Crimson Seal - 13
Miss me?
He had settled himself against the wall outside of his brother's room, staring at the wall opposite him for a good portion of the night, just trying to make sense of everything. Everything involving the girl in the room behind him, Hinata, who was currently fast asleep. She had remained that way since Itachi left, after dumping the fact that he had been watching them from a distance. That he had been watching her because she was his fiance.
It still sounded ridiculous in his ears. Sasuke knew his brother had no reason to lie, but he kept wondering why he hadn't known any of this before. Why his mother hadn't told him.
He turned his head so his ear was pressed to the wood, confirming Hinata's breathing was still even before he got up from the floor to walk into his parent's room. It didn't take long until his gaze settled on a picture of the two of them and he walked over, picking it up before sitting down on their bed. There was no cloud of dust when he did this, so Itachi must have cleaned the room up himself when he was here. Usually Sasuke kept it in a pristine condition, but his training hadn't allowed him to do that lately. He fell back onto the bed, drinking in the calming scent of his mother's chosen scented candles.
One was currently lit on her vanity, that had become more of a shrine as the years had passed. Itachi must have lit it earlier, possibly when he first got here as only a fourth of the wax remained within the small container.
Why hadn't she said anything to him? The question repeated in his head as he stared at her smiling face, alongside his father's semi-grin. Even his father hadn't said a word about it. Neither had Itachi, up until now that is.
Had they meant for it to be a secret? He supposed at the tender age of two, keeping a secret wouldn't really be a possibility, even so... Surely they could have said something to him when he was older? Perhaps he simply hadn't gotten old enough for them to tell him before...
He raised a hand to rub at his eyes, keeping his vision clear as he gazed up at his parents. That had to be it. They hadn't been given the opportunity to tell him when they would have wanted to. And now, since they were dead, Itachi had told him about the contract between his clan and the Hyuuga.
That in itself was also confusing. Especially when he took into account the time when the contract was even made. He remembered hearing of the two clans being openly hostile with each other for years, not including the ones after he was two though. The usual animosity had simmered down and only the Hyuuga seemed to try and pick a fight at times. In those instances a member of his clan would respond in kind, a simple kindling for the fire that still brewed between the two clans. But if the Hyuuga had drawn up a marriage contract with them and these confrontations were down to a minimum, then at the very least they had been trying to reconcile and bring the two clans together.
The marriage contract must have been made with the intention to stop the hostility between them completely. Though, he didn't know who had offered up the suggestion, it seemed beneficial to all members that must have been involved with it. But was that even necessary anymore? It was just him and Itachi and though, he hadn't cared for the Hyuuga before this he could only feel his own blood simmer with that old hate for them.
What was this seal they had wanted to place on Hinata? Itachi had specifically asked that he didn't let the Hyuuga elder near her, but he was sure that no one that worked for the elder should be close to her either. This didn't seem to include her father, though. That man hadn't asked a single Hyuuga to go and find his missing daughter. In fact, he didn't seem to even acknowledge that she could potentially be missing. Of course, it made sense now.
Hiashi would have been involved with the contract and if Hinata had been taken by someone other than Sasuke, Itachi surely would have hunted them down. The man just clearly wasn't concerned about his daughter when his brother was so intent on protecting her. Whether it be from ninja outside this village or her own clan. Itachi hadn't mentioned a word about Hiashi, either. Then, at the very least - he assumed - he should be able to trust Hiashi with Hinata if she went back to the Hyuuga Compound now that she was better.
If.
He wasn't sure if he should allow that or not if she did try to leave. After what the elder had said...
"They're not getting the byakugan from her. That secret remains with us, no matter what. Got it?"
Sasuke could suddenly hear his blood rushing beneath the skin, quickly heating up as anger pounded through his veins, until it was like molten lava running through his body.
That... that disgusting old Hyuuga! Thinking his clan had simply agreed to the contract to obtain the byakugan, and even if that was part of the reason for it... How could he still think that with the condition of his clan? It was only him and Itachi after all! How much of a threat could they be to the elder? Someone who obviously couldn't see past his own nose and likely couldn't find his ass if he used both hands.
The damned seal. It had to do something to her byakugan ability. Seal it.
Sasuke's vision flashed red, temporarily making the photo in front of him appear to be covered in blood.
If the elder even attempted to come near his sister again with that jutsu he'd cut the old fool's own byakugan eyes from his head!
/ / /
She giggled softly as Naruto creeped forward, closer and closer to his target. It was with a wink back at her that he raised a hand to knock on the door then dodged into the bushes nearby.
Sakura covered her hand to stifle her laughter when after a few seconds she could hear footsteps approaching from the other side of the door. When she heard them stop in their path she quickly lowered her hand, fixing her facial features so that she didn't look like she was about to burst out laughing.
