Closer Chapter 7, a naruto fanfic

AN: Updating this as I will not be working on fanfiction this month due to NaNoWriMo. This is the turning point in the story.

More notes at the bottom.

xxxxx

When Sasuke eventually opened his eyes, he found himself once again staring at a familiar white ceiling. His head felt as if someone had taken out his brain and beaten it with a club. There was a small stinging pain from his right forearm but compared to the headache it was a tickle.

"You're awake," came the voice he knew and had pretty much despised ever since he initially woke up in this place. Turning his head to the side he, sure enough, saw Tsunade sitting in one of the chairs. This time she was actually sitting it in correctly. Her expression looked severe, not mocking or full of hatred like before. "I'll let Hinata know in a minute, I wanted to talk to you about the attempt on your life."

"You mean it wasn't you who sent the assassin?" He meant to sound sarcastic and snide but it came out more serious than he had wanted.

The former Hokage gave him a thin smile. "If I was going to kill you, I'd do it myself, not hire someone," the smile disappeared. "The person who attacked you last night was not caught, so he is still out there and ANBU are looking for him but we have no leads."

"Why do you even have ANBU if they can't even track down one pathetic assassin?"

"Because they weren't able to track him down," Tsunade continued as if he hadn't said anything. "We strongly suspect that it's because this assassin could be an S-class, maybe even a missing nin. There was absolutely nothing that we could find; not something that would be possible unless this person was extraordinarily skilled. We are almost confident that this person was hired to kill you, which helps our prospects a bit. Since he was hired and he's as skilled as he is, that lets us know it was someone with considerable wealth. We've already started investigating likely suspects."

The Uchiha let all of it digest slowly. "Why are you telling me this? I'm a prisoner after all."

"Just because your status is the way it is doesn't mean that people can get away with anything they want. The Hokage wants you alive and well, meaning that you need to understand the situation and what you're dealing with. When we find more information, we'll give it to you." With that she stood up "You can be released today, I've already cleared it."

Stiffly, Tsunade headed to leave. Just before she opened the door she turned her head slightly towards him. "Thank you for saving one of my medical ninja. You could have let her take the blow for you and ended up without a scratch. It's good to see you're not a complete bastard."

Sasuke raised his wrapped arm up to look at as Tsunade closed the door behind her. His expression was blank, almost bored.

Why did I do that?

It wouldn't have hurt his efforts if he hadn't saved her because it wouldn't have been his fault. He didn't even really like her, her beliefs were the exact opposite of his and it grated on his nerves. Not only that, he had activated the Sharingan even though he had known what would happen. That was just going above and beyond what he felt was a necessary effort.

All he could remember was the sensation that she was going to die if he didn't do something and his body simply reacted. No real thought had been involved. He tried to think of reasons why he would have wanted to save her and came up completely blank. One's body didn't just react without a reason; something had to be there to trigger it.

He didn't have much time to think on it as his door opened again and Hinata walked inside, carrying some sort of white flower. He sat up, disliking lying prone around others. There were telltale signs of bags under her eyes, meaning that she didn't sleep last night, and they were slightly red rimmed. Her eyes weren't puffy so he wasn't sure if she had actually been crying or not.

"Um," her soft voice cut through the silence. "O-only essential personnel are allowed here so...Ino-san wanted me to give you this."

Why did I save this girl's life? "Hn," he responded; black gaze heavy on her. Her own eyes were downcast but he was sure she could feel it.

She walked over and placed the flower, which was in a tiny vase, on top of the stand beside his bed. Sasuke continued to stare at her, his eyes eventually flicking up to her face.

"Why are you looking as if I had actually died?" The question came out hard and blunt. Hinata remained standing where she was, looking down at the flower she had just placed. When she didn't respond he spoke again. "Let me guess, you somehow feel responsible for me being here."

Hit the nail on the head. Her entire body tensed and she looked…well, he wasn't exactly sure if he could properly explain the look on her face.

The uneasy silence continued until Sasuke's patience ran out. "If what that old hag said to me earlier is true, you never would have been able to stop that kunai at your current level. The fact that you had sensed it at all is amazing all on its own."

"I still…" her hands began to do some sort of fidgeting thing. "I'm s-supposed to protect you and you ended up protecting me. I…I failed to accomplish the task I was given. I ended up just being a burden in the end."

Sasuke supposed he should have seen her presence as a burden, especially considering the shit he went through to protect her, but he didn't. She had seen it coming, even he had to activate his bloodline limit to react fast enough.

