Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, it's characters, or any aspect of it. It all belongs to Masashi Kishimoto

The Beauty of Power

Chapter 5

Sasuke sat in the living room of the estate, he had on a men's white kimono, and he stared at the wall. The small cut that the Hyuuga heiress had inflicted upon him was nothing, but a faint scar. However, the Uchiha heir didn't really care, hell, his whole body was covered with scars. Scars from the multitude of the battles juxtaposed with the dark enigmatic symbol of the cursed seal. Yet, the laceration reminded the Uchiha heir that there was some potential in that Hyuuga heiress. Shit, not many people could actually get close enough to the Uchiha heir with his sharingan activated, and scratch him. He had promised not to kill her, but Sasuke felt the need to elaborate on that a little further in his mind. The promise was foreign to him, the Uchiha heir had never promised anything to anyone in such a long time that he surprised himself. He still knew the way to make them. All of Sasuke's promises had been fulfilled, the promise to kill Itachi, to become stronger, to leave this dead weight of a village, he had done it all with blood stained hands. The Uchiha heir was a lot of things, a traitor, murder, a demon, but he was rarely the one to go back on his word. No, he would not kill her, but there were many ways to inflict death upon someone without actually killing them. If the situation came to pass where Sasuke found himself on the opposing side of her, he would merely impale her, avoiding any direct contact with major organs, and she would bleed to death. However, there was another problem that the Uchiha heir had not foreseen, but should have. The Hyuuga heiress came with unwanted bonds. This was made apparent when the Uchiha heir was fighting with her, and he had come in contact with the Inuzuka. The more that he was around her, who knows who else he would come in contact with! Other insignificant shinobi that Sasuke didn't give a fuck about. Did he really want that? The Uchiha heir grimaced to himself, and he cursed underneath his breath.

Fuck.

Sasuke rubbed his temples in agitation, but he knew the answer to his question. He refused to acknowledge it though. The answer was simple, the Uchiha heir would have to deal with it because it was part of the package of having her as his ally. A very agitating part of the package.

XXXX

Hinata couldn't believe how much her body ached from her spar with Sasuke, she had soaked in multiple hot baths to soothe the muscles, but it was futile. The Uchiha heir had done a number on her. However, the Hyuuga heiress refused to let anyone know how much she was in pain, she didn't want it to hinder her from her daily tasks or training. However, she did notice a couple of things about the Uchiha heir as they sparred with one another. Hinata could tell that he enjoyed the fight, savored every moment of it, but at the same time like to end it, quickly. The Hyuuga heiress could tell this not only by his actions, but red eyes revealed it. This would not have been clearly evident to an everyday person since all they saw was his icy visage, and the permanent indifferent line of his mouth. However, Hinata was a quite an observant young woman, slow to speak or take action. Often times, she could tell what people were feeling through their eyes, it was a talent that she had developed since she was a little girl. Hinata saw the Uchiha heir's eyes were empty, sometimes deviating to a very minute flicker of emotion. She could tell that Sasuke had eradicated himself of any kind of emotion. He had trained himself not to feel from what Hinata could see. This perplexed her to a certain degree. When her kunai hit him, did he feel anything? Pain? Or was it just a mere cut? Hinata looked down on the ground, in tune with her thoughts, and a hand rested on her shoulder.

"Hinata, are you okay?" Ino asked, curiously. Hinata blinked at her twice, snapping out of her contemplations, and a small smile spread across her face.

"S-sorry, Ino-san, w-what did you say?" Hinata looked at her, apologetically, and Ino chuckled at her.

"It is fine, Hinata-san, it is your turn." Ino beckoned to the sack dummy that stood a few feet away from them, the dummy had a huge target drawn across the front of it, and Hinata nodded at her. She reached into the small pouch on the side of her leg, and pulled out some shuriken. Kiba sat underneath the tree, she felt him stare at her, intently, and she bit her lip. They had not discussed Hinata being with Sasuke the other day in the kukoji forest, however she had a feeling that he wanted to say something just didn't know how to approach her. Shikamaru stood, lazily next to him with his shoulders slumped into a casual posture, and his face was bored. Sakura practiced on the other dummy, the dummy was lined with kunai, and she had a determined look on her face. Often times, when there was no duties to do such as today, Hinata found herself training with some friends to pass by the time. Hinata threw the shuriken, hitting the dummy, however her side caught her. She winced at the sharp pain, and her hand instinctively reached for her side.