The door swung open slowly in the next second and she smiled to see Sasuke standing there in the doorway, lips pulled down into some half-scowl. Perhaps they had come too early in the morning, but it was done now.
"Sakura," Sasuke said in such a lone tone it sent a shiver down her spine in anticipation. Suddenly she wished she had come alone. "What is Naruto doing with you?"
She froze, but the other person in the bushes did not. Naruto threw himself out of the foliage, past the doorway, to collide with Sasuke's body in a matter of seconds. "Good morning!" Their universal idiot block-head friend announced to all the abandoned buildings within earshot, surely startling a few ghosts from their collective slumber.
There was a loud thump as the two of them hit the floor and Sakura moved inside quickly to reach their side. "Are you okay?"
"No," Sasuke's reply was instant. "I got an idiot on top of me at five in the damn morning." Sasuke was glaring up at Naruto as he said the words.
Naruto only laughed in response though, jumping up and off Sasuke just a second before the other boy would surely have hit him. "Aren't you just a little bit happy to see me?"
"Is that a serious question?" Sasuke snapped as he got up, moving beyond Naruto to slam the door closed behind him. At least he was kicking either of them out for coming here so early.
"Yes," Naruto replied too fast, with a grin plastered over his face.
"That one was meant to be rhetorical."
"Take it easy you two," Sakura said with a laugh. "We only meant to come and get you for some early training as a group before you went to see Kakashi-" she stopped mid-sentence as her eyes fell on a young girl in the room, having still not said a word, staring at the three of them with wide white eyes.
Hinata Hyuuga.
But what was she doing here? In Sasuke's house? At this time in the morning? Wasn't she... wasn't she suppose to be missing for kami's sake? Or had she been here this whole time?
"Damn." She could barely hear Sasuke as her blood roared in her ears.
"What are you doing here?" Sakura yelled as loud as her vocal cords would allow. "Why are you in Sasuke's house? How did you get in here? Did you sneak in at night to watch my beloved Sasuke?" Sakura covered the distance between the two of them quickly, to tower over the other girl as she yelled, "When did you get here? You've been missing from the hospital for nearly a week now! What the hell are you doing here? Answer me!"
Hinata only stared up at her though, legs curled up now so her knees bumped into her chin. "I... I..." she was stammering out only the one word, repeatedly.
Suddenly she felt a finger poke against her back. "Nope. That wasn't it."
Every muscle in her body twitched at hearing Naruto's voice and she turned to face him with a scowl to rival Hiashi's. "What are you doing Naruto?"
His finger jabbed into her stomach now and he peered up at her with an awkward grin since he was bent over. She folded her arms beneath her chest in response. "I was looking for your personality switch."
"My..." Her fingers curled into a fist. "Such a thing doesn't exist, you idiot!"
"Ow!" Naruto was doubled over in the next second, clutching his head that she had just struck with her fist. "So violent. You really should get that checked," Naruto muttered, hands still covering his head. Upon seeing her eyes narrowing who threw his hands up, though. "Joking! Joking! I'm a jester! Don't hurt me!"
With a huff Sakura turned from Naruto, jumping over the coffee table to Sasuke's side, who was currently looking down at Naruto with obvious distaste. "Did you let that girl into your house?"
His gaze quickly settled on her. "Of course I did. And her name's Hinata, remember? You went to check on her the day she went missing from the hospital."
"Oh, yeah." Sakura let out a nervous laugh, twisting a few strands of hair around one finger. Maybe she shouldn't have yelled like that after trying to be nice to a fellow rookie, especially one that had been missing for some time. "So, why is she here?"
Sasuke sighed rather loudly before answering her question, "The Hyuuga Elder was going to place some seal on her when she couldn't protect herself. I'm the one who took her from the hospital to prevent that from happening. She's been staying here ever since. Hinata was still sick at the time so I had to take care of her."
Oh. She felt her body relax at this news. So he was just protecting her. Exactly the sort of thing her Sasuke would do! She smiled at him, glancing over her shoulder at Hinata. "Sorry. It's good to see your doing well."
"Th-thank you," Hinata murmured in reply, her own gaze slipping from hers after a second.
Hmm maybe she had been too hard on her. Well, she did have some good news for Sasuke then if he had to take care of her because of some politicial mess with the Hyuugas.
Sakura turned back to Sasuke with a grin. "You know Kurenai and her team are back, right? They were just coming in from the gates not too long ago, but they'll probably hear about Hinata's supposed kidnapping in a little bit and start looking for her. I doubt it'll take them very long to find her with-"
"Her team is back?" Sasuke interrupted her, staring at her with an intense gaze she had never seen before.
"Yeah."
"Can you and Naruto stay here for a bit? And don't tell the Hyuuga where Hinata is. I need to go and tell them what happened."
