She was dressed in white shorts and a black tank top, and wearing a pair of Genzai Hinata's long sandals with the shinguards that went to the knees. Mirai Hinata did a backflip, avoiding the gentle fist aimed for her shoulder. She anticipated Hiashi's moves before he made them, reading even his slightest shifts.

"You favor techniques that are not of Hyuuga," Hiashi noted, panting.

"I try not to be too predictable, otousan. You know all the Hyuuga techniques. But if it would please you…" She shifted into a stance that Hiashi recognized. Hakke Kūshō: A finishing move.

Hiashi held up his hand. "That will not be necessary."

Mirai Hinata was surprised that Hiashi would surrender. She remembered her father to be a prideful man. For him to do such a thing, he had to have thought he had no chance of winning. Hinata watched as Hiashi leaned down and grasped his knees.

He wasn't too old in this time, she didn't think. Forty was young enough that he wasn't too far from his prime.

If she had surpassed Hiashi, it meant that she was stronger than this timeline's Neji and Hanabi too. In fact, she was the strongest Hyuuga on the grounds.

Despite Hiashi's apathetic deneanor, Mirai Hinata could sense his pleasure. "You're stronger than me," he stated what both had come to realize. "And you're only twenty-five."

"I doubt so, otousan," Hinata said, bowing her head. "You are a humble man."

From the veranda, Mirai Sasuke and Mirai Sakura watched the exchange.

She's charming him, Sasuke mused. It was more strategic than emotional. Hinata was working through Hiashi's barriers, present and potential ones.

"She's not herself," Sakura murmured as she scrutinized Hinata. Sakura gave Sasuke a questioning look, but he did not respond.

Hinata walked past Sasuke and Sakura, and entered the house. The day had been spent mostly adjusting. Recuperating. Getting a feel for the atmosphere. Konoha was peaceful, the citizens content. Hinata walked into the spare room in the guest wing that she had been preparing for Kasai.

"Remind me not to forget the plug outlets," she said over her shoulder. She had sensed Sasuke following her inside. "You know how she is."

Mirai Sasuke leaned on the wall behind her. "Yes."

Though they didn't know their daughter's element yet, Kasai was drawn to electricity. It was not the healthiest curiosity.

"You're worried about me?" said Hinata.

"I'm worried about a lot of things." Mirai Sasuke turned his head to gaze through the open door. He was wondering where Genzai Hinata and Kasai were. Now that the sun had set, he felt inclined to go find them himself. Just as he exited the room, a small body appeared in the threshold of the corridor.

"Tousan!" Kasai ran to him with raised hands. Sasuke humored the request by lifting her into his arms.

Genzai Hinata appeared in the entryway as well, staring at her feet. At seeing him, the teen blushed, nodded, then shuffled off. Mirai Sasuke continued to be stunned by how utterly distinct Genzai Hinata was from her Mirai alternate.

"Hn."

"Hn," Kasai mimicked him.

"Welcome home." Mirai Hinata joined them in the hallway. She lifted her daughter from Sasuke's arms, and in that moment of privacy, hugged Kasai. The embrace went on too long, but Kasai seemed too weary to complain about it. Instead the child groggily mumbled about her day. There were swords, classrooms, kidnappings, and toys. Sasuke and Hinata exchanged a look as Kasai lowered her head and closed her eyes.

She has a vivid imagination.

If you say so. Sasuke idly placed his hand on Hinata's shoulder, causing her to tense, to both of their surprise.

"Hinata..."

The Hyuuga recovered her composure, forcing a smile. "What are your plans for tomorrow?" she said, nonchalant.

Sasuke frowned, but followed her lead. "Not much." He stroked her arm, gauging her reaction. "I just want to scout."

"Oh..."

"Are you getting impatient?"

"I think we all are," Naruto cut in, as he and Sakura entered the corridor from the house.

Sasuke glanced their way. "I need at least a week." He removed his hand from Hinata's arm.

