Look Beyond Onyx Eyes
Hello again!
Thanking all reviewers:
1. NanamiYatsumaki- Hello and thank you again for your review! Yes, Sasuke is actually beginning to reveal his true intentions to Hinata. Please review for this chapter!
2. Winterkaguya- Yeah, I don't like fast fics, that includes this one. Yeah, it's such a coincidence, but I thought it would make for a good plot. I'm sure it might actually be going cliché cause I know other people have used this, but if you can make a cliché plot original, you can do anything, and so I'm trying! Thank you, and I'll be updating No shame soon, but Trials is on hold…I'm really disappointed in that fic.
3.1moonwitch-thank you so very much! I try not to be blotchy with my stories, so I'm happy that you enjoy it.
4. Foreveralone16-Thanks! Yup, THE Sasuke attempted to make a joke, although it was slightly deadpanned, he tried…I guess that's all that matters, right? I do my best not to make characters OC, I can't stand it, and so I'm going to keep trying to keep them in character. You don't have to wait any longer, here is chapter 3.
5.de-ji bebi- You like story, you get update. LOL, here you go! I'm happy you liked it, really I am. Naruto will be happy, but that comes later .
6. ILOVEmoney- Thank you, thank you! You'll see what happens. Sasuke isn't really mean, he's just a little conceited and full of himself, which makes him appear mean. That's just his character, so of course I won't make him all evil and all that . Here is your update!
7. Kitsune shi-…Hmm…it kinda is a test run, since I've never written a SasuHina before. I'm happy you liked it, and here you go!
8. Heavenleehime-Hello! Happy you're hooked, and I hope you stay hooked! Thanks for reviewing my story, and I can't wait to finish reading yours!
9. Kenshinlover2002-Thank you. I'll tell you what he's thinking: HINATA. Yup, all Hinata, 100 JK…but seriously, he's thinking….aw, can't spoil it, keep reading to find out Thanks for your review!
10. Chibismiles5266-Thank you very much. I think everyone would flip out, every girl anyway (…maybe guys…who knows…) if Sasuke said that he was curious about them. I would , thank you, and here is the next chapter!
Okay, with all of my thanking out of the way, here is the chapter!
Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN NARUTO!!! Otherwise, this wouldn't be a fan fiction. This would be a million dollar reality and it WOULD happen!
Okay, chapter 3...
Chapter three: You're Infatuated
When Hinata and Sasuke finally came back, Naruto eyed them suspiciously. "What took you two so long, teme?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.
Sasuke looked at him and smirked. "And why do you want to know? Are you jealous?" he asked.
Naruto noticed he was in an unusually high spirited mood. "Oh? Why are YOU in such a good mood?" he asked.
Sasuke sat down. "Hn." he said ignoring his question with his famous two letter "word".
The sky grew darker and there was little conversation going on between the three. When the sky started to show signs of dusk, Hinata stood up to go to a tent she'd set up for herself. Naruto had long since turned in after he had a stomach full of instant ramen. Who knew he'd settle for river water? Sasuke, who was sitting on the log glanced over to Hinata when he noticed he was leaving. "Turning in so early?" he asked.
"Yes. I think we should be up early so we can continue on forward." she said. She looked over at Sasuke and eyed him. "What about you?" she asked.
Sasuke stared at her for a moment before looking up. "I'll stay up a little longer." he said. "You know, it is also bad to get too much rest." he said. "You'll have a headache in the morning if you go to sleep too soon." he said.
Hianta nodded. "Yes, I suppose." she said. She went into the tent and set up her sleeping bag before coming out and joining Sasuke on the log for a little longer. The only noise was that of the crickets and roosting birds in the trees, moving their wings which rustle leaves.
"Peaceful night." Sasuke said to break the silence. "I use to do this, just sit out here and do this when Naruto, Sakura and Kakashi were on missions with me. They'd go to sleep early, and I'd always volunteer to keep watch." he said.
Hinata nodded. "They never allowed me to keep watch." she replied.
Sasuke rose an eyebrow.
"Maybe because…t-they thought…" she said.
"It doesn't matter." Sasuke said, interrupting her.
"S-sasuke…may I please ask…why were you so curious about me? I really want to know." she said quietly. "I mean, I'm not really the type people are just I-interested in all of a sudden. Most of the time, it's the other way around." she said not making eye contact with him.
He smirked. "Maybe it's because I just like you." he said. "You aren't annoying like most other people I know. You could be the exact opposite." he replied. "Is there something wrong with that?" he asked.
"I, um, well, there isn't anything, you know wrong, b-but I've just never known you to be curious about…anyone….any girls…no matter what it was for." she said, feeling slightly stupid about how it came out.
