Chapter 2

They left immediately.

He didn't chain or bind her wrists like she had expected him to. In fact, he allowed her to walk a good five feet behind him. They had been walking for hours now and dawn would be breaking soon. You would think they would be sprinting away from the village instead of walking at a pace as comfortable as this. If he was abducting her, wouldn't he want his plan to be free from any possible hindrances like her family and friends hunting them down?

She stared at his head of wild black hair. He was odd. But was she really in any position to label anyone as "odd?"

Sasuke Uchiha was a dangerous, village traitor and also wanted by the man she loved. Yet she had seen the notorious Uchiha, heard his demand and merely complied. All because of her emotions.

Yesterday night, her father had officially stripped the heiress title from her. She wasn't sure if he had done it willingly or if he had been coerced into doing it by the Hyuuga elders. All she knew was when her title left, a piece of her sanity did too.

She didn't make a scene like the average teenager would by crying or cursing. She was raised to be above that. She did the thing Naruto would probably hate her for- she acquiesced, accepted her fate, and went to her room.

As soon as her body had hit the bed, an onslaught of depressing thoughts crashed into her and something in her mind snapped. She could no longer bring herself to feel or care and that alarmed her. She knew that she was in a weak, unstable state and needed to piece herself back together before she could do something reckless, so she went for a walk to clear her head and recollect herself. Fate, however, had other plans.

Here she was, the ex-heiress of the Hyuuga, trailing behind a criminal. Slowly, she could feel the numbness of her emotions wearing off and the weight of her careless decision dawning on her.

She was trailing the last Uchiha, who had betrayed the village in search of power. He was lethal and unpredictable. Considering the last time they had truly spoken was when they were toddlers and had to keep each other company during clan meetings, he most likely did not abduct her for his own ambitions. Predictably, he was merely fetching her for someone more sinister, like Orochimaru. And why would Orochimaru want her? The byakugan, of course.

Hinata could feel her fingers twitching with something that could almost be described as fear. How would her family react when they learned that the byakugan's secrets were dissected by one of Konoha's main enemies and that the enemy had learned them because their ex-heiress couldn't get her emotions together? How would the village react when they learned that she had willingly given in? Would they regard her as a good-for-nothing traitor? How would her friends react when they realized she was missing, that she left without saying goodbye, without even thinking about their feelings?

She was going to worry the only people that had ever cared for her, infuriate the people she had wanted to prove herself to and possibly not be alive to witness either of the previous two. All because of her stupid decision.

She could feel her palms sweat and the apprehension in her chest stir. She stopped walking and nervously wrung her fingers together.

The Uchiha walked five steps more before his movement came to a halt as well.

Hinata took a small step back, hearing her sandal crush the grass beneath it. "W-Where are you t-taking me?" she asked, nervously.

He didn't move an inch.

"Wh-What do you want from me?" she asked, louder this time.

He refused to acknowledge her.

Feeling panicked, Hinata blurted, "You can't expect to get away with whatever it is you're doing! My-My family has probably already n-noticed my disappearance! They'll come for me! My friends will never stop searching for me! Th-They'll stop-!"

"No one's coming for you," he simply stated, finally turning to face her and interrupting her little diatribe.

She gulped.

"It would be wise for you to settle down and not annoy me," he went on to say. "I have not touched you,-" He made sure to enunciate his words clearly."-bound you in any way-" He flashed before her trembling form and placed his hand on the crown of her head, narrowing the distance between their foreheads and forcing her eyes to meet his."- or harmed a hair on your head." He smirked as her face reddened and she clumsily jerked her way out of his grasp. "That can all change if you choose to be difficult." His expression returned to its regular neutrality. "Understood, Hyuuga?"

Hinata's hands shook with trepidation as she looked everywhere but his eyes. "M-My family and friends will notice I am not there. Th-They will come after me," she mumbled.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "Are you trying to convince me or yourself?"

Her breathing hitched. Was she trying to convince herself? She shook her head violently, attempting to shake the doubt out of her mind, and glared at him with all the contempt she could muster. He was trying to weaken her resolve, to make her assent to his will. He didn't know anything about her relationship with her family and friends. He was just trying to get inside her head. Yes, that was it.

And yet she could feel her glare softening and the doubt creeping in. Yes, her loved ones cared for her, but she was often the plain white background in her circle of friends. They usually left her to herself because they weren't sure how to approach her. It would be days before any of her friends or family members decided to check on her, especially since Team Gai was currently out on a mission with Team 7.

Noting her resolve weakening, Sasuke turned around. "Don't worry," the Uchiha said. "Lucky for you, Orochimaru doesn't want you dead. He has other plans."

He set off walking, and she dejectedly followed. Dawn was almost here.

Dusk had fallen upon them not too long ago. As Hinata had feared, the Uchiha was right. No one came after her; no one had noticed that she wasn't there.

She was sitting on the grass with her back pressed against the trunk of a tree. Night was approaching so Sasuke had declared that they would stay here and rest for the night. Because the summer air was uncharacteristically chilly, he had lit a small fire and shortly after, left to go find them something to eat.