"Then what?" said Sakura. "You pass the baton?"

"We implement our plans from least extreme to most extreme. If my plan fails, we move on to one of yours."

"You're leaving yourself a lot of room for failure, teme," Naruto groused.

"I can't say I've ever had a mission like this before."

For the seconds since Sasuke had announced his suggestion, Hinata had stood frozen, her face blank. Wordlessly, she walked off with Kasai in tow to the child's room. Sasuke's gaze followed her as she went.

"What about Hinata's plan?" said Sakura.

Sasuke did not want to think about what the Hyuuga might propose. "Least to most extreme." He turned to leave.

"Fine," Naruto called after him. "We'll give you a week."

A week might be enough, Sasuke thought as he walked back into Kasai's room.

Hinata was just lowering Kasai to the bed. "A week?" she said as Sasuke closed the door behind him. She walked to the window to gaze down at the courtyard. "Why are you doing this to me? This mission could be over tonight. Now." Her voice was weak.

"I need to know what happened the day of the attack." Sasuke approached her. "If that's when all this started-"

Hinata shook her head. "Goodnight."

Sasuke's lips parted. "Look at me," he urged her.

Hinata folded her arms against herself. "I n-need you to go."

Sasuke reached out to touch her shoulder for a second time that evening, but he halted himself centimeters from contacting her skin. It took all the will power he had to take a step back, even at the risk of facilitating her barricade. This year was the worst year of your life, he noted. He hadn't forgotten. I'm sorry. With that, he left.

By the window, Hinata continued to gaze down on the property. She watched as Neji entered the yard.

Turning away, Hinata shifted her attention to Kasai. Mirai Hinata watched the child sleep, soundly, curled on her side. Kasai made the same long draws that Sasuke made when he slept. Peaceful as she seemed, Kasai was so unruly at times. Of her and Sasuke's companions, Hinata believed that Naruto had rubbed off on Kasai the most.

Hinata did not know how long she stood there. It was peaceful to do nothing more than stare.

But as minutes turned to hours, her eyelids sank and she caught herself dozing. She pulled herself away from the window and quietly padded out of the room. She began to pass Sasuke's door, where her legs stopped moving. Not sure why she had paused, Hinata continued down the corridor, and entered her room.

She replaced her attire with a cheongsam-styled nightgown. She climbed into bed and dropped to her back. Her long hair was splayed around her, one of her knees drawn. Drowsily, Mirai Hinata rolled onto her side. She closed her eyes, and in only minutes, fell asleep.

She slept peacefully for some time, her breaths soft and her face relaxed. It wasn't long, however, before her eyebrows furrowed. Veins developed on her temples, and soon she was writhing in her sheets.

There was a cruel stranger upon her, his hand around her throat. His voice was smooth, not raspy. But she could not make out the things he said. She felt him elbow her in the face again, bones crunching from the impact. But she struggled feebly beneath him, between his great weight and the cool grass.

Hinata gasped awake, her limbs flying. She quickly sat up and drew her knees to her chest. She stared vacantly at the wall for a moment, before bowing her head. She wiped some sweat from her brow, only then noticing that the byakugan was activated again.

Taking a long, deep draw, Hinata deactivated the byakugan. Afterwards, she sat there in silence for a while. She knew by the hue of the sky that it was nowhere near sunrise. She still had several more hours of nighttime to endure.

Much as Hinata wanted to return to Kasai's guest room, she forced herself to stay put. It took a while before she was able to lay back down, and when she did, she stared blankly at the ceiling.

Part 2

It was in the early hours of the morning that she shot up in bed because of the screaming. Her husband was screaming and it was so startling that it made her bite her tongue. Tasting blood in her mouth, Mirai Hinata tried to stand, but her knees gave way. The noise wasn't aloud, but it burst from every corner of her mind. It was blinding. She remained sprawled there until she felt it subside.