Sasuke chuckled. "You want to know why?" he asked. "It's because all my life, the only girls I've ever really known are my mother, and Sakura. You know about the first person, but Sakura was not only a teammate, she was an annoying leech like the rest of the girls in Konoha." he said. "And she couldn't take a hint. So of course, she was like every other girl, and I didn't really care, because they'd throw themselves at me with the composure of a thread."
Hinata let all this information soak in. Thank kami she wasn't like Sakura or Ino, and didn't chase him like some fool. She wouldn't want anyone to think of her that way.
"Well then…I suppose I should turn in now." she said.
Sasuke nodded. "Good night Hinata." he said.
"…Good night, Sasuke-kun." she said.
Sasuke stood up and headed for his tent. He never enjoyed it when the girls would run up to him, saying Sasuke-kun over and over again like it was the only word they knew, or just say it without knowing whether or not he accepted them enough to even use to term on the end of his name. When Hinata said it, it didn't sound maniacal or silly, it sounded just like it should, and he couldn't put his finger on it, but he decided he didn't mind if she called him that. He closed his tent, but he didn't sleep right away.
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Hinata couldn't really sleep. It was nearly 1:00 and she couldn't sleep an ounce. She activated her Byakugan frequently just to see if something was near that was bothering her. She knew that Sasuke and Naruto had long since fallen asleep from the steady breathing from Sasuke, the way you breathe when you sleep, and Naruto's tossing and turning, mumbling stuff, drooling, and sometimes going into a fit of loud snoring. She had to keep herself from bursting out laughing at Naruto's numerous bad sleeping habits.
She decided to go through some of the papers on the mission. Such a dangerous mission it was, and she, at first, slightly wished that Sakura wasn't in her predicament so she could have come instead of her, but after her small talk with Sasuke, she thought otherwise. He seemed like someone she could easily get use to being with. As a matter of fact, she rather liked him. He'd always been charming physically, dark hair in an unruly but attractive style, lean body, built just right, and a cool attitude to go along with it. She'd never go near him because of his renowned personality. Every girl described him as so cool, even though he rejected them all like junk mail, and the boys described him as stuck up, conceited, self assured, anything that was negative and made him seem narcissistic.
Although talking to him for those minutes may not have shown her everything, Hinata understood he had a past to back up his ways, and she felt especially lucky to have seen even the smallest glimpse of the real him. She could stare into those blank black eyes forever and not understand him, but when she took a closer look, listened to him a little, she could look beyond those onyx eyes and see the true him clear as day. What he meant through that entire conversation: Everyone else was too shallow to see him for who he really was.
She stopped spying on his sleeping frame, and snuggled into her sleeping bag, soaking in all it's heat against the cool forest night. She thought she head a chuckle, but it couldn't be real. She was just tired…
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Are you infatuated?
You're definitely infatuated.
Too bad.
I'm going to take him away.
You're in love.
But you can't have him.
I'm going to destroy him, like I said I would do
When he first took away my only reason for life
But thank me. You'd be dead without me, remember?
Hinata woke up in a cold sweat. She was breathing heavily, her chest heaved in and out from such a strange dream. Who was that voice? It was haunting, chilling. What did they mean?
She stopped thinking when her vision caught up with her, and the sun glared through her tent angrily.
She groaned slightly, unzipping the bag, and folding it up She placed it in her pack and stepped out, ruffling her hair slightly so it would fall back in place. Naruto and Sasuke were already done packing, and were finishing things up making sure to cover up any evidence that any ninja were there before.
"Morning Hinata!" Naruto said with his usual excitement.
"Good morning Naruto." Hinata said kindly as she began to undo the tent.
"Hey Hinata." Sasuke said.
Hinata turned to see him.
He threw a breakfast bar her way. "We don't really have time for a lain out breakfast." he said as if he could care less about food itself.
The bar he threw her was made especially for ninja since they couldn't always afford to sit down in the middle of impending danger on missions like these and eat real food. It would fill them up, the equivalent to an actual breakfast. Hinata thanked him and opened it, eating it slowly as she continued to get everything packed.
When the trio was done, they huddled around Sasuke to examine their instructions.
"Sound is still a long way away. We have two minor villages to get through before we even reach the borders." Sasuke explained. The first one, Tanzaku town, we won't get to for another 2 days. After that one, Kashi town is 3 days away. Of course, we'll gather information on his latest movements on our way, and if we're headed the wrong way, we'll switch directions. He was last spotted in Otogakure though." Sasuke explained.
"We're entering illegally, aren't we?" Hinata asked.
Sasuke nodded. "The country is collapsing anyway because Orochimaru is dead, and Kabuto isn't doing anything so far. It wouldn't really matter. Leave all that up to me though." Sasuke said.
