Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
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Chapter 21
Sasuke and Hinata
"You wanted to help, right? Then help me."
"Sasuke-kun!"
"But, I won't let the incident with Yoroi repeat itself."
She mentally smiled to herself, before mirroring that to the outer world. "Then I won't let the incident with Orochimaru repeat itself."
Did she just mock me? "What do you mean by that- Huh?" He looked overly shocked, and felt so too by the soft hand that squeezed his own. He looked at Hinata with a questioned look.
"I mean, I won't lose you again. I already lost Kurai-kun-" Sasuke was speechless, and somehow he found himself squeezing her hand tighter than he thought he would and whisper the name "Mitsu". "I don't want to lose Sasuke-kun...!"
The Guardians were left unable to process the scene between the two ninjas. Hinata's teammates, Neji, Sakura and Ino especially couldn't find the right words to use.
"Sasuke-kun and Hinata?..." Sakura whispered to herself in confusion and slight annoyance. It was loud enough for Ino to hear it as she snapped at Sakura.
"Of course not, billboard brow...!"
"Hn, you must think I'm weak if you think I'm gonna let him take you." He said followed by a whisper. "Again..."
"Huh? What was that?"
"Doesn't matter! Let's do this."
"Finally! I was waiting for this moment!" Yoroi, without second thoughts, sprinted towards the two ninjas with Lee behind him.
Sasuke let go of Hinata's hand and charged at Yoroi. Both their weapons clashed while Hinata and Lee appeared from above and let their taijutsu skills speak for themselves.
Kakashi, who had been too distracted from the way Orochimaru easily removed the part of the poison in the Guardians' crystals and at Hinata's sudden change in fighting style, was pinned against a tree by Orochimaru's snakes. Orochimaru had warned Kakashi not to move unless he wanted the snakes to say 'boom'. Kurenai, herself, was nowhere near Kabuto's level. While she was still struggling to land a hit, it had been a piece of cake for Kabuto to immobilse Kurenai's limbs.
"Well then, what now?" The medic nin asked himself. He looked at the overall battlefield and saw how Orochimaru was enjoying the fight between the genins and Kakashi and Kurenai pinned. The Guardians were slowly regaining strength, too.
Orochimaru performed this hand seal that Kakashi had never seen before. He looked at the target and it was Sasuke. Oh no! The copy nin saw as Sasuke was about to perform his Katon: Great Fireball jutsu. As the Yang Guardian was about to fire the attack, nothing happened much to both their surprise. What happened? Why isn't it working?
Sasuke tried once more until Yoroi was right in front of him and struck Sasuke at his cheek, followed by kneeing his abdomen. "Sasuke!"
"Sasuke...!" Sakura and Naruto and Ino yelled. Naruto gradually got himself back up, only to struggle with keeping balance once on his feet. "What are you... doing to.. Sasuke..?!" Naruto quickly fell on his knees, losing all strength whatsoever on getting back up. This followed by him falling wobbly, flat on the ground.
"Naruto..." Sakura whispered, seeing as the Uzumaki could barely breath from that tiny attempt.
Hinata saw as Sasuke was taken down. "Sasuke-kun!"
Kakashi looked over at the sanin who was grinning to himself. He grew furious, Orochimaru must have done something to Sasuke. "Orochimaru, what did you do to Sasuke?!"
Orochimaru stared at Kakashi with the snaky eyes he possessed, he licked his lips in a hungrily manner before answering. "How do I say this?..." He rolled his eyes before smirking once again. "I marked him."
"You gave him the curse mark?" Orochimaru nodded. The snake sanin looked at Kabuto and gave him the signal to start phase 2. Kabuto did as ordered and started with releasing Lee and Tenten from the genjutsu. Lee immediately collapsed with his armor deactivating as he fell. Hinata, surprised, looked over at Kabuto who escaped into the forest by the time her opponent fell.
She shrugged that off and hurried over to aid Sasuke in his battle. "Yoroi!"
Yoroi moved out of the way and looked at his opponents. He knew that they weren't the newbies he fought earlier. They were familier with his whole Guardian thing. And that worried Yoroi in a way.
Luckily for him, Sasuke was under Orochimaru's control thanks to the curse mark, and the Yin Guardian wasn't going to be a big deal. Or so he thought, until a sharp pain was inflicted on his lower chest. He coughed his inner liquid up and looked at the attacker. It was the Yin Guardian. H-How? I didn't even see her ..