"Hey, Hinata, are you okay?" Kiba got up, and his eyebrows furrowed together in concern.

"Oh, yes, n-no worries."

"Are you hurt?" Ino asked, curiously. Hinata shook her head, but Kiba sighed.

"The gig is up, Hinata, you should tell them." Her eyes widened at him, Kiba looked at her, intently, and Ino looked at her, confounded.

"Tell us what?"

"N-n-"Hinata was cut off.

"She is hurt from her spar with Sasuke from a couple of days ago." Kiba crossed his arms, walking up to her, and Hinata bit her lip. Sakura had stopped throwing the shuriken, the color drained from her face, and her mouth hung agape. Hinata hated to be placed on the spot, Ino looked at her wide-eyed, and Hinata looked at the ground.

"I thought y-you were going to keep that b-between us." Hinata murmured.

"I would have." Kiba sighed, placing a hand on her shoulder, and she felt him squeeze it, affectionately. "But look at you, you are hurt because of him." The Hyuuga heiress knew that her old friend, Kiba, had nothing bit her best interest at heart, and she greatly appreciated it. However, she was able to make her own judgments about anyone regardless of how absurd they may seem to others.

"You spared with Sasuke?" Sakura asked almost absentmindedly. Hinata nodded at her in agreement, and she smiled at all the shinobi looking upon her.

"I w-wanted him to feel like he was at home." Hinata explained. "I mean who wants to be c-cooped up in that estate the whole t-time?"

"Well!" Ino said with a wide smile on her face. "You are the first person who has been able to draw him out of that estate!"

"Not even Naruto could do it." Sakura frowned at Hinata. "How did you do it?"

"I was in the forest, saw him t-training, and I offered to s-spar with him." Hinata lied. She couldn't tell them that she had purposely agreed to meet the Uchiha heir to fight for her self-worth that would be added more fire to an already intense situation especially for Kiba.

"And he accepted?" Kiba asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

"Of course."

"Speaking of I have been seeing you two interact with one another a lot." Ino frowned at her. "Like when we caught those bandits, he was around you and now we find out that you have been sparring with him." he has been around you a lot." Her voice was teasing, and Hinata turned red in embarrassment.

"I am n-not sure why."

"be careful, Hinata." Sakura warned. "His interest in you with caution, there is no pure genuine need for human contact with him unless he want something from you."

"Thank you, Sakura-san." Hinata knew that there was validity in all of the warnings about Sasuke, but she couldn't help, but feel that there was a sort of loneliness about him. Shikamaru stood there, quietly, and she perked up when he sighed, heavily.

"Geez, you guys need to stop giving her the third degree, she is fully capable of handling herself." Shikamaru groaned.

"Well, he could just want to be around someone, after all, Hinata-san is so kind and warm, it is no wonder that someone would want to reach out through her."

"I doubt that is the reason." Hinata saw Kiba scoff at Ino, and she looked at Sakura. Sakura seemed to be deep in thought, she knew that there was a time that sakura had been set on rehabilitating Sasuke, so hearing the news must had affected her to some degree. Hinata had been able to interact with the Uchiha heir more than Naruto had been able to do.

"Well, you should have told us." Shikamaru beckoned to an empty space underneath the trees. "Why don't you sit down and relax."

"I-I didn't want to worry you g-guys."

"Well, you have me worried being around Sasuke." Objected Kiba.

"I will keep a look out, I-I promise" Hinata assured. "Now let's get back to t-training, it is not many days that we get w-without duties."

"Agreed!" Ino shouted. Ino pulled out a kunai, resuming her training, and Kiba nodded at Hinata. Hinata smiled at him, he was so protective of her like an older brother, but she didn't want to dwell on the matter any further. She watched Sakura as she trained, her face was intense, and she was smiling at everyone. However, Hinata could tell that she was bothered. The Hyuuga heiress didn't want to be the cause of any quarrel between the two nor did she want to make trouble for Sasuke. However, Hinata had an idea that Sasuke was fully aware of this possibility, and that he was fully prepared to take it on. She was also ready to deal with all the attention that it brought on, every human deserved a chance in life, and Sasuke was no exception to that rule.