"Whatever. He's gone now but he'll be back. If you're that concerned, try training harder so next time he strikes you'll be better prepared. It'll probably be a while before he strikes again so stop looking pathetic."

Her gaze turned abruptly to him in surprise. Hinata opened her mouth as if to say something and then she changed her mind, turning her gaze back to the flower. She smiled sadly. "You're right. I just…I just have to train harder so that I don't fail next time."

The Uchiha turned his gaze away from her. The more he looked at her, the stranger he began to feel. It was uncomfortable and something he definitely could not name.

Something is wrong with me.

"I was told I could leave whenever. I'd like to get out of here now. I hate hospitals." He muttered the last part under his breath.

"Oh…um, are you sure you're feeling alright? The cursed seal…"

"I'd feel a lot better if I was out of here." He pointed out, sliding the covers off his body. Pleased that he was still in his normal attire he got out of the bed, stretched out his limbs a bit, and began to walk towards the door. "Let's go Hyuuga."

xxxxx

The incident was not spoken of again and as another month went by he heard no real news. The assassin was gone and ANBU had no leads. Typical.

Sasuke began to avoid Hinata, still unnerved by his strange reaction towards her during the festival. Her presence alone had him often at odds with himself, for he had very little positive things to say about her, yet he kept doing and feeling strange things. When she was around he either felt like he wanted to do or say something to get a negative reaction out of her – like who seriously just doesn't get angry? – or he wanted to snap at her for whatever reason popped up in his mind. At the same time there was something else there; as indescribable sensation that was actually triggering his outward hostility. Trying to figure it out lead to frustration and so he had long stopped trying.

Over the rest of the spring that Hinata was there, that strange sensation kept growing. It also made him edgier, to the point where even training with Lee didn't help. He understood that this was counter-productive. The Hyuuga was so far the one person who had spent the most time with him, her overall report on him was important.

If it ended up being overly negative it would make his plan that much harder to execute. Sasuke knew this, understood it, yet he couldn't seem to control the words that came out of his mouth or his actions when he tried to interact with her. The scenario was something he didn't quite know how to deal with and knowing that he was failing to do something as simple as being nice to his 'caretaker' was really pissing him off.

A part of him eventually began to understand what the feeling was but it was too confusing and nonsensical in his mind. He really wanted to attribute it to insanity – he still felt like he was descending into madness – but the closer it came to spring ending the more he realized he wouldn't be able to blame it on that forever.

There was dread creeping up on him, a serious fear for himself as a person. He realized that didn't want Hinata to leave. She had become his only constant in his life and losing that, losing her, was an absolutely terrifying concept. What would he do? What could he do? He was sealed, under house arrest and whoever they sent to take her place wouldn't be able to fill the void like she could.

The house would stop smelling of flowers and her cooking. Everything she did reminded him of the good times he had shared with his family and facing the reality of her leaving had made the loss of that devastating to him. The awkward silences would be gone, more than likely his training regime would be restricted. All he would have were his books and he was beginning to run out of unread ones. If Tsunade had her way he'd never leave this place and who would want to bother to escort him around? Naruto could only do so much and the blonde's visits were becoming fewer. Even if they sent Ino, it wouldn't be the same. No, it had to be her, it had to be Hinata.

Sasuke began to grow restless. He slept less and he knew that he was slowly beginning to become hysterical and out of control in the face of his upcoming situation. Often he paced his room like a caged animal; his thoughts chaotic, random, and lacking in sense. Depression hit him hard and he knew it would only be a matter of time before he cracked.

Thoughts of his 'plan' and of escape flew out the window due to his irrational fear of losing the constant in his life; all that mattered to him was her not leaving. Eventually he had to admit to himself that if she left; he would eventually go mad. No one else had made him feel comfortable enough to be around; none of them had become an anchor like Hinata had. She was safe, grounded, always there. He needed her presence, just her presence. Anything and everything else didn't matter but he could not lose her.

Am…I in love with her?

No, that was absurd. It wasn't about romance although his desire to keep her around was emotional and not based on logic. He felt this way because he was desperate and because she was the only one that brought him any semblance of peace – and even that wasn't much. He didn't even know what love was, he had never even had a crush on a girl before.

She was just there, just there, her presence calmed him; that was all. He needed her, needed her so much because everything about her screamed that she belonged here with him and so she couldn't leave, she had to stay. No one else would do; not Ino, not Sakura, not Lee, none of them. He needed her, he needed her…

It wasn't until he was flat on his back, eyes wide and wild with confusion, that he realized he was shouting. Something had rendered him unable to move and his chakra flared in his maddened panic. There was the faint smell of plaster and a strong scent of lavender in the air. He felt his mind split from his body. Inwardly, he could see what he was doing and he knew he should stop and yet he couldn't. It seemed that control was just in his reach and yet when he tried nothing happened. As the dark haze began to fade he realized that the smell of plaster had been from the numerous holes that were now in his walls.

