Once upon a time, there was a princess who was exiled.
She was escorted to the border by two guards while passersby spat and threw stones at her. The news had been spread to the far corners of the kingdom. She was the lowest of the low, ungrateful scum that would commit patricide. The princess simply lowered her head and let the spit and stones and slander strike her.
Unbeknownst to the princess, however, days before she would cross into the desert border, council members had already gathered in a secret conference. They agreed that she knew too much, had seen too much. While she wasn't worthy of a full-scale manhunt, she was a loose thread to be snipped away from the fabric.
The hunt began the very night she left Moon soil. Rather than let her rest, the princess was pursued relentlessly. Only her experience at the northern border kept her alive so long, but her body was starting to fail her.
It was a pure stroke of luck she stumbled on the redheaded boy.
She ducked into a cleft between two towering boulders, limbs trembling with exhaustion and ears ringing with the sound of hunters behind her. But there was already another occupant in the makeshift cave - a skinny redheaded boy curled in a fetal position. He whipped his head up, and feral green eyes met the princess's shocked moon eyes.
He reached up a hand, clawed with pain. Chakra pressed in on her and Hinata could feel sand enclose her.
Then the boy curled up with a groan of agony.
"Leave," he muttered. "They'll find me with you here."
The princess wouldn't, couldn't. The loneliness that plagued her was too suffocating in the dim lighting. And it was easier to deal with someone else's pain rather than face her own.
She whispered her name to him, and asked him his as she crawled to him. He had been delirious with pain, and had answered with a hiss. She gently brushed his bangs away from his burning brow. Unlike the 'love' character on his forehead, the windmill tattoo on his shoulder writhed across his pale skin like dancing ink. She half-activated her Byakugan, and saw the sickly purple chakra threading through his. In a foolish, desperate move, she cut off the chakra channels of the seal. The redheaded boy went slack with relief and fatigue.
She smiled sadly. She didn't know what his story was, but he was no older than her, another child chased and hunted like an animal. Even if they were different in every other way, they shared that sickening fear, that unrest of being found.
"You're going to survive," she whispered fiercely as she gripped his hand. She whispered it like an invocation, a promise, a prayer for the boy and for herself. "Those monsters are not the ones who can declare your fate. You will determine your own worth." The princess fell into an exhausted sleep, still cradling the boy and her nightmares.
She woke alone. She crawled outside to discover ten bodies crushed beyond recognition, lined before the entrance in a grotesque offering. They wore the Moon Kingdom sigil - her pursuers. The princess fell to her knees, trembling in fear and gratitude. And guilt. Always guilt.
And so, the princess survived the treacherous journey across the desert.
Prey for the Hunted
By Airyo
Chapter 19
Hinata couldn't stop running.
While she knew that Sai had deliberately let her escape, Hinata couldn't take the chance with the rest of the world. She fled like a helpless deer driven by reasonless instinct. It was easier to let herself succumb to the simple purpose of survival rather than face the hurt inside her.
She turned up at the blacksmith's doorstep like a wild thing, her hair half burnt and her body covered in old blood - a refugee from the ravages of her haven. He was the only person she could think of to offer her one night of rest.
He stared at her in shock, and his bushy red eyebrows furrowed into a dark glower. Their last conversation suddenly came rushing back to her. His daughter and unborn grandson had been killed by Moon soldiers. And she'd forgotten to cover her face.
Hinata could only hope he wouldn't try to kill her himself. She turned to go.
"Cover your damn eyes, hunter," he groused as he stepped back to let her in. The blacksmith shut the door behind her with a loud snap.
"Thank you," she whispered. She wrapped her arms around herself, feeling cold despite the uncomfortable heat. "I can explain."
"Don't," he said gruffly. He gestured at the restroom and retreated to his workroom.
Hinata locked the bathroom door behind her and sank to the ground. She could feel safe for a few moments. She hugged her knees to her chest, squeezing as if she could dispel the heavy ache in her chest. Hinata was starting to become accustomed to its presence, enough that she could almost forget about it for a little. She closed her eyes, remembering Sasuke's sleeping face. He would have woken long ago. How did he take the news? She knew it would hurt him, but he will live to feel that hurt.
And someday, that hurt will fade, and he will find someone else. And he will forget about her.
Hinata forced her eyes open with a snap and pushed herself off of the ground. She will not think like that, for she will shatter. What will happen will happen, regardless of her useless wishes. The future and the past - those were irrelevant. She could only focus on the present.
She turned to the scratched, rusted mirror. Her reflection was warped, but still recognizably her. The dingy light of Roshi's bathroom cast haunting shadows, exacerbating the hollows of her cheeks. The strain of the past few days had taken their toll, and she looked and felt decades older.
Hinata brushed the melted ends of her hair over her shoulder, mimicking the path Sasuke's hands had taken. Her fingers became entangled in the mass, halting the bittersweet memory and bringing her back to reality. She couldn't change her path now. She was the one who chose to lie to him, to leave him. Abandon him.
Sudden rage gripped Hinata and she slammed her hand against the wall next to the mirror. Her reflection wavered, and twisted into an ugly image.
How could she let such a thing happen?
Casting her away was never the only solution. But it was the easiest, the most logical. Like water that always takes the path of least resistance, people will try to do the same. She let them perceive her that way, because she saw herself as such - expendable.
So as much as she wanted to hate Itachi, she could only blame herself. He'd saved her with that loathsome seal; if Sai hadn't been reminded of whatever he realized that day, he would have completed his mission. The only question was, did Itachi know the full extent of what was going on? Was she just the test for a darker suspicion?
Ultimately, she'd let Itachi drive her away from the Sun Kingdom, because she was such a pliable, spineless thing. It was a wonder she'd survived this long, when any person who wanted to could use her as a doormat.
No more. No more.
She grabbed her ruined hair and flicked out a tanto from her belt. One harsh move, and the ruined strands floated to the ground. The uneven locks barely reached below her jaw, adding a new harsh line to her face. Hinata kind of liked it. She smiled sadly at her reflection, and her image smirked back at her.
Armor up, Hinata.
She was a survivor. She was fighting for Sasuke, even if she was fighting herself. She will carry on and keep her tender secrets tucked away, but always with her. It was the only way she could go on without him.
Roshi was waiting for her when she stepped out.
"How long?"
Hinata glanced at the window. Bloody rays of sunset lanced through the room.
"Until the next sundown," she answered. Roshi only nodded. "Then I depart for Yue."
The blacksmith jerked his head up, staring at her. "Hyuuga, you are insane. That's the capital city of the Moon Kingdom!"
