Refresher:

"Talking."

Thinking.

Telepathy.

Mirai characters are 25, genzai characters are 15, Kasai is (was) 5.

Interludes are flashbacks into the Mirai timeline.

This story is not cannon, and is based primarily on Naruto Part 1.

The Chaos Theory

Chapter 19

She was mostly naked, and being touched in places no one had ever been allowed. Violent sobs racked her body, but her captor ignored her as he licked her lips in preparation for another foul kiss. His hand slid slowly down her torso—

Genzai Hinata was splattered with something that tasted metallic; blood that wasn't hers.

Her attacker sagged. It was difficult to see much between her swollen eyes and the unconscious man atop her, but she heard the second Cloud nin release a shout, before trampling off through the forest. The dead weight of the man against her was lifted with a sharp jerk, then Hinata could hear noises that were distinct in her field of work: skin tearing, blood splashing, tendons snapping. He was being mutilated.

A disfigured pile of limbs was dumped to the ground beside her. Barely aware of her nudity, Genzai Hinata peered up at the sole figure that remained. It was difficult to scrutinize him without her byakugan. He resembled the shadow of a monster. Hinata tilted her head and angled the moonlight in her favor. She could make out spiky hair, gray skin, and a starburst across the bride of his nose. She remained frozen there, silent tears trailing down her cheeks.

Because she was relieved. "Sasuke."

He was breathing heavily, chest heaving, eyes wide, and sharingan spinning. He grabbed her hand and forcefully pulled her to her feet.

She fell against his shirt, clutching it as his arms enclosed her. She could see the gray of his skin slowly receding, leaving only the pale color that belonged. His body became slimmer and his claws shrunk away, but his hold on her never relaxed.

Despite that she was visibly bleeding and bruised, Sasuke asked, "Did they hurt you?"

Hinata swallowed down what remained of her fear. "No," she whispered. "They didn't touch me."

Baa-chan's use of her favorite technique had saved countless and left her a martyr. Today was supposed to be her infamous death day, but Mirai Naruto had decided to postpone the affair. Admittedly, it was selfish.

Tsunade stood there, looking unsure of what to do about either group of opposing shinobi, yet she remained apart from it all, not knowing what role she was to play, and perhaps a little cowed by Naruto's warning.

It allowed Mirai Naruto to focus more on his wife.

It unsettled him to see Sakura intercept attacks, not by dodging or deflecting them, but by taking them. She grinned cruelly as she welcomed hits to her body, completely unguarded. The wounds smoldered and healed as quickly as they formed. Naruto bit his lip and Tsunade was livid.

Naruto pushed Sakura aside, deflecting a round of kunai.

"I can handle this!" She shoved him back, knocking his shoulder out of its socket as he slammed into the wall. Their internal dispute seemed to further discompose the team of Cloud ninja. They clearly hadn't expected Tsunade to have back-up.

Sakura flipped over the desk, looking beautiful and vibrant, beaming at him in the darkness. She spun gracefully—

Kicking the team leader in the face, smashing through his head so it looked malformed and seeped inky reds that flashed silver against the streams of moonlight. Sakura grinned victoriously, and glanced at the remaining cronies. Their forfeit was evident in their looks of horror and clattering weapons.

Sakura was so inanely charming, Naruto couldn't help but forgive her. She could have curtsied at that moment and it wouldn't have been too out of context. He knew this was Inner Sakura, the reckless protector, the self-destructive fighter, and yet, he loved her.

Tsunade's stepped forward. "You're abusing my technique!" she snarled.

Sakura ignored the Hokage, instead turning to face Naruto, never breaking eye contact, as though awaiting his grudging, ever-reliable, approval. But then her eyes widened and her back arched. Her head lolled back against her shoulders.

"Sakura!" He ran forward and caught her before she could hit the floor.

Genzai Sasuke and Genzai Hinata walked off together, towards the village, the boy topless, and the girl wearing a shirt that went down to her thighs.

