights have been for the last few days, she did not feel a speck of exhaustion.
It was nearly silent.
"Ah. Moon."
Nearly.
The unfamiliar voice made her fingers tug at the black hood situated on her head. Shizune had brought it to her earlier that day, explaining that it was delivered to her by Sasuke to protect her secrecy. It didn't take anything longer than a glance for her to know it was not the one he wore. This one was different, seemingly unused. Perhaps an extras of his.
Either way, she was thankful for it.
Because she hadn't realized how safe she felt in that small, dark cell until she was thrown into the open with the simple order to "Find home". The Head of the Guard's orders, of course, which Shizune did not seem all too pleased with. But no one was allowed to help her to Ocean, and she did not want to get them in trouble, so she had simply shot the woman a smile before pulling on the hood and leaving the one place she knew, full of the people that made up her current and bumbled memories.
Her thoughts when she took the first step into The Hall had been a bit embarrassing.
I wish Sasuke was here.
Because she felt like a leech. Because she should learn to take care of herself, without the help of others. Because she was sure she was constantly bothering him.
But she had thought it.
And right now, as she turned to find a pair of mismatched eyes staring at her in that familiar, heavy way that made her heart forget to beat for a moment, she thought it again.
There was a strange man in a strange room. A wide archway led into a room full of tables and chairs, and in the back, next to shelves of bottles and glasses, was a bar beneath marigold lights. The man stood behind it, dressed in a black vest and a white, sharp shirt. The bottom half of his face was covered in stickers. The sight made her stomach churn.
Problems, she mused. He has many problems.
Like Sasuke.
And his eyes were like Sasuke's, as well. Not perfectly. His left one did not glow with the ever-present spark of ferocious lightning, but it was brighter than the smoldering black iris in his right. Red, almost. Even from where she stood yards away, Hinata could see it trace the shadows her hood casted over her face.
It was unnerving, like he was searching for something.
Did she know this man?
Was it wise to take the chance and ask?
He could be dangerous.
"Tsunade told me you were being released, but I didn't think it would be at this time of morning."
Tsunade.
That's right. Hinata vaguely remembered Kabuto bringing up Tsuande's bar when she had come to the Guard's medical wing. This must be the bar, and the man must be one of the people she worked with.
Did that mean he was trustworthy?
A bit of relief washed over her as his eyes took a moment to glance around the empty bar room and hallway. "But then again," he mused, voice barely reaching her, "I guess now is the best time to let you wander alone. No one's around to see your face."
Except for you. The tips of her fingers felt like ice.
"Moon?"
That word again. Was he calling her that?
But that wasn't -
"Or do you prefer Moon Witch?"
"S-Sasuke!" she yelped before she could stop herself, and her hands flew to her mouth. She blushed when those mismatched eyes fell on her again, the marigold light caught in their irises sparkling knowingly. "Sasuke . . . a-always . . . calls me that . . . ."
He chuckled. "Yes, I know. He has a habit of sticking close to protocol." Yes, she knew. The newly implanted memories of him showed her as much. "But this is coming from the guy who won't call your name despite no one being around to listen, so I suppose I have no room to talk."
"You . . . " she took a small step forward, "know my name?"
The eyes of the man curved, as if smiling.
"I know a lot about you." His right shoulder rolled to a corner of the room. "It's hard not to. You used to sit in that very spot for up to fourteen hours, every day."
When she turned to look at the table and chairs he gestured towards, an instant pull came from her chest.
She knew that place, somehow.
Did that mean he was telling the truth?
"Still paranoid, I see." The man turned away and cranked something in the back, then grabbed a mug from the shelf. "Good to see that hasn't changed. You can never truly know who to trust, you know."
Again, Hinata knew. She knew it well.
Since waking up at the bottom of the ocean with shark people looming about her, she's known.
So she stayed where she was, shifting on the balls of her feet, watching the man's shoulders move as he worked. There was a shift in the air and a rumbling hum to her side, but she was too caught up in the clinking and fwooshing coming from the bar.
Somehow, she knew those noises, too.
After a few minutes, a white mug was placed one the bartop, ribbons of steam curling about the lips.
"Come here," said the man, "and see if this convinces you."
And Hinata was quite prepared to divulge into a thousand possibilities of how this could potentially lead her to her untimely depth, but before she could fall into mess of paranoid thoughts -
"Go ahead."
That was when she became acutely aware of her cousin floating at her side.
His eyes were glowing and cold, as they always were. No fear. No suspicion.
Pure nonchalance.
"This place is safe," he murmured. "You can trust it."
