An amazing thing about peace befalling the world after the war is that we have no enemies, which means that nations and countries are more inclined to share clothing, scrolls, weapons, jutsu, food, and new inventions such as – my personal favorite – the washing machine. Even though it cannot wash delicate clothing like my silk kimono, it most certainly can clean my ninja gear that had been sullied with mud. As it washed in the machine, and my kimono soaked in the bathroom sink, I showered to rid my body and hair of all the sweat and dirt I managed to collect within the past few days. Once I finished taking care of my personal hygiene, I had forgotten how good it felt to be clean.
Since I had no clothing to wear at the moment, I borrowed one of the inn's white robes and I sat on the bed in the next room while I waited for the washing cycle to finish. In the meantime, I sorted out my ninja tools, but boredom soon birthed within me and I let my mind wander.
The topic that occupied my thoughts was my betrothal to Lord Toneri. While marrying him is undoubtedly the safest option, the more I pondered on the matter, the more sense it made to take his life. Sasuke was right. Marrying him will not solve any problems – it will just create more – so as I tried to figure out how to achieve my goal, I received a knock at my door. I answered it, and my heart fluttered upon meeting Sasuke on the other side.
He did not wait for an invitation, stepping in as he pleased, to which I had to shut the door behind him.
"What brings you here?" I asked as I tucked a strand of wet hair behind my ear.
"I just wanted to check on you."
"I am fine." I studied his face, noticing that he looked troubled. "Are you alright?"
"You shouldn't be asking me that," he said with a frown.
"Why not? Your well-being concerns me, just as mine concerns you. You look like something is bothering you."
He narrowed his eyes. "My well-being shouldn't be part of your concerns right now."
"It is. I care for you, Sasuke." I took a step towards him. My heart pounded so loudly that I feared he would hear it at our proximity. "What is troubling you?"
He appeared to be contemplating whether he should share his concerns with me or not, but he soon decided to do just that. "I'm trying not to think about it for your sake, but my mind keeps replaying it. I can't help wondering what might have happened if I hadn't gotten to you in time." Sasuke tightened his fist. "Seeing that bastard almost defile you reminded me that I should not let you go so easily. I love you, Hinata."
I became flustered from his abrupt revelation. "S-Sasuke… I…"
"I know my confession is falling on deaf ears, but I can't let you marry Toneri without telling you how I truly feel. When we get back to the Leaf, I won't try to stop you, though if he does anything that puts you in harm's way, I'll kill him myself."
"I have been thinking actually," I said. "You are right. Fulfilling the arraignment will cause more harm than good. I should kill Lord Ton- no, I should simply say Toneri."
Surprised, Sasuke asked "What made you change your mind?"
"The shinobi that attacked me earlier made me realize that might actually happen to me at some point in my marriage, and I cannot bear to even think about that." I paused. "And you. You also changed my mind… I have been putting it off for the sake of my clan, but I can no longer do that. I have feelings for you, and it is not just a crush. The way you make me feel is greater than anything I have ever felt for anyone before, and I… I think I am beginning to-" I stopped myself. "No, I do love y-"
Before I could even finish, Sasuke pulled me against him, his lips on mine. A surge of heat rushed through me as I indulged in his fervent kisses, and then, when my lips parted against his, he slipped his tongue in. Startled at first, I did not know how to proceed, but then I relaxed once I felt Sasuke's warm hand move to the small of my back, and I did my best to follow suit as he explored the threshold of my mouth.
Gently, yet dominantly, he kissed me with skill that I never thought possible, and I wondered how many other girls he kissed like this. The thought lingered on my mind, but only for a second because he soon pushed me towards one of the corners of the room, and, pressed between him and the wall, I felt myself melting in his hold. He kissed me there for a little while longer before breaking from me, leaving us both panting.
"I did not get a chance to finish," I said.
