project: Fifty Days
disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
dedication: to one heartbeat & the anonymous reviewer "usagi" — your reviews made me squeal a little bit; to hinata6, who left, possibly, one of the greatest reviews i've ever had; and to "progressreport", who just made me giddy with happiness.
chapter: 14/5o
summary: "In fifty days, Uchiha Sasuke will be executed." For fifty days, she will visit him. For fifty days, he will fall steadily in love.
notes1:
thank you everyone; i get some of the most supportive reviews for this story, and so i just wanted to thank you all. i like to think you'll all stick by me, follow me through these fifty days — see hinata and sasuke grow, but also see me grow and hopefully improve. but still; i know i don't update as frequently as i should, and i'll aim to improve that in the next year. this'll probably be my last 2010 chapter, but i'm glad you've stuck with me, though, and hopefully you'll stick with me to the very end.
this'll be our journey — our journey, with hinata and sasuke, way into 2011.
:)
as you can probably tell by now, i get gushy very easily. ;D
anyway!
this is more related to the actual fanfic, now; while i am sort of following the manga, i've mixed up a few of the events. originally, itachi's death happens relatively early on, compared to sasuke joining the akatsuki and so on; in this fanfic, itachi's death takes place at around the same time as pein's invasion of konoha — this is mainly so that sasuke can join the akatsuki.
and, finally, one last little thing; some time soon, i'd like to start another sasuhina fanfic, in an AU setting. would you read it? just tell me in your review, and i think i'll start thinking up some ideas; within the next few weeks, i'll put them up in a poll, for you to tell me which idea you like the most! thanks for your help! :D
and yeah. that's about it. sorry for the long author's note.
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Hinata was woken up, that morning, by a steady tapping sound.
Sitting up in her bed, she pushed the blankets aside, pausing only to glance momentarily at the clock on her bedside table — just passed five 'o' clock, it read, and her eyes widened ever so slightly. It was early; and she wouldn't have thought a second thing about it, had she not been quite certain that she'd booked a few days off that week, for resting time. In reality, she'd booked time off to spar with Neji, who wished to do an extra bout of training before he went on his A-rank mission; Kakashi had informed him of it the day before, and said they were to leave in a few days. He hadn't told Neji what they would be doing — not that Neji would tell Hinata, if he had — and the older Hyuuga wished to get in a little bit of early practise.
Still, that didn't explain why she was being woken up so early, by a stone being steadily thrown against her window. Just pebbles, she judged, otherwise she would have heard a crack by now. She assumed it was Kiba throwing them — it seemed like the sort of thing he would do — and stepped over to the window, peering out into the darkness.
A shadowy figure stood just outside the Hyuuga grounds. He was shorter than Kiba, but only slightly so — and so, intrigued, Hinata activated her byakugan. Almost immediately, she found herself gazing at the swirling, intense, fiery chakra of Uzumaki Naruto, and her heart skipped a beat. She pushed open the window, resting her hands on the ledges as she leant out of it, byakugan disappearing, narrowing her eyes slightly in an attempt to see him better.
"…Naruto…?" She called, her voice hushed but still as loud as she could possibly make it, without alerting her father or Neji, or anyone else.
"Yeah," the figure called back, and she saw his teeth flash in the darkness — he was grinning that same grin that made her heart ache and her legs wobble. "Would you mind hopping down here a second, Hinata? I've got something to show you."
Her eyes widened ever so slightly, and she nodded once, before ducking back inside her room; she crossed the room as quickly and quietly as possible, opening the wardrobe door and searching absently for her jacket. Her thoughts were still on Naruto, because what could he possibly want? She pulled the jacket idly over her pyjama top, switched her bottoms for her casual mid-length trousers, and then brushed her fingers through her hair until it lay flat on her head. She glanced briefly at the mirror, winced — her eyes were startled, but tired; her skin seemed sallow; her hair was still quite knotty —, before spraying a small amount of perfume onto her neck and wrists, in an attempt to hide her just-got-out-of-bed smell. She didn't have the time to get entirely dressed; no, in reality, she could have done what she wanted, and Naruto would have stayed patient.
But there would have been the risk of getting caught and, besides, she didn't want to keep him waiting anyway — she was far too nice for that. She crossed the room again, now fully prepared, slid upon her window as far as it would go, and then stepped gingerly out onto the small bit of guttering below. She tugged the window smoothly back into place, shifting tentatively as she did so, and then jumped off the ledge. She landed with a slightly stumble, but nothing serious, and then made her way towards the gate, separating Naruto from her.