"I am not Hyuuga...but it's not hard to guess who I am, is it?" Hinata said with a small chuckle. She looked down at her hands, two pale doves against the dim lighting of the shack, and sighed. She curled her hands into fists. "There will be war again. Perhaps not soon, but eventually. Inevitably." Hinata looked back to Roshi with a snarl that felt foreign on her face. "I think I would like to put a stop to all this."
Hinata didn't know why she was seeking understanding from a stranger. Maybe because she'd pushed away everyone else, and there were only distant sympathies for her now. Maybe she just wanted one person to remember her, to not forget her.
"I think peace would be lovely." She couldn't quite admit to herself that she had to do something, anything, everything to create a new chance to return to Sasuke. It was a useless fantasy, but it was all that could keep her heart beating. Hope was the most crucial, yet the most cruel.
After all, hope will not let her forget.
The first few days were the worst. Sasuke would wake up, and for a brief moment, forget that Hinata was dead. The lull was a curse. Because then he'd blink, and remember reality, and it was as if he just received the news all over again.
It would be easier if he could hate her. It'd be easier if he could pretend she deserved death after daring to lie to him and drug him and not give him the choice to do anything. But that was the problem with those who are gone. They couldn't prove you wrong or right or anything else anymore, and he couldn't remember her misdeeds.
Only his.
Sasuke's mistakes tormented him. For the first time in his life, he experienced the full aftermath of his actions. There were times when he'd feared the consequences, like when Itachi had made him see the possible deaths of his teammates, but he'd never truly understood that kind of responsibility. Most called it arrogance, but Sasuke never truly had cause to worry about such things. Itachi's made sure he was never held accountable. Only warned of it.
Hinata's death was not a lesson he could swallow. Everything about her haunted him, day and night, in his dreams and in waking. She'd played a ghost of vengeance to save him, and ironically, she had become one to him. Her face was always at the corner of his eye, as if she was standing just outside his peripheral vision, solemn and accusing.
Then one day, Sasuke woke up with neither hope nor despair in his heart, too wrung out to feel anymore. For some odd reason, he recalled when he was a young boy and had witnessed a crazed noble accosting Itachi, cursing the king. Maybe Sasuke empathized with the noble now. But it stood out in the prince's memory how unaffected Itachi had been. The prince knew his brother wasn't unfeeling, and had questioned him on his lack of a reaction.
"Love and hate are but brothers in the same family, like you and I," Itachi had told him, almost serenely. "Are we not vastly different yet alike?" Sasuke had nodded out of habit, uncomprehending but blindly trusting in the truth his older brother imparted. "A royal is not meant to be loved, but only to love, for it is his duty to protect his kingdom. The kingdom's love is a transient thing like flickering flames. So it matters not if I am hated or loved, only that I am not forgotten. A forgotten king is not a king at all. It is the same for anyone important."
For once, the image of Hinata that seemed to shadow him wasn't looking at him with disappointment. She was simply watching now, unjudging.
Unforgotten.
If he didn't forget her, she would not abandon him. It was that simple, and his scattered mind clung to it. Sasuke could live with that. Sasuke could go on without her because she was still with him.
So that day, the prince went to Itachi's office.
"Teach me how to use the Mangekyou," he said. He will become stronger, perhaps the strongest, with the help of Hinata's legacy. He had to move forward, to escape the black noose of despair.
After all, despair will not let him forget.
It was a mild spring evening in Yue, the capital city of the Moon Kingdom. The weather was comfortably warm since the sun had only just touched the horizon and the citizens were lulled into a floating sense of peace. After the extermination of the traitorous No-Name Hinata all those years ago, there was little other threat.
No one paid much attention to the young Hyuuga woman who strolled through the streets. She was lovely, like any other member of the royal clan, and was therefore unremarkable. Those that noticed the frayed edges of her cloak only smiled secretly to themselves, warmed by the fact that even a beautiful creature like her would take missions in order to protect them.
"Good evening, Lady Hyuuga," one of the passing merchants said with a bow.
The young lady paused, as if surprised by the greeting, and the merchant wondered if he'd insulted her for being so brazen. But then the Hyuuga smiled, and it was as if a guardian angel had blessed them.
"Good evening," she replied almost shyly as she glanced at them. This was a young woman who knew sorrow, and embraced it like an old friend. The span of the world was colored by the haunting hues of her eyes. The merchants bowed deeply in response, in awe of her. This was not just another member of the Hyuuga - she was different. Better, perhaps.
It was only a moment, the most miniscule exchange of courtesies to be forgotten within seconds. Yet as she turned and continued her way down the street, Hinata drew her hood up around her face with trembling hands. She couldn't tell if it was nerves or anger.
They don't even recognize you...
Hinata paused and turned back to look at the horizon. The jagged lines of the mountains were softened by the colors of the sky. It'd taken her a few weeks of careful movement to cross the desert undetected - it was easier to spot a person in a wide expanse of nothingness than in a crowded city. The border patrols had tightened considerably, but they were easy enough to evade with her intimate knowledge of the northern mountain paths and honed instincts.
Was it really this easy? She'd spent all these years fantasizing about returning here, plotting and planning and dreaming. And all she had to do was merely walk back.
Hinata's gaze dropped from the far horizon down to the sweeping architecture of Yue. Sloping, curved roofs gave the illusion of the sea, with waves of deep green and blue. Underneath the canopy of the waves, the elegant columns and railings supported neat rows of balconies. Many were occupied, with families lazing about or women hanging up laundry to dry.
The bustling traffic carriages and horses could still be heard in the background, but all the noises of day were settling for the night. Hinata lingered for one more moment, caught in nostalgia, and then continued towards the direction she had been walking.
The Moon Kingdom had changed.
That was to be expected, as Hinata had taken especial care not to hear news of her old kingdom. It had taken everything she had to simply survive the guilt of the people she'd already failed that she couldn't bear the thought of hearing more.
But Yue wasn't as bright or lovely as she remembered it. Maybe it was because for the first time in her life, she dared to see it for what it truly was.
The Hyuuga were arrogant. Even if it was warranted, it left a blindspot larger than the one in the Byakugan's nearly full circle vision. Because of their famed bloodline limit, anything that blended in before them went unnoticed. Hinata was good at fading into background. She was condemned for it as a princess, but as a fugitive, it was an asset.
Hinata didn't need to dart and sneak about like a thief. They didn't recognize her, not with her shoulders thrown back as if without a care in the world, her chin angled as if she thought herself better than everyone, and her cloak billowing around her ankles as she walked as if she belonged there. No one granted her a second look after seeing the color of her eyes.