"You didn't have to." In my peripheral, I saw his knuckle clench as his face suddenly contorted into one of shame. "I'm sorry – this must scare you. I got so excited that I couldn't control myself. After what happened, you probably think I might-"
"Never. You would never hurt me, Sasuke." I felt my expression soften, and I reached up to caress his face. "True. What almost occurred frightened me, however, my mind is clear. I am at my safest when I am with you."
Shame replaced with a candid smile, Sasuke's lips met my mine, gently planting soft kisses to which I anxiously reciprocated. Then, he abandoned my mouth, holding onto my waist as he did so, to leave light kisses on my neck. Somewhere along the line, my hand found its way into his soft, dark hair. My pulse quickened at the heat each kiss left me, despite how delicate they were, and I felt myself melting against him. When I felt his tongue flick across my skin, my heart lurched and I said with haste "Wait, we should stop."
Though he disagreed, he did not fight me and, still wedging me between him and the wall, he removed his lips from my neck.
"I do not want this to lead into something more."
Given our current setting and my attire, it would be very easy to take this towards the next step, more so because of our physical statuses. I could just barely see the shape of Sasuke through his pants and as he was kissing me, I felt my body reacting as well. Even now as I stood there with Sasuke so close to me, there was a slight sensation of wetness forming where my legs meet.
"Are you afraid?" he asked.
I met his desire filled eyes, positive that my eyes held the same amount of lust. "No. Not when I am with you."
"Then what's holding you back?"
I bit my bottom lip, worried what he might say once I told him: "Despite how difficult it is to resist temptation, I do not want to fornicate. I want my first time to be through consummation, and consummation alone."
He raised an eyebrow. "Are you proposing to me?"
The blood rushed to my head, and I averted my eyes from him, casting them to the wooden floor beneath our feet. "I-I… u-um, n-no, I…"
A laugh expelled from his mouth, and my heart fluttered as I listened and watched in interest. I never knew a laugh to sound so captivating.
"If you want to marry me, I'll accept your offer, but first we have to take out the person who's trying to shove his name down your throat."
I nodded my head. "He has many puppets guarding him, so I do not know how to approach this efficiently without causing too much damage. There is also the matter of the weapons in his possession."
Sasuke left me to stand at the room's center. "How many weapons does he have?"
"I do not know. I gave one to Tenten to study, Yuji Fuma currently has one, and one of the puppets that Toneri is spying on me with also has one. If there are more that exist, hopefully the number is scarce."
"They use the energy from the vessels to repulse someone with an incredible force and speed. We have been destroying any vessel we see, so maybe the weapons have lost their power or, at least, weakened."
At the sound of the washing machine signaling me that it completed its cycle, I moved to the bathroom, leaving the door open so I could speak to Sasuke, and as I placed my gear in the drying machine, I said "When I destroyed the first energy vessel to power the weapon, the tool lost its power completely. I would like to assume that applies to all weapons, but then again, the first weapon was a prototype. Toneri might have invented something by now to give his tools infinite energy given that the puppet spying on me used a weapon after I already eliminated the vessels in this country."
"If he has, that means the only way to shut them down without recovery is by killing Toneri."
Taking the parts of my kimono soaking in the sink, I hung them over the tub to dry. "Not only that, taking his life will deactivate his control over the puppets." I rejoined Sasuke in the bedroom. "In the Leaf, I saw he had many puppets following him, and it appears that he also has an unknown amount of them outside the Land of Fire."
"Yeah, he does. I saw countless of them long before I found you in the Land of Iron."
Puppet masters can control their marionettes by connecting threads of chakra from their fingers to their puppet's joints. If the puppeteer's hands are disabled, or if one manages to cut the threads binding the puppeteer to the marionette, then the technique is neutralized, thus rendering the user as vulnerable. The maximum number of puppets that a puppeteer can control is ten (one for each finger), but Toneri most certainly has more than that. Not just that – he does not control his puppets with thread. They can travel long distances and function properly in unison without his constant command, which is something that I have never seen before.
"So, this means everything ends with taking Toneri's life…" I said.