XXXX

Sakura had to admit that she was baffled by the news concerning Hinata and Sasuke. Sasuke had chosen to interact with most unlikely person in the world in her opinion. Furthermore, he didn't even know Hinata, so why her? Hinata was a beautiful, timid young woman, but she was also Hyuuga. The heiress to the most powerful clan to Konohagakure, Sakura figured that was the only reason why Sasuke had taken interest in her, and she needed to confront him about it. Hinata was a very dear friend to Naruto, she had not known the Hyuuga heiress too well, but anyone important to Naruto was important to her. Sakura was not looking forward to seeing him face to face again. After the war, she was glad that he had parted ways despite Naruto's best efforts to keep in Konohagakure. When she saw the Uchiha heir, it only reminded her of how he tried to kill her, and that was not something she wanted to relive. Sakura walked up to the dummy, and she started to collect the shuriken.

"Hey, sakura, you're going?" Ino asked, shocked.

"Oh, yeah, sorry." Sakura smiled at Ino, and she put her shuriken in a side pouch. "Something came up."

"Is this about Sasuke?" Ino looked at her, raising an eyebrow, and she crossed her arms.

"No." The pink haired kunoichi smiled at Hinata, and she waved her hand. "I'll catch up with you later."

"Oh, okay, Sakura-san, I will see you later." She knew that she would have to provide an explanation to Ino later on about her leaving, and sakura bit her lip. She would have to come up with something good. Sakura took off out of the forest, and she headed towards the Uchiha estate. The pink haired kunoichi walked up to the gates to the Uchiha heir's estate, and she knocked on the gates. Her gaze directed to the deadbolt lock on the gates, and the estate seemed empty. There was no response, sakura frowned to herself, and she knocked, forcefully now.

"I know that you are in there, Sasuke." Sakura said, firmly. "Open the gates."

"What pleasure do I have to have your company?" A cold voice said on the other side of the gate. Sakura could see that he had no intention of opening the gates nor to show himself to her.

"You have been hanging around Hinata a lot lately."

"Jealous?" A mocking chuckle escaped from the Uchiha heir's lips.

"No, I want to know what your angle is."

"Angle, I have no idea what you are talking about."

"Sasuke." Sakura growled, lowly. "We all know the only reason why you care to be around others is if it is for your gain." The pink haired kunoichi didn't like to be so assertive with Sasuke since she didn't know when he was going to snap. However, Sakura needed to get her point across to him.

"Oh, that seems a little harsh for you." Sakura flinched, she could tell that Sasuke was toying with her, and she balled up her fists.

"Look, just don't try anything funny."

"And who said that I was?"

"Hinata is a very dear friend to Naruto, if you would do anything to her… then, Naruto and you will find yourselves on opposing sides once again." A dark laugh came from the other side of the gate.

"If I was going to do something to that woman, I would have already done it." The Uchiha heir informed, curtly. "You should of all people know this."

"So tell me why are you talking or sparring with her?" Sakura asked, skeptically. "If you are not planning something?"

"Don't you have something better to do than to badger me, bitch?" Sakura felt her cheeks grow hot in anger at the insult, and she grimaced.

"Just heed the warning, Sasuke." Talking with The Uchiha heir like this, in this matter, brought a sort of sadness to her. He was once a good ally, but now look at the two. The two former teammates couldn't even be a few feet near one another. It was hard to believe how far he had fallen from what he could have been. Sasuke could have been one of the strongest shinobi, but instead he had chosen a path that brought glory to those who you triumphed over.

"Whatever." The pink haired kunoichi nodded at Sasuke, turning on her heels, and she figured that Naruto would soon learn about the two's interaction. However, she was not going to mention it to him, Naruto had enough of his plate, and she didn't want to add to his stress. Despite, Sasuke's denial for planning something, Sakura would keep her guard up because trusting him was like trusting the devil.

