Wavering Between Forgotten Lines

Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto

This fanfiction was made possible by a request from HinataLoveNaruto


—Softly

"Hey teme, we're here to visit you dattebayo!!!" Naruto shouted as soon as he flung open the door to the Uchiha manor. "And we also brought some movies and ramen if we get bored!"

"Don't you mean if you get bored? Naruto, you know that none of us like ramen except for you," Sakura scoffed as she walked in behind him.

"Hinata does! She loves ramen!" Naruto turned to the girl following delicately behind Sakura. "Right Hina?"

Said girl ducked her head and mumbled an unintelligible reply. Sakura rolled her eyes and smacked Naruto's head sideways. "Naruto, she only pretends to like it because you take her out to Ichiraku's all the time! Kami, I feel sorry for the poor girl sometimes – putting up with a maniac like you!"

"Oh yeah, where do you and Lee go all the time? Special youthful training with Gai-sensei?" He cackled as Sakura's face turned bright red. At this time, they both remembered where they were and whom they were here to visit. It occurred to them at that second, that Sasuke was no where to be seen. Usually, when they had visited Sasuke's manor before his defection, Sasuke had greeted them in the living room.

"Sasuke?" Sakura whispered, almost fearful that something dreadful had taken place. She had been too busy bantering with Naruto that she hadn't bothered to notice if there were still ANBU guards at the door. Nobody knew what exactly what sort of tactics that Sasuke had gained while he was 'missing', and if she judged from the vague reports that had come in once in a while, he was absolutely terrifying. Naruto, on the other hand, skipped the thorough thinking process that Sakura was in the middle of, and yelled, "SASUKE-TEME! WAKEY WAKEY!!!"

The silence was undeniably rigid, until an unnatural cold settled onto the room. Unconsciously, the three ninja tensed. A lean black-haired figure stood at the top of the stairway.

"Hey Sasuke, is that you?" Sakura called out.

"Hn," he turned his piercing red eyes on the unwelcome guests, "What the hell are you doing here?"

"What were you doing? We thought you died or something." Naruto smiled eagerly and started to babble without any provocation or response. "Oh yeah, Sasuke, you haven't met Hinata yet. She's a Hyuga; isn't that sort of like an Uchiha?; anyway, she was in the Chunin Exam – remember that? - but lost to her cousin (whom I beat the hell out of). She's my girlfriend now. Isn't she pretty?"

Idiot. Just like usual, it's like time stopped in Konoha. Sasuke sighed inaudibly and descended the stairs. "I was sleeping," he replied pointedly to Naruto's question. Let him chew on that for a while. He passed his red eyes over the trembling figure behind Naruto and Sakura. Naruto was right – she was a Hyuga, though that was nothing like an Uchiha, but he didn't ever remember seeing her anywhere. Her eyes, a blank white, were averted from his gaze, staring at the knotholes in the ground. Stupid girl. I almost feel sorry for her, being stuck with an idiot like Uzumaki. She's probably just as idiotic anyway…

"- so cool! I've never seen this before! Is this an heirloom or something? It's really light—" Sasuke jerked his head back to the living room, where Naruto was roughly taking down the obsidian sword that hung there. Biting back a yelp, he jumped over the stairs, over the futon and grabbed the scabbard and blade out of Naruto's hands. All in a flash. By the time the rest of them had reacted, Sasuke was placing the sword on its place in the wall.

"Don't you dare touch that again." Glaring at the stunned blond, Sasuke stalked out of the room.

"Naruto, I told you not to touch it…" A soft, trembling voice. Gentle, but reprimanding.

Alien.

"Listen to your girlfriend for once, Naruto. You're such an idiot." Now that was a familiar voice, laced with sarcasm and impatience at the same time. "Although it is a beautiful sword…"

Out of the corner of his eye, Sasuke saw Sakura reach tentatively to stroke the hilt of the sword. Deciding that it was too troublesome to stop her, he continued walking up the stairs, his mind intent on studying the ancient ninjustu scrolls in the massive Uchiha library. He hadn't felt in the mood to practice taijustu under the surveillance of ANBU guards, and it occurred to him very suddenly that lying around like this might just turn him into a pot-bellied scholar. Funny, really.

While he was silently chuckling over his private joke, Naruto was busy boiling water for his instant ramen. Apparently, he had never forgotten where the kitchen was, even after all those years. It was pitiful.

