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Chapter Nineteen: Relational Truth

Hinata touched off a building and immediately bounded into the air again. For just a moment at her highest she could see the warrior she was pursuing. They were about equal in speed, but he was being forced to move along the streets, which hindered him. Not that it really mattered; Sasuke had caught on and was going to pursue him anyway.

After her own battle, Hinata had immediately began scrying for the others. She couldn't find Sakura and Ino; it was as if a huge fog of chakra had descended over the area where they had been before. Sasuke was easier to find, though his explosive chakra had died down after a while.

But before she had arrived another chakra had appeared. It was a fairly large one, though to her it seemed more afraid than anything else. In any case, it quickly fled, and Sasuke gave chase. From her position, she had decided to try and cut the new opponent off, and it appeared that the plan was working well.

A black streak burst from a nearby street toward the running man, and Hinata increased her own speed. Now that the escaping warrior could no longer choose the path they took, Sasuke would be upon him very quickly. If he was intelligent he'd stand and fight, but he might keep running and get mowed down.

Then the fleeing warrior began building chakra, glancing over his shoulder with frightened but dangerous eyes. He leapt into the air, and when he landed he had gotten significantly further away from them; the next moment he leapt again. Narrowing his eyes, Sasuke hurled a shuriken directly to the side. Hinata blinked, unsure what he meant to do.

When the running man landed again, he did so just as the shuriken whirred from the side. It severed his foot in an instant, and he collapsed to the ground. Quite suddenly Hinata and Sasuke were coming up upon him. On her last jump Hinata merely landed on the edge of a building and watched. Most likely it would be over quickly, and she didn't want to get in Sasuke's way.

Flipping onto his back, the enemy shinobi immediately jerked his hands into his weapons pouches. Undaunted, Sasuke continued forward. He ran directly into the assault of shimmering projectiles, weaving and knocking them aside with a deadly grace. It seemed in a fraction of a second he had crossed the distance to his opponent, without a scratch, and chakra was exploding from him.

His hand bit entirely through his opponent's chest, going out the other side in a shower of blood. For a moment the enemy shinobi gasped in pain... then he reacted, his body jerking unnaturally and contorting. His chest seemed to explode in a red and silver shower. Long, serrated tentacles ripped from him, lashing around Sasuke. Kunai were flung from his body, weapons slashing through the air in a deadly sphere.

When the explosion of raw death ended, the shinobi was no more than a tattered shell. His metallic tentacles slid off Sasuke as what remained of him collapsed to the ground. Sasuke himself was still standing, as if stunned. All his clothing had been slashed through and was stained with red; many weapons were still embedded in his body.

Ever so slowly he fell backward, collapsing onto the street. Hinata gasped, still unable to make herself move. When he finally struck the ground with a wet thump her trance was broken, allowing her to leap to the ground and rush across the street to his side. For the moment, she couldn't force herself to focus on any other opponents, or the mission or anything besides the fact that Sasuke might be dead.

She bent down beside him and brushed aside his hair... his eyes were blank. Shuddering slightly, she slumped completely to the street. Her Byukagen activated subconsciously, scanning the area surrounding her for opponents, her senses were all on edge, but her heart was gone. Sasuke wouldn't have wanted her to be hindered by his death, but she realized that she couldn't help it.

There were no other opponents. It seemed as if her grief formed a barrier that shielded her from all such things. At least she could have this brief time to herself, before it would all begin again. Tears were leaking out of her eyes, and she couldn't stop them, didn't want to stop them.

Now that he was dead, she might as well cry. It didn't matter if she loved him or not, he couldn't be annoyed by her. She truly hoped that he went to the next world thinking she was his friend; at least she could know that she succeeded in that. But his absence hurt her more than she had expected, left her emotionally crippled. Sighing from the bottom of her soul, she dropped forward to rest her head on his chest.

It dispersed in a shower of mist before her. Instantly Hinata straightened, eyes wide. That could only mean one thing, and the prospect terrified her. Despite her awareness, she still flinched slightly when the words came.