Gulping, she walked into the room and situated herself between two stools by the bar, not daring to sit. She eyed the man, then the mug, then finally took it and held it to her lips.
It smelled . . . really nice.
And when she took a sip, it tasted even better.
"Just how you like it," the man said, a grin in his voice. "I know how your taste buds work, Moon."
As she drank the hot beverage - coffee, she believed it was - the warmth that enveloped her body slowly helped her relax. She slid onto the stool to her right, and Neji hovered by the left.
"Thank you," she said to the man, "a-and I apologize. I -"
"I know," he said. "Trust me."
She did.
"You know Tsunade?"
"Unfortunately." Now that she was sitting at the bar and willingly talking to him, the man pulled a book out from his back pocket and began to read. "She works in the morning, and she'll be happy to see you back."
Back? Hinata pulled away from the mug for a moment. "Am I supposed to come back?"
He took a second to peek up at her. "Wasn't that made clear to you?"
Not at all.
"They told me to go home," she said, "to Ocean."
He sighed and flipped the page. "You never considered that place your home."
"I didn't?"
"Moon 2 is your home. And here -" He lazily gestured to the bar room, "is your home, too."
She smiled, sat in silence, and drank. When the coffee was gone, she placed the mug down and felt around in her empty pockets. "I don't think I have money."
He didn't even look up. "I'll put it on your tab."
"Thank you." She thought for a moment, then blushed. "U-Um -"
"Kakashi."
She tried it silently, rolling it on her name, and was pleased when finding how easily it slipped from her tongue. "Thank you, Kakashi."
He looked up again, eyes smiling.
"It's in Ocean 11, if you're wondering. The house you stay at."
"You should go," Neji added, pushing away from the bar. "It's late."
Nodding, she hopped off the stool and fixed her hood.
"Ah," Kakashi piped, dropping his book, "I'll take that for you. The water will ruin it."
Oh, right. She pulled it over her head and folded it on the clean bartop before handing it to him. Hinata caught the way hsi thumbs brushed against the hem of the cape and gave him a curious look.
"Nothing important," he mused. "Sasuke gave this to you, didn't he. I'd recognize Mikoto's work anywhere."
Her mind latched onto the name she recognized.
"You know Sasuke?"
"Lady Hinata," Neji said with a frown. "You're tired. It's time to go."
He was right. Her limbs were starting to feel heavy, but she couldn't help but stay and ask. That was the second time Kakashi brought up Sasuke, and her curiosity was taking over her body.
There must have been some sort of look on her face, for Kakashi gave an amused huff as he stopped playing with the hem. "Yes," he said, "I know him well. Our paths have crossed one too many times - for his liking, of course. But I have to admit - he used to rarely come to this bar. It's only because of a certain someone that he started showing up more."
Hinata couldn't help herself. "Me?"
"Lady Hinata," Neji hissed.
But Kakashi simply chuckled, folded the cloak under his arm, and returned to his reading.
"Seems you still have your smarts, too."
...
"You have to stop inquiring about him."
Her right hand turned the dial to District 11, and the Ocean Gate immediately flooded with blues and indigos. Hinata felt them envelope her entire body. Her skin turned blue. Her fingernails were painted purple. The magic took up the entire universe, it seemed.
But Neji, of course, was unaffected.
Not a splotch of blue on him, and when Hinata stepped out and wobbled on the uneven ocean surface, he stood perfectly, peering down his nose at her.
"Are you trying to confuse yourself more?"
That shoved air out of her lungs, and she choked as salty wind slammed against her face.
Her cousin was . . . something. A ghost? An illusion? A spirit?
But he was not a mind reader from what she understood, so how did he know about the turmoil in her head? Because Naruto had kissed her. He was bright and warm and a part of that past she desperately wanted to remember.
He loved her.
And she had loved him before. In fact, she was sure she still did.
That should have been it. It shouldn't be complicated.
But it was.
Sasuke Uchiha made things . . . messy.
He was her close friend since they were six. Friend. And he worked hard these past months to make sure she was safe and comfortable and as happy as she could be because he was her friend.
But she had, for a while, whole-heartedly believed he was in love with her.
She had been so sure that she was in love with him, too.
And when you think that way, you see that person in a different light.
Everything they do is more complex and has a hidden, deeper meaning that is meant for you and you alone. They become more beautiful, those once arbitrary aspects of them suddenly become perfect and necessary and gorgeous. Their words mean the world to you. The warmth of their hands could replace the sun. The sound of their heart beating - for you - suddenly became the best song in the universes.
