CHAPTER THREE

A Lesson in (Un)Reality

[Present]

Hinata woke with a start, a sharp gasp escaping her mouth.

She sat up quickly, realizing she was in a large, four poster bed. The fresh linen scent hit her nostrils. The satin bedsheets, a deep maroon hue matching the asynchronous decorative pillows at her back, now pooled around her waist.

Quickly assessing her condition, she noticed she was dressed in an oversized white cotton shirt and nothing else. Other than a change of clothes, she felt normal. Better than normal. She was buzzing with energy. Her bruises and cuts were healed and not a single speck of dirt could be seen.

Her mind filled with her last moments before falling unconscious, and fear wrapped around her chest. Her eyes shot up, seeking her abductor.

The connection was instantaneous. Her heart fluttered to her throat as she met his preternatural gaze.

Sasuke was sitting comfortably askew in a high-backed chair across from her. His black-clothed legs were crossed with an ankle propped on the opposite knee. One elbow draped lazily over the armrest while angled towards the other, which was propped so his chin could rest on his knuckles.

He hadn't moved a muscle upon Hinata waking, and continued to observe her quietly, holding her captive with his stare. If she hadn't known better, she would have believed she was in the presence of a bored prince of darkness. His black vest hung open, revealing a half unbuttoned dark gray, long sleeved collared shirt. The mess of oil-slick hair atop his head adding to his dangerous charm.

Hinata had to admit, the view was enticing. However, seeing him again, after the way she left him, had a mixture of emotions swirling inside her. She bit her bottom lip and could not hold his stare for the guilt gnawing at her. A dash of dread ignited her nerves for what he may have planned. Then there was the overwhelming sensation skittering across her flesh, as if the tense static in the air was being captured and drawn into her, making her body hum.

"Th-thank you. For saving me." Her voice was quiet, uncertain.

There was no response.

No acknowledgement or movement whatsoever. Was she imagining his presence? Perhaps he did not hear her.

At the risk of being placed under another genjutsu, she chanced a glance up at her captor. The only tell that she was speaking to a living being were the slow rising and falling of his chest and the tiny movements of his ruby irises.

"Uchiha-san, I… I am very sorry about what I did to you. It was wrong of me. After I retrieve my sister and friends, I will properly compensate you for my mistake."

Her fingers played with the edge of the sheet in a nervous tic. She really hoped he wasn't as vengeful a person as he once was. What she had done, didn't deserve death. Right?

"How?" His rich baritone sent a shiver through her, arousing in a way that was hard to ignore.

"Pardon?"

"How will you repay me, Hinata?" He said her name slowly, taunting yet beguiling like a lover's caress. Her name on his lips felt deeply intimate.

She shook her head, confused. "I'm not sure. I need time to think."

He quietly assessed her response, her body language, the taut line of her mouth.

"How did you do it?" His interrogation continued.

"Do what?"

"Get to me. Capture me in your genjutsu. I'm immune to poisons and I was unaware the Hyuuga had any ocular talents other than the byakugan."

"Right." She looked down at her hands, willing herself to release the edge of the blanket, and smoothing the creases over with sweaty palms. There was no way she would implicate Shino and Kiba, but she had to relinquish some of the truth. He would know if she were lying. "I had help. My sensei is a genjutsu master. She coached me on the basics. I also used a non-toxic inhibitor on you. It lowered your perception and reaction speed. I assumed you are only immune to lethal or extremely detrimental poisons. It is why you can still feel the effects of alcohol and medicine. I deduced correctly."

"How very astute of you." It almost sounded like praise, but she knew better.

His flat expression and lack of action were unnerving. Her mind flew back to her sister and teammates and the urgent need to go after them. She needed to convince him to let her go. "Uchiha-san, as I've said, my only intention was to gain information from you to rescue my sister. Nothing more. What happened was unfortunate but a necessary means to an end."

His head tilted, the edges of his lips lifted in amusement, a sardonic question dripping from his tongue. "And how is that working for you?"

Anger flared through her. Defensively she argued, "There were unforeseen circumstances. A minor setback."

Darting into his vest, he fished out a piece of paper clutched between his index and middle finger. "Naruto wrote to me."

