Before we get the ball rolling I just want to say WOW GUYS. I got so many reviews this last week! I've been so happy lately, and it's all because of you guys. Thanks!

Chapter 10

Sasuke sipped absently from his drink. He felt strangely uncomfortable, even though there was no imminent danger nearby. Maybe it had to do with the girl sitting across him, and the way she keep staring at him from behind her long bangs and then glancing away. She was probably wondering why he had taken her here.

They had gone down to the hotel lobby together, for breakfast. But the crap the hotel served had not looked remotely appetizing, so he had taken them to a small family owned diner. It was near to the festival, and the sound of laughter was starting to annoy him. And all the way there, Hinata had seemed flustered, nervous. It wasn't like this was a five star restaurant.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Hinata glance at him again. Why did she keep doing that? It's not like he'd taken them here for her. He wasn't being nice to her or anything. The food here was probably only marginally better than the food back at the hotel, but at least it would be hot. So why was she looking at him like that? Already frustrated with the sounds of the festival, Sasuke put his drink down loudly, leaned forward and looked her straight in the eye.

It had the desired effect. Hinata turned bright red and muttered an inaudible apology. She did not look at him again.

I like it when she blushes. The thought came unbidden, unwanted, and Sasuke stifled it. He'd study it later. He'd review it, he'd analyze it, he'd reason it out, until it was so much logic and fact that he'd be able to understand it. And then he'd forget it.

Because thoughts like those didn't help. He was going to have to rob this girl of her vision. He was going to hand her over to the hands of Yakushi Kabuto. So he'd have to forget thoughts like those. Sasuke had learned that with Orochimaru, possibly the only lessons about emotion that he had learned from him. Once the sannin had brought him a man from a far away town. It had been when Sasuke had just left Konohagakure, when he had still had those occasional feelings of longing, and of sadness. Sasuke had befriended this man who could not even speak their language, and whose home was where the eye could not see. He had done it despite knowing, in the back of his head, what Orochimaru intended to do with this man, and why he had been brought there.

He had been Sasuke's first, hands-on lesson on torture. The man had been the only survivor of a powerful clan, and only he had known their signature jutsu. After an hour the man had been screaming for them to kill him, to just end it. An hour later and Sasuke had presented Orochimaru with the information, shaken from the image of the mentally broken man. Orochimaru had smiled too wide. Sasuke knew he had planned this. He had known, somehow, that Sasuke would become too emotionally attached.

Like every other lesson he had ever been taught, Sasuke learned it and he learned it well. He would not become emotionally attached to Hyūga Hinata.

There was a polite clearing of a throat, and Sasuke realized that their food had arrived. He stopped leaning over half the table so that the waitress could set down the steaming plates. The fare was simple: eggs and freshly baked buns, but it was much better than anything the hotel had to offer. Across from him Hinata began to eat with dainty elegance, even as the red blotches on her pale cheeks began to slowly fade away. He noticed that she blew delicately on each bite before putting it in her mouth and chewing slowly. Swallowing.

She looked up suddenly, aware that he was watching her. The red blotches on her cheeks became more defined as she reddened once more.

Sasuke looked away and focused on his food. He noticed that she did not continue eating.

"S-so…" Hinata started shakily. She wouldn't look him in the eye, Sasuke noticed with brief amusement, and seemed set on talking to his left ear.

"You want to know about my brother," Sasuke said. When she nodded, he paused before going on. It was safe to tell her this. It was safe to tell her anything. Once she was going to Kabuto, she would not be going back to her village. This was the price for his revenge.

"It's pretty simple, really," Sasuke continued, with sudden barely contained venom that made Hinata shrink back a little in her chair. "It was the village of Konoha that ordered my brother to slaughter his entire family that day."

Her expression. It mirrored everything he had felt when he had found out from Madara. Astonishment. Disbelief. Horror. Disgust. Pain. Was she feeling betrayed and resentful of her own village? Did she realize now how corrupt they all were? How they deserved to burn?

The only thing missing from her pale face was the terrible anger he had felt. Instead there was pity. Sasuke looked away angrily and got up from the table.

"Come on," he said, more roughly than he had intended, throwing money onto the table. "Let's find Kabuto and get this done. While we are here you will always be with one of us. You can't ever be by yourself. And don't touch my eyes." He turned away, trying to erase the look of sharpest pity that she had given him. She was indigo and softest lavender and he was crimson and darkest onyx. This was how it would be.

Halfway through picking the lock of a window with a senbon needle, using his Byakugan to see the tumblers, Neji realized what he was doing. He was breaking and entering. More specifically, he was breaking and entering into the private office of a Konoha official. In Konoha. The thought was enough to make him pause, senbon needle still jammed into the lock. He was well and truly traitor now. But Neji consoled himself that he was only helping to dethrone Danzo. No one would miss that old bastard.

It would be for the good of the village.

Because this was Danzo's office. He was here to get information. The snake would be here again at midnight, and Neji wanted to be prepared with information to manipulate Sasuke. If he twisted the information the right way, he could avert Konoha's total destruction, and bring about the demise of a despotic tyrant. But first… he needed Danzo's secrets.