Sasuke Uchiha became all of those things to her, and no matter if it were a lie, no matter if it was all fake, it was still there. She still heard that song and saw the beautiful, perfect things about him that she hadn't seen before.
And it was horrible.
Because she had been engaged to Naruto. She loved Naruto.
So why, everytime the world was quiet and her thoughts took over, did they instantly, without question, go straight to Sasuke?
Didn't that make her a twisted person? Wasn't it awful to betray Naruto that way?
"I-I-I'm sorry."
Don't cry, Hinata. Don't.
Neji was watching. She didn't want to cry in front of him.
"Don't apologize to me," he sighed. Hovering a bit closer, as if to comfort her, his hand lifted to her face. But then he stopped and pulled away. "You have to control your thoughts. I don't want you to confuse yourself further."
Hinata nodded. "I don't know what to do."
He stared for a while, then faced the ocean. "For now, you rest."
But she couldn't rest forever. Eventually, she'd have to deal with everything. Hopelessness bit at her eyes, and she quickly dived in to hide her frustrated tears from her ever-watching cousin.
...
When she saw it, she understood why Kakashi had said she had never considered it a home.
It was empty. Void of life or meaning.
A blank slate.
If Neji had not directed her right to it, she would have swam right past it, thinking nothing of it.
The small house on the ocean's floor was apparently where she had stayed since leaving Moon 2.
Hinata knew to not complain. She had just been let out of a cell, after all.
But . . .
"This is . . . nice."
Neji gave her a look, obviously not believing her, and with a blush, she pulled out the key the Guard had returned to her and unlocked the door.
It was dark inside, but tidy.
It didn't feel like a home - especially not hers - but that was expected with her lack of memory of the place.
"Your room is in the back," her cousin told her as she pulled off her shoes. Her gills felt a lot better in the ocean water, as did her skin, and she was glad that it wasn't as freezing as she thought it would be. "Rest, Lady Hinata."
Without a hint of disobedience, Hinata swam over to the door in the back, pushed it open, and entered the quaint, minimalistic bedroom. The bed looked so comfortable and big in comparison to the futon she's had to sleep on, so without even bothering to change into something more fitting for sleep, Hinata dived under the covers and pressed her face into the nice, plush pillow.
Exhaustion took over her senses, but her mind was still stuck on the conversation before.
"Neji," she whispered, watching him glide to the side of the bed. No bubbles escaped his mouth, and he didn't look like he could not breathe, but there were no gills on his neck. But then again, he wasn't the real Neji. "How did you know? About what I was thinking."
His eyes scanned the room, as if making sure it was secure, before he turned his glowing gaze to her.
"You have a clear face," he said, "that reveals everything you think. You've been in anguish for a while, ever since Naruto showed up. It was not hard to connect the pieces."
Anguish.
Such a harsh word.
Pulling the quilt to her chin, Hinata situated herself on her side and stared at the shadows on the wall. Neji stared for a moment, then sat on the foot of her bed. No weight came from his figure, but Hinata still curled her feet close to her body to give him room.
"Sleep," he told her again, more softly this time, a desperate trail to his normally calm voice. "I'll watch over you, Lady Hinata. You're safe."
She didn't really understand. He had said her face was easy to read, so was there some sort of expression on her face that told him she was afraid?
But she wasn't. Not really.
Just . . . unnerved, like the first night in the cell.
Only this time, Sasuke wouldn't come to save her.
It was like she was in another person's home, trying on their clothes and eating their food. The only thing that made it feel right was telling herself this was all hers. That bed was hers. The books on that shelf were hers.
This is my house, she told herself as she pulled on her boots and traced a hand along the handle of the front door. I live here.
And it must have been miserable.
There was no one around. She was so alone.
And unlike the cell in the Guard, no one could come visit her.
She lived at the bottom of the fucking ocean.
But complaining was getting her nowhere. She ought to be thankful she at least had a home. After tightening the strings on her boots, she gave one last look over her shoulder at the murky house, then left without a second thought.
When she twisted her key in the lock, her gaze spied a neighboring house to the right. It was still. Of course it was. But she was still chilled by the sheer quietness of the place.
"Neji," she whispered, gills expanding, "who lives there?"
His feet hovered an inch over the sand, but like the house, he was still. Not a single part of him lulled with the current.
"Suigetsu," he said, and her heart stopped. "He was your neighbor."
Eyes stinging, she finished locking the door and pushed off the wall of her house, swimming as fast as she could to the surface.
...
When Hinata got there, she discovered a problem.
"My cloak . . . ."