Hinata climbed to her feet and unsteadily moved towards the door. She walked across the wide corridor to join Sakura and Naruto, who were already standing outside of Sasuke's room.

Naruto was rubbing his eyes. "Thought my head would explode."

"Hinata..." said Sakura. The pink-haired kunoichi was clutching a robe around herself.

"It's okay," said Hinata. "He was just having a bad dream."

"That was a dream?" said Naruto. "Are we sure he's not being tortured?"

Hinata shrugged. She was familiar with her husband's occasional nightmares. His chakra would spike, and sometimes his sharingan would activate, though this was the first time she had heard him scream. She supposed the telepathic connection betrayed his anxiety. Even then, she could feel an overwhelming sense of helplessness, as though some residue of Sasuke's psyche had been left inside her.

"You can go back to bed," said Hinata firmly. "I'll make sure he's okay."

"Right...okay," said Naruto. He hesitated, then for some reason, embraced her.

"Thank you, Hinata," Sakura murmured. She and Naruto stepped aside.

Hinata said nothing as the two walked off. Once they were gone, she gently knocked on Sasuke's door.

There was some talking outside of his bedroom door.

Mirai Sasuke's heart was pounding. He leaned back against the headboard and tried to calm himself down. The talking was gone, now replaced by a rapping on the oak. As the door opened, Sasuke just focused on breathing, meditating, whatever it would take to regain control. "You shouldn't be here," he said hoarsely.

Hinata approached. "For the sake of discretion, or for the sake of your privacy?"

Sasuke sighed. He closed his eyes, appreciating that she was a distraction. He felt his heartbeat evening out.

"You're shivering," Hinata mused. The mattress shifted. She brushed a sweaty strand of hair out of his face. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"No."

She held his cheek, making him meet her eyes. But to a detriment. Sasuke became absorbed in the ghost white pools, in her too-long lashes, and the faint flush of her cheeks. And then he became absorbed in her lips as she spoke again.

"Then tell me what you want to do."

She was making him foggy, as she often did on nights like these. Or mornings. Sasuke averted his gaze to the window. It was only an hour or two until sunrise.

He could still feel her touching him, her freesia scent creeping around him. It just reminded him of how long it had been since they had been together.

But Sasuke simply looked down, his eyes weary and his face impassive. He knew that she was hurting too. So he shook his head.

Hinata pushed him down and climbed on top of him. He grunted as she kissed his neck.

"We don't have to," he managed.

"But I want to."

Now she was untying his waistband, and his body was responding, incapable of resisting. She knew what he liked to do to cheer up.

"Are you sure," Sasuke said, his chest heaving.

Hinata pulled back somewhat to gaze down at him, her long hair hanging down to sweep against his bare chest. "I need you," she whispered, obliterating his remaining resolve. "Sasuke, I-"

He leaned up and and stole her lips, enjoying her muffled noise of surprise. He turned them over so he was looking down at her, in the cheongsam nightgown that followed her curves, with the slits on the sides and the violet silk.

He tore it off and took her greedily.

It was late morning when she untangled herself from his arms. There had been no more bad dreams, just Sasuke's heated body and evenly beating heart.

Her torn nightdress lay on the bedroom floor.

There was a robe in the bathroom adjoining Sasuke's room. It was too large for her, but it would suffice.

Her husband had some bandages in his top left drawer. Carefully she unraveled it, allowing them to roll across the dresser.

Though he was behind her, she could see him through the mirror. He was asleep on his back, sheets drawn to his waist.

Hinata's eyes shifted back to her reflection. The bruises on the side of her neck clashed harshly with her skin. Taking the loose end of the bandage roll, she meticulously wrapped her neck. Not too loose, not too tight. Not too low, not too high. Her attention drifted back to Sasuke.

He'd awoken, and was now sitting up. He observed her through the mirror and through his half-lidded eyes. For moments nothing was said as the Uchiha watched Hinata conceal her marked skin.

Hinata finished up and left the room.