When she reached the gate, he was already stood there, hands looped casually through; she could see his features clearly now, and his eyes were tired, his hair ruffled and messy — he'd only gotten out of bed recently, too, she judged, and she offered him a tiny smile. He grinned in return. "You look tired," she spoke, finally, unsure of what else to say. "You should b—be in bed."
"Probably," he agreed, flapping a hand at her, grin still in place, "But then it would have been too late for me to show you anything. Mind unlocking this gate and stepping outside?"
Hinata blinked, before nodding, glancing briefly around her; and then she let her chakra surge down to her hand, much in the same way she would do for her Jyuuken. She tapped her fingers briefly against the area the lock would be positioned, waited a moment, and then pushed her palm against it — chakra surged through the gate, like a ripple of water, covering the entire thing. There was a click, and the gate unlocked, swinging slightly towards her; she smiled slightly, slipping between the open gate, before tugging it back into position. There was a second click. The gate locked again.
Up ahead, she noticed a curtain twitch — Hanabi — and then there was nothing but stillness.
Naruto's grin only widened. "Hey, that was pretty cool."
"I… I suppose," she nodded, bashful, feeling awkward and uncertain — and Naruto's fingers circled around her wrist, gripping gently, and he offered her another smile, this one smaller, kinder, gentler.
"As much as I'd love to just stand around and talk," Naruto spoke, his voice casual, his eyes never leaving hers — and she remembered that they were brighter than she'd thought they were, even when he was tired; his eyes were bright, "I've got something to show you. I can assure you, Hinata, it's worth your time."
She let him pull her along, then, and only just managed to keep up with his frenzied, frantic pace, brow furrowing as she tried to think of what could be important enough for him to wake her up. They weren't heading in the direction of the Hokage's office — in fact, they were rushing the opposite way, and Naruto didn't appear to have any of his ninja gear on him; no kunai, no tag bombs, no nothing. He'd… just wanted to see her?
It didn't quite add up in her head.
She wondered if she was being overly suspicious, and then decided it would be best not to think about it; instead, she let him drag her along at that quick speed, only growing more confused as they passed Shikamaru's house. Behind the Nara residence, there was quite a large hill, and she wondered if Naruto was going to take her all the way to the top — a gust of wind made her hair billow about her face, and she frowned ever so slightly. It was getting colder.
"Are we… are we almost there, N—Naruto?" Hinata asked, finally, and he nodded once, before beginning to climb the hill, still dragging her along behind him — she sighed softly, just quiet enough so that he couldn't head; if there was thing she definitely hadn't planned on doing that morning, it was climbing a hill.
And, yet, there she was, climbing a hill.
It didn't take them long to reach the top, and it was only then that Naruto let go of her hand — and it was at that point, absently, that she realised she hadn't fainted at all, and that there was only the faintest of blushes colouring her cheeks. Almost as soon as she realised that, her face turned tomato red, and she clasped her hands in front of her, biting her lip. Directly ahead of her, Naruto was peering back down the hill, as if waiting for something; the wind began to pick up, and he grinned, beckoning for Hinata to step forwards.
"Hey, quick — come and look!"
She moved forwards, brow furrowing ever so slightly, as she gazed down the hill; there was nothing really that impressive, as far as she could see — only dandelions, spread across the hill so thickly that it seemed as though there was a sea of green and white. She bit her lip, opening her mouth to talk, but Naruto shushed her, pointing out at the dandelions. "Just wait, 'kay? It's really cool, I promise."
She snuck a sideways glance at the blonde; his eyes lit up, as blue as a summer sky, and so bright, so happy. He was using that look Akamaru sometimes used — eager to please, like a puppy — and the thought made her giggle softly, covering her mouth with her hand. She nodded once, and Naruto pumped his fist into the air.
And the wind picked up.
"It's starting!"
At that, Hinata stilled, watching with wide eyes as the dandelions all began to lean to the left, as if being tugged by tiny, invisible hands. One by one, they began to break free, the wind snatching them from their places; they danced in the air — and there were so many of them! For a few moments, it was almost as if the blue of the sky had been blocked out; these dancing, twirling, swirling dandelions filled the air, spiralling in the wind, and Hinata pressed a hand against her mouth.