Hinata almost wanted to get caught, to find one person who could see her for the traitor she had become. For someone to see the new person she had transformed into. But the evolution had been too great, and the shrinking, fearful little girl that left was too different from the angry young woman who stepped back into her shoes.
In a way, Hinata was so terrified of what she was doing that it came all the way back around into bravery. It gave her a heady sort of thrill to be here so blatantly.
She turned into one of her old favorite places, a little bakery that made the most delicious pastries. The wind chime on the door gave a cheerfully discordant scale of tones as she entered. She remembered dragging her genin team here before. It was the only time she was ever truly insistent on something, and Shino and Kiba had laughed -
Hinata's eyes prickled with tears as she let the warm, sweet smell of pastries wash over her. It was always difficult to be reminded, even if she had come to an uneasy peace with herself over it.
"Lady Hyuuga" one of the waitresses greeted. "What an honor! How may I help you today?"
Hinata smiled slightly, careful to play the part as expected.
"Two senzai buns" she said briskly. Before the waitress could show her to a table, Hinata swept past her and seated herself. "And a pot of jasmine green tea."
The waitress hurried off with her order. The tea came quickly, and Hinata took it in with little puffing sips as she drank in the scenery around her. The honey-toned wood of the furniture made the place bright and clean, like her beloved dojos. It was a place of reflection and recuperation.
It gave her strength. In a few hours, she will have to find a way to walk into the Moon Palace. She will find Neji, perhaps the only person that might listen to her story and help, and she will change this world. She had only the vaguest things to bargain, to offer, because she had nothing else left to lose.
In a way, that was her greatest advantage over anyone else. Her heart was so jaded that she was no longer hindered by insignificant fears. There was only a tired kind of clarity as she reviewed her situation.
For all the intricacies of her current status, it wasn't that complicated. Everything could be pared down to two simple factors determining her future. Neji will listen. Or he won't.
Does that kind of thinking make her too much like Itachi?
The windchime twinkled a few notes as someone entered the bakery, interrupting her musings. Hinata looked up and almost choked on her tea.
Tall, a hooded coat that covered everything except his eyes, and sunglasses that covered what the coat couldn't. It should be impossible to distinguish him from any other member of his clan, but Hinata knew him, simply knew.
Aburame Shino.
Her shock was too tangible not to notice, and the bug-nin's head turned towards her. Hinata's hands spasmed, but she managed to keep a tight control over her features as she steadily lifted the teacup to her lips. She lifted one eyebrow haughtily as she peered at him over the rim of the cup, as if judging him for being so presumptuous to be even looking at her.
While they were considered high nobility, the Aburame were not well respected in the Moon Kingdom. The Hyuuga tended to discredit any techniques that are easily unraveled by their eyes, and the Aburame kikai were easy enough to spot if one knew what to look for. It hurt Hinata, to see the determined set of Shino's shoulders when they were younger. It was low of her to use that same sensitivity against him, but he could not recognize her.
Shino paused, head tilting almost imperceptibly as he studied her. Hinata dragged her eyes away nonchalantly, as if he bored her. Like an insect one wished would go away.
"Lady Hyuuga," he said simply in greeting. Then he walked past her and ordered two senzai buns. Hinata held her breath until the bakery door closed behind him.
Shino didn't like sweets, for sugar made his bugs overactive. So who were those for?
Hinata looked down at her own plate of senzai buns. Her appetite was gone. That encounter with her old genin teammate was a sharp reminder that she wasn't safe here. Anyone could recognize her, and keep her from finding Neji.
She stood and tossed a few coins onto the table. She swept out of the bakery, cloak billowing around her ankles. Even though it had been several weeks, Hinata was still unaccustomed to her new style. The ends of her short hair tickled her neck, adding to the sensation of her skin crawling.
Her feet remembered the old paths and she slipped to a side door leading into the soldier barracks. She felt marginally safer now that dusk had descended. The guard at the gate waved to her and she inclined her head sharply as she remembered her father doing so many times before. She felt the prickle of chakra from the soldier as he checked for henge, but there would be nothing found. She wasn't Hyuuga, but she also was.
"Lady Hyuuga," the soldier bowed and stepped aside. Hinata brushed by him without a second glance, face impassive. She walked quickly, not daring to look to the side as if a sideways glance would give away her goal.
The inside of the castle seemed darker than she remembered, and yet Hinata felt even more exposed for the change. She knew it was only in her mind, because outwardly, she still belonged here. At one point, she had belonged here.
She only had the vaguest memory of the Branch family's wing, as neither Branch nor Main liked it when she'd wandered there before. It was a good time to enter the palace, because most had retired to their rooms, leaving the hallways empty and silent.
The smooth cream finish of the shoji doors and soft wood tones of the floors calmed Hinata, and she let the false sense of security wash over her. She was just another Hyuuga, back from a long mission. Nothing important. Nothing special. The servants that walked by seemed to believe so, and only murmured a "good evening, Lady Hyuuga" before going their way. No one seemed to be able to hear the sound of her heart beating too loudly.
Once she reached the Branch family wing, Hinata kept to the shadows, lowering her head an iota to fit the regal yet resigned air of the Branch family. She didn't remember Neji's room number, but the Branch were not allowed seals that kept the Byakugan from prying into their bedrooms. His was the second to the last down the main hall, it was just as spartan as the others, including the way the sheets were creased and tucked under the pillows. All the soldiers of the Moon Kingdom were taught that way. But Hinata recognized the pendant hanging from one of the swords in the closet - Tenten had gifted it to him for good luck on his birthday.
As with other soldier's rooms, the door was unlocked. Hinata slowly slid it open and ducked inside after checking her surroundings.
She didn't have to wait long. The door opened, revealing the face of her cousin. It was the first time she'd looked upon him in over four years. Like the Moon Kingdom, the small signs of stress on his face had deepened. While he was just as handsome as before, his features seemed harder and most closed off.
To Neji's credit, he immediately stiffened upon entering the room. But then a quick assessment of Hinata's chakra made it clear she was no threat.
"Reveal yourself," he ordered. He kept his hands clasped behind his back. He neglected even activating his Byakugan.
A pause. Hinata stepped past the curtains. The next few seconds would determine her fate. Would she be welcomed by her cousin or thrown in a dungeon?
He looked at her. Hinata reached one pale hand and drew back the hood.
"Neji."
Her cousin looked up. He wasn't surprised. In fact, the cold apathy in his eyes was foreign and terrifying. It was as if he didn't even remember who she was, didn't recall the months they trained together.
He dropped into the first stance of Jyuuken.
"Traitors should be exterminated, Princess Hinata"
He attacked.
