I DO NOT OWN NARUTO!

"Dialogue"

'Thoughts'

A/N: My dear readers, here's a brand new chapter for the new year 2013! Happy reading!

The Caged Raven

Chapter 9: Pleased to Make your Acquaintance

First strike, second strike, third-

"You're too slow!"

Sasuke caught Hinata's hands on her third strike before she had the chance to finish.

"Do it one more time. Don't just focus on your hands, use your legs too," he advised.

She nodded with determination.

"Right!"

Hinata's mind was still distracted from the previous events from a few days ago, still unable to get over it. She was rather flustered with herself for the proximity they had on their way home.

'Focus!'

She mentally berated herself.

In a quick blur she found herself sprawled on the soft field, with her partner straddling her. He had his kunai dangerously close to her throat. It was difficult for her to swallow for fear that it might cut her skin.

He shook his head in disappointed before getting off of her.

"Hinata, you're clearly not focusing. What's the point of training if your mind keeps wandering elsewhere?"

Sasuke was the type of man who took training very seriously like his father. He had one ground rule for training: to dedicate both your mind and body. He would not tolerate half hearted trainings.

The kunai was safely retreat back into his weapon pouch. He stood upright with his arms crossed, ready to give her a good lecture.

"Hinata, training is very important. You have to understand that-oof!"

His sentence was cut off with a sharp grunt.

Hinata had taken advantage of him by striking a low kick to his shin while his guard was down. He leaped a safe distance away from his opponent.

"You know, that was a little underhanded..."

He was beginning to block a series of strikes from her kicks and the Gentle Fist. Making eye contact with her, he noticed that she had her byakugan activated.

He smirked.

'Seems like she's getting serious. Good.'

In a matter of minutes the both of them ended up wrestling on the ground with their kunais out.

"I'm not going to go easy on you!" he growled.

"Neither will I!"

Hinata, who was on top of him, received a harsh kick to her abdomen causing her to groan in pain. Her assailant took the chance to push her off. Unfortunately for him, she recovered fast enough to grab him by his ankle. He fell forward, earning himself a busted chin.

"Twin Lion Fist!"

He was quick enough to do a substitution jutsu before her deadly fists connected with him. Before she could recover, he appeared behind her and tackled her from behind. He lay on top of her back while securing both her hands above her head.

"That's enough for today."

He released his hold, allowing her to roll on her back.

Hinata's training outfit was dishevelled in such a way that he was able to see her black lace bra almost completely exposed.

He placed both hands on the grass on either side of her head, entrapping her.

"You know... you did better than I expected," he said in a husky voice.

His eyes drooped down to her exposed lingerie.

Unconsciously, he placed his index finger on her neck, gently trailing it down to her cleavage.

"S-Sasuke!"

He landed hard on his bottom and cursed under his breath. Hinata immediately stood up, fixing her clothes while stomping away from her lecherous husband.

"We need to go to get some groceries done."

Sasuke, still sprawled on the field, propped his head on his arms lazily.

"You're so fun to tease." He smirked.

"How's Sakura?" Ino asked worriedly.

After evacuating to Suna and Naruto's sudden disappearance, things hadn't been going well with Sakura. She seemed more fatigued than usual. It was suspected that it was due to all the stress she had undergone. Not only had she lost her home, but her love as well.

She was sleeping peacefully with a dripper attached to her arm. Only the soft humming of the humidifier and murmurs of the women were heard.

Tsunade who was sitting next to the hospital bed shook her head.

"She's still needs plenty of rest. The poor girl..."

The blonde kunoichi clenched her fists.

"That damn idiot! How could he do this to her? He should stop chasing after that hopeless bastard. Can't he set his priorities straight?"

"Ino, lower your voice."

"Sorry..."

Tsunade pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Anyway, there were other signs related to her fatigue. I know it's been a few days now and it's rather worrisome. Stamina medications haven't been giving a lot of help either; she's still not revitalized."

Ino looked at the former Hokage, urging her to continue.

"So, I did another blood check on her and discovered that there was a slight change in her blood pressure, but it's not life threatening."

The blonde sighed in relief.

"But that's not something to relax about."

"Huh? What do you mean I can't relax yet? Is there actually something more to her symptoms?"

Ino asked worriedly.

Tsunade let out a frustrated breath. "I don't know how to break this news to you but...Ino...Sakura is..."

Ino walked through the corridors of the hospital with the sharp smell of antiseptics assaulting her nose. She replayed her previous discussion with Tsunade and her mind went instantly numb. She lethargically lay against the white walls of the hospital. Her legs trembled, making her slide down onto the cold tiled floor.

"This c-can't be happening! What are we going to do? No, what's Sakura going to do? She doesn't deserve this," Ino sobbed.

'Naruto! This is your entire fault you jerk! I hate you for this...I hate you...I hate you!"

Sai who happened to be on his way to check his team mate Sakura found a distressed sobbing Ino curled up by the wall.

"Ino? What's wrong?"

He approached her hunched figure, unsure of what to do in this situation.

"I-it's Sakura..."

She started rambling on through her chocked sobs, which made it hard for Sai to understand her.