The sun was bright and climbing to the sky's peak, giving her no cover to hide her face. The sturdy gate was worn from the unforgiving sun and the howling wind and threw water and salt at its stones. It was inactive, but Hinata knew how they worked. Someone could walk through at any given moment, and she would be seen, cloakless and face in the open.
But even if no one came through, she would have to, eventually.
Because Kakashi had told her she was supposed to come back to the bar. Because Tsunade was probably waiting for her. Because, apparently, she had spent so much time there, and right now, her main goal was to act normal.
But how was she supposed to get there when she had nothing to hide her face?
"That's a predicament."
If Hinata didn't know any better, she would have supposed her dear cousin was teasing her.
And, sure, she remembered nothing about him, but that somehow didn't seem to fit him. He was watchful and quiet, vague, and sometimes spoke in riddles that she could never understand. But he wasn't teasing.
"Usually, you wake up earlier to avoid the crowd."
Or . . . maybe he was.
Face heating up, she gave him a look in the corner of her eye. "What should I do?" she asked. "I can't be seen."
His eyes traced the gate, then landed on the dial.
"You're right," he mused, a smirk curling along his lips, "you can't."
She waited a moment - then two - and when the silence stretched and he showed no effort to continue, she realized he was placing it on her to figure it out. Hinata would have liked to have been annoyed, but she knew she couldn't have her hand held forever. Her head was messed up and confused, but it wasn't useless.
"U . . . Um . . . ."
Before she knew it, her hand dropped onto the dial, bringing life to the portal. Her heart raced a million miles in front of her as she listened to its roar of magic, telling her to come, to not be afraid, to be prepared.
When she stepped in, Neji stepped in with her.
He was smiling.
She's never seen him do that before.
"Running?"
Magic swirled and twirled as her stomach lagged behind, and she felt sick and shaky and scared for her life. The blues began to fade, and Hinata quickly tucked her chin and hid as much of her face behind her hair.
"Running."
...
She got exactly seven steps in when two, rough hands grabbed her shoulder and yanked her to a dark, secluded corner away from the bar. Her heart bounced in her throat as her back was pressed into the wall, a large body stuck in front of her, keeping her from escaping. Her head shot up, but she couldn't scream. A third hand was over her mouth.
Wait! Her hand slid down to her slacks' pocket, gripping the handle of her dagger. Don't -
"Here."
And then a familiar, warm fabric was placed atop her head. Soft, smelling like smoke and mothballs and coffee.
Her cloak.
What?
Her free hand situated the cloak so that it slid down her body, the other hand still keeping a firm grasp on her dagger. The hands on her shoulder left her, instead sliding over her shoulder to pull the hood over her face, adjusting it slightly so that it covered her eyes. Then, the hands and the body moved away, giving her room to breathe. Her mouth was free, but her words completely left her as she pulled the cloak around her and looked at the figure before her.
It was . . . a man, she was pretty sure.
An odd one with four arms and antennae sprouting from the short nest of brown hair from his head. His skin was pale, like the sand on the beach of Ocean 4, and while she could see his pursed, unmoving mouth, she could not see his eyes at all. They were covered entirely in stickers, similar to how Sasuke's had been when she had first met him after fleeing Moon.
It was a bit scary, because she could feel the weight of his gaze on her. Her eyes slipped down her neck, and then her shoulders arched and her hands flew to her mouth to muffle her surprised gasp as she saw - saw -
Bugs.
Crawling down the side of his neck, she saw them. And when she looked down at his naked hands, she saw some there, too.
And right at that moment - she could have sworn she felt something creep up her left arm.
Oh, Gods.
Shivering, she looked through the folds of her clothes, searching for any creepy crawlers that could have taken a vacation from the strange, four-armed creature before her.
"None."
"H-Huh?" His sudden voice made her jump. It barely sounded . . . like anything. Airy and flat, awkward, as if barely able to leave his mouth.
His mouth frowned, then opened again as he spoke. "None." One of his right arms patted her shoulder, then moved to hover over his chest. "Comrades here. All."
The muscles in his neck constricted whenever he spoke, as if it was painful to do so. Her heart calmed and sunk back into her chest, and she gave a small nod, smiling. "I apologize. You just startled me. U-Um." She glanced over towards the bar across the hall. Not many people were in there, and if she squinted, she was sure she could see Tsunade behind the bar. "Do I . . . know you?"
His head turned to follow where she was looking, and then he took a few steps to the side to give her a clear, straight path to the bar. "Aburame 480," he droned, tapping a finger on his dark jacket, where his collar bone would be. There was a strained pause as his mouth tilted, and then he faced her for a moment and added, "Shi-no."
