I could not think of anything else. All I could think of was reaching Sasuke before he hit the bottom. I did not care if I lost a limb or if I might mortally injure myself in the process so long as I could save him.

The icy wind cut against the unprotected skin on my face as I raced as fast as I could to outmatch the speed of which he was descending, but I did not care. I barely even realized the pain when Sasuke's fate occupied every fiber of my thoughts and concerns, and soon I found myself closing in on him.

Close to the bottom, yet far enough to save ourselves, I managed to grab him. Holding him tight against me, I concentrated chakra to my feet and, with much effort, I drew us close enough to the side of the alp so that I could slow our fall by planting the base of my feet to the wall of it, to which I accomplished successfully.

Much to my dismay, though I expected it, we were still falling too fast. Because of the velocity at which we were declining, simply attaching my feet to the wall of the mountain was not enough, so while I held Sasuke close to me with one arm, I used my other to concentrate chakra in the form of a blade, and with as much strength as I could muster, I stabbed the alp. This action decreased the speed of our descent slightly, yet not enough for me to gain control of the situation. Realizing that there was not much I could do here, I shut my eyes tightly, hoping that we would slow down at some point. While the fall will not kill us, it most certainly will hurt me more than it will hurt Sasuke.

Then, as if my prayers had been answered, I felt us slowing down. To quickly get us to the safety of the ground, I pushed myself off the mountain using the strength of my legs, and I let us fall hundreds of meters until we landed on the snow.

I would have been able to land on my feet when I hit the ground, but the added weight of Sasuke knocked me to the ground, so I laid there in the snow with his body on top of mine and his head resting on my bosom.

And within that moment, much like a scripted film, Sasuke woke up.

Face on fire from embarrassment, my eyes locked with his as I emboldened myself to say what mattered most at this time, which was "A-Are you alright?"

He held his head as he grimaced and said "Yeah. I just blacked out."

The way that he said it made it seem like it was inconsequential, so, feeling upset with his attitude, I told him "You scared me, Sasuke. You not only lost consciousness, you fell off the mountain! Words cannot describe how frightened I felt when I saw you slip. I had to jump off the mountain to catch you."

Sasuke observed our current setting, and I watched as realization hit him when he took notice that he was lying on top of me. He did not share the same reaction that I had upon discovering our misleading position. Instead, after furrowing his eyebrows, Sasuke said "You should have let me fall."

Eyes wide, I said "I would never do that! Why would you even say that?"

"Your life matters more than mine. If you die, then there will be no one else to finish what we started."

"I understand how important this is, especially since my bloodline is in jeopardy, however, we need to know our limits. You are not well!"

"I feel fine," he insisted.

"You are not 'fine' at all! You, an elite ninja, lost your footing on a mountain you claim to have climbed several times! Something is wrong." I paused. "Let me examine you."

"What?"

"Let me examine you," I repeated.

Sasuke glared at me.

"Regardless of whether you want me to or not, I will examine your chakra network system, and I have plenty of chances to do so by merely walking behind you."

After sucking on his teeth, Sasuke stood up, allowing me to follow suit. I activated my Byakugan, studying every inch of his system, when I soon noticed something amiss about the flow of his chakra. The difference was barely noticeable, forcing me to search meticulously to see that his chakra was thinner than the average shinobi. I could not recall a moment when my Byakugan met such a thin network particularly produced specifically by Sasuke, so looking back to when I reunited with Sasuke, I can safely say that his nodes are smaller than they were previously. What this means: I do not know. All I can say is that this cannot mean anything good.

"Something is amiss with your networking," I said. "Surely, you must feel a difference in your body?"

"I do," he admitted, "but it isn't enough to keep me from progressing."

Sasuke attempted to walk past me, but I stopped him by placing a hand on his chest. Staring up at him, I said "You cannot go on like this without some form of treatment. If you have what the villagers had, then you could die. Do you understand how urgent this is?"

"I'm fine," he said.

"On the outside," I mentioned. "You must have already forgotten that I can also see how you are slowly deteriorating on the inside. Sasuke, if you die…"

"I won't," he said with confidence. "Let's decide what to do when we reach the next village." Sasuke cupped my cheek, causing me to jolt at the sudden action as he grazed his thumb across my skin. "I used up the last of my medical supplies on your ankle, so when we get to the Hidden Frost Village, I'll clean the cut you have. It'd be a shame if you got a scar on your face."

I found it difficult to tear my eyes from Sasuke as he touched my face; I had never been so captivated by a man before. It was when I found myself blushing so hard that I felt as though I might faint, that I managed to tear my gaze away, hence, breaking away from his touch.

I placed my hand on the spot he had his prior to pulling away. "I-It is just a scratch… Do not worry about me; you are the priority when we arrive at the next village."

