Sasuke wasn't sure what he was expecting from the Wave Country, but the wind ravaged world in front of him wasn't it. He hadn't seen anywhere but the very southernmost countries until now, and the Uzumaki had yet to reach them, traveling along a spiraling path as it did. He knew, of course, that others considered the Uzumaki dangerous, even the Akatsuki. It just hadn't occurred to him to wonder why.
Looking at what was once the prosperous Wave Country village before him, he realized that what Orochimaru had whispered upon their first appearance was true: they were the remnants of the Kyuubi's power. However much they might act like a spirit form of Naruto, the creature that had resided within him was definitely their source of power. Sasuke glanced next to him, gauging Kisame's reaction. The grey-skinned man didn't seem entirely surprised. Most likely he knew how fierce the winds could be from personal experience some time before he'd taken Sasuke from Orochimaru.
In the months since they'd been released, the Uzumaki had completely destroyed the Wave Country. Stone monuments erupting from the water were the only remnants of the bridge he remembered fighting Haku on. That bridge . . . had been special. That was the first time he'd ever considered Naruto a friend. Maybe that was why the bridge was gone now. Sasuke smirked, an expression that seemed to be forced there out of lack of a more acceptable expression for what he was feeling.
He poled the boat forward slowly, taking in each new disaster revealed by the parting mist. As he continued, his mind changed, and the smirk dropped. A glare took its place. This couldn't be Naruto's doing. He would never let the Kyuubi attack this bridge. Tazuna had named it after him! It was important to him. Sasuke wondered, not for the first time, if the Uzumaki hadn't just thrown his letter away for anyone who liked to find it.
"Oi! Is that you Sasuke?"
Sasuke's head snapped up. His eyes darted instinctively to Kisame, who nodded. What did he care if the idiot wanted to talk to an old geezer? Sasuke jumped out of the boat and ran just slightly above the water to where Tazuna was standing on the remains of the bridge. A crew was working at rebuilding it. Sasuke's eyes narrowed. The sight was too familiar. "Tazuna-san? The Uzumaki hit you?"
The bridge-builder laughed, a rich full sound that surprised the black-haired boy in front of him. "Yeah – guess Naruto's up to his old tricks, eh?"
Sasuke didn't get it.
Noticing this, Tazuna spread his arms to indicate the surrounding bridge. "After the bridges were built, the village decided they didn't need me anymore, so I've been a bit broke lately. Ever since the Uzumaki's came though, the people have been climbing over each other to get me to build a bridge for them. Supposedly, if I build a bridge, the winds will spare it. I don't really know where they got that idea from." Despite professing to be clueless about the rumors' point of origin, he jerked his head towards Inari, a few feet away. The boy'd grown much taller in the past few years. As Sasuke watched, Inari seemed to be talking about the Uzumaki, judging by the swirling gestures he made with his hands.
Smirking, Sasuke nodded. "Ah. I'm glad you're doing well." A thought occurred to him. There was a place he would like to visit – a place that had been special to Naruto. He opened his mouth, perhaps to ask Tazuna about it, but it shut again without a sound. He didn't want anyone following him there, and Kisame undoubtedly would if he went the normal way. Instead, he smiled and disappeared with a spray of mist. A few yards away, Kisame cursed.
Only a few hundred yards away, Sasuke found Zabuza's grave still exactly as it'd been the last time he'd seen it. Except. . . . He frowned, studying the sword. New words were etched into the smooth metal. His name, in rough kanji lettering. Sasuke reached out and ran a thumb over the characters. A brief flicker of chakra ran across his skin, which promptly broke out in goosebumps. He knew that chakra even better than his own. It was the chakra that he'd unconsciously been chasing after since feeling it for the first time.
"Sasuke. . . ."
Kisame wasn't sure what to make of the picture. Itachi had always appreciated this sort of scene – the elder Uchiha probably would have etched this one into his memory, as Sasuke was the focus. No golden rays of sunlight fell down upon the boy's shoulders as he caressed the sword gently. No blood ran down the blade, and no tears dripped from Sasuke's eyes. Nevertheless, there was something very holy and almost tragic about the image before him. Although he'd very rarely understood Itachi's fascination with other people's minds and emotions, he thought he could at least respect it now. Some inner working of Sasuke's was at fault for this scene – that much he was sure of, and for just an instant he felt the urge to dig through the boy's mind and find it. The moment passed, and Sasuke looked up at him. Kisame turned his head away with a grimace. Weird things kept happening around that boy. The sooner he could get rid of him, the better.
"We're going. Take the sword and hurry up," he muttered gruffly. He wasn't going to bother with any boat this time – not if the kid was going to run off like that every time he got a bit of a break.
Sasuke seized the handle of the blade; it was rough, like Kisame's sword, but at the same time felt good against his skin, like it'd been made with him in mind. His hand clenched unconsciously then eased its death grip. Sasuke stood, leaving the sword behind him as he dashed after Kisame. A part of his mind sighed with relief, but it didn't relax completely. Just knowing the sword was there was enough for now, but how much longer would that last?
Sasuke turned back only once as they left the Wave Country, eyes hardening. Mixed with the tang of salt and smoke and food cooking and god-knew-what-else the breeze carried resided a hint of sand and chakra. The Uzumaki had delivered his letter – given a little bit of time, it would be here again, and at that point would come the final test for the village. If Tazuna's bridge stood, the Wave would revive. If not, it wouldn't.
"Sasuke, where's that sword?" Kisame asked as they ran on, over the water the separated them from the Lightning Country. He didn't really have to ask – he thought that in some respects, Sasuke was probably similar to his brother, but he was curious. Not whether Sasuke's reason was the same as Itachi's, but whether he would admit to it. Kisame was almost positive that he wouldn't, and he wanted to know what excuse, if any, he would come up with.