She managed to block his first few blows with a few sloppy forms of Jyuuken, but he was already in too close for her to maneuver out a weapon. By then her fingers were already too numb to hold much of anything. Several tanto dropped to the ground, clattering on the smooth wood paneling. His fingers danced along her torso lightning fast, and she felt the blows of chakra impact her organs.
"Did you ever wonder about the truth behind my father's death?" she managed to grit out through the blood pooling in her mouth. She stumbled, clutching her chest. Something was wrong. Her pulse was slowing into erratic murmurs.
Everything went dark.
That was easy.
Sasuke stared down at Naruto's prone form. He could feel Sakura's shock even from across the room. For the first time in a while, she was afraid of him. The prince took a strange delight in her fear. He was strong, quickly becoming stronger. The Mangekyou Sharingan was a great, albeit terrible weapon. In just a few weeks' time, he could easily subdue someone he considered his equal.
The dojo was too bright, too clean, and it was surreal to see his teammate so still that he appeared to be dead.
Like Hinata.
Sasuke sneered and cast away that line of thought. He deactivated his Sharingan with a harsh twist of chakra. Already, Naruto's fingers twitched, and then his blue eyes flickered open.
"What the fuck was that, Bastard!" The jinchuuriki leaped to his feet with an indignant shriek. "Who the hell just tosses someone in a dark room for 72 hours?! Your choice of background music is so lame!"
"Hn," Sasuke grunted. He neglected to answer Naruto and pivoted towards the door.
He felt sick with the roiling mix of disappointment and relief inside him. This was supposed to be just a spar. Yet he found himself upset that Naruto had recovered so quickly. Sakura would be far more fearful if she knew just what Sasuke had waiting for their teammate in that darkness, behind that awful chamber music he used for "torture". Naruto wouldn't be yelling so carelessly after him if he knew just how close Sasuke had come to dissecting him slowly with blades inside his Tsukiyomi. How close he'd been to dying again and again, trapped inside his own head.
Sasuke needed to get out of there. While he certainly wasn't as sappy as Naruto nor Sakura, he did not want his teammates hurt. Especially by his hand.
The prince headed straight for Itachi's office. Rather than immediately letting him enter, the Guardians made him wait at the door. That would mean the king was in an important meeting.
Sasuke felt jittery, restless. He needed to leave, and the realization of the solution to his unrest gave him a rush that made him almost feel alive. What was taking Itachi so long?
He turned to the Guardians.
"Any assassination attempts recently?" Sasuke asked.
"A few, your highness," Cat replied. "Had to take a few weeks off after a pretty bad one."
Sasuke nodded. When a Guardian was forced to take leave, no one but fellow Guardians and the king was aware of that until after said Guardian could resume his duties. Injuries that would force Cat to take leave despite the attentions of Sakura would have to be quite severe. That would explain why Itachi was busy.
Thankfully, Sasuke didn't have to wait long. After a few more minutes, the door opened. Sai exited. He paused as if in surprise when he saw Sasuke, but his face remained blank of any expression.
"Your highness," he greeted after a pause with a slight bow. Sasuke blinked at the lack of nicknames. Was the Guardian finally over that nonsense?
The prince found himself apathetic either way. He merely returned the nod and brushed by the Guardian on his way into the office.
"Itachi."
The king looked up. Compared to his usual pristine appearance, he looked positively haggard. Not that anyone else would notice.
"Sasuke," Itachi replied in like.
"I need a mission."
The king gave him a strange look, and then shook his head slightly. "You are currently tasked to investigate the sand bandit attacks with Nara Shikamaru. Was that matter ever resolved?"
"Those have stopped. Kinda obvious what they were after all along, wasn't it? Just a diversion for hatching whatever nefarious plan for getting me," Sasuke said in monotone. Itachi gave him a searching look again.
"Then you know even better than I why you will not be receiving any field missions that take you away from the castle. You should stay here and prepare for the wedding next month."
Itachi had the gall to pretend that Hinata hadn't been brutally murdered only weeks ago. He actually dared to discuss Sasuke's marriage to someone else like it was just the weather.
Sasuke slammed an open palm down on Itachi's desk, shocking himself with the sudden onset of wrath. A distant part of him was relieved. So he could still feel. He wasn't completely dead inside.
"I'm a pawn, aren't I? A tool for your usage?" he snarled. "Then use me. Why let me rust away when I can do so much more out there for you? That isn't the logical thing to do."
Itachi seemed unaffected by the snide jab.
"It is when you do not remember your duties, foolish little brother," he replied, looking resigned. "You are a danger to yourself."
"But not just myself," Sasuke admitted. He studied Itachi, and hesitated. Then he blurted it out. "I almost used a full Tsukiyomi on Dead-Last today. If I don't get out of here, I will." He realized he'd been deluding himself all along. The pain was still there, a raw ache that threatened to knock him to his knees. "I see her everywhere."
Itachi didn't say anything, only twisted his lips in a noncommittal gesture.
But Itachi didn't make ambiguous movements, didn't hem and haw and hedge about.
It was then that Sasuke knew, with the same sort of certainty that he knew his arm was there. He felt cold, and his ears rang. It sounded like Hinata screaming.
"You bastard," the prince said faintly. "Is that how you show your love?"
The king only looked at Sasuke with an impossibly blank expression.
Sasuke's body was moving before he even realized what was happening. He grabbed Itachi's collar and pulled him up from his seat. Itachi let him. His vision was swimming with ghosts. His Sharingan - no, not just that, his Mangekyou was active. The full force of his Tsukiyomi rushed out of his body, his veins, all the dark emotions in him like a beast detaching itself from him to attack the king.
Sasuke wanted Itachi to hurt, to feel the pain he felt. He surrounded the king with the images that haunted Sasuke: Hinata crying, hurting, suffering. Dying.
"This is what you've done to me," he screamed inside his brother's mind.
Itachi's eyes flashed red.
Then Sasuke found himself slammed into the wall, Itachi's forearm digging into his throat.
"Control yourself, Sasuke!" Itachi snapped. They stared into each other's eyes as Sasuke struggled to breathe. The king's pupils faded to black, somehow forcing Sasuke's Sharingan to deactivate as well.
Slowly, warily, Itachi removed his arm. Sasuke sank to the ground, wheezing. The broken shards of his genjutsu, combined with the hard knock to the back of his skull, formed the beginnings of an atrocious headache. He clutched his head and looked up at his brother. He could feel himself shaking.
"I chose you, Sasuke, over Hinata," Itachi said sadly. "Even if I had to choose a thousand times over, my decision will always remain the same."
