(A/N: Hi! I'm going to be finishing up this story soon. There are probably only going to be three more chapters after this. Plus the alternate ending with its epilogue…That makes five chapters, doesn't it? Man, I'm feeling really absentminded this week… -.-')

Chapter 11: Entering Oto!

Hinata and Sasuke waited at his home for Hikari and Keigo to come back. The two arrived shortly after her and Sasuke's argument.

"Snake-sama, Naruto-kun said that Keigo-kun could stay for a while." Hikari said, reporting to her shishou immediately.

She laughed a short, humorless laugh. "No doubt he's trying to make it up to me." She muttered to herself. Both Hikari and Sasuke caught this, but only the man understood. "Can you take him inside and show him to one of the empty rooms near ours? I have a mission that I will be going on. Uchiha is going with me. You are to stay here and take care of Keigo, okay, Snake-chan?"

"Hai. Where are you going?"

"I'm not sure yet. I'm on my way to Uzumaki-sama to find out the details."

"Why Sakura-sama?"

"Because she's the one who's giving me the mission. Sasuke and I should be back within the next four months at the most. I'll leave you enough money for that long, okay? Make sure you take care of Keigo and yourself and I'll try to be back as soon as I can."

"Hai." Hikari hugged Hinata before she could turn and leave. "Be careful." She said quietly, watching Keigo hug her also.

Hinata and Sasuke headed for the hospital.

When they arrived, they found Sakura sitting at the front desk, rifling through patients' forms, apparently trying to organize the many records. Hinata made a small coughing sound when the woman didn't look up from her work after they entered.

"Uzumaki-sama, I would like to request a mission. Preferably one B-rank or higher, but anything would be fine." Hinata said as soon as the pinkette looked up.

"Are you and Naruto-koi fighting again? Okay, I'll be right back. I have to talk to him first." Sakura disappeared from their sight without even waiting for an answer to her question, off to the Hokage Tower.

"Does this happen often?" Sasuke asked, noting how Sakura guessed what happened right away.

"No. Demo Hokage-sama and I have fought so many times I have lost count, though. Never as badly as we are now, but we have had some serious disputes."

Sakura reappeared, grimacing. "I have a mission for you. You will be infiltrating Otogakure, posing as Sasuke's wife." At the chilling aura that entered the room, Sakura winced, but pressed onward. "You will be gathering information and trying to get close to the Otokage. Close enough to kill him."

Sakura paused, feeling the waves of anger flowing off of Hinata.

"This is a very important and dangerous mission, Snake-sama. You have to work together on this. If you are discovered, you both will certainly be killed. I know the both of you are powerful, but the odds are too much. It would be the two of you against a whole shinobi village."

"I get what and why she has to go, but I don't see why she has to pose as my wife. Couldn't she go with someone else?" Sasuke asked.

"Iie. She is your ANBU guard for the next year and a half you have to go with her, and it would look odd to see her with two men beside her."

"I see." Hinata said, then muttered, "I bet Hokage-sama planned this." She accepted the scroll that Sakura held out and opened it. It was a marriage document.

The air was suffocating Sasuke now. Apparently Sakura thought so too, for she began to speak. "That's not a real contract. But it's close enough to the real thing that if anyone asks and you show it to them, they will believe you truly are married. It's up to you to come up with a cover story. By the way, your mission will last three months, and Naruto expects you back no more than a week later than that. You leave as soon as you pack."

Hinata sighed, then turned, dragging Sasuke out of the hospital behind her. "Come on, Uchiha. We need to go back to your house so we can pack our bags and be on our way." She stated.

When they arrived, Hinata went straight to her room, while Sasuke took his time to get upstairs to gather his belongings.

Coming back down the stairs after packing, he found Hinata staring out the back door. He walked over to her and stood behind her as she watched Keigo and Hikari play. "They get along well." He pointed out.

"Aa. That they do." She replied.

They stood like that for a few minutes. Any passersby that didn't know the two adults would think that they were a happy, loving family. Sasuke, the father, the Snake ANBU being the mother, and the kids in the yard their children. But to those who did know the four would know that that was most certainly not the case.