"Come on, let's go to the cafeteria. We can grab some tea until you've calmed down enough to tell me Sakura's condition."

He offered his hand which Ino hesitantly took.

Naruto groggily opened his eyes. He was all battered, bloody and beaten nearly to death. He glared at his mysterious assailant with his partially closed eyes. Blood was pouring out of his mouth it didn't seem like it would stop. He could feel his life slowly seeping away along with his bleeding wounds. A large gaping hole was made through his chest.

'Tch. Am I going to die here? Damn it, I can't believe I would die before even seeing the enemy's face. I didn't even sense him coming!'

The fallen hero was panting for his last few breaths.

'No...I...don't want to die yet...I...still have a lot of things...Sakura...Sasuke...Hinata...must...save...'

His bright blue eyes were dim, its fire slowly burning away. He could vaguely see his foe approach him.

"Uzumaki Naruto. If you promise to cooperate with me, I'll give you another chance to live."

'Hang in there kid! I refuse to let you die!'

'K-Kurama?'

"...o...to...h-hell..."

The other man ignored his comment.

"Well, whether you want to cooperate with me or not, it doesn't matter anyway. I only want the Kyuubi in you. That's all there is to it."

'...shit...'

Naruto could see the other man's gloved hand reaching towards his face.

"Now if you don't mind, I would like to perform the 'extraction'."

'Naruto! You gotta pull yourself together this instant—"

"This is such a pitiful world; don't you hate it, boy? Your village shunned you, your friend betrayed you twice. Not to mention you grew up without any parents. The third Hokage refused to tell you the truth; he's been sheltering you with sad lies. Don't you hate it all?"

'Not...true...never...hated...em'

"And that treacherous Uchiha, do you know how many lives have suffered because of him? Didn't you want revenge? He took advantage of your kindness and look at him now. You're such a naive child."

"...Sa...su..."

That's right, Sasuke ruined everything. He destroyed his home, and ruined so many lives as well as his dream. The reason why he wanted to chase him again was to end his life. He wouldn't make the same mistake again.

The man chuckled deeply.

"It's hard to love everything isn't it? It's good to just hate everything right?"

Naruto's vision turned red. His mind was flooded with nothing but sadness and hate. No, he didn't want to go back to being lonely. He was so scared of being alone. His parents, he wanted them so bad!

'Naruto-!'

Kurama's voice vanished amidst the sea of his bitter memories.

"Bathe in hate! But fear not, for I will make a new world where hate and pain does not exist. Everyone will live in pure bliss. A dream which will be their reality."

Since Bird country was a safe place, Sasuke didn't object the idea of letting Hinata shop on her own. Besides, if anything happened, he would be able to know due to their blood contract. Not to mention she would hate it if he was to follow her everywhere like a dog. As long as she wore her contact lenses and use her public name 'Mikoto', he wouldn't need to worry as much. Thus the Uchiha was now laying on his futon, reading his clan's scroll to understand more about the use of the sharingan. There were still many hidden secrets in the dojutsu and he was thirsting to find more information.

Amidst the bustle of the market, Hinata was bargaining enthusiastically with the stall owners.

"No can do, miss. This is already the lowest price we can offer!"

The old man grumbled.

"But can't you lower it down just a little bit more?"

"Sorry, I can't. Gotta make a living too 'ya know?"

Hinata pouted and reluctantly handed the money to purchase the fish.

'Well, I think I got everything I need for tonight's dinner.'

Passersby were staring at her; some were leering, some looked at her with admiration or jealousy but she ignored them. Maybe she should have had worn a more conservative kimono?

'But I don't have one' she sighed.

Besides, Sasuke said it was appropriate. He said it was perfectly fine and it was what she usually wore anyway.

Hinata was heading home when she decided to take a detour at the river. With the blearing sun above her, it was a perfect opportunity to soak her feet in the cool water.

She was already near the river bank when she saw a figure sitting against a tree. It was a woman.

"Excuse me..."

It was a beautiful woman, who seemed to be slightly younger than her, with long soft violet hair which was dishevelled with expensive looking hair ornaments. She noticed that her, probably once beautiful red kimono, was covered with dirt and grime. Hinata was caught off guard when her beautiful amber eyes met with her 'brown' ones.

"Oh, I'm saved!"

Hinata rushed towards the younger woman, carefully examining her.

"Are you hurt? You look like you just had a fall!"

"Yes I did, and it was a big one," she said sheepishly.

The kunoichi examined her leg, which seemed to be fractured.

"Stay still, I'm going to heal you. Afterwards, I'm taking you home with me to give you some herbs. Where do you live?"

Light green chakra was produced from her hand. She proceeded with the healing as her hands hovered over the injured leg.

"I don't have a home. I ran away."

Hinata looked at her with surprise.

"You see, I worked at a tea house in another town but the owner there hasn't been treating me properly so I decided to run away. I happened to stumble across this area and fell from that hill over there."

She pointed towards the 'hill' which she fell from. That was not what she would call a 'hill' Hinata was bemused. It was more like a cliff!

"You fell off a cliff and managed to survive with only a fractured leg?"

