A/N: I still don't have the name of the person who I owe this request. Can't you just step forward and punch my head for forgetting your name? n.n
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"Southwest, running 60 kilometers per hour," Sasuke reported aloud, eyeing the late afternoon horizon.
This woke Hanabi up, and just in time to hear what he said. "What, you're now the weather man predicting storms in Antarctica?"
"There are people trailing after us," explained Hinata, her own eyes alert too. "We're not sure about their identities but—"
"That speed is way too fast for a leisure trip," he interrupted, "and unless they're trying to catch up to something, they shouldn't be moving that fast."
"You mean, Father is right?" asked the younger Hyuuga, eyes wide in excitement. "There were really people sent to kill us after all!"
He gaped at her. Was it his imagination, or did Hyuuga Hanabi really look happy about that piece of news?
Hinata looked at her sister sternly. "Hanabi—"
"That would be convenient," said Hanabi happily, "because I had been meaning to try the improvements I made on Neji' nii-san's absolute defense technique."
"Father has forbade you to use such advanced skills without his supervision, Hanabi," reminded the elder sister in a gentle scolding tone. "Besides, Uchiha-san would still have to do his duty."
"An Uchiha? Pft." Hanabi eyed the bodyguard mockingly. "So what are you going to do, Uchiha? Use those bloody red eyes to transmit your conjunctivitis to them and just wait for the viruses to do the killing?"
His eyes narrowed at her. "You'll find the answer yourself later when it's your turn. Right now, I'll have to deal with them first."
The girl stuck her tongue out at him.
He continued following the direction and speed of the carriage that was already drawing near to their own. Soon enough, they could already see the horse-driven carriage steadily gaining speed.
Hinata turned her gaze at him. "B-But Uchiha-san, what if—"
He didn't wait for her to finish her thoughts at loud anymore. He opened the left door of the carriage, inviting gusts of wind inside their room.
"UCHIHA!" snapped Hanabi, struggling to tuck the wildly flinging strands of her black hair.
"Keep your heads down and be alert for ambush attacks!" he instructed, shouting above the commotion.
"Uchiha-san!" yelled Hinata in fright when he suddenly leapt out of the wagon and onto the other carriage. And despite his warning, she quickly moved to the window and checked to see if he was alright.
He landed perfectly on the roof. His hands clung to either side of the ceiling of the speedily-moving transport as he tried to get his balance.
A ready kunai on his hand, he crawled towards the driver's seat of the vehicle. Upon reaching it, he whipped his kunai out and pointed it against the neck of the driver, who was flabbergasted to see someone creep up from his back.
"Stop this coach… NOW!" yelled Sasuke, pressing the pointed edge of his blade even more against the man's neck.
The man was paralyzed in fear.
Sasuke glanced at the closed compartment of the coach, sure at once that more men may be hiding inside it, ready to pounce on him.
Acting quickly, he sliced the fiber ropes that were connecting the driver to the carriage.
"Nooooo!" yelled the driver in despair.
The bodyguard watched in smug satisfaction as he watched the cubicle tumble down the road, flipping over at times, until the wood finish of the wagon cracked.
And then like a rubber tire, it burst in one side. And the next thing he saw were hundreds of papers and scrolls flying in the air.
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"Just inform the messenger office that it would be the Godaime who would talk to them," instructed Sasuke to the driver, who was still weeping at the side of the road.
"Good job, Uchiha!" said Hanabi sarcastically. "You've just attacked a pony express!"
He glared at her.
Meanwhile, Hinata was busy salvaging what she could among the tattered and loose pieces if mails and messages scattered everywhere. "No wonder they were such in a hurry… most of these messages carry a priority mail mark," said the woman softly, laughter apparent in her even tone.
He rolled his eyes. Great, even the prim and proper Hyuuga was laughing at him. But was it his fault if he was paranoid and over-cautious?
In his years of hiding out from the Konoha villagers with Orochimaru, he had learned to be wary of even the littlest things. He had to be careful of the ANBU, the jounins, or even Uzumaki Naruto.
The Snake Ninja himself had even lauded him for his keen vigilance. And now… these two Hyuuga women were laughing at him for the very same matter.
Hanabi couldn't stop snickering as she boarded their coach again, muttering something about IQ inferiority of the Uchiha clan. On the other hand, Hinata placed the letters she was able to recover on top of the shawl she was wearing. She neatly tied it into a knot, and then handed it over to the postman.
