A/N: This is where I get my muthah effing jollies, folks. Didja know I went back and reread what I'd written before round these parts? Well, I did. Not sure how anyone actually even read any of it, it fails. FAILS. Thanks for reading anything, anyway.
Umm... YES. SO. Quick summary. Sasuke kidnaps Hina for her AIBALLS (ohoho, doya see what I did thar?). Runs off through the forest, makes her eat rabbit, thinks her legs are kinda hot. OK YOU'RE CAUGHT UP.
Also. SPOILERS. They get an apartment. This is starting to sound like muther fugging Torn. I should quit now.
The forest was silent.
Nothing could be heard, not the twitter of birds, not the crunching of dead leaves, not any sign that there existed life in this forest. It was freezing, and the cold layer of dew that had settled on the ground settled on her hair and on her face, her lips cracking from the wet and the cold.
They were heading north.
Judging by the cold, judging by the variety of tree (Hinata had quite a bit of experience with botany), judging by her total lack of ever being here (being a clan member and occasional member of a squad entailed a certain amount of traveling, and Hinata had never been to the Northern lands), they were heading north. Sasuke gave no indication when she'd question him on this, other than a raised eyebrow and an expressionless look in his eyes.
Eventually it became necessary to use heavy woolen cloaks, the kind that clasped at the neck, for the weather was bitingly cold.
They traveled very long, much too long, and Hinata was beginning to think she'd lose her speech soon; she'd gone so long without speaking. This, in turn, meant much too much thinking; her thoughts swirled around what her family was doing, how they had reacted to having found that their heiress was gone from her room. They'd probably searched and searched frantically, without finding any clues as to where she could be. As far as she knew, she wasn't kidnapped for ransom. No, there was something else that Sasuke had in mind for her.
Whatever was in his mind was unclear, however, as he kept walking quickly, just one step ahead of her. Occasionally, he'd waste his breath to tell her to hurry up, and she'd scurry along behind him, trying to speed up despite the cold hindering her speed. And, just when the cold began to get unbearable, they began to hear signs of civilization.
It was here that Sasuke stopped their progress, surprising her in his quick fluidity.
"Listen well. You and I are brother and sister now, alright? But you'll let me do all the talking for the most part, understand?"
She nodded, thinking that she didn't want to talk anyway.
Satisfied, he turned back around again, gliding several steps ahead of her. The voices they had heard grew louder in volume and, almost without warning, they found themselves in a large clearing where a wall several meters high loomed above them. Three burly men laughed stood before them, conversing happily about something or other, and the one speaking stopped mid-sentence when he caught sight of the two young people before him.
"Have you no manners? Make your presence known!" commanded the burliest of them all, the apparent leader.
"I'm Uchiha Sasuke, and this is Hyuuga Hinata. We come from the Land of Water."
"State your reasons for coming to Kumogakure," demanded the man gruffly. Sasuke glanced at Hinata, whose eyes had widened at hearing the of the Village Hidden in the Clouds, the hidden village in the Land of Lightning. His look was fleeting, however, as he turned the full force of his eyes back to the man.
"I come to join the ranks of your Shinobi and serve the most honorable Raikage," said Sasuke, his monotonous tone clashing spectacularly with what one might classify as an overly zealous statement.
The burly man seemed not to notice. His large face broke into a moronic grin. "Well, good luck, comrade!" he said cheerily as he waved his arm towards the other men. They began cranking two large wheels, with a great creaking effort, the gates pulled back. With an astonishing shudder, they stopped, revealing a small squad of men poised for battle.
"Let 'em through," called the burly man at the gates. Hinata found herself clinging to Sasuke's sleeve as they walked by. Though her eyes were wide with fright, he passed by the men casually, barely sparing them a glance.
To Hinata's great surprise, the hidden village was not immediately through the trees as she'd expected. She was dying to ask Sasuke how much longer it'd be till they reached the actual village, but at the risk of sounding like a whiny child, she refrained. Briefly, she brushed up on all she'd ever learned about the Lighting Country. One of the five great shinobi nations, its hidden village was an ally of the Leaf and its leader was the Raikage. According to the History Scrolls they read from, the Raikage was a kind, good leader, taking very good care of his people, who thusly respected him and looked up to him.
Other than that, she knew little. The History Scrolls tended to concern themselves solely with Konoha.
The trek up the mountain was long and grueling. It eventually became foggy, and visibility was virtually non-existent, forcing Sasuke to hold Hinata's hand and lead her through the dense cloud cover. At first, his calloused hand surprised her, and she emitted a tiny gasp, but he seemed not to notice; he merely tugged her along through the thick fog, eventually stopping suddenly.
"Try not to speak when we go in," he murmured and abruptly let go of her hand. Go in where, she wondered, sensing no difference in their surroundings. She followed the sound of his footsteps and, not ten feet later, the clouds cleared as if they'd merely been imaginary.
And what they met was astounding.