A trickle of nervous anticipation replaced her sizzling rage. With poorly hidden curiosity, her eyes followed the movement of his hand.

Easily reading her, he preemptively explained, "He wants to know why I have not returned to Konoha and also requested that I bring you back with me."

She was surprised to hear he never returned. Had he been following her all this time? However, the thought of having to return to Konoha now (and likely be placed on lockdown) was entirely unappealing. With feigned docility, she cautiously inquired, "and how did you respond?"

Placing the parchment back in his inner pocket he shrugged a shoulder and simply stated, "I haven't."

A slow and steady breath escaped her in relief. Maybe she had a shot after all. With her hopes rising, she wondered, "Will you let me go?"

Sasuke leisurely stood and began to approach the timid kunoichi. With predatorial grace, he began climbing the bed. Long arms extended and hands splayed over the covers. One knee up followed by the other. Crawling towards her until he sat in between her spread thighs, their faces mere inches apart. Their warm, shallow breaths entangling.

Her pulse spiked- reminded that only a thin sheet separated him from her bare skin.

"You took something from me that day, Hinata." A devilish smirk spread across his plush lips. He leaned forward, his fringe tickling her cheek, his voice rumbling into her ear, "Do you truly believe, I would just let you go?"

She blushed heavily and rapidly blinked away the sensual effects of his words. Trying to put some space between them, she leaned back on her elbows, only to find herself trapped within his muscular arms, forcing her to lie flat on her back. The cylinders in her brain were misfiring, she barely stammered out, "B-b-but it wasn't real. I didn't do anything to you! Not really."

Hovering over her, though she knew it was a bad idea, she could not bring herself to look away from his hypnotic gaze.

He tsked lightly. "Your sensei did a poor job of training you. Your understanding of basic genjutsu is sorely lacking. Allow me to correct for that oversight."

For a moment, the world tilted on its axis and then it was the same. Her light-colored eyes darted frantically around, searching for a slightest difference, for something that may come to harm her. When she found nothing, she hesitantly gave her attention back to her handsome tormentor.

"Tell me, does this feel real?"

Her breath hitched as his lips fell on hers. His tongue lashed out over her bottom lip, before meeting her own.

She was astonished to find herself responding with equal fervor. Her hands moving of their own accord, gripping his firm shoulders, caressing the slope of his neck, and working their way into his mane of hair to press him closer to her.

He skillfully alternated his attention. From gentle nibbling to greedily sucking on her plump mouth. His back arched, and he pressed his hips into hers. Heat pooled between her legs as a slow and desirous ache began to build.

A desperate moan escaped her as he abandoned her kisses to trail his tongue from the base of her neck to her ear, tugging her lobe between his teeth. With heavy breaths he spoke as he continued his torturous foreplay. "Your first lesson, is learning that free will does not exist in the realm of a genjutsu."

'What does that mean?'

"You will find it difficult to differentiate between your desires and the desires of the caster."

A new level of pleasure and shock hit her in waves as her own hands began to graze over her sensitive nipples, her left hand remaining to squeeze her full breast while the other traversed over the planes of her tight stomach, the indent of her slim waist, the flare of her wide hips and around to her wet center.

Her widened, surprise-filled eyes shifted to see a slight smile grace his lips as he continued his assault along her jawline and the sensitive spots on her neck. Her own slender finger buried itself into her crevice, easily finding the tiny bud at the apex. She inhaled sharply. Circling, rubbing, pressing. As much as she tried it wasn't enough. She was incapable of bringing herself to the edge and it was maddening.

Sensing her torment, Sasuke resumed his twisted monologue, "Lesson two." His hand gently teased the back of her knee, stroking up and gripping her thigh, and rested on her hip where his palm squeezed his libidinous frustration without causing pain. "Reality is perception. It is whatever you believe. Experiences held in one's mindscape is no less real than the experiences in the physical world."

He urgently ripped himself from her warmth, and placed some distance between their writhing bodies. His chest heaved and their hearts pounded aggressively in sync.

The room tilted again in that slightly nauseating way until they were back in the same position as they started. Her hands above her head, clutching the pillow tightly. The only difference now were the sounds of their rapid breathing.

"What I just did is nothing compared to what you have done to me. Trust me when I say, it was all. Very. Fucking. Real."