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 11
Sasuke flicked the blood of his sword, Hinata sighed in relief, and she smiled at him.
"Thank you, Sasuke-san." The Hyuuga heiress said, breathlessly. Sasuke scrutinized her, he saw Hinata trembling, slightly, perhaps in dismay.
"Tell me, Hinata." The Uchiha heir sauntered over to her, and there was an unfathomable expression on his face. "Are you afraid of death?"
"W-what?" Hinata asked, shocked.
"Don't make me repeat myself." The Uchiha heir hissed. Hinata shook her head, his red eyes were met with her pearl ones for the first time, and she pursed her lips.
"I-I am not afraid of death." The Hyuuga heiress admitted. "It is an inevitable end that every h-human being faces, I just don't want to be taken from this world in an h-harsh way."
"Well." Sasuke began. "You won't have to worry about that…at least not anymore." He saw a flicker of surprise come across her face, and he turned around, beginning to walk away. "I'm leaving."
"Wait, Sasuke-san, I-I have to figure out why the ground is not fertile." Hinata reached out to stop him, she grabbed his arm, gently, and the Uchiha heir's body tensed up. His eyes glossed over to her hand, she pulled back, and she bit her bottom lip.
"I'm sorry." The Hyuuga heiress apologized. "I did-" Sasuke cut her off.
"I don't mind it." Sasuke informed. "At least, I don't mind it, now." So how is the unfruitful ground my problem?"
" I-I don't know if there are more of these m-men, I suspect not, but t-two people are better to take them on than one." A kind expression was on her face, and the Uchiha heir stared at her.
"Fine." Sasuke growled after a long pause. He couldn't believe that he agreed to involve himself any further into this matter, and he wouldn't have done so if it were not for that reason that Hinata brought up.
Did she suspect that he was going to bend when she asked him? Hell, why not? He had bended to everything else that she said. The Uchiha heir's jaw clenched up, and he cursed underneath his breath.
She was taking advantage of how soft he was becoming.
How about I unsheathe my katana and show her how soft I have really become. Sasuke began to ponder the thought in his head, his hand moving towards the hilt of his katana, but then he stopped himself. And what will you do when the blade is out, cut her down?
No, you won't do anything. Hinata had imprinted upon him, and it overcame his mundane need to strike fear into her heart. Sasuke's eyes followed the Hyuuga heiress who strolled over to Gakukoru, and he was off to the side. The elderly village head was quivering in fear at the sight of the fighting shinobi. However, his eyes met the Uchiha heir, and all color drained from his face.
"P-please don't k-kill me." Gakukoru stammered. His attention focused on Sasuke, and Sasuke rolled his eyes.
Shut up, you whiny fool.
"If I wanted you dead, you would be." The Uchiha heir exasperated. The Uchiha heir watched the Hyuuga heiress kneel down, and she placed a hand on her shoulder.
"C-can you show us where you first noticed signs of the famine." Hinata inquired. Gakukoru's eyes moved away from Sasuke to her, and he nodded. He got up to his feet, and beckoned to them to follow. The elderly village head lead them to a small valley not too far from his father's grave site. The ground was brown, and dead crops were littered all over the ground, black and barren.
"This is where it all begun." Gakukoru muttered, grimly. He reached down, picking up a dead corn stalk, and he tossed it. The disproportionality of the dirt scattered all over the valley caught the attention of the Uchiha heir, and he grimaced.
Why does it look like that?
"I-I don't see anything." The Hyuuga heiress scanned the valley with a frown on her face, and she turned to Sasuke. "H-how about you, Sasuke-san?" The Uchiha heir knelt down, spreading out the dirt with his hand, and it revealed a paper seal.
"This valley has been sealed up." Sasuke informed.
"Is there any history in m-making seals in your v-village?" Hinata asked the elderly village head.
"No, not at all, they must have learned that when they left the village." Gakukoru shook his head as he said this.
"P-probably from missing n-ninja." Hinata knelt down, scanning the seal, and she touched it, lightly. "I h-have never seen this kind of paper seal before."