I'm having a panic attack.

That was his first rational thought but yet his body still kept moving, he still felt wild and out of control. When he tried to focus on himself again he found himself alarmed and numbed at the same time. He was no longer on his back, instead he was pinning someone to the ground, a low growl emerging from his throat. Vaguely, he realized that it was Hinata and he wanted to do something about it but couldn't. Her white eyes were wide with alarm, concern, and not a little bit of fear. He could only imagine how he must look.

The rage began to subside upon looking at her but he didn't feel calmer; if anything her presence continued to agitate him, because she was leaving. He had nothing; no life, no family, no home, no friends, no comrades…nothing. It was then that he realized the truth: she had become something to him and he was terrified of losing that.

He didn't have 'nothing'.

He had Hinata.

"Don't leave me."

His breathing was ragged and his heart felt unsteady, as if it was skipping beats or moving too fast. Sasuke felt light headed and was still not fully in control of his feelings and emotions. Confusion filled him; what was going on? Why was this girl on the floor? Who was he? Wait…he was Uchiha Sasuke, he was in Konoha and he was having a panic attack due to cabin fever and gods only knew whatever else. He kept chanting this to himself but it was as if there were two halves of him; one that was logical and one that was horribly confused and disoriented.

She gasped and a small part of him knew that he had said the words out loud. He had been thinking them, hadn't he? He didn't know, he felt so confused and stifled. His chest hurt, he couldn't breathe, everything felt as if it was closing in on him. She couldn't leave! He was so tired of being alone, of people leaving him. His mother, father, Itachi, his clan. He was so alone, so tired, so lonely…

The scent of flowers completely filled his senses and numbly he understood that he was no longer sitting up but was lying on top of her, his face buried in her neck. Thinking was impossible so he settled for just trying to breathe, to not think about how everything seemed to be closing in on him, a thick darkness that was all consuming.

The prospect of her leaving was apparently the breaking point for him, he was finally cracking. For a long moment nothing happened, the two remained like that on the floor and although he didn't feel better, his breaths and heartbeat was calming. He finally had something after months of nothing, he needed that something. He needed…

A shrink. His logical mind, which was very, very slowly beginning to claw its way out from the fog, emerged. It was true, he needed to do something because he knew the only reason he was clinging onto her so hard was because she was the only thing he had even remotely connected with and that was it. It wasn't feelings of love or adoration, it could have been anyone; she was just the one his subconscious had chosen for whatever reason.

It did not stop his mouth from saying crazy things, nor did it stop his actions that he honestly had no real control over.

When her arms had moved around him he had no idea but he raised his head, taking in her appearance. He stared at her for a very long time, taking in her flushed face, red eyes and tear streaked cheeks. She didn't look harmed…

"Why are you crying?" he asked the question gently, tilting his head in obvious confusion. With one hand he began to wipe away her tears. "Don't cry, Hinata." Then he frowned, because he suddenly didn't know who this girl was and why he was here. Wait, where was here? He didn't feel so good.

Then he was on his feet and staggering back but his equilibrium was out of whack and would have lost his balance had Hinata not grabbed his arm and pulled as hard as she could; keeping him steady. When she gently began to guide him to the bed to sit he went obediently, still too out of it to function normally.

Her smile was shaky and she was obviously very nervous. Hastily, she wiped at her face and forced herself to meet his gaze "Sasuke-san…are you alright now? How are you feeling?"

The Uchiha's response was to stare at her blankly, unable to respond. His thoughts were blissfully silent for the first time in years. No chaotic thoughts, no images of his dead family, no thoughts of escaping, of Konoha, or anything. He didn't feel as if he was barely hanging onto his sanity, he didn't feel anything.

Black eyes flickered down to his lap where Hinata had taken his hand in both of hers, her expression pleading. She seemed to be looking for something, what he had no idea, so he just tilted his head at her, waiting.

Still shaking, Hinata knelt in front of him, biting her lip as he continued to look at her blankly. "Y-you w-want me to s-stay…Sasuke-san?"

Dark brows furrowed slightly. "Yes." He closed his eyes because his head felt extremely light and he was becoming dizzy. Still not out of the fire yet.

