It had all happened so fast. She was bored and she saw him. She couldn't help herself, so she followed him. She followed him far into the forests of Konoha where he stopped by a riverstream. As if the moon guided her body, she found herself standing before him when she was meant to hide behind the trees.

Noticing a presence behind him, the Uchiha looked behind him. The chilly breeze blew the strands away from their foreheads and that's when they both gasped. She couldn't believe it. It was shaped like a half-moon. Just like hers. It glowed in the moonlight. Just like hers. And it fostered a sense of longing. Something she could feel from him. And so by the guidance of the moon, she- they couldn't stop themselves. For in that moment of silence where their foreheads connected, it was settled.

They were bound.


*Pant*

*Pant*

*Pant*

*Pant*

It had only been a year since then. Since then Hinata hadn't gotten to know Sasuke. In fact she barely spoke a word to him in the academy. But… she didn't have to. They would hold hands on their way to the academy and separate from there. They would sit next to each other and purposely bump their knees against each other to be discreet. Even during line-up, Hinata would hold the hem of his shirt as a way to calm her nerves before their inevitable separation.

He must be there. There was no way he was gone. He needed to be there! There was no way he was dead!

But he had disappeared.

Hinata flew through the branches that threatened to slow her down through their scratching, pulling and ravaging. The ends of her kimono were unrecognisable, she was adding more bruises to the list from her spare with her father but she didn't care. She couldn't care. Once she saw an opening and heard the streams of water, her legs catapulted her through the clearing and onto the river stream-

He wasn't there.

They have been massac-

He hadn't shown up for a month. The Uchiha massacre happened 2 months ago.

"No!" She yelped through her tears.

"No…" She cried. "Sasuke-KUN!"

"Why are you crying, aga-"

In the blink of an eye, she was upon him. Hinata was desperately clinging onto his shirt, wetting it in the process from the overflow of her tears. She was convinced that she was talking to a ghost. Even if the soothing head-patting told her otherwise. Even if the glowing birthmark was responding to hers.

"You're alive." She said. Her breath hitched as she continued. "Y-You're not dead?"

Sasuke tightened his hold. "I won't die so easily."


The moon shone through the streets of Konoha. Sasuke found himself lying on top of his roof at the Uchiha compound. Sasuke closed his eyes and welcomed the growing warmth on his left side. "Couldn't sleep?"

Hinata shook her head. "I couldn't stop thinking about something I had read."

The silence was confirmation enough to continue. "I read that the touches of two bound birthmarks become addicting. But," she raised her head to find Sasuke looking down at her. She quickly looked away to hide her blush. "That's not true for us, is it?"

Sasuke kept his eyes glued to her as she shifted closer to him, wrapping her arms around his waist.

"No," he felt her head rest on his chest. Sasuke wrung his arm around her shoulder. "It's not."


Sasuke had grown distant - is what people said. Sasuke was going to descend into madness - is what people wanted to believe. But… But- they were wrong - is what Hinata would say and want people to believe.

They were standing near the benches by the academy. Sasuke was without his forehead protector. And Hinata barely had the time to put on her jacket before rushing out to say her final goodbyes. Sasuke turned his heel to face Hinata. Their hair strands were dancing in the wind as they locked eyes - and then they stood right before one another. With their birthmarks rubbing against each other, and their arms wrapped tightly around each other, they both spoke in silence:

I'm going to miss you.