XXXX

Sasuke stood on the other side of the fence with clinched fists. He stared at the small pond in the yard with different colored fish swimming throughout it, and he cursed underneath his breath. That bitch thinks that she can keep tabs on me, then she has another thing coming. And who the fuck did Sakura think she was, threatening him? He was Sasuke Uchiha! Last time he checked, he had almost ended her life at one point until she was saved by that overzealous husband on hers. She had a lot of nerve confronting him. These shinobi always like to stick their nose in places that it didn't belong. He didn't see a problem with collaborating with the Hyuuga heiress, he didn't harm her... much. Let alone, last time he checked, she was still breathing so what was everyone's fucking problem? Sasuke had an idea that this was brought on by the Inuzuka who saw the Hyuuga heiress and him in the forest together. No, it couldn't have been the Hyuuga heiress who had brought this down upon him. She was too nice, too kind to speak out against him or anyone for that matter. Hell, Sasuke could make her suffer, and she would still take up for him. The Uchiha heir look out through the cracks of the gate to make sure that he wouldn't be receiving any more surprises, but he caught sight of the Hyuuga heiress walking in the opposite direction of his estate. He opened up the gate, and leaned against it.

"Hyuuga."

"How are you today, Uchiha-san?" Hinata asked with a kind expression on her face. Sasuke's eyes narrowed at her because he was not in the mood to exchange such common pleasantries.

"Hyuuga, tell me why I received a visit from Sakura." He watched her eyes widen in shock, and he looked at her, intently.

"I didn't m-mean to cause any t-trouble for you." Hinata murmured.

"You didn't." The Uchiha heir exasperated. "Your stupid dog friend did."

Hinata looked at him, reluctantly. "He means no harm."

"He is disrupting my peace, so make sure that you keep him on a tight leash." Hinata frowned at him, Sasuke could see that his words bothered her, and he didn't care. He wasn't insulting her was he? She should be happy with that. Furthermore, the Uchiha heir never agreed not to demean any of the incompetent fools she chose to associate herself with.

"Don't talk about my f-friend that way, he was only trying to l-look out for me."

Don't tell me what I can and cannot do. However, the Uchiha heir was kind of curious, the Hyuuga heiress had been warned about him, yet she chose to not listen to them. Was she not afraid of him?

"Tell me, Hyuuga, do I scare you?" Sasuke smirked at her, evilly, and Hinata looked at him, speechless.

"What?"

"You heard me don't make me fucking repeat myself, answer the question." Hinata shook her head in response to the question which caused Sasuke to raise an eyebrow.

You should be afraid of me, Hyuuga.

"I am not afraid of you." Hinata's voice was clear without the presence of a stammer, and the Uchiha heir knew that she meant that. She didn't stammer when she had her mind made up about something.

"Why are you not afraid of me?" Sasuke asked, annoyed. "And what do you think of me?" He watched her shift uneasy, pursing her lips, and Sasuke could tell that she was hesitant to answer. There was a momentary silence exchanged between them, and he frowned at her. "Answer me."

"I-I think you are lonely." Hinata fumbled with her words. "That is what I-I think, I-I think you push people away purposefully."

You think I am fucking lonely? What absurdity! But, perhaps to some degree I am. However, not in the way that you think. I am lonely because I don't have a worthy fighting opponent not in this era. So you are correct to some degree.

The Uchiha heir remained silent.

"I-I am sorry, Uchiha-san, if I have o-offended you."

"Hmph!" Sasuke grunted. He turned on his heels with his back towards her, and Sasuke looked over his shoulder. "You have offended me."

"what?" Hinata looked at her with all the color draining from her face, yet, it was delightful to see her shaken up from him toying with her. "How?"

"You keep calling me, Uchiha-san, Uchiha-san." Sasuke mocked her voice. "I have a name you know, it's Sasuke, start calling me by that." Hinata looked at him, shocked, then she sighed as a warm smile spread across her face.

"Okay, Sasuke-san." The Uchiha heir's back stiffened, and he found himself taken aback by the manner in which she uttered his name.

It was the first time, in years, he had heard someone speak his name in such a benevolent tone.

Please review the story/or each chapter, I would greatly appreciate it, and I hope you all enjoyed it as there will be more to come- FireGladiator.