When I awoke, I saw nothing but darkness. There were a few torches hanging on the walls, though they did not provide sufficient light for me to see where I am. After I fell from the mountain, I thought that would have been the end of me, but that appears to be naught. Someone must have brought me here, wherever "here" is.

Since I could not see my surroundings, I chose to use my other senses to get an idea as to where I might be. If I listened closely, I could hear water dripping from the roof onto the ground, causing that sound to echo throughout the area. When I breathed in, a musty taste entered my mouth and the scent filled my nose. As for what I felt; I happened to be lying down on a hard surface, more than likely a slab of stone. When my fingertips grazed the surface of it, it felt cold, rough, and slightly damp.

I sat up from where I was laying down and pain shot through my back. It was difficult for me to tell if I was in pain from lying on stone or because I fell from a mountain. No matter the reason, I had to find my way out of here so that I could make my way to the Land of Iron, so, slowly, I swung my legs over the edge of the slab and pushed myself off the elevated object. As soon as my bare feet hit the ground, an intense sharp pain shot through my left ankle, causing me to fall to the cold, wet ground.

I clasped my hands over my throbbing ankle only to discover a bandage wrapped tightly around it. Could I have injured myself from the fall and whoever found me patched me up?

Almost immediately after that thought crossed my mind, I heard footsteps approaching. Heart racing, my head snapped in the direction of the sound and I activated my Byakugan. I scanned the area to locate the source of the newfound sound. At first, I saw no one, but as the footsteps drew closer, I caught sight of the person's chakra network system, causing my mouth to drop and disbelief to take hold of me at the mere sight of him. I knew exactly who had rescued me.

When the person finally reached me, I deactivated my visual jutsu to look at him through my eyes just to be certain of his identity. When I saw him, I could not stop myself from gaping.

"Are you just going to stare at me or do you want help getting up?" asked Sasuke Uchiha with his usual snarky attitude.

Sasuke Uchiha had left the Leaf Village after the war to find out more on Kaguya Otsutsuki and to atone for all of the crimes he committed prior to the war. Though it has only been two years, his appearance has changed so much. He is taller, his hair is longer, he is more muscular, and his dark eyes are no longer filled with hate. Instead, when I look into his eyes all I can see is closure. This is a version of Sasuke that I thought I would never see again.

I tore my eyes away from him, embarrassed that I stared for so long. "S-Sorry, it is rude to stare," I said. "Could you assist me to stand?"

He walked over to me, offering his right hand. "Lean on my shoulder for support if you need to."

I grabbed his right hand as he pulled me up from the ground. Now standing on my right foot, I leaned on Sasuke's right shoulder to maintain my balance. Sasuke then wrapped his arm around my waist to keep me from falling as he escorted me back to the stone slab. With one arm, he hoisted me up onto the slab.

"Thank you," I said.

He merely grunted as a response and kneeled to inspect my ankle.

As he examined me, I asked him "Did you save me?"

"Yeah," he said. "You fell off the mountain after I attacked you."

I frowned. "You were the one who attacked us?"

"I was following a lead." Sasuke removed the now dirty bandage from around my ankle. "I should be asking you the questions here. What were you doing with those guards?"

"I…" I turned away from him. "It is a long story."

I felt Sasuke's eyes on me. He said "Good thing I'm not busy." He grabbed my ankle. "It looks like you don't have to be anywhere at this moment either."

I furrowed my eyebrows. "I am on my way to marry a man named Toneri Otsutsuki. When you attacked, and sent me flying off the mountain, I was almost to my destination. At the mountain top in the Land of Iron, we were going to hold the wedding ceremony."

"Otsutsuki…" repeated Sasuke. "Any relation to Kaguya?"

I shook my head. "I do not know. I did not trouble myself to ask him that seeming as many people share the same surname."

"Where is this man from?"

"I do not know. He did not say when I asked."