"That's your name?"
He gave a stout nod. "Mantis. Hidden and watch. Disguised. You are . . ." Another pause. The muscles in his neck strain and he swallows. " . . . from Ocean, yes?"
Hinata was barely able to keep up, but she was able to understand the question.
But . . . was it safe to tell him?
She didn't know who he was or his intentions.
"Can I, u-um, go see Tsunade?"
If he was irritated that she did not answer his question, he did not show it. His two, right hands waved for her to lead the way, and she wasn't sure if she liked the idea of this stranger following behind her, out of her immediate sight. Gulping, she whispered a forced thank you and quickly scuttled to the bar, head low and face properly covered. When Tsunade tipped her head and caught sight of her approach, her ruby lips immediately stretched into a warm grin.
"There you are!"
Hinata slid onto the stool she had sat on last night and checked the area. No one was looking. Good. She was beginning to understand why Kakashi had called her paranoid. Anyone would be when they had to be so aware of anyone possibly looking their way.
"I was worried sick you had gotten lost - or, Hell, you coulda been kidnapped on your way back. I nearly sent Bug Boy to go find you, fuck how those nasty things coverin' him feel about the water."
But Tsunade didn't seem worried at all, and that helped Hinata calm down a bit.
Behind her, she heard Shino was nearby. There was a sort of buzz that surrounded his person. Not the electrical buzz that came every time Sasuke entered the room, but rather a more natural, animalistic buzz.
Probably because he seemed to be covered in bugs.
"So he's with us?" Hinata asked, tipping her head a bit. "Shi-no."
Working a mug into the small nooks of a mug, Tsunade blew a piece of blonde hair out of her face before giving the man a narrow look. "He's the new bodyguard they hired for you." Bodyguard? She had a bodyguard? "Barely gave the people here enough time to plan anything out, but hey, ain't that always how the Guard is?"
Hinata turned in her stool to look up at the half-covered face of Shino.
"So you're my bodyguard?" she asked.
He said nothing for a while, only turning away. For a moment, she thought this was payback for not answering his question earlier; but then she saw bright reds of wooden instruments that stood out from the dull, brick wall of the bar.
"Play," he muttered. "I play."
Tsunade snorted behind her. "They don't want him hovering like Suigetsu did - said it made it too obvious. So we're making him pretend he's the musician we hired to attract more customers. Apparently, he can play those things - whatever they are." There was a hollow slapping sound, like a rag hitting the bartop. "I swear, if he's awful and scares away the whole, damn lot of them - even the drunks - I'm gonna kick him out no matter how much they tell us we need him. Gods, I would have preferred that stubborn Uchiha over him."
Her heart fluttered at the name, and Hinata stared at the strange instruments to distract herself.
"Are you good?" she asked.
Shino moved to grab them and bring them over. They were both string instruments. He held one in the upper pair of his hands, resting the larger end next to his chin as his right hand held a strange stick with a corded string tied to it. The other instrument was held in his lower pair of hands. It looked similar to the one by his chin, only it was bigger, held in both of his hands, and did not come with a stringed stick. When his thumb brushed across the strings, a beautiful, light sound came from it, and Hinata gaped in awe as he turned a knob at the neck of the instrument.
"I am the best," he said, matter-of-factly, like he wasn't even trying to boast.
"Let's hope our definitions of best are the same, Bug Boy," Tsunade hissed before turning back to work.
Placing her hands on her lap, Hinata gave Shino a kind smile, trying to suppress a shudder as a rather large bug crawled across the strings of the instrument near his chin. "I'd love to listen," she said, "if you do not mind."
He nodded his head towards the back of the room. "Sit there, and I play."
Right.
Because they were trying to make it seem like he had no connection to her.
So Hinata did as she was told and moved over to a table in the back - the one Kakashi had pointed out. It felt strange to sit there. Not exactly familiar, but it didn't leave her feeling empty and confused like her house in Ocean 11.
When she was situated, she looked to Shino, and gone was the awkwardness about him as his hands moved with grace upon his instruments.
...
For two hours, she listened to his music.
And she was sure she could have listened to it for the rest of the day without getting bored, if given the chance.
But when the hum of the singing strings swung into a calm melody, the subtle buzz of Shino's bugs in the distance were replaced by another.
A more striking, more powerful buzz that made her toes curl in her boots.
Sasuke?
When she looked for him, she found him hovering in the archway, staring at her, the glow of his left eye nearly as bright and startling as Neji's Moon eyes in the dark waters of Ocean 11. It felt so . . . relieving to see him. Which was silly, she knew. They had seen each other just two days ago.