"I hate everything in this fucking village," it was said coldly and he felt himself becoming irrationally angry. "I hate being here, I hate having to live in confinement, I hate this fucking room, I hate the fact that I know I'm going crazy and I can't do anything about it." He put a hand through his hair and tried to control his breathing "I'm fucking losing it…" he was talking more to himself now. "I'm seriously going insane."

He sounded a bit frightened, because he was. He was sitting back in his mind watching himself completely lose his sanity and he had no way of stopping or controlling it. His actions and words were just coming from him; there was absolutely no thought to it.

It was as if he was drunk and felt the need to spill all of his secrets. He dipped his head, his hands going into his hair and staying. "You can't leave, Hinata, you're the only thing that doesn't completely piss me the fuck off. None of these bastards that will replace you will do anything for me, they won't understand. When you were gone before I hated it, I can't do it again."

He chuckled darkly. "I want to get the hell out of here but who am I kidding? Where would I go? What would I do? Who would I go to? The others? I don't even know if they're alive. Not that it matters, because I can't leave, not with the seal and being surrounded by Hyuuga, ANBU, and who only knows what else.

"Why did he save me? Did he think they would become my reasons for carrying on? They didn't even know me, what made them think I would magically connect with them? I have nothing holding me here; nothing." Something warm grabbed his hands and he blinked, looking up at her as she kept his steady. He had been shaking. He regarded her numbly, as if looking at her for the first time.

Don't leave me. I'm tired of being alone.

With his face still devoid of emotion he slid one hand from hers to cup her cheek. She looked a little surprised but mostly her eyes were filled with sorrow and she was still crying. Black eyes flickered over her face. "Your presence…is all I have." He tilted his head and finally did the thing that he had secretly desired for months now but had been denying it, refusing to entertain the thought. He honestly didn't remember what happened next as his lips slid over hers in an almost bruising kiss.

xxxxx

"I want her off the mission immediately." Tsunade tossed the folder holding Hinata's most recent report concerning the Uchiha on the Hokage's desk. "Do you understand what's happening, Naruto? Hinata could very well be in danger now and she's asking for another damned extension. I refuse to endorse it this time."

Frustration moved through the blonde as he pulled the folder to him and opened it, going over the words he had already looked at over and over until he thought his eyes would bleed. Naruto felt his irritation rising, because a lot of this could have been prevented and yet at the same time his hands had been tied.

Sasuke's cabin fever was serious; he was practically in solitary confinement. He had gone out twice, and only twice, in an almost ten month period and because someone had tried to kill him the council had wanted to keep the Uchiha under lock and key until they found the person or the one who had hired him and Naruto, at the time, had agreed.

Now he was beginning to think it had been a horrible idea. He had thought the training sessions with Lee would have helped but apparently the positive effect hadn't been powerful enough. With Hinata, he had hoped that perhaps Sasuke would open up since he had seemed to not mind her being around. In Naruto's mind, if Sasuke had just one person from Konoha that he could call a friend then it led to other possibilities…but it had backfired horribly.

"I should have visited him more." He murmured, guilt filling him. If he had tried a little harder, maybe brought the outside to Sasuke things would have been different. Just keeping a guy locked away alone and hoping he'd get better or eventually come to accept things with time had instead began to drive him slowly insane.

According to the report he was showing signs of claustrophobia, he'd had a serious panic attack, had experienced a bout of delirium and confusion; not knowing who he was or where. Kakashi had warned him that it would happen, that someone like Sasuke needed to be active and do things , but what choice had there been? After everything he went through to bring his friend back he wasn't about to lose that guy to an assassin…but…

"That's not the point, kid!" Tsunade's hand slamming on the table brought him sharply out of his reverie. "He's developed a serious emotional dependency on Hinata and with his violent outburst I don't want her anywhere near him. We have no idea if he's a threat or not." Standing up straight she crossed her arms. "He needs to go to the psych ward. They'll be able to deal with him, they have medicine and –"

"He's not crazy, Granny!" the hokage exclaimed, scowling. "I mean, all the reports were showing that he was growing more and more uneasy being in that house by himself; both Ino and Kakashi said he needed to be allowed to go out more, even if it was just to walk around Hyuuga grounds." But those bastards had denied that, saying that it was enough that they were allowing Sasuke to live there as it was.

"He just…needs a break. He needs to be able to go out and do things if he wants…" he shook his head "I think we should give him some of his abilities back, Granny. He knows he's stuck and that's probably making it worse. Locking him up in the psych ward and pumping him full of drugs ain't much different than what we're doing to him now."

A frustrated noise left him and he moved his hands through his hair roughly. "Damnit!" this meeting was about to become violent. With determination filling his bright blue eyes, he looked up at Tsunade "I'm going to grant Hinata her request."

