"I think that these energy vessels are related to Kaguya somehow," said Sasuke.

"How could they be related to her? What she had planned for the Earth does not relate to this at all," I said.

Two years ago, during the Fourth Great Ninja War, the world was put under what was called Infinite Tsukuyomi by men named Madara Uchiha and Obito Uchiha. It was a genjutsu that sprouted an enormous flower with a Rinne Sharingan at its peak to hypnotize the world into a dream-like state where they lived out their lives in a utopia of their choosing. I was a victim of the spell; I had dreamed that my cousin, Neji, was still alive and that Naruto and I were in a relationship. When I awoke from the dream, along with everyone else, Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, and Lord Hokage, who was a Jounin at the time, had stopped Kaguya Otsutsuki.

Though I was not present to witness it first hand, I had heard that Madara was betrayed and sacrificed to revive Kaguya Otsutsuki, the origin of ninjutsu and the matriarch of the Otsutsuki clan. Even though she was the creator of the Infinite Tsukuyomi genjutsu, casting it upon the shinobi world was not her plan, for she had another idea in mind.

Kaguya is the mother of chakra and every single person on this planet has inherited jutsu from her. When she saw that we were using ninjutsu for war, she became angry and declared that she would destroy the world for using her chakra so selfishly. Though the battle was tough, and near impossible to overcome, Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, and Lord Hokage defeated Kaguya, sealing her just as her son, Hagoromo Otsutsuki, did a millennium ago.

Sasuke's suspicion of the energy vessels linking to Kaguya leaves me skeptical because Kaguya wished to eradicate the world for "abusing" her gift. We do not know much about the energy vessels, but they have not given us any indication of the destruction of the world.

"We may not know much about the vessels, but I can't afford to think otherwise. This is one of the few leads I have on my mission," he said as he turned away from me.

I caught Sasuke's arm just before he walked away, asking him "What is your mission?"

"I told you that can't tell you that."

"Y-Yes, though after showing you that I possess the ability to destroy the energy vessels, I would like to think that you would share with me the task given to you by Lord Hokage. You have been gone for two years and you have not gotten anywhere with this mission and it has Sakura worried sick, so-"

"Sakura?" Sasuke snatched his arm out of my hands. "What I am doing has nothing to do with Sakura. If I wanted her to know how I'm doing, I would have sent a letter."

"How can you be like this? She loves you! You know how much she loves you."

He glared down at me. "Love won't help me complete my mission."

Admittedly, his glare made me wince, but I refused to yield. "No, it will not, but it should motivate you to hurry up so that you could go home to see her," I said.

"Why would I do that?"

"Because she loves you," I repeated.

"I don't love her – not in the same way she loves me," he said. "I won't encourage her to continue loving me when I know that it could never be reciprocated."

"B-But…"

"We need to head to the capital. There's going to be a blizzard tonight."

Without waiting for me, Sasuke left the cave, forcing me to chase after him.

Night fell fast and we just made it to the capital when it began to snow fiercely. Sasuke had booked us separate rooms now that my ankle was repaired, but before I entered my room, Sasuke said to me "You are the only person that I know who can even touch the energy vessels. You have to come with me to take out all of them."

My eyes widened as I stared at him in shock. "I-I cannot do that! You know that I must return to the Leaf Village. My family is in danger."

"I know, but if this has any correlation to Kaguya, then the whole world will be in danger."

"This has nothing to do with Kaguya." I turned to open the door to my room when I decided that I should tell Sasuke "You never told me what your mission is and yet you wish for me to accompany you? That is unfathomable."

Entering my room, I attempted to close the door when Sasuke stuck his foot in it to prevent it from closing. He said "One day, I'll tell, but for now, you have to trust me. I would not ask you to join me if I didn't think it would endanger the world."

I stared at him. "You have done a lot for me, which I am grateful for, however, I must save my family. Once I do, will return to assist you."

"Hinata…"

"Goodnight, Sasuke," I said as I moved his foot out of the way of the door.

He did not bother me anymore that night, allowing me to sleep peacefully before I began my journey back to the Land of Fire.

In the morning, the blizzard had stopped, leaving less snow on the ground than I anticipated. I had just packed my bag with the essentials needed to survive my expedition when I heard a knock at the door. The knock sounded vaguely familiar, and I had an inkling to who might be on the other side once I opened it.

Frowning, I swung open the door to find no one other than Sasuke standing there. No surprise, he let himself in.

I crossed my arms over my chest. "If you are here to try to convince me to join you…"

"I'm not here to convince you. I'm here to enlighten you," he said.

"Enlighten me? On what?"

"About what your fiancé has been doing here in the capital."

Closing the door, I decided to listen to what Sasuke had to say.