"Stop crying." She was glad she didn't need to look to see him there behind her, completely uninjured, the only blood on him his opponent's. Glad because she really didn't want him to see her like this, even if he knew. His eyes made it quite evident that he knew, that he understood everything she felt. She had tried so hard not to be like the rest of them, and now all of it was for nothing. Because of one stupid mistake; she should have guessed he had evaded the attack, it was one of the most basic shinobi abilities. But now it was too late, and he knew.

"I-I'm sorry, Sasuke-san," she said, almost pleading, hoping that he would forgive her. Her voice continued rapidly, spilling out in her defense. "I didn't... I didn't mean to, really. I didn't want to annoy you, but... but... I was trying not to fall in love with you but I couldn't help it. I ha-had finally done something right but now it's ruined and I'm just like the rest of them and-"

She had been about to raise a hand to hide her face, but it never arrived there. Slender fingers held it firmly in place. Despite herself she looked over her shoulder to find Sasuke kneeling beside her.

"Please stop," he whispered. "Hinata... please stop." There was something in his voice she hadn't ever heard before, and she abruptly realized that it was sorrow. The next moment she received a shock as she realized that he was feeling that sorrow for her. His eyes held nothing but compassion for her; no anger, no annoyance. "You don't need to be sad... it's alright."

"It's alright?" she asked, not wanting to meet his gaze but finding she couldn't do anything else. "You... you mean...?"

"You always think so little of yourself," Sasuke went on softly, gently wiping a tear from her face. "I don't like to see you so upset." He cared? He actually cared about her? "But you don't have to be. I don't mind."

"But... I-I thought you didn't like people chasing after you..."

"I don't. But you aren't chasing, Hinata. I may not want to be chased... but that doesn't mean I don't want to be found." He was still gently holding her wrist, and he used it to help her shakily to her feet. Not certain she was emotionally stable enough to stand on her own, Hinata timidly hugged him. His arms embraced her gently, and didn't move for some time.

"Th-thank you, Sasuke."

Several sources of chakra abruptly appeared on the edges of her senses, leaping over the rooftops toward them. Immediately but carefully Sasuke stepped away, his gaze flickering toward the hostile energies. Once again, his eyes were hard and focused, all trace of what had just happened completely gone... no, not gone, Hinata realized. It was still there, it had just taken a different form.

For the first time in several days, a slight smile appeared on Hinata's face. Channeling chakra into her feet, she leapt into battle.

Sakura carefully watched from above, kunai in hand, waiting for the proper moment to strike. She would probably have only a split second with surprise on her side; their opponent was obviously swifter than he had first appeared. Ino, meanwhile, was fighting him on a nearby rooftop.

The battle was going well, and Sakura began to smile just slightly. Perhaps she wouldn't be necessary after all. Though when Ino and the Samurai went hand to hand the Samurai easily disarmed her, Ino had begun constantly using genjutsu to evade damage. Right now he wasn't doing any more than draining his stamina.

Even as the thought left Sakura's mind, so did hope that this battle would be over quickly. In retrospect she realized that the Samurai's apparently random sword slashes formed a subtle dance... a dance that built up chakra. This revelation was far too late, as he abruptly drove the point of his sword into the ground under him. A massive shockwave exploded from him, smashing Ino directly and tossing her across the roof like a rag doll.

Jumping off the roof crumbling under him, the Samurai landed already running, blade glinting at his side. He had nearly crossed the distance to Ino when Sakura attacked. It took every ounce of strength she had not to cry out, but she managed to send multiple weapons to intercept him silently.

At the last second the Samurai looked up. Instead of slashing down he slashed up, batting aside the projectiles before they could touch him. His momentum carried him past Ino and over the edge of the roof, where he vanished.

With a quick hop Sakura landed on the roof and helped Ino to their feet. The next instant both felt a dangerous chakra explode beneath them and broke in opposite directions. Something ripped through the building from below, and when Sakura looked back she realized a huge gash had been ripped out of it. Silence followed, broken only by parts of the building slowly falling. Ino and Sakura watched from opposite sides of the crack.