After I caught sight of Sasuke smirking mischievously in my peripheral, I could only wonder how he could make a face so full of such… adoration for me. This is a side of Sasuke I had never known, and I pondered if this is the reason why Sakura fell so hard for him.

It took two days to reach the Hidden Frost Village from the base of the mountain, and throughout the journey, I took care to watch Sasuke. He coughed constantly during the night, he had less stamina, and there were moments where I had to support him because he had some trouble standing on his own. Given that his condition was not stable enough to endure such a long, harsh peregrination, I tried to convince him numerous times to take a break or wait for me to return to him with medical advice from Tsumiko. Every time I offered, he refused. I was forced to assist him along our journey, and thanks to his strong will, we eventually made it to the Hidden Frost Village.

With his right arm slung around my shoulders, Sasuke walked slowly beside me as he breathed heavily from exhaustion.

"We need to find an inn. I do not know how much more you can take," I said.

"Fine," he said almost breathlessly.

Though his answer was short and full of agitation, it was the first compliant response he gave me in the past two days.

The Hidden Frost Village is a small town located close to the border of the Land of Earth that is covered in a light blanket of snow and is known to own an abundance of frozen bodies of water. Unlike the other regions in the Land of Iron, this village does not receive much snowfall and is instead subjugated to hailstorms and raining sleet. This in turn, often covers the ground and houses in a sheet of ice, which is how the Frost Village received its name.

It was not hard to locate the inn, though I noticed many people stared at us on our way there. This would not have bother me much for not the fact that they whispered amongst themselves whilst staring, making me wonder what they were talking about.

Upon seeing us, the innkeeper booked us a room immediately, handing us medical supplies to use in the hopes of stabilizing Sasuke since the nearest medical-nin lived hundreds of kilometers away.

I helped Sasuke to the bed in the small room after taking off his poncho. Once removed, I noticed that Sasuke's body was beginning to break out in a sweat and now that I was looking at him closely, his skin appeared to be paler than usual.

Pressing the back of my hand to his forehead, I deduced that he has a fever.

"You are too ill to move forward," I said.

"No, I can still walk," he insisted.

He attempted to sit up from the bed but I pushed him back down. I said "You need rest and medical attention." I picked up the first aid kit prior to sitting down on a chair next to the head of the bed. Anticipation filled me as I opened the box, but that soon turned to mortification as I sifted through the contents of the box the innkeeper gave us. Nevertheless, I smiled reassuringly at Sasuke. "Even though there is not much here to help you, I will do the best that I can."

Sasuke blinked at me. "You don't have to force yourself to smile; I'm not a kid that needs false hope. I already know how bad this is."

"Regardless, I will do the best that I can," I repeated. "If you insist that I stop giving you false hope, I must tell you to stop trying to be strong all of the time."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean by that?"

"It means that even strong shinobis have limits and that only the strongest know when their limits are met. Everyone who knows about you knows that you are an elite ninja that can instill fear in those who challenges you, but they fail to know how stubborn and thick-skulled you are. If you continue to live on like this, you will meet your end. Out of all the dangers you have concurred and endured, do you really wish to be eliminated by a fever?"

I saw Sasuke clench his jaw as he began to contemplate what his answer should be. Moments later, he asked me "What's in the box?"

Relieved that he was not going to fight with me, I pulled out a towel and a small pill jar containing fast acting fever reducers.

I said "What is happening to you is beyond what a wet towel and pills can cure, but it should stall the symptoms long enough for you to see a doctor in the Land of Earth."

"No doctors," he said.

"What do you mean 'no doctors'? We do not have time for this, Sasuke."

"Exactly. We don't have time. If I get admitted to a hospital, you'll have to continue the mission by yourself."

"I can complete the mission without you. I am strong enough to take care of myself," I said.

"I have no doubts about that, but I would feel better knowing that you have someone accompanying you that will protect you. If I'm not there with you, I will… worry about you," he said.

I felt my face soften at learning how he feels. Though he expressed how caring he could be towards me through actions, he never said so with words.

"As surprising as this may seem, I consider you to be a reliable ally – a friend, if you will," said Sasuke with a pink face.

"A… a friend?" I said. This knowledge filled me with happiness, but along with it came disappointment. Though small, I had feelings for Sasuke that extends beyond friendship. Learning that I am a companion makes me feel like I have been rejected even though I have not confessed what I am feeling for him. Despite that, with a smile, I told him "I am grateful to be considered a friend."

When I stood up from the chair, Sasuke immediately asked me "Where are you going?"

I gestured to the towel in my hand. "This towel will not do much while it is dry." From my knapsack, that now rested on the floor by the foot of the bed, I pulled out my water canteen. I handed it to Sasuke along with a pill to reduce his fever before informing him that I was going to the bathroom across the hall to wet the towel.