"Sure," Sakura managed to say just before Sasuke had opened the door and disappeared from her sight. "I'll see you when you get back!" Sakura called out, already feeling giddy at the prospect of staying in Sasuke's house for any amount of time. Even if it was with Naruto...
"We'll be here!" Naruto called out, apparently having gotten over his sore head now.
She hit him in the head again just to make sure he wouldn't be a complete nuisance and end up destroying anything of Sasuke's before he got back home. He had put the house in her care after all.
/ / /
His footsteps are quick, leaving the brick panes on the roofs of the houses rattling even after he has passed them. Where are they? Where is Hinata's squad?
There's a bark to his right and he stops, turning quickly and raising an arm just as Akamaru jumps from a nearby rooftop to grip his forearm in his jaw. A sigh of relief escapes him at having found them so quickly. Partially because this dog of Kiba's must have been following Hinata's scent to his own house. It explained why the four of them were in the Uchiha Compound anyway.
"Hey Akamaru! This is not time to be playing. We have to find Hinata-" Kiba stopped speaking the moment he was on the same roof as the two of them, sniffing at the air, then his eyes narrowed at Sasuke. "Where is she? What did you do to her?"
"Kiba," Kurenai reprimanded him an instant later as she also landed on the rooftop, the worry for one of her students clear in those red eyes.
Sasuke loosened the muscles in his arm, letting Akamaru know he wasn't a threat so his jaws wound open and release his arm from the confines of sticky dog slobber. That dog must only be able to scent Hinata because it spent so much time around her. There was no other explanation for how it could smell her out with the jutsu he had placed around his house to stop anyone from finding Hinata in such a manner. Most of which he found in books from his parents' room.
"I didn't do anything to her and I would appreciate it if you didn't allow anyone following you to find her at my house."
"No one's following us," Shino said, staring at him with a look that was clearly asking for an explanation.
"Good." Sasuke stepped from the roof, falling between the building to a back alley below. He didn't have to wait long before they joined him where they wouldn't be spotted so easily. Not that anyone usually came into the Uchiha residence except him that is. "Hinata became stable while you were away and was allowed visitors," he began to explain. "Since you weren't here at the time though, Naruto, Sakura, and me were all suppose to go and check on her. The other two got there early and were thrown out by the nurse some time later. I'm not sure how long they were there, but I was only a few minutes late so when they left I entered Hinata's room. She wasn't in critical condition like the nurse had suggested and I would have left her there with my own get well token like originally planned before I heard her grandfather in the hall."
Kiba visibly tensed at these words and though, he couldn't see any change in Shino he was sure the final exam competitor was equally disturbed by this news. Kurenai didn't move a muscle, just continued to gaze at him with those blood red eyes, ones that now held a tinge of disgust in them. Like she knew what he was about to say.
"He was talking about a seal and placing it on Hinata. When I first entered the room she was sleeping, but not too long after she was coming out of it and when she heard him speaking about this seal she practically froze up in terror. I saw this and since the elder was getting closer to the room, telling his companions to hold her down if she struggled. So I took her from the room before that could happen. She only had a small cold at the time so I hid her in my house. Which is what led to this rumor of her being missing or kidnapped, depending on who you ask."
Kiba's jaw was clenched when he finally stopped speaking, watching them to gauge their reactions.
A moment later Kiba exploded, "That bastard! If I ever get my hands on him for even thinking about putting that seal on Hinata I-I'll... urgh! I can't believe her own grandfather would do such a thing. I thought her father was bad with the way he treats Hinata like she's less than an insect, but this, this is going too far! Sensei," Kiba turned quickly when he spoke to face Kurenai. "Shouldn't we bring this matter to the Hokage? They have no right to even attempt place that seal on her!"
"This isn't a matter concerning the village, Kiba. It's a Hyuuga matter and it stays in their jurisdiction if she gets the seal placed on her or not."
"Are you saying it's okay for them to do that to her! Just because she lost her position as heiress of the clan to her younger sister? That's ridiculous!" Kiba yelled, Akamaru barking in agreement beside the ninja.
"No, I'm not." Kurenai's gaze moved from Kiba to settle on Sasuke. "Thank you for getting Hinata out of there before they placed the seal on her."
Sasuke only gave a nod to acknowledge her words before asking, "What is this seal the elder wants to place on her?"
Kiba spun around to face Sasuke once again, somehow managing to look even more outraged than before. "It's to keep the byakugan sealed after her death, but it can also be used to punish those with it by sending pain signals throughout the body directly to the brain."
What?
"That seal is for the Cadet Branch of the house. There's no reason for her to have it," Shino muttered and Sasuke could hear the anger in his own voice, it was filling the air like poison.
"Hinata's of the Main branch." He felt stupid for pointing out such an obvious fact, but he didn't understand why they would place it on her if it's suppose to be used on those other members of the Hyuuga clan.