It was quite beautiful — quite amazing, really, watching as each and every dandelion seemed to be set free. It was so pretty, purely because it was so simple — and gorgeously so. Distantly, she found herself turning to Naruto, a smile flashing across her lips; he returned that smile, grinning his signature grin, and then took one of her hands in his. It was nothing big.
It was so simple.
Hinata wondered, possibly, if this was what it was like to truly fall in love — to catapult head over her heels for a blonde bombshell, and wonder whether there was any return. As the dandelions swirled and twirled around them, she wondered if it was him making her heart thump too fast, making her feel giddy with excitement and…
And—
—and suddenly her thoughts were filled with black eyes and black hair and pale, pale, pale skin.
She squeezed her eyes shut, attempting to will herself back into the moment — trying her hardest to feel that same giddy sensation; and she didn't notice Naruto's brow furrow, his hand moving away from hers. "Hey, Hinata… are you alright?"
She nodded once, jerkily, opening her eyes at the sound of his voice. His gaze was troubled — those confused blue eyes — and he was leaning forwards ever so slightly, peering straight into her face, too close, too close. With a soft gasp, she felt her cheeks turn beetroot red, and her heart hammer impossibly fast, and she took a step backwards, nodding again. "I'm… I'm fine, Naruto. I, uh… That was really b—beautiful."
"I guess," Naruto agreed, rubbing one hand against the back of his neck as he grinned sheepishly at her. "I mean, when I was up here with Shikamaru and Sakura, I saw it, and I sort of thought… it was nice. I'm sorry, Hinata — I'm sorry for forgetting about our date, and for ignoring your confession, and for… I guess I'm sorry for not doing what I should have done. I just — I guess it was just too much. I wanted to apologise, so I thought…"
He trailed off, before gesturing around him at the dandelions, slowly drifting to the floor. "So I thought 'why not make it memorable?'" He bit his lip. "Do you… I know it's a lot to ask, but do you forgive me?"
She blinked, eyes widening ever so slightly. Forgive him for what? She couldn't see that he'd done anything wrong — there had been more pressing things to think about than her little date, and she had accepted that. Still, he looked as though he wanted to say something more, his mouth opening and closing ever so slightly as he struggled for the words. "And I… and I wanted to say thank you — thank you for coming to see me and… and saying that stuff you said. It meant a lot. It… it really helped, too."
Naruto smiled.
"Thanks, Hinata."
Hinata returned his smile, eyes closing, features gentle, as the wind picked up once again, and the dandelions danced around them.
"It was the least I could do."
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Pushing open Hinata's bedroom door, Neji discovered two things — firstly, that his younger cousin was missing, and had, judging from her hastily closed window and the mess she'd left her room in, left in some haste; and secondly, after glancing briefly out the window, that Tenten was waiting for him outside. She waved one arm, her features tugging into a smile, and his eyes narrowed ever so slightly — not that it wasn't nice to see Tenten, of course, but Kakashi and Kiba were stood flanking her, which was, in all, rather odd.
Absently, he tried to remember whether he was scheduled to do any training with any of the three of them. He was entirely sure he'd never once trained with Kiba, though he had tag-teamed with Kakashi against Lee and Gai — not that that had finished well and, needless to say, they hadn't done any training together since. He was sure Tenten was spending time with her family today, because she'd given him strict instructions not to interrupt them; she didn't get to spend much time with either her mother or her father, because of her duties, so, when she did get time, it became precious to her.
So…
As far as he knew, he wasn't supposed to be meeting any of them.
That didn't rule out missions, however. There was every chance the Hokage wished for them to complete a mission together; and, judging from the three of them and their different capabilities, Neji was pretty sure it'd be a relatively difficult mission. If Tenten was part of it, then there would definitely be a possibility they'd have to fight — likewise, since Kakashi was part of the team, they no doubt needed experience. Adding Kiba's sense of both hearing and smell to Neji's byakugan, it would probably be a stealth mission — a mission in which having the advantage would be of the utmost importance.
Still, he could theorise for as long as he wanted — that didn't change the fact that three shinobi were stood outside his front door, waving urgently for him to head on down. Luckily, he was already up and dressed, and thus didn't really have to leave them waiting; bidding Hanabi goodbye — because Hinata had vanished and Hiashi was in his study, and therefore did not wish to be disturbed —, he left the Hyuuga residence, greeting his teammate, as well as the other two shinobi, with a polite nod.