She had her arms wrapped about his torso, and one of his arms was slung around her shoulders, fingers twitching at her collar from time to time, restlessness evident in his movements. It was hard to tell who was comforting whom. It was hard to make sense of any of it.

The two were comfortable with each other when they should have been strangers. They were shaken when they should have been traumatized. Genzai Sasuke had gotten through the barrier, when historically, he should have failed.

Mirai Sasuke plopped down on the grass, a bit dizzied by it all. His heart was still racing, erratically pounding, trying to choke him where he sat.

What was odder was that the seals were still present on his wrists, ankles, and chest. Tsunade had not died prematurely, or at all, so far. Notwithstanding this fact, Genzai Sasuke had gotten through the barrier.

There was a slithering in the grass that became increasingly loud even despite his reeling focus. The unsteady steps of feet accompanied it, as well as a man's whimpering, pleading, and occasional squealing. Mirai Sasuke's eyes snapped up to see his wife's approach from the opposite side of the barrier. She was dragging a man behind her across the grass. Even through the darkness, Sasuke recognized the second Cloud shinobi—the accomplice to the rapist. He felt his lips curl into a sneer. He had killed the man in another life.

"He broke his back," Hinata said indifferently as she dropped the man's arm.

It didn't even twitch, nor did the rest of his body, except his face, which cringed and contorted with fear, or pain, or both. Sasuke didn't know and didn't care, but were people supposed to feel pain if their spines had been severed? It must have been fear. That was fine. Fear was better anyway.

"Would you like to do the honors?" Hinata kicked the nin through the barrier.

Sasuke drew his chokuto and impaled the man ear to ear in one swift motion. As he sheathed the weapon his wife frowned at the corpse.

"He would have hurt her," she murmured.

"I know," said Sasuke. He lifted his arm. "Come here?"

But Hinata simply stood there, continuing to stare at the body. She was on the edge of the barrier, just beyond his reach. He envisioned her turning away, leaving the village, leaving him forever. This was all too much for her. He had finally broken her.

"I was late," she noted.

"My counterpart wasn't."

Hinata swiped her arm across her eyes. "He wasn't," she agreed, voice thick with tears. "They know each other already in this timeline. They—they're not strangers. I guess that made all the difference." She gave a hysterical giggle. "He knew her, and he was desperate to reach her. And so he did."

"It's how it should have always been," Sasuke responded, throat tight. "Hinata…"

Her knees buckled, and as she fell through the barrier, Sasuke scooped her up into his arms. Her limbs were like liquid, deadweight in his hold. She was conscious, but only by force.

He caught her lips, lightly, and felt her smile against the kiss. He pulled back, allowing her to rest her head against his shoulder, her body shutting down and surrendering to fatigue.

Sasuke felt an unwelcome sense of déjà vu as he walked through the silent streets with Hinata gathered in his arms. But this is different, he reminded himself. By daybreak, the village wouldn't be mourning the loss of a Hokage. He and Hinata wouldn't both be raw with grief, holed away in his apartment, bartering over suicide.

For Hanabi, everything was the same so far. His wife had forfeited her from the very beginning. Without her love for her sister, Mirai Hinata had the leverage to be selfish. In the past she would have never chosen herself over the younger girl.

When he reached the Hyuuga compound, everyone was awake, the clan in a state of turmoil over Hiashi's murder and the missing daughters. Sasuke was the last person anyone expected to appear in the middle of the night. They gave him wary looks and eyed the unconscious woman in his arms.

"Where are the daughters?" an elder demanded as Sasuke crossed the threshold.

"I don't know," Sasuke responded, ignoring the murmurs as he continued towards the guest wing. Someone blocked him in the corridor.

"Where were you?" Neji demanded.

"Get out of my way."

Neji hesitated, grimaced, then wisely stepped aside. "What happened to my uncle?" he persisted. "Where are Hinata and Hanabi!?"

Sasuke didn't know where Hanabi had been taken, nor did he have any means of tracking her, except for, perhaps, the unconscious woman in his arms.