Sasuke knew it even before the king said it. The added layer of Itachi's affections for Hinata only made it hurt more now that Sasuke could truly understand Itachi's sacrifice. The prince felt sick. First Naruto, now Itachi. Where will these bursts of rage end? Sakura? Mother?
"Let me leave this place," Sasuke whispered, begged, eyes trained on the ground. "I can't care about a stupid political wedding to Yamanaka right now. I can't look at you. I can't stop seeing her. I need something to do other than train needlessly without a goal in mind. I don't care if you assign a Guardian to me, but I can't stay here anymore. Not right now."
I will kill more people that I care for.
Itachi sighed. He placed a gentle hand on the top of Sasuke's head. Soothing chakra washed away the headache. Even after he'd finished the procedure, the king didn't remove his hand and the warmth of his palm sank into Sasuke's scalp.
"Very well, foolish little brother." Itachi sounded so tired. "Very well."
Hinata woke in what looked like a guest bedroom. While the theme was a stark palette of whites and wood tones, it was clear that the room was richly furnished. Then she shifted and shackles clanked around her wrists and ankles. The chains were long enough for her to walk about the room, but never to leave it. They were bolted down to the ground. It was merely appearances - it was a prison for important captives and political hostages.
At least she was moving up in the world.
Hinata sat up with a wince. Her heartbeat stuttered, stumbled, before it managed to return to some semblance of a pulse. The damage won't be permanent, but Neji did not hold back either. She was such a naive idiot to think that he wouldn't react so violently to seeing an alleged murderer in his room.
That was easy to justify, but it still stung that Neji hadn't even tried to listen to her story. He'd believed her guilty so completely, without question of the discrepancy between her actual character and the character that the council made her to be.
Hinata let her eyes fall close, caught in that strange place between apathy and utter panic. Maybe this was what needed to happened. The fact that she was being kept in a far better cell than before was a positive sign, in that aspect. That meant she had some importance, something that the council wanted to extract from her. Hinata could live with that fate, because then it meant that all her past struggles were not for naught.
It meant that her leaving him was the right choice, that she was doing the right thing. Their individual hurts could be washed away by her part protecting an entire kingdom of innocent people.
Hinata wondered what the council wanted of her this time. What significance did she have beyond her ex-princess status? Then it occurred to her that with the right information in the wrong hands, they would try to use her as bait...
She opened her eyes and lifted her hands, staring down at her shackles. She pressed her palms together to stop the trembling, a parody of piety. She was selfish, after all. Between a choice for peace and a choice for Sasuke, she could only think of him. She couldn't stay here.
Hinata slid off the bed.
"Lady Hyuuga, please halt," came the guard's muffled voice through the door. She froze. The guard wasn't talking to her.
There were more voices, all dimmed to heated murmurs, and then to silence. It was the kind of tense silence that cloaked darker deeds. Hinata stiffened. An assassin already? So the council didn't want to dig for information?
A tiny figure in soft, white robes slipped through the door and slid it shut behind her. The intruder turned around.
Hanabi.
A cold hand drew down Hinata's spine. Sprawled across Hanabi's pale forehead was the Caged-Bird Seal.
Hanabi smiled bitterly when she saw where Hinata's eyes were focused.
"Long time no see, big sis," she said mockingly. "Life going well?"
"Hanabi...you..." Hinata trailed off. "...What happened?" she finally whispered.
Hanabi gave a harsh laugh.
"You happened," she replied bluntly as she pushed away from the closed door and approached Hinata. "After the hated No-Name Hinata was exiled, it became clear that the royal family needed a little restructuring." Hanabi pulled a key from her sleeve and jabbed it into the keyhole for the shackles around Hinata's ankles. "And restructure they did. Neji's king now, in case you didn't notice."
"King?" Hinata echoed. His room had remained in the same place. He hadn't moved into the royal wing.
Hanabi curled her lip as the shackles snapped open with a clank. She started on the ones on Hinata's wrists. "Father's suite was torn down. Council said it had too much bad energy or something."
"They were looking for information on the seals, weren't they?" Hinata concluded. She was starting to suspect that her knowledge of the Hyuuga Caged-Bird seal was also why she was treated much more carefully this time.
The second pair of shackles popped apart and fell to the ground.
"So it can still think," her sister murmured. She tucked the key back into her sleeve and turned for the door. She looked back at Hinata, pale eyes defiant and bright against the contrast of that loathsome seal. "Because Father hadn't taught me yet. Not that they believed me." Hanabi padded to the door and poked her head out. She made a sharp gesture for Hinata to follow her out.
They exited the room. Hanabi easily stepped over the two guards that had been standing vigil over Hinata's door. They hadn't stood a chance against her little sister. With hesitant pride, Hinata studied Hanabi as she hurried after the girl.
The seal wasn't the only change. It took her several moments to notice that Hanabi had already activated her Byakugan. The telltale spark of chakra needed had been unnoticeable - a sign of true mastery over their family ability. Hanabi had grown into a beautiful and capable young lady in her absence. But instead of the elegant, regal movements of a princess, her little sister moved with the furtive, wary air of a victim. Every smooth movement was too cautious, even for a trained kunoichi helping a fugitive.
Hinata had been able to escape. But Hanabi had to take the consequences of Hinata's mistakes. The elder sister's heart broke a little more.
Hanabi had every right to hate her.
"Why are you helping me?" Hinata asked softly. The younger girl looked back her with a startled expression. It quickly bled into one of disgusted anger.
"The council has gone mad," she hissed. "We need change, rebellion. Something." They fell silent as they hugged a corner, pausing, listening for any sound of guards. Then they were moving again, ducking from shadow to shadow. Hanabi resumed her rant. "Anything. But people won't just accept anyone on that throne. We need someone who has a right to the crown."
"...Me?" Hanabi merely pointed at the seal on her forehead that disqualified the younger for the throne. "But Neji...he has..."
The teenager rolled her eyes. "That's why you can actually challenge him for it." Hinata stared at Hanabi, and the other girl returned her look defiantly. "Yue might look alright, but it isn't. You're the only person in the world who still knows all the seals. Until your little stunt to save the Sun Prince, nobody even realized that you knew them. The council is nervous, which means you do have a legitimate claim."
Hanabi was breathing hard as she glared at Hinata. The elder sister had been shocked into silence and she could only stare dumbly. Angry, unspilled tears shone in Hanabi's eyes and her face contorted with loathing.
"You're the only person in the world who can do something, and you're just going to run away again, aren't you?" she accused. "Always running away, you coward. To think I was waiti-"
Hanabi cut herself off and looked away, embarrassment burning her cheeks. The faint hint of color made her look far more like her age. The contrast was another spike into Hinata's chest.