"Neji!" Tenten called, her grin fixed in place; he realised, idly, that her hair was slightly messy, as though her hair had been hurriedly swept into its two signature buns, and her clothes were rumpled. "Kakashi said the Hokage wants to see us. Apparently, it's pretty important."
"Yeah, it'd better be," Kiba grumbled from behind her, lazily raising a hand in a sort of greeting, his other patting Akamaru absently; he looked annoyed — and Neji realised he hadn't worked with Kiba on a mission since they'd worked together in an attempt to bring Sasuke back, just after the Chunnin exam. "This is my day off, and I was looking forward to doing absolutely nothing."
"Don't complain," Tenten replied snappily, flapping a hand at the other boy as the group began to move — Kakashi took the lead, one hand tucked into his pocket, the other clutching that familiar little orange book. "If Tsunade's called for you, then you should be happy. You should take pride in the fact she obviously thinks you're competent enough for her to trust you on a mission — although, I'd disagree."
She flashed Kiba a grin.
"Then again, if you want your day off so desperately, you can always run back home — and we'll just tell Tsunade you weren't feeling up to it; and then we'll see what she has to say."
The Inuzuka flinched — not that Neji could blame him. Sometimes, when she wanted to, Tenten could be hell to work with; and, then again, Kiba was exactly the sort of person who tended to rub her up the wrong way. She'd worked all her life as hard as she could, facing defeat after defeat, because others had simply been one step better than her — with Temari especially, way back then, it had hit her hard. She'd trained and trained and trained non-stop; she didn't want to be a hindrance to her team — she wanted to help. People like Kiba, who could boast so easily of their skill and strength; no, Tenten generally couldn't deal with people like that. After all, she'd had to work to get to where she was — not as hard as Lee, granted, but still, she'd worked as hard as she could.
Not as hard as Naruto — but, then again, Naruto was a special case; he still managed to rub her up the wrong way.
No, Tenten had gotten used to her stoic Hyuuga and her enthusiastic Lee; and she'd gotten used to her sensei, as well. She worked best in that team, with those three people — and although it wasn't professional of her, she found herself becoming easily snappy around others. Neji wondered if she'd noticed it — judging from the look on her face, she hadn't. Then again, judging from the look on Kiba's face, he was used to that type of attitude — after all, he lived in a family of women, and had gotten used to the sort of mood swings Tenten was prone to.
Not to mention his mother was the scariest woman Kiba knew, and no one could top her — so he simply held his hands up in surrender, and Tenten let out a little murmured apology. In front of them, Kakashi chuckled at something in his book, a little blush adorning his features as he ignored the others — and Neji let out a small, resigned sigh, pressing a hand against his forehead, as Tenten and Kiba began to bicker anew.
Oh, this was definitely going to be fun.
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"You were up early."
Hinata blinked, having only just managed to duck back into the Hyuuga household, trying her hardest to be as secretive as possible — up until that moment, she'd been fairly certain no one had noticed her leave; but then she remembered seeing Hanabi's curtain twitch, and she smiled sheepishly at her younger sister. The smaller girl merely raised an eyebrow, crossing her arms over her chest and tilting her head ever so slightly — her eyes were pretty much blank. Absently, Hinata wondered when Neji would arrive to save her from the interrogation she was sure would follow.
"You didn't answer my question," Hanabi said, finally.
"…you didn't ask a question, sister," Hinata replied, biting her lip, eyes searching for an escape route — there were many things she was happy to talk to her sister about, training and shinobi duties being just two of those things; but Naruto was off limits. There was no way she was discussing her crush — her infatuation — with Hanabi, purely because the younger girl wouldn't understand; it had nothing to do with her age, because, in that sense, she was a very bright girl.
Hanabi just didn't understand things like that.
"You know what I meant," the younger girl retorted, taking a step forwards. "You can't deny it, either. I saw you leave this morning. You were up early. You were going to meet a boy — that… Nabuto? Nagato—?"
"N—Naruto."
"See? You were going to see him."
"Even if I was," Hinata said uneasily, struggling for words, "Why would you want — no, need — to know? It's p—private."
Hanabi simply shrugged. "I wouldn't. I was simply curious."
Hinata resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Their father could train Hanabi as much as he wanted to, but there were certain things her sister would never excel at, purely because of her militant upbringing. She found it difficult to read body language, to understand others, as was often proved by her interactions with her two teammates, as well as her interactions in the Academy — she didn't understand people her own age, and couldn't interact properly with them.