Closing the door behind me, I walked to the restroom a few meters down the hall. I only required the sink so I decided to leave the door open as I drenched the towel in lukewarm water. Just as I was about to exit the bathroom, I heard voices from the lobby that made me rethink joining Sasuke so soon. When I stopped to listen to what they were saying, I felt my heart sink.

I heard the innkeeper ask "Are you sure he's the man you're looking for?"

A man with a deep voice said "Yeah, he's definitely the one. The people who saw him described him perfectly."

The voice belonging to a woman said "They said that a girl was with him and that he looked like he was injured. I don't remember there being a girl the last time we fought him."

The man with the deep voice said "No, he was alone."

A new voice – another man – said "It doesn't matter. If she's helping him, we'll kill her too. Sasuke Uchiha is injured. We can't pass this opportunity up."

Without making a sound, I quickly returned to our room, locking the door behind me.

Sasuke instantly knew something was amiss as soon as I reentered the room. He asked me "What's going on?"

"We need to leave now," I said.

"Why?"

"You're being hunted by ronin. They are in the lobby plotting to kill us."

Ronin are rogue ninjas that abandoned their villages to pursue activities that most countries frown upon such as treason, black marketing, and human trafficking. Whatever grudge they harbor against Sasuke might relate to a crime he stopped.

Sasuke sprang up from the bed, losing his balance from dizziness. I caught him and supported him by placing a hand on his back and chest as he held onto my shoulder.

"I'm fine. Let's sneak out through the window," said Sasuke.

With effort, I opened the sole window in the room that had been coated in ice. The sound of the ice breaking apart created a lot of noise so it did not surprise me that once the villagers noticed us that they began to watch us with curiosity. Regardless, I passed through first and then I helped Sasuke.

"The medicine's beginning to work now," he told me after he strayed from my support. "Let's focus on getting to the Hidden Stone Village in the Land of Earth."

My eyes widened. "That is a long trip! Can you handle that?"

"I will do whatever is necessary. If the ronin you mentioned are who I think they are, then we're in trouble. I'm in no condition to fight them and you can't defeat them on your own."

I nodded my head in understanding. "They are bound to notice soon that we are no longer at the inn. If we must move with haste we will be able to reach the village in a few hours."

Sasuke and I sprinted south towards the Land of Earth at full speed, crossing the border within a couple of hours. Now in a new region, I noticed that the temperature spiked exceptionally, thus prompting me to remove my coat as we entered the country. While the Land of Iron is notorious for its brutal cold, the Land of Earth is known for its dry, windy weather. The country is closed off from the rest of the world by a large jagged mountain of rocks that extends across the entirety of the land, so in order to move forward from the Land of Earth, Sasuke and I must get through the mountain.

I had heard once from a native from the Land of Earth a couple of years ago that there is a secret path that goes through the mountain so that you do not have to climb over it, but it is near impossible to find unless you know the Land of Earth's territory or if you have excellent tracking skills. Normally I would just simply climb over the mountain, but with Sasuke worsening, I will have no choice but to use my Byakugan to locate it.

Nearing the Hidden Stone Village, I told Sasuke "We are almost there."

Panting from exhaustion, he said "We aren't going to the village."

Confused, I said "What? Back at the Frost Village, you said-"

"The villagers were listening so I had to give them false information. We're going beyond that to the Land Hidden Behind Waterfalls."

I approached him. "You can't make it that far."

"Would you stop telling me what I can't do? If you want to live, we're going there," he said.

"If you want to live, we will stop by the Hidden Stone Village. The Tsuchikage is indebted to you for saving the world. Surely he will offer protection from the ronin chasing you while you get examined at the hospital."

There are five great countries in the world: the Land of Fire, the Land of Wind, the Land of Water, the Land of Earth, and the Land of Lightning. Like the Hokage of the Land of Fire, the Tsuchikage is the leader of the Land of Earth. And just as the Land of Fire and Land of Earth, the other countries also have leaders ruling over and protecting their land. While the five great nations have not been allies for long, and our past has been proved to be filled with more hate and betrayal than friendship and cooperation, our bond is strong since we all worked together as a whole to stop an even greater threat during the Fourth Great Ninja War.

"We don't have time, Hinata. We need to-" Sasuke stumbled forward, cutting off his speech.

Heart shooting down to the pit of my stomach, I quickly reached out to him to catch his fall. Immediately, I noticed that his skin was clammy and pale, and that his body was shaking in my hold despite the support I was giving him.

"Sasuke, please," I begged.