Naruto sighed. "Leave everything up to you, huh? Does everything have to be up to you?" he asked shrugging.
"In this case it does dobe." Sasuke replied.
Naruto growled. "Whatever. Let's just go."
A little further into their travels, they finally made it out of the vast forest they were in, and made it into a grassy area, extending for as far as the eyes could see.
"It's a wonder we haven't run into any rouge ninja or anything…" Naruto said looking quite bored. He was always up for a fight, and there was just no action.
Sasuke looked back at Hinata, who was following behind them. Hen noticed the dazed look in her ivory-violet eyes. "Something bothering you Hinata…?" he asked.
Hinata said nothing, and continued to look forward.
"Hinata." Sasuke said a bit more firmly.
Hinata shook her head and looked at him. "S-sasuke…sorry." she said.
"What's bothering you. Spill it. It's all over your face." he said.
Hinata hesitated. "If I told you, you'd think I was crazy." she said.
"Hn…" he said. That 'Hn' was for thought. "What makes you think that?" he asked.
"…I don't know…I-it just seems…" she said.
"Go on Hinata!" Naruto chimed in.
Hinata looked over to Naruto. She'd almost forgotten he was with them.
Sasuke shot Naruto a glare.
Naruto turned around. "Okay. Sorry for being concerned for my friend…" he said as he started to walk forward a bit.
"No Naruto-kun…I mean….it's okay, you didn't do anything wrong…" she said.
"Nah, go ahead. Sasuke seems to be really understanding nowadays. Since…yesterday maybe?" he asked as he kept walking.
Hinata felt slightly guilty even though she didn't really do anything.
"Don't worry. You can talk to Sasuke. I'm scouting for anything with a headband on to attack." Naruto said with some humor involved as he gave a wild smirk and walked ahead.
"Go on now." Sasuke said.
"I had this dream. I couldn't see a thing, but I heard a voice." she said. I don't really remember what they said…not at the moment, but all I could see, and it was at the very end, were a bunch of feathe-" Hinata was cut off as the sound of a kunai zipped past her hair, nicking her ear and hitting the tree behind her.
She stood frozen from the shock.
Sasuke immediately switched to battle mode.
Naruto, who heard the sound too, ran over. "What happened!?" he demanded.
Hinata activated her Byakugan. She saw nothing, no chakra but that around her from Sasuke and Naruto and her own was present. Strange…someone must be masking their chakra. Where were they?
"Hinata. Keep watch with your Byakugan." Sasuke demanded. "Naruto, stand by Hinata." he said as he jumped over to where the kunai hit. No paper bombs, no sealing tags, nothing. But there was a note attached to the kunai, and he wasn't stupid enough to just open it.
"Hinata…" he asked.
She nodded and walked over to his side. For the second time, she activated her Byakugan, and examined the note on the kunai thoroughly. "There doesn't appear to be anything out of place about the note…" she said.
Sasuke snatched the kunai from the tree, and unraveled the note carefully, despite Hinata's discoveries. A nice hand writing displayed a message with nothing but malice to describe its words. Two simple words: In Tanzaku.
Sasuke's eyebrows furrowed, and sensing something else, he activated his Sharingan. A whizzing sound was heard.
"MOVE!" Naruto said.
Another kunai, and this time, attached was an exploding tag. Sasuke grabbed Hinata and jumped away from it, the blast sending him farther than he intended.
Hinata tumbled over, falling just a bit away from Sasuke. She sat up slowly, and Sasuke stood to help her up.
"Thank you, Sasuke-kun." she said appreciatively.
"What was that? Are you okay Hinata?" Naruto asked.
Hinata nodded.
"Somebody wants to meet us in Tanzaku town." Sasuke said.
"What did it say?" Naruto asked impatiently.
"…In Tanzaku." Sasuke replied.
Hinata looked back at the tree, which was blown to bits. She looked at Sasuke. She could have saved herself…but then to, she was a step behind him. With his Sharingan in, he could anticipate the moves of the kunai. Maybe it was a good idea for him to do that.
"In any case, we should keep moving forward. Keep your eyes peeled." Sasuke said.
Neither of them sensed any chakra, no matter how strong Hinata made her Byakugan. The strange dream, vision described it better, this,…what did it all mean?
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"In all honesty Hiashi, you can't protect her forever!" an elder argued with Hiashi during a meeting. "Do you honestly expect HER to go off and find a husband? Impossible. She's too much like a weak kid and not an adult to even think about it. I wouldn't be surprised if she simply stepped down herself." the elder said.
Hanabi sat in her seat, a stern look on her face. Even though she couldn't show it, she loathed the elders for being so crude. She despised them for doubting her sister.