And she couldn't talk boys to save her life.
But as Hinata stared at her little sister, and thought all those things, she saw the younger girl deflate slightly, as if Hinata had openly, harshly rejected her. She supposed, in a way, it could seem like that — way before, when Hanabi was only young, they'd spent more time together; they'd studied together, played together — and, each night, it had been Hinata who read Hanabi a bedtime story. It wasn't anything big; Hanabi had still been forced to train from an earlier age than Hinata had, and she'd still been as awkward as she was now.
But, back then, the two sisters had been… closer.
Hanabi missed that — not that she'd ever admit it.
She watched as her younger sister turned away, and she was aware of the stifling silence between them — her sister had wanted to talk, she supposed; to share a moment. Hinata wasn't sure why she wanted to do such a thing, when she was usually so distant — but, then again, as a family, they were all quite distant. She bit her lip, because she wanted to keep Naruto and that little moment they'd shared a secret — she wanted it to be hers. But she watched as her sister's shoulders fell, and she knew she couldn't do such a thing.
"Hey, H—Hanabi? Wait a second — if you grab some cinnamon rolls out of the kitchen, we can talk for a l—little while…"
While she didn't smile, Hanabi's eyes lit up, and she ducked her head — whether in thanks or simply confirming that she'd heard Hinata's request, she wasn't sure, but she watched as her sister disappeared around the corner. She crossed her arms over her chest, allowing a small smile to flicker across her face as she waited for her sister to return; after all, she had time — she had time to talk with her sister for a little while, to bond. She had time to ask questions about how her missions were going, how training was, how her work was going — and about the people she'd met on her missions. About her teammates.
She had time.
She had enough time — and, when she was finished, she would go and visit Sasuke.
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"You wanted to see us, Lady Tsunade?"
The Hokage made a steeple with her fingers, gazing at the shinobi assembled before her over the top of them — she was sat forwards in her chair, leaning across her desk, and there was a bottle of sake by her side. Absently, Neji noticed Kiba wrinkle his nose — obviously he'd picked up the stench of alcohol much quicker than he had —, but, within moments, the other's features were blank once again. Neji's gaze flickered back to Tsunade, watching as she nodded, standing up, only wobbling once.
"I heard it was important," Kakashi prompted, as the Hokage made no attempt to continue with the conversation, instead turning away to face the village below — and still she didn't respond, this time clasping her hands behind her, humming softly beneath her breath.
He noticed Tenten staring at him, an eyebrow raised — their eyes met, and he simply shrugged ever so slightly in response, before his stare returned to the Hokage. He'd dealt with Tsunade time and time again, but she'd never acted this strangely; usually, she was hasty, rushing to get them briefed on their mission and out of her office, for reasons unknown to Neji — no doubt she wanted another drink, or had something important to do, or both. But now, she was simply staring, as if unsure of what to say. Which definitely meant that the news would be bad, and that the mission would be a difficult one.
They stood in silence for a moment longer, before Kakashi cleared his throat and Tsunade finally turned around. She clapped her hands together, amber eyes meeting each and every one of them, before she finally spoke. "As you obviously know, two weeks ago, we apprehended Uchiha Sasuke — a group of ANBU caught him and, ever since, he has been kept here, in Konoha's very own prison. It took a lot of gambles, a lot of rushed deals, to get him back here — after all, he was caught closer to Amegakure than Konoha, and Kumogakure fought valiantly for Sasuke's immediate execution, as opposed to imprisonment. He wasn't given a trial. No one, including myself, felt he deserved that right."
She fell silent. Neji noticed, absently, that Kakashi wasn't quite looking at her — that his eyes were trained on the ground, carefully blank — and that his fingers kept itching towards his pockets, towards his little orange book, for some sort of reassurance.
"We know this," Tenten spoke, finally, as Tsunade made no effort in continuing. "Does this mean our mission has something to do with Sasuke…?"
"No," Tsunade replied, before reconsidering. "Well, I suppose, in a way… No, let me continue as I was. Ever since Sasuke was caught, Akatsuki activity — well, any sort of rogue shinobi activity — has died down into almost nothing; the team Sasuke was said to be a part of has gone into hiding, disappearing almost entirely, and I fear we haven't seen the last of them. As a result, I sent a kunoichi — Mitarashi Anko, to be exact — on a mission to the last known whereabouts of an Akatsuki informant, in the hope that we'd discover something new. I sent her exactly three days ago. She should have been back by now — in fact, considering the type of mission I sent her on, she should have been back yesterday, or late evening the day before. She shouldn't… she shouldn't still be missing.