Abruptly the Samurai blurred into existence from the crack, and instantly both shinobi hurled shuriken at him. By whirling violently he managed to knock them all aside, then he landed just beside the crack easily, blade again sheathed. Without moving any closer to Ino, he abruptly swung his blade through the air in a tight arc. An invisible shock wave flitted from it, sending Ino flying backward.

In that instant Sakura dashed forward, a kunai in one hand thrusting. The Samurai turned in a flash, bringing his blade down on her head, and Sakura grinned. With a single motion she raised a hand in its path and stabbed her kunai into her opponent's side.

With a slight cry of pain, the larger warrior bashed her hand and the weapon aside. His weapon was still stopped by Sakura's hand, sheathed in chakra. Recovering from the shock surprisingly quickly, he slashed at her from another angle, but she deflected the attack just as easily and then leapt back.

Before he could pursue her, Ino acted from another side of the roof. Her hands finished a seal and then a slashing wind slammed into the Samurai. At the last second he raised his arms against it, holding his ground, and both of the female shinobi gawked as he was unmoved by the vicious wind. Such terrible strength…

When the jutsu faded the samurai lowered his arms and gave them a lethal expression. Again he bolted across the roof with incredible speed, but this time Sakura didn't give way. Each time he struck, the chakra around her hand turned aside his blow harmlessly. Eventually he stepped back, breathing heavily.

"I'm surprised how much trouble you caused us," Sakura told him. "You were certainly dangerous, waving that blade of yours around. It's too bad you never learned that a smart opponent will eventually figure out how to stop your attacks."

"You talk too much," the Samurai grated. At that instant he rushed forward, blade flying from its sheath again. Midway to Sakura it burst into flame. Her eyes widened in shock, and she could do no more than be struck by the massive attack that sent her flying from the edge of the building.

Ino had been rushing him from the opposite side, intending to stab him in the back, and quickly skidded to a halt. His blade lashed in her direction as well, but she stepped back from the attack. The swath of flame before her seemed to leap, and abruptly she caught fire.

With a yelp and a backward leap, Ino tried to beat the fire out. Meanwhile, the Samurai charged again. This time he was interrupted by a massive shuriken hurled by Sakura from the side. He intercepted the weapon with his own blade, and though it pushed him back the shuriken fell to the ground harmlessly.

By this point Ino had vanished, and when the Samurai glanced back toward Sakura he realized she was gone as well. Narrowing his eyes, he resheathed his blade, closed his eyes and ceased to move.

Some distance away, Sakura landed just beside Ino softly.

"This guy is tough," she breathed. Ino just nodded weakly. "We need to both attack at once; he can deal with us alone." Another nod. "Alright, then. I'll be taking the left. On three, ready?"

Both blurred from their vantage point, snapping into being on either side of the samurai. Instantly he struck, violently slashing through both of them. As both bodies broke apart into chakra, the real warriors struck from opposite sides. He managed to deflect Ino's blow with his sword, but Sakura's got through his outer sphere of defense. She wasn't going to hit him, though...

But she wasn't aiming for him. Her own kunai struck the handle of his blade, sending it flying out of sight. A shiver went over the Samurai's body, and in the instant he hesitated Ino struck, fist flying for his head.

Recovering, the Samurai caught her arm, immobilizing it in a vice-like grip. She, however, merely grinned at him.

"A samurai and his sword are supposed to be one, aren't they?" Ino asked, smile still on her face. "How well are you going to be able to fight without your blade, I wonder?" With those words her body gave way in a puff of smoke. Already Sakura was attacking from the opposite side, and the Samurai only barely managed to push her swipe aside.

Ino was striking from behind, aiming a punch at the back of his head. Without looking the Samurai raised a hand to catch her fist, making her grin once again. Big mistake. Just before she struck, a thin blade slid into her hand. She gripped it just as it stabbed into his palm.

Blinking, Sakura attacked again. Had she really seen what she thought she did? Ino's blade had impaled his hand, yet it was like she had somehow missed. In any case, the Samurai was forced to raise one arm to block Ino's secondary strike. While his arm was extended Sakura struck, aiming to sever his arm from his body.