"Hanabi was kidnapped," he disclosed, even though he knew it would make no difference. "She was taken outside of the village. I couldn't follow, but if you act quickly…"

Expression a mixture of alarm and suspicion, Neji hurried off to consult with his other family members. Sasuke continued to his quarters, where he lowered Hinata to the bed. He could feel a headache forming on his temple. He closed his eyes; drew and exhaled.

Slumping down in the corner of the room, he tried to assess the turn of events. Hanabi had still been kidnapped, but Genzai Hinata had been protected. Tsunade was alive, apparently. Naruto and Sakura must have saved her. Judging by the preceding rhythm of things, it wouldn't be until midnight that they saw the effects of the changes.

He didn't know how long he sat there, examining and reexamining, trying to envision the trajectories of their lives now that the timeline had been altered so significantly. Eventually he got up and slipped out the window because he needed air and was uninterested in the concept of another confrontation with his in-laws. He climbed onto the rooftop and reclined there, enjoying the calming familiarity of the position. He could see the sun glowing faintly against the horizon. Dobe?

Sasuke waited a few moments, but there was no response.

Sakura.

This request left him feeling unanchored, as though there was no one to answer on the other end, just a void.

He gritted his teeth, though he knew it was petulant to be angry. Naruto and Sakura had spent half their lives chasing him. Propping him up despite his obstinance. Healing him to their own detriments. They owed him nothing.

His mind shifted to Hanabi, who won on his scale of urgencies. She had never revealed the location at which she was tortured. The only thing he had to go on was the time she was due to reappear.

He glanced again at the position of the sun.

As of that moment, he had eighteen hours to find her.

Part 2

Genzai Sakura stood over him, scrutinizing him with concern. She bit her lip and said nothing, instead turning to his companion, her hands glowing the green chakra that was unique to healers.

Genzai Sasuke sat there on the mat as he clutched his left shoulder: the throbbing pain there, like an old injury, but it was just the cursed seal. His chakra was erratic, teeming to reunite with its dark influence. He was repulsed by the feel of it, the edginess that accompanied it, as though he'd been drugged, but with power, his pores oozing the essence of the white snake. He could still feel fangs at the edges of his mouth where shorter canines belonged. It felt as though with each transformation his humanity was becoming less complete.

And then there was Hinata, clutching his arm till it was numb, the scents of forest and freesia drifting up to his nostrils. The sense of connection, that was inherent to that contact. It was something that nothing had ever been for him.

Good.

It was ripped away as Sakura forcefully detached them. "You have to lie down, you're hysterical," she chided the other girl.

Sasuke felt himself stand. Hinata squirmed to get back to him. "N-no, we have to go, w-we have to f-find Hanabi," she gabbled, as she was dragged off to the sofa. Her wounds were gone with no trace except for the blood smears they'd left behind, and he was relieved.

"Hinata—" Sakura pleaded.

"L-let me go, I h-have to—"

"I'm sorry." And Sakura knocked her unconscious with a healing technique she had picked up during her travels in Taki. It was generous alternative to her fist, an alternative she never offered Sasuke or Naruto.

"She was attacked by the border," said Sasuke as Hinata slumped down. He watched as Sakura laid the heiress supine across the couch. "Another Hyuuga was captured in the process. That must be who she's talking about."

"Hanabi…" Sakura rolled the name on her tongue.

"Un," Sasuke agreed.

Hinata was inhuman when she slept.

No longer was she a flawed kunoichi with a feeble smile and a diffident resolve.

She looked sort of melancholy.

"I'll inform Tsunade-sama," said Sakura, getting up, already grabbing her gloves off a counter.

"I'll come with you," said Sasuke.

"Stay with Hinata," Sakura insisted.

Sasuke found that he could not protest. He couldn't participate in a search party, anyway. Better he just…better he just stayed.

Sakura hurried into her bedroom, and returned, dressed, only a moment later. "I'll let Tsunade-sama know that Hinata's okay. Take care of her." With that, she left.