Perhaps I'm assuming the worst, but I believe the Akatsuki are still at large; and many agree with me. Sasuke wasn't a huge part of the Akatsuki — in fact, I'm sure even he didn't consider himself to be a part of the Akatsuki —, but, since he was a part of it, they no doubt wanted him for some reason. He could be important to them; I wouldn't know. Still, I believe they're plotting something — planning something — and I plan on using Hi—"
She stopped herself, rather abruptly, and Neji's eyes narrowed.
"…I plan on milking the Uchiha brat for as much information as he can give."
Tsunade paused then, dusting herself down, gazing at each of the four shinobi in turn; her eyes lingered on Kakashi for just a fraction too long, and Neji was almost entirely certain he knew what she was thinking. The Jounin could act as distant as he wanted to, but he was still emotionally attached to the Uchiha; would those emotions get in the way of the mission? Kakashi had been a member of the ANBU; he was certain they wouldn't, but…
It wasn't worth thinking about.
"Is that our mission, then?" Kiba asked, raising an eyebrow, his words laced with disbelief. "You want us to go and listen to rumours and gossip, in an attempt to catch a snippet of truth?"
Tsunade smiled humourlessly. "Something like that, I suppose."
There was a moment of silence, in which the four shinobi exchanged glances. In all fairness, Neji felt as though it was hardly a worthwhile mission — while he was also certain that the Akatsuki were undoubtedly up to no good, it wasn't a mission he should be wasted on, as arrogant as that might have sounded. It was a stealth mission for ANBU; but Tsunade seemed to think they would be suited for the job, and so he was hardly going to complain. He watched as the Hokage tapped a folder on her desk.
"Here's the briefing for the mission, as well as a general briefing on the Akatsuki. There's a copy for each of you — you have an hour to memorise it all. After that hour, you have thirty minutes to pack any necessities and say your goodbyes. I will meet you by the gate exactly five minutes later."
Tsunade's smile returned.
"You leave tonight."
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After an hour of talking to Hanabi, Hinata, as cruel as it might sound, was more than happy to leave — not that she would ever admit it. She loved her sister dearly, of course, but sometimes they couldn't quite work together — they were no longer like clockwork; they were too different, too separate, to ever be that smooth again. And, although she missed that unity they used to have, she wouldn't wish for anything different.
She liked her little sister as she was.
She was busy thinking those thoughts as she arrived at the door of Sasuke's cell, not really noticing when Ibiki held it open for her — she only just managed to startle herself out of her reverie to nod a quick thanks, and then he was gone, back down the corridor they'd just walked up. She stared after him, for a moment, before slipping inside the room and turning to look at Sasuke — he looked just as tired as he'd first been, just as ill and sick and lonely; but, whether she'd imagined it or not, she swore his eyes lit up when he saw her.
She barely noticed the two ANBU leave, disappearing as silently as shadows as she settled down into her seat. She gazed up at Sasuke, smiling ever so slightly, before nodding her head in greeting. "Hello."
"…It's nice to see you," he replied, eventually, tilting his head ever so slightly. "I always wonder when you're going to grow bored of these little visits."
"I don't think I w—will," Hinata spoke pleasantly, clasping her hands in her lap, her eyes never leaving his. He chuckled softly at her reply, shaking his head, letting the conversation lapse into a comfortable silence; she took that moment to consider his features carefully, absently comparing him to Neji. They both had the same strong cheek bones, the same aristocratic nose — but Sasuke's features seemed smoother, rounder, and his eyes were colder. His hair was darker than Neji's, and unkempt — but whether that was because of his capture, or just a natural thing for him, she didn't know.
She doubted she'd ever know.
Her thoughts returned to Hanabi, for just a moment; and that was perhaps the moment that she realised Sasuke was a younger sibling, as well. Whenever he'd spoken of Itachi, it had been as his older brother, and so Hinata had never really thought of Sasuke as being the younger child — of their relationship being much like Hinata's and Hanabi's, in a way. She wondered, had their situations been reversed — had Sasuke and Itachi been allowed to grow up in a normal manner —, what would have become of them? Would their relationship be as disjointed as hers was with Hanabi, or would they have remained smooth, close-knit, like clockwork?