But it felt longer than that.
Smiling, she stood and waited for him. Kakashi had mentioned before that Sasuke had come here before. For her. When she thought back to it, she supposed that was true. Sasuke had come for her, but to be her bodyguard. He hated the job, back then. But that was different than now.
Now, they are friends.
Friends.
So, surely, he'd come to make sure she was alright. Maybe, he'll stay for a bit and talk, and she can tell him about Ocean 11 and how nice it makes her gills feel, purposefully skipping over the fact it had to have been the most lonely place in the universes. She didn't want to worry him.
Clearly, he had enough on his plate.
And . . .
He wasn't moving.
He stayed in that spot, staring, stuck.
Stuck?
His right foot hovered over the ground, indecisive of whether to lead Sasuke to her or away from her.
But why would he want to walk away?
Had she done something wrong?
"Sasuke?"
He was far away. There was no way he heard her.
But the buzzing snapped as his eyes flashed, and he stepped forward and marched towards the back, towards the corner, towards her.
And he looked like that time when he had pinned against the wall with his katana, only the anger wasn't there. Instead, there was something else. Something just as hot and as powerful, but not mean or cruel or hateful.
Subconsciously, her back straightened and her shoulders arched. She tilted her head slightly forward so that the back of her skull would not hit the wall if he so chose to -
"Wake up."
H-Huh?
Sasuke's hand grabbed the side of the table, holding him back, keeping a distance between them. That fire did not leave his gaze, nor did the cacophony in the air quiet, and when she looked up at his dark, looming figure, she felt like he would lean over and eat her.
There was a sneer, then one of his hands pressed against his head, as if he were in pain.
"Are you alright?" Clearly, he was not. But she did not know what to do. "What's wrong?"
"She's real, dumbass." His hiss was like boiling water, and it stung her, even if it was not directed towards her. "This is real."
Of . . . course it was.
The stickers beneath his right eye stretched and danced.
What if they covered his face again?
Heart racing, Hinata rounded him and pulled out the chair near him, signaling him to sit. He did so without much complaint, and she quickly pulled her chair over and sat so that she could look at him.
"Tell me where it hurts."
Those words sounded so natural, it made her forget how to breathe for a moment.
Sasuke's hand dropped to his knee, and though his mouth told her nothing, his eyes did. Clearly. "Everywhere," they cried. "Everything!"
But all he said, after a while, was, "It's nothing."
He might as well have stabbed her with his sword, but she only leaned back in the chair, not wishing to push and anger him.
"I'm real," she told him, in case he needed more encouragement.
He stared at her, then sighed. "Yes. I know."
"Why would I not be?"
He eyed the legs of her chair, which nearly touched his own. Was she too close? Was she making him uncomfortable? A memory of how stiff and awkward he became when she hugged him in the cell came to her, and she blushed and bowed her head and pulled herself and her chair back to the other side of the table.
It was quiet for a while.
Quiet, as in despite the buzzing and distant chatter and song of the strings, she felt like she was at Ocean 11's floor, where no one could be found for miles.
Her eyes watched Sasuke's hands slide across the side of the table, and when they paused, they drummed for a moment before falling out of sight. "Last night," he said, "I had a . . . nightmare. You were in it."
Her stomach twisted, and she wanted to reach over and hold his hand.
But he wouldn't want that.
He wanted space, she knew.
"Whatever happened, it wasn't real."
Sasuke stared off at the corner, the lightning in his left eye fading.
"I know."
His voice was low, and his stickers stilled, but everything about him was still off.
And Hinata, unable to do anything, felt useless.
...
"Where is he?"
Knowing he meant her bodyguard, she rolled a shoulder to Shino.
When Sasuke looked, he didn't seem pleased at all.
"Ah."
"Do you know him?" she asked.
"Hardly."
He left it at that, and, again, Hinata felt like she didn't have the right to press.
...
"Did you get there fine?"
"Oh, yes. Thank you. Kakashi helped me remember."
Sasuke's brows pinched together as he leaned his chin into the heel of his hand.
"That's nice."
She's heard that tone before. It happened a lot when they were younger and they were around Naruto and his shining castle.
Laughing, Hinata said, "Don't be jealous, Sasuke. It was just directions."
At that, he balked and stood straight in his chair. "I'm not jealous," he said.
"O-Oh," she blinked, scared she had offended him. "Sorry. It was just . . ."
A joke.
One only she would understand, because she was the one who remembered their past friendships.