Sasuke activated his Sharingan and remembered the deadly move Lee once used on him but fortunately it was a shadow clone. Before Yoroi could get to recover from Hinata's attack, Sasuke had appeared beneath him and kicked him in the air. Sasuke appeared below him in mid air and attempted a kick at his waist but it was blocked by Yoroi's arm.
"Not good enough."
"No," the Uchiha spun and struck Yoroi at his throat with his elbow, earning a grunt from the shinobi. "You are not good enou-" Sasuke was about to land the final blow until a stingy feeling emanated from his neck. Wha- It wasn't long before Sasuke felt that this stingy feeling came from the mark Orochimaru had implanted on him during their fight. He felt it spreading throughout his body again. No..! Not again!
"Argh!" Sasuke yelped. Yoroi took the chance and harshly stomped Sasuke to the ground, making him cough up blood.
"Sasuke-kun!"
Neji recognised that sequence. Was that Lee's Shadow of the Dancing Leaf? He must've copied it.
Yoroi smirked from behind as he sensed her presence nearing him, to his luck he took ahold of the one thing that she would never strike. The young heiress stopped by the sight of Sasuke held up by Yoroi. "That's dirty!"
"If it keeps you away, then I won't mind." He said as he brought a kunai at sight. Hinata hesitated on making the wrong move for Sasuke's sake. Hinata gasped by the marks that had taken over his skin. That is...
"Oh yeah, I heard what you two were talking about earlier. Not wanting to lose each other, huh? That's so romantic!" He said in a high pitch as he held the Uchiha who was inching and curling together from the immense pain that the curse mark was placing on him.
"Too bad," Yoroi spoke, "he's going to die now." He finished as he placed the kunai by Sasuke's neck.
"No... No!" Hinata unconsciously raced over to Yoroi, reaching her hand out for Sasuke. She saw the sharp end of the kunai open a tiny hole in his neck, which already seeped with blood. "Please stop! Don't!" She cried.
"Or what!" He demanded as he pushed the kunai further, earning a nervepiercing screech from the Uchiha.
"He's gonna die!" She wailed as she jumped, reaching out for her target which was now the kunai.
"Got you!" She heard him yell as she saw the object get pulled out from Sasuke's neck and being lift into the air. Huh?
Slash!
Sasuke's obsidian globes sucked themselves in by the sight of Hinata falling backwards. No! This can't be...
Your girlfriend is already near-death, so why not start with her.
... happening again...
"Oi, Orochimaru. Should I just extract her chakra once again?!" Yoroi saw a nod from Orochimaru and brought the crystal from his fight with Sasuke and Hinata.
"I kind of get this deja vú feeling, don't you? During our fight, she covered for you and broke her ribs. Now, she might not even recover from that deep wound. Hehehe!" He pointed the crystal at Hinata. The chakra line connecting both his and her crystal appeared.
"D... Don't..." The furious flame within Sasuke was more than ready to let loose, however the angrier Sasuke grew, the stronger the curse mark would react. Yoroi noticed a katana appear on Sasuke's hand, and looked at him.
Orochimaru smirked and turned his back to the scene. "Seems like I've done my work here."
"Wait! Orochimaru!" Orochimaru disappeared in a poof, leaving Kakashi chained against the tree. Are you telling me that I can't do anything to stop this?! Kakashi looked at Kurenai who was knocked out of consciousness, and the Guardians could only witness the scene unfold.
"Hinata..."
"I already lost Kurai-kun, I don't want to lose Sasuke-kun...!"
"But, I won't let the incident with Yoroi repeat itself."
The Uchiha suddenly felt a darkness take over his sight. It wasn't soon until he felt his feet hit the ground and his sword cutting through flesh. He thereafter heard screams after screams, he recognised none of them. He didn't even know what was going on anymore. He was still shocked by Hinata taken the blow and getting her chakra extracted once again. A part of him just wanted for all of this to end already. How many times am I supposed to see her covering for me? How many times do I have to make her suffer? If I can't even protect her from getting hurt...
A-Arigato...
For what?
F-For b-being n-nice t-t-to m-me.
"Being nice... huh?... If constantly getting you hurt is your definiton of nice, then I must be the nicest person you know!"