"Hey Hinata, come help me with this…" As Sasuke pushed open the double doors, Naruto's voice faded out and various clangs came from the kitchen downstairs. Sakura's slightly muffled voice broke through the scuffle and immediately started to dirty the air with her insults. Naruto's voice joined in, and after a while, Sasuke heard nothing. Strange that he never heard that soft voice of that Hyuga girl again. She seemed quiet and weak anyway. Sasuke sat down on the chair and took up the scroll again, blowing away the dust, losing in the second round of the Chunin Exams. Pathetic. What else did I expect from Naruto's girlfriend?

He noticed that the scroll was exploring the possibilities of a Sharingan/Byakugan hybrid and the Hyuga girl's pale eyes came into mind again. The scroll mentioned the rumors that Sharingan had descended from the Byakugan, perhaps it was a lower form, because it could not see chakra points, instead, it gave the use perfect clarity and allowed for breakneck speed. Sasuke almost snorted at the possibility that the Sharingan could be inferior to any type of dojustu. He rolled up the scroll, having lost interest in it and placed it back into the shelves. To think he had something in common with the soft, weak girl! Impossible.

He sifted through the aging scrolls again, ignoring the dull pain that attempted to drown him.

Sakura sighed and placed the tip on the table before walking out of the restaurant. The visit to Sasuke's house had been a total and complete failure. Tsunade had asked her to coax more information out of Sasuke whenever possible, so Sakura had suggested to Naruto that they should visit Sasuke. It wasn't that she didn't want to see Sasuke…it was just the feeling of apprehension and fear that stirred in her stomach when thinking off those crimson eyes. But so far, she had gathered nothing. After the small episode with the sword the day before, Sakura had only confirmed what she knew.

Sasuke had always been the fastest of the three of them, and he still was.

It discouraged Sakura that no matter how much she trained, she knew that she was incomparable to Sasuke, or Naruto. She would 'put up a fight' when faced with an enemy, but Naruto would wreak havoc and flashily destroy them in his own clumsy way. Sasuke was the opposite, graceful and lithe while he darted around and picked off his enemies. The last one was an assumption, of course.

"Sakura-chan! What are you doing here? I do not recall that you come here often!" Lee was hanging upside-down from a tall oak tree in the distance. Ah, amiable, lovable Lee. He had annoyed Sakura so much for the last few years that she finally agreed to go out with him on a few dates – only for trial purposes. Somehow, he also sensed that her feelings were still reserved for…well…someone else.

She smiled and waved back, and then continued on her way back to her apartment. She worked double-shifts at the hospital, as the supervisor when Tsunade or Shizune weren't around. It provided a solid, reliable income, but lacked the pump of adrenaline and excitement that came with a good A-rank mission. Tsunade had made it ever more clear that Sakura should stick around, especially because she believed Sakura was one the only people capable of keeping Sasuke from running away.

It wasn't like she had done a good job the first time around.

"Sakura-chan," a pair of soft tapping footsteps fell on the concrete sidewalk as Hinata descended from above her. "Hello."

"Hi, Hinata." Sakura smiled ruefully. When had Hinata arrived? Her senses really were dulling. But then again, Hinata always did have a particularly unnoticeable way of coming and going.

"M-may I ask you something?" Smiling shyly, Hinata slowed down to match Sakura's pace.

"Yeah, of course!" She couldn't imagine why Hinata insisted on asking permission before doing anything.

"Um…you think, perhaps, I mean…we could, um, go back to U-uchiha-san's house again, sometime?" Her voice trembled slightly when she mentioned Sakura's former teammate.

A request. A strange one at that. Sakura nodded, wondering why Hinata was so eager to go back. Hadn't those blazing Sharingan eyes frightened her in any way? Even Sakura, who was fully prepared to see them, was taken aback by the distaste in his pupils.

"Of course, I was meaning to go back again soon anyway." Not really, she admitted to herself, but it wouldn't hurt. "Why?"

As soon as the words came out of her mouth, she felt horrible. It already took enough courage for Hinata to make this simple request and now Sakura was demanding more out of her. Monster.

"I just…the sword…it looked familiar…" Hinata sounded pained and Sakura felt it pierce her heart sharply. "He…he looked like…he was in pain…" God…Sakura stifled a surprised gasp.

No one this loving should ever be hurt. It would be unforgivable.

Hinata was also a medic, something that everyone had felt unsuitable for her until they saw the compassion and love in her eyes as she treated her patients. It was what made her special, made her stand out to Naruto, who craved pure and untainted love. In a way, Hinata was very motherly.

"I…I suppose so. We'll go and see him again next week. Is that alright?" Sakura formed the words despite her muddled thoughts. "Don't worry about him, Hinata. He'll be fine. He always is."

The girl beside her was eerily silent.