A bustling city opened up before them, its buildings extending up into a sky with cottony clouds through which the sun shone dimly through. It was the most amazing place Hinata had ever seen. As if designed by some mad architect, the buildings were a hodgepodge of different design, circular mixed with square, warmly traditional mixed with coldly efficient.
People walked all around, and soon Hinata found herself being led along the winding, narrow street by Sasuke, who didn't even turn back to make sure she was following. She nearly lost his wide white shirt at some point, and frantically searched the people around her, failing to catch a purple rope belt anywhere. He showed up eventually, surprising her from behind, glaring at her in a way that made her want to recoil into her clothes.
"Don't do that," he told her angrily, and grabbed her by the hand like he'd done in the forest, eventually leading her to a street where the buildings were not as tall as those in the entrance of the town.
It was the Shinobi Headquarters of Kumogakure. Two guards stood at the gate of the place, asked them their purpose for coming, and quickly allowed them in. They passed through a courtyard full of well-built men and several athletic women. Seeing them training in the courtyard brought a sad smile to Hinata's face as she remembered a time when she too was a ninja.
It seemed as if Sasuke knew exactly where to go. He walked quickly, and turned abruptly, not stopping to ask for permission from the guards to go into the room. The guards ran into the door after him, sputtering apologies to the gray haired man sitting behind the desk behind clouds of smoke.
"Who let this fool in here?" he boomed from behind the smoke obscuring his face, standing up swiftly and angrily. Hinata cowered by the wall while Sasuke answered, "Uchiha Sasuke, here to join your ranks of shinobi."
"Well son, before you can join the Cloud's ninja, you have to prove yourself worthy. And one of the biggest indicators of worth around these parts, whether you know it or not, is respect. And one of the biggest forms of disrespect around here is barging through doors, you understand?" said the man, his face livid. He exhaled a bit of his cigar smoke right into Sasuke's face, who didn't even blink.
"I come from the Rain. If there's anything we know, it's respect. Look it up in your records," Sasuke growled, and the man leaned away slightly. "Moreover, you should be thanking me. If an enemy infiltrates your village, you do realize that no amount of respect would stop ninjutsu, don't you? You do realize that they could essentially barge in here, launch an attack, and you'd be completely caught unawares, puffing away on that death stick in your mouth, eventually gargling out the single word "respect" while your world burned around you. Respect is nothing if you can't defend it. You should be thanking me" he repeated.
"Thanking you? Thanking you? What for?"
Sasuke sighed, a tired, bored sound, and said in a low voice, "I just passed through your front gates, through the Fog Forest, through your village and through those front doors without any opposition whatsoever. What if I was some sort of killer, some sort of kidnapper? You do realize that you're sitting here, whining about respect, when your village is not sufficiently defended?"
The gray-haired man stood dumbfounded for a second, his cigar balancing precariously on the edge of his lip. "Huh," he grunted. Then, he surprised Hinata. He actually laughed. Not just a small chuckle, but huge manly guffaws that seemed to come from way down in his stomach. "Kidnappers! What an idea!" He clapped Sasuke on the shoulder. "I like you, kid. You've got moxie. Juro," he yelled suddenly, starting one of the guards. "Sign him in at once. That's all the interview he needs."
"Right away sir," Juro stuttered, running out the door.
The man only just seemed to notice Hinata shrinking into the wall. She started as he called to her, saying, "And who would this little lady be?"
"Sister," answered Sasuke tersely. He was staring at a wall, seeming completely unimpressed by this gray-haired man.
"Well, sister, what would your name be?"
"Her name is Hyuuga Hinata."
"Oh. And why don't you share the same surname?"
"Half siblings. We don't talk about it." He shrugged.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to intrude," answered the man. "Well, Uchiha and Hyuuga siblings, I'm Takahashi, though they generally call me handsome." He paused, waiting for his joke to set in, and when they didn't laugh, he frowned. "Guess they wash away humor in the Rain. Anyway, you can call me Takahashi. Will you be lodging here?"
"No," answered Sasuke. "We've a place in the village."
"No problem, no problem!" said Takahashi, sucking in on his thick cigar. "In fact, it saves me a few pennies." He gave another booming laugh. "Here's a schedule. Be prompt. And be gone with you!"
Sasuke glared at him one more second and turned, muttering for Hinata to follow him. She did, stumbling over her wool coat, all the way through town until they reached an unimposing three story building in the heart of the village.
On the second floor, Sasuke produced a key from inside his wool coat and opened the third door on the right into a small unassuming apartment. There was a kitchen immediately entering the apartment, with a dividing wall behind which the living room was found, with the bathroom and the bedroom on the other side. It was sparingly furnished, as if someone owned it and had never removed their things, but they'd owned very little - very little and very unattractive furnishings.
She was just stepping in, looking at her surroundings, when she felt a breeze push her bangs aside, and a door slammed shut.
Sasuke was gone.