„Did you even sleep at all?" She asked him when she woke up. He was awake already and looked tired. „You should have wake me up to watch" he was looking at her with a smile.
„You needed it more" he turned from his side to lay on the back.
„Go to sleep now" it was more of a request than an order but she wanted him to listen. He pulled his arm towards her and she lied next to him so he could hug her. „Seriously, go to sleep"
„Yes, Mme" he closed his eyes but squeezed her more firmly. „Don't go anywhere, okay?" He didn't think that their friends would try anything but he wanted to be sure. And there was a search for her as well so he wanted her close. Maybe it was foolish of him not to sleep when he knew there could be a fight coming but he didn't care. He would protect her even if he was completely worn out. With this thought he drifted. Se smiled when she heard his breathing change to less frequent one. She listened to his request and didn't leave the tent for one second. She didn't want to think about what happened the night before so she concentrated on Sasuke. His face was peaceful and she wanted to touch it but she knew he would wake up from it so she just observed. His hair was now definitely too long and it spread over his sleeping head. He had some scars on the sides of his face but they were barely visible. She separated the fingers of the hand that was holding her and put hers in between them to hold his hand. His big hand that had rough skin but it didn't matter to her. It probably was because of his training and all of the fights he has fought in. His fingers automatically bent to hold her hand. She smiled. It was hard not to fall asleep in this position but she managed to stay awake.
He woke up far too early in her opinion but when he did he smiled and kissed her forehead. He was so happy when she was the first thing he saw. When he heard her stomach rumble he laughed and sat.
„It's probably past time to eat something" he said and put on a shirt. They had food in their backpacks so there wasn't need to hunt anything. He went out to set fire and made some scrambled eggs. She joined him soon after because she wanted to change. They ate in silence but both were scanning their surroundings to see if their friends were watching. And they were. Sasuke was now slightly irritated. When they finished eating he came to her and kissed her. Mostly to make a statement but it was always good to kiss her. She didn't mind. She came to a conclusion that their lives were their choice and everybody else had to accept that. Even Sakura. It was almost 1 p.m. and they had whole day to spend so she suggested training. They were doing it semi-regularly but she could feel the difference in her strength. She was faster, more accurate and simply stronger. They were training for an hour when Akamaru jumped out of the trees. Hinata smiled and welcomed the dog with a session of pets. Soon there came Kiba. Hinata didn't mind but Sasuke was once again irritated. They were far away from Konoha and yet it felt as if they were right there.
„Sorry bout him" Kiba said and looked at Sasuke. „Somebody's coming this way." He added and vanished in the woods once again. It was strange for Hinata to see him leave so rapidly but she has requested just that. She turned to see Sasuke and he was already next to her.
„We should prepare for some new visitors" one of his eyes was glowing red and the other was grey and spinning. He was ready to fight.
„Don't do anything rush okay?" She asked him and he didn't even look at her.
„Hinata" his voice was full of everything love, despair, hatred and some more emotions that mixed together. „I won't let them touch you"
—
Naruto and the others closed the distance between them and Hinata and Sasuke. He was ready to fight his best friend once again. Sakura stood behind him. Her being here didn't make him calm. He feared her actions that might hurt the two.
„Sakura" he turned to her with stern look „Don't piss Sasuke off, okay?" He knew that if he had to fight with the Uchicha it would be hard. It could be even harder if he was pissed off. Sakura just nodded but he wasn't convinced. Kiba and Shino were next to him and were constantly informing him how far away Hyūgas were.
—
When the two figures came out of the woods Sasuke was ready to hide Hinata behind his back but she stepped forward. She had a smile on her face and tried to look relaxed.
„Hinata-sama" both of them slightly bowed. „Hyūga-sama requests your immediate return to the village." They looked at Sasuke briefly but concentrated on their target.
„Sorry you had to come this far." Hinata said with soft voice. „But I'm still not ready to come home" they tensed.
„We were given orders to take you back even if you said no" one of them said. Hinata exhaled. Her father sent two branch members who were trained never to attack her part of the family. It was cruel for both sides.
„You must forgive me but I'm not going anywhere with you." She activated her Byakugan to send the message that she was being serious. Next thing she knew she was behind Sasuke. He jumped in front of her so quickly she didn't even notice when the two moved towards them. They hesitated for a second but their orders had to be completed. Sasuke took out his sword with a swift move but Naruto came out of the forest and charged at him. She saw Sasuke being dragged away by Naruto. And they started to fight. She had to deal with her family issues on her own. She took a stance and waited for them to charge at her.
Her father sent two of the strongest branch members so he probably thought she didn't have a chance to fight them. But he didn't know that Uchicha Sasuke's spent last few months training with her and that she's become stronger. It was weird to her how easily she avoided their attacks. She even was able to hit them more than a few times.
Sasuke hated Naruto at this moment. His whole being wanted the blonde to be gone from his sight. But it was Naruto so he had to fight him and that he did. He still watched Hinata and was proud of her when he saw how good she was fighting. But his fight was more even. They both had probably the same amount of power and defeating one another was nearly impossible. It didn't mean he didn't try.