"So, you're marrying a guy who might be affiliated with Kaguya and you don't know where he's from?" asked Sasuke in disbelief. "I know that we hardly spoke to one another back in the village, but you have to be smarter than this, Hinata."

"He is…" I stopped myself. "I do not have a choice. This is something that I must do."

Sasuke began rubbing ointment on my swollen ankle. "An arranged marriage? Those always work out."

I ignored his sarcasm. "Enough about me. Why did you attack us?"

"Like I said, I was following a lead. What I am doing is classified so I can't tell you everything. All I can say is that those things have been causing trouble not only in the Land of Iron, but in other parts of the world too. I think that they might have a relation to Kaguya."

"Things?" I said. "Do you mean the guards?"

"They're puppets, not people. I only discovered that about a month ago when I was forced to kill one of them. Since then, I've been trying to find their master so I could question him."

I could not say that I was surprised Lord Toneri's guards were puppets. They did not tend to basic human needs throughout our travel together. "Those puppets belong to Lord Toneri, though I doubt he has a relation to Kaguya."

Sasuke began to wrap a new bandage around my ankle. As I watched him, I noticed that he only used his right hand.

"Your fiancé?" he verified.

"Yes," I said.

"If that's true, then I guess I'll have to escort you to the Land of Iron."

I was uncomfortable with that idea and I let him see that in my expression. "That is unnecessary. You do not have to go through the trouble of escorting me."

"I need to speak with Toneri. Not only that," Sasuke gestured to my bandaged ankle, "you can't walk up the mountain by yourself."

He was right about that, but if he agitated Lord Toneri in any way, I could only worry that it might spell disaster for my clan.

"Please," I said. "You cannot irritate this man. If you do, he might harm my people."

The bandage that Sasuke wrapped around my ankle was too lose, so he removed it and began to wrap it up again. "So, you're being forced to marry a bad man? How cliché. Sorry, Hinata, I don't really have a choice here either. If he is related to Kaguya in any way, it might mean trouble for the world. We can't start a Fifth Great Ninja War."

I shook my head, making my long hair jostle like mad. I pleaded "Please, Sasuke. He will destroy my family. He has the power to erase anyone with Hyuga blood from existence. You lost your clan; I would like to think that you have enough compassion and understanding to not allow that to happen to mine."

When Sasuke was eight, his older brother, Itachi, eradicated the Uchiha clan. This fueled Sasuke with hate and rage and he grew an obsession to become strong enough to kill his brother for what he did. As a thirteen-year-old Genin, Sasuke left the Leaf Village to become stronger. When he achieved the power he desired, he killed his brother. Unfortunately, soon after he killed Itachi, he discovered that Itachi had been assigned by the Third Hokage to eliminate their clan to protect the Leaf Village, for the Uchiha clan was conspiring against the Third Hokage. Learning this filled Sasuke with more hate and he set out to destroy the Leaf Village to avenge his brother. It was a long journey that Sasuke took, but he eventually had a change of heart and set out on another journey to make up for all of the horrible things that he has done during his hate filled mission to destroy the Leaf. Looking into Sasuke's eyes, I can still see that he has more to go, but he has come a long way from where he started.

"I know how you must feel all too well," said Sasuke, "but I can't allow myself to be compassionate when the world is at stake. When we get to the Land of Iron, I will try not to irritate Toneri too much."

I tightened my lips. There was nothing I could do here. All I could do was hope for the best.

Sasuke finished tending to my ankle and he stood up. He offered me his right hand.

I looked at his hand and then back at Sasuke. "What happened to your left arm?" I asked.

He dropped his right arm to his side. He said "After the war, Naruto and I went to the Final Valley to fight. We beat each other up pretty bad, so bad that we took the other's arm."

My eyes widened.

I remember Naruto coming back to the Leaf with one arm – his left arm. Lady Tsunade made him a prosthetic arm that could do anything that a normal arm could do and Naruto wore it with pride. I guess that Sasuke did not want one.