I locked my eyes with his, hoping that my desperation would convince him to see reason. His expression shifted to a softer one, and just when I thought that was going to give in to my plea, a familiar voice called out from behind us.

"Oh ho! Seems like you didn't get as far as you hoped!" shouted out the voice of a woman.

I felt the color drain from me when I turned around to meet the people from the inn. They were sprinting towards us at full speed with the intent to murder glistening in their eyes.

"Hold onto me and promise me that you will not let go to spare my life over yours," I said to Sasuke.

Sasuke sucked on his teeth in annoyance, but he complied anyway.

Hooking his arm around my shoulders, and after I held onto his waist, we sprinted forward as fast as we could.

With three people chasing us, it was difficult to keep our pace and outrun them, especially when we had to avoid the kunai knives they threw at us. Knowing that in our predicament we could not outmatch their speed, I activated my Byakugan to search for the narrow path among the mountain we were rapidly approaching in the hopes of losing them. Luckily, I easily found the opening and we entered it with the rogue shinobi following suit.

Having to flee with Sasuke directly at my side, maneuvering between the space of the mountain proved to be challenging. While there were many spaces where we were able to run next to each other, the spots where we could not, slowed us down substantially, causing us to push ourselves even harder to escape the shinobis quickly closing in on us.

Fortunately, we eventually met a break where we were met by a fork in the road. With my Byakugan, I saw this coming before we even entered the small space, and knew which one to travel through upon arrival, so, taking Sasuke, we slipped through the narrow passage which was sure to lead us to the exit on the other side. We ran through as fast as our bodies would allow, realizing at some point in our escape that no more footsteps could be heard closing in from behind us. Had not been for my visual jutsu, I would have been fooled to believe that no one was pursuing us; however, I saw the woman following us.

"The men took the wrong path, but the woman is still chasing us," I mentioned.

"Stop running," said Sasuke.

Unable to believe what I heard, I asked "W-What?"

"She's alone. Now is our chance to take her out."

I shook my head. "No."

Knowing that I would not abide by his wishes, Sasuke broke free from me. At first he lost his footing when he now had to support himself, but he soon gained his equilibrium back, and he activated his visual jutsu: a Sharingan in his right eye and a Rinnegan in his left as he waited for our threat to appear.

The Rinnegan is a purple eye with a ripple pattern that spreads over the eyeball. Unlike most jutsu that is inherited through blood, such as the Byakugan and the Sharingan, the Rinnegan does not belong to a clan and is instead gifted to very few by the spirit of Hagoromo Otsutsuki. When Sasuke was on the brink of death during the war, Hagoromo visited Sasuke and turned his left Sharingan into a Rinnegan by giving him half of his chakra. Because of that, the war was won.

The Rinnegan has a wide range of abilities, and depending on the user, those abilities vary. Sasuke in particular can shift spaces within close proximity of himself and create portals to other dimensions. In a general sense, the Rinnegan is able to see chakra, chakra flow, and chakra nodes, but they cannot see that through smoke and it cannot see as well as the Byakugan. Users can also master any jutsu from the five natures (fire, earth, water, wind, and lightning) with ease. There are other abilities it possesses such as repulsing and attracting targets, summoning animals, and absorbing chakra, but the range of techniques is so large that it is hard to keep track of them all.

I held onto Sasuke's arm, tugging him down the narrow path.

He did not budge.

"Please, Sasuke. You cannot fight her in your condition," I said.

He did not respond, choosing to lock his sights on the direction of our enemy.

"At least let me fight her. I can do it," I said.

"That will take too long," he said.

I felt my heart begin to race from panic at the anticipation of what might happen if Sasuke were to engage a duel.

"Please…" I said once more.

"There you are!" shouted the woman pursuing us.

Kunai in hand, the woman lunged high into the air. As she came back down ready to strike, I moved forward to step in front of Sasuke, but he pushed me back so hard that I hit the ground.

I sprung to my feet almost as fast as I fell with the full intent of rushing towards the ronin, however, by the time I got to my feet, I saw Sasuke raise his hand in the direction of the woman and I knew that I was too late.

Electricity coursed through his arm, sending out a large surge of lightning from his hand. The woman evaded the attack that was sure to bring her death, but she could not avoid the onslaught of rocks crashing down from the impact of the lightning. One hit her on the head, causing her to fall to the ground, and, unable to recover in time, the slough of boulders to follow made her meet her end. They not only crushed her body, they also blocked the path her partners would take to find us.

The sigh of relief that I breathed once witnessing the ronin meet her demise was short-lived when I saw Sasuke's visual jutsu deactivate and his eyes roll to the back of his head. Once I took notice to his body turning limp, I rushed to catch him before he landed on the ground. Now in my arms, my blood ran cold upon realizing that Sasuke was not breathing.