"Yeah, though it's getting late and your clothes are wet. If we leave at first light tomorrow, we will reach the Hidden Leaf Village by noon. When we get there, we should meet with the others to discuss a course of action."
Sasuke placed his hand on the doorknob to exit the space. Once he gripped it, I called out to him with noticeable hesitation.
He turned his head to face me. "Yes?"
"D-Did… Did you mean it when you said that you would accept my offer for marriage?"
He stared at me, mouth slightly agape, and then it curved into a smile. "Yes, I meant it, though, I would rather have you take my last name. I don't think 'Sasuke Hyuga' is very suiting."
When he left the room, I stood there surprised that he readily accepted my proposal even though I never truly offered my hand. Still, it filled me with a happiness that I had not experienced in a long time.
XxX
We met at the gate of the Hidden Waterfall Village just as the sun peeked over the horizon, and we set out in the direction of the Land of Fire briefly upon reuniting.
Our peregrination did not take us long, for we reached the country in a couple of hours, and we approached the western gate to the Leaf Village a few hours more after that. Just standing in the Land of Fire without entering the village took away my homesickness and anticipation ran through me as Sasuke and I drew closer to the entrance. However, meters away from entering, I heard a familiar barking behind me.
I turned around to see Akamaru spring from the bushes in the forest surrounding the village. He rushed towards me, tail wagging, and I welcomed him as he greeted me.
"Akamaru?" I said. "What are you doing outside of the village?"
He stopped licking my face as he climbed off my body. Moments later, Kiba dashed through the bushes and before I could say anything, he wrapped his arms around me, pulling me into a tight hug.
"K-Kiba?" Rustling in the bushes from which Kiba and Akamaru came, my other teammate arrived. "Shino? What is going on?"
"I knew I smelled you!" said Kiba. He pulled back, but continued to hold onto me by my shoulders. "As soon as Akamaru got a whiff, he took off running."
"We've all been searching for you for weeks," said Shino.
"Yeah, we were worried. Everyone pitched in to help us find you," said Kiba.
"E-Everyone?" I said.
As if the breeze blew them in, our friends Sai, Ino, Choji, Shikamaru, Rock Lee, Sakura, and Naruto met up with us, taking their places behind my teammates. Upon landing on her feet after sprinting through the trees, Sakura's green eyes widened when she noticed Sasuke. She ran to him, hugging him as if her life depended on it.
"Thank goodness you're alright!" she exclaimed, tears welling up in her eyes. "I've been trying to contact you for months! I thought that…. I thought that something might have happened to you."
"I'm fine," replied Sasuke.
Sasuke stared down at Sakura with disinterest while she looked up at him with adoration. Watching her interact with him caused jealousy to emerge within me. I had hoped that no one saw the dark expression I made while staring at my friend, but Kiba noticed.
Arms crossed, he whispered to me "Seems like you've joined the fangirl group on your little adventure with Sasuke."
I blushed. "N-No, it is not like that."
He smirked mischievously. "I've known you for seven years. There's no way you can fool me, Hinata."
"Sorry to break up our reunion, but we have bigger problems right now," said Shikamaru.
"What kind of problems?" asked Sasuke.
"It turns out that Hinata's fiancé is crazy. Your father sure knows how to pick them," said Ino.
My heart sunk. "What do you mean by 'crazy'? Is my family alright?"
Shikamaru lazily scratched the back of his head. "Yeah. They're fine, but they might not be for long. Toneri has been holding them hostage inside the estate since he returned from the Land of Iron weeks ago. With each passing day that you haven't returned to the Leaf, the more restless he becomes. Some Hyugas were able to escape, but your father and sister are still in there."
"Why have you not done anything to save them?" I asked, trying to hide the urgency in my voice.
"We tried, however, your home is surrounded by a barrier that none of us can touch," said Rock Lee. "Every time we touch it, it saps our chakra."
"The Hyuga clansmen that escaped are able to touch it, but they don't have enough power to break the barrier even when they focus their power in unison," said Sai.