"I visited the bishop last night to get more information on what happened here prior to Toneri leaving the Land of Iron. It turns out that your fiancé had been using the villagers as test subjects for a weapon he's making."

"A weapon? What kind of weapon and why?" I asked. I could not say that I was surprised given that he possessed a weapon that can erase the Hyuga clan and one that can destroy a body beyond recognition.

"The bishop didn't know. It wasn't like Toneri would reveal his evil plans to one of his victims," said Sasuke.

"I suppose you are right…"

"That's not all I found out," added Sasuke. "In order to power the weapon he was testing on the villagers, he brought in an energy vessel, which siphons the energy out of people within its range. So, I was wrong; Kaguya isn't related to this, meaning that the cause of my mission was misguided from the very start."

"L-Lord Toneri is the cause for the energy vessels? B-But… how? Why?"

"That I can't tell you. But it turns out that our problem is the same – Toneri Otsutsuki. If you're going back to the Leaf Village, I'll go with you, but I suggest that we try to figure out what he's planning before we do. What he has in mind looks like it extends past just the Hyuga clan."

I remained silent, trying to process all that he told me. I knew that my fiancé was a cruel man, though I did not know just how cruel he was.

"You thought that your mission involved Kaguya, but it turns out that it is Lord Toneri. That can only mean he has been premeditating his attempt to marry me, which only happened recently. Within the past two years, what has he been doing? Planting energy vessels around the world?" I said.

"Kakashi discreetly assigned to me the mission after a handful of Anbu Black Ops' best ninjas had gone missing without a trace. This took me to various parts of the world, linking each case to these mysterious energy vessels. I thought that it had been related to Kaguya in some form because the power emanating from the vessels felt similar to Kaguya's power when I fought her, but it turns out that I was wrong," he said.

"It must have felt similar because Lord Toneri must indeed be directly related to Kaguya!" I said.

Sasuke nodded his head. "Now that we know our enemy is the same, I want to ask you again to join me, Hinata."

I hesitated. Sasuke was correct, yet I felt as though the longer I stayed away from my family, the more trouble they would be in. I could not be certain that Lord Toneri was at the Hidden Leaf Village, but I did not want to take my chances.

"Your family is the strongest clan in the Land of Fire. I'm sure they can hold their own until you return," said Sasuke. "Don't you want to come back with all of the evidence you can provide? If you do, it will be enough to land him a cell in the Correctional Facility."

I glanced at Sasuke, showing him my answer from facial expression alone.

He smiled genuinely at me for the first time and I felt my heart skip a beat. Sasuke had always been handsome, and I just noticed how handsome he had become. Many girls fawn over him without getting to know him simply because he has good looks. I, on the other hand, appreciate that he is caring, though he claims he is not, he is generous, and when I was at my weakest, he put me before himself. Those characteristics are what I find attractive in a man.

"Toneri put a vessel under the cathedral," said Sasuke. "Make sure you have all of your belongings because once we destroy that, we're leaving the Land of Iron."

"A-Alright…"

To even think about leaving this snow-covered country felt unreal. While I had not been here very long, I had grown used to listening to my feet crunch on the surface of the snow. Despite that, I was eager to finally reenter warm weather and to see green again, so I chased after Sasuke who had gone ahead and met up inside of the cathedral.

I looked around the large space where the stone statue of their god was displayed. I asked "Where would we even begin to look for the energy vessel under the building?"

Not wanting to use my Byakugan for everything, I decided not to activate it. The cathedral may be large, but finding the path to the vessel should not be too difficult for two desperate shinobis.

"There must be a door leading down to the basement," said Sasuke.

We agreed to split up to search the area to cover more ground. Sasuke searched outside of the building while I checked inside.

I looked around the first floor for what appeared to be five minutes when I chose that there was nothing amiss. In spite of coming to that conclusion, I felt as though something was not quite right about the area, yet I could not directly pinpoint what. Being an elite tracking kunoichi, I glanced around the room once more and found that the God statue in particular was a suspicious area that I did not check, so I inspected it.

Upon inspection, I discovered marks beneath the statute, indicating that it has been moved across the floor. To make sure that it has indeed been moved, I took several paces back to stare at it from a distance. It looked as if the position from when I saw it last has slightly altered, but I could not be certain.

That was when Sasuke walked in.

He told me "I couldn't find anything out of the ordinary around the cathedral."

"That is alright. I believe that I might have found something, though I cannot be certain," I said. "Does the statue's position look altered to you?"

Sasuke stared at it for a few moments when he said "Yeah. Last I saw it, it was centered. Now it looks like it's been moved a little to the left."

"There are also marks on the floor to the side of it."

"Help me move it," he said.

Together, we pushed the stone statue, immediately finding a ladder leading downwards to the basement.