"My sources recognized you," Hanabi said abruptly, her voice thick with unshed tears. "So I had time to get Akamaru. He's waiting in the back courtyard so you can escape."
Hinata jerked to a stop in the middle of a hallway.
"Akamaru?" The guilt and longing in Hinata's voice when she breathed that one word revealed all her past hurt and self-incrimination. The nin-dog had nearly died from grief when she'd gotten Kiba killed. She'd wanted nothing more than to comfort the canine, but she was the cause, the reason. Why would she be so cruel as to remind the nin-dog what he had lost?
Hanabi was silent for a moment before she answered.
"He's a nin-dog, Hinata. They don't hate, don't blame. Kiba gave his life protecting you, so Akamaru will only try to carry on his master's goal."
HInata squeezed her eyes shut. She was so stupid. Only humans knew true hatred. She thought too little of Akamaru.
She followed Hanabi around another corner. Bright sunlight speared her eyes and Hinata squinted - they were in the courtyard. A large white form approached them. Hinata's eyes widened when her vision adjusted to the outside.
Akamaru was easily the size of a large horse, if not something bigger. Her mental image of that brave, tiny puppy howling in grief over Kiba's still form shattered.
As if he guessed her thoughts, Akamaru gave her a lopsided doggy grin before licking her cheek, though he ended up covering the entirety of her face with drool. A shocked laugh escaped Hinata's lips and Akamaru whined as he wagged his tail hesitantly.
Hinata wrapped her arms around his shaggy neck, squeezing with all her love and guilt and hurt and relief. He forgave her so easily, and that made it a little easier to forgive herself.
"I'm sorry. Thank you," she whispered into his fur. He whined, trying to comfort her when it should be the other way around.
"We need to hurry," Hanabi interrupted with a hiss. Her Byakugan blazed even in the overly bright sunlight. "They've noticed you're missing. Get on." The younger girl vaulted onto Akamaru's back and yanked Hinata roughly after her. Hinata followed, her wrapping arms around Hanabi's thin waist. Akamaru was already in motion, powerful muscles bunching as he leaped high up over the walls of the courtyard.
Sasuke didn't bother knocking before entering Kakashi's hospital room. As expected, the jounin was reading his favorite series and giggling to himself in a distinctly unmanly way. The Uchiha found himself envious of his mentor's seemingly carefree manner. There was a reason why Kakashi was still a bachelor, with only a few old drinking buddies. That had included Asuma, and after Lord Sarutobi's death some years back, the Copy-Nin had only become stranger.
"Kakashi," Sasuke said. The book flapped a greeting. If there were any indications that Kakashi wanted to be left alone, the prince ignored them and seated himself in the visitor's chair. "I heard Sakura finally finished your treatment." A dip of Icha Icha gestured the affirmative. "When are you due to be back in the field?" Kakashi actually shrugged and then tilted his book three times. Sasuke leaned forward on his knees and clasped his hands. "Wow. Three months. Sakura must really want to be sure. She's such a worry-wart."
Kakashi lowered his book and turned to look at the prince.
"What's wrong, Sasuke?" he asked with a frown. "You've never had the patience to make small-talk with me like that."
"I'm going to be gone for a while. Extended leave until further notice. Thought I should say goodbye."
They both knew it was because he never had a chance to say a proper goodbye to Hinata. While they had an implicit routine to visit before a mission that might take their life, neither had ever said the words outright.
Thankfully, Kakashi just eye-smiled.
"Do I finally get a goodbye kiss from my cute little student?"
Sasuke rolled his eyes, but was inwardly relieved that Kakashi was letting them return to the old pattern of banter. Familiarity was comforting in the face of change.
"Pervert," he said with a hint of a smirk. "People are going to start talking about the real reason why you're still a bachelor at this age." Kakashi waved a hand in dismissal.
"My reputation can handle it. And they would know better given how much they gossip about my reading material," he noted with a shrug.
"That's not a better alternative," Sasuke said flatly. "And it's not your reputation I'm worried about." Kakashi clutched his heart in a bad mimicry of pain.
"You wound me."
Sasuke just snorted as he stood. He was not one for small talk and he wanted to be on his way soon. He turned to go.
"Are you going to tell your other teammates about your departure?" Sasuke paused and he looked back at Kakashi. The man's single exposed eye was sharp yet sad. He already knew the prince wouldn't. Of the members of Team 7, only Kakashi could possibly understand why Sasuke had to do this. Even if it reeked of the same shit that Hinata pulled on him. He hated that he could understand why she didn't want a goodbye - understanding seemed too much like acceptance.
"No," Sasuke said bluntly. "There'll be too much crying and hugging. And then whatever Sakura does." He resolutely turned back to the door.
Kakashi chuckled. "Good luck, your highness," he said. "Don't get killed in a stupid way."
"You only have the right to say that when you're no longer a cripple, old man," Sasuke snarked. He didn't bother looking back and lifted a hand in a casual wave as he exited.
Akamaru bounded up onto the curving roof of the veranda surrounding the main palace. He ran along the shingled stretch with surprisingly little noise. The wind danced through Hanabi's hair, sending it whipping into Hinata's face. The elder sister ducked to the side to avoid the painful lashes, and to see what was in front of them.
It was the shortest path to the edge of Yue. From there, there was an expansive swath of forest into which they could disappear.
"You know, there are a lot of people who refused to believe that you really died," Hanabi said softly. It was hard to hear her over the wind, but Hinata could feel that this was important and strained to catch every word. "The Inuzuka and Aburame will support you, but you will-"
Akamaru skidded to a stop with a yelp.
Thokthokthok.
The first arrows sounded like war drums, hollow and ringing. The herald of an army. Hinata looked up. A line of armored silhouettes edged the top of the main building, bows readied for the next wave.
Akamaru didn't pause long, and immediately sidestepped up to a beam that formed the highest point of the triangular roof. Dark-shafted arrows bloomed from where he'd been moments before.
"Keep low!" snapped Hanabi. She gripped two bunches of Akamaru's fur and bent low like a jockey. Hinata followed her example, keeping her torso so far forward she was half laying on Hanabi's back.
She knew that Hanabi had already activated her Byakugan, as the young girl directed their steed expertly to avoid the hail of arrows now raining down on them. Akamaru wove a complicated zig-zag as he continued down the stretch of the west veranda.
Hinata could hear the arrows hissing by her ears, off target by mere inches. Foreign chakra brushed her senses and she craned her neck around. Distant figures in pale robes ghosted after them on the roof. Even paler eyes glinted in the sunlight. Hyuuga. Heavy footsteps drew her attention and Hinata looked to the ground. Moon soldiers in blue and silver armor were closing in on them from both sides.