She hit, and her blade passed directly through. Her opponent's arm faded away before her weapon. An illusion? He didn't create an illusionary body, he just created an illusionary body part! Then where is his real ar-

Something closed around her neck painfully, keeping her in midair. A bit of chakra dissipated before her face, revealing the Samurai's arm in its true position. She struggled with his grip, and discovered it was unyielding. His fingers were squeezing harder, and she realized that he had caught her just before she had taken a breath. Everything was getting blurry, and she felt strength leaving her body...

The pressure released suddenly. Sakura had a moment to see the Samurai trying to dodge forward but Ino behind him, a kunai in hand trailing blood from the Samurai's back, before she collapsed to the ground. She was still feeling weak, but the Samurai appeared more interested in getting away from them than attacking her.

"Got him good that time," Ino grinned, offering Sakura a hand up. "He is a lot weaker without his sword. Let's finish him off now before he gets smart enough to think about getting his toy back."

"The sword is an extension of the samurai's body," the Samurai spoke abruptly from the opposite side of the roof. "It is not a toy."

"Really?" Sakura asked him. "I was thinking more like-" Abruptly she cut off as Ino gave a cry of pain. Head whirling, Sakura saw half of a bloody blade emerging from Ino's upper arm. On her face was frozen an expression of pain; behind her the blade floated in midair, no hands holding it.

Next the blade swung directly up, but Ino vanished before it ripped from her shoulder. She appeared some distance away and collapsed. Undaunted, the blade instantly swung at Sakura, who barely dodged away from it. Now not tied to a body, it was free to execute impossible twists in midair, slashing away at Sakura and driving her back across the roof.

Meanwhile, the Samurai moved to Ino's body and pulled her into the air by her neck. Sakura gave a dismayed cry, but realized that it was all she could do to stay alive against the chakra-swung blade, much less help her friend. She forced tears away from her eyes, trying to keep just ahead of the deadly silver flashes.

Without warning the blade stopped its attack, freezing in place. Instantly Sakura understood, felt the chakra across the roof. The Samurai and Ino were still in the same positions, but they were no longer moving. Ino's body possessing jutsu! It worked! This was the only chance she was going to get, then. She had to attack now or never.

Sakura rushed across the roof, kunai flying. At the last second she swerved from her attack, catching up Ino and pulling her away. The Samurai shook himself out of the jutsu and managed to evade the thrown weapons. While the shinobi landed on the opposite side of the roof, he raised a hand and his blade flew to it.

"You were supposed to kill him!" Ino hissed at Sakura. "My jutsu doesn't deal damage to me any more!"

"Saving you was more important, idiot," Sakura shot back, knocking a tear away from one eye. So annoying when she was trying to make a snappy comeback.

But their opponent was already charging them again, and they didn't have any more time to talk. He blazed across the roof, blade singing from his sheath a final time. Before either shinobi could move, flames leapt around them, trapping them in place for his blow.

It's over, Ino thought abruptly. It's all over. Sakura was panting heavily and obviously didn't have enough chakra to pierce the flames or mount a counterattack. Her own arm was completely out of commission, and she didn't have any one-handed jutsu that could do her any good. There was nothing they could do...

Ino felt a hand on hers and glanced down, startled. Sakura had taken her hand and was already moving it. Instantly Ino realized what she was doing and grinned just slightly. Sakura moved to the next hand seal, and Ino channeled her chakra into the jutsu. The Samurai's blade was nearly touching them, but it didn't matter.

Chakra exploded across the roof. It hit the attacking warrior head on, sending him flying backward. He and his blade smashed into the wall of a nearby building and no longer moved. Violent winds following the jutsu swept the rooftop clear of all but Sakura and Ino, fallen in two heaps. They did not move for a long time.

"Stupid samurai shouldn't have caused us so much trouble," Sakura muttered eventually.

"Caused us trouble? I could have beaten him myself if you hadn't gotten in the way!"

"I'm not the one without use of an arm!"

"Hey, I'm the- quit holding my hand!"

"Ewww! Get away from me!"

"Shut up!"