" it is an earth seal that comes from a small village in the Land of Earth, it sucks the nutrients out of anything that it is placed upon, a ground, a human being, I have run into it a couple of times in battles." Sasuke stated. "Some missing ninja tried to place the paper seal on me."
Yes, I remember that battle very clearly, and the look of surprise as I robbed them of their existence.
"H-how do we remove it?"
"Can't we just take it off?" Gakukoru stepped forward, the Uchiha heir took out his katana, and he pointed it towards him. Instantly, the elderly village head stopped on his tracks.
"It can only be taken off by those who placed it there and it will explode on any others who try to remove." Sasuke growled. "I don't want to deal with having to dispose of your body if you blew up." The elderly village head nodded at him with wide eyes, and the Uchiha heir lowered his katana.
"It seems t-that the whole valley has been covered in them." Hinata observed. "I-I am sure that every place where crops are grown have these p-paper seals near them." We will have to go back, and make them take off these paper seals."
"Or just ignite them." Sasuke proposed. "These paper seals are layered in an enigmatic design." The Uchiha heir uncovered another paper seal that was angled, and he stood up. "If one of them is ignited, they are set up in a way that all of them will ignite in a sequence."
"H-how do we ignite them?"
"I will just set them on fire." The Uchiha heir shrugged. The Hyuuga heiress looked at him, perplexed.
"Don't ask how, let's just get to a safe distance." Sasuke watched the Hyuuga heiress lead Gakukoru far away from the sight, and he followed behind. When they got to a safe distance, the Uchiha heir activated his mangekyo sharingan, and he focused on one of the paper seals.
"Amaterasu."
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Hinata watched Sasuke set the paper seal on fire, the paper seal was engulfed in the unnatural black flames of Amaterasu, and she couldn't help, but stare at him in awe. Sure! She had seen the sharingan before, she saw it when she fought against Madara in the Fourth Shinobi War, but never at an up close distance. Furthermore, the Hyuuga heiress had never witnessed such a power to be displayed in front of her without her being caught in the crossfire. The power of an Uchiha heir, and this powerful Uchiha heir was helping her. Although, she knew that he would never admit to helping anyone, but in reality he had. Sasuke had protected her on several occasions now. Hinata promised herself that she would repay her debt to him by trying to protect him. It was only right.
"I can't believe my eyes." Gakukoru looked at her, baffled, and her eyebrows furrowed together in confusion.
"W-what?"
"The infamous Uchiha is helping us." Gakukoru muttered. "I thought the rumors were true about him, that he was a cold, uncaring man, but it would appear not."
No, Sasuke is not uncaring that I know for sure.
"I am g-glad that he decided to help us otherwise I don't know how we would g-get those paper seals off."
The Hyuuga heiress could honestly say now that the man she had met in the restaurant all those days ago was not the man who stood before her at the moment. No, something about the Uchiha had changed since then, she could see it.
"Down now." The Uchiha heir ordered. "Unless you want your ears to bleed." The Hyuuga heiress crouched down, covering her ears, and so did Gakukoru. The flames ignited all at once making a booming noise, and she looked up to see the Uchiha heir staring at her. He didn't seem bothered by the noise, the sight of him would have frightened anyone. Those red eyes, and that emotionless face with flames going up in the back of him.
However, Hinata didn't shy away because she knew that he was not feeling what his face gave away.
Within seconds, the explosion immediately attracted the attention of the others, Shikamaru was dragging the two men who were unconscious behind him, and Ino ran up to her.
"Hinata, are you okay!" Ino shouted, frantically. Her face was filled with panic, and Hinata nodded at her.
"O-oh yes." Hinata assured. "We found o-out what has been c-causing the famine." The men placed paper seals on the ground." The Hyuuga heiress picked up a tattered paper seal, and she held it up.
"I see." Shikamaru said as he looked at the two men.
"Then, what was that explosion?" Kiba asked.
"We had to set the s-seals on fire." The Hyuuga heiress explained.
"We?" Sakura asked, shocked.
