Hi, it's been a long time since I published anything, I've kind of fallen out of touch with the writing side of me, sadly. I can't promise to update again soon but I still see reviews on this years later and since I have a day free from my very busy art schedule, I figured I'd give writing another chapter a shot.
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There was complete silence in the bathroom and Hinata kept her eyes averted from Sasuke the entire time. After around 10 minutes she dared a peek at him and found he was watching her with a calculating expression. Upon noticing her glance, an aggravating smirk appeared on his face once more and she pouted.
The smugness somehow seeped from his finely chiseled features, he knew exactly what he was doing. She had been in the bath for an hour and her skin was starting to wrinkle. Sasuke caught her looking at her fingertips and took the opportunity to break the silence.
"You must be tired of being in the bath now, why don't you just get out?" He asked nonchalantly, knowing the exact reason why she wouldn't. She blushed harder and gave him the meanest scowl she could muster.
"I-I'm fine!" she exclaimed, as convincingly as she could. Considering how red and flustered she was, it wasn't very convincing.
He just smirked again and leaned back in the tub in a pose that suggested that he could play this game all day.
"J-just close your eyes, a-and I'll get out," she said, hoping to reason her way out of the situation.
"It would be unwise to close my eyes around an enemy," he retorted.
She glared again, he knew she was no threat to him. She sighed and moved to face her back to him so she could reposition in a more comfortable way.
She folded her legs to the side and covered her chest with her arms. She moved back to face him and blushed more when his eyes went straight to her poorly covered chest.
"Perv!" She whispered in an accusatory tone and to her surprise, actually got a reaction out of him.
He scoffed and rolled his eyes to the side, "I've seen better." Her jaw almost dropped, did mister dark, brooding, and disinterested just imply what she thought he did?
Apart from now feeling oddly insulted, she was also feeling even more uncomfortable than before. She hadn't even considered the possibility that Sasuke could be interested in stuff like that.
She was starting to feel extremely light headed… there was absolutely no way in hell that she was going to pass out in this situation.
No. No. No! No…. It was useless, she was still pathetic and weak. She could hear her dad's condescending chuckle in the back of her mind as the world faded to black and she sunk into the bath.
Sasuke instantly regretted pushing the situation so hard when she collapsed and slid under the water. Within seconds he was scrambling to fish her out of the water and make sure she wasn't drowning.
How can a kunoichi allow herself to pass out in such a vulnerable situation? He sighed and carried her out the bath, water cascading onto the surrounding floor. He looked around and to his immense disappointment, there were no towels.
A wind jutsu, a fire jutsu and a few minutes later they were both dry. She was not waking up and he was intentionally looking anywhere but at her unconscious body. He wasn't shy, he hadn't been lying about seeing better, but he would sooner die than prove her "perv!" statement correct.
It was cold and he pulled on his clothes once more to normalize his body temperature.
He really didn't want to have to dress her but it was freezing and she was still not waking was a sliver of recognition in his mind that he was probably somewhat to blame in this situation, maybe.
He dressed her, making a point of not letting his eyes linger anywhere too long. He left her under the covers of the bed and returned to staring out the window.
About 20 minutes later, Hinata shot up, and looked around in a panic. She looked down at herself completely clothed and back at Sasuke. She lifted an accusatory finger in his direction and hissed "You…"
"Passing out in front of an enemy? Tsk tsk." he taunted. Her expression changed from indignant to crestfallen in an instant, Sasuke could tell it was a touchy subject for her.
"You would have drowned if I didn't pull you out the bath, so what's that, two life debts now?" he mused, raising his hand to his chin in a mock thoughtful pose.
She scowled at him as menacingly as she could.
"Yet another d-dangerous situation I wouldn't have b-been in if it wasn't for your p-provocation," she retorted, once again indignant about apparently owing him a 'life debt'.
At this point it was pitch black outside and there was very little light in the room, a crescent moon shone dimly through the small window behind her.
Her stomach ached but she decided it would be better to sleep than to waste what little food she had left. Yes, she'd eat in the morning. She peeked over at Sasuke who was in a relaxed pose on the other side of the bed sharpening his blade.
She shuddered thinking of how many lives that blade had claimed in his hands, several hundred at least at this point. Unforgivable.
He seemed to pay her no mind and she took his calm state as an opportunity to sleep the dark and frigid night away. She closed her eyes and after several minutes she was out.
Sasuke looked over at her once she'd fallen asleep and her breathing had grown slower. He silently scoffed, he would hardly believe she was a kunoichi at all with how much she let her guard down around him.
It immensely irritated him that all she seemed to do was sleep and deny him what he wanted. Even right now he could lean over and take her life in an instant. Maybe he would have even done it but he needed her. Right now, to his knowledge, she was the only person who could fix his eyes and he needed her.
He glanced over to her petal pink lips that were slightly parted as she slept. That's right, she wasn't leaving until he'd gotten what he wanted from her.
He leaned back once more and continued sharpening his trusty blade and allowed his mind to wonder.
…oOo…
Meanwhile in Konoha…
Naruto slid a massive pile of papers aside on his desk so he could make eye contact with the person that entered his office. The person who had knocked very politely on the door was Hanabi Hyuuga, Hinata's younger sister.
Naruto could see the uncertain look on her face and was immediately concerned, she very rarely visited his office, unless on official Hyuga business. Her expression told him that wasn't the case this time, however.
"Hi, Naruto-san," she started, walking into his office. Her long hair was down to her thighs and tied back in a low pony tail, she was wearing a pink and yellow traditional kimono.