"Really, Hinata. He's always been quiet, like he's in pain or something. Sort of like you." When she stiffened, Sakura knew that she had gone too far. In a second, Sakura was alone on the street. She suddenly realized the transparent honesty of her words. How had she never noticed? Hinata and Sasuke were so similar, so alike, and yet so impeccably different.

Sakura entered her apartment with a heavy heart.

By morning, his foul mood had dissipated, leaving the monotonous feeling that stuck around stubbornly. Sasuke stretched and rose from the chair that he had fallen asleep on for the third day in a row. Not surprisingly, the old dusty scrolls on the shelves contained elaborate seals and perplexed Sasuke when he tried to undo them.

However, he had managed to crack a couple of the more intricate ones, and was now digesting the newfound knowledge – not for Pein or anyone else for that matter, but to feed his own curiosity. When he had been obsessed with murdering Itachi, Sasuke had had no time to slowly go through the library and before that, he was too young. Now that he was under house arrest and too uncomfortable to practice taijustu, with the ANBU guards and all, he finally had time to devote to unlocking the various secrets lying around the manor.

Despite his lack of interest in normal research and scientific papers, the theories revolving around the Sharingan and various legends and tailed-demons were fascinating. He loved to think that the Sharingan was as important as he believed it was.

He heard a murmur of words at the entrance to the manor and looked out the enormous glass windows onto the ground below. A pink head and a purple head. Looked rather like cotton candy. Sasuke sniffed with distaste. Sakura and the Hyuga here for yet another visit. At least Naruto wasn't leading the way in this time. But having the pink haired hag over was worse. Was it just his imagination that the purple head turned up for a second? She couldn't be that sensitive.

"Sasuke…where are you? We've come to visit." Said 'hag' called out from the entrance. "Hinata's with me, she was a bit worried about you."

Sasuke almost laughed at the thought. Worry about yourself, Hyuga , he thought as he settled down into his chair again. I don't need to be taken care of by the likes of you.

"Sasuke? Where are you? Stop masking your chakra signature!" Oh my, the hag is get angry. Sasuke nonchalantly flipped the thin pages of the book and smirked, a she-demon would be the best description.

"Oh all right." A pause. "I wonder where he keeps the vases?" Sasuke wondered what had happened to divert Sakura's attention. Perhaps it was the Hyuga, after all, she had the quiet voice that didn't travel through the thin wooden walls as easily. He didn't bother thinking about his unwelcome visitors until he heard a few clinks and a yelp. What did she break this time? If it is that sword…I swear…

Sasuke walked down the stairs swiftly, only to be surprised to see Hinata walking softly around the room, as if inspecting an old, familiar place. She walked to the broken family portrait barely hanging on the walls. Her fingertips traced the outlines of the dark and gloomy family, leaving a clean trail in the aged brown dust.

"Why are you here." Sasuke directed his cold voice toward the strange Hyuga girl. She flinched and turned around, her thin shoulders hunched and her eyes averted.

"I-I don't want to d-disturb you—" She bit her full lower lip hesitantly, choking out the words. Sasuke swore that he could hear the heartbeats in her chest, as loud and pounding as they were.

"Then don't come here. Leave." It amused him to see her so scared. He glanced at the leave headband hanging around her neck like an ornament. She was a ninja, right?

"B-but I-I wa-was worried-d…" Were her eyes always such a blank, white color? Sasuke pushed further, careful not to show how much this amused her. He flashed he eyes at her and briefly switched them to Sharingan. She shuddered.

"Save it. You're better off worrying about your pitiful boyfriend, Hyuga." At this, her eyes tightened and her tiny fists balled up. Ah, he thought, Uzumaki makes her strong. She's just like a kitten trying to be a tiger.

"Naruto-kun is not pitiful. He tries harder than anyone else to achieve his goals, and even if he doesn't always succeed, it doesn't mean a thing. He's the farthest thing away from pitiful that I've ever seen. Unlike you. Hiding from and hurting your friends, though they've done nothing wrong!" Her voice pitched and escalated toward the end. Sasuke raised an eyebrow, boiling slowly with rage. She had dared call him pitiful.

"You have no idea who you're talking to, girl. My business is none of your concern," Sasuke replied thickly, a sharp pain throbbing in his chest. He stalked up the stairs again, unaware of the shocked look on the Hyuga standing beneath him. "Leave."

Then he entered the library with the full intention of never coming out again.

Author's Note: Apologies for the 2-month long wait! Winter break is in 2 weeks, and I finally have some time to sort out the clutter that is my life. Thank you for your unending support, my dear readers! I really hope to develop this story slowly, so it may lack the spontaneous love that seems to appear in my other stories (without my noticing). I feel so guilty that I have been so inactive.

Please read + review!!

-moonhaku