She really had to start remembering that. Sasuke didn't know their friendship like she did. He wasn't used to her, still, it seemed.
"U-Um." She picked up a hand to call Tsunade over. "Can I get you something?"
"No."
But she really wished he would just get something; because if he did, then he would stay a little longer. And right now, Hinata was scared that if she said one more, wrong thing, he'd up and leave.
So when Tsunade came over, Hinata asked for one coffee and one black tea, ignoring the squint Sasuke sent her way.
And ten minutes later, when it came, she was happy to find that not only was he drinking it, but his shoulders were relaxing.
Because one good thing about remembering their past together is knowing all of his favorites.
...
"I don't know why I'm . . . here, exactly."
Sasuke brought the mug to the stickers on his lips, allowing the steam to wash over his face. When he looked at her that time, it was straight into her eyes, and she could not help but blush under the attention. "You help people."
Such a simple answer, but that could mean anything.
Hinata let the words sink into her skin for a moment. There was a scene like this before, eight months ago. His face was completely stickered, which made her sick to even think about, and she had been in this exact spot, she was pretty sure.
"Ah, so that's what you do. You get them off."
"Only if you let me."
And then she had leaned over the table and revealed his right eye to her world. Black as the very stickers she had plucked away, heavy, stunning.
Stickers were problems, she knew.
Sasuke had a lot, and others had them, too.
So if she removed the stickers, that meant she was removing the problems, right?
Was that what helping people meant?
But . . .
Hinata glanced down at her coffee. "I don't know how to do it."
Sasuke clicked his tongue before sipping his tea.
"That's a predicament."
He sounded like Neji. Smirking, teasing Neji.
Hinata glanced out at the Hall, trying to gauge where the sun was in the sky based off of how the rainbows from the stained glass were being gast on the floor.
"Am I taking your time?"
"It's my day off."
And he was spending it here, with her.
"I'm sorry."
He gave her an exhausted look, and she bit her lips to keep from laughing. Right. He hated it when she needlessly apologized. It didn't take nearly twenty years of friendship for her to realize that.
Throwing his head back, Sasuke finished the rest of his tea in two, large gulps before slamming the mug on the table. He folded his arms over his chest, the black fabric of his cloak spilling over his triceps, and once again had that heavy, expectant look.
"Go ahead."
Hinata blinked. "Pardon?"
"You have a reputation around this area," he drawled. "People come to you for help, so you'll have to remember the basics. I have nothing to do, so practice with me."
Finishing her coffee so that it was out of the way, Hinata pushed the mug to the side and pressed her palms against the table's surface. "Okay," she whispered, eyeing the tangled nest of weeds all over his face. "What, um, do I do first?"
He huffed. "Apparently, you see stickers. Take them off."
So she leaned over and tugged at one, which did not loosen from his skin no matter how she twisted or worked it. "I . . . think I need to loosen it."
"Then do that," he said.
"How?" She thought back to the times she's seen it happen. Naruto's would just fall off, sometimes. The first time she saw Suigetsu's loosen, it was when she had ripped into his gills with her teeth. The second time, they had all fallen off the hour before he died - almost died, she reminded herself. And with Sasuke . . . .
Well, there were a few times with him. They would loosen randomly around her when she was talking. One time, she had removed them after wiping his forehead with a towel back in - wait, where did that happen, again? The setting in that memory was foggy.
But the last time she had removed them was in the cell, when she had . . . .
And, well, there was no way she could do that again.
Sasuke sat back in the chair, thinking.
"You always talked," he said after a moment passed. "You would be comforting and listen, like a therapist. You always put them before yourself. Sometimes, it was like you felt what they felt. And you were honest with them, no matter what."
He would know that, she supposed, because she had a faint memory of him watching over her when she helped others.
"I think I remember," she said with a smile. "When I tried with you, you barely said a word to me."
He snorted. "This is different."
"Is it?"
"I'll talk this time. So you can practice."
That made her fingers pop with anticipation, and she nearly leaned onto the table with excitement.
"Anything?"
He blinked, then peered off to the side. "Not anything."
Her heart sank, but her smile did not.
"Alright. I'll try." She did not have to think long to figure out what to direct her attention towards. He made it quite obvious in his posture, which wasn't as stiff or unyielding as it normally was. His shoulders sagged slightly, and his gaze, even when staring, usually hovered, rather than focusing. He was tired. And she knew why. "That nightmare has affected you more than you're willing to give it credit."
Sasuke did not confirm or deny, only grunted. "Hn."