Hinata stared at her plain fingers, feeling crestfallen. She had given up on escape, something Naruto would also be disappointed in her for. She was with Uchiha Sasuke. She was strong, but he was a thousand times stronger. She was smart, but he was a thousand times smarter and more nimble. Escape was improbable.

Hinata didn't understand the Uchiha at all but she had no time to ponder about him. Her mind was preoccupied with the thought of her eyes being gouged from her sockets and used in Orochimaru's sickening ploys. If the legendary sannin didn't plan on killing her, would he attempt to torture, imprison or use her to carry out his wishes? What if he wanted to do all of the above?

Her fingers subconsciously traced the lids of her eyes. She didn't want to be blind. If she couldn't see, she would be nothing. She was a Hyuuga foremost and the Hyuuga heiress second. Now that she had the latter stripped from her, she couldn't imagine losing the first as well. She wouldn't have an identity if she lost her eyes. She'd be worthless.

She was forcefully dragged out of her thoughts when something wet and slimy slapped her cheek and fell to the grass beside her. A fish, she noted.

"Eat," Sasuke ordered. He sat himself on a stump and bit into the fish's raw skin, not meeting her eyes.

Hinata watched in horror as he chewed on the cold, wet, animal, seeming to not care about its rawness. Did he not see the open fire located five feet away from him? Would it be that bothersome to simply cook the thing? Or maybe… he had no idea how? The thought of him lacking basic domestic skills made her giggle.

Before she could catch herself in her slip up, the Uchiha met her stare with his glare.

"What?" he snapped.

Hinata gulped and quickly shifted her eyes to peer at her hands, terrified.

When he finally stopped glaring holes into her head, Hinata picked up her slimy fish and crawled closer to the fire. She knew he was watching her discreetly, but she tried to not fidget under his gaze. Carefully, she rammed a stick through the body of the fish, and placed it over the fire.

When it was roasted to perfection, she quietly retreated to her former position against the tree trunk and took a small bite of the fish. She smiled. It tasted delicious.

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Sasuke following her lead and cooking his fish as well. As the fish turned a healthy roasted brown, she waited for him to remove it from the fire but he didn't. She was about to call out to him, thinking that he probably didn't know the correct timing but she instantly snapped her mouth shut. What if he liked his fish slightly burnt? Who was she to judge him?

Hinata soon learned that this wasn't the case. When he removed the fish from the fire and sat on the grass with his legs folded, it was entirely burnt. She watched as he bit into it, only to see the fish fall to pieces and Sasuke spit the burnt food out.

Unable to control herself, Hinata burst out laughing. His look of sheer disgust was priceless!

As soon as she managed to restrain her laughter, she realized that the Uchiha was not amused. He was annoyed and probably thinking of a thousand ways to kill her. Gulping, Hinata took another bite of her fish as she met his stare with her large saucer-like eyes.

"Give me yours," Sasuke demanded.

Not one to hesitate, Hinata hastily threw her fish at Sasuke and stared at her lap, hoping to not agitate him further.

"Hyuuga."

Hinata looked up to see half of her cooked fish being thrown to her. She gracefully caught it and stared at him with wide eyes.

He rolled his eyes. "Well, eat it. I meant for us to share it."

Hinata nodded in understanding and faintly smiled to herself as she bit into it.

After he finished eating, Sasuke walked back to his stump and placed his katana on it. He simply stretched and lay on the grass, shutting his eyes.

"When you're finished, clean up after yourself and sleep. We leave at dawn," he murmured.

She nodded solemnly and took his hint to go bathe in the river nearby. As she walked to the source of water, she shot a small glance at his sleeping form.

If she was going to meet her doom, she was glad the way there wouldn't be that bad.

As soon as she arrived at the river's bank, she used her byakugan to scout the area surrounding her. After confirming the area's clearance, Hinata stripped and entered the river.

For the first time in a while, she found herself able to relax. Water was her element, after all.

She cleaned her body and hair thoroughly, thinking of her fate as she did so. There wasn't much hope for her, she concluded. She thought back to Konoha longingly. Her friends, her family- they would all be so worried. She thought about Sasuke as well. He was the former teammate of Naruto and Sakura.

She tried to imagine how it would feel to lose one of her teammates, how it would feel to lose Kiba or Shino.

What if Shino had left? How would she have coped with that? Shino was one of the few people she could talk to freely. He always listened and was there for her when she needed a friend.

She knew her answer. She couldn't cope with it. She couldn't imagine it happening. It was just… not Team 8. Team 7 had a different story from theirs. Her team had willingly let each other in and accepted one another. Team 7 had too many secrets, too many unknowns in the bond they had developed.

As she stepped out of the water and attempted to have the winds dry her wet skin, she arrived upon her conclusion. She couldn't give up. She owed a fight to her friends, family and Naruto too.

This was a rare chance to retrieve some intel on Sasuke and the location of Orochimaru's hideout. Konoha needed her, and she would not disappoint her village.