"I'll go down first," said Sasuke.

I embarked down the ladder soon after he did. It led us down at least eight-hundred and twenty-two centimeters below the cathedral to a long narrow hallway illuminated by torches mounted on the walls. The fact that the torches were still lit startled me.

"Stay close to me," said Sasuke.

"I can defend myself. You do not have to protect me," I said.

"I'm not. We don't know who's down here, and you're too valuable to lose."

I tightened my lips. Unfortunately, he is right; I cannot afford to die here.

Stealthily, we advanced down the hallway, eventually noticing that the walls were expanding as we ventured farther, and that the torches were not mounted so closely together as they were previously. I thought that the architecture was odd enough, what with a ladder leading down to a long narrow corridor, when we soon were met by several doors sitting on either side of the hall.

Sasuke and I exchanged glances and understood what he wanted me to do.

Activating my visual jutsu, I searched the areas on the other side of each door, discovering lifeless bodies resting on beds in every room. I found one body clinging to life in one of the last rooms, but just as I opened my mouth to inform Sasuke, the person's chakra network system shut down, thus ending their life.

Taking my eyes from the room, I looked further down the hall to see what awaited us at the end, only to have my vision distort so intensely that I became dizzy, which forced me to deactivate my Byakugan. Shielding my eyes after I deactivated my visual jutsu, I felt myself lose my balance from the sudden vertigo. With a strong, yet gentle, hand, Sasuke reached out, grabbing me by the arm to save me from falling.

"Are you okay?" he asked me.

He stared down at me with such concern that, for the second time today, he made my heart skip a beat.

Slightly flustered, I said "Y-Y-Yes, I am fine. Um, there's an energy vessel at the very end of the hall. The distortion made me dizzy."

"I see…" He released my arm once he knew that I would be fine standing on my own. He then asked me "What's behind the doors?"

My expression turned grim. "Dead bodies. In one of the last rooms, I witnessed their death. We should probably visit that room as soon as we can to figure out what happened to him."

"We should search all the rooms to see if anyone documented what was going on here."

I nodded my head in agreement before we approached our target at the end of the corridor.

Though this vessel was larger than the others, I did not allow the size to deter me as I conjured twin lions around my hands. Jumping as high as the dome-shaped room would let me, I crashed into it just as I had done with the others. The vessels had the same reaction, but since it was larger, more golden dust spread throughout the space, making both Sasuke and I cough from breathing too much in.

Once the dust disappeared, I stopped coughing, however Sasuke did not and I rested a hand on his back in concern.

As soon as his coughing ceased, he said "Let's check out the rooms."

We entered the room where the man I told him died just a few minutes ago to examine his body.

Grazing his hand across the body's bare arm, Sasuke said "He's still warm."

I had already activated my visual jutsu and was examining his chakra network system when Sasuke took the liberty of seeing for himself just how long ago this person passed.

"There is nothing out of the ordinary about his chakra," I said.

Even though I can see through solid objects and the tiniest of details from over twenty kilometers away, sometimes I feel most comfortable using my Byakugan up close. If I missed something crucial in this man's body, I would not be able to forgive myself. As the future leader of my clan, I should not make such amateur mistakes like that.

"To save time, can you use your Byakugan to search the rest of the rooms for documentation?" asked Sasuke.

"Yes, I can do that."

I scanned each room, checking carefully for anything written down on paper, which I soon learned that no one owned paper or storage for that matter, and it was not until I reached the first room we passed by that I found a message carved into the stone wall.

I turned to Sasuke after I deactivated my Byakugan, telling him "I do not think that these people were allowed to own paper, however, I found a message carved on the wall in one of the rooms that says: Traitor."

"It could have been someone who worked for your twisted fiancé."

"Perhaps…"

"Either way, we got what we came for. Let's leave."

"W-Wait," I said. "It is very unlikely that the bishop was oblivious to this hiding under the cathedral. We should question him."

"I already did."

Surprised, I said "Y-You did? What happened?"

"He told me that there were a few rooms beneath the cathedral to house people fearing for their lives and that when Toneri came here, he locked the people in their rooms. Shortly after, he installed the vessel. I'm guessing he wanted the people close to use their energy to power whatever weapon he made."

"That makes sense. Where is the bishop now?"

"He's in the capital's hospital. He got sick just like the villagers in Tsumiko's village. Now that the vessel's gone, he should start to feel better soon."

"That's good," I said with a smile.

Sasuke shrugged. "Come on. We've wasted enough time here."

I ignored his agitation, returning to the bitter cold of outside. While it was no longer snowing, the sky was covered in clouds that threatened to drape the Land of Iron in more white powdery death. This kind of weather is rare in the Land of Fire so I should not take this experience for granted, but I cannot help finding myself anticipating the moment I cross the border leading into the Land of Earth so that I can never return.