Mirai Hinata's love for her sister had been stupid, relentless, overwhelming, and exhausting. It had blinded her and destroyed her. That was why she had finally released it.

Hinata.

Now that it was absent, Sasuke's agenda had an entirely new obstacle. He was limited to very particular time constrains, and he knew Hinata would take advantage of it as much as she could.

"Get up."

Mirai Sasuke grabbed her shoulders and pulled her up to a sitting position. White sheets spilled down her body. Her head hung, and she remained limp in his hold. He watched her open her eyes to slits, before he leaned down to her lips.

She protested. "No Sasu...don't—"

Their lips connected, and that bridge returned, his electric chakra searing into hers. He knew he was abusing her—plugging her in then removing her batteries—manipulating her chakra levels to suit his purposes. She was going to make him pay for it.

"I need you to be conscious," he said as he broke the kiss. "I need your help."

Their faces remained together, his nose brushing hers, his eyes entreating and challenging, just short of threatening. If he wasn't aggressive she would destroy him.

Hinata held his stare with a similarly distrustful one.

"Okay," she said, lightly kissing his lips. Seeming contented by his skeptic look, she leaned forward, catching his shoulders and kissing him again. His back hit the headboard. Do you trust me? she asked.

Of course I don't.

But it felt good to be together, if with their quiet enmity. He couldn't help but kiss her back, though just as he did, she pulled away.

Hinata instead rested her head against the crook of his neck, her breath pressing his throat in such an heady way. There was a mutual wanting, but not for each other. For comfort, maybe, and for the aftermath of their changes to make itself known—but mostly, for their daughter. He wondered if Hinata still loved him as she'd claimed.

"Let's go," he said.

Villagers conversed, bickered, bantered, laughed—halting midway into sentences and covering their lips to hide their whispers. They watched Mirai Sasuke and Mirai Hinata, two unlikely shinobi crossing the village square together—like comrades, like equals. They should have looked mismatched, but instead, they were natural. The fact that they had little patience for discretion that day didn't help their cause.

"It's a nice day," said Sasuke impassively. The remark seemed almost out of context in its outlandishness. "Do you remember when I walked you home that night?" He didn't receive a response, but he wasn't counting on one. "Things are different now."

The prevalence of activity...the lack of mourning. Tsunade had indeed survived her fate. He wondered if all these cannonical inaccuracies would ultimately change everything.

They reached the village gates where they took pause. It was almost noon by then. Sasuke faced his invisible barrier.

"I get it now. When I was fifteen, I would have done anything to reach you. But using the cursed seal—hadn't crossed my mind. I didn't have the incentive," he muttered, staring through the gates because he couldn't seem to look at her. "Our counterparts are different. They already care about each other in this time. I don't know why, and I don't even want to speculate..." He furrowed his brows. The dynamics of their association had clearly been changed. How would that alter their relationship? Would it be for the better or worse?

Hinata remained aloof, standing across from him. Her hair was getting longer, spilling down her shoulders and growing in her eyes. Her arms were folded against her chest. She wasn't familiar with his cursed seal form, just a few hazy references to how grotesque and excruciating it was for him. "You would really do this? For Hanabi?" she said.

"For you," Sasuke assured.

Hinata bit her lip. "Sasuke..."

He pulled his shirt off and dumped it to the ground beside him, then allowed his chakra to pour through the tomoe at his nape as it was always so keen to. It filtered back into his core, but was different; tainted. He submitted himself to the corruption within him that was partly contrived, but partly authentic, growing and overwhelming everything else, consuming him in that sticky, disgusting way that he hated. Markings filtered across his skin, burning like flames, spreading like ink, when something distant lanced his focus.

Hinata's choked sob.

Sasuke looked up, unaware of his incongruous eyes.

"Stop," she said, grasping his clawed hands. "Hanabi's still inside the village."

His eyes widened.

"She told me. Just once. I know where they took her."