Finally there was a small click, and the window swung open. Neji allowed himself a small smile of victory before he slid into the office, shutting the window as quietly as possible behind him. He looked around. The office was sparse to say the least. The formidable oak desk was nearly bare, just a small stack of papers and a cup of writing utensils. Neji riffled through the papers carefully, found nothing of interest there, and turned his attention to what he had come here for: the file cabinets. They took up an entire wall. Luckily, Neji knew for sure that Danzo would be gone the entire day.

He clenched his jaw, and began with the topmost row of files. Yes, Danzo was very busy today. He was campaigning all around the civilian districts, making the case against Naruto. Now that he had the Konoha council in his pocket, he was admitting openly what he had done to Naruto. And now he was garnering the "support" of Konoha. Of course, Danzo's campaign seemed only to stretch in the civilian districts, where news of Naruto's heroics had not permeated. To them he was just some boy, some Jinchuuriki who should be locked up to protect their children. It had been easy to garner their support, and since civilians outnumbered ninja even in Konohagakure, Danzo would never have to give up Naruto. Legally.

That's why I'm here, Neji told himself. To help Naruto. He opened file cabinet after file cabinet, trying to find the reason why Sasuke wanted to destroy Konoha. If he knew that, then he would know what best to tell the snake spy, what best to keep Hinata alive, what best to make sure that Sasuke struck Danzo, and Danzo alone.

File after file, and he had not found anything. He shut the last cabinet with a frustrated sigh. Danzo must keep his classified files in a more secure location. Everything I've seen so far has not been very important. While he was wondering where these more classified files could possibly be, he caught sight of an approaching chakra source with his Byakugan.

As quickly and as silently as possible, Neji launched himself to the window, and was halfway out, when a high-pitched female voice yelled, "Wait!"

He turned. It was a girl with bedraggled blonde hair, wearing a white lab coat and very dirty spectacles that obscured her eyes. It was Shiho. Neji recognized her from the Konoha Cryptanalysis Squad.

"Why are you here?" He asked suspiciously, one leg still out of the window.

"Are you trying to get Danzo's files?" She asked, in a breathy, vague voice. He nodded uncertainly. Shiho worked with Ibiki, he knew. She held no loyalty or ties to Danzo.

There was a clang of metal objects and Shiho held up a ring of keys. "I think I can help you with that."

Sasuke took them all around Saishe, inquiring if a white-haired young man with glinting spectacles had been seen. There was no news of him. Sasuke was beginning to feel very irritated. The medic ninja had told him to meet in Saishe once he had taken Hinata captive. He had been expecting Kabuto to be waiting in the city for them, ready to give him the Byakugan's power immediately so that Sasuke could be on his way to Konohagakure as soon as possible. But now they were here, wasting time, and Kabuto was nowhere to be found.

"A pretty trinket for a pretty girl!" A salesman's voice made Sasuke look behind him. He spotted a red-faced and flustered Hinata stammering something to the owner of a jewelry stall, who was holding out an expensive looking locket to her. Sasuke felt his lips upturn at the sight of her endearing discomfort, and he found the smile that was threatening to spread over his face.

Sasuke walked over to Hinata and shook his head at the jeweler, who put away his wares disappointedly. Hinata continued to stammer apologies so Sasuke took her arm and led her away. He could tell without looking down at her that her face was still a brilliant shade of red, one that seemed to make her pale lavender eyes all the more striking.

He made no move to release her arm. She was his captive after all, and it wouldn't do to let her trail behind him through a crowded city.

"I'm sorry…" Hinata said to him after her blush had died down. Sasuke realized she was still talking about the jewelry stall.

Sasuke shrugged, and the movement had his arm rubbing against hers. Forget it, forget it. Those words had become a mantra in his head and the longer he spent time with this girl, the more he repeated them. He made himself release her arm, but still he kept a close distance. "I would think you have enough trinkets as the heiress of the Hyūga clan." He felt her tense at his side, and he instantly regretted saying the words.

But instead of bending to the scorn in his words, she surprised him by asking, "Do you miss being the little prince of your clan." Her words were without the spite or malice one would expect, but instead she was earnest, as if eager to understand him. She looked up at him with those luminescent, moon-like eyes, and Sasuke felt his initial anger at her fade.

"I wasn't a prince." He said firmly. But his voice was made quiet by the memories that flooded him. If anyone had been a prince it had been…Itachi. A wave of sadness took over him. He realized he had never felt this sadness in a long time. Lately it had been buried under all his anger and resentment.

Sasuke saw her looking at him. She could see his pain, she could see him, and she was understanding him. When she reached out hesitantly, and rested her hand in the crook of his bent arm, he did not pull away again. He was deep in remembering, and this presence at his side seemed to lessen the hurt of the memories of blood and betrayal.

It was getting late. Sasuke let Hinata steer them back to the hotel, where Jūgo and Karin would surely be waiting for them.

Fun fact: This fic was originally going to be called "Avenger's Bane". Thank goodness my friend Insane Romantic knocked that idea on the head.

Sorry if this chapter seems rough or rushed. I won't be having any internet access over the weekend and I wanted to get this chapter out for you guys since I'm trying to do the update-a-week thing this summer. Hope you like it enough to send me a review~

And also... Sasuke is strangely sentimental in this chapter, but believe me, it's not going to last long. ;)