"If I may interject, Hinata-sama has shown some improvements. Maybe we should allow her the time anyway." a younger member said.
"Nonsense! We shouldn't have given her the two years to begin with! Do you not understand we are wasting precious time!? We need to start training the heir, now!" said another member.
Hiashi wasn't going to put up much of a fight. He was pretty much letting the council speak for themselves. At the end, he'd make his decision. It wasn't that he despised Hinata entirely, he just seemed to think she needed much more of a push when it came to it. She had to be toughened, but she didn't understand that herself.
"If we take what we said back, then she'll be sent to the branch family immediately when she returns. As we've been informed, Tsunade has sent her on a mission that will take a while to complete." another elder said calmly. "She wouldn't have the time to protest."
"And who says she will?" another asked. "She hasn't been taking her place seriously-"
"At that, I have to protest…" Hanabi said.
"You are out of line!" the oldest member said.
"If I may…" Hanabi said.
The attention of all the elders was on her.
"My sister was born before me. She is the oldest, and not only that," she paused, "She has taken her place seriously her entire life. She trained relentlessly to become something worthy of recognition, and has tried to overcome her weaknesses to be a pleasing leader. She agreed to these terms you set, and didn't complain." Hanabi said. "And also, it would be unjust if you took what you said back while she is not present. It is in documentation, is it not?" she asked.
The elders murmured amongst themselves.
"That is a flimsy reason, Hanabi-sama." an elder spoke. "Just because she TRIED does not make her worthy. She has to be leader material."
"And I think she is. Her perseverance is leadership enough. A lot of you could learn from her." she said. Hanabi's face was in a scowl.
"Do you not remember, Hanabi-sama, that if she does become the heir that you will be the one cast to the branch family and branded with the curse mark?" an elder said.
Hanabi closed her eyes and hesitated. "I do. 'she said. "But why are you showing concern for me? What about Hinata? Do you not feel the same way? Does it not matter if she's placed in the branch family?" she asked.
It was silent. "Whether you admit it or not, you are the one with the most promising leadership skills…" the oldest elder said. "And you would accept such a curse…"
Hanabi stood. "Yes. Because I can handle it. Hinata wouldn't be able to live knowing that all her hard work was for nothing. I know my place." she said. "I understand that living that life may not be within my best interest, but it was the path that was meant for me in the beginning, and I intend to go through with it." she said.
More silence.
"Hanabi, step down." Hiashi said firmly.
Hanabi hesitated, but did so and sat.
"Hinata has shy qualities about her…" he said, "But with the right amount of mental training, she can go through with it." he explained.
"We've been doing that all her life!" the elder said.
"I understand that, but maybe not in the correct manner." Hiashi said.
"She has too much freedom, hanging around with those other rambunctious people, it cancels out everything we teach her." said an elder. "And if she was to marry, who do you think she'd chose? No one promising. I can tell just by her personality the type of person she'd chose to marry. At least I know that it wouldn't be anyone worth helping lead our clan to prosperity." said another elder.
"And you know that how?" asked Hiashi.
"Because you see the friends she brings over…?" the oldest elder asked. "I've seen them, those girls…shameless…They don't teach her anything but the ways they know…"
"There are no other clans in Konoha worthy enough for this clan." said another member. "What person do you think we'd be able to pick for her? We already decided we'd much rather have someone from Konoha than an outsider."
"…There is one person…" Hiashi said.
"And? Does that help the matter of her being a leader?"
"Yes…actually it does. The person I'm thinking of would not only be her husband, but also someone who would help boost her confidence." he said.
"And who would this be?" asked the oldest elder.
"Sasuke Uchiha."
"Are you mad!? He just came back from a man who was wanted forever, betrayed our village, and his clan is gone!?" an elder asked.
"That's the point. He also killed that man, and returned, and is conducting a mission that will prove his loyalty to Konoha for good. Not to mention it is with Hinata. Also, because he's the last of his clan, our clan could gain a power that's been gone for a very long time through the last Uchiha alive." Hiashi said.
There was a lot of discussion and chatter.
When it finally died down, the oldest member looked to Hiashi. "It seems to be a good idea…we won't know until we try it ourselves." he said. "We'll pick this discussion up later when we've come to a conclusion…" the elder said.
Hiashi nodded.
Most of the members looked displeased with the oldest members decision, but had no choice but to comply.
"Dismissed." the oldest elder said.
Hanabi dusted herself off and stretched.
"Hanabi…" Hiashi said.
She looked over to her father expectantly.
"When they return…see to it that the Uchiha is in contact with Hinata. We want him to want her." he said.
Hanabi hesitated. "I understand." she said.
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Uh oh…. Thanks for reading. You know the deal. Please review, blah blah…do I really have to tell you? Ahead of time, thanks!