"Y-yes, Sasuke-san did it." Instantly, she watched their gaze moved to the Uchiha heir, and he was leaning up against a rock with his arms crossed.
"You helped… Hinata?" Ino inquired as her eyes became wide.
"Tch." Sasuke growled. "I don't help anyone."
The Hyuuga heiress couldn't understand why he was one way with her, and another way with her friends. Maybe, it was because the two of them hadn't acknowledge each other before the war? But, he hadn't really known Kiba or Shikamaru either? Hinata recognized that she wouldn't be able to come to a correct answer to the question. It was just the way that he was, and the Hyuuga heiress wouldn't request any other way.
Sasuke's eyes lingered on her for a moment, and then he turned around.
"I owe no one any explanations." And with that statement, Sasuke disappeared into the night. Hinata wanted to speak more with the Uchiha heir, but she had an idea that she would see him later on. The Hyuuga heiress's glossed back over to her baffled friends, and then at the two incapacitated men.
"Did they g-give you m-much trouble?" Hinata inquired.
"No, they didn't." Sakura smiled at her. "But, we saw that the third one was killed, did Sasuke do that?"
"Yes, h-he saved me." Hinata admitted. "The third man was going to kill me, and if it were not for him stepping in then, he would have s-stabbed me with a poison dipped kunai."
"They all had poisoned weaponry on them." Kiba stated "we found multiple shuriken dipped in the same toxin no doubt." I'm glad that you are alright."
"So you said something about setting seals on fire." Sakura asked, confused.
"I w-will explain as w-we go remove them from the other gardens." Hinata smiled. The shinobi nodded at her, and they headed towards the other grounds, valleys or gardens around the village. Hinata expected them to be covered in the seals, but there wasn't a single one there. In fact, there were remnants of where the paper seals had been burned away, which caught the Hyuuga heiress off guard.
Did Sasuke do this? Maybe, Maybe not, but Hinata couldn't help, but feel that it was done just for her.
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He didn't owe any explanations to anyone for his actions. He did what he wanted and when he wanted with no questions asked. The Uchiha heir felt warm blood trickle down his cheeks, and he knew it was coming from his eyes. The mangekyo sharingan required too much chakra, but Sasuke didn't care. It wasn't as if in a couple of hours, his chakra wouldn't be replenished to its maximum anyways. He figured that the Hyuuga heiress would head over to remove all other paper seals, and he imagined her trying to eliminate them.
No, he wasn't going to allow that. The image of her being thrown back from the explosion from one little mess up was a possibility that Sasuke wanted to eradicate. The Uchiha heir made his way towards every possible ground, garden or valley that surrounded the village. With ease, Sasuke got rid of all the paper seals, and he stared at them as they burned in front of him.
He was beginning to care about her way too much. Sasuke could just leave all of this behind, and pretend that it never happened.
No. Sasuke found himself yearning for her.
What is wrong with me?
The Uchiha heir began to rationalize the situation he was faced with. Maybe it was the basic male need for a woman that he felt this way.
No. Sasuke had a feeling that it was much more than that. In fact, it went way beyond that notion.
Now, the question became... what was he going to do about it?
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The villagers had been informed that the famine was over, and that they could plow in the fields again. The shinobi from Konoha stayed at the village to make sure that the grounds were fertile again, and to their fortunate luck, it began to rain. The rain lasted for days on end, the Hyuuga heiress began to wonder if Sasuke was in the rain since she hadn't seen him for a couple of days now. Gakukoru rationed out the food he had been funded with to the inhabitants to tie them over till when the food started to take root. The first crop took root after a week of rain, and the village was thrown into complete bliss. There was a huge celebration in the village, and it took place around Gakukoru's residence. The celebration lasted late into the night, Hinata stepped out on the porch to get a breath of fresh air, and a slight breeze blew her hair back. However, she caught sight of a male figure walk past the gates, and Hinata gasped. She could have sworn she saw red eyes, and she only knew one person that they could have belonged to. The Hyuuga heiress headed out of the residence towards the direction that the figure went in.