They were being herded into a pincer formation; archers from above, Hyuuga behind them, and soldiers on either side. If they weren't fast enough to break through, then they will be completely surrounded. Even now, it was clear that Akamaru was being forced to take too many detours.
They were too slow, far too slow.
"We won't make it," Hanabi said calmly, softly. Then she looked back and smiled so genuinely it stopped Hinata's heart. "You don't belong here, Hinata. But it was good to see you again. Remember this if we get separated: Inuzuka and Aburame."
She detached herself from them and before Hinata could grab at her, let herself fall. Her long dark hair streamed out behind her as she plummeted down to the lower edges of the roof. With a twist of her lithe form, Hanabi landed mid-run, tailing them to ward away any that got too close.
Akamaru kept running. Hinata was forced to take over Hanabi's role and half-activated her eyes to navigate him from the arrows. She also kept an eye on her sister as the girl followed them.
Hanabi darted between the arrows as if she already knew the steps of this choreographed dance. She spun gracefully, and with a few flicks of her ballerina hands, the first Hyuuga that approached collapsed before her. The girl leaped over him, onto her next partner in this deadly routine.
No wonder the Hyuuga were so feared.
She fought with a snarl on her face, made even meaner by the chakra veins fanning out from her eyes. She stayed low, knees bent, as her hands blurred in movement. Hanabi ducked below the strike of one attacker and as she pivoted in for the final strike, her fingers dotted along the tenketsu points of his arm. Abruptly, Hanabi dropped to the ground and kicked out his feet from underneath him. Already disabled by Jyuuken, the ninja stumbled and tumbled off the roof.
A few harsh strikes, and another followed him. Hanabi sidestepped, hardly fazed by the onslaught. Her taijutsu was flawless, a perfect defense in her brutal offense. Her opponents seemed to fall around her like puppets cut from their strings.
But she was just one against many. Hanabi slowed to a standstill, forced back onto the beam that formed the peak of the roof. She was but one soldier against an army. Hinata tried to have Akamaru slow down, to wait for her. Hanabi whipped her head up and she looked so angry.
"GO!" she screamed. Hinata couldn't hear her, but saw her lips form the command. The reason for Hanabi's alarm climbed onto the battlements that ran parallel to the veranda - several Main family Hyuuga had come to join the fight.
One of the Hyuuga stop apart from the fight. Even from that distance, Hinata recognized the sloppy amalgamation of the Beak and Talon hand seals - punishment and death cobbled together. They weren't supposed to know Talon, but it was similar enough to Beak that they could force it...Hinata's scream stuck in her throat as the chakra of the seal pulsed like a living thing.
She watched in horrified slow motion. Hanabi crumpled like an unwanted doll, her hair a spill of sleek liquid across the shingled surface of the roof. One pale, limp hand bounced slightly from the impact, and then settled into stillness on the smooth wood. Then her view of her little sister was blocked by the crowd of Hyuuga.
Hinata gave a low moan and tried to go to Hanabi. Akamaru growled and wrenched to the side, throwing her forcefully back to her seat. He will not allow her to go back.
Hanabi's sacrifice was enough. The nin-dog put on one final burst of speed, and he cleared the last length of the Moon Palace walls. The corner tower overlooked a cliff and an expanse of green awaited them below.
Akamaru jumped.
They hung in the air for a moment. The angry yells seemed so distant, like they were underwater. Hinata sensed the arrow headed straight for them. Akamaru won't be able to dodge mid-air, so she reached up with a bare arm. The bolt tore through the soft flesh of her arm, but it was enough of a deflection that it fell uselessly to the side. Hinata didn't even feel the pain.
Then the canopy of the forest engulfed them, and they were lost to their pursuers. Akamaru kept running as Hinata buried her face into his fur and wept.
He did not stop until the sun dipped far below the horizon. Deep shadows cloaked the forest around them as the nin-dog slowed to a stop. He was fighting for breath and Hinata let him navigate on his own to a small stream to drink.
She dismounted, only to have her numb legs curl under her. Akamaru turned to look at her and woofed a question. Hinata patted him to signal that she was alright and used his strong frame to help herself up. She stumbled to the base of a nearby tree and sat, staring up at the green veil of leaves above her.
She'd already cried out all her grief into Akamaru's fur, and there was only numbness and fatigue and resolution left. Peace wasn't enough. It wasn't enough to save Hanabi. A silly status quo of non-violence wasn't enough. Just hope was not enough in the face of despair.
She wiped away the tears. The rest was already drying, making her face feel stiff and foreign. She was useless and helpless by herself. Yet again, she had to be rescued like a silly damsel in distress.
Armor up, Hinata.
It really was that simple and yet she'd taken so long to figure it out.
She had to fight for something more, something greater. They took Sasuke from her, and she could endure, because he could live without her. But they took Hanabi from her and her little sister will never see the dawn of a new day again. The price for that will be one they cannot afford.
"Let's go, Akamaru," she murmured. The canine responded with a ready woof and she patted him on the side of his shaggy neck. "It's a long journey and we have allies to gather."
She didn't belong in any world. She had nowhere else to run.
All that was left was to create a world where she could belong.
The mission was more of a way to relieve the tension curling inside Sasuke than to fix any real problem. Five low-level missing-nin were bothering a local town, so Sasuke tracked them down. The first three he used Tsukiyomi on. Then he got impatient and manually finished them off. The bounties on their heads were barely enough to cover a nice dinner.
Inevitably, the thought of bounties and hunting pulled him back into a dark spiral. His inn room felt suffocating, and Sasuke stole outside for a walk, where he could attain a semblance of peace even with the Guardian at the peripherals of his awareness. Itachi was busy, so it'll be a while before Mozou would arrive with the next mission.
But it was a good excuse to walk about the Sun Kingdom, away from the most direct reminders of Hinata. Unfortunately, it was one of those days where even a pebble on the side of the road triggered some tiny memory. This time, it was the image of Hinata when she walked in the snow, leaving bloody footprints much like the ones in his mind. In a fit of childishness, the prince kicked the offending rock. It went flying, bouncing off a nearby tree trunk before spinning to a stop further up the road.
It was then that he realized that he wasn't alone.
"Orochimaru," Sasuke sneered at the ninja standing several feet in front of him. His Guardian's chakra was gone, which meant that the snake had probably already killed him. The prince felt a twinge of regret - Bat had been new.
The Sannin gave an oily smile and bowed mockingly.
