CHAPTER SEVEN

The Agreement

For a moment she just stared. Unable to speak. Her mind trying to catch up with everything that just happened. Still reeling from her tortured emotions.

Realization struck her hard in the gut making her want to vomit. It was all another genjutsu.

But it all felt so real. She choked on a gasp and covered her mouth with a hand as tears started to well up again. Her sister's imitated cries replayed in her mind like a carousel spinning round and round.

She understood with perfect clarity now just how real a genjutsu can be for the person on the receiving end- and precisely how terrible. White hot fury began to claw its way up from her belly until she burst. Ripping her hand away from her lips, she funneled her rage into a vocal outlet.

"How could you do that to me? What do you want from me? What could I possibly offer you?" Her voice echoed throughout the clearing.

The frigid wind whistled and tousled their locks.

Sasuke canted his head. "How?" he repeated, his tone laced with incredulous cynicism. "I need you to understand something and it would be better for you to learn quickly. I am not your enemy, Hinata, and it would be very unwise of you to make me one."

He let the words sink in. Her dark expression was easy to read.

The gears in her brain worked to accept his statement. She was still upset and clamping down her anger in favor of reason took effort.

Finally calm enough to logically process what he said, she questioned, "If you are not my enemy, then what are we?"

He began to slowly circle her form. His posture relaxed. His expression playful. A predator toying with his prey. "That depends on you."

"Explain." She gritted her teeth, her irritation flaring. She was done playing games.

"It's simple, really. I'm willing to make an arrangement with you. You can accept or you can refuse."

"What if I refuse?" She quirked a brow.

"Don't you want to hear me out, first?" A ghost of a smile played on his lips. A harsh breath of a chuckle left his mouth. "If you refuse then we'll maintain the status quo. At least until you can make me an acceptable offer on repayment. Or… maybe I'll let you go." He stopped his dizzying circling. His head angled to watch her reaction, and he took a step towards her, pausing a few feet away. "But know this- If I let you go, and you continue to blindly charge in alone to rescue your people, they will perish… and so will you."

Hinata ground out, "You are not a god. You are not some omniscient being who can judge and claim whomever you like. This world is not yours to do as you please, and neither am I."

He accepted her acrimonious tongue-lashing with equanimity. He was unflinching and logical in his response. "See, you are wrong there, Hinata."

He held up a hand, a ball of flame igniting over it.

"This world is mine to do as I please." The bright flame froze into a sculpture of ice and continued to hover in place before it scattered into a flurry of fireflies. "As long as you are in it, you must play by my rules. Tell me, who can stop me?"

"You're a monster," she spat. Although she was wary of what Sasuke was capable of doing, she was too emotionally strained to properly rein in her anger. She wanted him to taste just a morsel of the pain he put her through.

Sasuke did not rise to the bait.

"Do you remember the offer I made when you so heartlessly played with me?" His rounds restarted in tighter circles.

She clamped her mouth shut. Another mistake to add to her growing list.

"I offered to help you. My offer still stands." He stopped walking when he was behind her. His velvety voice murmured against her ear as he encroached her space, "I know what you want, Hinata. You simply have to ask, and I can make it a reality."

He trailed a slow finger from one shoulder to the other. The sensation sending a thrill up her spine. He came around to look her in the eye, patiently waiting for an answer.

As much as she wanted to deny the truth of his words, they were simply that- the truth. Now that she was operating alone, her chances of success plummeted. If it were only Hanabi she was after, that would be one thing. But she now had at least three people, likely held in separate locations, that required retrieval. On top of that, she no longer had the element of surprise.

Hinata could not help but wonder if it would have been better to accept Naruto's plan. Allowed Sasuke to return, plan and lead a team of ANBU on their own timeline.

Shaking herself out of that negative spiral of thoughts, she took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and counted to ten.

One. It had been just over a week since she left Konoha.

Two. It took two days for her team to get to Mist, arriving on the same day as Team Three.

Three. It would have taken another three days for Sasuke to return to Konoha at a normal pace.

Four. It took Team Eight less than four hours to locate, abduct and interrogate Sasuke, and the rest of the day to come up with a solid plan.

Five. Five branches of the Kanedama were necessary to run their operations. In three days, Team Eight succeeded in crippling two of them in their search for Hanabi.

Six. On day six they located her sister and had visual confirmation of proof of life.

Seven. At that point in Konoha, a formal meeting would have just been called to strategize with a council of seven. Naruto, the Hokage; Shikamaru, the advisor; Sasuke, the ANBU team captain; Hiashi, the civilian representative elect; Sai, the Root Head and Konoha Council member; and Kakashi and Tsunade, former Leaf Kage and current Konoha Council. It would have taken several days to design a plan and agree.

