Hinata didn't remember the entire trip to the sound village, only bits and pieces. Maybe the ninja had drugged her, because she had only been half conscious, only vaguely aware of her surroundings. She remembered being jarred as her captors carried her through the trees. She remembered the sound-nins slowing down, as if to a walk, and the air growing colder. She remembered falling to the ground; presumably she was in a cell of sorts. Finally she blacked out with the feel of the cold stone against her cheek.

She awoke with the side of her head feeling as if it was on fire. Groaning, she slowly sat up and opened her eyes. No change, the place was pitch black, and it made Hinata feel very small and helpless.

Taking a deep breath she tried to stand up, and immediately sat back down. The pressure on her head came as a painful surprise, almost unbearable; perhaps one of her healing jutsu would help. Concentrating on the palm of her hand Hinata tried to conjure up the familiar green glow that she had practiced so many times before. It didn't come.

Hinata frowned; she could feel her chakra, so it wasn't gone, so why couldn't she use her healing jutsu? Then for the first time the Hyuga noticed something unfamiliar on her right wrist, a type of band. She tugged at it with her left hand, but it didn't even move, pulling harder she found that it still wouldn't budge, and she soon gave up.

Grinding her teeth, she attempted again to stand, stopping halfway up to get used to the pain. Finally standing all the way up Hinata staggered and fell towards the right, but instead of falling to the ground as she had expected her flailing arms painfully connected with a stone wall. So I've found the wall the Hyuga thought sarcastically to herself.

Then she got an idea, and mentally slapped herself for not thinking of it before.

Clasping her hands together, she readied herself. "Byakugan" she whispered. Looking around, she realized the room was just as dark as before, her dojutsu wouldn't activate after all.

Sitting down and taking a deep breath the girl closed her eyes and tried to think. So, she was caught, by the sound ninja no doubt but why was the question. Hinata searched her brain, what was it that Kabuto had said? Oh, right, the byakugan, she was supposed to be an experimentation subject.

A lump rose in her throat and tears started to well up in her eyes. No Hinata thought to herself as she swallowed hard, Rule of the shinobi, show no emotion. But despite these thoughts, a single tear fell anyway.

Then a muffled sound interrupted her thoughts, footsteps. Sitting up straight and wiping her eyes she faced the direction of the sound, that must mean that was where the door was located.

The footsteps got louder and louder and then started to die away, and the Hyuga let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. But steps started to sound again and soon the sound of a key in a lock could be heard.

The door opened with an eerie creaking sound and a small crack of dim light cut through the gloom of her cell. Blinking, Hinata tried to adjust to the shift in the lighting, and when she was finally able to see around the spots, she looked up at the person standing in the doorway.

Her breath hitched, the person standing in the doorway was none other than Uchiha Sasuke.

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Everything was so dark, so cold. He tries to move but the task is impossible, he tries to call out, but it is in vain. He feels numb all over and his life is playing in his head, good memories and bad.

And he knows that he's dying.

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"What are you gaping at kunoichi?" Sasuke asked, glaring. Hinata stared back at him, trying to keep a brave face. Her lip trembled slightly, and she hoped that Sasuke hadn't seen, but of course he did.

"Scared, you probably should be, because Orochimaru-sama has assigned me to be your interrogator," he paused for a moment to savor the look of shock on her face, "Oh, don't look so surprised kunoichi, you must know a great deal of clan's secrets, along with possessing the byakugan, you'll tell us all you know before we experiment with you." He continued to smirk at her, but then his features turned into a frown, and he spoke to her again, "Tell me, how did you come to be in a position that allowed you to be caught by Kabuto-sama anyway?"

Hinata swallowed and spoke in a very small quavering voice, "I-I came l-looking f-for you S-Sasuke-s-san."

Sasuke snorted, "Please, you mean to tell me that the Hokage sent one, one pathetic girl after me, she must be desperate."

The Hyuga's eyes turned towards the stone floor, but the smallest spark of anger compelled her to speak again, "H-Hokage-sama d-didn't send m-me, I c-came on m-my own." At this comment Sasuke's eyes flashed with confusion, but his face soon turned cold again, and without another world he backed out of the cell and shut the door.

Hinata heard the key in the lock and receding footsteps. Then she leaned back against the grimy wall, curling her knees to her chest, and began to think. One question above all rang in her mind: Why did I come after him?

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Just when the cold felt like it was about to completely take over, a small hint of warmth invades, he feels his body moving, and then all fades to black.

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Sasuke slammed the door to his room shut and flopped down on the bed, the day had been tiresome. Of course Orochimaru had put him to work and started his training as soon as he had arrived, which had been earlier that morning. He was starting to think that his three planned years here would feel like prison.

He blinked, prison, just like the Hyuga girl that he was supposed to get information from. Sasuke knew who she was, he had seen he training with Inuzuka and Aburame. But for some reason she had always looked and seemed weaker than the others, and he was extremely surprised that she had managed to kill two sound ninja.

There was something about her that intrigued the Uchiha, but he couldn't lay his finger on it, and he didn't really want to think too hard about it. He had shunned people, turned his back on all his friends, and surely didn't need any new ones to disappoint. But still the way she had acted when he went to scare her, she said she had come looking for him without orders. Why?

Suddenly Sasuke stood up and grabbed his weapon pouch, a bit of training would surely take his mind off of such meaningless things.

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He was dreaming, reliving one moment over and over again. A girl was being carried away by a ninja, he got just one last glimpse, and then everything was dark.

Sitting straight upright the boy yelled out, "Hinata!" He looked around, where was he? Where was this place, it was so unfamiliar, and everything was extremely bright.

Then a woman ran into the room, she had a look of shock on her face. After staring for a moment, she finally spoke,

"Aburame-san please lay back down. You should have been asleep for at least another day; your wounds are very serious.

The boy blinked, Aburame, now he remembered. But the question was, how had he gotten here? The last thing he remembered was watching the sound-nins carrying Hinata away.

"How did I come to be here?" asked Shino, he was still confused.

"Oi, you should really go back to sleep, but I'm guessing you wouldn't comply with that, so I'll go and fetch Hokage-sama." The nurse rushed out of the room, muttering to herself about how the patients never listened to her.

Shino heard some angry shouts, a few crashes and clatters, and one boom, and the Hokage walked into his room, she didn't look very happy.

Tsunade glared at him for a moment before she started to speak. "Aburame Shino, what in the world possessed you to leave the village, when you had strict orders to not follow Hyuga no less!? Should I have my medical staff inspect your head, because there is no logical way for a shinobi such as yourself to justify your actions!" Trying to seen unfazed by the fifth's words, Shino started to speak, but didn't even get one word in before Tsunade started to speak again.

"You are a valuable shinobi of the Hidden Leaf Village; there is no excuse for departing." Tsunade finished, adding a don't-mess-with-me glare that said there would be a severe punishment for challenging her authority.

Shino glowered back at her, suddenly furious with his leader, but he soon gave up.

His head lowered and finally Tsunade turned to leave. Still not looking up, the Aburame spoke quietly, "I apologize Hokage-sama, I just couldn't leave Hinata-san alone."

The woman's face softened a bit, she knew all too well what it was like to lose someone close to you. She had opened the door and stepped halfway out before she thought to say, "Don't worry yourself Aburame, just sleep now, your wounds need time to heal. I'm sure that we'll find some way to bring her back." 'And Sasuke as well'

--

See! I told you! This one's longer….. a bit, but a bit longer IS longer, so there.

At a loss for more words:

UchihaHyugaGlow