Yo readers! School started so I just might be a little busy... but like I said before, shouldn't get in my way all that much. So just a little umm responses to some of the replies I got... (Not responding to all of them, though they all made me smile, thank you for leaving a comment! It's the best thing ever, reading them all!)...
Anyway...
Astly-hinata-chan, Naruto Wasian actually answered you... he's just cheering her up right now cuz she's really depressed and he doesn't like to see people crying (I did a lil research over it and he ALWAYS gets emotional when people start crying... not that they do often but whenever sakura (how weak of her -.-) starts crying (she always does) he gets all angry at whoever made her cry and stuff... or lets her hug him...) I decided to clear up about that in this chapter just for you! 3
Lil Uchiha bunny: if Sasuke dies in this mission... well... you'll just have to see about that...
And before chapter 6- to all of those who might have thought I have forgotten about Ronpoa- NO WAY! She's an important character, in case you didn't notice. But like she said, she has to go report to the kazekage. And who knows how long the journey between leaf and sand is? . just in case you missed her though!
And now to the story!
Chapter 6
Hinata woke up in the morning and went down to get some breakfast (ramen- there wasn't much change in the meals at the Uchiha Manor. Until that endless stock Naruto gave them was over anyway...). Sasuke was already there, finishing up some ramen and reading documents.
"Ohayo, Sasuke-kun..." Hinata said quietly. She had started to like him. She still felt a bit unsafe around him, because that's just the way he made people feel, and she was still very afraid that if she'd do something wrong he'd hurt her... so she was still extra careful - Just in case.
Sasuke glanced at her briefly before returning to his documents.
"Umm... Sasuke-kun... I- you... you've still got... three hours before you have to go to your mission..."
"I'm aware of that." He said, finishing up his ramen. "I'm going back to sleep, to rest for a bit. I suggest you go training. I know you weren't yesterday." He told her. "Besides, you wouldn't be able to go to Naruto while I'm away, he's coming with me." He stood up and walked to the bedroom.
Hinata stayed at her seat, frightened to death. Sasuke knew she had gone to Naruto? Had he known she said there that she didn't want him? But... but he wasn't mad at her... why wasn't he even the slightest bit upset with her?
She went training, because Sasuke was right. As long as he was there with her, he was able to protect her; he was among Konoha's strongest ninja's, probably. But if he was away on a mission... it could mean trouble. She went to the usual place where she had always trained with Kiba-kun and Shino-kun, prepairing for a long training- alone.
But Kiba and Shino was there, the bugs fighting off Akamaru.
"Hinata-chan? What are you doing here?" Shino asked, the bugs returning to his body. Akamaru barked in happiness, and Kiba and Shino were both looking at her.
"I-I've come to... come to train..." she told them quietly, looking at the floor. Kiba looked at her oddly. How he had changed since they were genin... he was now tall, and he grew a small beard and mustache. Akamaru was now a rather big dog.
Shino hadn't changed much, though. He had grown a bit, sure... but he was still as mysterious as ever.
"Hm." Was Shino's reply. Out of the blue, he kicked her. She easily dodged it. soon, they started taijutsoing in high speed that Forced Hinata to fully activate her byakugan. Shino used some techniques he had learned upon becoming a jounin that Hinata did not recognize, but she fought them away. Shino beat her, of course. Shino always beat her when it came to taijutso; she always had a secret fear, that no one knew of, to hit him hard in his tenketsus. She was always afraid that bugs would come steaming out of his body and attack her. Of course, she had dealt with his bugs many times, using different kind of jutso's to defeat them, but she hated the situation. It always gave her nightmares for many nights.
She never mentioned any of this to Shino though. She acted as though it's normal and even nice.
Hinata was a very good actress.
Meanwhile, Sasuke was in the Hokage office along with Naruto and a few other older (and younger) jounin that Sasuke did not know. They all knew of their mission; they had read the very complicated details of it in the document. Sasuke never appreciated the documents: they could get in the hands of the enemy way too easily. He had pointed this out to Tsunade, but she was too lazy to think up any better system. Damned lazy Tsunade. Their mission was, in short, to search for information on the legendary lost village of words, a village that has been only a fairy tale for long, but now the Tsunade had gotten information from various sources that the village might exist.
She, obviously, wanted to check it out, and see if there are any valuable things that the leaf could use, before some other village does and uses whatever lays in the lost words against the leaf.
She paired them up. Sasuke had obviously enough been paired with Naruto; they had proven more than once that they make a good team and take the best out of each other. Each team searched in a different country. They were to search all over, every rock and tree, every small thing could be a significant way towards the answer.
And then they left, for this mission that would possibly last a long, long time. Searching an entire country...
"I wish I could stay a little more, you know? Just a tad longer... to get settled... I left Hinata all alone... in that horrible place... for a rather long time..." he started talking to Naruto.
"Just be nice to her when we come back, Sasuke, or I'll kick your ass."
"Of course I'll be nice to her, dobe. Why wouldn't I be nice to her?"
"You're just not a very nice person, Sasuke darling. Listen... Hinata doesn't want to be in that marriage of yours. You forced her into this. I doubt she'll forgive you for that. But you can at least try to make up for it."