„You can go with her" Naruto said at one point.
„That's not the point. They can't lay a finger on her" he took a swing with his blade that was now containing lightning. Naruto barely avoided it. They didn't speak after that. But he saw that Hinata was winning and he smiled. But with a corner of his eye he saw someone running towards the other fight. It was Sakura.
„Sakura! Don't!" Naruto yelled but she didn't care. She wanted Hinata to go back home. She hoped her father will never let her see Sasuke again. Sasuke burst with new strength to fight. He created a shadow clone that followed pink hair but Naruto quickly made it disappear. He needed to defeat Naruto fast but he saw his opponent surrounding. Naruto was the first one to charge at Sakura. Sasuke was a second behind. When medic saw them coming her way she gathered all her strength and punched the ground. Sasukes eyes widened.
„We're on a cliff you stupid girl!" He yelled but saw the ground parting. The breach was spreading straight towards Hinata. „Hinata!" He yelled but it wasn't quick enough. He had to hurry because he knew what was going to happen. She fought closer to the edge. This edge was going to go down. And it started to crack rapidly. He ran as fast as he could but not fast enough. He saw that her opponents were safe but she was going down with the rocks. He immediately formed Susanoo. It was the only way he could save her. But even with it he wasn't sure he would be fast enough.
—-
Naruto watched this all happen and it was as if someone slowed down time. He heard Sasuke scream and it was one of the most heartbreaking screams he's ever heard. He let go of Sakura and tried to go towards Hinata but his legs just couldn't move. When he saw a Susanoo disappear behind the rock he was mortified. Somehow Kiba and Shino appeared next to him. Their faces expressed nothing but agony. It was almost impossible for Sasuke to reach her in time. It felt like forever but Naruto could move.
„What have you done?!" He yelled at Sakura. She was crying silent tears. She didn't want that to happen. „Brutal force isn't the answer to all!" He yelled again. His anger was something new. „I told you to not piss him off!" He yelled and yelled. She wasn't yelling back. She knew she screwed up big time.
„Naruto!" Kiba screamed. „Somethings happening" and he ran towards the edge that was now loser to the trees than before. When he looked down he saw two dots at the beach. Both of them were still.
—
„Hinata?" Sasuke was sure this was the worst torture anybody's ever lived through. She was breathing and her eyes were open. She was alive but she didn't speak. „Please talk to me" he begged. She was in shock. All she could see was his face but in her thoughts she was up there and she was losing ground from under her feet. She saw Sasuke running, she saw Sakura falling down to her knees. And she heard her name being called. But she couldn't do anything. How was it possible that she was still alive? Her eyes moved slightly and it made Sasuke hurt with joy. She was at least in some part responsive. „Do you hear me?" He asked her softly but there still was a lot of pain in his voice. She focused on him and nodded her head. It was barely visible but he realized he was almost holding his breath for this whole time.
„H-how?" She asked. He heard it only because his head was so close to hers.
„I summoned Susanoo"
„A" that was all she's said. „Thank you" he laughed without happiness. She tried to stand up and found that her arm hurt. One broken arm wasn't much when you were almost dead so she didn't pay attention to it. When she was up she had to hold on to Sasuke beacause of the dizziness. He shook his head and picked her up in his arms. He had to bring her up and he wanted to take the longer way by the stairs. He was relieved and he kissed her forehead every few seconds.
„I thought I lost you" he told her.
„I'm okay" she replied „But I think I have a broken arm"
„Hurts?"
„Yeah" she was still dizzy and she closed her eyes. He was now becoming angry, no not angry, he was furious. When he got to the others he firstly turned towards Hyūga members.
„Go" he said with a tone that made them leave instantly. Then he laid Hinata down on the grass and ran his fingers across her cheek. She was more pale than usual. When he was up he turned slowly towards the others. He felt that he could kill Sakura now.
„Sasuke…" Naruto started talking but Uchicha hushed him with his hand. He came closer to them and his eyes were fixed on the person he hated the most right now.
„I detest you" the words came out of his mouth like venom. „If for one moment you thought I could love you, you were so fucking wrong." Sakura was crying but he didn't care. „You need to heal her arm and leave or I'll send you to Konoha myself" she stood up and went straight towards Hinata. She still couldn't believe that the girl was alive. She quickly healed her arm and checked for other injuries. Hinata had a mild concussion but it didn't need medical help. When she finished she turned to Sasuke but couldn't speak so she just left.
„She made a mistake" Naruto said to Sasuke.
„A mistake?" His voice was still sharper than his sword. „She almost killed her" he looked at the sleeping Hinata. „Just go now. If she wants to go back after all of this we will be back but I wouldn't be surprised if she didn't want anything to do with this village anymore" Kiba and Shino left without hesitation. They knew Sasuke was not going to let them be there when she woke up. Naruto looked at his friend one more time and followed soon after.