When Genzai Sakura reached Tsunade's office, she was surprised to find it was a mess. The walls were cracked, as were the floors, the ground littered with splintered wood and plaster. A huge chunk of wood was missing from the desk, which was rocking precariously, papers littering the floor around it. Tsunade stood amongst a small clutch of nin, arms crossed, looking somber. She seemed alarmed at seeing Genzai Sakura walk in.

"Hyuuga Hinata was attacked," Sakura stated as she approached the small group. Neji, Kiba, and Ino were all present.

"Where is she?" Neji asked immediately.

"I left her at my apartment to rest. She's shaken, but she's fine. Apparently one of her relatives was kidnapped."

"Hanabi," Tsunade said, looking off for a moment, uneasiness giving way to a grim expression. "Her sister. I'm assembling a team—"

"I volunteer," said Sakura.

Tsunade gave her a discerning look, but then nodded. "Alright, Sakura. It's not as though we have much time. But I'd like to have a word with you when this is over."

"This is one of Orochimaru's old hide-outs," said Mirai Sasuke dubiously. "A Hyuuga would have been able to find it."

"The Hyuugas weren't looking in Konoha. No one was."

Though what she said was logical, it didn't erase his skepticism. What if she was just delaying him?

She held his hand, as though she was a child, guiding him through the cavern deep under the lake. Their surroundings were so dark, he could not see his hand in front of his face. They had changed direction at least ten times already.

"How long have we been walking?" he asked.

"A few hours," said Hinata. She failed to elaborate, and his jaw tightened. He didn't have a watch. He couldn't see the sun in the sky.

The inconsistencies continued to mount with their progression. How could foreign shinobi have navigated through such an intricate maze of passages? More importantly, how would he get out if Hinata's lead proved to betray him? Even with his sharingan, he could not see through the darkness the way she could.

"How are you?" said Hinata. She hugged his arm.

"Why are you trying to distract me?"

"You consumed all my chakra last night. What does it feel like?"

Sasuke grimaced. "Vulnerable. Emotional. Like you're not as detached as you pretend you are."

There was a pause. He wished he could see her expression and try to read her. "But you gave me yours," she murmured.

"Aa? What does my chakra taste like?"

"I feel like a kettle that's about to explode. But helpless. Tempered."

"We have something in common."

As they continued to walk, they came upon flickering wisps of light. Turning the next corner, they were met with a corridor illuminated by sconces along the walls.

"I wouldn't lie to you," said Hinata, releasing his arm.

Sasuke inhaled. "Walk faster." Following the firelight, he took to a run, hearing his wife's footsteps trail him.

"We're almost there," Hinata called.

They kicked off their sandals to silence their footsteps, falling into the familiar routine of comradery. Following several more kilometers of running, they reached a new corner from where the firelight beamed. Just before he could turn past it, Hinata grabbed his arm, pulling him back. She hugged his torso, burying her face against his chest.

"Do you trust me?" she said.

Hinata...

Hanabi's blindness is her only weakness. If you do this, everyone will die.

Hinata was wrong. Hanabi's blindness was a strength.

He could hear the Cloud shinobi just a few yards away from them. He tried to focus on what was transpiring in the next room. "The older girl got away..." someone was saying.

I love you, you know, Hinata said.

He remained motionless. Yesterday you hated me. You can't give and take love like animal treats.

Kasai wanted a dog.

I wouldn't dare, Hinata returned.

What if we ruined everything? His hand moved to the small of her back. He wanted to indulge fully in the embrace. Your assault was our inception. What if we end up apart? What if we're better off in spite of it? His insecurities spilled free of his meticulous control. She welcomed them.

Everything will work out.

How could you know that?

They fell into silence, the connection fading. Hinata looked up to meet his eyes.

"Because we had n-nothing to live for before each other. If you die, I die." She leaned up and kissed him. He closed his eyes, intoxicated by the contact.

He could hear Hanabi's harsh panting beyond the wall. He knew her time was running out.

Hinata grabbed the front of his shirt. "Stay with me," she whispered.