Sasuke offered me his right hand again. He said "Come on. We don't have all day. We wasted enough time while you were recovering from the fall."

I accepted his hand, carefully leaving the slab of stone to join him on the ground. I asked him "How long was I unconscious?"

"Four days," he said.

My eyes widened once more. "Four days?" I then felt myself begin to panic. "It is unlikely that Lord Toneri is still at the Land of Iron."

"We still need to check to make sure."

Sasuke walked me through the cave by giving me permission to hang onto his arm. When we reached the mouth of the cave, frigid air seized me, making me shiver and my body automatically shied away from the cold.

Sasuke glanced down at me, remembering that I was only wearing a red kimono, and removed the wool poncho that he was wearing to put it around me. He also recalled that I was not wearing any shoes so he kneeled in front of me, offering me his back.

I hesitated. "I-I cannot ride on your back, Sasuke."

"You don't have a choice."

I tightened my lips.

After taking a breath, I placed my hands on his shoulders and leaned against his back, which was rather difficult since his sword was already resting on his back. When Sasuke stood up, I wrapped my legs around him to prevent myself from falling, but to be sure I would not slip, Sasuke grabbed onto my bare thigh, causing me to suppress a squeal. No man has ever touched my thighs before.

"Let's go," said Sasuke before venturing out into the cold.

The freezing air nipped at my nose and soon my face began to succumb to the harshness of the weather. To give my skin relief, I buried my head into Sasuke's neck. I expected him to reject me, but all he did was glance and then he gave his attention back to the path ahead.

Despite my effort to find relief in Sasuke's warmth, the cold was persistent and I found myself shivering. Offering the poncho was a caring and thoughtful gesture, though, it was not enough to protect me from the weather; I was underdressed. Sasuke soon detected my suffering and he made the decision to find shelter immediately.

We walked for what seemed like hours when we finally came across a small cottage. By the time we reached the cottage, my body had become numb and my fingers and toes had gone blue. Luckily, the cottage owned a fireplace with wood to feed the fire at our disposal.

"Because of the blizzard, we'll have to wait it out in order to proceed up the mountain," said Sasuke once we entered the cottage.

Sasuke sat me down on the carpet in front of the fireplace before he stocked it with wooden logs.

I tightened the poncho around me in an attempt to get warmer. I said "W-We d-do not know h-how long that will t-take. W-We have to l-leave as soon as p-p-possible."

"Neither of us are in any condition to travel up the mountain in this storm, especially you. You're wearing nothing but a kimono and you're turning into a human popsicle right before my very eyes. The safe thing to do is wait it out."

Instead of finding a match to light the fireplace with, Sasuke weaved some hand signs together and, once he released, out came embers from his mouth, lighting the fireplace. Almost immediately I felt the warmth from the fire and I relaxed slightly but I continued to shake.

"I-I w-will be fine," I argued. "We m-must hurry b-before we are t-too late."

Sasuke stared at me. "Hinata, if we leave now, there is a possibility that you will die. You won't be saving anyone if that happens."

"I h-have to t-t-take that chance."

Sasuke kneeled in front of me, eyes locked onto mine. The reflection in his dark orbs told me what he was thinking; he did not have to say anything, but he did anyway.

"Don't be an idiot. You need to think rationally. What good are you to your clan if you're dead?"

I looked away from him.

"I found you," said Sasuke. "That makes you my responsibility. If you die under my watch, the fault falls on me. You aren't in any condition to take on the cold." Sasuke pointed to my lips before standing up. "I don't even know why I'm telling you this. Your blue lips say it all."

Subconsciously, I touched my lips.

Sasuke smirked at my reaction. "Let's rest here for the night and see how it looks out there in the morning."

Reluctantly, I agreed.