"I AM trying. I- I even told her I love her. Just to cheer her up, ya know... she looks really depressed, and well, I don't want her to be..." Sasuke replied, not sure he should have told Naruto this.
"Whoa. Since when did YOU become mister sensitivity?!" Naruto said out of pure shock.
"Since Hinata became a part of what has been important to me all my life- restoring the Uchiha clan." Sasuke replied.
"So that's all Hinata is to you? A tool to restore your clan? Damn it, Sasuke, she deserves more than that." Naruto snapped at him.
Sasuke remained silent. Deep inside, he agreed with Naruto. Hinata deserved a lot better than what he could offer her. What he could offer her was a comfortable life with a lot of love- love for her children. But with no love from him. And it was what upset Sasuke most.
He wanted to love Hinata, he really did. But he just- he just couldn't. Love was not something he had trained himself to do. On the contrary- until a few weeks ago, when he had fought with Itachi, love was not something he had permitted to himself to do.
He could tell her he needed her.
He could tell her he wanted her.
He could tell her that he thought of her all day long.
He could tell her he would protect her forever.
He could tell her she meant the world to him...
All these would be true.
If he wanted, he could even lie and tell her he loved her. Just to cheer her up, because he hated to see her cry.
But he could never love her. Love was something he had told himself a long long time ago that he'd never do. He'll never love.
It hurt too much.
The next few weeks Hinata had lived in a routine. She woke up alone, ate alone, went (alone) to train alone, came back and ate lunch alone, studied alone, and took a walk around Konoha, hoping to bump into someone she knew and not be alone any more.
The Uchiha Manor was too big and empty for her. Sure, the Hyuuga Manor was also big, but it was full of life.
Sasuke was in a routine as well. He woke up silently, woke Naruto up silently, searched around cautiously, found nothing, and went back to sleep at night.
Their search was definitely not going well. Maybe it was because they both had Uchiha Hinata on their mind.
One month passed.
Two months.
No sign of Sasuke for Hinata, and no sign of the lost village of words for Sasuke and Naruto.
Three months.
Sasuke and Naruto came across a village who's name was "hidden village of dreams", which was indeed well hidden. Rumors said that in the past they had had an alliance with the lost words, so they had checked thoroughly there, talking to each and every villager and asking them what they knew.
The procedure lasted two weeks, and it turns out that there HAD been an alliance with the lost words, and also many wars; but the village of dreams was mostly full of young people, and they had only heard the stories from their grandparents.
Naruto and Sasuke searched for information on the lost words in the hidden village of dreams in the library, and in the record hall. In the end, they snuck in to the komekage office, to the information that only he had access to. They found what they were looking for- the location of the words. And much to their disappointment, another week passed before they got to where the words should have been.
What they didn't know was that Ronpoa, who had been quite irritated with them taking off to their mission before she came back from the sand, was on their tail, and gotten a chance to catch up in their stop at the dreams. Now she was quite up to pace with them.
"Well hello there, Sasuke-kun." A voice said. Naruto looked around, and Sasuke could swear that voice was familiar.
"Hi there, Ronpoa. What are you doing here?" he said coldly.
Naruto looked bewildered.
"Taking a look at the words. Should be some pretty fancy techniques here- you do know the legend? At the ruins of a village always lay the villages techniques. And I'm not going to let dear Konoha have them. The kazekage wants those techniques." She said.
"The... kazekage?" the wheels in Sasuke's brain were spinning. Kazekage=sand. He knew their old kazekage was dead, so this must be a new kazekage. And he was positive that the strongest sand nin was Gaara. So he had either become Hokage, passed, or killed the entire village. It was not like him to pass, and apparently since Ronpoa was here and was speaking of the sand as it still existed he must have held himself and not killed it away.
"How is Gaara doing?" Naruto asked coldly. He must have come to the same conclusion as Sasuke. How could he be so sure, though? The Kage's were supposed to protect their village, not kill it away!
"Gaara-Sama is doing very well. He has become the kazakage 5 years ago. He killed his father. His sister and brother are doing very well as well."
"Great. We just might come to visit them some day." Naruto smiled. That baka! Couldn't he see things were not under control? The sand were supposed to be in an alliance with the leaf, and so not get in the way. Also, Ronpoa had been spying on him.
Sasuke frowned. That just might be something personal through the kazekage, however...
"Let us through. We have been wandering around in search for the words for three months. If you don't go away, I'll kill you." Sasuke snarled.
"That sounds like something Gaara would say. Are you sure you want that, though? If you kill me, the entire 8 year alliance between Konoha and the sand will vanquish. The sand is much stronger than the leaf right now. Also, we have proven ourselves as good to have as an alliance." Ronpoa said in reply.
"Shut up, Sasuke! You have no idea what you're saying." Naruto whispered. "I have things under control."
"I might not be too sane right now, but I miss my wife. I want to go home. For that I have to get my mission done. And right now it seems that for that I have to kill this sand dudet." Sasuke replied coolly.
Naruto frowned his famous frown, and poked Sasuke.
end chapter 6
So you liked this one? I like it better than chapter five anyway
PLEASE REVIEW! Your reviews mean everything to me!