"What are you thinking about?" Sasuke spoke, startling Hinata out of her thoughts.
She furrowed her brow, biting her lip, unsure of whether or not she should tell him. After a moment of thought, she decided she would, and so she opened her mouth and simply blurted the question out.
"Do you ever think about what c—could of happened?"
Sasuke raised an eyebrow, and Hinata instantly grew bashful, looking away, certain she'd hurt his feelings. Her fingers pressed together and her cheeks grew pink, as they always did whenever she was nervous. "I mean, if… if things had been d—different, and… But you don't have to answer it, Sasuke; that was too b—bold of me. I'm s—sorry—"
"—No, that's okay."
Her eyes widened, and her head jerked upwards so quickly that she almost gave herself whiplash; her hair fell across her face, and Sasuke chuckled again.
"I like it when you're bold. It's… interesting," he spoke, before shaking his head, returning to her actual question, dismissing his first sentence as easily as that and leaving Hinata to bask in her surprise. "In regards to your question, yes. I think about it constantly. Had things been different — had my brother been different, had I been different, had everything been different —, we might be talking under different circumstances, instead of from behind a glass wall."
She realised, absently, that he had turned the question around; while she'd meant it to be about his family, his brother, his friends, he had understood the question to be about their relationship — or had, in some way, managed to switch the question around so that it was about their relationship. Whether this was because he didn't like thinking of his family and what could have been, or because he truly valued her visits, she didn't know.
But it made her smile. It tinged her cheeks pink. It made her heart thump. And she couldn't quite meet her eyes, as she tried to think of a response.
"That's… that's true," she replied, because there wasn't really anything else she could say, and because she found herself half-thinking of Naruto, and comparing the two sensations.
That moment with Naruto, earlier… that feeling was different to this feeling. Back then, she'd been partly giddy because of the romance, and partly giddy because he'd finally realised; he'd realised exactly how much he'd missed, and exactly how much she'd done, and he'd thanked her. He'd respected that. It had turned out that Naruto wasn't quite as dense as everyone first thought, as people made out; and it had been a sweet little moment, like something out of a storybook, that she was quite certain any girl would have blushed.
But, this…
This was something different, but entirely the same, all at the same time; she was giddy because it was such a sweet thing to say — and because he'd been accidentally sweet. He'd misunderstood her, that much was certain from the look of slight confusion at her response; and she found that even sweeter. And she was partly giddy because he'd finally realised; he'd realised she wasn't going to give up and just leave him, no matter how many sarcastic comments he made. And although he hadn't said it as plain and simple as that, he had realised.
And so Hinata smiled.
"Thank you, S—Sasuke."
.
.
When Neji arrived at the Hyuuga compound, Hinata still wasn't there; which was a shame, really — he'd quite wanted to say goodbye. He'd packed his bag in silence, making sure to include a few packets of dried food, as well as weapons and medicine — Hanabi knocked on his door at one point, offering him a tub of ointment, which she'd made herself. His eyes had widened at the gesture, but he'd nodded and thanked her anyway, packing it purely because it was polite to do so; he'd accepted her wishes of good luck, and he'd said goodbye to her.
Before leaving, he'd slipped into Hinata's bedroom, feeling ever so slightly sad that he hadn't had the chance to say goodbye. He left a letter for his (favourite) cousin tucked into her flower-pressing book, which he tucked beneath her pillow.
With that, he was ready.
.
.
Hinata and Sasuke spoke about everything and nothing, really; they shared little, tiny stories, but Hinata couldn't quite concentrate, because of his earlier comment, and so she bid him goodbye earlier than she usually would. He nodded, thankful for even seeing someone at least once, and she promised she'd visit him again tomorrow, despite the fact that he already knew she would. She passed the ANBU on her way out.
She walked home in a giddy stupor — and the first thing she did, upon reaching her bedroom, was throw herself upon the bed, the mattress bouncing as she did so. Something clattered to the floor, and she sat up, blinking, before simply assuming something had fallen off her desk. Whatever it was, she'd pick it up in the morning.
When she fell asleep, she dreamed of Naruto and Sasuke and Hanabi and everyone.
She never once realised that she hadn't seen Neji all day.
(And so she never got to say goodbye.)
.
.
The flower-pressing book lay forgotten on the floor.
.
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.