"Well I was lucky enough to land on a tree before falling off of it," she said sheepishly.

"Well, this should do."

Their faces were only inches apart when Hinata gave her a warm smile, making her blush.

"Your face is red. Are you feeling sick?"

She reached out her hand to get a feel of her forehead.

"I-I'm feeling fine! My name is Midori by the way."

Midori motioned to grasp Hinata's hand which was on her forehead.

"It's nice to meet you Midori! I'm H—Mikoto."

Hinata managed to catch her tongue on time before slipping out her real name.

"I'll take you to the river to get cleaned up. Can you walk?"

Midori stood up to test her healed leg. She nodded in response.

"Alright, but just hold on to my hand just in case."

Her gentle hand caressed against hers.

'Her hands are so soft and cool. Feels nice to hold her hand in this hot weather.'

She was still holding her hand when they reached the waters. Hinata had to give a gentle tug to signal the other girl.

"Oh! S-sorry. My mind was elsewhere."

Midori slipped her hands out of Hinata's grasp.

"Thanks."

She was instructed to take out her hair ornaments which she did. A wet handkerchief made contact with her dirty face. The pamper she was receiving made her feel warm. Hinata tilted her face gently to get a better angle. She gently patted her cheek with the cool cloth.

"I love your hair. It's so pretty," she complemented.

Midori flushed.

"But I think your hair looks nicer, Mikoto-san. It looks so soft, may I feel it?"

Hinata unknotted her hair, letting it fall elegantly over her shoulders. While she was busy taking care of Midori's hair, the latter examined with the former's. It was so soft, probably softer than hers and it smelled so sweet.

"Mikoto-san, what's your cup size?" she blurted out all of a sudden.

Hinata flustered. "W-why do you ask all of a sudden?"

"I was just curious. A girl's gotta ask," she shrugged.

"Uh, well—"

"There's no need to be shy, we're both girls anyway," Midori giggled.

"To be honest I don't know," she said meekly.

Midori turned to look at Hinata. "Then show me. I can determine your size if you show me."

"Midori!"

"What? We're girls! Nothing to be shy about. There's not a single thing I've never seen before, trust me."

'She does have a point.' Hinata reasoned. Besidees, what harm would it do? She was always curious about her size anyway. And asking Sasuke was not an option. She made a move to slide off the fabric off her shoulders.

Midori nearly chocked when she saw the other woman's fully developed bossom. They were the largest she had ever seen and they looked so bouncy. She wondered what it would feel like if she touched them. Absent minded, she groped Hinata's right breast, which made her squeak. Just looking at her pretty flushed cheeks made Midori feel excited. She was already closing the distance between them. Hinata's mind went blank she didn't know what the other was doing.

"Mikoto!"

It was a man's stern voice.

Hinata whipped her head towards the direction of the voice. Sasuke stood a few meters away from them by the bank.

'Who the hell is this woman and what does she think she's doing to MY wife? Heck, she won't even let me touch her, and yet she lets another woman?'

Sasuke was not pleased at what he saw. He was literally watching his wife getting molested in front of his very own eyes! It was obvious that, whoever the other person was, was making a bold move on her. If it was another man, he would maim them and slowly burn them with his amaterasu.

"What are you doing?"He didn't bother to hide his distaste.

Realising her current state, Hinata swiftly put her kimono back on securely.

"W-well, I found her injured so I was helping her."

"Oh, really?"

"It's true," she defended.

"Then tell me why you seem to be enjoying being molested by her?" he bit out.

"What? No! You got it all wrong—"

"I was trying to check her cup size," Midori interjected.

There was a pregnant pause. Hinata was so embarrassed that she felt like crawling into a hole.

"Bullshit." Was Sasuke's reply.

"Fugaku-kun don't be so rude!"

"She was clearly—"

Honestly, what was wrong with Sasuke? It's like he has some kind of drastic mood swing. He was so sweet, kind, and caring just a few days ago and now he was being such a...a jerk!

'Note to self, Sasuke has severe mood swings.'

"Whatever, I don't care what you say. I'm taking her home!"

"No. Way. In. Hell."

She was getting fed up with her husband's childish tantrum. He was being unreasonably selfish!

"I say so and that's final."

This was their first argument and Hinata couldn't believe it was over something ridiculous.

"No."

"I can't believe you're being so childish!"

"Me? Childish?" he snorted.

He admitted maybe he was being childish, but he was trying to protect what was his. The moment he saw her face, he had a change of heart. He couldn't bear to see Hinata cry and that was what she was very close on doing.

"Tch. Fine, whatever."

Sasuke decided he needed to blow off some steam so he headed elsewhere.

"Honestly!" Hinata mumbled.

"I'm sorry. It's because of me that you two..."

"Oh, don't worry about it; he could be such a child sometimes. Come on, let's go."

Sasuke was beyond pissed. Taking out his anger on the poor boulder was a good choice. It was eventually scarred with marks from his kunai and smeared with the blood from his fist. Once he's done, he was going to have a good long talk with Hinata. Hopefully he would be able to get rid of the pest who had intruded into their lives. And once he gets rid of her, everything would be back to normal and he would have Hinata all to himself again.