"Please tell me about it." Hinata watched his shoulders curl and took a step back. "U-Um. Not in detail, if you're uncomfortable with that. Just give me a basic understanding so that I have an idea of what, exactly, is affecting you."
A low exhale left his nose as he rubbed a patch of skin on the back of his skin, beneath his cloak. "It isn't anything to worry about." Clearly, that was not true, but Hinata stayed patient and waited for him to continue. "In the nightmare, I was being selfish. I took something that wasn't mine, and I do not want that to happen in reality."
Selfishness.
Eight months ago, when she had met him, she had thought he was selfish.
He did as he pleased, talked as he pleased, and had even pretended to attack her simply to make it look 'real enough'.
But now she knew that when it came to people important to him, or when it involved something that mattered to him, Sasuke was the complete opposite of selfish. He had gotten his job as a Guard to help prevent other boys and girls from turning out like him, parentless and scarred. When . . . Naruto had announced his engagement to Sakura, Hinata could not recall a single memory of him trying to get between them or ruin the engagement. And despite how busy he had been for the past month, when she had been in that cell, he would always come to see her.
Always.
And now he was having nightmares of being selfish, of taking that step forward and taking what he wanted, no matter who he would have to hurt.
"Don't give me that look." His voice snapped her out of her thoughts, and his gaze was sharp. "Talk."
"I-I don't really know if -"
"That doesn't matter. Tell me what you think."
What she thought?
"Um." Her fingers bent into the wood of the table as she tried to find her courage, her words. "I don't know if this is right to say . . . but . . . I think selfishness is good, in some cases. N-Not too much, of course - but you can't always be putting others before yourself."
"Huh." A weird, light, barely audibly laugh whispered past his stickered mouth. "Maybe you should listen to your own advice, Moon Witch."
That was definitely teasing, and Hinata nodded and laughed. "You're right. But I'm being serious, Sasuke. I don't think this thing you took in your dream - whatever it was - should make you selfish. I don't think this was a nightmare, but rather your brain trying to tell you that this thing, right in front of you, is worth being selfish over. Because you've let things be taken from you. I've watched it happen. It's not fair to you. Eventually, you'll end up without anything. I . . . don't want that to happen to you."
White fingers pressed into his sleeves. "Right in front of me," he mused slowly, "huh?"
"I-It's, um, a figure of speech." Heat burned the curve of her ears, and she had to look away. "I wish you'd tell me what it was. I'd be able to help you more, I think."
"You helped enough." Sasuke looked over his shoulder. "You did good. I don't think you'll have much of a problem when people begin to seek you out again."
He said that, but when she looked at his face, the weeds were still and firmly gripping his skin.
When he stood, she stood as well, and grabbed the sleeve of his cloak.
"I'm not done," she said.
His eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?"
"Nothing's loose. They're all still there." Her nails dug into the sleeve. "Sasuke, let me help you."
He huffed and lifted his arm, but did not try to swipe her grip away.
"I'm fine," he said.
She shook her head. "You are not."
"It doesn't matter."
"Of course it does," she pressed, voice falling and trembling. "You matter. Stop running away and start helping yourself. Please."
He did not move, did not step away, did not run.
"You want to help me?" His voice was rough, but not angry. "Fine. I'll let you."
I'll let you.
He had said those exact words before, eight months ago, when she had first plucked at his face.
"Cover your ears."
Her jaw dropped. "My -"
"Moon Witch."
He sounded desperate, and the electricity in the air was burning her skin. She released his sleeve, waited, made sure he did not run, then pressed her palms to her ears.
And then he leaned over, planted his hands on the table, and said something.
She couldn't make it out. She couldn't see his mouth, no matter how she squinted. But she saw that as he spoke, stickers began to loosen and tremble.
"-ata."
Her right hand was suddenly pulled away from her ear, allowing her to hear the end of her name. Her real name. No Moon Witch, no Princess. He guided that hand to his face, and he swiped it against his left cheek, dispersing every last weed there, from the highlight of his cheekbone to the side of his jaw.
It was smooth and toned and - and warm. Warmer than it should be.
"There." And when he spoke, it was like his voice traveled through her fingers and straight into her heart. "Satisfied?"
His grip on her loosened, and when she pulled away, she was sure her hand was on fire. "I -"
"I wasn't talking to you."
His own hand brushed over that patch of smooth, flawless skin, and then he tugged her hood over her eyes before turning and leaving.
"Looks like you'll have a selfish Uchiha to deal with now."
He sounded so . . . happy.
Happy.
Sasuke Uchiha.
"Moon Witch."
Chapter 21 - End