"I was just concerned, Hinata should have returned from her mission last night, but there is still no sign of her," she finished, stopping a few feet from Naruto.
Naruto was aware she left on a mission just over a week earlier, it was run past him and it was a fairly safe and straight-forward mission. Could something have gone wrong? Not wanting to worry the girl in front of him, he plastered a grin on his face and assured her he would check up on it and that he was sure she was fine, before rushing her out his office.
He turned to the window and his eyes made contact immediately with a silent figure in a white and purple wolf mask. Naruto didn't need to say a word, the figure nodded at him and disappeared out the open window in a flash.
'Where are you Hinata?' he wondered, leaning back in his chair.
He was sure she probably just got tired and had to spend another day travelling. That was the outcome he hoped for, anyway.
…oOo…
She awoke with a start as her dreams took a terrible twist. The sounds of her sister's screaming and the crackling of fire as the Hyuuga complex burned just out of reach stuck with her even as she peeled her eyes open and sat up.
She looked around groggily until her eyes landed on Sasuke's form a few inches away from her. He was… asleep? Now that she thought about it, she hadn't seen him sleep once since being stranded in this cabin with him.
He looked so peaceful and calm, his closed eyes masked the haunted look she'd often seen in the depths. The pain of being an Uchiha and the burden of the revenge he craved, she felt for him.
Outside it was barely dawn, the pale light was peering over the mountains in the distance. The snow had slowed and was falling at a much steadier and slower rate. That was at least a step in the right direction, however, there was still no way she'd be able to leave today with the level of the snow. Not to mention her distinct lack of the nice warm cloak she had previously had.
Her stomach was starting to feel really empty so she swivelled off the side of the bed and reached for her pack next to her. She had 1 bag of dried meat and 1 tin of ramen left. She let out a hefty sigh, once again pleading for the snow to stop falling.
She hadn't packed nearly enough food for such a long trip and she'd definitely have to go hunting or fishing on the way back, 'if this storm ever subsides' she thought miserably.
Maybe she'd be able to find some small town to buy supplies, but she hadn't seen any on the way.
She could feel Sasuke's everpresent stare on her back once more, her moving had woken him up, she guessed. She figured he was probably hungry too but with so little in the way of supplies she didn't know if she could afford to share.
The thought of eating in front of him and not sharing didn't sit right with her though, trust her to feel empathy for a mass murderer. She scoffed at herself before turning back towards him, beef jerky in hand.
"W-would you like to share?" she asked, opening the bag and and holding it out in his direction.
"Thank you," he said in a husky sort of morning voice that instantly made her cheeks dust a light pink. She was visibly surprised at the words of gratitude, she had expected his typical 'hn' response.
He sat up and a few strands of his long spiky hair stood at a gravity-defying angle. She had to try really hard to stop herself from giggling. He grabbed a handful of the hard sticks from the bag, roughly half and started to eat them.
He once again looked very relaxed, if she didn't know better she might have thought his guard was down. It wasn't, his lean, muscular frame was always ready to act or react in any situation that might arise.
She finally felt like she was back at full strength, her chakra was restored, she was only a bit hungry and her wounds were almost entirely healed from the ointment. She stretched her back and stood up to do her daily peek out the door.
The snow was just above her knees and decidedly much better than previous days.
"We can probably leave t-tomorrow if the snow stays at this pace or stops," she observed aloud, closing the door with a soft thud.
He didn't reply, he knew he had no intention of letting her leave just yet, but he didn't want to risk another stupid dash out into the snow while she was right at the door, so he didn't voice this.
He had finally allowed himself to have a short sleep. As it turned out refusing to sleep for that long was incredibly taxing. He finished eating the jerky and rose to his feet, he was really starting to feel incredibly bored and restless.
He decided it was the time to push the subject of healing him again, he positioned himself between her and the door, just in case.
She was already eyeing him suspiciously from the other side of the room as he looked decidedly… menacing. She locked eyes with his cold onyx ones and felt oddly transfixed, as though she was falling into their deep abyss.
"You already know what I want," he started, a look of recognition crossed her face and her eyebrows drew together. He could already tell what she was going to say and his hand reached for his kusanagi.
"Tch," he growled and in an instant had her against the wall behind her, kusanagi hovering over her throat.
"All you have to do is heal my eyes, it will take two minutes and we can both part ways tomorrow like nothing happened," he drawled inching the blade closer.
"A-and then w-what? You c-come to my village in a f-few months and k-kill us all? Absolutely n-not!" she hissed back, finding new resolve in the face of imminent death.
"You'll have to k-kill me," She said finally, looking directly into his fiercely spinning red eyes. This time, it really was a mistake. He quickly pulled his blade aside and caught her collapsing body.
He was furious, nobody denied him, not this blatantly. Maybe a few days in his tsukiyomi would change her mind. He all but threw her on the bed next to him and sheathed his blade once more, quietly contemplating the best way to torture her mind.
To his absolute surprise however she sat up next to him with a gasp. She had broken out? Her? One so much weaker than himself? He didn't understand how but it became clear to him that his plans would never come to fruition without his eyes being healed.
A smug look crossed her face and almost immediately she felt a sharp pain in her head and the world faded to black, as the hilt of kusanagi drew away from her.
Nobody bests me.
He was done playing nice, he would have his way, and he would do anything to achieve his goals. He reached for some chakra restricting rope in his backpack and begun to restrain the unconscious kunoichi.
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I'm going to leave it there, like I said I have no idea when I'll be able to update again, but leave a review if you enjoyed.
Until next time ~
Jess.