While I stationed by the fire to get warm, Sasuke prepared dinner. When he pulled a pot along with some ingredients out of his bag, I knew that he was going to make stew. I had not noticed how hungry I was until the smell of the stew cooking seized my nose and I fought hard to keep myself from salivating.

Since Sasuke had been travelling alone for quite some time, he only had one bowl to spare. He allowed me to eat first when the meal finished and waited patiently for me to complete the stew. Once I finished, he began to eat.

As he consumed his meal, I asked him "How long have you been out here?"

"About five months."

"Has it only been five months? Your resistance to the cold is amazing," I said.

"Just because I can tolerate the cold better than you doesn't mean that I'm amazing. It just means that I know how to dress appropriately," he said. "You wearing a kimono out in the Land of Iron is a death sentence."

"I would have worn something warmer, however, I had not planned on staying here for very long. Your surprise attack changed my plans."

"I said I was sorry, didn't I?"

I narrowed my eyes. "No, no you did not."

"Well, sorry," he said. "If this Toneri guy wants to marry you so badly, I'm sure he's still on the top of the mountain waiting for you."

A wave of worry took over me at the thought of reaching the top of the mountain and he would not be there. I could only assume that he would be on his way back the Leaf Village to decimate my clan.

"The only way to know for certain is by reaching my destination," I said.

"If the weather dies down, I can hope that we'll reach the top by tomorrow evening or the following morning," said Sasuke.

"My ankle is going to slow us down quite a sum," I mentioned.

"You aren't heavy, so you shouldn't slow us down too much. I just have to be careful not to drop you while climbing up the mountain," he said after he sipped the broth from the bowl.

I narrowed my eyes again. "Yes, let us hope you do not do that." I studied Sasuke as he finished up his meal. I said "You have been travelling alone for a while now."

"Yeah. What's your point?"

"Somewhere along the line of your travels, you had to have sustained injuries serious enough to seek medical attention. Have you copied any healing ninjutsu along your journey?"

As a member of the Uchiha clan, Sasuke has a visual jutsu called the Sharingan that grants him the ability to see chakra flow, mimic movements, anticipate his opponent's next move perfectly, copy any ninjutsu except for kekkei genkai, and to hypnotize his target with genjutsu, forcing the target to do whatever the user wishes. Unlike the Byakugan, where the user is born with it, an Uchiha must activate their Sharingan through experiencing strong emotion such as extreme stress, experiencing loss, the strong urge to protect someone important, etc. The Sharingan is also one of the Three Great Visual Jutsu along with the Byakugan and the Rinnegan, which Sasuke also has.

"No, I haven't," said Sasuke.

Disappointment filled my face. "I see…"

Once Sasuke put down his bowl, he said to me "Rest is another way to heal. It's getting late and we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow. You should go to bed."

"I suppose you are correct."

I glanced around the room, noticing that there was only one small bed to sleep on.

Sasuke read my face when my eyes fell upon the bed and told me "Take the bed. You need it more than I do."

"A-Are you sure?" I asked.

"I'm fine sleeping on the carpet."

"Thank you, Sasuke," I said.

Using the support of a nearby table, I pulled myself up from the floor, taking care to put little to no weight on my twisted ankle. As I made my way to the bed, I realized that Sasuke stood beside me in case I should fall. Thankfully, I did not and I reached the bed without incident.

Now sitting on the bed, I removed Sasuke poncho and I attempted to hand it to him.

"You might as well wear it as an extra blanket. You can use all of the warmth you can get," he said.

"What about you?" I asked.

Sasuke gestured to the kindling fire. "I'll be alright."

I smiled meekly and draped the poncho over myself. Once I did, the scent of Sasuke filled my nose. Though Sasuke and I do not know the other well, I found it comforting to know that he was watching out for me.

"Thank you, Sasuke," I said again.

"Just go to sleep," he said.

Without exchanging another word, I wrapped myself up in the blankets and shut my eyes. Despite all of the worry and fear I felt, I soon drifted off to sleep.