"Here you go," she said shyly. "I'm sorry I couldn't do anything about the other papers, but I think I was able to retrieve most of the personal letters."
The man looked up, wide-eyed. And then he broke into a grateful smile. "T-Thank you, M-Ma'am." He carefully received the wrapped letters. "But your scarf—"
"After you have delivered your letters, you can bring that home to your daughter." Her eyes, kind and warm, crinkled into a hearty smile. "Tell him that it is a souvenir of a mishap in your job today."
He touched the fabric in disbelief. "But… but this is pure silk, Ma'am. A-Are you sure—"
"Yes, I'm sure it will fit your daughter most beautifully," she interposed gently.
He slowly nodded, eyes looking misty with tears. "S-Shiyou was long asking me for a nice shawl…" He held the cloth tightly against his chest. "Thank you, Ma'am. Thank you very much. M-My daughter would be so happy!"
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Sasuke gazed at Hinata, who was seated in prim silence again inside the coach. They were back on the road to the Sand village.
She must have noticed this, so she turned to him, eyes prompting him to speak.
"You didn't have to do that," he began, crisscrossing his arms over his shirt. "How sure are you that the man would give that expensive cloth to his daughter? What if he just decides to sell that and use the money to gamble and drink?"
A glint of mischief twinkled in her colorless eyes. "Uchiha-san, if you have only informed me beforehand that you liked the scarf too, I would have brought another pair along and gave it to you."
He snorted. "You are too naïve, Hyuuga Hinata. You didn't even ask the man if he really had a daughter."
"And you are too distrustful, Uchiha-san," she responded in quiet rebuke. "You cannot even trust your own heart. That, or you do not listen to it. Because if you do, you should have seen what I saw in the man, which made me give up my article of clothing."
A brief cynic laughter emanated from him. "Wrong. It's just as simple as me having no heart at all."
Her face looked troubled, making him halt briefly.
"What?" he spat out.
She searched his face with her eyes, and then looked down, shaking her head.
"WHAT?" he repeated, voice rising.
"People aren't born without a beating heart inside them." Hinata clasped her hands together. "I don't really know much about your life but… if you really are a heartless man then… you may have just lost it along the way. I hope you'll still find it someday."
"Heh." He looked out of the window. "You're the one to talk about life and love as if you are a guru when you yourself are pathetic when it comes to those."
"What are you saying, Uchiha-san?" she asked quietly.
"You are a classy doll incapable of possessing your own disposition," he replied, mincing no words to convey his mockery of her. "You don't have the spine to speak up for your personal desires that clash against your father's wishes."
Hanabi's gaze turned to them, but Hinata touched her sister's hand reassuringly; she was accepting his words without protest.
"You will go to a foreign place to unite your whole life with a stranger, and possibly, not come back to your home anymore." He continued, staring at her. "And still you hold your tongue. Even now, you can't shout curses at me and make me stop, when it's obvious that you're not liking what you're hearing. What's the problem, your father is not present to order you to make me shut up?"
"Uchiha—" Hanabi was interrupted by a hand held up by her elder sister.
Hinata faced him squarely, unflinching despite his piercing gaze. "You speak so harshly of things you do not understand, Uchiha-san," she reprimanded in the same hushed tone. "My decisions are not always based on what I think would make me happy, but on what I think is right. Discernment is my prerogative, just as your freedom to express your perception of me is, no matter how unjust and negative."
His mouth twitched. "How about that… an intellectual, highly moral political prostitute."
Tense moment of silence followed, with Hanabi being restrained discreetly but firmly by Hinata.
"No matter what you say and how optimistically you look at you situation, it still spells the same thing—you're allowing other people to use you for their own purposes." He laughed contemptuously. "Your own father, at that."
"You're despicable!" cried the younger Hyuuga, unable to control her anger anymore. "Onee-san is doing this for the family, while you let that Orochimaru use you because of your own selfish desire to be stronger!"
"Family, self, what's the difference?" he shrugged. "On my part, I never tried to conceal my willingness to be somebody else's dog, least of all, cloth it with nobility and righteousness."
He was enjoying the loathing fire consuming the translucent eyes of Hyuuga Hanabi. His gaze shifted to Hinata, but to his disbelief, she was still wearing the same mask of serenity. The pain that flickered in her eyes was replaced by sympathy and compassion—things he would never expect anyone to have at this moment.