Sasuke glanced at Kisame. He stared straight ahead, fists clenched, although that would only lead to inconvenient cramps that might not wait until he was back on dry land to hit. "You knew him," he muttered.
A smirk crept across Kisame's face. Yes, he had known him. However, he really didn't know this younger boy at all.
The two shadows flew over the water, leaving only small ripples behind.
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Early morning sun shone through the doorway when the girl stumbled through it, wondering briefly if she'd just now opened it, or if she'd somehow left it open the entire night. The ground she fell upon, skin blistering in the sunlight as if she were not meant to exist in the bright cheeriness day exuded, was scarred. Engraved into the arid dirt were hundreds of small C's, sometimes connecting into a spiral pattern, other times skipping several feet to create a new patch of desert in the middle of the garden. A faint, burnt smell lingered behind. This was the first section of Konoha to be damaged by the whirlwinds. Hinata didn't notice. She instead opted for screaming in agony as she attempted to drag herself back into the safe shadow of the doorway.
She succeeded, but not before her skin had cracked and begun pouring out the blood she'd worked so hard to mix with her own. Stubbornly, she forced her chakra to heal her and leaned against the door frame, breathing heavily. This wouldn't work, she realized as cold air escaped past her into the afternoon heat. Naruto's body needed to be kept cool, or the jutsu and preservatives would be useless. Biting her lip as hard as she dared, she stood once more and pushed the door closed. She was left outside with only a few feet of shade.
For a fair number of hours, she simply rested, not caring that her absence was being missed. She'd already been gone for several more days than intended. One more wouldn't harm anything.
Eventually, though, she had to move. The sun was no longer in a good position for her. Hinata felt for the seal that would open the door, but left her hand hovering just above it. She had to leave this place sooner or later and begin the second part of her plan. Waiting any longer would only serve to make it that much harder to leave. Besides – the sooner she got back, the less likely it was that anyone would realize what she'd done.
That thought in mind, as well as the image of Naruto and her together, forced her away from the door. Immediately she jerked back as her skin tightened and crackled. Her eyes narrowed. Why was her body reacting this way to the sun?
Thinking got her nowhere, although now her strip of shade was noticeably smaller. Finally she sighed and thrust her arm into the light. Pain instantly assaulted her. Still she kept her arm steady, letting it redden and crack before her eyes. It didn't catch on fire. That was one useful piece of information: the burning process was merely sped up. Her eyes widened. She'd used a jutsu to accelerate the process of combining her blood with Itachi's. If that was the case, then perhaps everything was happening faster than it should be. Anxiously, she studied her hair, which she'd been ignoring up until that moment. Sure enough, it was almost an inch longer than it should have been.
She smiled and sat. Her legs were covered in cloth, so she could safely leave them in the sunlight. The jutsu would wear off before the sun could reach her face. Until then she would wait and begin training herself with the Sharingan.
Her eyes, normally a pale violet, turned white. In such a state she could easily see the flow of chkra through living things. That wasn't what she wanted, though. The Byakugen would not allow her to copy the jutsus required for her to bring Naruto back to life. Only Itachi's Sharingan would allow for that. She squeezed her eyes shut just long enough for the veins that stood out beside her eyes to recede. When her eyes flew back open, they were blood red.
Hinata gasped. A light breeze had been blowing before and her eyes had easily accepted the movement of the grass and leaves as unimportant and ignored it. Now though, her eyes focused on that movement and saw it slow down to the point where the world barely seemed to move. At the same time, everything seemed to be going by so fast that she thought she would loose her mind. Every move of a bird was recorded even before it happened, and she had the insane urge to jump up and fly.
More than that, she noticed something strange. While her Byakugen had spotted the strange chakra filling the air and wondered about it, the Sharingan recognized it. The Sharingan said that that chakra belonged to it as well as another. Hinata shut her eyes once more and released the Sharingan. She felt exhausted. Maybe the speed she used up her chakra had also been sped up, but somehow she didn't think that was the case. Most likely, her chakra would always slip away that quickly when she used the Sharingan. Her only defense would be to get more chakra.
"Hinata?"
The girl stood and spun around. No one there. Heart pounding, she turned back to test her skin again and gasped.
"Hey Hinata. You gonna hurry up and rescue me already?" Naruto's grin became mocking. "Or will you let me rot down there, now that you've got those eyes. You're like Sasuke now, aren't you? Going to betray me."
Hinata shook her head frantically and stepped towards the boy, ignoring the sting as her skin darkened and blood dripped out of the unhealed cracks in it. "N – no Naruto-kun! I – I . . . I want to help you!" her voice lowered, and her already red face burned even brighter. "I wouldn't . . . I couldn't betray you, Naruto-kun."
Naruto smiled and pressed a light kiss against her forehead. "I know that. That's why you have to stand proudly and fight. Don't let anyone get in your way."
The pain retreated and the boy disappeared, letting Hinata fall softly to the ground. When she hit, she made no attempt to stand. They would find her, but the door was hidden. Only she could enter the room with Naruto's body. When they found her she would say she'd passed out as she was training. They would believe. After all, she was only Hinata. She wasn't an important member of the Hyuuga. She smiled. For once it was a blessing. Her unimportance would allow her to get away with saving her most important person.
Author's Note: Man, I just keep having ideas for stories… I had the awesomest idea for a village just a few days ago, but any characters using the jutsus I wanted would be instantly Mary Sues. I'm hoping I can reduce this some and manage to get it into this story. It'd be ever so much more useful than what I already had planned.
HELP NEEDED: beta reader, and information on how exactly Chidori works.