Eight. Team Eight may be incapacitated, but Shino and Kiba's vitals were strong. She was certain they were still alive. She just needed them to hold on a little longer.

Nine. The nine-tails kyuubi would have been hampered by bureaucratic paperwork, which would have delayed departure by another day.

Ten. Sasuke was no longer operating under Naruto's orders. He was now offering his services to her.

But at what cost?

She released the breath she held. By her count, she was still ahead of Naruto's plan by at least two days. Four days with travel time. This knowledge allowed her to approach Sasuke's offer with more composure.

Lifting her stare, she searched the face of the one man that could truly help her. He was looking at her the same way he was in the bedroom. His expression was placid, but his roaming eyes held a darkly mysterious weight. He was the devil in disguise, but as the saying goes, "Better the devil you know than the devil you don't." For her sister and friends, she was willing to sell her soul.

She needed to probe deeper. "You know what I want, what do you want from me?"

A pleased grin spread across his face, revealing a single dimpled cheek she'd never noticed before. "What I want is you."

Her already pallid complexion flushed. This sounded like a proposition for sex, and Hinata reviled the idea of being treated like a common prostitute. "Pardon me?"

"To be more specific, I want to bind you to me with a cursed mark."

She blanched openly. This, she was not expecting. This was worse. Her entire life as a Hyuuga had revolved around avoiding cursed marks and freeing her clansmen of them, yet here she was being asked to willingly bear a seal. If this was a way to control or subdue her, there was no way she would willingly submit.

Sasuke ignored her inner plight and expanded on his proposal. "Interestingly, this specific seal was created by the Hyuuga clan a very long time ago. When warring tribes, hunting and gathering were a natural part of life. After advancements in farming and peace was brokered, its purpose fell into disuse. The cost outweighed the benefits, and there was growing resentment towards cursed mark seals.

"Years later, this seal was rediscovered, dissected, and corrupted by Orochimaru. In fact, the reason I know about it at all is because he used one of his bastardized versions on me. In its original form, it is known as the Cursed Seal of Heaven and Earth."

Hinata recalled the story from their childhood. Orochimaru marked Sasuke with the Cursed Seal of Heaven during the Chunin Exams. The seal granted immense physical strength and a boost in chakra; however, she also remembered Naruto telling her that the mark twisted Sasuke's mind and the second level activation turned him into a literal monster.

Putting a voice to her doubts, she questioned him. "What about the problems you experienced from the mark? With your… mental state and the physical changes."

Sasuke nodded in acknowledgment. "I assure you, neither will happen. Orochimaru's consciousness and Jugo's biology mixed with the altered seal were the catalysts. The purely Hyuuga seal was used to connect two people spiritually and physically. Do you understand what that means for you?"

Hinata shook her head, terrified of the answer.

"It means you'll have access to my power, my chakra, my strength… and I, yours."

The revelation was shocking. A dozen questions flew through her mind, clogging her ability to speak. Why would he grant such a valuable gift to her? What was the extent of this connection? Were there other conditions to his offer? Is he hiding something from her? Why did the Hyuuga come up with this seal? Why had she never heard of it?

And… was she willing, after twenty-three years of fighting against the use of cursed seals, to be marked in exchange for his help? Possibly forever.

Finally, she managed to say, "When you said we can access each other's abilities, you mean…"

"I mean, for as long as you and I are bonded, you will be able to wield the sharingan, and I, the byakugan."

A/N: Slightly shorter chapter this time around. It's a busy time at work but I wanted to get an update out still. Next update will probably take a week or so because of my hectic work schedule and I may or may not be trying to work on the next chapter of a certain troublesome story at the request of some stubbornly vocal readers (love you 😉).

Also, not sure if anyone noticed, but apologies for the constant change between Hyuga and Hyuuga. Historically, I've used Hyuga (and yes, I know it should be Hyūga but that's tedious) but for some reason in this fic I've gravitated towards Hyuuga without realizing it. So, if it changes from one chapter to another and you find that annoying, sorry. Maybe someday I'll go back and fix it. I'll try to stick to Hyuuga since I think that's been the most common spelling in OLA.

Thank you, lovelies, for all the love and support! I know this probably isn't what you were expecting from a sequel to lemony one-shot, but I can only type what the soul conjures. I am trying to live up to MLA's reputation, but it's hard with these two and writing physical intimacy gives me a panic attack. LoL.

Have a great week!

LEA