A strong sense of uneasiness took over me as I brooded over the chances of my family's safety. Meanwhile, Sasuke managed to escape from Sakura, taking his place beside me. Firmly, he touched my shoulder, which lessened the anxiety I felt almost instantly as he offered me a kind smile. I looked up at him, reciprocating the gesture.
"The Hyuga clan is the strongest in the Leaf Village. I'm sure your father and younger sister are alright," Sasuke assured me.
"Yes," I said, "you are right."
Our attention from each other was taken once we felt the eyes of our friends watching us with apparent interest.
"You two seem to have gotten… close," said Ino as she observed us curiously.
I did my best not to blush, and I successfully prevented it. Sasuke, however, cared less about their scrutiny and said "Yeah, we have. That's bound to happen after being forced to rely on one another for survival." He turned to Shikamaru. "Where are the Hyuga members that escaped now?"
Everyone seemed to think of his gesture as a friendly one, returning to business.
"They're all hiding expect for Ko. He's at Tenten's place," said Shikamaru.
Relief washed over me. "Ko is alright? Does he know anything regarding to the status inside of the barrier?"
"We asked, but he didn't say much," replied Choji.
Sai shrugged. "He doesn't seem to trust us very much."
"You're gonna have to talk to him," said Kiba. "Even when Shino and I try to get him to spill information, he won't do it."
"That is just how Ko is," I said.
"Well, since you're here now, he's going to have to talk. Let's all meet up at Tenten's," said Shikamaru.
Everyone entered the village, heading in the direction of Tenten's apartment. Sasuke and I moved to follow them, his hand on the small of my back to lead me in once our friends' attention was now focused on the tragedy at hand. But Sakura halted us, her watery eyes filled with contempt. She saw through his gesture.
She said "So, after all the times I poured my heart out to you, you go off and do this? How could you, Hinata? How could you do something so selfish? I never expected this from you."
"Sakura, I never intended for this to happen," I said. I glanced up at Sasuke who had removed his hand from the small of my back. "Neither of us did."
"Yet, it happened. Somehow." Sakura looked at Sasuke. "Did you even read the letters I sent you?"
He said "I read them, but I chose not to reply because I knew you'd get false hope about us starting a relationship. What you put in those letters held more than concern for my well-being."
She put her hands on her hips. "If you didn't want to be with me, you should have made it clear."
"I have. I've made it clear ever since we were kids. I care for you, Sakura, I always have, but not in the same way you care for me. Hinata is the one I want to be with."
Her pretty face contorted into anger. "I can't believe this…"
"Don't be angry with Hinata. She resisted what I threw at her because she was thinking of her family and because she was thinking of you. As much as you may think she betrayed you, she didn't." Sasuke paused. "I see you as a sister, Sakura. There's no way we could have ever been together."
Hurt flashed in her eyes.
"I should have known you still had feelings for him." Walking back from the village, Naruto joined us, pain lingering in his blue eyes. "So, while you were with me, you were thinking of him, is that it?"
Sakura peered up at Naruto, remorse and panic taking over most of her anger. "Naruto, now isn't a good time."
"It's the perfect time," Naruto exclaimed as he threw his arms up in the air. "Sasuke's right – don't be mad at Hinata. You don't have the right to be mad at her, not when you betrayed her."
My heart lurched. "What… What do you mean?" I asked.
"While you were missing, Sakura and I slept together."
The words had no meaning when they reached my ears, but when I took my attention away from Naruto to look at Sakura, her face gave those words life. My eyes widened at learning this piece of information, though I chose not to react. I had much larger problems to deal with.
"I do not want to keep Ko waiting any longer than he has. We should go," I said.
Sakura could not bring herself to look at me as I brushed past her. There were many things I wished to say to her, however, reaching Tenten's home before Toneri noticed my return caused me to have a very limited amount of time to linger here further. Her betrayal hurt me, though I could not show it. The only thing I could allow to weigh on my mind was how to kill my fiancé.