Hinata, upon realizing their position, stepped out into the yard to call a good bye to the children. "We'll be gone for three months. Make sure to stay safe. Snake-chan, do not take any missions until we get back unless you find someone you can trust to take care of Keigo-kun, clear?"

"Hai, Snake-sama!" The apprentice was ever loyal to her shishou.

"Sayonara, you two." Hinata gave the two young ones a hug, then turned and walked toward the front door. There, she laid her mask on a table beside her, without Sasuke's notice.

"Ja." Sasuke turned to follow her, surprised to receive hugs from them as well.

The two made their way to the gates with little talk, Hinata leading. As they walked through, Hinata began to speak. "You will need to keep your Sharingan off during the next three months. It is a tell-tale sign that you are from Konoha. You have changed so much in the past ten years that I doubt anyone will recognize you. Your eyes are a trait that will immediately let the Oto nins know who you are because only Uchihas have such dark eyes. Just to be safe, drink this. I already have." She said, pulling a vial out of her pack.

"What is that?"

"It's a potion Hokage-sama gave me a long time ago. It changes the color of your eyes. He said I could use it if I ever wanted to take my ANBU mask off. The more of it you drink, the longer your eyes change color." She held the bottle out, watching as Sasuke warily took it.

"How much do I take?" He asked.

"That all depends, how long do you want your eyes changed?" She said, stopping and putting her pack on the ground. She rummaged through it while Sasuke replied.

"I suppose that we should be careful, ne? I'll go for four months."

"Okay, pour four ounces in this." She held out a cup with measurements marked out on it.

He poured the necessary amount into the cup and drank it. Then he started coughing. "That tastes foul! Why didn't you warn me?"

"Because you didn't ask." She took the cup back. "Stay right here for a moment." She walked into the woods a short ways and came back a few moments later, carrying a cleaned cup. She reached and took the bottle from Sasuke's hand turning and putting in back in her pack.

"What color are my eyes?" Sasuke asked, curious.

"Grey-ish. Mine are green." They fell silent as they walked.

They stopped shortly before night-fall and set up camp. Hinata pulled food from her pack and began to cook. As they ate, they conversed. "Don't we need to practice what we're going to do when we get to Oto?" Sasuke asked, curious as to how she would react.

"Why, only if you really need to, Sasuke-kun. Do you not think that you'll be able to pull this off, Hanii?" Hinata said with a warm, syrupy voice, batting her eyelashes slightly.

"You're pretty good, sweetie." He countered. They both started laughing.

Abruptly, Hinata stopped laughing. With a straight face, she began to speak in an emotionless voice. "I don't need practice, Sasuke. I have been doing this for too many years."

Sasuke shook his head. This woman was weird. One moment, she was laughing and joking, the next she was serious and cut off. Suddenly, Hinata stood up. "I'm going to sit watch. Go on and sleep."

He did as she said, knowing that arguing with a wall would get him further than arguing with her.

They woke early the next morning, and made their way north once more. By noon, they had reached Otogakure. At the gates, they were stopped by the shinobi guards. "What business do you have here?"

"We are desperate for a place to stay, onegai. My husband and I eloped and we need a place to stay until we can earn enough money to travel the world like we want to. May we please stay here for a while?" Hinata begged.

The guard glared at her. She and Sasuke stood silently, with pleading faces. Hinata draped her arm through Sasuke's, staring into the face of their next mission.

(A/N: Hahahah! I'm so evil! Cliff Hanger, hanging from a cliff! That's why he's called Cliff Hanger! I'm kinda hyper right now, so, yeah, I don't own Between the Lions by the way. I'm sorry, but I couldn't continue the chapter or I would have a late update. I'll try to update again on Saturday. On a side note, I've really been annoying myself lately. Call me crazy if you want, but I can't stay on one subject for long at all. Like, I'd be typing, and all of a sudden, I'll remember something that has absolutely nothing to do with anything, and I'll get on the internet and start looking for it. And then I'll get sidetracked by fanfictions. And then I'll forget to go back to typing! Therefore, I annoy myself. All you people out there who think I'm crazy, I must agree fully. XD Haha.)