"Good evening, my Prince." Sasuke activated his Sharingan, already spinning a genjutsu. But Orochimaru simply lifted his empty hands in a gesture of goodwill. "I only wish to offer my condolences on the recent events."
"What events?"
"The death of your lovely flower," Orochimaru said innocently.
"Don't call her that," the prince snapped. The Snake Sannin shrugged apologetically.
"Ah, not flower. Your lovely princess Hinata." Sasuke regarded the missing-nin with narrow eyes. News of Hinata's death had yet to be released to the public. Only the most relevant leaders were privy to the news. But before Sasuke could consider the implications, Orochimaru's next words caught his attention. "Hers is such an unnecessary death to let remain unfixed."
"Unfixed?" Sasuke huffed. "Death cannot be reversed." But the curl of curiosity, of hope, moved inside him. Orochimaru had been exiled for his experiments on immortality. This was a man who played with death.
"It can, by those who know how. I can bring your Hinata back. All I ask is that you join me."
This offer again. It was a trap. Sasuke shook his head. "Don't make me kill you, snake."
"Just watch, little prince." Reluctantly, the Uchiha found himself entranced.
Orochimaru's hand flew through a simple replacement jutsu, and with a cloud of smoke, held the limp body of Bat. His mask was twisted askew, and his head turned to an odd angle. Red stained the pale skin of his throat that peeked through the uniform, but far more gruesome was the katana that impaled him through the chest. Sasuke didn't need the Sharingan to see that his Guardian was truly dead.
The Snake Sannin offered the body for inspection and Sasuke curled his lip in disdain.
"I'm aware that you managed to kill a rodent," he said. Orochimaru gave a rasping laugh, like snake skin sliding over itself. He yanked out the katana and laid the corpse on the ground. Then he laid bone-white hands over the wounds. Green medical chakra glowed and the Sannin pulled back the damaged uniform to show perfectly healed skin.
But still dead. Sasuke felt disgusted with himself that he'd wasted even this much time with the twisted man. He turned to leave.
"Uh uh uh," tutted Orochimaru. "Patience, little Prince." He pulled a scroll from his sleeve and opened it on the ground. A mess of seals formed an empty circle. The Sannin rolled Bat's body over with his foot, so Bat now lay face down over the scroll. Orochimaru flashed through a series of hand seals. At the end, he slammed his hand to the ground, as if ending a summoning jutsu.
A pulse of...something...emanated from the Guardian's body, rippling out in a way that made Sasuke shiver. It was as if the world around them was shuddering at the unnatural events taking place.
At first, Bat didn't move.
One breath, two breaths...
Sasuke watched, hypnotized, as his Guardian's torso began to rise and fall, breathing in sync with the prince.
"It's an imperfect technique," Orochimaru explained reverently. He stepped back almost politely, gesturing for Sasuke to inspect. The prince warily approached, and gently turned the Guardian so he lay on his back. The ninja groaned slightly in pain, but did not wake. The rosy flush of life was back in the man's skin color. He was breathing, sleeping. Living.
Suddenly, every word out of the snake's mouth was too interesting. His voice was dry and cool, whispery and soothing, and Sasuke couldn't stop listening as Orochimaru spoke. "Right now, I still need the whole body, but I've been expanding it so I only require the smallest part - a lock of hair, a drop of blood. Your Sharingan can help support that research, make it powerful enough to meet your goals."
Ororchimaru said nothing more, only let him think. It was a struggle, however, to do just that. Sasuke's thoughts were like sludge, sliding slowly and sticking to the same notions over and over.
This was wrong. It was unlikely it could even work. He had nothing of Hinata left.
He could have Hinata back.
Wrong. Impossible. Nothing.
Hinata.
Hinata...hasn't she always been worth the risk? His brother was a coward who will do nothing to save her, but Sasuke was not the king. He was not Itachi, who played a game he hated and followed the rules he scorned.
He was Sasuke. That was who Hinata loved. The Sasuke who refused to give in, who cherished her and only her.
If he chose to bring her back, this choice will hurt her. But she will be alive to feel that hurt. But what if that was enough for her to hate him, to leave him, to...Sasuke ruthlessly killed that line of thought. What will happen will happen. The future and the past and the present - those were all irrelevant without Hinata.
Despair will not let him forget, so he will create his own hope.
And was hope so wrong?
"Very well." Sasuke untied his forehead protector. He paused to study it, a moment of reverence for his kingdom.
The Sun Kingdom sigil stared back at him like an all-seeing eye, judging and condemning. It was like staring into Itachi's eyes all over again. That damned martyr. Sasuke pulled a kunai from his belt and with one brutal slash, blinded the eye on his forehead protector. The shriek of metal was like a human cry of agony.
Sasuke tossed the ruined forehead protector to the ground. It hit the dirt with a dull thud next to the the slumbering Bat, making a little cloud that swirled and settled.
"I will hold you to your promise," he declared. "Our alliance ends there." He didn't need to say that if the Sannin failed him, he will kill him.
Orochimaru just gave a slippery smile.
AN:
- Um...it gets worse before it gets better? I tried not to make it overly angsty (and those of you who've read Come Full Circle know that I can bring on the angst) but it wouldn't realistic either if Sasuke and Hinata just popped back to being their semi-cheerful selves in a few weeks.
-Credit to Warrior-of-Ruin for letting me use her idea of using Jyuuken to deactivate a curse seal. Naturally, she has a picture for it and it's badass.
-I've always wanted to write a Mononoke-Hime-esque scene. :D And I like Akamaru too much to let him waste away in the corner.
-For the briefest moment, I considered placing the curse seal where Gaara's ai tattoo is. Then I realized that that would require Orochimaru gnawing away at Gaara's forehead...(dies laughing) ….and then I realized that Kimmimaro's curse seal is on his sternum. What was Orochimaru doing there? O_o That perv.
-I've always thought that for a genius villain, canon Orochimaru was rather...pathetic. Especially how he died. So rather than have him running around and sucking on the necks of prepubescent boys, he's going to use that intelligence and manipulate Sasuke like a proper evil genius. Orochimaru may not understand love, but he sure as hell can use it to his advantage.
- Also, fyi, Prey for the Hunted is going to be LONG. I've recently decided that we're only at the half-way point, plot-wise, though not necessarily chapter-wise (I feel like I've gotten better at paring down my writing to get to the point). So there's going to be an interlude next chapter, and no worries, it'll be worth your time to read. ;)
-Thanks for all your support thus far. Makes me wriggle in joy. :D
- Also, major kudos to my beta Rhinst, btw, who's managed to stick with me and do a phenomenal job on so many long chapters! :D