To her credit, she didn't fly off the handle. Her brown eyes widened in complete disbelief and for a long moment no words were said. Then she scowled; her expression hard "I know you really want Uchiha to accept life here, kid, but he's not in love with Hinata. He's confused and growing disturbed; she's been the only thing constantly around him and he's latched on to that. That's it, Naruto." Her tone was severe.

"That's not love, it's dependency and it's unhealthy. They need to be separated, especially if Hinata becomes confused and thinks Uchiha is serious. If that happens and she begins to grow romantically attached, she becomes a liability. He'd be able to use her to escape or did you forget that she's the heir to the Hyuuga clan and a part of the main house? If anyone could help him escape, it'd be her."

Shit. The unfortunate part was that she was absolutely right. Even though Naruto had a feeling Sasuke wouldn't honestly try to leave, the threat of it would be enough if Tsunade decided to go over his head – and he had a feeling she would this time.

But if they pull her…

Hinata had said that Sasuke claimed he would be unable to handle her absence and Naruto fully believed that. Tsunade could say whatever she wanted, she didn't know Sasuke. It was so obvious to him what was happening and he knew if Sakura was here she'd feel the same way and he was going to approach her about it after this. Maybe even Kakashi; the jounin understood Sasuke even better than they did in certain aspects since they used to be so alike.

If Hinata had been the only female Sasuke had interacted with Naruto would have been more wary and probably would have agreed with Tsunade, but she wasn't. There had been a good number of females that had watched over him for a time, even Ino, but it was Hinata that he had wanted to stick around. The rest of the old team seven would understand the significance where no one else would.

"He's not going to hurt her." Naruto was convinced of this." He sighed. "Sorry, Granny but I'm not budging on this one either. Until the council says otherwise, I'ma grant Hinata's request to extend and I'm going to grant her the request to allow Sasuke to go to the selected areas in the village whenever he wants with an escort. Kakashi, Ino, and Hinata think that all he needs is the freedom to move around a bit and I agree with them." He closed the file.

"Naruto, this isn't something to play around with!" Now she was losing her temper. "You can't keep allowing your feelings for Uchiha cloud good judgment and sense! Just because you have all this faith in him –"

"Granny." He stood up, his face unusually stern and serious. "I didn't spend years trying to find and bring Sasuke back just to lock him up in a psych ward and turn him into a vegetable with drugs. You can fight me if ya want, but until the council themselves tell me no I'm going to give Sasuke the chance everyone's been wanting to give him about this cabin fever thing. If it doesn't work then…" if he truly was going insane and there was no way to get him back…

"If that doesn't work then you can do whatever you want, I won't stop you, but what's been going on ain't right and locking him up without even trying is just wrong to me. This is my fault…I don't want him to suffer because of my mistake."

Her hands clenched into fists and he could tell it was taking her a lot not to just blow up on him "Naruto," she let out a breath "If Hinata gets hurt or even killed because of this –"

"I'll step down as Hokage." The blonde said with utter conviction. "If Sasuke hurts her in any way, I'll step down then and there…but I believe in what the others are saying, I trust them, Granny." His expression became full of sorrow. "We…kind of owe it to him."

He didn't want to fight Tsunade, it'd be much easier if she agreed to give it at least a chance. "Please, Granny…just this one chance. I know you think I'm being blinded because of my feelings…" he sighed. "but maybe you are too, if you think about it."

She opened her mouth to protest before she snapped it shut, a small wry smirk emerging. She had been reluctant to give the Hokage position over to Naruto so soon but looking at him now – she was glad she had. Tsunade hated to admit it but if she could use the argument that his fond feelings for Sasuke were marring his judgment he could argue that her hatred for Uchiha was marring hers. So a compromise. It was very diplomatic of him and definitely not something she would have been able to imagine him doing when she had first met him and he had been nothing but a snot nosed brat.

"Alright Uzumaki, we'll play it your way for now." She lifted two fingers. "But I want the investigation on that assassin made a priority. If he's an S-class shinobi Hinata won't be able to protect Uchiha. Two, I want surveillance around him increased, especially when he leaves. Just to add on a bit of icing to the cake, I also want him to check in and out with you personally whenever he decides to go anywhere."

She couldn't help but sigh with a smile when a huge, cheesy grin broke out on the young man's face "You got it, Granny! You'll see, everything's gonna work out, I can feel it."

I hope you're right Naruto…I really do.

AN: The symptoms Sasuke displayed were based off of things that had actually happened to me, most of them anyway. It truly is a terrifying experience that I'd wish on no one.