"Now that you can walk, we should be able to get down the mountain in a matter of hours," said Sasuke.

I stared at him in disbelief. "Is that possible?"

"I have gone up and down this mountain enough times that I can safely say it is possible to get to the bottom in a couple of hours."

"R-Really? How long did it take you to get to me when you knocked me off the mountain side?"

"I didn't time it," he said. "When I realized that it was you I knocked off, I raced after you. You hadn't been lying on the ground for very long when I found you."

"You jumped off the mountain to reach me?" I asked in astonishment.

"It's not as heroic as you might think. My initial thought was that if you die, it'd be by my hand, and I couldn't explain that to Kakashi or your father in a way that wouldn't make me seem like the enemy. After all, you are the Leaf Village's sweetheart."

"O-Oh…" I hid the disappointment that took over me. I had hoped that Sasuke chased after me to save me because he cared. Knowing how selective Sasuke is in choosing who to care for, it was foolish of me to think otherwise. Remembering this, made me feel ridiculous for feeling an attraction for him earlier.

As Sasuke walked towards the exit of the capital, he told me "I'll show you the safest way to descend. Watch me carefully and-"

Sasuke's speech abruptly cut off by a series of coughs.

I rushed to his side asking "Are you alright?"

Once the coughing stopped he said "I'm fine. My throat is just dry."

"Are… Are you certain that is the reason?" I asked.

Now that we know the energy vessels are making people sick, it worried me that Sasuke might have caught whatever the victims were exposed to. While the victims have not been diagnosed, we know that the illness is severe enough to leave whoever is subjugated to it bedridden, and in worst cases it can kill them. If Sasuke has indeed contracted what the energy vessels have been giving out, I do not even want to think of what I would do without him.

Sasuke shot me a glare. "I know what you're thinking. I'm fine."

The fierceness of his glare made me take a step back as I held my hands up in capitulation, indicating that I would not bring it up again. Despite that, as I followed him to the mountain side we climbed up a couple of days ago, I made a mental note to keep an eye on him should he express any alarming symptoms.

As shinobis, our anatomy is more advanced than that of an average villager. We can endure extreme blows of damage such as falling from a high place and receiving heavy hits, we are able to jump much higher, our balance is impeccable, and, as long as we have chakra to spare, our stamina is near inexhaustible. So, in truth, we can lunge off the top of the mountain to get to the bottom without injury if we wished, but if we were to land the wrong way, we could break enough bones to render us immobile. Since we are behind enough as it is, Sasuke would rather not take that risk, especially because I just recovered.

After we jumped over the capital's large stone wall, we walked past the small forest of leafless trees to reach the edge of the mountain. Once there, I peered over the side to see how far down we had to go, making all of the doubt I had earlier turn into hope. We only had about six kilometers to descend.

"Watch carefully," said Sasuke.

When we graduated from the Academy, one of the very first lessons that our mentor teaches us is one of the ways on how to control chakra, which is by concentrating it to a specific area in the body. Mastery of chakra concentration will allow the user to walk up walls, trees, buildings, and to walk across water. The chakra acts as a glue that is strong enough to hold the user on what they are attached to so long as they have sufficient chakra.

Concentrating chakra to his feet, Sasuke hopped several meters down the mountain, landing on a lone rock jutting out from the side of the alp. Safely standing on the rock, Sasuke looked up at me and motioned me to join him.

I pushed any fear that might have been lingering in my head to the back of my mind, concentrated an ample amount of chakra to my feet, and jumped off the mountain.

After years of intense training, I knew that my chakra control was perfect, yet I could not help feeling a small amount of anxiety as I lunged off the top of the alp. The cold wind constantly nipped at my skin as I rapidly came crashing down until I landed securely on the surface of my choosing. I did not let myself rest there for long though. Even though my skin hurt from the frigid air, as soon as my feet hit the ground, I jumped down the side of the mountain again and again until I met up with Sasuke.

Now standing beside him, I noticed that he was short of breath while I barely broke a sweat despite travelling the same distance. Concerned, I opened my mouth to ask how was feeling, but he descended before I received the chance. Nevertheless, I followed after him, taking care to stick close should he take a turn for the worse.

Sasuke never slowed down even when I noticed that his condition was becoming serious. I wanted to say something, but I knew he would argue with me. We did not have much more to go to reach the bottom, so I prayed silently that we would be able to get to the safety of the ground before anything dire occurred.

Unfortunately, just as that thought crossed my mind, I saw Sasuke lose his footing on one of the rocks, sending him spiraling down the side of the alp. Heart racing, my mind went blank as I recklessly dove after him.