"We live in a world that demands us to do some wrong things for the right reasons, and vice-versa," she said softly. "The eyes of those who watch us carry this burden are almost always cruel and unforgiving, until such time that it is their turn to do it. Until then, I shouldn't feel obligated to make them feel my weight."
The coach gradually pulled to a stop, startling the three of them.
The driver opened the right door and gestured to an inn. "We are making our first stop here, Hinata-sama, Hanabi-sama. It's too dangerous to continue through our journey because dusk and darkness falls earlier than usual."
"But the Kazekage-sama is waiting for us," protested Hinata.
"We would just have to send a telegram informing them that we had been delayed," the Hyuuga driver snickered at the glowering Sasuke, "by an unexpected incident."
Hanabi dusted herself. "Well, I could really use a bath now."
Hinata looked at her sister, and then at the indigo and orange sky that was slowly losing the battle against the darkness. "Very well."
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The inn wasn't a very elegant one; in fact, the dusty walls and tables, the cobwebbed ceiling, and the grimy floor made of wooden planks disheartened the Hyuuga females almost immediately.
It didn't help that most of the customers of the inn were unpleasant-looking fellows who leered at the sophisticatedly-clothed sisters with lewd interest.
Hanabi clutched the hem of her sister's kimono sleeve tightly, her eyes busily roving around the place in distaste.
"Give our mistresses the best rooms of this place." The driver was speaking with the receptionist of the motel—a tired-looking woman with limp gray hair splattered on her angular face. She was also puffing on a cigar whose brand Sasuke was very sure he would never like even if he was paid to do so.
The woman nodded mutely, and then showed the price ranges of the rooms. The driver showed the note to Hinata, and upon earning her nod, paid for the night's stay.
"Do you have a telegram machine here too?" Hinata asked suddenly.
With the same excitement of a graveyard, the woman poised her thumb to a door leading to another room.
Mumbling her thanks, she scurried lightly to the given direction.
"O-Onee-san! I-I'm coming with you!" said Hanabi, trying to hide the panic in her voice.
Hinata paused to turn back to her sister. "But I thought you want to clean yourself already?"
"O-Onee-san…"
"I'll follow you to our rooms shortly," she assured her. "I'll just relay a few messages."
"I-It's not that I'm scared or anything," said Hanabi immediately. "I-I'm just… um, worried about you."
Hinata smiled. "Of course, Hanabi. Please don't bother yourself about me. I'll be up shortly."
Hanabi paused, and then nodded. "We'll order food for you."
"Please do."
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To be honest with herself, Hinata was acutely aware of the objectionable-looking folks of the place. But she had to be practical; there wasn't a tavern for kilometers anywhere near their place.
Anyway, they would just be here for one night. Back when she was a young training Genin doing missions with her teammates, Aburame Shino and Inuzuka Kiba, they slept in much dreadful places: near cliffs, on treetops, inside caves…
But then again, she was very secured in the company of both boys who protected her like their very own little sister. Unlike her situation now…
Uchiha-san. Uchiha-san is with us, she reminded herself.
Yes, and what a big help he is, a part of her mind countered. Maybe he can insult those scary people so much that they'll go away.
She bit her lower lip. That was the first time she was offended that severely by somebody. Even Hyuuga Neji's initial treatment of her was benevolent compared to Uchiha Sasuke's attitude towards her awhile ago.
But beneath his anger and acerbic words, she silently mused that there must be something remotely good about him, or someone like Uzumaki Naruto-kun wouldn't have done so much to get him back to Konoha.
Naruto-kun…
Sadness enveloped her in its embrace again. She suddenly wished that she could have said goodbye to him before she left Konoha. She could have at least told him how she felt for him all this time.
Her thoughts vanished when she suddenly felt something touch her shoulder.
Swallowing back a terrified scream, she pivoted and initiated a reflex Hyuuga defense position, ready to shift into offensive stance at any time.
A second later, her muscles relaxed.
It was just Uchiha Sasuke, who was looking down at her in mordant amusement.
"I feel almost sorry for that Gaara. He would find himself engaged in a fierce fight on his honeymoon night," he said, clicking his tongue.
"Well, it's not your problem anymore, is it, Uchiha-san?" she asked, unable to fight off the irritation in her voice. She didn't like the idea of him entertaining himself with thoughts of her most dreaded night.
He smirked, and then walked ahead of her towards the room.
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to be continued