"Yes," Shino agreed, voice much more calm than Kiba's. It was certainly easier to listen to and didn't make his blood boil quite so fast. "But originally the youngest child has it placed on them at the age of three even if there in the Main Branch, because it's used to control those that aren't an heir. Hinata lost her position, though so her grandfather must want her to take up the seal as tradition would dictate. Like with Hiashi and Hizashi."
But Hiashi wasn't the one pushing this tradition onto Hinata. For whatever reason, he wasn't interested in placing the seal on his daughter. Sasuke rather hoped it was because she was his daughter, but if it was because of the contract between their clans then that was just fine. Still, her father clearly hasn't been treating her well either. What if the contract had something to do with his behavior to Hinata as well? He was fine with trusting the man, but he didn't want Hinata around her father anymore if that's how he treated her.
Sasuke was silent for a moment as he allowed himself to absorb all of this information. "Okay. So you won't tell the Hyuuga where she is then?"
Kiba let out a snort at the suggestion, letting Sasuke know his opinion on that matter quickly enough. Shino simply said, "Of course not."
"I'll need to tell Hiashi." Sasuke felt his heart skip a beat at Kurenai's words.
"I don't want the Hyuuga to know where she is!" They have no buisness knowing where she is! Couldn't his sister's squad leader see that?
Kurenai sighed, eyes closing a second later. "I'm not going to tell her grandfather or the rest of the clan anything other than she's okay if they ask me about her whereabouts. It's her father's right to know where she is, though. Surely it's fine if he knows?" Her eyes opened them, challenging him to go against her judgement.
But he didn't have a single problem with that proposed plan. "That's fine."
"I'll see you later, then." Kurenai jumped upwards a second later, probably heading toward the Hyuuga Compound to tell Hinata's father about her whereabouts, whether he cared to know about it or not.
"Are you going to stop us from seeing Hinata as well?"
Sasuke glanced away from the open air to Shino. "No. You can come over whenever you like."
"Then you do realize that the Hyuuge Clan will eventually learn where Hinata is once she starts going on her missions again or sees her with us around the village?"
"Yeah," Sasuke replied. He just didn't want them to know right away, let that grandfather of hers squirm a bit more.
"Well then, let's go."
Sasuke was about to nod his head, but stopped himself, focusing his gaze on both of his fellow ninja. "You won't let her grandfather near her, will you?" As much as he wanted to keep an eye on her and fulfill his promise to Itachi he couldn't be there all the time.
"He'll have to use his best jutsu techniques if he wants to get anywhere near Hinata," Kiba said, forming a fist with one hand to strike at his own open palm a moment later.
Sasuke allowed himself to nod his head then. He wouldn't need to be at her side constantly then with these two looking out for her. He took off down the alley then, making his way back to his own house.
He slammed to a stop just before he ran into the door. Sasuke could hear Sakura raging at Naruto for something beyond the door and he instantly regretted letting that particular idiot into his house. He slid the door open, taking one step into the house to asses just what was going on.
It didn't take long for him to figure out what was wrong, though. Hinata was still on the couch, now curled against the arm of it, furthest from the other two. Sakura's shouts at Naruto for breaking a glass were even louder now. All it took was one step to get close enough to Naruto, to grasp at the back of his bright ass jacket and tug him up from the ground, throwing the pest over his shoulder and out the door with his own yell, "Get out of my house!"
The collision of Naruto encountering the wall beyond him rang in his ears for a moment, it was followed by a thump quickly after as Naruto must have slid down the stone to hit the ground.
"Sasuke!" Sakura was moving quickly over to him, but stopped when his gaze landed on her.
"I need to go and train with Kakashi soon. So leave, for now." He almost bit his tongue to keep his anger from seeping through into his voice. None of which really had to do with Naruto, but what he had learned not too long ago about Hinata and that seal. "Hinata," he turned his gaze to her now as Sakura walked past him and out of the house, probably going to see if Naruto was okay now. "Your squad is here."
Hinata wasn't looking at him, though, but past him to the open door. "Kiba. Shino."
"Sorry we took so long getting back, Hinata." Kiba's voice told him that the ninja was grinning when he spoke, hiding the anger that had been there not too long ago.
"Want to take a walk?" Shino asked.
"Uh," Hinata's gaze moved from her squad to Sasuke and he gave a nod of his head. He had led them here, so he didn't have a problem with her leaving with them at the moment. Since he was going to be training with Kakashi again it was better she had someone to protect her while her grandfather was still trying to sniff out her location. "Sure."
"Great." Kiba's words were followed by an enthusiastic bark.
As Hinata was passing by him to exit the building he muttered a quick, "Be back by nightfall."
Hinata paused in her step, glancing to him and giving a small nod in response. "Okay." Then she was out of the house, with Shino and Kiba at her side. She would be fine then. His sister would be fine for now.