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Sasuke heard footsteps behind him, he didn't stop to see who it was because he had an idea of who was following him. He had avoided her, attentively, for the past five days, deciding what to do about the predicament he was in, and he had come to a decision. The decision he came to required the presence of the Hyuuga heiress, and he came to a stop. Hinata stopped behind him, he could hear her breathing, heavily from trying to keep up with him.
"Sasuke-san, h-how are you?"
"Fine, why?" The Uchiha heir turned around to face Hinata, and she frowned at him.
"I-I haven't seen you in a couple of days." The Hyuuga heiress observed. "I-I hope everything okay."
"It is."
"The crops are growing back." Sasuke could see that she was trying to make small talk, but he was never really fond of such things.
"I know."
"T-thank you, Sasuke-san, for burning all of the paper seals." The Hyuuga heiress thanked. "y-you didn't have to do t-that."
"Who's to say that I did that?" Sasuke hissed.
"I-I know you did, I-I recognized the black flames."
"I see."
"c-can I ask you something?" Hinata asked, curiously. The Uchiha heir looked at her, unfathomably, and his eyes narrowed at her.
"What?"
"w-why did you do that for me?" the Hyuuga heiress pressed, gently. "Why d-did you save me from that man, why are you doing a-all of these things for me?" There was a long pause between them, the Uchiha heir sauntered towards her, and his face was cool. This was the pivotal moment to enlighten her of his decision.
"I don't know." The Uchiha heir growled. "Maybe it is because you have ruined me." His voice was curt, and she looked at him, perplexed.
"I don't understand." The Hyuuga heiress shook her head at him, and the Uchiha her sighed, heavily.
"Doesn't matter if you do." The Uchiha heir reached over for the Hyuuga heiress's hand, and he grabbed it, gently. He interlaced their fingers together, a slight blush rose on her cheeks, and a shy smile played on her lips.
"But, if you really want a non-ambiguous answer to your question, it would be because you are always getting into trouble or that trouble always follows you."
"I'm sorry, I-I don't mean to be a burden."
"You're not." The Uchiha heir admitted. "But, you are in another way, it is nothing to ponder about, I have decided to take on the burden."
"And what burden is t-that?" The Uchiha heir smirked at Hinata, and he squeezed her hand. He enjoyed the warmth emanating from it, and for the first time, Sasuke Uchiha allowed the barriers he had purposefully set up to come crashing down.
"The burden of having you as mine"
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-A few days later-
The whole village watched them depart for Konohagakure, and Gakukoru stood ahead of them with Ryuuku on one side and Usami on the other side.
"It was nice to be a part from home for once, but I am ready to go back." Ino sighed.
"I-I am too." The Hyuuga heiress admitted.
"At least we have room to ride in the back of the carriage." Kiba grinned at Hinata, and Akamaru jumped in the back of the carriage.
"Thank you, everyone for your help." Ryuuku bowed. "We will be forever in your debt."
"You all are welcome here anytime." Usami added.
"T-thank you so much."
"D-do you still have your report to turn into Naruto?" Shikamaru asked, curiously.
"Yes, I do." Sakura held out a scroll, and placed it in the inside of her jacket. Once, everyone said their goodbyes, Hinata headed towards the gates of the village, and she saw the Uchiha heir leaning up against it. His eyes made contact with hers, and his expression was cool.
"Sasuke-san?" Hinata asked, shocked. "w-what are you doing here?"
"Don't worry about it." The Uchiha heir said, nonchalantly. He turned on his heels, walking, silently, and never looking back at her. The Hyuuga heiress knew that he was there for her, to make sure that nothing happened, and it made a warmth arise in her chest. Things were different now between the two heirs, that night from a couple of days ago had changed everything between them. It marked a new beginning for Sasuke, and her.
And she looked forward to getting to know who truly Sasuke Uchiha was.
Please review the story, I would greatly appreciate it, and I hope you all enjoyed it as there will be more to come- FireGladiator.
Author's Note: Thank you everyone for your reviews so far! I appreciate all your support.