"What's happened to Sasuke...?" Sakura asked by the change in Sasuke's behaviour. That sudden burst of purple chakra brought her back to the fight with the three other ninjas. But this chakra didnt seem to harm Sasuke as it had with them. It made Sasuke more brute and far colder than he usually is. He didn't look like the Sasuke she knew anymore, those marks covering him also seemed suspicious. "Sasuke..." The Haruno moaned the soreness from every muscle of hers away as she sat up and slowly pushed herself half-way up by force.
"Sakura-chan... What are you?.."
She looked at Naruto with a worried look. "That's...-pant- -pant- not Sasuke-kun..." She said as she looked at Sasuke slid Yoroi off his blade by kicking him off. He later lifted his weapon, about to slice open Yoroi's neck.
"No... SASUKE-KUN!" His movements stopped and he quickly looked over at the voice that called him.
Sakura jumped a little from the deadly glare he gave her. The kunoichi was still determined to stand her ground even if Sasuke was nearing her. She kept calling his name, hoping for him to stop and come back to his senses.
"Sas-ke... Please.." Sakura poured the salty liquid down her cheeks as the fear of Sasuke grew stronger. He had lifted his sword before her, ready to cut her in two. "Sas..."
"Teme... -pant- Don't do something you will regret.." Naruto murmered from the ground, still unable to move a single muscle.
"Huh?" Sakura questioned the soft impact on Sasuke that shocked him as well as her. She began hearing quiet cries from behind him, she shifted her attention from Sasuke to the tiny figure that had circulated her arms around his chest. Hinata!
"One gai... Yamete...!" The Uchiha directed his eyes to Hinata who had her face buried in his back. He harshly pushed her away from him and was aiming at slicing her first. By the time he turned around, Sakura fell on her knees.
"Sakura-chan!"
"I can't..."
Hinata, with her tiny fist against her chest, for some reason had a half-smile across her face. "So it's going to be the same like the Orochimaru incident, huh?" A tear wandered from the start of her lower eye lid to the end and travelled down her cheek.
Hinata?... Is that Hinata's voice?
"If cutting me down like last time is going to bring you back, then go ahead!" She held her arms out, exposing her already deep wound that was bleeding extremely to Sasuke.
Cut her down?
"I'm right here, Kurai-kun."
No...?
Slash
No!
The Yin Guardian saw as Sasuke dropped his weapon, clutching unto his head tightly. He was screaming with misery, it was as if there was this voice telling him what to do, but he was fighting back. Sasuke soon fell on his knees, still groaning from whatever was disturbing him. She closed her eyes for a second before slowly approaching the disturbed warrior. She kneeled to his level and embraced her childhood friend.
She heard both their crystals cling against each other from Sasuke's hasty movements. She saw the crystals align once again, she gasped from the brightness they illuminated by that single touch.
Her attention was quickly taken by Sasuke's moan. "Hinata.. Don't go!"
"I'm right here, Sasuke-kun." She ensured, hugging him tighter. "No matter what." That's when she felt his hand lay upon hers, taking a good hold of it. The heiress was about to come with more soothing words until the light became so bright that it blinded her and the other Guardians. But before her sight was blinded, she saw the curse marks subsiding back to its origin. What is happening?
Hinata opened her eyes as she felt the light fade away. The first thing she felt was Sasuke resting on her chest. His armor had been deactivated. Knowing that he was awake and fully aware of what he was doing, made Hinata's cheeks burn. The next thing she noticed was the fallen Guardians, whos' crystals once had a red dot in the center and purple chakra in the crystals, in a sitting position. They gradually got back on their feet without any difficulties. Kakashi was freed from the snakes and Kurenai-Sensei could move her limbs again. Even her wound had closed itself.
"Minna..."
"Sasuke-kun!"
"Hinata!"
"Huh?" She saw as everybody gathered around the two childhood friends. Hinata wasn't very fond of being the center of attention, especially knowing that the guy buried in her chest had a large fan club and that the two biggest fan girls were now staring at her.
"Are you alright?" Kiba asked, kneeling down to her. She nodded, smiling at him.
"But, how?" Tenten asked. The Guardians looked at the two only senseis around.
"We'll explain everything later, let's get you all to safety." Kakashi said. They nodded and got themselves sorted. "Hinata, I can help carrying Sasuke if you are too tired. That light must've sucked a lot of chakra from both of you."
Hinata smiled again, but shook her head. "Thank you, Kakashi-sensei. But, I think I can handle it from here." Kakashi smiled from his mask and nodded.
Hinata watched as her fellow Guardians and the teachers had started walking ahead of her. She swung Sasuke's arm around her neck and supported him by holding onto his waist. She looked behind her and saw the battlefield that had been pillaged off its' existence from the intense fight that had taken place. Her eyes fell upon a dead Yoroi, spilling the last bit of blood he has in his body on the ground. Everything happened so fast...
Her thoughts were interrupted by a panting Sasuke. "Oi... I'm dying, you know."
"Ah... I'm s-s-sorry." She started walking with him towards the others. "It's just... E-E-Everything happened s-s-so fa-fast..."
"What did?"
"Everything... The crystals. The fight. The struggle... You and me..." A tone of hesitation and shyness could be heard with the last part.
"Ah." He nodded in agreement. He looked at her and could see how she was burning with a question. He sighed. "What is it?"
She blushed from his straightforwardness and hid behind her bangs. "I-It's just...N-Now that I-I have recovered, w-w-where w-w-will I live?"
"I suppose you will be living with Kurenai-sensei from now on." The volume of his voice dropped for every word he spoke, even if he tried to sound as usual as possible, his tone did sound a bit hurt.
"O-Oh... I-I..." Hinata looked at Sasuke who had taken his eyes off of her as he finished his sentence. She couldn't quite see his expression as he had let his bangs cover for his face. Sasuke-kun...
"W-Why c-c-can't I c-c-continue to live w-w-with you?" She asked, feeling the tiny lump in her throat getting bigger, almost making her stuttering come out shaky. She gulped it down, knowing that she didn't want to say goodbye to Sasuke just yet. Especially with everything that had happened between them.
The young heiress was still waiting for an answer, but the Uchiha didn't give her any. She felt like crying at that moment, was Sasuke and her really gonna go their separate ways as soon as their wounds had been properly treated and healed?
She felt the tears forming around her lower eyelashes. The liquid was ready to fall down her cheeks until Sasuke spoke. "Hinata," he spoke, looking into her tearful globes, "I never said goodbye."
The young heiress squeezed her eyes shut in order to let the tears fall fast. Her one hand that held Sasuke's wrist tightened. "I... I... I don't want you to say goodbye...!"
"What is going on between them?" Sakura gritted her teeth at the emotional scene between the two.
"I don't know, but Sasuke-kun is mine."
"In your dreams!"
"What did you say, billboard brow?!"
"You heard me, Ino pig!"
"Heeehhhh, since when did those two happen?" Naruto asked, looking at Sasuke and Hinata. "Kami, bring the old Sasuke back... This one is creeping me out..."
"I know right..." Kiba said in agreement, as he too was shocked by the close relationship between the two Guardians.
"They are simply rekindling their feelings for one another, nazenara they have been living for the past 1 month."
"Feelings?!" Kiba and Naruto yelled in unison.
"Love. The feeling that every youth experiences in their lifetime! It is sweet. It is bitter. It is love!"
"Give it a break, will ya?" Tenten scoffed before turning her attention to Neji that had been quiet this whole time. He must not be taking this good.
"Shikamaru, do you think the hospital got chips?"
"They won't allow you chips until you have recovered fully. This whole day has been a total drag."
-Midnight-
"So, has Hinata settled in your house, Kurenai?" Asuma asked as Kurenai finished explaining everything that had happened.
"She looked pretty down, knowing that Sasuke won't be there-"
"Eh?! A Hyuga wants to live with an Uchiha?" Kurenai shot him the glare from his ignorant joke.
"Sorry, sorry. I just really couldn't imagine it. Those two especially."
Kurenai didn't reply as all previous Guardians had reached the door to the Hokage. As Kakashi opened the door, the Third was already standing before his desk with a rather frightened face.
"You called us, Hokage-sama!"
The Third Hokage stood from his seat and faced the previous Guardians with an expression that said fear all of over it.
"What happened, now?"
"They are gone..."
Kakashi took a step forward with a suggestion. "Is it any of the Guardians"
"No..."
"Then..." Gai whispered.
The scrolls.
One gai= Please
Yamete= Stop
Minna= Everyone/ everybody
Thank you all for reading this story! Thank you for the kind reviews and continuous support. I'm sorry that there was this huge gap in between, life just got too much in the way and I had to handle it before it got out of hand. And to the guests who keeps telling me to die, do yourself a favour and get a life T_T.
Bye bye! ^^